May 4th, 1894 — Potts Flower Festival
Sage Whitby

He'd missed last year's festival due to work but it was impressive what the Potts family - and Mr. Podmore - had managed to pull off. It was nice to be here. The whole afternoon had a warm glow, as he stood, watching the various families. Since his sister's marriage three years ago and he was removed from chaperone duties, he didn't go to anywhere near as many events - or anything - with her. But he'd sought her attention for the afternoon with Lillian and his sister. Caroline had stepped away, seeing someone she recognized, and leaving Anthony with the care of the toddling two year chase her nanny with a flower crown.

Well, in charge of was an exaggeration. The nanny was perfectly capable. But he liked Lillian and enjoyed spoiling her like he couldn't with his brothers' children in Boston. Though if he was going to say he was watching her... "Lily, love, please listen to the nanny. We don't run with candy," he sigh, too busy watching his niece to see the surprising tall woman beside him until it was too late.

"Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry. Are you okay?"

  

Sage had always had a healthy respect for magical creatures and as these were all enclosed (except for what looked like some giant guinea pigs roaming the zoo!), she felt like she could at least wander without worry. She had seen far too many injuries due to animals over her tenure as a mediwtich that she was always a little leery of the bigger ones. She enjoyed creatures, obviously, she had her own cat, Cricket, but she was not very adventurous outside of that.

So far she had wandered through the muggle portion of the zoo, and decided it was time for a treat of some kind. She had seen the Honeyduke's booth around somewhere, but was in the mood for something a little more substantial. There was another food vendor with sandwiches and so she got herself one, along with a lemonade, and made her way toward the lawn where she could borrow a picnic blanket and find a shady spot to enjoy her lunch. She had acquired the blanket and was in search of a spot to seat herself when she got distracted by a toddler running around, laughing and the sound stopped her dead in her tracks. Sage never quite knew when it was going to hit, but it always felt like a punch to the gut when she heard a little laugh or giggles. Her own daughter would be three and a half by now, not too much older than the little cherub enjoying her sweets, but it still awakened the ache in her chest at the most unexpected of times.

Of course she was so distracted she didn't see the gentleman coming and in her surprise she lost both her sandwich and her drink to the grass. Sighing, Sage managed to put a neutral look on her face. It was her fault for not looking, too. "It's okay, I'm alright." She assured the man. It was rare that Sage had to look quite so far up at a gentleman, but he was tall indeed, which made her even more annoyed with herself because she should have seen him! "The same cannot be said for my lunch," she managed a chuckle, even if she was a little disappointed. She certainly did not have the funds to replace it.

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Still keeping half an eye on Lily (yes the nanny was also watching her but still...) he grinned sheepishly at the woman before him. "Really, I am quite sorry. I should have been paying more attention to where I was going especially as I scolded LIly for not being careful. Are you sure you are okay? No scraps or anything?" She hadn't fallen but it never hurt to double-check, after all, he'd certainly seen his own fair share of odd cases over the years. And she did seem a little put-off. But, he supposed, following her glance down to the sandwich on the floor, that simply could have been because he'd caused her to drop her lunch.

"Please, Miss, at least let me replace your lunch as an apology. After all, it is my fault you dropped it. It was from the booth a few back right? What did you have? Do you still want the same thing?"

  

As apologetic as the gentleman was, and she took his sentiments as genuine, Sage did not want to be an imposition. She had never done well with being in the way or worried over, so she smiled politely. "It's alright," she assured him gently, eye on the little one he had mentioned, still a little breathless. "I couldn't impose like that." She hadn't been looking either, it was just as much her fault as his. Sage would eat when she got home.

"Your daughter?" She asked, hoping to distract him, ignoring the rumble of her stomach. "She's lovely." Merlin Sage didn't even know what her own daughter looked like at this point, but it didn't stop her from wondering if she was afforded nice afternoons out like this. Of course she was; Sage had to remind herself, that had been the whole point of sending her away, so the little one could grow up with more than what Sage could offer.

