Chapter 5

"One more day until Addy goes to work, what will we do?" asked Sirius, a smile wide on his lips as he turned to stare at Jude who was standing on the chair beside Sirius at the kitchen counter, his small hands clutching the counter whilst he rocked ever so slightly on his feet. His light brown hair that was bound to get darker as he grew was in all sorts of mess from playing in the garden with Sirius.

The teenager couldn't help but notice when he collected the young boy that his teddy was in his crib with him, when he was almost positive that he had put it back on the shelf the night before, but he didn't think much of it, especially when the boy was clinging to it for dear life in his half-woken state.

"We should make a cake!" Jude beamed, excitedly slapping Sirius' bare side with his chubby hand whilst the boy laughed at him, ruffling his hair in passing to the cupboards, "no, no, Pad! We should get Addy to make us cake - she's the best at it!"

"Well, Jude, we're trying to make sure Addy gets enough rest as possible," Sirius chuckled, running a hand through the boy's messy hair, "that's why I need your help."

"Cause I'm second best!" Jude confirmed, nodding his head excitedly, he tried his best to climb onto the kitchen counter from the chair that Sirius had gotten for him to stand on, but Sirius' arm quickly slipped around his waist before he could make any attempts of hurting himself, "can I mix?"

"Why don't we both mix?" suggested Sirius as he measured out the flour into a cup, blowing the stray hairs out of his face in order to see better whilst Jude watched him intently, or rather, in awe.

The boy loved Sirius more than anything in the world, just at three years old, Jude looked up to Sirius like a role model, as if he was the best thing to walk the earth to him, and Jude was, in Sirius' eyes, the same. Sirius couldn't even think of his life without Jude in it, every time he thought of spending time with the toddler, or waking up to his laughter was the best times he could have, especially with the war.

And the fact that he got to care for him with the love of his life by his side was more than enough.

"Can I smash the egg?" asked Jude, his head titled to the side as he watched Sirius pick up the egg, and in one attempt the boy was quickly seated in between Sirius' legs with the bowl resting on them, Sirius handed the egg to Jude, and clasped his much bigger hand over the toddlers before gently guiding it to the edge of the bowl, "I think- I think I should be the one to bake sweeties!"

"I think so too, Jude," Sirius couldn't help but laugh, placing the bowl back on the counter and Jude back on the seat he had risen from, "what else do we need for this cake?"

"Flies!" Jude exclaimed, clapping his hands together whilst Sirius turned with a raised eyebrow, "the ones Addy eats!"

"Fudge flies in cake?!" Sirius asked, "okay then, what else?"

"Cheese!"

"Cheese in cake?!" Sirius exclaimed, "okay...what else?"

Jude thought for a minute, his little hand cupping his chin as though he was thinking, and the sight made Sirius' heart swell, "well I think love, because we love Addy."

"So, it's a flies, cheese and love, chocolate cake?" asked Sirius, watching Jude nod his head furiously and soon did the teenager walk to the fridge to get the ingredients, "you know, Jude, me and Addy where wondering if you want to play with other kids your age?"

"Bu-but I have you and Addy to play with?" Jude frowned, looking towards Sirius who had grabbed some fudge flies and the cheese from the fridge, if Jude wanted a cheese, fudge flies and love cake then that's what he would get.

"I know bud," Sirius sighed, sitting the ingredients on the counter and soon kneeling down in front of him, "but sometimes me and Addy have to work, in order to get you new toys-"

"But - but I don't want new toys," he whispered, holding Sirius' face in his hands, "I just want to play with you and Addy."

Sirius couldn't help but laugh softly, pulling the boy closer to him, "I know, but if we don't go to work for a few hours then we won't get to play at all - we'll not have money to play with anything!"

"Oh," Jude frowned, unsure exactly what money was, or what work was but knowing it would make his Pad and his Addy leave him - he didn't like it in the slightest, "why do I need friends my age?"

"Well you're gonna get sick of me and Addy one day," Sirius teased, holding him tightly, "and when that happens it means you're gonna have friends that you can play with instead!"

"Will they come to home?" asked Jude, leaning on Sirius who shook his head.

"No, me and Addy will take you to this big building with lots of friends that you can play with, and you can have so much fun and nap all day, and read lots of books and then we will pick you up when it's time to come home, but I bet once you get used to it you won't even want to come home!" Sirius bit back the frown that was forcing its way through the barrier of his lips, he didn't want Jude to go to the nursery Adria had to apply him for, neither did Adria, truthfully, the two wished they could just stay with him forever, the fear of him being scared or nervous was very evident as they talked about it, and Adria just couldn't bear to tell the boy about it.

So, Sirius stepped up.

"I don't think so," Jude shook his head, "I'm gonna stay with you and Addy forever and ever!"

"That's good, Jude, I'm very, very glad," Sirius laughed softly, "but will you go for a few days, just for me and Addy?"

"Mhmm," he nodded his head, pushing himself up to stare at Sirius, "but I want chocolate cold!"

