Not Walden Pond

Daisy closed her eyes to savor this moment with her husband’s arms wrapped tightly around her. At times, like this, it was just them in their own little world. And now, Daisy thought with one hand carefully rested on her stomach, it was the three of them. “I’m glad I’m here with you too,” she said before shifted her face to kiss his jaw, feeling her way with her nose rather than open her eyes quite yet. She was enjoying the quiet of the moment too much. 

“Aurelio or Estrella. Beautiful names. Beautiful names for our beautiful baby.” Daisy finally opened her eyes and looked up at him, not minding the odd angle from how close they were. “If it’s Estrella Elaine, do we want an echo for his name? Austen? Ashton? August? I don’t know if I quite like the ring of any of those actually. What do you think?”

Walden smiled, brimming with the knowledge that he had her, he had this glorious intelligent woman, in his life still. Whatever he needed to do to keep her he would do. Anything with reason. They had a baby on the way. Their own kid, not even born yet and already Walden would give them the world. 

“Auden?” He suggested, thinking back to his poets. Then again if they had to pull the same thing his parents had, calling his sun Auden instead of Aurelio didn’t quite feel the same. Walden hummed, running his hand over Daisy’s pregnant belly as he thought. “Alejo? Alexander?”

The Highlands. Goodness, that really was a long way away. Had she really flown that far? Her arms ached, now that she thought about it. Not that it stopped her from picking herself up off the ground, brushing around her pants before glancing up and around. It was beautiful out here; and now she had wings to carry her here whenever she wanted!

“I remember,” she grinned. She just wouldn’t have thought he remembered, honestly. The fact that he did endeared her to him even more than she already was. “Oh- you know about birds. Do you know what kind I am? I know about animals and creatures, but- birds specifically have never really been a focus.” Without pausing for his answer she screwed up her eyes and concentrated, and when she opened them again she was a bird, standing on the heath and staring up at the giant that was Mr. McNair. Just in case he needed to be reminded what she looked like.

God that was so bloody weird to see happen right in front of his eyes like that. He’d kind of forgotten how it felt to look at a person one moment and an animal the next. Watching McGonagall turn into a cat had been weird enough, but watching Zahi’s Miriam turn into a bird was somehow loads weirder. Maybe because he actually knew Bailey a little. At the very least he knew stories about her.

Daisy practically trembled as she watched Walden’s face. If only so many of the people who spoke against him could see the man she saw. If only they could understand that his anger was as much a front as it was a reaction. She knew Walden was far from blameless in it all, but life would be so much easier. Then again, everything in life would be simpler if everyone could understand other perspectives. It’s what she’d tried to accomplish with her book, but Daisy wasn’t sure she’d done any good at all. Maybe this was all inevitable. 

Her breathing hitched as she forced herself to stay focused on the task at hand. She needed to stay in this moment with Walden. It was too important to let her mind wander, especially to as dangerous territory as she’d let it go to. 

“It might not be easy,” Daisy agreed, squeezing his arm. “But we’ll handle it together. You’re better prepared than they were, and we can learn from that if it becomes an issue. But perhaps it’s worry for nothing.” She kissed his cheek again before resting her head on his shoulder.

“You know I was still thinking about light when I looked at boy names,” she admitted. “The star part is almost ironic actually. We’re saying she will be our little star, but do you know what I like for a boy? Aurelio. He could be our shining sun. Is it too much? I mean it’s not twins, so no one else has to know we were considering such paired names. What do you think, amor?”

Together. They’d handle it together. Everything he had put her through and she still wanted to spend their lives together. He knew from experience how clearly she drew her lines and how carefully he worked to live within them. It was so fucking worth it, every damn second. They were having a kid. She knew every awful piece of him and still wanted his children. He would never stop feeling grateful for her presence in his life.

“Yeah, together.” He agreed, resting his cheek on her head and squeezing her gently. Walden could feel the bump under his hand and it thrilled every atom in his body. Their kid, Dios mio. “I’m glad I have you, I’m glad you’re here with me.”

Walden hummed, his lips quirking up in a smile. Their little sun. Sun and stars. The lights in their lives. Even if he couldn’t comprehend having twins, thank fuck they weren’t having twins yet, but he did like the imagery. “It’s nice.” He admitted. “It’s really nice. If we end up having more kids, we can consider paired names more. But I like Aurelio.”

Daisy blinked rapidly, sniffing a couple of times to pull herself. She didn’t want to cry right now, even if it felt like a happy cry. She looked up through her lashes with a smile as Walden said he wanted a girl too. Gosh, she hoped neither of them ever mentioned as much if they had a boy. She’d been happy with either or a child who grew up to be neither, but the image of raising a little girl together was one Daisy couldn’t shake.

Her smiled faded as Walden’s energy changed, and she reached out to brush a hand against his cheek before letting it rest on his shoulder. “Like you?” she repeated, knowing what he meant but hating that he summed himself up to so little. “Someone incredibly passionate with the strength to never back down and who cares so much and with such loyalty.” She leaned in to kiss him lightly. “I know that’s not what you mean, but you’re all those things. It would make me very happy if our baby is too.”

She took a deep breath. “But. I suppose you’re right that we should consider how to handle anger issues. I guess step one is helping them understand what they can and cannot do and helping them find constructive outlets for that energy. I’d hate to see them take it out on other people or wind themselves up because they don’t realize that’s what they’re doing.” Daisy let out a small, nervous laugh. “I know that’s easier said that done, but one step at a time, yeah? I feel like that’s how we have to take everything. And as they get old enough to start understanding their emotions, I know a certain strong papa who would probably be willing to talk through what it’s like and how he’s learned to handle it.”

