* ~ The Eighth Year Universe Series ~ *

PART FOUR

Brave New World

Chapter 60: For the Love of a Daughter

A/N: The chapter title is from the song:

For the Love of a Daughter by Demi Lovato.

Daphne gripped Harry's hand so tightly that he thought she might actually draw blood. He could hear her heart pounding in her chest; all of the colour had drained from her cheeks. In a matter of weeks, her entire life had been turned upside down and inside out, all because she opened a box.

They reached the desk, and Daphne opened her mouth, but no words came out.

"We need to know if we can see Cygnus Greengrass or speak to the Healers who are caring for him," Harry said quietly.

"Are you family?" The Healer asked.

"This is his daughter Daphne," Harry replied, "She's in shock."

The Healer nodded, "Intensive care, ground floor. Just follow the signs and ask at the desk there."

Harry nodded and thanked the woman. He gripped Daphne's arm and half-dragged her through the hospital. When they reached the desk in intensive care, Harry quietly explained the situation and they were led to a small waiting area.

"Baby, are you alright? You look like you're going to throw up."

"I'm fine," Daphne lied quietly.

Harry sighed and tightened his grip on her. A middle-aged Healer stepped out of a door and gave them a small smile, "Are you the family of Cygnus Greengrass?"

Daphne looked up and swallowed, "I'm his daughter."

The Healer took off a glove and shook her hand, "I'm Healer Drummond. Now the good news is that we were able to revive your father, which is not always possible in cases like this, as I'm sure you know. It seems that the dosage given was relatively low, which is good."

Daphne nodded, "And…how is he?"

"It's going to be a very long road to recovery for him," Drummond said honestly, "We revived him. His heart is beating, most of his organs are functioning fine, but he isn't alert yet. He needs something to pull him out of it. His body and his brain are in shock."

"Do you think if I spoke to him, he might…?"

Drummond nodded, "Most certainly. I was coming out here to suggest the same thing and to warn you that he does look very ill. His muscles have completely weakened due to inactivity, which gives the impression that he has lost a lot of weight. He will need to learn to do everything again, from something as basic to waving to teaching himself to walk."

Daphne gave a slight nod.

"And he looks quite yellow, that's because he is jaundiced. His liver and kidneys haven't been functioning properly because he hasn't been eating or drinking," Drummond added.

"What should I say to him?" Daphne asked quietly.

"Just talk to him, tell him about yourself, about what he has missed, tell him that you love him," Drummond said, "Just give him something to live for."

Daphne nodded and tightened her grip on Harry. She turned to look at him, "Will you come with me?"

"Of course," He replied softly.

Together they followed Drummond into the room, and Daphne's eyes immediately welled up. The man she had always thought of as invincible looked broken before her eyes. He was very yellow, deathly thin and looked like a corpse, frankly.

Her hand flew up to her mouth, and Harry wrapped a comforting arm around her shoulder. Despite the shock of it all, she edged over to him and sat down in a chair by his bed. Harry stood behind her, his hand on her shoulder.

There were silver lines above his head, and Daphne had seen them enough now to recognise them for what they were; brainwaves. At the moment, they were just flat, which was disconcerting.

"Hi Dad," Daphne said weakly, "It's me, Daphne. I am so sorry that it took so long to find you, but I thought that you were dead this whole time. I…" she paused as the brainwaves began to ripple marginally.

Drummond nodded, just talk to him.

"Mother gave me a box from your study because she wanted to sell the house, and I read your letters to Uncle Augustus. I saw what you wrote on my marriage contract to Draco, and I…I never knew how much you cared, and it hurt to find that out after you had gone. I am so sorry that I let Mother manipulate me into thinking that you were the bad guy in this whole mess. Merlin Dad, I am so sorry about that."

Tears streamed freely down her face as her father's brainwaves became more active still.

"What you wrote on the marriage contract, about wishing that I would find someone who was worthy of me and who made me happy…well, that wish came true. It isn't Draco; it's someone better. He isn't a pureblood, but Mother still approved because he has money and a manor, and he's a Lord. That's not why I'm marrying him though; it's because I fell in love with him in a way I never thought possible. He was the first person that I let my guard down around because I loved him enough to want to live my life with him, and it was worth it. We are getting married on New Year, but it's a secret wedding. Everyone thinks that it's going to be a party."

Daphne smiled slightly as she saw a significant spike in his brainwaves. She reached out to take his hand, and they spiked again, "I hope you can get well enough to be there and give that speech that you started writing."

