AN: So guys, this may go through some times jumps a bit, just so the story can progress a little smoother, so bear with me. Hopefully it won't be too much and you don't get lost. But anyways here's an update, FINALLY. Hope you all enjoy it and ignore my typos :D They will be corrected at some point.
Chapter 6: The Truth May Vary
Dinner was surprisingly less tense than Jade, or anyone for that matter, would've anticipated since the focus of the get together was for Ron and Hermione to clear the air, which had effectively exploded in their faces. Jade was calmly bouncing Rose on her lap as Hermione and Ginny chatted like the old friends they were and Harry was making small talk with Jade every now and again. Ron was still sulking in the living room as the others ate and Harry would glance occasionally into the room to see his friend with a frown on his face.
"Well, this went rather…erm…" Ginny stuttered as she was clearing the table with Hermione's help
"Awkward?" Hermione offered as Jade chuckled and Harry sighed as he brought some plates to the sink. "I'm sorry Gin, but if he wouldn't have wanted me to get back together with him it would've gone all right in my opinion."
"You know how stubborn he can be." Harry said gently as Jade scoffed as she gently rested Rose on her shoulder and the baby fussed before burying her face in the raven haired woman's neck. "Someone's sleepy."
"Exhausted, really." Jade answered with a chuckle as brown eyes rolled while the lycan smirked at her lover. "What?" Rosie cooed again before the blue eyed woman began bouncing slightly and patting the baby's back gently. "I guess Rose is sleepy as well." Hermione sighed as she leaned back against the counter and watched Jade walk in circles with the strawberry blonde child on her shoulder. In all her days knowing the woman before their ordeal, she never would've thought she'd see the cool, collected, number one auror trying to get an infant to sleep. A contented smile spread on her lips as she watched her and she didn't notice Ginny look from Jade to Hermione before closing her eyes and shrugging.
"I guess she really is good for you." The red head conceded as she folded her arms over her chest and nudged Hermione with her elbow. "I guess I just needed to see it with my own eyes. She certainly handles Rose well, hm?"
"Better than I would've thought." Hermione admitted as she smiled at her friend who was giggling because Jade handed the babe off to Harry who looked a bit nervous. "You and Harry ever talk about having kids?" Ginny scoffed before waving her hand in the air.
"In the far, far future, my hear friend." Ginny chuckled as she watched Harry awkwardly bounce to try and keep Rose from crying, unfortunately, the baby felt the difference in rhythm and began to whine. Her baby blue eyes opened, searching for someone familiar and the first one she saw was Jade. Immediately, her arms shot out towards the blue eyed woman who smiled as the dark haired man grinned awkwardly before handing the babe over. "Harry still needs some work with his niece it seems." He turned and shrugged at the women.
"She likes Jade much better than I." He said as Jade rolled her eyes and continued to bounce, putting Rosie back into a lull.
"Nonsense," Jade mused as she patted her hand gently on the baby's back. "I've just mastered the bounce step rhythm along with the beat she likes patted on her back. Took me a few weeks to figure out she liked both at the same time." Hermione smiled lovingly at her girlfriend as Jade winked before bouncing towards her and leaning over with her lips puckered.
"Do you want something?" The brunette asked playfully as the older woman pouted slightly and Hermione giggled before pecking her on the lips. "Would you guys like to retire to the living room?"
"Why not?" Ginny smiled as she grabbed a few glasses and a half empty bottle of wine. "Let's finish this off, shall we?" As if on cue, Ron walked into the kitchen and stopped when he saw his friends, and ex, smiling brightly with one another. "Are you ready to join us, Ron?" He sighed softly before hanging his head and nodding. "About time you got over your ego." His sister grabbed one more glass as she made her way into the living room. As Hermione was walking behind Jade towards the couch, the red headed man gently grabbed her arm and stopped her.
"Can I talk to you for a moment?" He queried softly before Jade halted and turned to look at him, a very stern look in her azure orbs. "I promise, 'Mione, I just…I just want to talk for second." Blue eyes glanced at the brunette who sighed and nodded before the lycan moved into the living room with Ginny and Harry.
"What is it, Ron?" Hermione asked softly, but seriously, as she pulled her arm out of his grasp. "I'm really not interested in fighting anymore."
"I don't want to fight either, Hermione." Ron ran his hands through his hair and groaned. "I just…I really want to say that I truly am sorry for everything I've done, but…please, just, I want things to go back to the way they were."
