When Tommy entered the house it was warm and he could smell something coming from the kitchen. There were two plates of pie and mash dished up, one notably smaller.

"At least she's playing fair," he muttered before striping TJ of his coat and settling him in his highchair.

This was going to be easy, Tommy thought as he set TJ's plate down in front of him.

Ten minutes later he wished he never thought that as he fought as the boy flung his food around the room.

"TJ, stop," Tommy warned, giving his son a stern look.

"No!" the boy said as he flung his spoon at Tommy, the mash sailing passed his head.

"Do you want to go to bed without dinner?" Tommy asked, reaching over and taking the spoon from him. TJ slouched in his chair, his bottom lip trembling at the thought. "I thought so."

"He's like you," Polly said, startling Tommy as he hadn't heard her come in. He turned to face his aunt, frowning at the smirk on her lips. "Like father, like son."

"Is Romy with you?" He asked, placing all his attention on his aunt ready to catch any lies.

"No, but John and Arthur told me what she did." Polly pursed her lips as if she didn't agree with it but didn't say anything.

"Pol, can you stay here while I go—"

"No. She's trusted you to do this, Tommy. Be a man and do it. Give TJ a bath, not too deep and don't leave him. He has a bottle of warm milk before bed and it usually gets him to sleep."

Before he could say anything, Polly was making her way out the house, only pausing at the door to give him one last look.

"Fuck."

"Uck."

Tommy snapped his head down to his son and shook his head.

"No." He did not want TJ saying that to Romy when she came back. He knew she'd say something about it if he taught their son how to swear.

"Uck," TJ repeated, clapping his hands in enjoyment. "Uck, uck, uck."

"TJ, stop that," Tommy warned, clenching his jaw as the boy shook his head and repeated the word. "Right, come on, bath time."

If he was expecting bath time to go any better then he was sorely wrong. It was as if TJ was doing this on purpose.

"Just ... stay ... still," Tommy muttered as he tried to capture his son's arms as he splashed at him. "Thomas-J, I'm warning you."

"Dada," TJ cooed, smacking his hand on his face, giggling as a trail of water dripped down his cheek. "Poop."

"What?" He was sure he heard him correctly, but Tommy was mortified when there was in fact, a poop in the bath. "Arg," he muttered, sweeping TJ from the bath and struggling to wrap him in the towel. He was not ... he'd deal with that later.

Having carried TJ into his bedroom, Tommy was now struggling with what he was meant to do. A nappy... right, how was he meant to put that on?

Laying the boy on the changing table, Tommy struggled to slide the cloth over his wiggling bottom and his kicking legs. He almost impaled him with the nappy pin due to his struggling but was thankful he had somewhat fastened the nappy on him. It didn't look perfect but at least it was on.

With a mutter to himself, Tommy slid the nightgown over TJ's head and picked him up and carried him down the stairs. Thankfully there was a bottle ready for him and all he had to do was tip it into a pan and heat it.

As if sensing his milk was there, TJ started to get whiny and reached out for the pan, almost burning himself in the process.

Tommy ran his hand over his face and settled the boy in the pen in the corner and pulled out a cigarette.

And then came the screaming.

It seemed that TJ wasn't happy about being set down or that he didn't have his milk because it sounded like the boy was being murdered.

"Fucking hell," Tommy grumbled, glaring down at the boy and quickly making his way over to the pan, picking it up and preceding to drop it at the heat. "Fuck." There was no need to cry over spilt milk but Tommy was so close to joining his son and giving in.

He was all but ready to give in when TJ stopped crying. Tommy turned to face the boy and watched as the black cat, Voodoo, jumped onto the counter. Tommy was about ready to shout at it when he saw that the cat was circling around a bottle of milk.

"Err, thanks," Tommy said as he picked up the bottle and refilled the pan. He watched as the cat went over to TJ and curled up in his lap, purring softly to calm him down. "The fuck?"

Thankfully this time, Tommy remembered the milk and took it from the stove, wrapping the handle in a cloth beforehand. Testing that the milk wasn't too hot, he screwed on the teat and picked up a grumpy TJ.

"Let's go to bed," Tommy muttered, brushing his hand over TJ's head as the boy snatched the bottle from him and started to suck the milk down.

Tommy settled TJ into his crib, tucking the blankets over him and looking down at the little boy as he suckled on his milk. His eyes were fluttering, a sure sign that he was falling to sleep and he slowed down the pace that he drank his milk.

Five minutes later TJ was fast asleep and Tommy made his way downstairs.