His hand twitched, and Daphne looked up in shock.

Drummond nodded and mouthed, Keep going.

"We are adopting a little boy soon too," Daphne continued, "Harry's Godson, he's called Teddy, and he's the sweetest little boy you'll ever see. His parents died in the war, and we want to give him a proper life, a good life. He would love to meet you, I think. He loves Quidditch, and he's a Puddlemere fan just like you. I think being a grandfather might suit you, actually Dad."

This time Cygnus full-on squeezed her hand, and tears welled up in her eyes once more. It seemed as if his brainwaves were healthy now, which was a good sign.

"So you need to get strong again," Daphne continued, "Let the Healers do their job and get your strength back up. I'll visit you as often as I can, I'll bring Teddy in to see you every weekend, and I'll hope that maybe…you might be able to walk me down the aisle."

His eyelids fluttered and then slowly opened. Despite the skin tone, the thinness and the general air of sickness, those eyes remained just as Daphne remembered.

He couldn't speak, his lips were dry and cracked, but he tried anyway, and Daphne could see the word he was trying to form, Daphne.

"Don't try to talk just yet, Dad," Daphne said gently as she gave his hand a gentle squeeze. His eyes fell on Harry, who smiled weakly at him.

"This is Harry," Daphne explained, "Harry Potter, my fiancé."

Cygnus gave a slight smile because it was all that he could manage.

"I know, right?" Daphne said with a genuine smile, "He's a half-blood. Not to mention my second cousin, I really didn't think I'd go there, but this idiot is the love of my life."

"Hey, you forgot the whole, saviour of the world thing," Harry said as he gave her a playful nudge.

"Yes, Harry did also kill Voldemort and save the world," Daphne added, "Not that he likes to brag about it all."

Another little smile graced his face.

"Does that smile mean that you approve?" Daphne asked, a little tentatively.

Cygnus squeezed her hand, and Daphne smiled tearfully, "Mother and Phineas are going to pay for what they did to you, Father. I made sure of it, the trial will start in two weeks, and they will both spend time in Azkaban for it. You didn't deserve any of this; it isn't your fault that nothing you did ever pleased her."

He squeezed her hand, but he seemed weaker one that time.

"He's getting tired," Drummond said, "Little things like this will exhaust him until we can begin to get his strength up. We are going to have to give him water and food through a tube until he is well enough to start feeding himself again, so don't be alarmed if you see a lot of tubes when you next come in to visit him."

"Thank you," Daphne said, she let go of her father's hand and got to her feet, "I'll visit again soon, Dad and I…" she hesitated, words hanging in the air between them that hadn't been said for a very long time, "I love you, and I'm sorry."

Daphne could have sworn she saw a tear form in the corner of his eye as she left the room.

"Are you okay?" Harry asked her as they made their way out of the hospital.

"I'm fine."

"Are you sure?" Harry asked. They stood in the cold, fresh October air outside St. Mungo's, "Because with everything that has just happened to you, it's okay to admit that you aren't. It's okay to want to go somewhere and hit things or burn things. Anything you need, Daphne, it's okay."

Daphne let out a slow, shaky breath, "I need to go to the shrieking shack and scream as loud as I can."

"Okay," Harry said simply. He took her hand and side-apparated with her to the field where the shrieking shack stood. He held her hand as they walked through the heather and the long grass into the abandoned, rickety old building.

He stood at the base of the stairs and listened to her scream and shout and throw things and get all the rage and the frustration and the pain out. Then when the sobs started, he held her tightly and tried not to cry with her because seeing her in pain genuinely did hurt him.

"Who am I, Harry?" Daphne asked through her sobs.

"You are Daphne Greengrass, the strongest person I know," Harry replied.

Daphne scoffed, "Hardly, you literally died to save the world."

"And you would have died to save your sister. That's far nobler," Harry whispered into her ear.

Daphne shook her head, "I don't know who I am anymore. My mother is the bad guy, and my father is the good guy. Everything I thought I knew was a lie. The fire that changed my life and left me terrified for years…it wasn't a spiteful, hateful act like my mother had me believe."

"It doesn't change who you are," Harry assured her, "Because people can change, people do change all of the time. Hermione changed Draco, and he changed her, and you Daphne, God knows you changed me. Before you, I had no idea what love was. I was lost; I didn't know what to do with myself after winning the war that I had spent my whole life fighting. You found me, you gave me hope, and you changed me. I think I probably changed you too, so who you are now? That has nothing to do with what happened to you back then. You were already well on your way to getting past it by the time I met you."

