13th May, 1892 — Kirke House, Bartonburg
Elsie Kirke

A year ago, on Elsie’s last birthday, he had found out she was pregnant. Any celebration of her birthday then had gotten consumed, understandably, by that grand dilemma and all that had followed, including the elopement two days later. From this side of life, that all seemed an utter whirlwind, the start of everything – but Tybalt was determined to celebrate properly this year, give Elsie’s twenty-sixth and their first weddinganniversary their due and have a whole extravaganza of a weekend with her, basking in the life they had made together, with no stress and no tears this year.

Well, no stress and no tears from her, anyway. Tyb had found himself in something of a whirlwind of his own, the hours ticking away until she was due to return home from her library shift. He had come home especially early to prepare, because there was to be no cheating and asking for help from the housekeeper or Elsie’s mother, he wanted to do all this himself – only he’d forgotten it was the nanny’s half-day, and so now Bentley had joined him in the kitchen, babbling away, perched in his high chair and watching the chaos.

But a mostly controlled chaos: Tybalt had managed a bit of baking before, and although he had gone all out on the recipes today, mixing ingredients reminded him, happily, a little of Potions class. There was a thin sheen of flour over everything – he wasn’t sure how it had gotten so far from the counters and the range, somehow all over the floor and up in his hair – and he was doing about three things at once, but he was making excellent progress, if he did say so himself. “Always keep your eye on both bludgers,” he explained cheerfully to Bentley, tugging out the apple pie before its crust started burning and turning back to the berries for the sponge cake. “It never pays to lose track of one.” In the background, Bentley made what Tybalt took for an encouraging noise, and grabbed curiously at Tyb’s wand lying nearby on the counter.

Tyb had just heard a door open. “Elsie?” Tybalt called out urgently, listening for footsteps inside. (Apparently he'd lost track of time a little.) “Wait, stay there!” he exclaimed, in alarm. “Whatever you do, don’t come in the kitchen!”

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   Elsie Kirke

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Going back to the library had been bittersweet. Recovery had been longer than she'd anticipated, considering, though supervised by her own cousin, had been uneventful. It was a big adjustment, monumental really. They had gone from married and already expecting, to six months later, a family of three (plus a kitten). Though there was a tiny part of her that regretted not getting to truly enjoy being married before starting a family, but now that he was here, Elsie couldn't imagine life without Bentley anymore. It was strange to think how quickly things had changed, but she couldn't picture things being any different.

She was only doing half days at the library for now, and for some strange reason Tyb was home this afternoon, so she'd been able to let the nanny take off for some well-deserved time off and work her own shift in peace. She had thought it odd that Tyb was home, and as soon as she stepped through the door, she knew why. "Is the kitchen in one piece?" The question was only half a joke; with Tyb she never knew. It didn't sound however, like anything was wrong, more like he was hiding something. They had been together a long, long time, she knew the nuances to his voice by now.

Carefully she set her things by the door and toed off her shoes, glad to be home. Hallie met her by the door and Elsie scooped the kitten off of the floor when she noticed a sprinkle of white mixed in with Hallie's all black fur. Was that flour? "What am I supposed to do? Do you have Bentley in there?" She called, clearly amused at the moment as she tried to brush the flour from the cat, wondering what exactly was happening in the kitchen... and just how big of a mess it was.

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MJ always makes her so pretty

“Let’s forget about the kitchen for now,” Tybalt suggested with a lopsided grin, as he darted towards Elsie in the hallway. Bentley was fine – tucked safely into his chair, even if Tyb did have an excessive degree of worry about being responsible for him getting hurt somehow – and the kitchen was, well, still standing.

It took glancing at Hallie with her dusting of flour to envision himself and the inevitable layer of white in his own hair; before Elsie could take too much of a look and work out what was going on (as if she couldn’t guess!), Tyb reached around her head and clasped his hands over her eyes. “Sitting room,” he instructed instead, guiding her – and the kitten in her arms – that way, and manoeuvring them through the door. He wasn’t quite as prepared as he had planned to be by now, but he toed the picnic blanket spread better into place on the floor. “Alright,” he said, pressing gently on her shoulders to get her to sit, “Bentley and I’ll be right with you.”

