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Daisy was almost three months old by the time the Admiral deployed again and Heather dutifully saw her husband off at the dock, said all the expected things to the other wives present, comforting the teary ones and reassuring the first timers. She then quickly returned home to change and pack the car before heading to DC to visit her son and grandchildren.
Arriving in DC she realized she never had Tim's address, all her gifts had been sent to a post office box or his office since he informed them he'd moved out of his apartment soon after they'd last visited him at home. A quick phone call gave her the address and directions which she hastily scrawled on an old envelope after promising not to put either into her phone.
"Now we just have to wait and see whether she makes it through the wards," Tim told Hadrian anxiously as he disconnected the call.
"She should, Sarah always has in spite of her belief that the Admiral would accept us when she told him. Remember it wasn't a spur of the moment decision on her part, she'd been thinking about it for a while," Hadrian replied hugging his husband.
Hadrian checked with the elves that the guest room was ready and that his mother would like the menu planned for the next couple of days and more importantly that the elves all knew that his mother was not allowed to know about magic. They both looked over the house and made sure all the magical items and toys were locked away for the visit, not just downstairs but up in the nursery and children's bedrooms as well. Teddy was old enough to understand that Grandma Heather did not know about magic and that he wasn't allowed to talk about it when she was there, just like his school friends' families. Rosie wasn't but that was okay, she didn't really speak well enough to tell her and if she asked for any magical toys or games hopefully they could just distract her easily enough with the new toys Hadrian and Tim had put away for that purpose.
Heather followed the directions confidently enough, she was more than used to having to learn to get around in new cities, it wasn't until she arrived at the house that she thought she must have made a mistake somewhere. She knew from comments, Sarah had made that Hadrian and Tim had a nice house and were quite well off but she also thought they said they lived in an actual house, not a mansion converted to townhouses or condos. Still perhaps someone there could explain to her where she'd gone wrong with the directions before she had to call Tim and admit that she'd got lost.
The gates were open and she drove up the driveway admiring the perfectly manicured garden. She could see a swing and children's toys off to the side but there was no sign of the climbing frame Teddy had told her about when they visited the orangutans. Still she got out of the car and walked to the door surprised to see only one bell.
Tim opened the door just before she reached it. "Hi Mom," he said smiling.
Heather hurried over to give him a hug. She jumped startled at the clang of the gates closing and turned to look at them in consternation.
"It's okay, Hadrian was going to close them once he knew you were here before he let Teddy out of the house to greet you, Tim explained deliberately misleading his mother into thinking they were controlled electronically from the house. There were lots of little things in the house like that, not noticeable to a casual guest but which they'd have to be careful about if Heather was going to stay more than a couple of days.
Teddy came barreling out of the house and Tim caught him before he risked knocking his Grandma Heather over.
"Hello Teddy," Heather said.
"Hello Grandma Heather," Teddy replied suddenly a little shy. It had been months since their trip to the zoo and he'd only spoken to her on the phone sporadically.
"Come and help me with Grandma Heather's bags," Tim said recognizing the problem. He gave the little boy something to carry and let him lead them into the house.
"Daisy's asleep but Rosie just woke up from her nap," Tim said. "She's usually a little grumpy and clingy at first so you mustn't mind if she doesn't want to give you a hug."
"You have a beautiful home. How many townhouses are in the building?" Heather asked.
Tim blushed a little, he was used to the grandeur of the house now, to him it was just home, but he was always slightly embarrassed by people's first impressions of it. "It's all ours. Like we told you it's a bit big for us but it was a steal for a place with a decent garden in a good school district within commute of both Quantico and the Navy Yard. It was very run down before Hadrian renovated and restored it. I think Hades has photos somewhere of the wreck it was. Even the squatters didn't want to live here." Well that was because of the wards which prevented a lot of the damage other long empty houses suffered from, but he couldn't explain that.
