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The fact she was even willing to go on a date had taken a lot of convincing. Marcus had stopped by the house more often than not to hang out. So far, they had yet to manage a date. First, it was a concern for Rose. Then Marcus got called out of the country for his job, which left them scrambling to cancel plans at the last minute. Then, Rose got sick when they finally thought they had it pinned down.
“Marcus, it’s Hermione….I hate to do this to you again, but Rose is throwing up everywhere.” Hermione sighed, shucking off her stained shirt before pulling the phone back to her ear.
“It’s fine; I get it. I’m a dad myself, you know?” Marcus’s voice was soothing in her ear as she made her way into the master bedroom. It had taken a while to get Rose back to sleep; Hermione was long overdue for a bath. She smelled of sweat and vomit and didn’t know what else.
“Well, at least you’ll have the night to yourself.” Hermione tried to interject some cheerfulness into her tone as she put the phone on speaker and set it down on the dresser. Reaching behind her body, she pulled off her bra before slipping into an old ratty t-shirt. No point in wearing her best if she was only going to get thrown up on. “You could still go out if you wanted to.” Hermione cringed as soon as her brain registered what she had said. They hadn’t even gone on a date yet. She didn’t want it to sound like she was trying to micromanage his life. “Sorry, I didn’t mean that quite like it sounded.” The fact Marcus laughed was music to her ears. Rolling her shoulders, Hermione did her best to relax the tension in her back, sighing as her neck popped.
“No, no, I get it. I knew what you meant. I’ll probably stay in, though. Catch up on the telly.” Hermione’s heart soared at the thought. Maybe, just maybe, this could work. Perhaps he wouldn’t get tired of it when she had to cancel at the last minute all the time. Maybe he would actually understand that Rose came first. Now and forever.
That nothing was more important to her than her daughter.
Maybe he would understand that that wasn’t going to change anytime soon. Not after everything Hermione and Rose had been through. It was two against the world as far as Hermione was concerned. If she never found someone to date or marry again, well…that would have to be okay.
“I really am sorry about this, Marcus. Maybe we could try to meet up for tea later this week?” Even to Hermione’s ears, she knew it sounded desperate. Yet Marcus didn’t seem to catch that desperation; she breathed a sigh of relief.
“I’d like that. Don’t you need to be hopping in the bath? I think I remember something about Rose throwing up on you.” Hermione sighed, knowing Marcus was correct. She found she didn’t want to hang up the phone.
When they finally did disconnect, Hermione was startled by a package spitting itself out of her floo network. Waving her wand this way and that, when the package appeared to be harmless enough, Hermione slit the tape that held it closed. Opening the box, Hermione didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
Inside were what seemed like random bits and bobs, but looking closer, Hermione could tell they had been picked out with meaning.
From the fuzzy socks to the DVD still wrapped in cellophane to the chilled bottle of wine, the fact that Marcus had managed to pull this off that fast said a lot. Reaching for her phone she shot off a quick text before popping into the tub. When she came back, she saw the message indicator blinking on her cell phone.
Thank you. Don’t know how you pulled that off this fast.
Don’t worry about it; it sounded like you could use it.
I’ll make it up to you, promise.
Looking forward to it.
Say….you said you’re kid free tonight, right?
Yeah. She’s at mum’s for the weekend.
Wanna pop over for a bit? I finally got Rose down. You could help me with the bottle?
Sure that’s a good idea with Rosie being sick?
She’s pretty much emptied her stomach and is out like a light. Once that girl goes down, a hurricane could come through, and she wouldn’t wake up. Just pop through the floo.
Alright. Two secs. Just for a little bit, though, yeah?
Hermione was in the process of typing out a reply when her floo flared to life. Smirking as she shook her head, she watched Marcus step out of the floo just as she set her phone down on the coffee table.
“Hey.” Hermione’s voice was soft before she picked up her wand and cast a one-way silencing charm on the hallway that led to Rose’s room. Allowing her to hear if Rosie called for her, but for their voices not to carry down the hall and wake the younger girl.
“Sounds like you’ve had a night.” Marcus raised an eyebrow as he picked up the wine bottle before making his way to the kitchen and coming back with two coffee cups. Pouring out a generous portion into each, they clinked their cups, laughing the whole while before sipping at the burgundy.
“I’m sure it’s just a run-of-the-mill stomach bug.” Hermione scrunched her nose at the thought. “Rosie got me good though. That was probably one of the best baths I've ever taken.”
“I know that feeling. Trenton got sick one time; projectile vomiting sick and I swear every time I changed clothes he threw up on me again. It just reached the point I wandered around in my boxers.” Hermione snorted as she relaxed back into the couch.
“I’ve done that before when Rosie’s gotten sick like that. Just stripped off whatever she’s thrown up on and kept going.” Hermione laughed as she sipped at her wine, catching Marcus’ eye from the corner of her own. “What?” He was staring at her, not in a bad way, but she couldn’t quite place the look on his face.
When he set his glass down and leaned forward, capturing her jaw with his fingers, Hermione finally realized what was about to happen.
“Oh.” Her voice was quiet before her lips were suddenly stolen for a kiss. Giving herself over to the feel of Marcus’ lips on hers, Hermione sighed when he pulled back sooner than expected. Marcus’s smirk made the blush on Hermione’s cheek rise higher and faster.
“To be continued?” Marcus nodded down the hall, where Hermione finally heard the pitter-patter of feet across the floor. Sighing, Hermione smiled and briefly rested her head on his shoulder.
“To be continued.”