30 August 1894 - Hogsmeade Constabulary

Things had been decent between her and Rhys lately, although between the mechanical spiders that terrorized Hogsmeade and the sinkhole that followed, it felt like he hadn’t been home. It wasn’t his fault, and despite enjoying the small pockets of quiet and the bonding time between herself and Emery, she found she was almost… missing him. Their daughter seemed a little fussier than normal too, like she was feeling the impact of Rhys not being here.

Well, that decided things then.

While Zinnia still wasn’t the best cook, she’d at least managed to learn how to cook a couple things that hadn’t killed them yet, courtesy of Dahlia and her patience, although today she took her time to pack up some bread, cheese and a few different jams Dahlia had given her when she’d visited a few days ago into a cloth wrapping. The twine had a perfectly tied bow atop, a habit of tying ribbons onto arrangements more than anything, and she fussed with it once it was inside the picnic basket to ensure it wasn’t squished. Zin added a few other things to snack on before she added in a blanket to sit on, although she wasn’t sure she could fully convince Rhys to leave for lunch.

She put Emery inside her carrier and off they went to the Constabulary, although by the time they were standing outside of it, Zinnia had to take a deep breath and convince herself to step inside. She felt silly, being nervous to visit her own husband, especially now that they had a daughter that was tying them together, and the nerves didn’t disappear once she stepped inside the building. Zin was directed back to his office, and she just smiled softly as she made her way back.

Then she knocked on his door with her knuckles before poking her head in. “Hi.” Zinnia said rather lamely, complete with a wave. “Emery missed you, so I hope you don’t mind that we came to visit.”

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Rhys Gallagher

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Set by the lovely Lady<3

August had been a long month. He still wasn't sure exactly how to categorize it other than Typical Hogsmeade. Sometimes he wondered if the town had a simple curse on it, or was just unlucky? Either way it left him positively buried in paperwork. The stacks on his desk never seemed to get any lower, despite the fact that he'd spent half a day, every day, for the last week and a half or so.

This was one of those days and he had read, signed and filed more parchment than he ever cared to look at. Fortunately he could leave the bulk of the filing to the secretary, but he liked to try and make it easier and keep things sorted together. At the knock on the door he anticipated his secretary to have something else for him, so it was a pleasant surprise to see Zinnia coming in with Emery. He smiled and stood immediately.

"What a nice surprise." He intoned with a fondness that had been steadily increasing over the last six months. He came around his desk and offered to take something from her hands.

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Zinnia could never get over how tall Rhys was, and that was saying something because she was taller than a lot of her friends by a few inches. She idly wondered if their daughter would be blessed with his height, or if she might be the opposite of them and be as petite as a button; Emery was tiny now, although she’d certainly grown in the almost two months since her birth. Zin set the basket down before she took Emery out of her carrier. She stepped toward Rhys.

“I thought maybe you’d like to take a picnic with us?” She posed it as a question, leaving him room to say no; from the state of the room it seemed like the paperwork was never ending, and maybe he wanted to get it down without breaks. “Don’t worry,” Zinnia found herself saying, but instead of saying don’t worry if you can’t come, she went with, “I didn’t make any of it, if that eases your mind at all.” They both knew her cooking skills were minimal and she highly doubted Rhys would ever forget that she almost poisoned him with cookies last year. Zinnia nearly winced from the memory.

“Plus the goose won’t be there…”

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   Rhys Gallagher

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Set by the lovely Lady<3

Rhys smiled wider as Zinnia pulled Emery up out of her carrier and he leaned in to kiss them both on the cheek in turn. Though they were still working through a "courting" phase of sorts, Rhys thought that fact they they were married, allowed him to get away with things like that. Plus it always got a smile out of Emery. He thought it must be his whiskers.

"I would like that very much, I could use the break, and the distraction." The paperwork could wait, it would still be there when he got back. "I'm sure it's lovely." He said of the food, that she did not make, which, as much as he would hate to admit it, was a bit of relief. He had never imagined being the better cook between himself and his wife, but Rhys did manage to make a few things that they enjoyed. Mostly breakfast foods, but it was enough not to starve.

"The park is still closed, however, where would you like to go?" He picked up both baskets and gestured for her to go ahead of him back out of his office.

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The affection was new, but Zinnia didn’t mind it all that much. They were married and had a baby, so it wasn’t like this was going to lead to anything that hadn’t already happened. Plus she loved seeing the way their daughter lit up whenever Rhys kissed her, and Zin had a feeling that Emery was going to be a daddy’s girl when she got older. (Lord help them if that was the case, because she’d quite literally be able to break the law and get away with it.)

