Weekend Work (Daniel)

Guest

When Naomi woke up that Saturday it was to a full dressed, fully operating, fully healthy five year old boy standing next to her bed.

"I'm ready to pack mommy!" Theo exclaimed, hands on his hips grinning down at the bleary eyed form of his mom. Naomi groaned and pulled a pillow over her head.

“Mommy,” Theo whined as he hopped onto his mom’s body, his small frame causing her to let out an ‘oomph’ nonetheless as she curled her arms around him. He lifted the pillow off her head to show his displeasure.

“Mommy is so sleepy though,” she complained back, her son pouting now.

“But Uncle Danny’s coming soon and Theo’s gonna make breakfast for mommy and Uncle Danny,” he exclaimed as he started to pull at her hands that were resting under her pillow from under her as if to start pulling her up. Her body gave a bit of a jerk and she was smiling as he did so, but quickly she weighted her body back down.

“You’re going to make breakfast?” She asked pulling her hands gently from his to cup his soft cheeks. He nodded quickly and smiled.

“So c’mon mommy get ready, it’s packing day!” He exclaimed as he jumped off her body and scrambled into the kitchen, she shook her head but complied with her exuberant son’s wishes. As she entered her bathroom she washed her face, and took a moment to stare at her reflection. She’d just apply a bit of mascara, that’s all. Her outfit for the day was already in the closet, her clothes she packed in a burst of energy last night after work. She made sure Theo old baby clothes were packed too. Their house was tidy, despite the fact that most of the space wasn’t used. It would, sadly maybe only take half the day to pack it all up with just her and Theo, but with Daniel helping it could take even less time.

After washing her face and brushing her teeth, she splattered Sleakeezy onto her fingers and ran it through her hair before brushing her hair out. Closing the door to her bedroom she pulled her outfit for the day on before exiting her room, to find Theo in the living room grabbing at all of his stray toys.

“Shouldn’t you be getting ready to make Uncle Danny and I breakfast, chef Theo?” Naomi asked her son teasingly. Immediately he dropped his legos from Daniel and nodded hurriedly before pushing past her into the kitchen. As she was laughing there was a knock on the door, she smiled as she checked the time on her wall clock. Immediately she rushed over to open the door.

“Well, look who’s on time,” she remarked smiling at her best friend before dropping her voice to a whisper, “just a warning, Theo’s making us breakfast today, I'm thinking after we finish packing we all go out to get lunch together?" She added hopefully, knowing Theo would love to eat out, but not trying to push her luck.

Guest

The weekend had come around much quicker than Daniel had anticipated. So much had happened in the last couple of days that Daniel didn't know how he'd managed to keep his job and the moving preparations up to date. Now it was only a matter of finishing the whole thing off.

The bills had all been settled, and Daniel had deposited a significant sum of money in to Naomi's bank account. Well, it would feed through as and when Naomi's bank balance grew low, not too much to be noticeable to his best friend. But it was a start, until he could convince her that this was exactly what he wanted to do.

Knowing the silence of the house was going to end soon, Daniel couldn't help but be in a more than excitable mood that morning. Which meant almost as soon as he was ready, skipping breakfast to make sure he was on time.

Apparating to Naomi's apartment, Daniel knocked on the door, checking his watch and smiling to himself because he was on time for once. Though, this was Naomira, and he tried so much harder for her than he had for anyone else in his life.

“Well, look who’s on time,”

"Yeah, yeah!" Daniel responded, giving his best friend a hug. "Always so surprised!" He added, shaking his head at her. The information that Theo was making them breakfast made Daniel raise an eyebrow. "He is? What are we having?" Daniel asked, raising his voice so that Theo could hear them.

Looking back to Naomi, Daniel nodded at the mention of lunch out. "Is it McDonalds, or Burger King, or something a little classier today, do you think?" Daniel asked, rolling up his shirt sleeves.

"Where should I start?"

Guest

Naomi wondered if Daniel had ever eaten some of Theo’s cooking. Because he was such an intuitive kid, no, not intuitive, her son was more curious than anything else. Whenever she cooked, he’d always seat himself upon the counter to watch her. Two months ago he offered to cook for her, and so she drew herself from bed, took her daily pills and helped him with all the cooking that had to do with fire. It was eggs and bacon with French toast, French toast from the store that they bought a week ago.

