"Hello, Eliza, my darling girl. It's Dad. You'll be pleased to know that you are now officially a big sister! Hope was born a couple of weeks ago, and she's the loveliest little thing."
Remus lowered himself to the ground, sitting cross-legged in front of the little headstone on the little grassy hill. Ahead of him, the sun was just beginning to peek out over the horizon. It was much earlier than he would have normally woken up, but then again, he'd gotten very well-acquainted with the idea of starting his day before the sun had come up over the past few weeks.
Hope had, unsurprisingly, completely altered their lives completely in the very short time that she had been with them. Of course, there were the obvious things, such as the fact that Remus and Selene no longer had just themselves to worry about, or the fact that neither one of them had been able to sleep through the night uninterrupted.
Nevertheless, Remus wouldn't trade his new life for the whole wide world.
Unless, of course, it was for one where Harry was there too.
"Your mother is doing great, of course," Remus went on. "She's already a natural. Everything seems to be instinctual to her..." He sighed, resting his head on his fist. "Sometimes I feel like I've got a bit of catching up to do... Being a dad doesn't seem to come as naturally to me as being a mum comes to her..."
Remus huffed.
"Sometimes I can't get her to stop crying, and other times I can't get her to sleep... I don't always know what's wrong either, but Selene seems to be able to know exactly what Hope needs as soon as she starts crying – sometimes even before."
A bird flew overhead, and Remus watched it disappear into the thick of the tree branches above him.
"I'm trying my best, but I wish I could figure it out as fast as Selene has," Remus said. "I just want to be a good dad."
"I think that sentiment proves that you're a wonderful dad."
Remus' head snapped up, just as Selene sank down to the ground next to him, a small pink bundle held against her chest.
"Selene!" Remus said in surprise, reaching out to her. "What're you doing out here? Is everything alright? Is Hope okay?"
"She's fine, we're fine," Selene said, as Hope began to stir fitfully in her arms. "Hope was just missing her daddy."
"You think so?" Remus asked, a small smile on his face.
Hope let out a soft cry, and Selene nodded, gesturing for Remus to take her.
As soon as Hope made it into her father's arms, she stopped crying at once, instead falling back into sleep in Remus' embrace.
"See?" Selene said. "She needed you."
Remus grinned.
Selene smiled back at him, before her eyes slid past him to the little headstone before them. Her face fell slightly.
"Is there where you disappear off to every so often?" she asked quietly.
Remus nodded. "I try to catch Eliza up with what's going on with us and everything we get up to."
Selene didn't say anything right away, but Remus thought he could see her eyes glisten in the morning sunlight.
Remus knew that Selene had a hard time talking about Eliza, and an even harder time visiting her grave. She'd never gotten over their daughter's death, especially considering the circumstances, and so coming there to see her was something that she had to force herself to do – not because she didn't want to, of course, but because she didn't really know what to do with herself once she was here.
However, having Remus and Hope there that morning seemed to strengthen her resolve.
"Hi, Eliza, love," Selene said softly, drawing her knees up to her chest and resting her head on them. "I'm – I'm sorry I haven't come to visit in a while. I don't really have a great excuse... I suppose it's just hard for me still..."
She sniffled quietly, and Remus scooted closer to her. She gave him a weak smile.
"But I'm here now," she went on, picking her head up slightly. "And I promise I'll come visit more often and catch you up with what your dad and I get up to."
"Me too," Remus chimed in. "For example, your sister spit up all in your mother's hair yesterday –"
"Remus..." Selene groaned good-naturedly, shaking her head.
"– and she walked around with it like that all day long," Remus finished, chuckling. "She spent the day with dried up baby vomit in her hair, and it was hilarious –"
"Remus!" Selene laughed. "I was tired! It's hard work being a mum!"
Remus grinned cheekily.
"Well, your father is having a rough time adjusting, too, Eliza," Selene said, smirking. "Let me tell you about the day we brought Hope home for the first time."
"Oh Merlin," Remus said.
"And this Hope," Selene said softly, "is our home. It's mine and Daddy's favourite place in the whole wide world, and we hope it'll be yours too."
