This is for the QLFC
Team: Ballycastle Bats
Position: Keeper
Ted/Andromeda
A huge thank you to my betas, and DarylDixonsgirl1985
Word Count: 1020
"Good morning," Andromeda whispered, running her fingers through Ted's sandy brown hair. The sun was starting to shine through the pale blue curtains of their bedroom. Ted yawned, stretching as he blinked his eyes open and smiled at her. Andromeda was sitting next to him, still in her pajamas. She looked as beautiful as she had the day he'd met her. After twelve years, he still couldn't believe how lucky he was to have her. She smiled back at him.
"What are you thinking about this morning?" she asked softly, laying her head against him.
"You," he replied, kissing her. She giggled, returning his kiss as she wrapped her arms around him. He kissed her again and for a moment they kept kissing in each other's arms. Andromeda finally broke the kiss and looked towards the currently closed door.
"Nymphadora's going to be barging in here any minute with a tray of half-cooked, half-burnt food," she murmured. Ted sighed and nodded. He'd nearly forgotten what day it was. The idea of spending the morning with Andromeda had taken the place of every other thought in his head.
"Right, I nearly forgot it was Mother's Day."
"Really?" she asked, raising an eyebrow at him. He just laughed and reached under the bed, pulling out a pink paper bag with marigold and peach tissue paper poking out of it. Andromeda's eyes widened.
"You did remember," she laughed, taking the bag and slowly pulling out the tissue paper to reveal a strangely shaped package with a boxy-looking machine in it. She held it up and looked over at Ted.
"It's a portable cassette player. There are also batteries in the bottom of the bag," he explained. "You mentioned how you wished you could take your music with you. I mean, it's a Muggle way of doing it, but—"
"I love it!" Andromeda threw her arms around Ted. "You'll have to help me figure it out and buy me some more cassettes for it," she added.
"I will," he promised as they heard footsteps out in the hallway.
"There's Nymphadora, right on schedule," Andromeda laughed, setting the cassette player back into the bag so it wouldn't get lost in the chaos she was sure was about to happen.
"Don't call me that!" nine-year-old Nymphadora yelled, pushing the door open. She was carrying a tray in one hand. Andromeda could see a plate with something on it, a cup half-full of what appeared to be pumpkin juice, and a vase filled with the wild flowers Andromeda had just planted in the window box on the east side of the house. Andromeda tried not to sigh as she thought about how she'd just have to buy and plant more flowers.
"I made you breakfast," Nymphadora announced, carrying the tray over and sitting it on her mum's lap. Andromeda looked down at her breakfast. The toast wasn't burnt or underdone, it was just the right shade of brown. She wasn't sure why it was covered in syrup though.
"Thank you, Dora," she said, giving her daughter a smile. Nymphadora smiled back, glad that she'd finally gotten her mum to call her the nickname she'd given herself.
"We were out of jam," she explained, pointing to the toast.
"Syrup is fine," Andromeda stated, taking a bite. Ted watched his wife and daughter, smiling. He wasn't sure how he'd managed to find himself such an amazing life.
"Want a bite, Daddy?" Nymphadora asked, holding out a piece of toast to him. Andromeda watched him as she took a drink of the juice, which was indeed pumpkin. Ted took a bite, mentally adding jam to the grocery list. The syrup wasn't bad, but jam was much better.
"Dora, did you remember the present you bought for your mum?" he asked. Nymphadora's currently pink eyes widened as she scampered from the room.
"She bought me something?" She'd thought Nymphadora had been saving up for something, a book maybe?
"She said she'd been saving up her money to buy you something, but she needed me to take her to the Muggle side to get it. I might have helped her pick it out a little," Ted admitted.
"Got it!"
Nymphadora shoved a small rectangular gift into Andromeda's hands. It was wrapped in bright pink paper and decorated with iridescent heart-shaped stickers. There was also a glittery silver bow stuck to the top of it, along with more stickers. Andromeda remembered seeing those same stickers stuck to several things in the sitting room. She laughed about how her daughter loved to decorate everything, especially if decorate meant to make everything pink and shiny. Andromeda unwrapped the package to reveal three new cassette tapes: Elvis Presley; The Beatles; and Tommy James and the Shondells.
"Daddy said you didn't have these ones yet and that he was getting you something to play them on," Nymphadora explained.
"He's right! I don't have these three yet, and yes, he bought me a portable player," she replied holding it up. She watched Nymphadora eye it, as if planning to borrow it.
"What's that part there?"
"Those are the headphones, and it works on batteries," Ted explained. Nymphadora studied the device, her interest obviously growing. Andromeda had to smile. She made a mental note to get her one for her birthday next month. Just like herself, Nymphadora was also fascinated with Muggle devices. she wondered if it was because Ted was a Muggleborn. She knew that had brought him to her attention back in school. He'd helped her pass Muggle Studies, which she'd taken just to annoy her parents. It had worked out very well in the end. She and Ted had fallen head over heels in love, gotten married, and now had their little family. Andromeda looked at the two people sitting on the bed with her, the two people that meant the most to her in the world.
"This has been the best Mother's Day ever," she announced, hugging both her daughter and her husband. Ted kissed her on the forehead, thinking how every day with Andromeda was the best day ever.