7.30am. Pratt's Knoll Cottage, front door.


The graveyard shift at St.Mungo's had drawn to its end no more than an hour ago and Vivienne Thorpe was already across the country, having apparated to her boyfriend's Eddie's little cottage up north. She was wrapped up in a warm black coat and sported the comfortable attire of a woman who had been in starched robes for far too long.

Knock, knock, knock!

Viv lowered her hand, standing outside the front door with arms crossed and shoulders drawn together against the December cold. Mon dieu. The things she did to surprise the man. He too, she knew, was recovering from a night shift of Auror duties. What better way to recuperate than with his amour?

Smiling slyly to herself, Vivienne knocked again and hoped that Eddie had not been injured on the job. The last time that had happened their romantic times had quickly unraveled.[1] On the other side of the door, she could hear Winston barking excitingly and the unfamiliar murmur of voices. The Healer frowned, confused. Ed Pratt was not the kind of wizard who frequently had guests over. At least not to the best of her knowledge...

1.	Sometimes it Hurts Instead!

“DAAAAAAAAADEEEEEEEE!” Came the yell from a healthy set of young lungs from the corridor. When the received no response, they let rip once more. “DAAAAAADEEEEEEEE!” And to accompany this shouting, another voice started up in the living, crying loudly, the small baby having just been woken up from her slumber.

“Oh Jesus, Tash! Stop yelling the house!” Ed Pratt shouted back at his daughter, his voice revealing exasperation and tiredness.

“BUUUUT…”

“TASHA!”

So the girl stopped yelling. Instead, hand in hand with the toddling Charlie, she slowly walked to the door and decided to pull it open herself. Her dad wasn’t going to help was he? He was too busy dealing with the noisy new baby and being grumpy. Her dad was basically always grumpy after work. He was a big grumpy puss.

So the door was pulled open and Natasha let go of Charlie’s hand to cross her arms over her chest in a way her parents did when they wanted to seem powerful. She then eyed the woman on the door analytically.

“Daddy says we shouldn’t just let strangers in.” The young girl said, but as she looked over the lady’s face, her eyes widened. “But I know you don’t I? You’re Misses Healer!” She screeched before her mouth opened wide and she clapped her hand over it. “Oh merlin, is Daddy ill? Is that why you’re here Mrs Healer?”

Jésus! Vivienne almost dropped her purse when the door swung open to reveal not the sleepy facade of her auror but a much tinier (and admittedly prettier) vision.

A familiar one, as well. Before she could get a word in however, Natasha Pratt was already hollering- equipped with a pair of lungs obviously inherited from her father. “Oh merlin, is Daddy ill? Is that why you’re here Mrs Healer?”

That was one way to look at it but Viv doubted she could spin that story without alarming Eddie's children. Strong imaginations, the young ones. She stepped into the cottage and smiled politely at the little girl, shutting the door behind her as she spoke.

"Non, non I am only here to, ah, wish your father a good morning...." Her grey eyes moved from Tasha to the boy. Charlie. Une famille adorable. The illusion was easily shattered by the sound of a wailing bébé in the background. Merlin.

Vivienne could safely assume that the ex-wife was not around, or the children would not be answering the door.

"Would you like to lead me to him?" she asked the pair of them in a sweet voice, free of condescension. "Maybe we can help see about that crying, oui?"

“Non, non I am only here to, ah, wish your father a good morning....” Mrs Healer informed the young children and Natasha’s eyebrows instantly rose, getting lost under her dark fringe.

“Well he’s really grumpy, Mrs Healer. He must have met a really bad man at work last night.  But…” The young girl paused and frowned. “Well actually he’s always grumpy” and with that she stepped out of the doorway, pulling Charlie with her to let Vivienne enter.

From the living room the sound of the crying was dying down until finally it had stopped and those in the hallway could only hear a bit of moaning.  Through the doorway Edward stepped, holding a sleepy baby in his arms and a grumpy expression on his tired visage.

