#mark dumais

He had glanced up from where he had been texting his boys about when he planned to be home. 

“Of course, why?” He expected a joking comment about how it was “as if he never left,” that he had heard plenty of from Celeste and Dumo the past few days. 

But instead, Pascal looked genuinely worried.  

“Well, it just…seems like you’re having a tough time leaving. We love your company, of course. We want you around. I just wanted to make sure you felt like this was the best decision. I want to make sure everything was okay over at the boys’ place.” 

“Oh. Yes. It’s wonderful. It’s…” Logan had trailed off, knowing he had a goofy grin on his face. Pascal gave him a look before turning back to the road. 

“No details necessary, mon fils.” Which had caused Logan to blush and stare pointedly out the window. A few minutes later, Pascal brought up another point. “If you’re feeling guilty about the kids…” 

Logan hadn’t been the only one who was seemingly having a tough time with this transition. Every time he came over, the kids clung to him. The younger two physically, while the older two just wanted to spend time with him. And he'd be lying to himself and Pascal if he said that wasn’t part of the reason. But really, he was just…clinging to the family that had taken him in as a rookie. His “Gryffindor family” as he referred to them with his parents and sisters, who often just called them his "other family." 

And every time he remembered that he would be going home to his boys, his heart soared. But part of it dropped, too, when he remembered the sad look in Katie’s eyes every time he had to go to practice instead of stay and play. Louis holding out a game controller, a hopeful look in his eye. Celeste’s soft humming as she cooked dinner. The warm smell of the house. The feeling of safety and comfort.

It was a strange sense of homesickness, really. 

“Look, mon fils. As much as I joke about encouraging you to move out, you can always come back. I see the way you boys are and I doubt you’ll ever need to move back in permanently. But even for just the night. Or a weekend. Whenever. You are family. You will always be welcomed back with open arms. Moving out doesn’t change anything. You will always be family. Just as Sirius is family, too. I know you know this. But I need you to hear it again and understand that this doesn’t change anything. Oui?”

“Ouias. Merci, Papa.” Logan had said in a joking tone. And in some ways he wasn’t joking. And Pascal seemed to know that. 

So here he sat, stomach full from the delicious pot roast, sitting on the couch, Katie in his lap, Adele sitting next to him on the couch, Marc nodding off against his arm on the other side, trying to beat Louis at Mario Kart, as he heard a knock at the door. 

“It smells amazing in here! I sure hope you saved some dessert for me!” Finn’s voice drifted in as he walked through the living room, stepping in front of the TV.

Logan groaned as he lost sight of the track, forfeiting the game to Louis as Finn leaned down and kissed his forehead. 

“Rouge!” Logan said in a mock-groan. “You made me lose!”

Louis was laughing like a maniac as Leo drifted into the room. 

“Sounds rowdy in here!” He came over to the couch, smiling his bright sunny smile. “Hey guys, how’s it going? Oh, Adele, I loved that series when I was your age!” 

Marc had woken up a bit, and was now hugging Finn around the middle. 

“Harzy, Harzy, Harzy!” Finn laughed, picking him up so that he was upside down. 

“Goodness, should have known you two were here just by the noise!” Celeste said, walking through the entrance. 

“There’s chocolate cupcakes for tired kids in the kitchen.” 

And Louis and Marc were off, followed slowly by Adele, who was still talking with Leo. 

Then Finn stepped close, setting a hand on Logan’s back, arm out to pull him up to his feet when there was an ear-splitting scream. 

“NOOO!” 

Finn startled back, everyone staring at the little girl in Logan’s lap. Pascal’s face peaked from the kitchen. 

“Katie, what…?” Logan asked, moving to get up. But this only made her scream once again. 

“Stay, stay, stay! Don’t leave!” Then she turned to Leo and Finn, screaming, “Why do you have to take him away?” 

They all stared at each other for another minute before Logan felt tears forming in his eyes, and he turned, sniffing and wiping his eyes. 

Pascal came in, waving the rest of them out to the kitchen, coming to kneel near the couch. 

“Mon chou, no one has taken our Logan away.” 

He sniffed again, feeling an actual tear on his cheek. 

“Oh, mes enfants.” Pascal came to sit next to them, and Logan felt himself being enveloped into a hug. “Things are changing, and I know it’s hard, Katie. But we’re still going to see Logan so much. But we do have to let him grow up and move out.” 

“But…but why?” Katie asked in a tearful voice, effectively breaking Logan’s heart once more. 

“Because he can’t live with us forever. He wants to move in with his boys and make space for more people here. Just like when Sirius moved out.” 

“Sirius moved out and lived all alone.” 

“True, yes. Maybe a bad example. But he lives with Remus now.” 

“Loops!” Katie said cheerfully, smiling through sad eyes. 

“Oui.” Soft padded footsteps came from the other side of the room. Logan glanced up to see Celeste walking over. She sat on their other side of him, and put an arm around Logan’s shoulder. 

“Logan’s going to visit us so much. Whenever he wants. Or at the very least once a week.” 

“Oui, I promise,” Logan said, kissing Katie’s forehead. 

Celeste then leaned in close, talking in a loud whisper. 

“And in the meantime, Katie, do you remember that present you got for your birthday?” Katie seemed to think for a second. Then she perked up. 

“You mean we can have matching ones?” 

“Oui, mon minou.” 

Katie turned to Logan, now excited, whispering into his ear, “Can they be rainbow colors so we match Leo too?” Logan had no idea what she was talking about, but he nodded, trying to remember the gifts she had gotten for her last birthday just a few weeks ago. 

“Ouias, sure.” 

Katie hopped off his lap. But before she could get very far, Celeste held onto her hand. 

“First, you need to apologize to Finn and Leo for yelling at them. They aren’t taking Logan away from us. And they are part of our family, too. And they will be for a very long time, I think,” her eyes sparkled as she looked at Logan. He could feel himself smiling, and rolled his eyes half-heartedly as she kissed his cheek and followed Katie to the kitchen. 

----

Two days later, when Logan was once again at the Dumais’s house for dinner, he was presented with a bracelet, purple and pink, his and Katie’s favorite colors. A matching one sat on her wrist. 

“Now we match! Will you wear it?” 

“Always!” Logan said, kissing her on the cheek.

She then turned a little shyly to Finn and Leo, setting a bracelet into each of their hands, and another into Logan’s. Each was a mix of red, yellow, and green. 

“Mama says that friendship bracelets mean that we’re bound together through friendship. But you’re not my friend.” Logan was taken aback at that for a moment, and he saw Finn glance up at Logan, a small hurt clear on his face, and Leo still glancing at Katie, nodding patiently. “We’re family.” 

That night, when Logan had said his goodbyes to the family, Katie had not cried while he was leaving. A first since he had moved out. Instead, she was waving and jumping up and down at Logan’s promise to see her after their home game.