𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐨𝐩𝐡𝐨𝐛𝐢𝐚 || 𝘳.𝘢.𝘣𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬

080. babysitting

"Of course, no trouble." Maria says. "Go! Have fun!"

"Alright, alright—bye boys!"

"Bye Mum!" There's an uneven chorus of small voices and the married two bustle out of the front door and Maria sighs, Regulus raising his eyes rows as they look around.

"This is. . .eccentric—very nice, much more comfortable than my old house." Regulus says, pointing at the clock-like object on the wall with each family members face on spoons that move from different destinations like home, school and work.

"You sound like some sort of estate agent." Maria states and he raises his eyebrow. "Doesn't matter, but—"

"Maria!" Smaller bodies collide with her own and she almost toppled back onto the armchair.

"Oh—my have you three grown?"

"Of course we have." Charlie rolls his green eyes and Maria chuckles. "Bill's still taller than me though."

"Yeah—and Percy is half the size of him already, Charlie's just small, that's all." Bill states and Charlie gives his brother a dirty look and Bill cackles. "Fred and George are smaller than you, if that even counts—who's that?"

"That is Regulus, my boyfriend."

"You're boyfriend?" Bill says and Maria nods, Bill and Charlie sharing a look before making a high-pitched 'oooo' sound.

"Yeah, yeah." Maria waves them off. "Reg, this is Bill, Charlie and Percy." She points and they give innocent and sweet smiles. Bill has rather long hair, most likely due to him refusing to let Molly trim it the ginger locks reaching just below his ears, his eyes a dark blue colour and he's rather tall for being barely eight.

Charlie is the next sibling at age six, with short, red hair and dark green eyes, his hair in tight curls and a large freckle just below the corner of his eye whilst his whole face is dotted with orange freckles.

Percy, who's only three, has thick curls of red hair on his head and light freckles dusted across his nose, his eyes a light brown colour.

"The twins are asleep, but they'll probably wake up." Bill shrugs his shoulders, strolling into the kitchen and grabbing an apple, taking a large bite out of it. "Can we do something fun?"

"Like what?"

"We could play in the huge puddles outside?"

Maria looks between them and sees their puppy dog eyes making her sigh, "fine, but you have to have a bath after."

Bill and Charlie celebrate by running to slip some wellies on, pulling each other out of the door playfully. Maria follows and Regulus looks at Percy who's grabbing a book from the table and frowns.

"I don't like playing in the puddles." Percy shakes his head and Regulus purses his lips and nods to the door.

"Then we can read outside."

Percy smiles, trudging after Regulus who smiles at the sight when he walks around to the side of the house, seeing Charlie hide behind Maria as Bill splashes the rain water from the puddle. Maria gasps and lights Charlie from behind her, holding him in front of her as Bill kicks water at them making Charlie giggle joyously as he's drenched in the cold water.

Percy plonks himself on a small tree stump with a few larger ones surrounding it before frowning at Regulus who's staring at Maria.

"Do you. . .love her?" Percy mumbles and Regulus blinks, looking at the young red head.

"Yeah. . .yeah I really do."

Percy hums to himself, going back to 'reading' the picture book in his lap.

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"You're both—a mess!" Maria huffs, trudging the two boys up the stairs as they laugh. "Bath, let's go."

"Fine." They groan, mumbling as they walk into the bathroom and Maria turns on the warm taps, Regulus walking in and leaning in the doorway.

"Percy's gone to bed." Regulus whispers to Maria who nods with a small smile. "You're doing good, Ria."

She sighs and turns off the taps, magically making bubbles appear in the bath and closing the door whilst the boys get into the bubble bath, walking back in and Bill groans when she grabs the shampoo from the counter.

"Stop whining, Bill." She rolls her eyes as she pours some water onto his head, wetting his hair and scrubbing the shampoo into his hair. "Your Mother will kill me if you go to bed dirty."

"Yeah, Bill." Charlie sticks his tongue out and Maria flicks some water at the boy making Bill cackle at him, his smile wiped off when she begins to rinse the foamy shampoo from his hair. He makes a sharp 'ah!' sound as she runs the comb through his hair, leaving him be.

"Come on, Charlie, your turn." She says and he huffs, letting her soak his hair that now almost covers his eyes seeing as it's usually curly. She scrubs his hair with the shampoo also, rinsing it out and she grabs one of the towels and messily rubs their head with it, leaving their hair sticking up slightly.

There's a sudden crying sound from a floor above and Maria sighs, handing each of them a towel, "you two, go get dry and into some pyjamas." They nod and she pulls Regulus along and up the rickety staircase.

"You're good at this." He mumbles as they slowly walk into the twins room where Fred is crying, his arms and legs above his body as if wanting to be lifted and Maria shushes him as she picks him up gently, resting his chest and stomach on her chest, his head resting on her shoulder and she pats his back softly.

"Get George for me, Reg." She whispers as the other baby starts to restlessly move around in his crib. Regulus looks at her and she nods with an encouraging smile.

He lifts the baby from the crib and rests him in the crook of his elbow, bouncing him softly in his arms.

"See? You're good." She smiles and he smiles, unsure, kissing the side of her head and the duo walk downstairs with the twins in their arms, finding Charlie and Bill sat on the sofa tiredly.

"Are they hungry?" Bill questions and Maria nods.

"Probably, but it's nearly ten, let's go." She whispers, Regulus sitting on the sofa and he offers his arm to take Fred and Maria nods, gently letting Fred down into Regulus' arm. "Come on—have you both brushed your teeth?"

"Yep." Charlie nods and Bill agrees, the three of them strolling up the stairs and into their bedroom, the two small beds against the wall with a dresser drawer crammed into the corner and some socks scattered on the floor.

"Night, boys." She whispers, ruffling their hair as they clamber into bed, waving at Maria who smiles and shuts the lights out, peering into Percy's room where the smaller boy lies sleeping soundly.

Regulus smiles when she comes back and falls onto the sofa beside him, noticing he doesn't have the twins anymore and frowning.

"I put them to bed, they fell asleep." Regulus mumbles, noticing her confusion and she nods, yawning and letting her head drip onto his shoulder, he puts an arm around her shoulders and kisses her head softly.

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