Daphne's breathing slowed a little, "You did change me."

Harry didn't know if she was going to elaborate; there was a long silence.

"I thought I knew what love was until I met you, then the reality of it crashed down on me, and it scared me. What I felt for you, Harry, how intense it was and still is. It still scares me sometimes. I didn't think I was capable of love, compassion…I never thought I would marry for love. I never pictured myself as a mother, so yes, you changed me, wholly for the better."

Harry leant down and captured her lips in a chaste kiss, "You are who you always were," he deepened the kiss, "You are Daphne Greengrass, the strongest person I know."

Daphne leant into his embrace and let go of all of the anger and frustration that had built up inside her over the past few weeks. She let the calmness that Harry exuded wash over her and clear her head.

She found herself going back to her 'happy place' which seemed to be her eighth year at Hogwarts. All of those stolen moments with Harry in broom cupboards or empty classrooms, the hurried kisses. Back when they were still within that bubble at Hogwarts, before the real world rained down on her like a meteor shower.

When he lifted her with ease, she wrapped her legs around his waist, and she was back there, laughing because he had pulled her into a broom cupboard on her way to class. He left a trail of kisses down her neck, and she was there again, trying to make sure they put the right ties on before parting ways lest anyone caught her wearing a Gryffindor tie.

He said her name, softly and quietly, and she was back there, kissing him in the dark in that secret passageway.

She told him she loved him and rested her head on his shoulder, and she was back there. The last time at school, lying next to him in bed wondering, praying that nothing would change when they left school.

"I love you too," Harry murmured.

Of course, everything around them had changed, but that didn't mean that they had. They had responsibilities now, jobs, a child, a wedding to plan. They had real-world problems, real family problems, but they were still those two kids at heart. Those two kids who had seen horrible things and didn't believe that the world could be a better place until they had shown each other the possibilities.

Yes, Daphne had thought that her world was crashing down around her, and maybe it was. But with Harry by her side, she knew that somehow, in the end, it would all put itself right again.

She knew, for the first time in a good few weeks, that someday it was all going to be okay again.

"Afternoon Bill."

Bill smiled sympathetically at her when she eventually dragged herself into work on Friday afternoon, "Do you want to go home? You look like shit."

Daphne shook her head, "I need to work; it keeps me focused."

"Did the hearing go that badly?" Bill asked. He handed her a cup of coffee.

Daphne sighed and sat down slowly behind her desk, "Well, my mother and her lover aren't murderers, so there's that, I guess."

Bill frowned, "So who did kill your father?"

"Nobody," Daphne replied, "He's alive. My uncle gave him the draught of living death then put him in the family crypt after the funeral. He's in St. Mungo's, and Harry's doing his best to make sure it's all kept quiet until the trial. After that, there's no way of stopping the news breaking."

"Woah," Bill said after a moment, "That's dark."

"Yep," Daphne sighed, "So he's ill obviously, having being left inactive for the best part of a year and a half. But then there's the fact that when he does start to get better, I have to get to know my dad again. When I was little, I was always his golden girl, but then we started to drift apart when I went to Hogwarts because my mother started spinning lies about him, making me believe he had set fire to the house when we were younger. In actual fact, the fire was an accident, nobody was supposed to be in, but the insurance money would have saved the business."

Daphne took a breath and continued, "And he was bitter, but only because my mother blatantly shoved it in his face that she was sleeping with his brother. I mean, that's sick, don't you think?"

Bill nodded.

"So I always thought that my dad was the bad guy, and now…."

"Now you need to get to know him again," Bill reiterated.

"Yeah," Daphne sighed. She rubbed her eyes, "So I'm tired, and I'm stressed, but I can't let it stop me. I need work, I need life to go on as normal, or I don't think I will cope."

"Alright," Bill said, he clapped his hands together, "In that case, move your arse because we're going to Surrey where some eejit is handing out cursed teapots that turn the drinkers into old ladies."

Daphne laughed and got to her feet, "Do you know what? That's exactly what I needed to hear this afternoon."

Lilly was in the middle of dropping a bombshell on Neville when her best friend gatecrashed their moment. Harry and Daphne hadn't come to movie night, so it had just been them, Draco and Hermione that night since Sadie was having another bout of sickness.

Once they had kicked the others out, they briefly spoke about how Daphne was because Harry had filled Neville in on the events of the day.

"I'll go and check on her tomorrow," Lilly said as she put a cup of coffee in front of him, "But I had a groundbreaking realisation today."