She nodded before she smiled at him, some of the anxiety easing in her chest. They’d never discussed what the boundaries were of bothering the other at work, although it wasn’t like Zinnia had spent much time at the flower shop since Emery arrived. She missed it, though. Maybe once the wedding and Christmas orders started to come in she’d offer Mama her help. But that could wait because right now Zinnia wanted to be present with her little family.

Glancing back at him to ensure he was following, Zinnia made her way back outside. Padmore being closed had definitely slipped her mind. “Well… there’s Woodcroft Plaza on High Street. It has a fountain, and I think a little grassy area to sit by it.” Or they could sit on the edge of it. It wasn’t perfect, but it seemed like a decent enough start.

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   Rhys Gallagher

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Set by the lovely Lady<3

Rhys spent enough time on the High Street to know exactly where she meant. The family shop wasn't too far from there, so he assumed she must know it well too. "Great idea," he agreed easily and held the doors for her as the exited the constabulary. He'd paused to let the Miss Fairchild where he would be if needed. It would do him some good to get some fresh air and get away from the paperwork for a little while.

He already felt better as the sun hit his face and he slowed his pace to allow for Zinnia to keep up easily. He tended to forget just how quickly his pace could increase if he wasn't consciously thinking about it. Not to mention, he didn't want to put any unnecessary strain on Zinnia if he could help it. Though Emery was nearly two months old now, he honestly had no idea how long of a recovery process birthing a baby was, so he didn't want to push too far. He'd done his best to help out around the house whenever he could, taking care of anything he could think of when he was home, but work had been demanding this month, to say the least.

"I'm glad you stopped by," he admitted, smiling over at her. "That mountain of paperwork seems to grow even as I work through it." It was his least favorite part of the job, truly.

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Smiling softly at him, Zin was happy once they were back outside, heading toward a place that they were both familiar with. It wasn’t a common spot to have lunch, but it wasn’t like there was anything common about their relationship; the rumors had at least died down, so people wouldn’t stop and whisper like they’d been doing. Or at least Zinnia hoped that they wouldn’t. She fell in line next to Rhys, thankful that he wasn’t doing his normal speed walking, although he was a very tall man, so of course his strides were much longer than her own.

Zinnia nodded as her nose wrinkled at the very thought of the piles of papers that were stacked around Rhys; she didn’t handle much of the paperwork at her mama’s shop, but the few times she had, she certainly hadn’t enjoyed it. She’d much rather just make the arrangements and let someone else deal with it. “Paperwork does seem to have a mind of its own, doesn’t it? Like it knows just when you’ve made progress and doubles itself out of spite.” Papers had been her least favorite thing at Hogwarts too. Goodness, their daughter was doomed already.

“But I’m happy that I could help you escape before it swallowed you whole.” There was a teasing lilt in her voice, though the concern behind it wasn’t entirely masked. Things were so messy and crazy in Hogsmeade right now that sometimes she worried about Rhys and his job, and what might happen. She knew him well enough that he would put his well-being below someone else’s if it meant helping them, although now that he had a wife and a baby, he seemed to be a bit more conscious about not doing just that.

Zin tipped her head in thought, before she nodded, more to herself than to Rhys.”Well,” she started, bright eyes turning toward her husband, “you’re officially off-duty for the next hour. No papers, no crimes, no sinkholes. Just me, Emery and lunch.” Although now that they were alone, she wasn’t sure what they should talk about that wasn’t the sinkhole or the craziness that was happening around them. She swallowed hard, remembering how little she knew about Rhys, but at least they were trying.

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Set by the lovely Lady<3

Making sure to keep the pace reasonable, Rhys adjusted the baskets in his hands, careful not the jostle the one with Emery in it too much. "It never ends." He chuckled quietly in agreement. There was always something to sign or to read or to file it felt like. Even with the help of the secretary doing most of the more intricate documents, Rhys still had to double check everything and sign off on it. It was by far the worst part about being the chief.

"And I'm glad for it too," he smiled softly at her. It was a nice reprieve and that he got to see Zinnia and Emery was a nice bonus. Otherwise he might have worked right through lunch and then forgotten to eat at all most likely. "It'll be a nice way to spend the time."

