The last thing Renata was expecting was for James and Harry to return so soon, but at the same time, she was so relieved to see the two that she honestly didn't care about anything else. However, as Harry presented her with the flowers, she was left speechless for a moment as she held them, James looking mighty proud of himself for the idea and Harry looking all too pleased to be the one to present them to his nanny. Finally, when she found her voice again, Renata thanked Harry, by placing a small kiss on his cheek which brought him to giggle before he placed his hands on his face.
But, of course, the surprise didn't end there as James walked into the home with some bags and the promise of making Renata breakfast. Needless to say, she found herself more than surprised with everything that was unravelling that morning. James seemed to be in a cheerful mood as if nothing the night before had occurred. Although if one was looking at him, it didn't look like anything had happened as his hair looked just as it did before. She had to admit to herself that she had done an excellent job of restoring things to their natural order, no matter how messy they were.
And while she thought that Remus was going to stay, he excused himself, a smile on his face as he left the three. Renata didn't even fully know the reason behind his visit, if he needed something or if he was just checking to see if things were running smoothly. Perhaps he was leaving quickly to make sure he didn't run the risk of running into Sirius. If only he knew that his former friend had already been there, seeking relationship advice just minutes before they had all arrived.
But with everyone seemingly in good spirits, Renata had to assume that James didn't recall any of his confession from the night before and for that, she was extremely thankful. Seeing him excited over the idea of making breakfast brought a smile to her own face as she forgot all the previous drama for the time being.
Harry sat in her lap, pretending to count the number of flowers that were located in the bouquet, but he definitely started making up numbers once he got past two. Not that she minded at all, but most of her attention was focused on James as he was preparing the meal. He was humming to himself, singing a few lyrics to a song she didn't know, doing a little dance in front of the stove.
Meanwhile, she was just sitting there, wondering if this was the same man that had suffered another breakdown the night before, cutting his hair off believing that his late wife had hated him. He certainly didn't seem that way as he appeared to be in such a good mood. Part of her wanted to be happy, the other part of her was slightly scared.
At one point, he turned to her with the same right grin that had yet to fade. " So, I came out of my room this morning and saw that you were on the floor, " he said, causing her to turn red in the face, " you looked awfully uncomfortable. I hope you don't mind that I moved you to your room."
"No, not at all," she said, looking down at Harry as he was holding one of the flowers incredibly close to his face. " I um, just wanted to make sure that I would hear you if you happened to wake up during the night and needed something, that's all."
"Right," he said, rubbing the back of his head awkwardly, " I really appreciate that and about last night, I know I already apologised, but really, I am sorry for all of that. It's just...it's like I get a thought stuck in my head and then it just completely manifests itself into something ten times worse."
" I understand," Renata replied, " but really, you don't have to apologise anymore. I was just more than thankful that you didn't end up hurting yourself. That's all. But you did manage to calm down and that's really all that's important."
James nodded his head, although there was still an apologetic look on his face before he turned back to what he was doing as he continued to talk to her over his shoulder.
"Well, I wanted to thank you, not just for last night but for everything that you've been doing for Harry and myself. I know this isn't exactly what you signed up for when you agreed to be his nanny in the beginning, but-"
"Mr Potter, I really don't have a problem with any of it, " she told him, " I'm actually happy to help in any way that I can. Please believe me when I say that."
Renata didn't realise it, she didn't see it either, the look of pure disappointment that swept across James' face as she addressed him as "Mr Potter." His back was turned to her at the time, but the look on his face would have said everything at that moment. He thought they had made some major breakthrough or at least, had gotten past the need for formalities when she had called him James earlier But perhaps she had only done that because she was so tired, it was the only time that she had allowed her guard to come down.
James didn't want to go back to being "Mr Potter," he liked the feeling that had swelled in his chest when he heard her address him by his first name. There was something about the way she said it, whether it was in her sleepy state, paired with her accent or just the fact that she had said it that left him so giddy. It had been the fuel that had set him in such a mood that he wanted to go out and get her flowers and make her a meal.