He ducked back into the kitchen, glancing down briefly but deciding not to bother with the whole state of himself. After the finishing touches – well, the best he could do – on the day’s baking, Tybalt scooped up Bentley with one arm and his wand in the other, and cast a levitation charm to move the birthday picnic, pie and cake and all, into the sitting room. Don’t drop anything, don’t drop anything, do not drop anything, Tyb repeated to himself in prayer, hardly able to watch –

But everything made it onto the picnic blanket right side up, thank Merlin. (There was some icing on the doorframe, but that was it.) “Okay,” Tyb declared, breathing a sigh of relief as he settled on the sitting room floor with Bentley. “Happy birthday, by the way.”

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   Elsie Kirke

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With hardly any time to register what was happening, she laughed as Tyb covered her eyes. This was  a recipe for disaster, certainly. Holding tight to Hallie, she let her husband guide her through the house to the sitting room. Sitting on the floor gently as he instructed, Hallie squirmed to be released and Els let her go with another chuckle. She had been about to ask if she was to keep her eyes closed, but Tyb was already bounding out of the room again.

The curiosity got the better of her and she opened her eyes to the start of a picnic in the sitting room. The blanket and some decorations set up had her melting instantly. So much had changed since her last birthday Elsie almost felt as if it were another life entirely. They were married, had a home and a healthy baby boy. It was hard to believe that this time last year she thought her life had been over, but in had simply just begun.

"My, my, you two have been busy." She grinned as the food and the boys made their way in. "Thank you," She sighed softly, smiling at him with a fresh wave of appreciation and love. It hadn't been easy, but they were comfortable, content and there wasn't much more she could ask for. "This is lovely."

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MJ always makes her so pretty

“Oh, it was all Bentley,” Tybalt proclaimed, bouncing him up solemnly in his lap for a moment and giving Elsie a magisterial look. “He’s a real prodigy in the kitchen, you know. Did everything himself. Didn’t you, Ben?” he asked, as Bentley made a surprise swipe for the nearest snack.

Bundling him onto his other knee, he paused in all the teasing to take in Elsie’s quiet smile and return it. Her sigh said even more than her words, and he felt a well of sentiment somewhere deep in him. His look turned a little more longing. (As if having her sitting two feet away was as much suffering as he had ever had to do; still, sometimes reality was still hard to believe.)

He reached over for one of the platters (all those feelings, and he still had room to be hungry, naturally), and looked at her from under his lashes, biting back a grin. “Glad you like it, though. It was supposed to be a proper surprise party, but apparently the hundred other people I invited are all running late.”

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   Elsie Kirke

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"Did you now?" Elsie chuckled, reaching out a hand to touch her fingertip to Ben's nose, eliciting a laugh and a flail of his arms. "Shall we dismiss the housekeeper then?" While they made do with what they had and she and Tyb could certainly survive on their kitchen skills, she was thankful they could employ somebody to do it for them.

Offering her son a cracker to chew on seemed to placate him for the moment, she turned her attention back to Tyb just in time to see that look on his face that nearly had her blushing, even all these years later. "This is perfect, just us, just the way I like it." Besides, she wasn't even sure she knew one hundred other people. They would be having family dinner with her parents by week's end anyway and that was all she really needed. At least this birthday was leagues ahead of last year's.

Reaching for some of the nearest treat, she saw that he had mostly done some baking, which given their track record should be fine, but part of her was still just a little leery. "Should we have dessert for dinner then?" She teased. It was her birthday after all— and she didn't think Tyb would say no to that.

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MJ always makes her so pretty

“Yes, and nanny too,” Tyb said, in a burbling imitation of Bentley’s voice, because if their son was a prodigy he obviously didn’t need any supervision at all, he might as well run the whole household already. From behind him, he just shrugged his shoulders as if to say I agree.

“Well, there’s no sense in leaving the best for last, we don’t need to wait,” he agreed without qualm, because he may be a parent now but there was little other evidence to suggest he had grown up at all. (He was more confident that it would taste good than any of his previous kitchen stints, so it would be – probably – fine. None of it looked half bad, if he did say so himself.)“Besides,” Tyb added, cutting breezily into one of the cakes, “we’ve done enough waiting for a lifetime, don’t you think?”

