After the engagement, Renata had felt more at peace than she ever had in her entire life. There was a sense of security that washed over her every time she peered down at her left ring finger and gazed at the ring. Sometimes she would find herself smoothing her other fingers over it, just to check and make sure it was all real. And it was, leaving her to smile each and every time. Of course, the engagement itself did not remain a secret for long among the public and Renata had a feeling that Sirius had something to do with it. He was a well-known gossip queen on a good day and everywhere Renata or James went, people were congratulating them before they even had a chance to say hello.
However, neither one of them minded as each reminder left them practically giddy in many ways. There was the focus of the wedding as that was the first question that everyone seemed to ask; when was the date? Neither one of them had put that much thought in it, still riding the bliss they felt just from the engagement alone. There was no rush, but at the same time, it was a question that both Renata and James were asking themselves in the privacy of their own minds. James didn't want to come across as pushy but if Renta was fine with it, he would have married her the next day with friends and family around.
But that would be moving too fast and if there was anything that James learned from his past, was that he didn't want things to come across as rushed. There wasn't a war to be fought, no lives were being lost, and times had fallen to a relaxed state. There was no need to rush around anymore, in a way, they had all the time in the world. It just so happened that he just wanted to spend as much time with Renata as possible and that wasn't a crime, was it?
To Renata, not much had changed since the engagement, at least, she still had her same plans as before when it came to getting the restaurant open and running while tending to her motherly duties to Harry. But there was one thing that crossed her mind and she was hoping to ask James, hoping she wasn't out of place to do so. However, before she did ask him, she decided to ask what the others around her believed, whether it was a good idea or not.
The first in the lineup was actually Remus, seeing as Huxley and Harry had a playdate to tend to, she was sure it was a better time than ever.
Fortunately, the time worked in her favour as James claimed he was going in for a job interview. Despite having plenty of money to the family name, James wanted to do something of his own. And while Renata had encouraged time and time again to pursue Quidditch, he thought of something else. But he wouldn't tell her what it exactly was until he had confirmation that he had the job. There was no use in getting everyone's hopes up if he didn't qualify for the position.
However, that afternoon as it was just Renata and Harry at the Potter Cottage, she had just finished giving Harry a bath, when Remus and Huxley arrived. Harry would have run out naked if Renata didn't catch him at the last second, bringing him to his room so that he could get dressed. She called out that they would be down in a minute, leaving Remus to respond that there was no need to rush. But Harry seemed to be in more than a rush to greet one of his best friends.
Between Harry, Huxley, Ron, and Neville, the four were becoming practically inseparable at the hips. Any chance that they could, one of them was demanding to see one of the others, which led to plenty of play dates, and normally Renata was the host as she seemed to have a better grip when it came to handling them. Augusta couldn't handle all four of them at once without becoming exhausted and Molly had plenty on her plate without adding others to her household.
But Renata would always make time for the boys when they requested it and the more that the boys spent time with each other, it seemed their personalities were beginning to develop. Huxley and Neville, who tended to be on the shy side, were definitely interacting more and especially talking more. Huxley who had been so timid in the beginning, hiding behind Remus' leg half the time, had taken to running over and greeting everyone when he showed up.
Just as he did that afternoon when Harry and Renata came downstairs. He abandoned his father's side and ran over to Harry wrapping his arms around him until the two fell over to the floor.
"I can't get enough of these two when they're together," Renata chuckled as she greeted Remus with her own hug.
"It seems they can't get enough of each other," Remus added, " all morning, Huxley was asking 'when are we going to see Harry, Daddy?' 'Are we going to go see Harry now, Daddy?' DADDY, I WANT TO SEE HARRY!' As if the two of them didn't see each other just a couple of days ago. Not that I'm complaining, I'm glad he's close with the boys, I just wish he wasn't so demanding."
Before Renata could say anything, Harry was already tugging on her hand with the request that he and Huxley could go out to play. In the most recent days, the weather had been quite nasty with heavy rainfall that led all the grounds around the home to become saturated and muddy. It seemed bathtime would go to complete waste if she allowed them to venture outside. But just as she was about to open her mouth and suggest the boys find something else to do, she peered down and saw the puppy-eyed look from both.
