Hi everyone, I decided to post this now while waiting for the mens gymnastics to end at the olympics. I hope you enjoy it. The chapter is a little fluffy, but you have to be with a baby/deaging story. Thanks for all the reviews...keep them coming!
--Infirmary--
"Well, she doesn't seem to have any negative reactions to the de-aging. It looks like you young men are proud parents of a beautiful three month baby girl," Poppy smiles while handing Caden over to Sirius. Caden then turns towards her daddy and gives him a big yawn before snuggling down against his chest and falling asleep.
Sirius only had eyes for the little girl while asking, "How long will she be like this?"
Watching the man with the sleeping baby, Poppy lowers her voice, "Since the potion created is an unknown factor, I want to use only a mild aging potion."
"How long?" Severus repeats the question with a hopeful look in his eyes as he watches his husband and child.
Poppy's face softens at the look, "You have a year. Caden will not be entering her third year this September."
Severus holds back the smile that was threatening to bloom on his face. His little girl was given back to him. 'Sirius and I can raise her the way we intended, and Caden will grow up loved and with her parents to guide her,' Severus thinks. Just as this thought came into his mind, Severus turns to the nurse, "Will she remember her first childhood?"
Both parents hold their breath as they wait for Pomfrey to respond. "I don't think so; however, it is still to early to know. She was still living with you at this age. We possibly won't even know until she is a little older."
"When will that be?"
"I will give Caden the first dose of aging potion in two weeks. I want to wait and get the current potion out of her system before I start re-aging her. Every month, we will age Caden a year after she reaches her first birthday. The first dose will age her to six months, and then to one year," the nurse explains.
Poppy Pomfrey knew when someone was not listening to her, and the two men before were completely ignoring her for the small bundle in Sirius' arm. Clearing her throat to regain their attention, Poppy announces, "I believe that you should head towards Hogmeade to get some supplies before it gets too late. I have a few like a changing table, pram, swing, and storybooks from past incidents, but you will want to pick up some clothes and baby supplies. Wait a second and I will give you the pram now." At this, Poppy scurries out of the infirmary into her office to retrieve the pram.
While Poppy was getting the pram, Caden had awakened from her short nap and was not happy. Caden scrunches her little baby face and lets out a pitiful wail that demands attention. Sirius starts to bounce the infant lightly up and down to calm the little girl; however, Caden would have none of it. Spotting the panicked glance on his mate's face, Severus walks over that takes the baby into his arms. Discreetly checking Caden's nappy, Severus eliminates one possible cause for her little wails. Walking over to the side table, Severus grabs a bottle, transfigures a chair into a rocking chair, sits and gives it to his daughter. Tiny lip latched onto the nipple and starts to suckle. Severus sat there entranced on his little daughter's face while Sirius stands by the rocking chair watching the bond grow between the two.
Caden quickly finishes her bottle, and Severus transfers her to his shoulder and starts to burp her. By the time that Severus is finished taking care Caden, Poppy has returned with the promised pram. Making their way over to the nurse, they are given some last minute instructions. "Make sure she is always wrapped in a blanket while you are out, and don't forget that she needs to be fed a bottle every three hours. She might be a little fussy for a bit, so you must be patient. Severus, remember that she cannot make potions, so no black protective robes or baby cauldron. Sirius, she cannot do any pranks. If I see her with any prank toys before she is thirteen, I will hunt you down."
Both men smirk at the rambling nurse, they knew that Caden already had her wrapped around her tiny finger. "Do not worry Poppy, we have done this before."
"I know, but she is just so small and so adorable. "
"I'm sure that Caden will love spending time with her aunt Poppy. You will see her again soon."
"Yes, well you better leave before it gets too late. Remember that she needs to be back here in two weeks for the first shot," Poppy instructs while shooing the two men out of her infirmary.
--Hogsmeade--
The couple took their time walking to the small wizarding town. The sun was shinning warmly in the late afternoon, and the pair enjoyed their time pushing the pram and catching up. Little Caden was lying on her back watching the two men with heavy eyes. The motion of the pram and the voices of her daddies were lulling her back to sleep.
Gazing down into the pram, Severus gently smiles at the sight of his sleeping child. "Let's walk around for a while. The cause of our trip is asleep anyways."
Turning his eyes to the confirming sight, Sirius wraps his arm around Severus' waist and continues down the path.
After strolling through Hogsmeade, the two men decide that Caden was not needed for this shopping trip and did not need to be awakened. Spotting Madame Potts Everything for Tots, the couple head inside to gather some baby clothes and supplies. Although Severus would deny it on his life, the two men enjoyed picking out clothes for their infant and expertly gathered the rest of Caden's needs.
