Sleep Tight (raising Teddy)

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    Sirius and Remus have their own way of getting a toddler ready for bed.

     For @lupin.itis on Instagram
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   No warnings needed
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"One more spoonful? For papa?" Sirius was sitting cross-legged on the table of their little apartment in London, hunched over in a twisted sister t-shirt and boxers, a different coloured sock on each foot. They had a lazy day today, only going out to feed the ducks at the pond in the local park after Teddy saw the animal in his picture book. And lazy days normally meant not really caring what anyone was wearing or looking like. Remus and Sirius fell into the habit of one of these days a week, both to recharge mentally themselves, but Teddy also seemed to enjoy having both his dads nearby the whole day.

Right now the 2-year-old boy was in his highchair by the table, looking up at Sirius through his curly hair which was a soft blonde today. He squealed in reply to the question, bouncing in his seat a bit and clapping his hands "no papa."
Sirius sighed, but couldn't stop the smile from appearing on his face when he looked at the kid.
"then for daddy?"
"no daddy. Pads. Pads pads!" Teddy shook his head again, gurgling out a giggle and pointing at Sirius, who got the memo immediately.
"Alright but we got a deal, mkay? Pads will be here and then you eat the last bit of your food, and then maybeeee" he leaned forward which a cheeky whisper "daddy will read you a story before bed, and you can cuddle up with pads? How does that sound, pup?" the toddler just nodded, eyes twinkling in the light of the kitchen.
" are you bribing him again Kiddo?" came a voice from behind Sirius but before he could turn around, scarred arms wrapped around his waist and Remus's head rested on his shoulder, where he pat his husbands hair. Teddy waved with a grin.

"Think he might be. But who am I to say no to such a happy face?" the shorter man chuckled and lean over to press a soft kiss to Remus's cheek before pointing at the spoon of food levitating beside him. "he's almost eaten the whole thing but pads gotta be here for the last one"
Remus chuckled and nodded in understanding. "Sounds like a fair deal to me. We shouldn't keep him waiting then.." and with a quick kiss to Sirius temple, he let the man transform into the dog, much to Teddy's delight which could be told by the squeal of laughter from the highchair. Padfoot yapped at him happily and nuzzled his nose into the boy's outstretched hand.

" Right. So now the doggie is here, you gonna finish your food Teddy?" Remus took the spoon from the air and smiled proudly at pads when Teddy nodded, opening his mouth.
" There we go! Well done. Now we just gotta get you in your pj's and..."
"Story!"
"Story it is"
The werewolf smiled and plucked the toddler out of the chair, carrying him on his hip to the small nursery, pad foot jumping off the table and following suit, his black fur rubbing gently against rems bare legs (he was wearing boxers and one of his jumpers, but at least his socks were matching). Once they were there, padfoot pulled out a dark blue onesie from one of the lower drawers of the cupboard in the corner, and it wasn't long before Teddy was changed, holding his favourite stuffed wolf, back onto Remus's hip. The boy was looking over the man's shoulder at the dog that walked behind them, heading towards the couch. He waved at pads with a giggle and the dog yapped back to show that it saw the wave.

Remus looked around, summoning a blanket from the corner of the room and sat down on the old, battered but comfortable couch, sighing as he leant back into the brown material. Teddy got comfortable in his lap, leaning against his chest and chewing gently on the ear of his stuffed wolf. Once the animal got around the couch, he picked up the children's book Teddy was reading earlier, from the floor, and pushed it into Remus's lap with his nose, earning a thank you and a scratch behind the ears. The dog hesitated for a moment, as though debating whether to change back or not, before Remus spoke.
"Sorry padfoot, but there's no more space on my lap. Special people only tonight" Rem smirked and the dog rolled its eyes with a huff. Even in his animal form, Sirius had an attitude.

He thought for a moment and jumped onto the couch beside his husband, leaning his head on Remus's thigh and looking up at him through his black fur. Remus sighed in defeat when he saw the puppy eyes, and smiled as Teddy patted padfoot's head. "Okay. This works too. But keep looking at me like that and I'll melt completely" he chuckled and opened the book, holding it on one hand while the other threw the blanket over the three of them.
"and so, the little duck went to the pond..."

Sirius didn't really pay attention to what Remus was saying, only focusing on the sound of his smooth voice, how gentle and soft it was. Remus showed a completely different side to him when reading out loud, whether it was Shakespeare or a kids picture book. Sirius swears he could listen to him all day, as well as watch to see the little pulls on the corner of Remus's lips, or the way his eyes would widen at intense moments. It wasn't long before Teddy's hand relaxed completely in pad foot's fur, and he looked up to see the boy sound asleep. Remus must have noticed too, because he put the book away and wrapped the blanket tighter around the dog, just as he turned back to a Sirius, head still in Remus's lap. The werewolf chuckled at the gentle kiss Sirius managed to press to his arm before it moved back around his waist. "Aw... I was enjoying that, I want to know where the duck went after meeting its friends" the man whined and Rem ruffled his hair lovingly "you'll hear it another day, it's not like I have read the same book every night for the past week or so" " Yeah we should really get him some new ones, maybe a magic one? About dragons. I bet he'll like that, you've seen the energy in him" Siri spoke quietly while his gaze lifted to Teddys sleeping form against his husband's chest. "A book with little paper dragons flying out of each page would be perfect for him" and Remus nodded to that with a hum.

"You wanna go to bed or sleep here, darling?" Remus murmured out, carding his fingers through Siri's locks, and the man shook his head. "Let's stay here. He seems pretty comfy like that" he looked up at Teddy, sleeping with the stuffed wolf's ear between his lips, and the shorter man found himself smiling with teary eyes. Remus nodded at that and blushed, kissing the tip of Teddy's head and making sure his body was covered in the blanket.
" Goodnight, babe. Just relax. I love you" came the whisper from above Sirius, and he replied with a small smile and a soft voice.
"I love you too, darling. Sweet dreams" He never thought it would get better, yet here he was, with the love of his life and an adorable baby boy, in a small flat in London. And as he heard Remus's soft snores from above him, he knew he wouldn't have wanted it any other way.

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