"Well it is lovely now, but it must be a lot of work to keep it up, not to mention the taxes on a lot house this size, and a bit big for the five of you is quite an understatement," Heather commented.
"It is but it's relaxing too, and really a big room seems to be easier to keep clean and tidy than a small cluttered room and we have help," Tim replied leading her into the house and into the breakfast bay where they ate most of their breakfasts, lunches and snacks. "Would you like a drink, coffee, milk or some juice. It's snack time for the kids."
Hadrian had Rosie strapped into the high chair with her sippy cup and some pieces of fruit. Teddy ran ahead and climbed up on his chair and helped himself to the fruit platter.
"Hello Heather. Welcome. What would you like to drink? The kettle's just about boiled.
"I'll get drinks, tea Hadrian? Help yourself to the food, Mom. Don't be shy or you'll miss out, Teddy must be growing again he seems to always be starving hungry" Tim told his Mom.
Heather smiled and Teddy grinned. Tim returned to the table with coffee for he and his mother, tea for Hadrian and a cup of milk for Teddy.
"The house is lovely Hadrian, Tim said it was almost a ruin, it must have been an incredible amount of work," Heather said, silently adding 'and money.'
"It was a lot of work but I had some great help. My ancestors must've been rolling in their graves though, most of the old family money came from the decision made by a many times great grandfather not to sell off parcels of land and spend a ruinous amount trying to maintain the original manor house as most of his peers were doing and instead pulled the manor down and built a more sensible sized house and covered the rest of the estate in modest houses to bring in a decent rental income as the city reached our borders. Mind you their reasonable sized house was pretty much the same size as this though it has also been converted to luxury flats and rented out a generation or two ago," Hadrian said.
"I understand the decision but it is a pity to see the grand old architecture of a bygone era be destroyed," Heather said.
"Oh it wasn't a beautiful building, from the paintings and the plans I have of it. It was built one wing at a time over several hundred years as the family fortunes flourished, it looked more like a hodgepodge of styles, the oldest section was a small 6th century fortress expanded to become a manor during the 8th to 10th century with a gothic arched great hall added in the 12th century, then a Tudor wing where the family actually lived until the whole thing was bulldozed in the mid 1700's" Hadrian replied.
"The national trust must have been screaming in protest," Heather said shocked.
"No, the manor was pulled down over a hundred years before the national trust was founded. Ironically the replacement house was recently listed, which I suppose is a compliment to the firm who divided it into flats that they kept as many original features as possible," Hadrian replied. "I have seen them, they are nice, though the national trust listing has dramatically increased the maintenance costs."
"You don't approve of the national trust?" heather asked surprised.
"I do in theory, preserving our history is important, but there are a lot of uninhabitable ruins in England that the owners are eagerly waiting for them fall down completely so the site can be cleared and used because it isn't practical or affordable to restore them," Hadrian replied. "The real problems are that once a building has been listed, it's listed forever no matter how run down or damaged it becomes, which limits how you can convert them to modern use and contractors jack up their prices because of the increased difficulty with planning and regulations." It wasn't really a problem for Hadrian because any and all maintenance on his properties was done invisibly by house elves and the preservation spells stopped them from falling down around his tennants' ears.
Heather was a little shocked at these hints of exactly how wealthy Hadrian might be and to give herself time to process, turned to speak to the child.
"Are you enjoying having another little sister, Teddy? Heather asked.
Teddy shrugged, "She's too little to play, all she does is sleep and cry," he said matter-of-factly.
Tim and Hadrian were relieved that he didn't sound resentful over the times caring for the baby took his parents attention.
"She will be big enough before we know it, she's already grown out of all her first set of clothes," Hadrian said ruefully.
"I always hated having to let go of their outfits as they grew out of them," Heather commiserated.
"Yes, but at least I'm only putting them away for the future. I'm pretty sure we will have at least one more child," Hadrian said, agreeing with the sentiment. As much as he delighted in the fact Daisy, Rosie and Teddy were all growing and developing normally it was sad to have to pack up his favourite outfits as they grew out of them.