Remus suddenly clapped his hands over his eyes. "No, Renata, look away, it's how they get you!" he claimed. "Sirius taught them that. It's how he nearly got away with everything at school."
"Oh, but Remus, look at those faces!"
Huxley really had it down as his bottom lip trembled but Harry would not be counted out so easily as he clasped his hands together in front of him and pleaded with Renata in the tiniest voice he could muster. Immediately, Renata caved and Remus let out a heavy sigh before shaking his head in disappointment.
"Don't you shake your head at me, I didn't see you interfering," she replied, " you just stood there and covered your eyes."
"Yes, because as soon as you look at them, they win!"
Needless to say, the two could go back and forth all day, but the truth was, Harry and Huxley had already won.
After bundling the boys up in rain gear, including slipping on their wellies, the four ventured outside. Remus and Renata remained on the steps and the boys were set free to run around as long as they remained close and in eyesight. Harry led the way as he found a stick on the ground and pretended that it was a wand, waving it around and yelling out gibberish. While Huxley had found his amusement with jumping around in the puddles like a madman. Even though Remus was disappointed that Renata had fallen victim to the puppy-eyed look, even he couldn't resist the cuteness.
"So where is James again?" Remus asked. "He told me he wasn't going to be home because he had business to take care of, but he didn't exactly say what the business was."
"It's a job interview of sorts, I think," Renata replied, " for what, I'm not sure. He wouldn't tell me either, said it might be bad luck. He seemed nervous too. I didn't even know that he was considering getting a job outside of running the restaurant with me. But he said that would be my thing and he would offer all the support I needed, but he still wanted to find something of his own."
"Sounds like him," Remus said, scratching the side of his face where the stubble was growing in, " I wouldn't call it a pride thing, but James always likes to do things in his own way. Your restaurant is meant for you and it might be good for him to find something for him. I'm curious as to what it could be though."
Renata gave a shrug of her shoulders because Remus' guess was as good as hers. However, she figured while they were sitting together that it was the perfect opportunity to speak to Remus about what she wanted to discuss. Although as she tried to approach the topic, she found herself a bit riddled with nerves and Remus caught on quickly as her fingers started to twitch in her lap.
With a raised brow, he glanced over in her direction. "Is everything alright, Renata?"
"Well, there was just something that I've been wanting to bring up with James, but...well, I haven't been sure how to bring it up. It's been on my mind for a while now, but I don't know if I should ask now or wait... So I figured I would ask everyone who was close to James first and see what they had to say."
Her leg started to bounce up and down in place and Remus had to admit, he had never seen the woman more nervous since they had come to know each other. Whatever it was, it seemed that she was nervous about how James was going to react, whether he was going to be alright or become upset. And since the engagement was the most recent event, Remus sincerely hoped that Renata wasn't having doubts about it because that would crush James completely.
"Is it about the engagement?" he asked quietly, suddenly feeling quite nervous himself. If he knew something about the doubts of someone else's relationships, he wasn't sure what he was going to do. He, of course, had loyalty to James but Renata had become his friend over time too, meaning he didn't want to lose her trust either.
But the saving grace was when Renata shook her head. "No, nothing to do with that. Well, I guess it does, but it's nothing bad, it's more to do with Harry."
There was a visible sigh of relief that made Renata wonder just what Remus thought she was going to say but she decided to leave it alone.
"What about Harry?" Remus questioned, still not picking up on anything. It was a "now or never" moment, Renata thought to herself as she continued to twiddle her thumbs.
"Well, it's just, Harry is so special to me, we've been through a lot together," she began, looking down at her shoes, " all of us, really. But Harry has really been part of my healing process since everything went down and before that...I guess it's just hard to describe but..."
Her voice trailed off but as Remus went to try and coax it out of her, Renata just decided to blurt it all out to get it over with.
"I was wondering if it would be too much to ask to adopt Harry, you know, on legal terms?"
The area around them grew quiet, with the exception of Harry and Huxley laughing in the background as they both took to splashing in one puddle in particular. Remus' eyes had grown wide once the question registered in his head as it had caught him off guard. It certainly didn't come across as a bad thing at all, more than sweet actually. Taking his silence as hesitation, Renata decided to further explain herself.