"We can't be how we were, Ronald." The brunette sighed as she shook her head and looked into his tired, pale eyes. "We can be friends, that's the most I can offer you."
"But I'm Rose's father." He muttered as he rubbed the back of his neck. "That automatically makes us more than friends."
"No, it doesn't." Hermione groaned before glancing over into the living room to see Rose sleeping soundly on Jade's shoulder as the blue eyed auror talked cheerily with Harry and Ginny listening with a smile on her face. "Do you see that?" The brunette pointed towards her friends and lover as Ron followed her direction. "That's what I've always wanted. Someone who is willing to take care of Rose and I in more ways than just money, Ron. I need stability and someone who is going to do their fair share of responsibility with Rose. Look at Jade." Ron was indeed watching the older woman with his daughter as a small scowl began to grow on his face. "That's what you should've been like, Ron. She's so good with Rosie and she takes such good care of her, that should've been you, but you weren't ready, you're young and I understand that. So, sure we can be friends and of course you're Rose's father, but biologically only. Jade is her other parent now." The man growled slightly before shaking his head and frowning. "I love her."
"What?" His eyes widened slightly as he whispered his question and Hermione nodded slowly as she turned to look up at the father of her child. "You love her? It's hardly been a month."
"Yes, and yet you managed to bed three other women." She cast him a hard glare as he tensed slightly and a blush dusted his cheeks. "And failed to fall in love with any of them." He couldn't argue with her there, he hadn't fallen in love with any of the women he'd met while he was away and yet, Hermione had slept with Jade and now they seemed like the perfect couple. Ron grumbled as he ran his hands through his hair again. "I'm not trying to say what I did wasn't wrong, but, I didn't cheat on you then expect to stay together. I knew, I knew before Jade and I did anything that it was over between us. Friendship is all I can give you now and if that's not enough, I just don't know what to do, Ron." Hermione sighed before leaving the man standing in the kitchen and joining the raven haired lycan on the couch.
x-x
Hermione let out a heavy sigh when they returned to Jade's flat and flopped down on the couch as Jade set a sleeping Rose in the bassinette. She sat down next to the brunette before draping her arm over her lover's shoulders.
"Well that went well," Jade muttered as she looked at Hermione with a small smile and rubbed the back of her head. The brunette just scoffed before leaning over to rest her head against the auror's shoulder. "What do you think?"
"Better than I expected I suppose." Hermione looked up into tired blue eyes before she smiled, stretched up and covered Jade's lips with her own. A soft sigh escaped from the lycan's lungs as Hermione gently grabbed her lover's face and deepened the kiss. "Have I told you how much I love you today?" Jade just smirked and shook her head.
"No," The blue eyed woman leaned down and captured the younger woman's lips with hers again. "But this is a fine way to let me know." Hermione smiled as she kissed her lover again with more passion as she maneuvered so she was sitting on the lycan's lap. She pulled away slowly and buried her head into the crook of Jade's neck.
"Do you think I was too rough on Ron?" Hermione asked quietly as she ran her fingers through silk black locks. Jade sighed heavily as she brushed her finger tips along her lover's jaw. "Not saying he didn't deserve it."
"You gave him the chance to redeem himself, Hermione." The lycan answered softly as she placed a gentle kiss on the brunette's forehead. "And he always has the chance to make up for what he's done." The younger woman nodded as she looked up at the clock and sighed.
"We should get to bed," As if on cue, Rosie whimpered a bit before beginning to toss and turn in the bassinette that was getting a bit some for the growing baby. Hermione smiled before moving off of Jade's lap towards her child who was now awake and cranky. "She'll need a bottle for bed." Jade nodded as she stood up and went towards the kitchen, not one complaint as she opened the cupboard to retrieve a bottle and some formula. A smile spread on the young brunette's face as she watched her lover getting the bottle ready. If she were still with Ron, he would've made a fuss of how he'd been at work all day and he was tired, but Jade never complained. She was happy to treat Rose as her own and Hermione appreciated that fact and the help. As the blue eyed auror made her way back, fresh bottle in hand, she quirked an eyebrow at Hermione who was still smiling goofily at her.
"What?"