He could feel his heart catching in his throat as she spoke. Of course he’d received compliments before, and she’d complimented him before now as well it just... hit differently here. Before he met Daisy he’d never shied away from displaying his violent nature on his sleeve. It had never bothered him. While it didn’t bother him now, he wanted to be more than just violent for her. He wanted to prove to her that he could be closer to the man she’d always thought him. 

“Querida.” He said, feeling blown wide open. Walden dropped his head to her hand for a moment, overwhelmed. If they weren’t already married he would’ve proposed right then and there. Not even Mirek had seen him quite like she did.

“Maybe it’ll be easier, for us. Because at least I-- I know all the signs, I know what to look for. My poor parents, Dios some times I’m surprised they never kicked me out.” He joked because he’d always known they never would. “But it wasn’t easy as a kid, and I don’t think it was ever easy for them either.”

Swallowing hard, Walden endeavored to steer the conversation back to safer ground. “What should we name him, if he’s a boy?”

Bailey’s legs crashed to the ground and she pulled herself up onto her elbows, glancing up at the figure against the sun and squinting. The back of her head beat with dull pain, and it took her a moment to register the face and words. 

Zahi’s Miriam. “Mr. McNair?” Walden McNair, aka a pureblood who was currently sheltering Miriam for some reason, aka the man who created the owl-butt Charm that publicly ridiculed Minchum what felt like a lifetime ago, aka keeper of dangerous birds. She also remembered from her time as a Ministry intern that he was an executioner, but that information didn’t interest her nearly as much as everything else. 

“I- I’m Bailey Shaw, yeah,” she said. She wasn’t quite sure she felt like standing, so she pulled herself further up into a sitting position and pressed a hand against the back of her head. At the question of “way over here” she glanced around the landscape curiously. Yeah, she was definitely far away from Shafiq Manor. 

“I don’t know, actually.” She glanced up at him sheepishly. “I couldn’t figure out how to turn back, and I think I got distracted by just, you know, flying. So I got lost. Where are we?”

“We’re in the Highlands. At my Estate.” He let go of her legs and took a step back. This was not what he’d expected when he’d gone out to exercise the birds today. Granted he never really went out expecting to find a bird that changed into a girl. Birds ought to stay birds.

Zahi didn’t really live anywhere near here. The closest people were the Lestranges, and then the Shacklebolt’s. She had flown quite the ways. Not surprising, kestrels were more than capable of it. 

“I’m glad she is fine.” Narcissa started by letting the rest of the conversation turn to business. Not that she needed any introduction, and she knew very well that she wasn’t there to just talk. She found herself led into the house, and a hideous creature began to sneak her and tried to ignore it as she did with her husband’s cats. It was the best way, or she would kill them completely. “I believe that my presence is due to business. They can be fascinating to you, Walden, if you prefer, so to speak.” She adjusted her dress and stared coldly at the creature again and continued. “I’m setting up a fundraising, and maybe I would like to help this year or have a special participation.” If he understood correctly, he would know that she had the purpose of helping himself.

“Mo, bed.” Walden said sternly, giving the puppy a stern look until the puppy slunk off to go wiggle excitedly on her bed. The dog meant well but she still had trouble behaving immediately when guests came around. She’d likely give up soon and go follow the construction crew around the manor grounds. They’d learned to ignore her well enough and she liked to watch them work.

Daisy reached out, stretching her arm a bit to be able to reach Walden’s hair. She ran her fingers through it once before shifting her hand down around Walden’s jaw and finally pulling it away. She had to remind herself sometimes that he was hers to touch, that they could have this kind of casual comfort with each other despite everything else.

She smiled as he took her light theme and kept going. She’d figured Walden would throw in some Spanish names, but since Daisy didn’t know what would be meaningful for him, she hadn’t wanted to include any of her own yet. “I like Estrella a lot actually.” Her eyes lit up and she took the book back. “Actually on the light theme… I think I have another one.” She flipped pages until she could confirm the meaning. “Yes, Elaine. It also means light. What do you think? Should we have a little Star Light in our life?”

All at once, Daisy felt tears springing to her eyes, and she couldn’t even say why. She liked the name. She really did. But she hadn’t expected things to fall into place so quickly. “Estrella Elaine,” she whispered, leaning forward to press her head against Walden’s shoulder. She heard a slight whine from Mo as she sniffed. “I’m sorry, I didn’t… I don’t even know why I’m crying. It’s a good name, and I’ve got you, and we’re having a family, and I… I hope it’s a girl, Walden.”

“Estrella Elaine.” He repeated, giddy. That was... shit, he hadn’t imagined how it might feel to hear it out loud, the name that really fit. This made it all so much more real. Parents, to a little child. An honest real child, who would be entirely theirs. If it was a girl, she had a name already. 

Walden pressed a kiss to her head and had to hold back a little sob of his own. Shit it really did sound so much better than he’d ever anticipated. “I hope it’s a girl, too.” He admitted, running his fingers through her hair. “I’ll be happy as long as you’re both healthy, but shit babe I think I really want a daughter.”

He swallowed, nervous again. “We should... should we talk about, about what we wanna do if the kid’s... more like me than you? I don’t--- I hope they take after you, I really hope they take after you, but I don’t--- maybe we should be ready just in case?”