"CraaaackCRASH!"
"It's broken! Look, you've broken it, you idiot."
Turning from the pile of wood, Seamus shot Dean a questioning look. "We're wizards. Remember?" He waved his wand, and the pieces of the bunkbed were immediately repaired and then assembled properly.
"I thought we were doing this the muggle way," Dean pouted.
Seamus scoffed. "You insisted on trying to do it the muggle way, and look where that got us. Magic is safer anyway. This way, you know everything is exactly as it should be, with every screw, every crossbar, and every railing properly secured.
"I know," his husband said, sitting heavily on the lower bunk. "I just wanted us to do something by hand to get ready for the kids. I feel like they're just dropping in our laps, like we haven't really proved that we want them.
"Amity and Gareth won't care if we put their beds together with magic or muggle tools. All they're going to care about is whether we love them or not. And I know we've already got that part down pat," Seamus assured him.
Dean nodded, and the two finished setting up the twins' room before getting freshened up and heading for the ministry.
The adoption process had been a long road for the two men. At age 34, Dean and Seamus had been married for four years now, and had been ready to start a family early on in their relationship. Both men had dreamed of being fathers for years, and legalizing their relationship had made that dream a possibility. The litigation, investigation, examinations, and overall political crap that accompanied adoption would have been bad enough given its rarity in the magical world. But Dean and Seamus were the first gay couple to try to adopt, and many had made their displeasure known at the thought. The whole process had taken over three years, but with the help of their wonderful attorneys, the support of their family and friends, and the influence of their mate Harry Potter, they were finalizing the adoption of their two children today.
Amity and Gareth Peyton were four-year old muggleborn fraternal twins whose parents were killed in an automobile crash. Their grandparents were all deceased, and there were no aunts, uncles, cousins, or close family friends that were willing or able to raise them. They'd been wards of the ministry for a little over a year now, and Dean and Seamus had known them for about nine months. It had been love at first sight.
Amity was a spunky, outgoing little girl with strawberry blond hair and tons of freckles. The sweet child had never met a stranger and could carry on a full, adult-like conversation with anyone she met. She also loved everything dramatic and sparkly and pink, and her huge, deep blue puppy dog eyes could have melted the heart of even Severus Snape. On top of it all, her inquisitiveness was astounding. She was always asking questions about various potions, animals, jobs, people, and anything else that sparked her curiosity. Amity had taken a shine to Dean and Seamus immediately.
Her brother Gareth shared her pale freckled skin, blue eyes, and desire for knowledge, but that was where the similarities ended. His hair was a sandy brown that just couldn't stay out of his face, and he constantly had to push it out of his way in order to see what he was reading. He was happy to while away the hours tucked away in the corner of a library or perched in the high branches of a tree with a good book. Gareth was also rather fearless. He climbed so high to read his books in peace that Seamus had lost him more than once, and Dean nearly had a heart attack when Gareth fell, breaking his own fall with accidental magic. It had taken quite a bit longer for him to open up to Dean and Seamus, but when he did, it had been worth every ounce of effort.
The two men had been anxious about becoming parents at first, but they were also beyond excited. Who better to embark on this journey with than your best friend and the love of your life? Shaking off the nerves, Dean and Seamus walked through the door of the Child Services office and were assailed by two tiny, child-sized missiles.
"Daddy!" Gareth cried, flinging himself around Dean's knees. The man chuckled, ruffling his son's hair with easy affection.
"Papa!" Amity squealed as Seamus scooped her up into his arms and squeezed her tight. This was what they had been waiting, hoping, wishing for.
"Are you lot ready to go home?" he asked with a grin.
All four cheered, thrilled to finally be a family.