"Chocolate cold?" Sirius bit his lip to stop from laughing, ruffling Jude's hair, he spoke, "alrighty, Jude, I'm sure we can get you ice cream."

"Pad, the cake is gonna break!" Jude huffed suddenly, pushing Sirius away and gesturing to the mixture in the bowl that he was too small to reach, "rem-remember to cut the cheese!"

"I know, I know," Sirius chuckled, "merlin, you're just like your sister!"

"I hope that's a good thing," Sirius turned at the sound of Adria's voice, seeing her yawn as she stood against the door frame, her eyebrows raised at the mess of the kitchen, and soon did she speak, "do I want to know what's going on here?"

"Me and Pad are making a cake!" Jude grinned excitedly, "for you!"

"Oh, for me?" Adria giggled, quickly kissing Sirius as she passed him and soon scooping Jude into her arms, "what kind of cake is it, prince?"

"It's a cheese, and flies and love cake!"

"A cheese, and flies and love cake?!" she gasped, sitting him on the counter and soon tickling him, "my favourite!"

"I told you, Pad!" Jude wagged his finger at Sirius who shook his head with a smile, "can I play?"

"Alright," Adria nodded, sitting Jude on the floor and watching him zoom off into the living room. she pushed herself over to Sirius, wrapping her arms around his stomach and soon kissing his back before leaning her head on his shoulder, "I can't believe you're actually chopping up cheese right now."

"Adria, he could tell me to jump off the roof and I'd do it," Sirius chuckled, sitting down the knife and turning to her, a smile wide on his lips as he wrapped his arms around her, "how are you feeling, Ads?"

"I'm fine, Sirius," she chuckled, leaning her head on him, "you don't need to watch my every move, babe, I can look after myself perfectly fine!"

"I know you can but I just want to make it easier for you," he mumbled, tightening his grip on her, "you've been through far too much - it's alright to need someone, Ads, and I'm always going to be here for you."

"I know," she whispered, smiling softly, "did you talk to Jude?"

"I did," he nodded, a sigh stumbling from his lips, "he's not too happy but he's willing to go for us."

"Oh, thank merlin," she breathed out, her shoulders slumping in relief, "I don't think I could cope if he started to cry, Sirius."

He took her face in his hands, sweeping his thumb over her cheek with a reassuring smile, "Adria you need to stop worrying about everything, alright? we are doing well, you're starting your job tomorrow, Jude is starting nursery, I'm going back to work, we're on the right track, and we can do this, regardless of our age, we are coping, alright?"

"Are you sure we're coping?" she teased, "you just agreed to make a chocolate cake that contains chopped up cheddar cheese and fudge flies!"

"And love," he smirked, "I can't believe you would break his trust like that, Adria Belle Hopkins, he loves you so much!"

"Oh shush," she rolled her eyes, "Jude just loves the idea of a chocolate cake with cheese and fudge flies and the last time I made him it, it had pure chocolate, so really, do you want to crush the boy with the horrible taste of cheese and chocolate?!"

"You are evil," Sirius tutted, picking up the cheese he had chopped up and placing it in a bag to go back into the fridge, and soon turning to the girl, "so I was thinking, maybe next Saturday we could drop Jude off at James and Lily's and we could go...I mean, they want to spend time with him and it gives us some time alone!"

Adria turned, seeing the flustered look on Sirius' features, and soon did she nod, raising her eyebrows, "you look like a nervous fourth year asking me on a date," she giggled, pushing herself over to him and slowly placing her lips on his.

"Well do you accept?" he asked, "we could do the usual Hogwarts date stuff, y'know, spend ten minutes in Honeydukes and then snog in a booth at The Three Broomsticks for about two hours."

She giggled, nodding her head, "can you apparate to Hogsmeade because that actually sounds brilliant," she winked.

"Oh yeah, it does," Sirius nodded, pushing her against the kitchen counter, "but I was thinking we could maybe see what the weather's like and go for a picnic?"

"In November?" she asked, her eyebrow raised and watching him nod, "well alright then, sounds like a plan - oh, or we could go shopping, Jude wanted that-"

Sirius quickly cut her off, pushing his lips onto hers whilst she stumbled, "no, no, no, no, no - no shopping, no worrying about Jude, no stress, just us allowed to be teenagers for a day without having to fake being an adult, cause let's be real, we're bloody terrible at it!"

"True," she nodded, "didn't we eat cake for dinner two nights ago?"

"Cake and beer," Sirius scoffed, before nudging to her stomach, "well for me, it was cake and irn bru for you, which you made me walk two miles to get you!"

"Look, once I get my driver's licence, we can dip into dad's money and buy a car," she smiled widely, "my test is in two weeks, stop being a big baby!"

"Speaking of babies, ours is going to get cranky if we keep him waiting on this cake," Sirius scoffed, stealing one more kiss before pushing himself over to the bowl containing the cake mix.

[A/N I feel sorry for my friends that don't like spoilers cause I literally can't help but tell them every major thing that happens in this book.

(aka. The list™) ]