"So….we bought clothes to last Caden through the age of one. We have plushies, nappies, bath supplies, cloths, stories, a playpen, a cradle for our room, and other toys that Caden will need," Severus goes over the list of things aloud.
"Check on everything. We are going to have a hard time keeping Caden from getting spoiled. With everything we have gotten her, even things that she could care less about at this age, and everything the staff will want to get her, we are in for a lot of trouble."
"She is the only child in the Hogwarts family, I wouldn't expect anything less. We will just have to be constant with discipline and remind the staff to not over-indulge her," Severus replies.
"I'm glad we have this chance."
"So am I."
--Hogwarts--
The two men lapsed into silent after their conversation. Making their way through the gates of the school, their attention is turned to the baby babble coming from the pram. "Well, look who decided to grace us with her consciousness," Sirius coos to the infant.
"Yes, how convenient for her, sleeping through the entire shopping trip and waking once we return," Severus states with mock seriousness towards his daughter.
Caden lets out a baby squeal and then starts sucking on her fist.
"I think she is hungry again," Sirius observes.
"It about time for dinner. We can feed her when we go up to the great hall for dinner. It's Albus' rule to attend dinner in the great hall if one is staying in the castle during the summer. I think it is his way of checking up on us."
When the trio reached the giant entrance to the castle, Sirius reaches into the pram and removes Caden while Severus shrinks the pram and their purchases and sticks it all in his pocket. Heading towards the great hall, the two men catch each other's eyes before entering through the doors.
Sitting at the head table was Pomfrey, McGonagell, and Dumbledore, and when Sirius, Severus and baby Caden entered, all three sets of eyes were settled on the trio.
"Severus, Sirius, could great of you to join us," Albus gave as a greeting.
At this comment, Caden made her presence known by letting out a little whine of discomfort. Checking on his child, Sirius saw that the little fist was securely in her mouth. "Sev, she needs her bottle."
As if the elves were waiting for their words, a bottle pops up between the two plates of food waiting for the men.
Walking up to the table and taking their seats, Severus starts to eat while Sirius settles Caden in the crook of his arm and gives her the bottle. Caden's sole focus was on her bottle, so she gave a cry of discontent when she felt herself being passed to the headmaster.
"Well hello there, little one. I hope you are not giving your daddies anymore trouble," Albus coos. Caden just smiles around her bottle that the headmaster was holding upright for her to drink and grabs a small fistful of Albus' beard. "Oh no little one, you don't want to hurt grandpa."
Gently extracting his white beard from the tiny fist, Albus starts to distract the little girl with making silly faces.
"Albus, are you going to hog Caden's attention? I want to see the little angel," Minerva complains playfully.
Severus snorts into his drink at Minerva's comment. 'Angel? If you ignore the baby horns underneath her halo.'
Caden was then handed to Minerva. Caden's face started to go red with suppressed wails after she had finished her bottle with Minerva. After giving a little peck on the baby's forehead, Minerva hands Caden to Severus. Severus sets Caden upright against his shoulder and starts to pat Caden's padded bottom to calm her down and get her to burp. After about five minutes, Severus feels a slight difference of weight on his shoulder, which told him that she was asleep.
Catching his mate's attention, Severus jerks his head towards the door. Taking Severus' clue, both men rise from the seat and bid the group goodnight.
Once returning to their rooms, the couple walks through their bedroom to the bathroom. Severus walked to the changing table that Poppy had the elves add to their quarter, he lays the little girl down. Sirius heads towards the cupboard and grabs a fresh nappy for Severus. Remembering the purchases in his pocket, Severus withdraws the packages and as Sirius unshrinks them. The sounds of Sirius digging through the bags was the only noise between the two while the quietly change Caden into a sleep suit.
Picking the baby up once more, the couple returns to their bedroom. Sirius removes the cradle he had left shrunk and sets it up close to their bed while Severus walks around the room keeping a steady motion going in order to keep Caden asleep.
Finally the cradle was set up with blankets and pillows, and Severus gently lowered Caden into the wooden bassinet. Caden gave a whine in her sleep from the loss of heat, and Severus rubs her stomach to settle her back down.
"You, little one, are lucky that I am so happy to be mad at you for what you did to my lab," Severus whispers to his sleeping child before kissing her on her chubby cheek. Wishing his husband sweet dreams, Severus falls asleep knowing that in three hours he will be up again feeding his daughter.
Authors Notes: The end for chapter 9...hope you enjoyed it! Night...or morning!