"Are you hoping for a little boy next?" Heather asked.
"One of my ancestors entailed their estate in a way that a girl cannot inherit and my nearest male relative on that side is a total git. I would rather not see him have anything I can prevent him from having," Hadrian said simplifying the situation. "But if you're asking if I would have preferred that Daisy was a boy or if we're going to have another child simply because she is a girl then no. My best friend growing up was one of seven children and while I can't see us having quite so many another one or two would be more than welcome."
"I was quite happy to have two children, though I did regret that they were so far apart in age. Because Tim left for college when Sarah was only five I despaired of them ever being really close as they got older but they seem to be growing closer again now," Heather said.
Tim knew the problem between him and Sarah had always been less about the age difference and more about the difference in the way the Admiral had treated them. Now that they were both away from his influence and had agreed not to argue about him, they'd been able to sort out their issues and develop a true sibling bond.
"If Hadrian needs a male heir doesn't that mean that the children would both be his?" Heather asked.
"No, we both agreed that we weren't ready for this to be our last child," Tim said.
"But it does mean that if you had a son you would find out the paternity!" Heather said.
"No it means that Hadrian's name will go on the birth certificate if we have a boy," Tim denied. "That wouldn't make the baby any less my son too and I don't care if my son isn't a McGee."
"Does it really make that much difference to you. What if I said that Rosie and Daisy were both Hadrian's biological children? Would you still want to stay and get to know them? Still want to be their Grandma?" Tim demanded. "This is the last time we are having this conversation Mom. Next time you bring it up I'm going to consider it a rejection of your grandchildren and my family.
Tim turned away not seeing the way his mother paled. She hadn't consciously meant it like that.
"You must have been up early to see the Admiral off this morning and Tim's told me how tiring standing for all the speeches before they set sail can be, would you like a rest before dinner? I'll show you your room, it's pretty soundproofed from the children's rooms so you shouldn't be disturbed," Hadrian offered, seeing how pale she looked. Even if it was just a reaction to Tim's telling off, she would probably appreciate a chance to be alone to regain her composure.
"I wouldn't mind a chance to unpack a little, I always feel a little bit disconnected until I have my special things out and around me," Heather said grateful for the chance to think things through and regain her equilibrium. "A side effect of moving too often with the Navy." She made excuses.
Hadrian smiled, playing along to set her at ease. "Tim's the same, he has to unpack his kit the minute we arrive somewhere even if we're only staying for the weekend. I on the other hand spent six years living out of my trunk in a shared dorm at boarding school so I rarely feel the need to unpack unless I'm at home."
Heather actually shuddered at the thought of living out of a trunk and Tim offered to escort her to her room. "Do you have more luggage in the car?" he asked.
"All the things in the trunk. Several bags and boxes, some of your things I had in storage that I thought you might want now you have your own home and family. Some gifts for the children," Heather admitted handing him the car keys.
Tim looked at the full trunk and knowing his mother's room looked out the side of the house not the front, called for the house elves to cast lightening charms on everything until he'd got it upstairs, set to dispel as soon as the items next left his hands.
He hauled it all upstairs. "How long is the Admiral deployed?" he asked beginning to suspect his mother might've planned to stay with them until he returned.
"Three full months, he gets back on December 20th," Heather replied cheerfully.