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"Impose? Don't be silly. You wouldn't be imposing. Not at all.  After all, I'm the one who ran into you. If anything I imposed." He said with a shrug that implied a sense of casualness despite the face he was insisting upon something. He felt horrible about the whole thing and the woman was handling it so politely. Anthony new he'd of been upset by the loss of his lunch. "If you worry about Lily, she's just fine with her nanny. Besides I'm offering to buy you lunch here not sweep you away without her. She's likely hungry soon too. Or at least she should probably eat something other than a lollypop or I'm bound to be in trouble."

"My daughter?" he parroted, forgetting for a moment that this woman was a stranger and wouldn't have know who the little girl was to him. "Lillian? Ah no. While she is certainly precious, she's my sister's not mine. All my other nieces and nephews live in America though so I like to spoil her as much as I'm able. And it gives her mother a bit of break sometimes. My sister is the one im bound to be in trouble with if I don't feed her something other than candy."

  

Sage was stuck in watching the little girl— his nice; barely pulled from her reverie to hear what the gentleman was saying. "Oh, alright, just a snack." Sage agreed, only because she was starving. She didn't need the full sandwich, just something small to hold her over. He was being awfully kind about it and had been a long time since Sage let anyone do something nice for her.

"That's kind of you. It's nice to have involved family. I'd be lost without my sisters." Sage owed them a lot. Maybe someday they would get to be involved aunties. It wasn't the case so far, but it would be someday; she hoped. Now was not the time to let her nostalgia show and so she swallowed hard. "I'm Sage Whitby, it's nice to meet you." She added, thinking if they were going to share a little bite to eat, that she ought to at least introduce herself informally.

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The smile he gave when she finally agreed was radiant, as bright as a torch in the night,  and his shoulders dropped as he tucked his hands into his trouser pockets. And just because she'd said a snack didn't mean he no longer was planning to replace her lunch in full. He'd find a way to find out what she liked. If they went to the stall she'd gotten her original lunch from he felt relativity certain that he could figure out what she'd ordered that he'd knocked over. Surely these stalls didn't have to extensive of menus? Or maybe just something similar?

"Mmm I don't think I'm being kind. If anything I'm being a bit selfish. Yeah it's nicely sister gets a break but the girl has a nanny. I just like seeing her, honestly. I want her to grow up looking forward to seeing her uncle. Maybe then I'll get letters when she goes off to Hogwarts instead of just growing old and into obscurity. But it is nice to have involved family. I love my brothers and sisters a lot, even if I don't get to see most of them very often and my sister has started to get a bit more involved than I'd like," he admitted with a chuckle, easily falling into his probably overfriendly, overtalkative state. 

"It is a pleasure to meet you errr. Mrs... Miss Whitby? I'm Anthony Delaney. Sorry. I did just try to steal you away for food without telling you my name didn't I?"

  

There was an uncomfortable pang in her chest as Mr. Delaney continued on about his relationship with his sister and her children. It was a strange mix of jealousy and sorrow; had she robbed her sisters of this sort of relationship with her daughter? Sage couldn't help but to wonder that she had made a mistake, but this was not the first, nor would it be the last time that doubt clawed at her insides, leaving her raw all over again. Mr. Delaney was being perfectly friendly and she was a bit of a mess and so Sage had to reel herself in.

"I'm sure everyone appreciates it." Sage reiterated, thinking it was nice to have the support of family when raising children. Good staff must have helped, not that Sage would ever experience that, but it certainly had to make things easier. She hadn't gotten to spend too much time with her daughter before she was off to her new life, but those few nights had been nothing short of draining, the feeding, the lack of sleep, the emotional upheaval, all by herself, it was overwhelming.

She had to shake herself off this train of thought and so she started back toward the food stalls as it seemed Mr. Delaney really wasn't taking no for an answer on the food. "Do you visit the zoo often?" She had only been a handful of times herself, but she was enjoying herself.

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