Chapter 24: Welcome to the family

Finally, Teddy gets to meet little James.

13th June 2005

London

Teddy Lupin knows how to be a big cousin. In fact, he's an excellent big cousin. Being a big cousin is great. As the oldest cousin of 6, Teddy has gotten quite some experience at being – and becoming - a big cousin.

But being a big brother is new for Teddy. And even though he doesn't like it, he feels a tad worried about it.

He has of course known about the baby for a long time. From the beginning, even before you could see or feel the baby in Ginny's tummy, the new Potter brought a lot of changes with it. Ginny stopped playing Quidditch - but only for a while, she keeps telling everyone, even though Grandma Molly gives her mean looks when she does – and then Harry, Ginny and Teddy bought a new house – with a big room for the baby and an even bigger one for Teddy. They bought baby stuff and painted the room for the baby – white and yellow, because no one knows what the baby will be. Hermione gave him books about being a big brother and Harry helped him to read those before bedtime.

Somehow, even after all the preparations Teddy isn't sure he knows how to be a big brother.

Teddy's friend Damien from school has 3 siblings. Damien's older brother Morris doesn't seem like a very good big brother to Teddy, and Damien – even though Teddy likes Damien a lot – doesn't seem to like his little sisters a lot. Joel - Teddy's other friend - has a little brother called Liam, but they don't get along very well either. Liam cries a lot and their mum is always taking care of Liam, leaving Joel to himself.

Teddy wonders if he and the baby will fight a lot. Maybe the baby won't like Teddy very much and that would be rubbish.

Then there's Victoire. She does get along with Dommy, even though Dommy is a screechy little girl. Still, Victoire loves Dommy and they play together. They even let her tag along when Teddy and Vicky go adventuring. But then, Vicky and Dommy are different because they are both girls – and being a big sister is probably easy. Ginny is no one's big sister. But Ron is Ginny's big brother and they fight a lot – but they also hug a lot.

Maybe the baby is a girl. Teddy's not sure what that will be like at home.

This Monday the baby is everything Teddy can think about and the queasy feeling this entails, makes him want to cry. He's awfully nervy – even more than before a math test.

"Teddy!" His Grannie's voice startles him. She's standing by the willow tree at the gate of his school as Teddy and his schoolmates leave the building. Grannie's big smile makes Teddy feel better immediately and he practically runs to her.

He spent the last few nights at his Grannie Andi's house because the baby was causing Ginny to feel poorly. Ginny hasn't felt good for a week or so and yesterday after Grandma Molly's Sunday lunch, Harry told Teddy the baby had finally decided to be born. So instead of going flying after lunch, everyone had to go home and Teddy went back home with his Grannie.

"How was school, love?" Pulling him close, Grannie kisses his head – Teddy won't admit it, but he likes when the adults do that.

"Fine." With his Grannie's arm around his shoulder they walk off the school grounds. They have to walk a little before they can disapparate from an alleyway. "Are we going to see the baby?"

When Teddy woke up this morning, he supposed he'd stay at home. But Grannie told him he had to go to school, because the baby wasn't here yet. And really, becoming a big brother isn't a reason to miss school. Teddy strongly and loudly disagreed – without success. But as he predicted to his Grannie, he couldn't quite concentrate all day and counted the minutes until Grannie picked him up again.

"We are indeed."

They reappear at the border of the Burrow's property where Teddy almost lands in a puddle of mud. Luckily, his Grannie holds him up by his rucksack.

Like always when he apparates, his tummy does somersaults. This time though, Teddy isn't sure if it's because of the traveling or the nerves. He looks up at his Grannie and sees her smiling at him. "What are you waiting for then?" With a pat from Grannie, Teddy runs for the Burrow's backdoor.

Teddy pushes the door open a bit too forcefully, making Grandpa Arthur's owl Fortis flap his wings angrily. Harry stands with his back against the kitchen worktop, the sun hitting his face through the open door. The cup of tea Harry is drinking tumbles out of his hand as Teddy barrels into him and Harry pulls Teddy up against his chest. The sound of his godfather's laugh makes the feeling in Teddy's tummy ease a little.

"Excited, mate?" Harry's hands steady Teddy as he wraps his legs around his godfather's middle, like he did when he was little. From the corner of his eyes, Teddy sees Grandma Molly letting the tea cup float onto the worktop next to Harry. "Thanks, Molly. Hullo, Andi."

"Hello, Harry. Congratulations, dear." Teddy feels his grandma close, giving Harry a sort-of hug, because Teddy takes up most of him. Teddy smiles at her sheepishly with his head on Harry's shoulder. Grannie gives him a kiss on the cheek and turns to Grandma Molly.

"Ted, will you need me to carry your butt upstairs or do you have functioning legs?" Harry whispers into Teddy's ear, making him giggle. Harry is funny – sometimes Ginny says he's not really meaning to be though. Putting him back down onto his feet, Harry gives Teddy's butt a little pinch and Teddy squeals – in a very manly fashion and not like a girl. "Come on, mate. I bet Ginny wants to see you."

Teddy and Harry climb the stairs together with Harry's hand on Teddy's shoulder. Teddy thinks that calms him a tad, but as they near the floor of Ginny's bedroom, it seems his tummy thinks not. "Harry?"

"Yes, Teddy?" They stand in front of Ginny's old room. Harry turns around to look at Teddy, his left eyebrow raised in typical Harry mime.

"Do you think the baby will like me?"