Tim smiled reminiscently, she sounded like she did when he was small and the then Commander deployed to sea, before he rose high enough in the ranks that his family had to present themselves in a way to be a credit to him and his ambitions whether he was in port or not. Sarah wouldn't remember this but when he was a child and it was only he and his mother at home life was very laidback and easygoing while his father was away. Tim realised in retrospection since having children of his own that it wasn't a good way to bring up a child. The two widely disparate sets of expectations had probably led to most of the early clashes he'd had with his father, the young boy resenting the sudden return to stiff formality and the returning father not understanding why his son was having so much difficulty meeting his standards. He'd spoken about it with Hadrian, who had agreed that in hindsight his mother was equally culpable for the early problems with the relationship with his father. Tim and Hadrian were both careful not to do it to their children. If Hadrian was away on assignment Tim made sure that his absence didn't change the children's routines any more than absolutely necessary and Hadrian ensured that the rules and discipline standards remained exactly the same whether Tim was home so there wasn't any reason for the children to feel insecure when one of them was away working or to be anything other than pleased when their fathers returned to them.
"And are you staying with us for the whole two months?" Tim asked as he carried in the last of the luggage.
"Not quite, I thought I'd stay here until I went to Jillie's for thanksgiving if that's okay with you, and then hoped you would come to your Aunt's with me," Heather replied.
"You're welcome to stay until Thanksgiving. I haven't asked for that weekend off, though I still can if you're inviting all of us to come with you. We'd need to book a hotel. I can't imagine Aunt Jillie will be happy if five extra people decided to come and stay on such short notice and she probably doesn't have the room," Tim replied. He tried to sound non-confrontational but the underlying message was clear. We are a family, invite us all or none of us! He was not going to leave Hadrian and the children alone for Thanksgiving so he could go to family weekend with his mother, even if Hadrian encouraged him to get back into regular contact with them. These people were his mother's side of the family so technically shouldn't be affected by the fact his father had pretty much disowned him. But it was always the Admiral's reaction he'd been concerned about and now that his father had been informed of his marriage, he had no reason to keep it from the rest of the family.
"It's quite short notice to add so many people to dinner as well," his mother murmured.
"We don't need to come, we do have plans with my team and Hadrian's if we don't catch a case and if we do I'd have to cancel anyway," Tim replied casually, acting like it would be no big deal to be prevented from attending his family Thanksgiving party.
"You haven't managed to come to a family holiday in years," Heather said sadly.
"I've spent every holiday in the last three years with my family, Mom. We just weren't welcome in yours," Tim replied bluntly. "Are you telling me that that has changed? Just because the Admiral's deployed. You know that someone will eventually tell the Admiral that we were there, and that you invited us. This is your decision Mom, I think you need to sleep on it and call Aunt Jillie in the morning if you still want us to go."
Heather sighed. "I want to spend Thanksgiving with my family. That's you and Sarah and Hadrian and my grandchildren."
"You're welcome to stay and have Thanksgiving with us, if you'd prefer not to tell your sister," Tim said sighing and getting up. "I'll see you later."
-o0o-
"Mom's planning on staying until Thanksgiving," Tim told Hadrian once they were alone.
"That's fine, she's your mother of course she wants to spend time with you while she's free to," Hadrian said understandingly. "Did she bring up the family Thanksgiving party again?"
"She did, I invited her to stay here for Thanksgiving dinner with us if she doesn't want to tell her sister about you and the kids but I'm not leaving you here on your own over the holiday," Tim said sighing.
"I wouldn't really mind. You know Thanksgiving isn't celebrated at all in Britain. It wouldn't upset me not to celebrate," Hadrian said calmly.
"All the more reason not to leave the kids home with you that weekend, you need me to help learn all of the traditions of the celebration," Tim replied.
Hadrian laughed. "So we're hosting a Thanksgiving dinner then, who else are you going to invite?"
Tim shook his head. "No. I have no doubt Mom will choose to go to Aunt Jillie's, especially after spending nearly eight weeks with us, the question is will she tell Aunt Jillie about you."
"Is Sarah going to your aunt's party? Surely your mom knows that if your aunt asks why you're not there Sarah will tell them the truth," Hadrian said.
"You think she still will after what happened with the Admiral?" Tim asked.
"Your sister is a lousy liar. Even if she doesn't mean to tell them, they'll know she's lying about you having to work," Hadrian offered thoughtfully.
