Archive of Our Own ^beta

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• Alastor wasn't sure how to react when he was first told he was going to be a father. Him and his wife didn't think there was a possibility of having a child.

• His wife for as long as she lived knew or thought that she was infertile. It had been the first thing she told Alastor when their relationship started. 

• Alastor,of course,wasn't bothered by the fact he wouldn't have children. 

• Now it isn't quite true, it somehow happened. His wife started acting off after two years of marriage. She started getting violently ill and having cravings for things she would normally under no circumstances would eat. 

• At first they had both brushed it off,but then she started gaining weight and the cravings didn't disappear. 

• It felt like they got plunged in ice when the doctor gave them the news that they would be parents.

• Crazy enough,Alastor took it better than his wife. 

• His wife wasn't easily spooked by things but the idea of becoming a mother terrified her. Like many, she worried that she would not be able to give their baby what they needed. 

• Alastor assured her the best he could that she would be a good mother. It worked somewhat.

• Alastor will never admit he also had similar fears. Anyone who knows him, is aware that he is a cold man. His capacity to love was smaller than average and his list on who he gave his love to was also small. Would he have room in his heart for his child? 

• Well they were about to find out. The months passed as the reality that this was really happening closed in. 

• On May 28, their daughter was born. 

• It was not easy. The birth was difficult and their daughter had been born prematurely. During their time a baby being born prematurely was considered by most to be a goner. 

• The uncertainty of their daughter living weighed on them both. Alastor had seen lots of deaths(Most by which he caused). He wouldn't be able to handle the corpse of his daughter.

• It had been the shortest scariest moment of their lives. 

• By some miracle though, their daughter had lived. Alastor didn’t usually believe in miracles. He would give an exception this time.

• Their daughter looked almost like Alastor except she had lighter hair and skin, and she had her mother's dark eyes. Given how their time was about people of dark skin, Alastor was relieved at this. 

• Alastor and his wife finally named her now that it felt safe to do so. His wife wanted to name her June since that was the month she was supposed to be born and thought it would be funny. Alastor wasn't against the idea besides she was the one that birthed her,not him. 

• Of course, Alastor’s mother's name was June's middle name. 

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• Bringing a baby home for the first time was strange. Alastor didn’t think he would ever do this. 

• He mentally prepared for there to be zero peace in the future.

• Surprisingly, June did not cry as much as Alastor thought. She simply only cried when she needed something. June crying at nights was rare.Alastor did not understand the complaints the men at his work gave about their babies crying constantly. June was a silent one. 

• From what he learned, he had gotten what folks called a ‘Good baby’.

• Alastor will admit he found himself fascinated by June. He wondered who she would be, what the future held for her. 

• He couldn't wait to teach her all he knows.

• Babies were a lot more expressive than he thought. At least that's what June is proving to him.

• It was always entertaining to see what facial expression she would make in certain situations.

• Alastor could distinctly remember one time when another couple's baby was crying in public while on a walk. Alastor admits it was entertaining to watch a clearly sleep deprived mother try to calm down their infant while the father looked around embarrassed by the attention they got. The couple were clearly new parents, takes one to know one as they say. 

• The infant's crying had woken up June. He didn't know a baby glaring was possible but June managed to accomplish it. Alastor couldn't help laughing at it.

• June had intelligence that was clear. Her eyes would look around in curiosity, trying to understand the life she was brought into as much as possible. 

• Alastor doesn't do baby talk. He found it humiliating and demeaning. 

• He gets annoyed when he hears parents use baby talk, especially if it's at June. He would cut them off as soon as they started, bringing their attention to him. 

• He talks to June like he would any person. Alastor has been caught yapping away to June,while she just watched him.June is a great listener,she doesn't understand but still she listens better than any of his fellow co-workers. 

• Alastor found himself spending more time with June than he originally thought he would. 

• June still needed her mother for basic things like food, comfort, etc.

• When her mother got to a point of exhaustion, she would make sure June didn't need anything then give her off to Alastor. 

• Alastor couldn't complain, he surprisingly enjoyed June's company.June didn't get in the way too much. She usually took a nap or quietly watched as he wrote down scripts,sometimes he would talk outloud bouncing off ideas even when June didn't really understand what he was saying.

• Alastor still stood by the fact that he didn't like kids. They are messy and noisy whose sole purpose is to make life difficult. 

• He supposed though he can make an exception for his June. 

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Alastor didn’t have much back then. He was born into a world where his existence made people disgusted. He didn't have the money and power he does now. He was just a poor boy, whose only comfort was his mother. 