Apart of her wondered how Theo would take the change in scenery, but from as far as she knew, Theo was completely happy with it; momentarily she flashbacked to the conversation they shared about moving.

“We’re gonna move in with Uncle Danny? Mommy this is gonna be so much fun! It’s gonna be a sleepover every night and Uncle Danny will teach me to fly and ‘m gonna show Uncle Danny how I can smell things really good like remember how you couldn’t find your favorite shirt and I smelt the perfume you used and then I found it? I’m gonna do that for Uncle Danny,” he continued rambling on about the cool things he wanted to do, and Naomi merely smiled and curled herself around him, laying her head on his while he spoke avidly before he tired himself. She was glad to know that the move didn’t mean he was going to lose anything important either.

“Always,” she teased as she hugged him back before stepping back.

“Mommy Uncle Danny hasn’t eaten breakfast yet! I knew he wasn’t going to! I don’t smell food on him,” Theo pronounced proudly, and when he stepped out of the kitchen to see his mum’s best friend standing there, he grinned so vibrantly the sun didn’t compare as he charged towards him.

“Uncle Danny!” He screamed, as Naomi took a step away and winced, immediately he threw himself at his uncle, expecting to be caught. She nearly collapsed with laughter. Theo could never do this with her because she wasn’t strong enough to take to him on head to head, but she loved that Daniel could.

“Surprise me,” she replied with a grin, “but Burger King is a fantastic idea, I love their nuggets for reasons I can’t explain.” At his question of where to start, she bit her lower lip.

“Could you start with Henry’s office?” She glanced at Theo, too busy cuddling his uncle, “when spider monkey crawls off of course, he’s got stuff in there I just shoved, and I’ve no clue what to do with it.” She admitted with a shrug, not feeling too particularly hurt over the fact.

Guest

Daniel smiled to himself at the warm embrace with Naomi, it made him feel much better, in himself and everything they were about to do. But mostly it was because she was teasing him about his knack for being late.

It was only a few moments later that Theo's presence was announced, highly like the young boy in his mannerisms of launching himself at Daniel in greeting. As always, Daniel caught him easily, lifting the boy up and giving him a cuddle. "How's my little man, hmm?" Daniel asked, grinning at the boy in question. "Been helping your mummy with the packing like a good boy?" Daniel asked, waiting only a moment for the nod in response.

"Great!" Daniel responded, setting Theo back down. "I'll come and get breakfast in a moment!" He insisted to the younger boy, watching him hurry off to finish the preparations.

"You're much too close to the boy, Daniel." His mother had chided him in the last ditch effort to persuade him not to take in a single mother and her child. "How do you ever expect to get married and have a happy life if you look after a child as if he's your own? People already talk!"

"Let them. Theo and Naomi are the only family I will ever need." Daniel had responded tiredly to his mother's 'worries'.

"But, you'll need an heir!"

"Theo will be that, if all else fails." Daniel had told his mother coldly, leaving the room before the conversation could spiral out of control.

The question on tidying up the office simply made Daniel nod. "Of course I can." Was all he said in response. "The house elves should be here shortly to speed things up. Didn't want them barging in without warning. Terrifying things when they're unannounced!" Daniel joked, picking up a box and heading towards the kitchen.

"One breakfast to go, chef!" Daniel called through the door to Theo, making sure his nephew was okay.

Guest

Affection was something Naomira was only used to sharing with three people: Henry, Theo, and Daniel. Only two of which were in her life now, but she was glad that she was able to show how grateful or how loving she was through touch with them. After releasing Daniel she wondered how he’d take their apartment; it wasn’t shabby, but it also wasn’t the most refurbished. The refurbishing part was more or less about the fact that their furniture had been almost the same for six years. Moving in with Henry and starting a life with him had given her hope that they’d both be able to grow as people more and build a life from the ground up.

Yet looking at the half-decade old furniture she decided that hopes were childish sometimes when they came in the form of other people. At that depressing thought she averted her eyes to her son and Daniel. That was how Henry was supposed to treat their son, with open arms and grins and her heart warmed at the sight. It wasn’t a sight she got to see often.