“Natasha, what have I told you about indoor voices? They’re for indo-” The auror stopped as he saw the gathering in the corridor. What was Viv doing there? And why was the door open? Ed’s eyes shot to his daughter who was gripping Charlie by the hand and pouting. “And you don’t open the door without my permission, young lady. What if Viv had of been a nasty wizard? You silly girl. Get in there,” he pointed back at the living room. “Now.”

Looking as if she was about to burst into tears, Natasha ran away from the door and past her father into the living room. Charlie followed, unsteady on his wobbly legs. Eddie looked up at Vivienne once more.

“I didn’t know you were coming over.”

What if I had been a nasty wizard, indeed... Vivienne smiled in part to herself as she watched, diverted, while the Pratt children were shooed into the living room like impish fairies. Familiar. Her gaze turned to the Auror once the young ones were relatively out of earshot and she allowed the smile to lessen, un peu.

"Bonjour," the Healer regarded her wizard with an intelligent look. "I wanted to surprise you. Success, non? Ah but maybe it is I who am surprised..." she approached Eddie and glanced down at the bebé he cradled before leaning over to offer a chaste kiss against each of his cheeks. "Le père grincheux."

Tasha might have recognized Vivienne from the St.Mungo's visit but none of the children understood that she was their father's particular petite amie; and they were only in the other room. This would have to be a different surprise than the one she had planned.

"You are tired," Viv stated in a concerned voice and put down her bag in a manner that indicated she was not looking to leave the cottage anytime soon. "And I am here to help. Your rescuer. Have you eaten yet?"

It all seemed to happen out of Eddie’s control. His woman-friend kissed him in the cheeks, called him a pere grinchoo whatever that was, and dumped her bag on the floor indicting that she was staying. Had Eddie said she could stay? Had he invited her? He didn’t remember that. The kids were here. He had to deal with them. With Natasha being loud and noisy, with Brooke screaming her head off because he wasn’t mommy and with Charlie being…well, Charlie. He didn’t need to worry about dealing with Viv too!

Eddie frowned, staring at the French woman.
“No.” He responded bluntly before glancing back at the living room. “I know what I’d like to throw in a stew mind.” And as if on cue, baby Brooke once again began to squirm in her father’s arms, legs and arms flailing and vocal chords opening to release an almighty cry.

Also releasing something from his vocal chords was Eddie who, through gritted teeth, practically roared. His face went bright red and his body tensed. He was not a happy Daddy this morning.

Mon dieu, Vivienne tried not to roll her eyes at the mention of stewing the crying babe. He was in a real mood today, her Auror. And the growling. Poor creature.

"Here," cshe held out her hands and practically cajoled the bebé out of his arms and into her own. "Kitchen, go. You need food non? They do too."

A fully grown wizard could live on the meagre nourishment of toast and black coffee but Viv had worked with plenty of children when she was on the third floor of St. Mungo's. They had grand appétits. She comfortably cradled Eddie's child... Brooke, she remembered, and hoped that the bebé was easily soothed by her rocking.

"How long have you had the children?" Vivienne asked as she looked down at Brooke's face and largely ignored the wizard while strolling unconsciously towards the kitchen. Venue of their first date; judging from the state of affairs today, she hoped not also the venue of their final one.

So Vivienne was marching into Eddie’s house to be some angel saving him from self-destruction of eating his children? He wasn’t sure how he felt about that. But he didn’t complain when his girlfriend took the screaming baby from his arms and questioned him on food. Well he hadn’t considered that. Surely Quincy had fed them breakfast before she dropped them off in a hurry this morning. Or she’d have said otherwise wouldn’t she? They’d not moaned about being hungry, just everything else under the sun and Eddie’s head was ready to explode.

Criminals, Edward Pratt was adept at dealing with. He could crack cases, track criminals, duel with them, arrest and he’d even killed a few. But children were something very different. You couldn’t hex a child when it was screaming and bothering you. You had to be parentlike and loving. Normally Eddie could be but his patience was waning this morning. It had been a tough long night and then he’d got home, planning on limbing into bed when the owl had arrived, followed five minutes later with an ex-wife and three children on his doorstep. Quincy had been called into work and Eddie couldn’t say no because he was not working. This was not fair.