Neville looked up at her expectantly.

"Neville…I want to have your babies."

Neville did a spit take, "W…wh…what?"

Lilly stood in front of him and crossed her arms, "I'm not afraid of commitment. I'm going to marry you, and I want kids, okay? I want that, I want babies, and I want them with you."

"Uh…"

"Say something then!"

"Well…I need to finish Auror training-"

"Uh! Not now, Neville!"

Neville frowned and scratched his head, "Okay, Lil, the thing is…I'm not following."

Lilly rolled her eyes, "Everyone treats me like I'm going to become some crazy cat lady who never settles down, and I don't know why so I figured I should maybe tell you that I don't wanna be a crazy cat lady. Okay?"

"You don't want to be a crazy cat lady," Neville repeated, "You want my babies."

"Do you have to repeat everything I said?"

"Just letting it sink in," Neville said honestly, "Where did this come from?"

"Daphne said, 'I thought you didn't like babies' when I was holding Teddy and Sadie's always like 'oh well Hermione's not ready for kids yet either Lilly, don't worry'. Everyone thinks I don't want that, but I do, okay?" Lilly mused as she paced back and forth, "I do like danger when it comes to my job, but when it comes to life, I just want what everyone else has. I want domestic, I want boring, I want kids who we can take out to the greenhouse, and I want to do a better job of it than my parents did, so I won't take that plunge until I feel totally ready."

"I know, baby," Neville said as he drew her close, "I want that too, and I also want to marry you and impregnate-"

"Don't finish that sentence."

"Yeah, I'm not gonna finish that sentence. I just ruined the mood, didn't I?"

"A little…"

"Sorry…"

"Neville," Lilly said with a smile.

Neville looked down at her, "Yeah?"

"Don't ever change," Lilly said softly. She was just about to lean up and kiss him when Daphne appeared in their kitchen.

Lilly jumped in alarm, "How did you do that?"

"I came through the vanishing cabinet," Daphne replied offhandedly.

"The…I'm sorry, did you say vanishing cabinet?"

Neville grimaced.

"Yeah, the vanishing cabinet in the library," Daphne said calmly as she put the kettle on to boil.

"Just make yourself at home then, Daphne," Neville joked.

Lilly frowned, "The library…Neville…the lovely, ornate Victorian cabinet that you said you found in storage when we were fixing up the house?"

"Well," Neville said slowly, "It is lovely, ornate and Victorian. I didn't lie to you; I just didn't tell you it was a vanishing cabinet."

"So you just happened to have a vanishing cabinet in your basement that was paired with the one in Potter Manor?" Lilly scoffed, "Do you think I'm stupid?"

"No," Neville said honestly. He shot Daphne a glare, "And how do you know about it? Harry wasn't supposed to tell you."

"Harry didn't tell me, but when a suspicious cabinet appears in my library, which looks very much like a vanishing cabinet, what do you think I'm going to do? Sit and look at it?" Daphne snorted as she sipped the coffee she had just made.

"So you just walked through it," Neville snorted.

"I did, and I realised I was in Longbottom House and thought, well, of course, where else would it go?" Daphne remarked with a roll of her eyes.

"Why do you have vanishing cabinets between each other's houses? And how long have you had them for?" Lilly asked, amusement lacing her voice.

"We've had them since I restored the Manor, but we only linked them after we finished Hogwarts," Neville admitted sheepishly, "And we have them because we're both paranoid and want an escape plan in case our houses are ever attacked."

"So, on average, how often do you use these 'escape plan' vanishing cabinets to go back and forth between each other's houses?" Lilly asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Uh…pretty much every time you guys are out," Neville answered sheepishly.

Lilly looked at Daphne in disbelief, "And to think they slagged Draco and Theo off for putting doors between their houses."

"Oh come on, that's different," Daphne chuckled, "They have two kitchens, two drawing-rooms etc, but that's basically one big house. These two have just decided to connect theirs so that when they feel too lazy to apparate or use the floo, they can just walk into a bloody cabinet."

"I doubt you two would be complaining if your house was attacked and you got to come through to a safe haven," Neville muttered irritably.

"So you guys are each other's safe haven?" Lilly teased, "That's cute."

Neville rolled his eyes, "Okay, Lilly, stop winding me up, or I'll veto every one of your choices for the next movie night and Daphne, why are you so happy? The way Harry put it, your life was falling apart this morning."