The walk to the fountain wasn't all that long, even at the slower pace and as they rounded the corner it came into view. There was indeed a nice little grassy spot surrounding it that Rhys wasn't so sure people had ever used much before the park had closed. He motioned for Zinnia to pick whatever spot she liked and then set about spreading the blanket atop the food basket onto the ground. He let her get comfortable before reaching down to pull Emery into his arms. "And I think you got bigger since I left this morning." He chuckled, making sure to keep the sun from his daughter's face. Rhys hadn't had too much experience with babies, had been grown and out of the house when his half-siblings had been born, but it never failed to astonish him just how much Emery changed in such a short amount of time.

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Zinnia wasn’t as miserable as she had been a few months ago, and to her, that seemed like a good sign. They might not be in love (which always hurt her heart because both Dahlia and Daffy were so happy with their partners), but at least they were starting to become friends. She smiled softly at Rhys, her steps light as they made their way toward the fountain. The sight of him juggling the baskets with such care warmed her heart a touch.

As they reached the fountain, Zin surveyed the greasy area before deciding on a spot that had a little bit of shade so they wouldn’t cook in the sun; the last thing she wanted was for any of them to get sunburned. “This is perfect,” Zinnia declared, lowering herself onto the blanket once Rhys spread it on top of the grass for them. She took a moment to stretch her legs out, adjusting her skirt around her legs so she wouldn’t be indecent in public – Zin could only imagine the rumors that fly because of that. She glanced up once she heard her husband speak, watching him lift Emery into his arms.

“I think you’re right,” Zinnia mused quietly as she leaned forward to riffle through the basket for some of the food she’d brought. “I feel like every time I look at her, I notice something new. She made some new coos this morning, which I was wholly unprepared for. I wasn’t sure what was wrong.” She leaned closer to him. “I think she might have your eyes, but her nose definitely is mine.” They did make a pretty cute baby, even if the circumstances weren’t the best surrounding it.

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Set by the lovely Lady<3

Rhys settled more comfortably, having finally adjusted to handling a baby. At first he'd been afraid to jostle her, as fragile as she was, but after watching several Potts sisters with their children and after getting the motions of it, Rhys felt better about his own abilities. Emery was wholly enthralled by the badge on his uniform, and he held her a little higher so she could look at it better, tiny fingers trying to close around it. Rhys chuckled as she tugged on it.

He smiled over at Zinnia, a little jealous she got to witness most of their daughter's firsts, but he could never hold it against her. Motherhood looked good on her and she was good at it, too. He had accidentally stripped her of the ability to work, so it just came with the territory. If anything, Zinnia had earned it far more than he had.

"I think she looks just like you," at least he hoped she would. He wasn't blind; Zinnia was beautiful and if their daughter took after her, it wouldn't be a surprise.

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Zinnia was thankful that Rhys wanted to be an active part of their daughter’s life; even though she had been made under unsavory circumstances, and well… they had both been surprised and probably a little bit miserable thanks to the pregnancy, Zinnia wasn’t sure she’d changed anything, if only because if she did, she wouldn’t have Emery in her life. Things would get easier (or she hoped) as Emery got older and became a little more independent. Maybe she’d return to work. She’d bring their daughter to the shop, of course, to start teaching her young about herbology.

Even though her last name was Gallagher, she was still part Potts.

“She’ll be a good mix, I think. A bit of me, a bit of you.” Zinnia laughed quietly, watching as Emery cooed, distracted by Rhys’s badge. Rhys was handsome – he had good genes to pass down. She leaned back on her hands, kicking her feet out in the process, although she did adjust her skirt a second later. Zin still had some decency. “You do know she’ll be a handful, though. I imagine she’ll try to use the, ‘but my dad is the Constable’ card at least once.”

Keeping her eyes on Rhys and their daughter, she fished her wand out to cast orchideous, a bouquet of flowers bursting from the tip of it. She smiled at him as she leaned forward to place it to the side of them; every meal should be eaten with some flowers, even if they weren't as nicely put together as some of the arrangements she made.

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Set by the lovely Lady<3

Rhys had no doubt; he'd met the extended Potts clan. More than half of them didn't like him, for a perfectly justifiable reason, but he could tell, that whenever this new generation of cousins got together, it was bound to be pure chaos. "I'd be disappointed if she didn't." Rhys decided. He hoped she wouldn't cause too much trouble, but he did want her to know that he would be there for her, no matter what.

He watched as Zinnia conjured some flowers for their picnic with a smile. "I'm glad you stopped by today, this is a nice break." It made him feel a little more hopeful that they could make this work, even if it was forged under less-than-ideal circumstances, they were trying to make the best of it. Fortunately it didn't seem to be crashing and burning around them, either.

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