"You are just wonderful." Hermione answered as she hoisted Rose onto her shoulder and pecked Jade on the cheek. The lycan smirked as the brunette made her way towards the stairs and she followed up into their bedroom. Hermione smiled, their bedroom. It was a nice thought even though she and Ron had had a bedroom. For some reason, with Jade, it seemed more permanent and real. Maybe because the lycan was home more often and willing to aid with Rose and spend time with both of them. As they got into the room, Hermione sat down on the bed as Jade handed her the bottle then turned towards the bathroom, undoing her shirt in the process. Soon, Rose was asleep and the brunette laid her down gently in the crib as Jade reemerged in her sleep wear.
"So," Jade said as she wrapped her arms around the shorter woman's waist and nuzzled into her neck. "When are you going to move in officially? Or did you want to find your own place?"
"I don't know if Rosie would like being away from you." Hermione murmured as she turned her head so her cheek rested against the Auror's forehead.
"Just Rose?" Her lover quipped as she began planting kisses softly along the column of her neck and down to her collarbone where she pushed the fabric of Hermione's jumper off the slope of her shoulder. The brunette sighed softly as her eyes fluttered shut and a smile spread across her lips.
"Of course, I'd miss you too." She turned in her lover's embrace and linked her arms around the taller woman's neck. "You're sure it's all right if I stay here?"
"I wouldn't offer if I wasn't sure." Blue eyes began to glow faintly as Jade leaned down and captured Hermione's lips with hers gently in a lingering, reassuring kiss that made the brunette's knees go weak. "I want you and Rose here with me, Hermione. Nothing would make me happier." Hermione couldn't stop the bright smile that grew on her face as she pressed her forehead against Jade's and combed her fingers through black silk.
"Then how about I get my stuff tomorrow and make it official?" Hermione whispered as she pressed soft kisses along Jade's jawline and nose. "I honestly don't want to be anywhere else, but here."
x—x
Jade was sitting in a large leather recliner as she sifted through the paper and heard footsteps above her. She'd been living with her wife for six years now, married for five and they lived in a larger Victorian style home a little outside of London so they could both be near the Ministry for work and still have a bit of room. Her blue eyes glanced up when she heard a frustrated groan and she smirked when her wife's voice rang through the ceiling.
"Jade!"
"Yes, dear?" The woman called back as she folded the paper and set it down on the coffee table.
"Please help me control your children!" Jade chuckled at her wife's exasperated tone as she stood up and stretched her arms over her head. "We have to leave to meet the others in less than thirty minutes!"
"They're only my children when they're misbehaving."
"What was that?!" Her wife called as Jade winced and scratched the back of her head.
"Nothing, dear!" The blue eyed woman answered as she headed towards the stairs. "I'll be up in a sec." Jade made her way up the winding stair case to see her two children wrestling and her oldest cheering in the hallway. She sighed before rubbing her forehead and rolling her eyes. "Jaylynn! Liam! Rose!" The three children stopped and looked up at their mother who had one eyebrow quirked at them with her arms folded over her chest. "What are you three doing? You're supposed to be getting ready for the party at the Potter's farm."
"We are ready!" Jaylynn, Jade's second youngest daughter at age three and a half, if you ask her, had pitch black hair like her, but deep brown eyes like her other mother. "See?" The little girl twirled in her blue sundress that was all wrinkled with the sash around her waist untied. "I'm wearing my favorite dress!" Rosie just smiled, she had just turned seven and seemed to know better than to join in her two step-siblings' antics, so she was more so a spectator as her straight, strawberry blonde contrasted her blue eyes that had a small burst of dark brown around her pupils. It had been six years since Jade accepted Rosie as her own daughter and was glad that the blonde had taken to her so easily as she grew up.
"Yeah and I'm wearing a tie!" Liam had wavy, deep brown locks with Jade's bright blue eyes and at four years old, he was almost one third the height of Jade. He was dressed in dark grey shorts and a white, short sleeve dress shirt finished with a royal blue tie that was askew along with his hair. The mother smiled as she walked forward and crouched in front of her children to straighten out their clothes.
"I can see why your mum was getting frustrated." Jade muttered as she straightened out her son's clip on tie and tried to smooth down his unruly locks. "You guys know you're not supposed to rough house in your nice clothes. Where is mum anyways?"
"She's in the bedroom getting ready." Rosie mentioned as she tried to get a wrinkle out of her yellow dress. "Said something about her hair." Jade smiled as she patted the girl on the head before shooing them down the stairs and scooping Jaylynn into her arms, not trusting the toddler with the other two. The raven haired woman walked into her and her wife's bedroom to see the brunette she was looking for in their adjoined bathroom.
"Love?" She called gently as she peeked into the bathroom and Jaynlynn was tugging gently on Jade's long hair. "How are you coming along?"