"It was, but then Harry and I had emotional sex in the shrieking shack so suddenly, I feel a lot better," Daphne remarked offhandedly, "But I'm here to talk to Lilly about how to connect with your estranged father."

"Uh well…I don't really know how you expect me to help with that," Lilly admitted with a frown.

"You had to reconnect with your father after he left for Japan," Daphne prodded.

"Right," Lilly said sarcastically, "I hate to break it to you, but my dad just got a new job far from home and decided that being miles away from my mother after he left her for a bloke was a good idea. It's not really the same as your mother conspiring with your uncle to kill your father, but failing and putting him into the worlds worst coma for a year and a half."

Neville bit his lip, half-expecting Daphne to burst into tears.

Instead, she just sighed into her coffee, "I know that, Lil. But what I'm asking is, how did you reconnect?"

"Uh…I nearly died in the final battle then ran away from my problems to spend the summer with him in Japan," Lilly mused, "And I guess we bonded over our shared love of sushi and retro gaming consoles."

Daphne looked at her incredulously, "Lilly, I love you, but I swear, sometimes you would make more sense if you spoke Latin."

Neville barked out a laugh as Lilly shook her head in amusement, "Just talk to him, okay? Remember the things you have in common and take Teddy. Everyone loves that kid."

"Now that makes sense," Daphne said as she jumped to her feet, "Thank you."

"Anytime," Lilly muttered. She shot Neville an exasperated look and hugged Daphne, "Do me a favour and announce yourself really loudly if you ever come into the house via the vanishing cabinet though."

"Maybe I will, maybe I won't," Daphne said with a wink.

Lilly shook her head as he best friend skipped away, "We're getting a lock for the bedroom door."

"Yeah…"

"And you are in deep shit, Longbottom!"

Over the week, Daphne visited her father several times. He opened his eyes and managed small smiles and small squeezes of her hand, but that was all that he had the strength for. So Daphne talked to him, she told him about her job, about Harry and Teddy, about her friends. Each time she visited, she spent at least an hour by his side, and although he had lots of tubes attached to him, he was starting to look a little healthier again.

When the weekend rolled around, they collected Teddy from Andromeda's as always and brought him back to Potter Manor. He and Harry went off to their weekly Quidditch game on Saturday afternoon. Then on Sunday morning, they all headed off to St. Mungos.

"Now Teddy," Harry said quietly before they entered Cygnus's room, "This is Daphne's Daddy that we are going to visit. He is quite ill, so you must be very careful not to jump on him or annoy him."

"He's too young, babe," Daphne said, "He doesn't understand."

"I'll be ready to catch him if he tries it," Harry promised.

Daphne took Teddy's hand and led him into the small room. She smiled when she saw that her dad was awake, "Hey, Dad."

Cygnus smiled in return, a little broader than he had managed the last time.

"I brought someone for you to meet," Daphne said. She lifted Teddy, "This is Teddy, our…son."

Harry smiled; he liked hearing those words. Even if the adoption paperwork hadn't come back yet, it would be official very soon.

Cygnus smiled again.

Teddy reached out and tried to grab a tube. Harry stopped the little boy, "No, Teddy. He is very weak. He needs those tubes to give him food and water."

Teddy was very much at the copying stage right now, "Water!"

"Yeah," Daphne said with a smile.

Teddy reached up for Cygnus, "Hugga!"

"He can't give you a cuddle just yet, baby," Daphne said, "Like Daddy said, he's very weak."

"Ah – Dada?"

"No, he's your Grandad, Teddy," Daphne said softly.

Teddy moved his mouth a few times, then said, "Ga-dad!"

Cygnus smiled in response, and it made Daphne's day.

"Ga-ma?"

"Grandma is out shopping with Auntie Cissa today, Ted. You'll see them on Monday," Daphne promised him.

She sat down by her father's bed and started to tell Cygnus all about Teddy. She told him about the Puddlemere games they went to together. She told him about Teddy's hair and how he was a metamorphagus. Teddy even showed off and changed his hair from black (which it always was when he was around Harry) to blue, then pink and then back to black. Cygnus smiled and listened to every single word.

That night Daphne and Harry tucked Teddy into his bed and made their way downstairs. They were just contemplating a cup of coffee when the floo whirred to life.

"Call for Daphne Greengrass from St. Mungo's."

Daphne immediately accepted the call, and Auror Drummonds face appeared in the flames, "You two need to get down here as fast as you can. Your father's health has deteriorated."

"What? But he was fine this afternoon!" Daphne exclaimed.

