So... about the small people... on Defense Against the Dark Arts

Tabitha Brooding-Hawthorne

June 25, 2019 3:40 PM

So... about the small people... by Tabitha Brooding-Hawthorne

Tabitha had had a wonderful summer and was rather happy to be back at Sonora. She and Mary had spent the holidays walking the Appalachian Trail, something that had been on Tabitha's to-do list since arriving in America. At the start of their journey, Mary had gifted the Defence professor a brand new leather-bound journal for Tabitha to record her new experiences in and she had since filled several pages with her neat cursive and detailed sketches. There was, of course, an entire section dedicated to Mary, from when they had been trying to find a Wampus Cat with little success until they reached the mountains of the Appalachian Trail. The sketches of her wife were nice enough but Tabitha believed that she could not do Mary's beauty justice and much preferred looking at the Potions professor in person.

It had been a perfect summer. Well, at least, almost perfect.

Halfway through the summer, the pair had received a letter from none other than Darius and Evangeline. It was an announcement to share the good news that the pair were now parents to twins (Calliope, a girl and Louis, a boy) and the letter was accompanied with many adorable photographs of the two new arrivals, as well as a very proud looking and excited Darius and an equally proud (but much calmer) Evangeline.

The arrival of the letter had inevitably led Tabitha and Mary to venture into the territory of children and the discussion had not gone as well as perhaps expected. Truthfully, Tabitha had shut the conversation down before it had really even started, closing herself off to the topic and making it clear that it was not an area that she wanted to explore.

In the present day, Tabitha sighed and massaged her temples as she remembered the conversation. It wasn't that she didn't want children, exactly. In fact, she rather liked the idea of passing on her legacy (whatever that was... reckless beast-chasing explorer?) to someone she had raised but the thought of doing the actual raising was one that chilled her to the bone and made her feel sick. It was not something that she thought she would even be slightly good at but to admit such a thing was difficult.

She knew that she and Mary would have to hash it all out eventually, that the subject couldn't be run from forever but could she not put it off for a little while? Tabitha sighed and leaned back on the sofa, tipping her head back.and closed her eyes. Was it really fair on Mary to keep her waiting?

The DADA professor was so caught up in her in thoughts that she didn't notice the door to their rooms opening and closing.

22 Tabitha Brooding-Hawthorne So... about the small people... 1424 Tabitha Brooding-Hawthorne 1 5

Mary Brooding-Hawthorne

June 25, 2019 5:24 PM

The ones we teach? by Mary Brooding-Hawthorne

It had been an outright exhausting summer and Mary was glad to be back. As much as she admired Tabitha for her adventurousness and was honored to be a part of future quests, she had to acknowledge that she was not yet conditioned for it. The Appalachian Trail was difficult for the most experienced muggle hikers and there was only so much help magic could provide when there was legwork to be done. Mary's potions had helped with some of the worst of the exhaustion and soreness, but nothing could make up for just being out of shape.

She had, however, discovered that jeans weren't all bad. For the sake of safety, Mary had decided to forego her dresses for the trip, already anticipating what Tabitha would have had to say about her attire. She wasn't quite ready to break them out in front of students yet, but it was nice to know that a good pair of Levis could work as well as a Victorian gown in many situations; both modern and traditional wizarding garb had things to offer.

When Mary arrived at the rooms she hared with Tabitha, she had her mind on orientation. New students were arriving and being exposed to a brand new world. Whether they were new to magic, new to Sonora, or new to independence, they were going to be in for a shock and Mary sort of loved it. There was something thrilling about learning something new by living it, precisely as she and Tabitha had done on the Appalachian Trail. For better and for worse was more than just a fanciful line put down in all those magazines Mary had pored over.

Unfortunately, Tabitha looked much more ill-at-ease. Mary took a moment to remove her hat, hanging it on the rack by the door that she had come through from her own office and had come to think of as "her" door. She also kicked off her shoes and padded across the room in stocking feet, lifting her dress up so she didn't trip on it.

"Hello, my love," Mary greeted her wife as she took a seat beside her. She was hesitant to go in for a kiss when there was clearly something stressing Tabitha out, but she leaned in for a light nuzzle and pecked the woman's cheek. "It's good to see you. I hadn't expected so much work to be done in my office; sorry I'm late getting back. Are you doing okay?"

22 Mary Brooding-Hawthorne The ones we teach? 1424 Mary Brooding-Hawthorne 0 5

Tabitha Brooding-Hawthorne

June 25, 2019 5:44 PM

For once, not them. by Tabitha Brooding-Hawthorne

Tabitha jumped slightly when Mary greeted her, her hands twitching as they automatically started for her wand. Seeing that it was only, in fact, her wife, Tabitha relaxed and one of her arms snaked round Mary's waist to pull her closer. It was easy to draw comfort from Mary, the woman always made Tabitha feel at ease (aside from that one instance over the summer) and despite the stressed state her mind was in, the Defence professor could feel herself relaxing in Mary's presence.

"I'm fine," she replied, inhaling through her nose. Her tone of voice did not sound particularly convincing. "I was just thinking about Darius and Evangeline and the twins."