But as James stood there for a moment, he realised how ridiculous he was making it all out to be in his head. There he was, taking one thought and allowing it to manifest itself into something ten times worse. He should have been dwelling on the idea that Renata had called him by his first name, even in her sleepy state. It was the first step and that was something, rather than nothing. He had to learn how to appreciate the little things more, rather than focusing on all the negatives.
Remembering the little drawing that she had shown him about the positives outweighing the negatives, James knew he had to put in the effort to blocking out the negatives in his life and searching for the positives. The positives were that Renata had been there for him during the moments where he needed her, she was always there for Harry, and she always knew exactly what to do. If she needed more time before she was comfortable calling him "James" then he could wait.
Although he really couldn't deny how good it felt when she called him by his name, he didn't know why it had left such an impact on him. But he hoped that even if she needed more time that it wasn't going to take much longer because he wanted to hear her say his name again.
But maybe in her sleepy state, she didn't even remember calling him by his first name, so there was a possibility that the wait was going to be a long one.
"So, what do you want to do today?" James asked her at one point, looking back and seeing that Harry had taken to placing some of the flowers in Renata's hair, while she decorated Harry's.
"I'm sorry?" she posed the question in confusion as she didn't understand why it was being left up to her to make the decision. Normally, it was just in her job to make sure to help Harry James out as much as possible. Any plans she made usually was just for the two of them, not herself.
"Well, you should see this as your day," James said, " it's your Thank You Day. So, Harry and I are going to do whatever you want, even if that means you want to be left alone for the day to spend it as you wish."
"Oh, I don't know," her eyes widened in surprise at her opportunity to plan her day to do what she wanted solely. But at the same time, she really didn't want to be alone either, that didn't really sound like a fun day at all, she always enjoyed having company around her.
"Think about it," he said, " you have plenty of time."
So throughout the time that James was making breakfast and all three of them settled at the table to eat, Renata thought about what she wanted to do. She knew she wanted to do something fun, something that Harry and James would enjoy as well. Because when they were both in a good mood, it made her day.
She poked her fork into her eggs, they were slightly overdone, but she didn't say anything as they still tasted fine. James was getting better with his cooking, although she knew he was dying to try much more complicated recipes. She had reassured him that it would happen in due time. She just wanted to make sure that he could just make simple recipes in his sleep before moving onto anything else.
By the end of it all, she was hoping to make a seasoned chef out of the man, especially since he really seemed to enjoy cooking. Not to mention, Harry had been eating almost every single meal that was placed in front of him. The little picky eater had decided to actually give each food a try and when he didn't like someone, he didn't make a fuss about it, he simply placed it down and tried something else.
And if he really didn't like something, he would take it off his plate and put it on either James' plate or Renata's.
Harry was learning and he was experiencing the world, step by step, and as time went on, it turned out, he was a really easy toddler to manage. Especially in comparison to other children that Renata had met over the years, whether they were family members or children of friends of the family.
Harry was an angel compared to them, even on his bad days.
But as Renata gathered a bit of salt to sprinkle on her food, the texture of the salt gave her an idea as she looked up finally with a smile.
"I know what I want to do today."
The idea to head to the beach for the day was perfect for the three of them because James realised that Harry had never been to the beach since he was born. All of his early days were spent hiding inside the home, so it was definitely something they could all appreciate. James decided it would be best to head to Kent as he remembered multiple times when he had visited Botany Bay with his parents and Sirius had tagged along on multiple occasions.
He thought Renata could appreciate that as she had never been to Botany Bay before and while the beach was awfully crowded, the scenery was still legendary in its beauty. The sand was always soft on the gently sloping beach and he knew that Renata was probably going to love the chalk-white cliffs that stood proud and tall, looking out at the water.
With all that in mind, they prepared themselves to get ready for the beach and Renata took the responsibility of getting Harry ready, even though James insisted. But that gave James time to gather toys and such to prepare for the day.
