I wrote this very quickly, only a short little thing to celebrate Mother's Day/Mothering Sunday here in the U.K.!

Phoenix, their oldest in my stories, was born June 1931 – in 1932, Mothering Sunday was observed 6th March, which would make Phoenix just under 9 months old :D I figured that, because they live in Dorset, Tina would probably be celebrating Mothering Sunday (and also observing the US Mother's Day later in the year too, because why the hell not)

Enjoy!

1932

It was normal to be woken by the sound of the baby crying, wanting feeding, a nappy change or even just attention – but that was not what woke her up that Sunday. No, what woke her up was her husband's lips on her cheek and the sound of near-unintelligible baby babbling in their bed.

Tina groggily opened her eyes to see what had disturbed her sleep; Newt was softly urging her to wake up, holding their son in his arms and grinning widely. It was impossible not to smile at the sight.

"Morning, love," He greeted, seeing that she was awake. "Did you have a nice sleep?"

She hummed in agreement, pushing herself into a sitting position; immediately their son squealed excitedly at the sight of her, reaching out his arms for her. "Morning to you too," She said fondly, taking him from her husband and beaming when Phoenix clung to her pyjamas in an effort to stay close to her. "I didn't hear you wake up this morning…"

"That's because I got him up," Newt informed her, looking only somewhat sheepish when she turned her head and raised a brow at him. "Well, it's a special day, after all."

"It is?" She frowned, wondering what she possibly could have forgotten: Newt's birthday had been a few days ago, hers wasn't until August, their son's was in June, and their wedding anniversary was in May. "Right…why is it special?"

He seemed surprised by the fact she didn't know. "It's Mothering Sunday – you know, Mother's Day."

Mother's Day. Understanding dawned on her, bright and clear. "Oh."

"It's a different date here than in America," He continued, now looking awkward. "I didn't even think about that… You'd probably prefer to celebrate on the day it falls in America, of course; I should have asked…"

Tina hadn't even given it a thought; in the past, she could remember celebrating the day only a few times before her mother had died, and she had done her best to ignore the day since. As for herself…well, she hadn't even realized that she would ever have to observe it for herself – she hadn't thought she would ever be in that position, that she would even be married.

Newt was still nervously talking, clearly worried he had upset or offended her. "I did get a card – I mean, I signed it from Phoenix, of course, he can't write it himself, but I thought…I thought it would be nice, seeing as it's your first Mother's Day as a mother. Rather silly and sentimental, if you think about it."

"You got me a card from him?" She asked softly, eyes drawn to their son.

"Yes. Here, I put it in the drawer." She was briefly aware of him hurriedly opening one of the drawers on his side-table, rooting through it before he pulled out a rectangular card; when he turned to face her again, he was decidedly pink-cheeked. "I should have asked which date you preferred – if you did want to celebrate it, that is. Perhaps you don't even want to – Merlin, I really should have asked-"

He was cut off by her taking the card from him with the hand not supporting their son, laying it on the bed and opening it up so she could look at it; she immediately recognized her husband's scrawling handwriting, though it was obvious he had made an effort to be neat. Curiously, she read the short message he had left.

To Mummy,

Happy Mother's Day! You're the best Mummy ever, and I love you so much!

Love from,

Phoenix

Suddenly tears were pricking her eyes, and she found herself unable to stop them from rolling down her face. Newt, alarmed, put a hand on her shoulder. "Oh, Tina…I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you cry. It was silly of me to just assume-… I shouldn't have written the card, I should have asked-"

"Newt." He immediately stopped talking, eyes wide. Tina could only sniff, hugging their son closer to herself. "Thank you. It's…I love it."

He was obviously surprised, judging by the look on his face. "Oh…you do?"

Tina nodded, absent-mindedly stroking a tuft of dark hair on Phoenix's head. "I know he didn't write this," She admitted. "You did, but…but it means so much to me."

Her heart swelled in her chest as she looked down at their son, who was gazing at her with wide eyes. He looked so much like her with his dark hair and brown eyes – but there was Newt in him too, freckles and a somewhat shy grin.

"It's just hit me again," She managed quietly.

"What has, dear?"

"That I'm…I'm a mother. I didn't think I would be," Tina admitted. "I never thought I'd be married, so I never thought I'd have the chance to be one. But I'm so…so happy, Newt, that I am one – especially his."

Newt's smile had returned, and he shifted closer to her on the bed so that he could look down at their son too. "I know the feeling, love; I never thought I'd be a father either, but I'm so unbelievably thrilled that I am – that I met you, that we had him."

As she sat there, her husband's arm around her and their son pressed against her chest as he babbled happily, Tina couldn't help but feel deeply content: if every Mother's Day was like this one, then she certainly didn't mind observing the day at all.

In a hilarious way, on her second Mother's Day, she has TWO – Linnet arrives in January 1933, just ten months later XD

Please feel free to leave a comment and let me know what you thought! :)