The auror lifted his hand to his chin, running the stubble in thought as he tried to connect his brain to his mouth. All this screaming was driving him potty.
“Er…an hour or so?”  Pratt followed Viv into the kitchen as he frowned down at his robes. They were still his scarlet red auror robes that he hadn’t yet removed. Viv wasn’t a fan, Eddie knew. He quickly pulled them off and hung them over a kitchen chair.

In the corner, lying on his bed was Winston the steadily growing puppy. He looked up at the party entering, a hopeless expression on his face. Apparently the usually lively puppy didn’t like crying babies either.

“Did ye say you were coming over, cherry?” He tried to sound more welcoming, less grumpy auror murderous father. “I must have forgotten amongst hunting down rebellious teens throwing stink bombs at diagon residents and old witches sending red sparks when they found a rogue crossdressing gnome in their garden. Bloody Law Enforcement Squad’s job that is.” And yet somehow Eddie had been dragged into it last night.

Une heure and already they were driving him insane? Vivienne rolled her eyes, rocking the bebé in one arm as she drew her wand with the other, flicking it gently at various sections of the kitchen. A kettle came tumbling from the cupboards, on to the stove where a fire sprung up immediately. Her grey gaze shifted from the garden view outside to the auror, searchingly.

Ah, bien. He removed those terrible robes. The very sight of them.

"I didn't say I was comi-- sshh, chouchou." This last bit was directed at the wailing child, who was beginning to quiet down. Viv glanced back up again. "I was trying to surprise you." And she was obviously not very successful,  even if he was confused.

The kettle began its whistling. Coffee for them, mais what for the children?

"Hot cocoa, Eddie? Or no sucre?" she didn't seem very concerned with his job complaints although a laugh did cross her lips at the mention of crossdressing gnomes. Jésus, the cases he received. "For the young ones that is," Vivienne paused to throw him a coquettish smile. "Sugar for you, naturellement."

“No sugar.” Eddie responded to his lady friend a bit too quickly.  He was grumpy today. He was not giving his children fuel to make him even more grumpy. He wanted, instead, to sit them in the living room with a game and let them be. Or right now one of those muggle tellyvisors would have been really handy. He’d been told by muggle lovers how great they were at entertaining kids. Or maybe he needed a house elf to dance for them and entertain them?

That was stupid.

Ed couldn’t afford a house elf.

So instead he stood grumpily, grumpily watching Vivienne with his daughter as she fussed over drinks.
“They can have water.” The auror paused and glanced back at the kitchen door leading to the living room where Natasha and Charlie where. “Or sleeping potion.” Eddie was normally a very warm father, loving his kids and trying to be the best dad he could when he wasn’t actually working. But today he didn’t want to be ‘Dad’ or ‘Auror Pratt’ he wanted to be Eddie and he wanted to lie on the sofa in his slippers with a book and coffee.

Grumpily, the grumpy man sat down in the kitchen chair. “I didn’t get Christmas day off, either. Boxing day’ll have to do. Can you get that off? Wouldn’t mind seein’ ye over the holiday, after all. S’Noah’s birthday too.”

Merde, there was no satisfying the auror today.

Vivienne had charmed several mugs - an assortment of odds sizes and colours - to line up along the kitchen counter as the whistling kettle poured its boiling contents into each. The bebe was quieter now, that uneasy phase between childish wailing and tired wheezing. All the poor thing needed was some patience.

"Non," she rolled her eyes at Eddie. "Not only water. Maybe camomille, oui? And honey." As she spoke the respective caddies and jar came drifting from the cupboards. A shame that Eddie children did not like valerian. The soothing scent of chamomile flooded the room briefly.

The Healer glanced away from the drinks at her auror's question, a little surprised. Noël! It had nearly slipped by her that they might have spent it together. It felt serious. Is that what serious couples did? No matter. Boxing day wasn't Christmas, wasn't serious.

"Boxing day, oui." Viv smiled gently as she moved closer,  resting against his chair. Her free hand slipped over his shoulder and squeezed reassuringly; the baby was nearly dozing now. "Are we having a birthday party then? Little boys love parties. And not so little boys also..." the witch leaned forward to kiss the back of his head.