"Just get here as soon as you can," Drummond said, then the floo call disconnected.

"Well, who's going to watch Teddy?" Daphne asked in a panic, "Andromeda and Narcissa are away for the weekend-"

"It's fine, Daph," Harry said quickly. He threw some floo powder into the fire and said, "Longbottom House."

Neville's face appeared in the flames straight away.

"Hey Nev, can you guys come round here and watch Teddy? He's asleep, and he shouldn't wake up, but Daphne's da is in trouble in the hospital, and we have to go," Harry explained quickly.

"You don't even have to ask. We'll be right through," Neville assured him.

Surely enough, the moment Harry stepped back from the fire, Neville stepped through it, with Lilly on his heels.

"Go, we'll be fine with Teddy," Lilly promised.

Harry grabbed Daphne's hand, she was as white as a ghost and frozen to the spot, and they flew out of the front door.

Lilly sighed and sat down heavily on the sofa they had just vacated, "I feel so sorry for Daphne right now. This is all too much, adopting Teddy and then having all of this going on."

"I think adopting Teddy is about the only thing keeping them going," Neville admitted.

"How will we know if he does wake up anyway? We'll never hear him in a big old house like this," Lilly said, glancing around the room.

"Harry has charms set up in his bedroom. If he doesn't move for any longer than 16 seconds, an alarm will go off, and if he cries, we'll hear it through a charm that connects this room with his room."

Lilly frowned, "How do you know that?"

"I was over here quite a lot when you were in France," Neville admitted, "I got kind of lonely, so I'd come over here to duel or study with Harry. Then I'd stay in the annexe. Daphne used to make me breakfast in the mornings."

Lilly laughed, "I never thought Daphne would become the bloody matriarch, did you?"

"No," Neville agreed in amusement, "I always thought that would be Hermione but let's be honest, Daphne is pretty good at it."

"Hemione is more the type though" Lilly agreed, "Or she was, PD."

"What does PD mean?"

"Pre-Draco," Lilly explained.

Neville snorted, "What about me then? What was I PL?"

"I don't know, you've never really been without me," Lilly said, shooting him a grin, "You were my friend from the get-go until you became Neville the general Longbottom who shagged everything that moved-"

"-one person," Neville corrected.

"And led an army of students-"

"-I hardly led an army."

Lilly raised an eyebrow at him, "Yes, you did. You went all badass, cardigan-wearing, snake beheading Neville that year, and we kind of fell out of contact that summer, but beyond that, you've always had me."

"And the one time I didn't, I went a bit off the rails," Neville mused.

"So my influence on you is a stabilising one, clearly," Lilly teased.

Neville smiled, "You're probably right. Without you, I am reckless and impulsive. You tame me, Lilly."

"Don't make sexual innuendos when a toddler is sleeping above us," Lilly warned him, "That's a dangerous game."

"Oh, come on, he won't wake up."

"This is Harry's family home!"

"So? Think of the things we've done in my family home," Neville said as he captured her lips in a kiss.

Lilly tried to think of another objection because shagging in Harry and Daphne's house while babysitting their kid was wrong on so many levels. However, she didn't need to make one because, at that point, a sharp cry sounded around the room.

"So much for he probably won't wake up," Lilly said.

Neville rolled his eyes, "I'll sort him out."

He got to his feet and walked upstairs, unaware of the fact that Lilly had followed him.

Neville walked into the room and scooped the little boy up, "Hey, hey, what's wrong, Ted?"

Teddy sobbed, "Dada! Mumma! Dada!"

"Mummy and Daddy had to go out for a little while," Neville said gently, "But I'm here."

Teddy continued to sob, "Ga-ma! Ga-ma!"

Neville hugged the little boy, "I know, I'm not your Grandma, sorry but it's okay. I think you just had a bad dream," as he spoke, he bounced the little boy in his arms, "I know bad dreams can seem scary, but they aren't real.

The little boy calmed down and rubbed his eyes. Neville smiled and lay him down, then popped his dummy back in his mouth, "Sleep tight, Ted," he said as the little boys eyes fluttered shut.

"Uh-huh," Teddy said sleepily.

From the doorway, Lilly watched and smiled, "You're a natural."

Neville got to his feet and turned around. He smiled at her and tiptoed out of the room, "I love kids."

"I know," Lilly said. She leant up to kiss him, and he gently pulled the door shut, "And you'll make a great dad one day," she promised him.

Neville smiled in response and kissed her softly.

* ~ TBC ~ *