philophobia
EPILOGUE
"She's just like you."
"That one?"
"Not even close." Regulus rolls his eyes, a smile spreading across his lips as he and Nova sit on the floor of their cottage home.
Before them is a large sheet, almost like a tapestry, of the star constellations. Regulus has been trying to teach her some for a while, though Nova's attention span plus the mind of a six year old after eating ice cream doesn't match well with actually understanding what he's telling her.
"I'll never get it." Nova groans. Her hair is dark, reaching just below her shoulders and her gestures are sharp yet her nose is soft much like her mother's. Her eyes, however, are a complex light grey. She's much like both Maria and Regulus when they were young, rather tall and lanky, and her skin is tan from their previous trip to Majorca a few weeks ago.
"Don't be silly, you will." Regulus says, leaning forwards and pointing to a star. "This one?"
"Sirius. The Dog Star. Brightest in the sky." She says smartly, raising her eyebrows.
"See? You'll have them down in no time." Regulus stands up, rolling up the tapestry and Nova practically leaps to her feet. "Go on and get washed and some clean clothes. It's Thursday."
Nova grins, hurrying out of the living room and up the winding staircase making Regulus chuckle as he slips the rolled up tapestry into a tube. Regulus can hear Nova's feet hitting the floor above excitedly as she quickly darts to and from her bedroom and the bathroom.
Regulus sighs, lifting a framed picture of him and Maria from the mantle and smiling softly.
"Although I'm afraid she's more like
James and Sirius than any of us. I should
probably be worried about that, right?"
"Found you, sucker!" Nova shouts with a giddy laugh and Stanley lets out an exaggerated sigh as he takes the seven year old's hand and she helps him from his hiding spot beneath the dining table.
"Nova, what did we talk about?" Regulus calls from where he stands with Alyssa in the kitchen, cooking dinner for the five of them.
"Sorry." Nova mutters but is soon smiling again when she sees a flicker of blonde hair run past the doorway. "Boo!"
"Bloody hell!" Dylan shouts and Nova bursts into laughter as Alyssa shouts a scolding to Dylan for his language yet the pair remain oblivious as they laugh on the floor.
The trio can't help but smile, hearing the breathless giddy laughs erupting from the two children's chests.
"Lyss says that she looks like the both
of us. I think she looks more like you, maybe
that's because she's the best thing I have left
from you. She's stubborn, again, much like you."
"I think I'm dying." Nova groans, cradling her knee in her hands after falling from a tree in the garden of the cottage home.
"Don't be so dramatic." Regulus shakes his head, crouching beside her and gently taking her leg. "Merlin, Nova, there's nothing bloody there."
"There is!"
"Where?"
"You should get your eyes checked, really, Dad." The nine year old girl sasses making Regulus look at her in offence. "How old are you now?"
"Jesus, Nova, I'm only 29." Regulus scoffs, helping the girl to her feet and pulling her into a fatherly side hug that also includes messing up her hair.
"Twenty years more than me." Nova says with a shrug and Regulus nudges her as they trudge towards the house making her shove him back gently and he narrows his eyes on her. "No—Dad!"
Nova laughs as she begins to run across the garden, with Regulus on her tail and he waved his wand making her slip and fall softly on her backside.
"Not fair." Nova scoffs as Regulus grins.
"I love you, Ria."
"Love you, Dad." Nova calls as she and Dylan hurry away onto the playground and Regulus nods at her.
Regulus folds his arms, leaning back on the bench as he, Alyssa and Stanley watch the children swing on the swings beside one and other.
"Our children are fucking hazard."
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and that's a wrap my loves!
thank you all so much for sticking with this story over the past two years, love you all sm!
thank you for all the support and comments:)
who's ready for a mf sequel?