His mother, the sweetest woman you could ever know. She always told him to smile, believed in him, and loved him.There was only one flaw he could say his mother had. And that was who she chose to give her love to. That despicable man he called a father, a pig who constantly came home drunk and lay his hands on his mother. Oh how he despised that man, makes him wish he could kill him twice. That disgusting piece of sh-

Alastor's train of thoughts is broken by a small cooing sound. Alastor glances down at his lap to see June had woken up from her nap. His wife 20 minutes ago had given June to him so she could take a nap upstairs. June had been good the whole time, sleeping while he worked at his desk. Her eyes were now wide open, sitting in the upright position. She didn't appear to need anything, only making soft sounds. Alastor could best describe the sound of it being like the winds in the bayou, nothing above a whisper,telling secrets that no one could understand.

Looking at June made him think about his mother.His mother had always dreamed of having grandchildren. She had wanted to give Alastor siblings but it never came to fruition. Which,given the circumstances,was for the best Alastor stayed an only child. 

If his mother couldn't have more kids than grandchildren were the second best thing. His mother would always tell him how one day he would find the right girl and have children. As a child, he simply nodded along, taking her word for it. When he started to get older, he noticed his lack of attraction and love toward anyone. 

Alastor found the idea of getting a wife and having children repulsive.Alastor never told his mother this, not wishing to ruin her dreams. Yes, he believed he would remain a bachelor for life. 

That had all changed when he met his wife at the almost impossible circumstances. She was a mystery,still is sometimes,to him. She wasn't isn't like any woman he had met. It wasn't love at first sight. She intrigued him, scared him made him want to pick at her brain. In the end, he went deeper than he should have. 

At the present, he has been married for two years and has a baby girl. June's arrival had been unexpected by the couple. Children weren't in his plan. He found them messy and annoying. Both believed they would remain child-free after two years of nothing.Life had managed to find a way. 

The months had been difficult, even with the rise in status, many frowned upon the idea of a mixed child. They would give disproving looks at his pregnant wife when they went out together. It took a ridiculous amount of bribing to get a hospital to take them. In the hospital, his wife gave birth to a baby girl. Alastor had found himself lost of words when he set his sights on her for the first time. She was beautiful, she took quite a bit of his looks only difference being the lighter skin, lighter hair and her dark eyes she had gotten from her mother. She looked painfully familiar to someone else he knew but couldn't say at the time. Something in him felt a warm ache at the sight of her.

Just as quick as they got her they were almost as quick to lose her. She had been born too early. The chance of her living was slime. The doctor had basically told them to say their goodbyes, one nurse,who he killed later, implying that it was god telling them that her existence was a sin.

Alastor had never felt true fear like that except…When he lost his mother. Despite him not wishing for a baby in the first place,Alastor didn’t think he could handle going about the rest of his life,thinking about the baby they lost.Somehow though, she had survived, doctors were baffled by this, claiming it a medical miracle. June is a special one, given who her mother is one of a kind. 

Alastor knew his mother would be proud. She had gotten the grandchild she wanted. Truly unfortunate that she couldn't be here to see it. His mother would have spoiled her rotten. He could imagine her tearful smile as she held June. A long awaited answer revealed itself. He now knows why June looks familiar. June looked like his mother. Alastor didn’t think of the possibility that June gaining his traits meant that she also gained his mother's by extension. 

June started wiggling, fussing but not crying. This usually meant one thing; she wanted attention. Alastor let out a playful huff, “Hmm, want attention, don't you?” Alastor picked her up to where she was in his arms now instead of his lap. “Happy now?” June's face was in a pout saying that she was indeed not happy. Alastor rolled his eyes, placing a hand on her cheek, his thumb soothed her skin. June closed her eyes with a tiny smile, her tiny hands grabbed onto Alastor's wrist ‘trapping’ his hand, happy to finally get what she wanted as if she already didn't get what she wanted most of the time.

June's tiny content smile, gutted Alastor. She had his mother's smile. The small smile that appeared weak but turned out to be the strongest. Alastor never thought he would see it again.

Alastor,throughout the years,desperately searched for a tiny piece of her existence. He wished everyday to get at least one glimpse of his mother again. Whatever God there is,was merciful enough to give a sinner like him what he wanted in the unexpected form of his daughter. 

Alastor’s smile wavered at his daughter. His voice softer than he ever thought he could be capable of “Ha…You sure love surprising me don't you, mon beau bébé.”