"With James and I getting married eventually, I just thought it would be the proper thing to do to offer the idea. I would be his stepmother...although I don't think I could call myself that really. I wouldn't refer to him as my stepson while we were out anywhere, just my son. However... I don't know how James would take to that."
"Why do you think he would react poorly to the idea? I'm sure he would love it if you became Harry's adoptive mother," Remus reassured her, " he refers to you as Harry's mother and Harry already calls you Mummy."
"I know, I know," she said, " but part of me still thinks back to Harry's birthday and how upset James was. I just don't want him thinking that I'm overstepping boundaries-"
Despite the apologies that James had offered, it seemed the memory still lingered in Renata's mind, enough that it created fear. She didn't want to do anything that would risk losing James and Harry, enough that she was fearful of James growing upset. But Remus truly believed that James would have the opposite reaction. Harry and Renata had already established a mother and son relationship, long before James and Renata had established their own relationship. If anything James would be thrilled to have it be official that Renata was willing to be Harry's mother.
"James was in a very dark place during that time, Renata, I know you're aware of that, " he said, placing his hand on her knee, " since then, the two of you have come such a long way. I don't think James would be upset at all, he might cry when you ask him, but that's only out of joy. He knows how much Harry loves you, we all know how much he loves you... I understand why you would be nervous, but that was the past."
"Do you think I should ask him before or after the wedding?" Renata questioned further. " I don't want to come across as rushing things or pushy-"
Suddenly, Remus started laughing; he simply couldn't help himself. Just several days prior, James had been talking about not wanting to wait on the wedding but he didn't want to say anything because he didn't want to come across as pushy or rushing things either. It seemed the two of them were sharing their own insecurities when in reality, they were just doing things out of love.
"You realise that if it were up to James, he would marry you tonight that's how much he loves you," Remus said, " and if you asked him to adopt Harry, he would probably fall in love with you even more if that were possible. You don't have to worry about things like that, Renata. Trust me."
Her face turned red at the mentioning of James wanting to marry her right away. "Did he say something like that? That he wanted to get married as soon as possible?"
Remus nodded his head. "What can I say? James has always been quite the romantic. When he commits, well, he commits wholeheartedly."
Remus' words seemed to be everything that Renata needed to hear as her nerves vanished and a smile returned to her lips. The two of them continued sitting with one another, watching Harry and Huxley play until they heard the sound of an apparating crack come from inside the home. Turning her head to the noise, Renata pushed herself up, and seconds later, James came stepping outside with a bright smile on his face.
"By the look of that smile, I would say that all went well with your job interview?" she asked only to have James pull her into him by the waist.
"More than well," he said before kissing her forehead, " I got the job!"
And as much as Renata and Remus wanted to congratulate him and cheer, they still didn't know what job James had managed to get. They both looked at him, waiting for James to actually tell them. After a minute or so, it finally clicked in his mind that he had kept it a secret on purpose.
"Oh, right, I didn't tell you," he snorted to himself, leaving Remus to roll his eyes playfully, while Renata continued to wait patiently, " you're looking at the newest Quidditch Correspondent for the Daily Prophet."
Immediately, he was greeted with cheer and Remus pushed himself up to offer his congratulations as well. All the commotion brought over Harry and Huxley's attention, however, in just the couple of minutes that the attention had been off of the boys, they managed to get into a little trouble. Harry didn't even know what his father had done that caused his mother and his uncle to be so happy, but he thought he would join in as well as he climbed up the steps and hugged James' leg.
Huxley took note and decided to follow Harry's actions, hugging James' other leg and as James peered down to greet the boys, he screeched. With all the adults looking down at the two, they saw that Harry and Huxley were covered, from head to toe in mud, and it was currently also all over James' trousers.
"Uh, well, just see it as "good job" mud," Renata said with a grin before Harry looked up at the two.
"Good job, Daddy."
"Good job, Prongsy," Huxley added.
At that point, James couldn't be angry, even if he wanted to be, instead, he laughed before lifting Harry into his arms and Huxley made his way over to Remus, wiping his face into his father's trousers as well before demanding to be picked up.
"Ever the demanding," Remus sighed with a smile before lifting Huxley into his arms.
"Well," Renata said, " I think the good news calls for a bit of celebration. Why don't we head inside, get the boys all clean, and settle in for a nice lunch? Hopefully, these two didn't fill up on too many mud pies."