Theo on the other hand, as he was scooped up by his Uncle Danny he giggled breezily as he curled into his uncle. Theo found himself marveling in his Uncle’s strength because mommy could never pick him up like Uncle Danny or lift him so high off the ground. She did pick him up, but it felt weirder because Uncle Danny had bigger arms than mommy. He could only nod at his Uncle’s question because he didn’t want to be seen as a bad boy. Bad boys caused mommy’s pain and Theo would never do that to mommy. He wiggled out of his uncle’s grasp as he was set down.

“Uncle Danny, Theo has been eating his greens like mommy says so he’ll be strong, is mommy lying to Theo? Will greens make you strong?” He asked in his outdoor voice from the kitchen making Naomi cringe a bit as she rolled her eyes. She swiveled around to give her little boy a questioning stare.

“Does Theo question mommy? Doesn’t Theo remember that mommy is all knowing?” She asked incredulously. Immediately her lycanthrope son flushed.

“No but mommy Uncle has to be really smart because Uncle Danny works at a big school right? That’s what mommy says, does Uncle work at a big school? Is it pretty? Are there creatures there?” He said the word creatures with a voice full of amazement. Naomi gave Daniel an apologetic smile, and a shrug. Theo was at an age of curiosity.

“Are the elves okay with working to help pack?” She laughed nervously, “I’m afraid I don’t have too much experience with them, but I trust that they’re trustworthy if you’re bringing them in here.” She tugged at the ends of her hair, in a fidgeting gesture, “they won’t think it’s some poor home will they? I mean I know it’s no mansion, but I don’t think it’s too bad here.” She bit her lower lip as she followed Daniel with a box of her own.

Theo nodded hurriedly at his Uncle giving him two thumbs up to show he was okay with a bright smile.

Guest

The question on eating greens made Daniel smile, casting a sideways glance at Naomi. He knew, from being around Naomi and Theo how to say the right thing for children. "Greens definitely make you big and strong!" Daniel told the boy. "I had to eat all of mine when I was your size, now look at me!" Daniel explained, trying not to laugh when Naomi was being firm with Theo.

"I do work at a big school. It's called Hogwarts. As to it's beauty... one day you will see, and you can make the decision for yourself." Daniel replied to the question, deciding not to ruin the moment for his nephew for when the day came that he would be heading to Hogwarts himself. "But there are lots of creatures, big and small. Plenty of things to discover. But, only when you have permission to!"

Daniel had never minded the questions, they kept him on his toes, and an inquisitive mind, well, if Theo continued this way, there would be no stopping him in respect of intelligence.

The question on house elves made Daniel pause for a moment. "Of course they will be fine. They do whatever I ask them to. They'll make the work so much quicker too. They know that they're to do whatever you tell them to, so don't worry about them putting things in the wrong boxes or anything. Amazing creatures, house eleves." Daniel insisted, because despite being reliant on the creatures at home, he never forsake them.

The worry, however, brought Daniel to a stop in his progress towards the office. "Naomi... They're not working for me for their opinion. They don't care, they just want to help. That's all that makes them happy!" He explained, shaking his head at the absurdity of the idea.

Moving in to the office, Daniel set down the box and looked around. "We can put all this in storage, if you like, so you still have it?" The Headmaster asked, taking some books off the shelf and stacking them in to the box carefully.

Guest

It would never cease to amaze Naomi how taken with Daniel Theo was. Of course it was to be expected as Theo had grown up with Daniel as constant in his adolescent life, but at the same time, Theo was just the same with Daniel as he was to her. It was something so utterly heartwarming, she wished that she had someone to brag to about how sweet it was. It helped that Daniel was on her side too in basically everything she did.

“See, Uncle Daniel eats his greens now he’s not scrawny so Theo has to eat his greens too to not be scrawny.” Naomi said informatively. Her son nodded, his brows knitted together as if he was committing the knowledge to memory. She smiled.

There was a shift in Theo’s nature as he toed the floor with his toe sheepishly making Naomi’s curiosity grow as she watched Daniel interact with her son.

