The next day, I woke up to the whimper of Adley coming from the bassinet.
I got up quickly and rushed to get her before she woke up anyone else.
"There, there, princess. Are you hungry, yet? Yes, you are. Aren't you? Yes, you just want to be fed. Don't you, pretty girl?" I cooed as I changed her diaper and her onesie into another set of clothes.
"You do realize that you are talking to a baby, don't you, love?" Tom asked, raising an eyebrow at me.
I smiled down at Adley, before I looked back at Tom, who's eyes landed on a cooing Adley.
His expression changed from amused to complete adoration as his eyes landed on her wiggly form.
"She looks just like you..." He whispered, staring down at her, his eyes as wide as hers.
"That she does, only with your eyes. Would you like to hold her while I change, Tommy?" I asked him, watching his reaction.
He scrunched up his nose at the name. "How do you hold one of these?" He asked, doubtfully, holding her awkwardly.
"She's an infant, not an object , Tom... and she's your daughter." I said, rolling my eyes at him.
I picked her up and walked over to him before gently placing Adley in his arms carefully. She cooed up at him, and opened her wide eyes to look at him in response.
To say he looked awkward holding her, would be putting it lightly.
I chuckled to myself as I picked up Tom's miniature, before I walked over to the bed to repeat the process.
"Relax, Riddle, they can sense your fear." I deadpanned, as I finished changing the baby's diaper and changing his clothes.
"You do this on a daily basis? How do you not get worn-out?" He asked, shocked as he adjusted Adley's head in his arms.
"I do get quite tired actually, but everything seems worthwhile when I look at them. I mean, seeing them somehow makes me feel... stronger." I said simply as I began to fed Tommy.
"I don't want you calling him Tommy, it's-it's not a name I am fond of." Tom said, as he sat down watching as our son fed.
'Had I said that out loud?' I thought confused, while looking down at the baby watching as he fed. He liked the name just fine when I called him that during our time in Hogwarts. Maybe he simply didn't want our son to be called that.
"Honestly, its not that bad of a name, is it?" I asked as I rubbed the baby's little head, watching as he opened an eye slightly before closing it again.
"You'd be surprised how much that name grates on my nerves." He retorted, watching me and the baby.
Once I finished feeding both babies, I set them down in their bassinet, wrapping them individually before I laid them down.
I then made my way into the closet and slipped out of my night dress and into a floor length, midnight blue, scoop neck, cotton, angel sleeve dress. Quickly stepping into my knee length, thick heeled black zipper boots.
"How did you learn how to do all of this and manage the time to do so daily?" Tom questioned.
"Just like everyone else who has children, you start to learn with them. They're human just like you and I. You're observant, take it as if your back at school again... and manage your time." I said, shrugging.
After that I made my way slowly down to the kitchen to begin making breakfast.
I realized that it was just after six, meaning either everyone was still asleep or everyone was getting ready to come down.
I automatically went to take out the ingredients and began waving my wrist as I went to work on the food.
By the time I had finished cooking, Tom was staring at me, an affectionate expression on his face.
"How do you make everything look so—so effortless?" He asked me, smirking as he watched me set down a plateful of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies.
"It's a talent." I quipped, as he wrapped his arms around my waist.
"Marry me." He said, looking at me unblinkingly.
"Tom—I—huh? What? Can you— would you—could you please repeat what you just said?" I asked, surprised, as I turned to look at him.
"I said, marry me. These past few months that I've lived without you by my side have been too unbearable." He told me, as he pulled me closer to him.
"I know. I've missed you terribly." I replied, as I reached up and wrapped my arms around his neck.
"I've wanted to ask you since the night before the confrontation, but you were acting so distant, every time I tried to even begin to say it, you'd storm out of the room before I could utter a single word." He explained, looking down at me.
The look he gave me, made my heart stutter before a smile pulled at my lips.
"So, what do you say? Are you willing to become Mrs. Riddle?" He asked.
"You don't seem like the marrying type." I replied smirking ruefully.
"Anna, be serious. Answer my question." He said, anxiously.
I smiled at him in response, reaching to put my arms around his shoulders, before I pulled the curls on the nape of his neck gently and brought his face down to mine. I felt the familiar feeling as his lips met mine.