"And Aunt Jillie will ring me to ask what's going on," Tim said sighing.
"Do you think they'll react like the Admiral?" Hadrian asked concerned.
"Nobody reacts to anything like the Admiral!" Tim snorted. "I think they'll be fine with it. They'll be more upset about the Admiral disowning me than me being gay. Are you really okay with her staying for a couple of months?"
"Yes, she's your Mom, it will be fine," Hadrian said. "So long as you're okay with her being here?"
Tim sensed that he wasn't being entirely truthful, though he seemed more anxious than resentful. "What about the magic? I know you don't want to tell her about it," Tim asked.
"I didn't want to tell her because I don't want to give her a reason to turn on you. You assumed it was the Admiral's ambition for you that led to them deciding to bind you magic and that fits well with what I know of him, but what if it wasn't the only reason? Or if it was his reason but not the reason she didn't fight him on it?" Hadrian explained.
Tim looked shocked for a moment. "You think she might have been afraid of magic?"
"Well, binding a child's magic seems like a monstrous act to me because magic is such a big part of me, but if you hadn't had many episodes of accidental magic and you didn't know about it then maybe it doesn't seem like such a huge thing to someone who doesn't have magic themselves. Or maybe your accidental magic had been violent and they'd had to send out magical assistance to fix it and wipe memories. Heather isn't particularly religious which is the other main reason parents deny their child access to their magic, so it's probably either fear, the Admiral or both," Hadrian replied.
"Are you going to be able to hide all traces of magic for a month? This isn't a totally nonmagical home, no matter how well you've adapted it so I have full use of everything. And there's the elves. We can't just give them the two months off or send them to one of your other houses for the month, they'd see it as a terrible punishment, and I refuse to hurt them like that" Tim asked. "Not to mention that I don't know that we could keep up with all the work that needs to be done without them."
"I can hide my use of magic easily enough, and the elves understand that they need to be unseen by all guests, it's standard procedure for them in other homes. They aren't upset about it. I'm not so sure about Teddy, if your mother still has the memories of finding out about magic and deciding to force you to give it up then she may recognize it in the children if she sees any," Hadrian said, slightly worried. "Keep an eye on Teddy just in case. I'd rather tell her and have her take it out on me than the children."
"What else is worrying you?" Tim asked perceptively.
"This is probably your father's last deployment. He won't be going away again so your mom will have him home permanently after December, she won't have another opportunity to visit us without him knowing where she's going. What happens then? Will she stand up to him and visit anyway? I don't want the children getting to love her if she's going to abandon them to keep the Admiral happy once he's on shore all the time. They won't understand and I don't want to see them hurt."
Tim pulled Hadrian in for a hug. "I'll talk to her, I know she won't deliberately hurt her grandchildren."
"I doubt she ever deliberately set out to hurt you either," Hadrian pointed out. He didn't need to remind Tim of the number of times he had been hurt by her failure to stand up to the Admiral and support her son even when she later told him she wanted to.
A/N: Thank you to veyronking995, kivmbarn30, lilly-flower15, knuckles 8, Lucky Guard, charm13insomnia, starie78, caged21hearts, Melikalilly, MayaHikari, Kourtney Uzu Yato, Village-Mystic, Rori Potter, acherongoddess, Rainbow2007, DarkRavie, xDarklightx, aisa.32, blackphoenix4ever, delia cerrano, Reader Ethiriel, Gottahavemyncis, buterflypuss, Guest, sandipi, Harriverse, madnessdownunder2, Lady Kaiki, Locket1, yngoldfogee, DS2010, julschristine975, rmiser1994, serenityselena, luramos, mithrilandtj, Fallow54, Silvermane1, Vladimir Mithrander, kirsty21, Sakihinata, lia, Erimenthe, emmalilly21, 16 and all those who followed and favourited for your support.