"Almost ready." The other woman sighed as she attached a necklace around her neck that Jade had gotten her many years ago when they had their first Christmas together. The brunette turned and smiled before twirling much like their daughter had moments ago. "How do I look?" Jade smiled as she looked her wife up and down slowly, taking in her visage in her white dress with a thick, brown leather belt around her waist. The woman couldn't resist stepping forward and slipping her arms around her lover's slim waist.
"Pretty." Jaylynn giggled as she reached towards her mother who took her eagerly into her arms and kissed her cheeks.
"You look stunning." Jade whispered as she leaned down and gently brushed her lips against the brunette's. "If you're ready, we should really go before the pups start fighting again." The brunette rolled her eyes as the blue eyed Auror smirked and pecked her wife one last time before snatching the child and resting Jaylynn on her hip. She gently grabbed her hand before heading back down stairs where their children were sitting quietly, to their surprise. "Ready to go, you two?" The kids jumped up and nodded as the shorter woman sighed and went over to fix the ribbon in Rose's hair. It was strange, even though they could use magic, Jade found herself thoroughly enjoying her ability to drive a car. Harry Potter's farm was twenty minutes out of London and before they knew it, they were pulling down the long dirt drive way to the two story farm house where there was one other car, an old Ford Anglia parked in front.
"I see the Weasleys are here." Hermione smiled as Jade put the car in park and opened the door. As soon as she opened the door to the back seat, the kids were zooming out of the car seats and running to the back yard. "Don't get your clothes dirty!"
"Hermione," The older woman whispered as she unstrapped Jaylynn and hoisted her into her arms before she slipped her hand into the brunette's, giving it a gentle squeeze. "They're kids, they're bound to get dirty, especially with other kids around." Hermione just sighed as she shook her head and shrugged as Jade led her to the backyard where all the noise was coming from.
"About time!" Harry smiled as he walked up to his friends and wrapped Hermione in a brotherly hug. "I almost thought you weren't coming. Happy Birthday!"
"Don't be silly and thank you, Harry." Hermione muttered and she beamed at her best friend and looked behind him to see Rose and Liam playing with a four year old Victoire Delacour and Jade let her daughter down to go join the fun. "Those little ones delayed me a bit. I swear, it's like trying to tame wolves. They have an unnatural amount of energy." Jade chuckled at this and shrugged.
"Where would be the fun in raising two normal wizarding children?" Harry laughed as Jade shook his hand and he led them over to a large table where the rest of their friends sat. Fleur was with Luna and Bill Weasley, chatting happily with Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, as well as Ginny, as Ron and George were talking about something to do with their shop. Angelina Johnson, now Weasley, was talking to Romilda Vane, who Ronald was currently dating and had gotten pregnant after two years, go figure. James, Harry and Ginny's first son at three, was following Jaylynn around happily as Jade and Hermione approached. Ginny beamed as she laid a hand gently on her growing belly, about to stand up before the raven haired auror put a hand on her shoulder to keep her still.
"Hermione, darling!" Molly beamed as she stood up and wrapped the brunette in a hug. Even at the aging Mrs. Weasley hadn't seemed to have lost her glow with the past six years, her hair was greying, but she still looked the same. Today was Hermione's twenty-eighth birthday and Harry and Ginny had offered to host a cook out at their house. "And Jade, how are you dear? How are the children?"
"Very well, Molly." Jade answered with a smile as she leaned down and took the plump woman in her arms in a friendly embrace. "And they're doing well, growing like weeds." Blue eyes glanced over to where Jaylynn and Rose playing with James as Liam was climbing a tree with Victoire. "It's hard to believe that little Jay will be four in January and little Rosie just turned seven. How are you and Arthur?"
"Doing great!" She smiled as she looked over towards the children. "Still waiting on more little ones. I'm hoping Georgie and Angelina will be announcing soon, but Ginny is expecting another little boy so that's enough to tide me over." Jade smiled as Hermione giggled and went off to talk to the others. Blue eyes glanced over to her children as she watched all the kids get into a group and began running around laughing. The lycan smiled as she watched her children play and then glanced over at Hermione who was laughing heartily with her friends. Her life seemed almost perfect as she sighed and ran a hand through her hair before taking a seat at the table under the canvas tent next to Fleur.
"Jade," The lycan glanced over and met icy blue eyes she knew so well. "'Ow are you doing, mon ami?"
