ROCKSTAR ⇒ jegulus

TWENTY THREE

James walks through the office doors of Starlight magazine with a cardboard holder containing an americano, and a decaffeinated tea for himself. He had had to text Sirius to see what coffee Regulus liked best, just in case. Additionally, in his grip is a small brown paper bag with a couple of warm croissants inside.

It is a cool, August morning; Autumn's chill already creeping up through the air. August wastes little to no time in reminding James that he is just about five months pregnant, and once the months get colder, and it inevitably reaches December, he will have a baby. He will give birth to his little girl.

With this thought in mind, James enters the elevator, pressing the button before the doors close once more and he is rising upwards throughout the many floors of the office building.

James reaches Regulus' floor and knocks patiently. Barty's voice beckons him in with a murmured; "Come in,"

James pops his head around the door. "Hey," He greets. "Brought some croissants," He adds, holding up the paper bag.

Barty's face lights up with a smile as Regulus looks up to greet him. "Ooh! Croissants!" Barty beams. "Just what we needed this morning,"

Regulus furrows his dark eyebrows as James enters the office, closing the door behind him as he does so. "Croissants? What for?" He questions as James hands him his coffee; relishing in the scent of it.

"To thank you for the other night," James replies swiftly.

"Oh!" Evan blurts, looking up from his laptop. He has not even greeted James yet and James had begun to think either Evan didn't notice his arrival, or Evan had secretly fallen out with him. "You two had sex again, did you?" He asks, his tone is innocent, however it is endearingly bordering on curious.

"I'd have sex with you too, James, if it guaranteed that I'd get a perfectly timed coffee out of it," Barty hums, smirking to himself.

James feels his cheeks heat up, flushing red as he gawkes at the two of them, mouth slightly hanging open. "You two are just like Remus!" He chastises. "Is sex all any of you can think about?" He hisses a little.

Evan rolls his eyes. "You know, for an expecting mother, you sure are a prude, Potter," He chuckles. "You're pregnant, we all know what you did to get that way," He pauses. "And it was sex, just so you know," He reminds with a soft, devious laugh.

"It wasn't, like, an immaculate conception," Barty reaches for a croissant. He pauses to take a small bite. He wags his finger between James and Regulus. "You two did the devil's tango," He muses.

James blushes horribly; he can feel the heat rising to his cheeks. Regulus shakes his head, taking a sip of his coffee. He swallows before, "Well, there's no need to be so crude," He mutters.

"So," Evan drawls, his smirk never fading. "What did happen the other night?" He inquires as he cocks an eyebrow. "Oral? Or just plain, good old sex?" He asks.

"Oh, for fuck sake, Evan, we didn't have sex!" Regulus swears.

"What? Like it's never happened before?" Barty laughs, rolling his eyes. "You both act like he's not pregnant with your kid,"

James scoffs, feeling his cheeks tint even more with a rosy red shade of blush. "I just had a little development with the baby, so I texted Regulus to come over. No strings, or sex, attached," He explains with a shy chuckle.

He hates talking about sex. It fills him with a burning shame, when it once hadn't, and that is what terrifies James the most.

James had always pictured himself settled down before having a baby, with somebody he loved, with somebody he had planned to do this with. Not with somebody who had equally been thrown into it with him.