“Do you think Uncle Danny could give Theo pictures go Hogwart?” Theo asked in a small voice. “Theo doesn’t get to see creatures a lot and Theo wants to see where Uncle Danny goes when he’s not with mommy and Theo too.” His voice was so soft and gentle it made her brows scrunch in consternation. He was nervous about requesting this and inwardly she knew it was partly her fault. She couldn’t afford all the things he wanted like lots of books about magical creatures at Flourish & Blotts but she tried to make up for it in story telling.

“And you trust them?” Naomi asked hesitantly about the idea. not that they scared her, but that a lot of precious stuff like baby pictures of Theo and albums of her life since coming to England would be in boxes and the idea of losing them would have broken her in two.

Naomi nodded, putting faith into Daniel but also being cautious and trying to make a good impression that the House Elves were trustworthy because if- no - since they were moving in with Daniel, he’d probably be around House Elves quite often.

“And so it’s of their freewill right? And we still treat them with respect correct?” She rose her voice to Daniel and carefully enunciated each world, meeting eye contact and hoping that after all these years of friendship he could read her eyes well enough to know that this was for her son, for him to learn.

As they worked towards the office she felt nostalgia eat at her senses, just the slightest making her bit her lower lip.

“I think that’d be best,” she answered softly as she fingered some of the other photo frames wistfully. Henry looked so happy, so ecstatic to be in the picture with her and small, teeny Theo.

“Do you think I made the right choice divorcing Henry?” She wanted to ask, but felt her voice stuck in her throat; too scared of what Daniel would say.

Guest

The comment on being scrawny made Daniel laugh. "Don't tell him that!" Daniel insisted towards his best friend, though not loud enough for Theo to hear. "There's nothing wrong with not being muscular, you know. Besides, I think as time passes, his talent will make sure that doesn't happen." Daniel explained, never calling Theo's lycanthropy anything less than a positive word because he didn't want Theo thinking he had a problem.

"Pictures? Well, I think I have some at home, and I have many books on creatures found in the United Kingdom. So, if you're really good today for mummy and me, then I will show you where the library is in your new home so that you can look at all the creatures. But only if mummy says it's okay." Daniel told the boy warmly. "And, maybe if you're really, really good, I might take you to the school in the holidays if I need to go in." Daniel added, knowing that it wouldn't be a problem unless Naomi said it was.

Which he doubted.

The question on trusting the house elves made Daniel turn back to Naomi, moving to her side. "I've had house elves around me since the day I was born, Naomi. Half of the ones coming today have looked after me since I was tiny. I would trust them with my life." Daniel told her, trying to ease her worry. "You will get used to them soon enough though, I can promise you that much."

As Naomi's voice grew louder, for Theo to hear, Daniel smiled at his best friend and went back to the work. "Oh yes, it's of their freewill. They love doing housework!" Daniel explained loud enough for Theo to hear them. "They're not servants though, and they have feelings. So we must always be nice to them, and say please and thank you to them." Daniel responded to the question, hoping that was enough to keep Theo from doing anything he shouldn't. Not that Theo probably would, the kid was as good as gold.

As Naomi agreed, Daniel continued piling the books in to the box, careful not to break any of them, because one day they would probably be of use to Theo. Daniel kept an eye on Naomi, he knew this couldn't be easy for the witch, but hopefully she would see that this was the right thing. Henry wasn't going to come back, his absence told of that much day after day. Putting away the reminders would help Naomi to deal with it, Daniel hoped, though, of course, the pain might never go away.

Which was why he always stood by her side throughout anything she asked him to.

The divorce.

Bringing up Theo.

But he also did it because he cared a lot for Naomi, loved her as a friend, and that meant doing absolutely everything he could to see her smile, if only for a second.

Guest

Naomi winced as she realized her slip up in words, but at the same time felt extremely happy because Daniel was looking out for her words and for what she was teaching Theo. It felt good to be able to rely on someone again, and for that she let out a relieved sigh as she nodded in agreement. "A talent huh?" She smiled brightly at that. "I've never thought of it that way, but it's true," she said matching his pitch so Theo couldn't hear. Secretly she was a bit jealous that he was able to come up with such a good way to explain what was going with Theo. There would come a day when she'd have to explain in small words to him that what he went through monthly wasn't the same as everyone else.

"Really?" Theo asked vibrantly, eyes shining as he started to jump in place, immediately Naomi's eyes widened as she scurried towards him, placing her hands on his shoulder.