"I'm sure he will absolutely love you, Ted." Before Teddy can progress that the baby is a boy – he! - Harry opens the door. Teddy sees Ginny sitting on the bed reading a magazine in the sunshine coming in through the window. She looks a lot more like his Ginny than she did yesterday - or the last week really.

"Teddy-Bear!" Ginny has her arms open for a hug, so Teddy dashes over to the bed to give her a big hug. Harry sucks in a sharp breath behind him.

"Careful, Teddy!" Harry's at his side in a blink. "Ginny only just had the baby, we'll need to be gentle with her for a while, yeah?"

"Shut up, Potter. I'm not as fragile as you people think." Ginny rolls her eyes at Harry, but she smiles anyway. "Teddy, get up here. I didn't get my bedtime cuddle for entirely too long."

Ginny shuffles over a bit and Teddy sees her wince in pain. Harry sees it as well and helps her to move. When he fluffs her pillow Ginny looks like she might hex him, but she only slaps his hand away. Teddy climbs onto the bed – someone must have charmed it bigger – and snuggles into Ginny's side. Ginny nuzzles her face into Teddy's hair and bites his ear softly. Teddy giggles and shakes his head wildly, making Ginny pull away.

"I missed you, Teddy-Bear." Ginny nudged his side chummily as they watch Harry walking over to the sidewall. "Harry's not quite as good at Battle Brooms as you. It's no fun winning against him."

Teddy giggles, picturing Harry and Ginny sitting on their bed playing an intense game of his magical board game before bedtime. Teddy's pretty good at Battle Brooms – he usually wins against Victoire – but Ginny is brilliant at it.

"I let you win because you're a sore loser." Leaning down to what looks like a laundry basket on wheels next to the dresser, Harry gives Teddy a funny look over his shoulder and rolls his eyes. Teddy reckons his godfather is lucky Ginny didn't see that. When Teddy rolls his eyes at her, he gets no pudding for at least two days.

"Just wait until I can play Exploding Snap without peeing myself all the time, then I'll shows you who's a sore loser, Potter." Ginny sounds cross, but there's a huge smile on her lips as Harry walks to her side of the bed. He sits down next to her holding a fluffy yellow bundle in his arms, carefully nestled against his chest – not unlike Uncle Ron held the Quodpot at the Wheezes' summer party a few weeks ago.

"Edward Remus." Harry's voice sounds serious, like Kingsley's does when Teddy sometimes hears him on the wireless announcing important things. Suddenly, the queasy feeling in his tummy is back. "Meet James Sirius."

Harry leans over to place the fluffy blanket bundle in Ginny's arm, giving Teddy the first glance at the baby. The baby is sleeping, cuddled into the blanket that looks like a fluffy, soft, yellow cloud around his face, making Teddy wonder briefly what a cloud would feel like. Ginny shifts a little so Teddy can have a better look. James doesn't look like Freddie – the youngest Weasley cousin at only 3 weeks old. In fact he's not very baby-looking at all. "Is he supposed to look like that?"

James' face is round and puffy, the skin red as if someone rubbed it too hard with a scratchy towel. Maybe someone bathed him earlier and left him in the water for too long – that would explain the wrinkly skin. Teddy sees Harry and Ginny exchanging a look. Harry runs a finger across James cheek as he answers, a big grin on his face. "Well, yes. Babies tend to look a little roughed up after birth. He's only a few hours old, you'll have to give him time to recover."

"And to think he had the easy part of the whole thing." Ginny winks at Teddy and leans down to brush a gentle kiss onto the baby's forehead before softly lowering the bundle into the nest that her legs form. James' little mouth opens, but nothing comes out – a relief for both his parents who have already been witness of their son's impressive pair of lungs. For a moment all of them rest in silence, Harry and Ginny entranced by their baby's face while Teddy watches James' lips silently closing and opening – he looks a bit like Vicky's goldfish then. Mesmerised by the soft look of the baby's hair, Teddy touches the fuzz on James' head. The warmth of the baby's skin and the calm of the room spread through Teddy like a heating charm on a winter day and he wonders if James can feel it too. It's a feeling Teddy deeply associates with his family.

"So, what's the verdict?" Harry grins at Teddy running his hand very carefully over the warm, soft skin of James' face. "Should we keep him, do you think?"

"Oi, you plonker." Ginny's hits Harry with her free arm, giving him a deadly look that could very well mean Harry is grounded in Teddy's experience. "Growing that little lad was hard work and I want something to show for it. The next time either of you pushed a baby out of their body, you're free to do whatever you like with it."

Harry laughs and kisses Ginny face over and over, making her giggle happily into his shirt. Watching them, Teddy leans closer to James and touches the tiny nose of the baby ever so slightly with his lips. "Welcome to the family, James. I've been waiting for you for a long time. I think, you'll be a brilliant little brother."

I'm kind of excited about this.. so please be polite.

Everything you think you recognize from somewhere: not mine. Everything else: so mine.

A few things: 1 - I've been feeling like I'm not portraying Harry as the great person/husband/daddy he is. I hope this fix it a bit.

2 - brand new babies look weird af and not as cute as you'd think.

3 - Teddy (professional older cousin) has never seen a really new baby.

4 - Battle Brooms = Magical Battleship. Anyone got that?

5 - I suck because I wanted to do a Halloween piece, but this had to happen first. Sorry. Maybe you'll get the Halloween fic for christmas?

And closing - thoughts, reviews, faves, subs, prompts: anything is welcome and very appreciated. Don't forget to leave some love! It's a fanfiction author's salary!

Much love, catchingdragons