"All right, how about yourself, Fleur?" Fleur Delacour hadn't looked like she had aged a day after she turned twenty-five and now she was thirty. She still had that Veela glow that never seemed to leave and Jade smiled warmly at her friend. "How is Tori?"
"Rambunctious," Fleur smiled as she glanced over at her daughter who had the same silvery blonde hair and pale blue eyes, but that dreamy look that Luna always seemed to have on her face. "She definitely 'as Luna's curious personality."
"And her mother's looks." Jade smirked as Fleur watched Luna sitting with Neville and Dean Thomas as they began having a heated conversation about quidditch. Suddenly, slim arms slipped around Jade's neck and the woman smirked as she caught the scent of her wife. She brought her hands up to caress the skin on Hermione's arms before feeling the woman press a kiss against her cheeks. "Enjoying yourself, dear?"
"It's hard not to with friends and family around." She smiled kindly at Fleur before sitting down and lacing her fingers with Jade's. "You and Luna sure make beautiful children." Hermione commented as Fleur waved her hand dismissively and nodded towards Jaylynn and Liam who were arguing about who was 'it' in their game.
"You two should talk." The Frenchwoman said with a chuckle. "Your children are beautiful and Rose is growing into a fine young lady."
"It's hard to believe a few years ago she was falling asleep on my chest in the recliner." Jade reminisced as she glanced over at her step daughter who was sitting next to Ron. After Hermione and Ron's fall out, it took almost a year and half for the red head to decide he wanted to be a part of Rosie's life. Thankfully for him, he wasn't too late and she wasn't old enough to realize he'd missed out on almost two years of her life. Ronald was a good father, despite how he'd acted in the past, he loved Rose and it was very evident the way he spoiled her when she'd stay with him. It wasn't long before Molly went into the house and exited with a levitating train of food following her towards a long table. The kids were the first to jump on the food as Jade stood and went over to help Hermione get food for Jaylynn and Liam. Rosie was tall enough, and old enough, to make a plate for herself as she rejoined her mother to eat.
"Did you have fun, Rosie?" Jade asked as they sat down at one of the picnic tables and glanced down at the blonde girl next to her. "You looked like you and Tori were having fun."
"She's a bit odd." Rose answered softly and the lycan had to stop herself from laughing as she remembered Fleur mentioning Tori having Luna's personality. "But she is interesting to talk to, but she kept talking about Rocksports or something like that. I did have fun playing with everyone though, and it's nice to see daddy other than the weekends." She went silent for a moment as she took a bite of her potatoes and Jade noticed a forlorn look on her face. "Daddy says Romilda is going to have a boy, they want to name him Hugo."
"Does that upset you?"
"That'd silly of me to be upset over a name." The girl answered and Jade chuckled, seeing Hermione shining through in her daughter. "Although, I do find it rather horrid."
"I mean the baby, Rosie." The raven haired auror said gently as she patted the girl on the head. "Although, I do agree, Hugo isn't a name I'd choose for my son, but I meant, does it upset you that your dad and Romilda are having another baby?"
"I don't know why it would," Rosie sighed as she took a drink from her glass. Jade had almost forgotten how much Rose had grown up and she was seeing so much of Hermione in the younger girl, but she was part Weasley after all and her father's pride was well embedded in her personality. "It's just a baby."
"Yes," Jade smiled as she ate some of her steak before watching Rose push around her food. "But he's your father and now he's having another child with another woman. It's ok if you're a bit bothered by that."
"I wouldn't want him to have another baby with mum." The child argued gently as she looked up with her baby blues and shook her head. "I really am happy about Romilda being pregnant, but I barely see daddy as it is and now he'll have another baby to take care of. When will he have time for me?"
"He'll always have time for you, Flower." The lycan put her arm around the small girl and pulled her into a hug. "He's your father, just because he's having another baby doesn't mean he'll forget about you and if he does, then I'll be there to remind him. Your mother as well, and believe me, after the rows we've been in in our younger years he wouldn't dare ignore me. And you know how scary mum can be when she's angry."
"Sometimes I wish you were my dad." Rosie whispered as she leaned into Jade's embrace and bright blue eyes widened slightly before the lycan moved the girl so she was being cradled on her lap. Rose burrowed her face into Jade's shoulder and sighed. "That I was your daughter, like Jaylynn."