"Theodore," she addressed him as his second nickname, with a scolding tone, "you know not to disturb the neighbors below by jumping." He looked contrite for a minute before widening his eyes and grinning as he looked up at her.

"But mommy we're not seeing them again so," he replied, his tone in a matter of fact way. It made her laugh before she rolled her eyes.

"Oh Theo, that doesn't mean you can do what you like, manners are important," she reminded him. At this he nodded before turning back to his Uncle Danny.

"Mommy will probably let me if I stop jumping and I don't run into anything and I don't be mean to the amimals that come today, the House Shelves," Theo said and Naomi didn't have the heart to correct him as he turned to her hope in his brown eyes.

"Mommy can we go see the school? Please mommy? I'm gonna come to the school with mommy and Uncle Danny and we're gonna have so much fun." Theo tugged on the bottom of her shirt, "right mommy?" She just gave Theo a glance that spoke of how he was considering it, before giving an apologetic glance to Daniel.

"Maybe," she told her son patting his head, "only if Uncle Daniel has to go in, and only if Theo is a good boy."

"Thank you," she whispered to Daniel, "I just don't want him to grow up prejudiced towards living creatures." She told him, knowing that he probably already knew why she did it. Best friends were just in tune with each other in that way.

Naomi let out a smaller sigh deciding it was best to share how she was really feeling.

"I-I'm scared that I'm not enough for Theo that he might need a stronger male force, that I don't love him enough for two parents, and I-I sometimes I don't know if I'm doing the right thing." She said fingering the picture of her and Theo only on the day he was born. "I'm scared he's gonna grow up hating the fact that I divorced his father when I could have just stuck through it with him so Theo knew his dad better."

Guest

Daniel gave one nod to the notion of the word talent being used, he didn't need to say anything, both of them knew that they needed to keep positive, for Theo's sake so that he never had any issues with himself in the future.

The small scene of excitement made Daniel smile to himself. Especially hearing Theo's insistence that they were leaving, and the subtle hint that it wouldn't matter. Daniel simply tried to hide his amusement, knowing it simply wouldn't be good to tell Theo the story about the day he left college. Oh the state his room... and whole apartment block, had been in the day he lived from the party of the night before.

Daniel Jameson had, in truth, gone out with a bang from university.

As the attention turned back to him, Daniel smiled at Theo warmly. "I think she will definitely let you if you manage to not do those two things." Daniel agreed with the young boy, trying not to correct the boy on his mistake of pronunciation because it really wasn't significant. "Now, you get breakfast for mommy and Uncle Danny, yeah?" Daniel insisted, trying to keep Theo on task.

Daniel waved away the thanks for doing what he'd always done with Theo. The learning curve of helping bring up a child was a big one, but he figured they were doing okay. "He won't be, I can assure you." Daniel told the witch, hoping to calm her down. The book shelf was slowly emptying in that moment, carefully placed books, and ornaments that Daniel wrapped in tissue paper like the house elves had shown him the night before.

Because yes, Daniel Jameson had never done this before, and thus he'd sought out the help of the house elves to make sure he could help his best friend.

Daniel could feel the shift in the conversation just before it happened. It wasn't unusual with Naomi, but he didn't mind for a second, if he had to spend the rest of his life reassuring her again and again, then he would, because if that was what she needed, she would have it. So, turning towards the witch, Daniel took her hands in his, making sure her eyes were looking in to his. "Henry didn't want to be a father, couldn't be one to Theo." Daniel whispered, because Theo most certainly didn't need to hear this.

"He has all the love he could ever ask for from you, you have given him the world. Staying with Henry... it wouldn't have given Theo a better life, Naomi, you'd have been arguing, crying in to the night. Yes, there might have been more money, more comfort with Henry here, but... there wouldn't be any happiness." He told the witch, because Merlin he'd seen it all throughout the years. "Please, don't ever think you did the right thing, Theo will never hate you, you love him, and the rest, the rest we'll work out, together." Daniel told her, trying to settle her down.

» Weekend Work (Open)
» Hogsmeade weekend (Janet)
» Good For A Weekend (Victoria)
» I can make the bad guys good for a weekend (Quinn)
» Getting down to work (Open)