Renata was busy in Harry's room, just picking out clothing so that Harry would be comfortable as he ran around for the day, she could tell that he was just as excited as she was at the time as he could barely keep still enough to let her pull a shirt over his head. Then she turned around to grab his shoes, but she only found one.
Looking back at Harry, she could see the mischievous look on his face that definitely belonged to James.
And while many would complain and just claim that she could have used her wand, she thought that was extremely lazy and took the fun out of most things. Sure, she was a witch, but she wasn't a sloth, she could do things on her own without magic and obviously, Harry wanted to play the game of "find the shoe."
Crawling around on the floor, Renata wasn't sure if Harry's giggling meant that she was close or if she was heading in the wrong direction, but at least he was having a good time. She was looking under his bed, when she spotted Harry on the other side, holding up his missing shoe with a smile.
"Mummy, look!" Harry exclaimed. "Shoe!"
Renata had jerked her head up so fast at the word "Mummy" that she ended up slamming it into the wooden frame of Harry's bed. She quickly pulled away, still sitting on the floor as she rubbed the tender spot with her hand. However, the look of shock had yet to fade despite the fact that she was in pain. Harry didn't realise that what he had done had sent his nanny into shock, he was probably just trying to get her attention.
He walked around the end of his bed, still holding up his shoe. "Mummy, shoe-"
"Harry," she quickly cut him off as he called her "Mummy" again. It was incredibly sweet on his behalf because he was probably just associating the idea that she was a woman that did things for him. Spending time around Ron and his mother had probably given him the idea to use it with Renata.
She grabbed Harry gently and sat the boy on her lap. "Harry, " she said in a soft tone, " it's Nanata, remember? Nanny Nanata, not Mummy. Nanata."
He stared at her for a couple of seconds before he lifted up his shoe again. "Shoe, Nanata."
A sigh of relief escaped her mouth all too soon as Renata nodded her head with a smile to tell him that he was correct, it was his shoe. She took it from him and placed it on his little foot, just as James came to the doorway, with bags, ready to go.
"Are we all set?" he asked as he saw the two of them sitting down on the floor.
"Yes," she said, placing Harry up on his feet, " we probably would have been ready sooner if someone didn't hide his shoe. I blame you for that."
"Me?!" James pointed to himself, trying to conceal the smile that was forming. "How is it my fault?"
"Just by that smile alone that you're trying to hide," she pointed at him, " that's exactly why, Mr Potter. You already told me that Harry gets his mischief from you."
There was laughter that broke between the two fo them as they tried to keep stern faces with one another, Harry didn't have the slightest clue as to what was taking place but he decided to join in the laugh as well. However, his was much more exaggerated, which brought the adults to look at him and then proceed to laugh even harder.
But it finally came time for them to leave and as Renata pushed herself up, James realised that he had forgotten his wand on his bed. He claimed he would meet them at the front door before running off, leaving Harry to travel back to Renata.
"Come on, Mummy! Beach!"
If James ended up hearing Harry call her "Mummy" Renata knew things were not going to end well, so once again, she lowered herself to Harry's eye level to remind him that she wasn't his mother, that she was his nanny.
"Harry-"
"Nanata," it seemed he corrected himself as his little green eyes met hers, " Nanny Nanata."
Life was fun for little Harry, but at the same time, awfully confusing for the two year old that would be turning three soon enough. He had a woman in his life that took care of him, she fed him, bathed and clothed him. She sang to him at night, read him bedtime stories. There were days where the two of them would spend the whole day together and they would have the best of times. Harry always felt safe and loved in her arms and care, so that's what made it all confusing.
Didn't all those things make Renata his mother?
He had seen Ron call one woman his mother because she did all the same things for him.
It also didn't help that Harry didn't really have any memories of Lily anymore. He was too young to really remember her and she wasn't in his life on a daily basis, unlike James, Remus, Sirius, and Renata. There weren't any pictures of her up either because James wasn't strong enough to see any photos of Lily at the time. They were going on two years without having Lily around and in the last year or so, Renata had come into their lives.
So in Harry's mind, Renata was his "Mummy" even if she didn't know it yet.