Remus dropped their luggage on the front steps and surged forward to open the door for his wife. "Hold on, darling, I've got it."
Selene chuckled as he held the door open for them before doubling back to get their bags.
"Hope, I can already tell that you and I together are going to worry Daddy sick," she giggled. Hope took no notice of her words, however. She'd fallen asleep in her mother's arms.
The door swung open again, admitting Remus, who came inside and dropped their luggage by the door. Then, he straightened up, stopping dead in the entryway and staring up in horror at the surrounding room.
Selene caught sight of him and raised her eyebrows. "Remus, what's wrong?"
Remus' eyes flickered to hers. "Selene, how – how are we going to do this? I mean – we – we can't do this!"
Selene's heart clenched painfully. Surely, after all they'd been through, he wasn't having second thoughts... was he?
"Remus –" Selene began, but Remus went on before she could continue.
"I mean, think about it, Sel," he said, the terror-struck look still present on his face. "Where is Hope going to sleep? We're – we're going to have to sell the house!"
Selene was so relieved that she burst into laughter. She stepped closer to her husband, allowing him to cautiously wrap his arms around her and their baby.
"That's seriously what you're worried about right now?" Selene asked. "Not the fact that we've just our brand new baby home for the first time and we've got to take care of her by ourselves now without Molly's help?"
Remus nodded. "Think about it, Selene. We've got our room, and Harry's room, and that's it. And we can't ask Harry to give up his room – or share. He needs his own space! He deserves his own room!"
Remus' concern for their son warmed Selene's heart, and she leaned forward to press her lips to his.
"What was that for?" Remus asked after they had broken apart, his anxious expression melting into a pleased grin.
"You, Remus Lupin, are the most wonderful husband and the sweetest father," Selene said earnestly, "and I love you."
Remus kissed her again, only pausing long enough to say, "And I love you, Mrs. Lupin."
Selene pecked him on the cheek, grinning. "You're so cute."
"I stand by what I said, though," Remus said seriously. "We've very quickly outgrown our cottage."
Selene frowned. "But our cottage is our home. I've lived here for twenty years, I don't think I could just... leave."
"I know that, Selene..." Remus said slowly, "but we can't change the fact that we just don't have enough room for the two of us, Harry, and Hope."
"Yeah, I suppose you're right," Selene said unhappily. "We'll have to come up with something. Perhaps we could add onto the cottage."
"That's an idea," Remus said, nodding.
Selene sighed. "If only Harry was here... I feel like he's missing out on everything." She huffed. "I miss our son."
"I miss him, too," Remus said, his flickering downward as Hope let out a yawn, her blue eyes flickering open. She looked around at her parents, blinking slowly.
"Hello, lovey," Selene cooed, leaning over to press a kiss to Hope's head.
Remus smiled. "Yes, good morning, dearest girl. How are you this morning?"
Hope blinked up at them for another moment, as the scenery around them began to wake up as well. Birds began to chirp, and a gentle breeze ruffled the leaves in the trees around them. The sun was completely above the horizon now, bathing them in a subtle warmth.
And then Hope let out a sharp wail, causing her parents to wince in unison.
"Well, if the creatures around us weren't awake yet," Selene said, scrunching her nose up, "they certainly are now."
Remus chuckled. "I think someone's ready for breakfast."
"Probably," Selene said, clambering up off the ground and grinning down at him. "Come on, let's go in. I can feed her, and meanwhile, you can make me breakfast." She giggled and gestured for him to follow her.
"I think I can handle that," Remus said, getting off the ground carefully with a fussy Hope and following after his wife. "How's pancakes sound?"
"Oooh, pancakes sound great."
Remus passed her in their pursuit of the cottage, due to his longer legs, grinning back at Selene. Selene watched him carry Hope back to the cottage, whispering unheard words down to the little girl in his arms and smiling down at her.
Then Selene turned back to look at the little headstone on the hill.
"Good-bye, Eliza girl," she said softly.
And then she headed back to the cottage to start their day.