This wasn't exactly a lie because she had been thinking about them. It just wasn't exactly the whole truth. Tabitha let out a sharp breath, now annoyed with herself. She was being ridiculous. The subject of children was one that needed discussion. Having a conversation about the potential prospect of children didn't mean that anything had to be settled or agreed upon today. It wasn't like a baby or a child was suddenly going to appear if she dared talk about it with Mary. They just needed to find out whether they were on the same page (or not, as the case may be) and that could only be done through talking (or Legilimency, Tabitha supposed but talking was less complicated).

"I... was... sort of thinking about children in general."

Well, vague explanations was always a start even if not particularly helpful. She reached for her wand and flicked it towards the teapot and cups, summoning them. This was going to need tea.

22 Tabitha Brooding-Hawthorne For once, not them. 1424 Tabitha Brooding-Hawthorne 0 5

Mary Brooding-Hawthorne

June 25, 2019 10:07 PM

That's good because they're stressing me out. by Mary Brooding-Hawthorne

Humming happily, Mary snuggled up to Tabitha's side and tugged out a lock of hair that was falling around her shoulders, twirling it as she watched her talk. She had such a cute face and her accent was very endearing. Mary could've listened to her read a Quidditch playbook if it meant listening to her talk a bit longer, but this particular conversation was a bit more weighty than that.

Mary wasn't exactly sure whether she wanted children ever, let alone just now. The students of Sonora were their children and if very many more of them were like Dorian, Heinrich, or some of the others, then there were plenty of children who already needed a little more love in the world. That being said, she wanted to raise little baby people with Tabitha. There was a lot of fear there, too, of course, but she couldn't imagine anyone she'd rather team up with to love on babies.

"I see," Mary said, looking at her fingers where Tabitha's hair had found a home. "And what are you think about them?"
/
She wasn't sure what she was hoping for, if she was hoping for anything in particular. More than anything, she just wanted to be on the same page. They were partners after all. She accepted a cup of tea as well, and kept her eyes away from Tabitha's face, careful not to intimidate her as she thought about a reply.

22 Mary Brooding-Hawthorne That's good because they're stressing me out. 1424 Mary Brooding-Hawthorne 0 5

Tabitha Brooding-Hawthorne

June 30, 2019 2:26 PM

All children stress me out. by Tabitha Brooding-Hawthorne

Tabitha liked the feeling of Mary’s fingers in her hair. There was something soothing about the motion and the tenderness of the Potions professor’s hands that Tabitha, though still mostly wound up and stressed out, didn’t feel quite as in despair as she had before Mary had returned. It was still a difficult subject she had elected to discuss and such tricky conversations were not something Tabitha was particularly good at - it was just easy to ignore the elephant in the room, even if that required avoiding the people it involved.

However, Mary was her wife. She couldn’t (and shouldn’t) be avoided and ignored and wasn’t occasionally awkward and tricky conversations part of the whole wedded life? There was no running from this or from Mary and nor did Tabitha want to. In her list of priorities, Mary and her happiness came above Tabitha and her comfort.

“Darius’s letter has set me off thinking,” she began to explain before taking a much-needed gulp of tea. If anything was going to get her through this, it was tea. “I... I need to know what you think about... having children of our own.”

Then, panic seemed to settle in and her eyes widened and she straightened up suddenly, almost sloshing her tea out of her cup as she hurriedly tried to explain herself before Mary got the wrong idea. “I-I don’t mean right now, of course! We’ve not long been married and I’d like to spend at least a little more time enjoying me-and-you rather than me-you-and-small baby but I think I do want children at some point but I also think I’d be hopeless at it. It feels like it would be easier for me to raise a dragon than a... than another human being.”

Well, her worries hadn’t meant to come out in such a rush but the topic of Mary and children made her feel nervous. Her chest heaved as she caught her breath and, searching for something to do with her hands and to stop her mouth from running away again, Tabitha drank her tea as she waited for Mary to say something.

22 Tabitha Brooding-Hawthorne All children stress me out. 1424 Tabitha Brooding-Hawthorne 0 5

Mary Brooding-Hawthorne

July 05, 2019 10:40 PM

Well, I'm in no explicit rush. by Mary Brooding-Hawthorne

Mary was careful and still, knowing that Tabitha was undoubtedly examining her the way she might a wild animal. Of course, Mary wasn't the only wild one in this case. Tabitha bore a number of similarities to wild animals that hadn't quite been domesticated yet, although she seemed as much like a dragon as a kneazle when the mood struck. Ailuros probably would've appreciated the comparison to a dragon, even if by proxy, and Mary glanced towards where she was curled up, sleeping on a windowsill in a beam of sunlight.

"Human beings breathe a lot less fire," Mary pointed out with a teasing smile, easing the anxiety from her wife's body by snuggling closer into the side of it. "Someday, in the future, I would like to have children. Right now, we have a whole schoolful. But someday, I think I'd like to adopt kiddos. They wouldn't have to be babies," she added quietly, wondering whether it was babyhood that scared Tabitha, or whether it was more than that.

"Truth be told, I'm afraid too. You know I didn't have as much time with my parents as I would've liked, and the idea of losing . . . what happened to Parker . . . Well, I'm afraid too."

She cocked her head. "Thank you for talking to me about this, my love."

22 Mary Brooding-Hawthorne Well, I'm in no explicit rush. 1424 Mary Brooding-Hawthorne 0 5