"You're as much mine as Jaylynn or Liam." The woman said quietly as she hugged Rose and rested her chin on the top of her head. "Don't you ever think that I love you any less than the other cubs, ok? You've been my little flower ever since you were a baby." Rosie nodded silently as she wrapped her slim around Jade's waist.
"Everything all right?" Hermione asked as she got back from gathering food for the two younger kids and Jade just gave her a warm smile.
"Belly ache." She answered as she Rosie nodded and smiled sheepishly at her mother. "Must've ate to fast I think." Hermione leaned over Jade's shoulder and laid her hand over her daughter's forehead.
"Well you don't have a fever." Her mother mused as she ran her hand over Rosie's strawberry blonde locks and smiled. "Just make sure you drink a lot of water, ok?"
"Ok, mummy."
"She just needs some cuddle time is all." Jade teased as she hugged the girl tighter and Rose feigned disgust. "That's all she ever needs when she's feeling under the weather." Hermione smiled, Jade and Rose had always had a strong bond ever since the child was a baby. The brunette envied it sometimes, but was relieved at others when the girl began to gain a temper that resembled hers that Jade was so skilled at handling.
x—x
After the meal, Jade was helping clear the tables and take the food back inside with Harry, Ron, and George as Molly readied Hermione's cake. As much as Jade had tried to mend things with Ron over the years, he had been extremely reluctant, and that's putting it in nice words. They'd had many a row when it came to Rose and his visiting her. After he had turned around and decided to be a good father at least, he had been more accepting to at least speak to her. Setting the empty pan down by the sink with the others, she noticed that Ron walked in with a stack of plates and was walking towards her.
"Evening, McHale." He hadn't said Jade's name since he and Hermione had ended things and she found it a normalcy now. "Enjoying yourself?"
"I am," She answered evenly as she looked out the window to see Hermione with a sleeping Jaylynn in her arms. "It's nice to see everyone and let the kids get some fresh air from the city." She glanced over at him momentarily to gauge his reaction to her referring to her 'kids', knowing that she was implying Rose was hers as well. "How is Romilda handling her pregnancy?"
"How most women do, I suppose." Ron shrugged as he ran his hand through his coifed red hair and rubbed the back of his neck. "She's irritable and has crazy cravings, the normal. She was pretty excited to find out we were having a boy."
"You guys going to get hitched soon?"
"Probably." Was all he said as he turned to leave and Jade sighed, not really looking forward to what she was about to bring up.
"You should really talk to rose about the new baby." Her voice was stern and she didn't turn around to face him, but the stutter in his step confirmed he had heard her. "She's going to feel left out when your son is born." Ron shook his head before looking over his shoulder to see Jade still facing the window. In all the years that had passed, she still looked the same. He remembered Luna mentioning once that lycans age slower than most magical creatures and often seemed to stop aging after a certain amount of time. Jade was going to be thirty-one in December and she didn't look a day over twenty, aside from the two jagged scars that ran down the left side of her face from her temple to her jaw right below her ear. The result of a nasty ambush by a few newly turned werewolves running amuck in Glasgow. Still, he still saw her as a betrayer and it took all he had to keep his temper in check when he saw her with Hermione and Rose.
"Why would she fell that way?" He asked coldly as he narrowed his eyes and turned to face Jade's back. "She's gaining a brother, a sibling. There's no reason for her to feel left out." The lycan groaned as she turned slowly and glared into Ron's pale blue eyes.
"You came from a large family, Ron." Jade answered slowly as she shook her head. "I'm sure you know what it feels like to be forgotten, even just once. You and Romilda are starting a new family and she only gets to see you a few days every other weekend. Just talk to her, won't you?" Ron hated it when Jade tried to manage his parenting, but in some part, she was right. Being in a family with six other siblings, it was easy to feel left out sometimes and he didn't want his daughter to feel like that.
"I'll try to remember next time she visits."
"Thank you," The lycan sighed as she moved to walk past him and he grabbed her shoulder, rooting her to the spot. Her eyes narrowed and she fought back the reflex to put him on his back. But they were adults now, after all.
"Don't try and meddle with my parenting." His eyes narrowed dangerously as he glared at the Auror and scowled. "Rose is still my daughter and I will raise her how I see fit, do you understand?" Jade smirked before ripping her arm from his grasp and rolling her eyes.
"As long as it doesn't conflict with what Hermione and I have already taught her," She retorted as she continued on her path back towards the backdoor. "Then I won't try and interfere with your," She made air quotes with her fingers and saw the man grow livid. "Parenting." Old habits die hard, one supposes.