And here they were. Just us, he thought, and he had to agree with Elsie on this. It was perfect. Nothing else mattered, he didn’t need anybody else to be here, he didn’t need anybody else in the world but her and Bentley. “Your family do want to see you this weekend,” he admitted, as if this would come as any surprise to her. “But I thought maybe your parents would spend a little time with Bentley, after,” – Tyb squeezed him in apology for sounding so thrilled about it – “and we could have the evening – just us?”

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   Elsie Kirke

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"And nanny too?" Elsie sounded appropriately shocked. "My goodness so grown already, should we be expecting your Hogwarts letter any day now?" She chuckled. The mere thought was astonishing. It was ten and a half years away, which felt like a lifetime, but would go by faster than they ever thought possible.

Teasing aside, the contentment that filled her was so complete that she couldn't help but to let another soft sigh escape. "I agree," Cake for dinner on your birthday was perfectly acceptable, especially when you were married and a parent and ran a household. How much more adult could you get? Certainly she was responsible enough to make such decisions, even if those around her might not say the same, considering how everything had gone down.

Nodding along, Elsie sampled the cake as well, and to her pleasant surprise, found it quite tasty. If nothing else, that would be enough for her. "That sounds delightful." Even just a few hours to themselves without having to worry about the baby waking or being interrupted would certainly do them some good. Not that she thought they neglected their marriage at all, they'd found a good balance when it was all said and done, but they also hadn't been able to truly enjoy just being married without scrutiny or the impending arrival of a baby.

They'd skipped a vital part of their lives and though she thought they had handled it well, a small part of her would always wonder what it would be like. Thankfully there would be plenty of times like this, when her mother or her sister would take the baby and they could just spend some quality time together. "I am sincerely looking forward to it." Not to mention her mother would enjoy the time. Bentley was the first grandchild after all and therefore was also showered with attention.

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   Tybalt Kirke

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MJ always makes her so pretty

Tybalt pulled a scandalised face as if to say oh my goodness, don’t even joke about that when Elsie mentioned Bentley going to Hogwarts. That was – too far. When Bentley went off to Hogwarts, he and Elsie would be in their late thirties, and that – was unimaginably grown up. Unfathomable. Impossible. For them, never mind Bentley.

But thinking about being old was going to make him lose his appetite, so Tyb was perfectly content to focus on the present for now. Or the near-future, if by near-future one meant the alone time they might have in the house this weekend. (It was hardly the first time or the last they’d have, but still – a lot of their time had necessarily been swallowed by other things.)

They’d never even had a proper honeymoon (obviously, they hadn’t the money for that either, not with a baby coming), so he was still stitching together every occasion he could just to spend time with Elsie in their old, irresponsible ways. They were almost too responsible now, so they had to make up for it when they could.

You have no idea how much I’m looking forward to it, Tyb might have said, if he weren’t also battling the desire to lean over and kiss her right now even if he squished the whole bloody cake he’d made. “So am I,” he just agreed, restraining himself – responsibly – “and hey,” Tyb added, his smile getting small and conspiratorial. “Happy first year of marriage.” Well, give or take a day or two, but close enough. They’d done it.

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It was funny to think that she highly imagined their kid-free time would be spent lounging in bed (among other things) but that was where they were at in their lives. It was the little things, like this, and some time alone and coming home to have dinner together every night that she'd always wanted. They got it, in a round about way, but they'd finally gotten what they'd wanted.

Scooting closer, she pressed a kiss to the top of Bentley's head, just barely dodging a meaty fist full of some kind of treat. Chuckling, she looked up at her husband with a warm smile. "One down, a lifetime to go." This year hadn't been easy, but she honestly wouldn't change a thing. The public scrutiny didn't even hold a candle to the warmth and love she had in their little house, just their little family and that was all she'd ever need. Neither one of them had suffered at work too much, she'd even been able to take a sabbatical and go back. Lucinda's begrudging generosity over paying the nanny was helpful and they could confidently pay Mrs. Robinson without any worry. Things were alright, they were going to be alright.

Pressing a kiss to Tyb's cheek, she then leaned her forehead against his shoulder. "This cake is pretty good, too." She teased.

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MJ always makes her so pretty