"Well, isn't this a delightful surprise." Sirius said, walking into the kitchen.
I chose to ignore him and looked back into Tom's eyes, smiling at him once again before I answered.
"Yes, Tom. Absolutely, I will marry you." I replied, smiling as he gave me a searing kiss.
We both heard as Sirius began choking on a piece of muffin as he listened in on our conversation.
We rushed over to his side and thwacked his back twice to get him to breathe again.
"Con-gratu-lations." He rasped, as he swallowed a mouthful of air.
I rolled my eyes as everyone began coming down, and into the kitchen.
I felt as Tom slipped on a beautiful thin platinum band, with an emerald oval shaped stone onto my left ring finger.
It was a made to look like a serpent made of sparkling diamonds, wrapping around the large emerald, its head rest right beside the stone. Simple and beautiful.
Then he slid a different, yet, familiar platinum serpent band that was made of diamonds, and had two shiny emeralds for eyes, into my right index finger.
"They're gorgeous. I love them." I said, smiling up at him.
"What's going on?" Lily asked curiously as she grabbed a cookie from the plate and began eating it.
"They're engaged." Sirius commented, as he slipped his tea and biting into one of the muffins set on the bar.
"What?! When did this happen?" Lily asked, as she walked over to us.
"Just now." I replied, smiling at her excitement as she pulled my hand out to inspect the ring on my finger.
Before she could say anything, else Remus rushed into the room, his face pale, he looked shaken as he scanned the room looking for something, or rather someone.
"Anna! Anna, something is wrong with Torin. She won't answer my calls, she keeps groaning in reponse. Would you mind checking to see if something is wrong?" He asked, worry written all over his face.
"Maybe she needs a moment to herself, mate?" Sirius said, smirking.
I ignored Sirius and looked over at Andromeda and Lily, and gave them a signal. Before I nodded and slowly made my way up to the second level of the house.
I could hear her groaning in pain as I reached her door, quickly checking to see if it was locked.
It was, she must've been pissed when she fell asleep last night, normally she just stuffs some towels under the door to keep the warmth in her room.
"Aberto." I muttered before the lock clicked and the door slowly creaked opened.
"Torin, what's wrong?" I asked as I walked into the room.
She was laying on the bed on her left side, but she'd tense up before she relaxed.
I could hear as she sniffled, trying to be quiet.
"What's wrong?" I asked her, sitting on the other side of the bed, in order to be able to see her face.
"Nothing is wrong... per say." She said as she clutched her stomach, wincing in pain.
"I think your trying to hide something." I said, looking at her skeptically.
"No, I—ay—am not!" She groaned again.
"I'm sorry but I have to do this, Torin." I said, waving my hand over her stomach. "Revelio." I muttered, watching as the concealment spell dispersed.
I watched as her flat stomach began to protrude and tightened for few seconds before it untightened. She groaned once again, before looking at me worried.
I sighed, taking a deep breath before asking her the next question.
"How long have you been feeling like this?" I asked worried.
"S-since early this— this morning." She gasped, wincing.
"Just as I thought. Look, I'm not going to say anything, those are your choices, but I honestly think you should have told your brother about this. I'm sure Remus knows already." I said, patting her ankle.
"N—no. J—just you, and Andi, since she was there when I found out, and Lily." She whimpered, shutting her eyes tightly as she left another contraction.
I stared at her in shock, "Wait, so not even Remus knows? Bloody hell. What were you thinking, Tor?" I asked, scoldingly.
"N-no. We—we only recently decided to get married... h-how do I tell him that I got pregnant from our first encounter. Everyone will be looking at us with judging eyes." She cried.
I rolled my eyes at her. "Seriously, you lot like acting like toddlers, I'm telling you. I'll be right back. Relax. Keep breathing like you were just now." I said, rushing out of the door.
Rushing down the steps and into the kitchen where everyone waited anxiously.
Tom was the first one to notice me, he quickly walked over to where I stood, and looked up at me.
"What's going on, Anna? Why is everyone so tense?" He asked, looking at me.
"Torin, is in labor. Andi, do you have everything we'll need ready?" I asked as I turned towards her.
She nodded and flicked her wand and began walking towards the stairs with the things slowly following after her as she disappeared up the stairs and into the room.