He was surprised to see Romy there and he sighed in annoyance as she stared at the spilt milk on the floor.

"I see you had fun," she said, indicating to the food thrown around the place. He could see the smile on her face and it annoyed him.

"We did." He wasn't going to give her what she wanted. He wasn't going to tell her that he found it hard and he understood what she was doing. Instead, he told her that nothing had changed. "I still wanna do it, Romy. The blood contract."

She stared at him for a while, her green eyes taking him in as she pondered something before she gave a small nod and rose from the table.

"I'll think about it," she said, leaning over and pressing a kiss to his cheek before heading up the stairs no doubt to check on their son.

Tommy sighed deeply as he dropped in the chair and pulled out a cigarette. He longed for a glass of whiskey. Or perhaps he longed for his bed.

"Tommy?" Romy called, her voice drifting down the stairs to him. "Why's there a shit in the bath?"

"Fuck."

To say that Tommy looked exhausted was an understatement. To be honest, though, he didn't do as bad as I expected.

He may have left the spilt milk on the floor, he may have left TJ's poo in the bath, but the boy was asleep.

I had to give him that.

When I returned home I was expecting both of them to be crying.

"So," Polly said, sipping at her tea.

"He handled it better than I thought." I wasn't disappointed in that fact, just surprised.

"And what are you going to do about it?"

"I have an idea."

"And?" She was looking at me expectantly.

"Oh, were you expecting me to tell you?" I gave her a sly smile as I rose from the table. "You'll find out when Tommy finds out."

"What will I find out?"

"Nothing, darling," I sang, spinning around and pressing a kiss to his cheek. "See you later."

"Nurse Lupin," I looked up as the doctor called my name and frowned as he dragged in a man fighting against him.

I didn't bother asking what was wrong but jumped to my feet and helped drag him to a free bed. I was surprised when the doctor tied his hands and legs down.

"He's been poisoned."

Now that made sense.

He was acting like a rabid animal.

"Can you fetch me a scalpel and some clean bandages from the stock tent?"

With a quick nod of my head, I rushed out the busy tent and made my way over to the stock tent, grabbing the things the doctor requested.

As I stepped out of the tent, the earth shook and everything around me went up in flames.

I froze in horror as the tent I just left was destroyed, flames burning, people screaming.

I took a step towards it, pulling my wand from my apron but a hand grabbing my arms stopped me.

"You can't," Newt said, pulling me away from the burning tents as people rushed around, buckets of water appearing as they tried to put out the fire.

"But, Newt, they're—"

"We can't help them."

I pulled my arm out of his grip and ran towards the tent only to be thrown back as another bomb dropped on the tent next to it.

I stumbled to my feet, wiping the blood that ran down my face and turned to look at the destruction, screaming out as a man ran at me, his body burned and still on fire. His fingers grasped my arm, the skin burning at his touch.

I woke with a start, my hand reaching out and resting on TJ with a heavy sigh.

I was so thankful it was just a dream.

"But it wasn't," I muttered to myself as I rubbed my arms trying to shake off those memories. It was a surprise to be dreaming about what had happened in France. I did suffer from nightmares but nothing had been as intense as that.

The door slamming downstairs had me up and out of the bed grabbing hold of my wand. I tapped TJ on the head as I placed a disillusion charm on him, frowning slightly as he shivered in his sleep.

I crept down the hallway, peeking around the door when a shadow moved into TJ's room. I followed down the hall, creeping quietly as I came to the door of the nursery and peered into it, wand raised.

It took me a second to realise that it was Tommy in the room, frantically looking around and muttering to himself.

"Tommy," I whispered, not wanting to frighten him.

"Gone," he muttered, dropping to the floor, his head held in his hands. "Gone. He's gone."

He was crying which frightened me. I had never seen Tommy cry and it wasn't something I expected from him. He had such control over his emotions it made me freeze upon seeing him this distraught.

"No, Tommy, no," I cried, dropping down to my knees and taking his hands carefully in mine. "Who's gone, Tommy?"

"I can't find him," he cried, shaking my hands off him and pulling furiously at his hair.

"Who?" I asked, reaching up and taking his hands in my hair.

"Thomas-J," he said, looking up at me with his tearful eyes. He looked devastated and it twisted my heart at the pure pain and fear on his face.

"He's safe, Tommy, he's safe," I said, taking his hand in mine and tugging him up. "I can show you." He came to his feet with a stumble, resting into me as I led him to my bedroom.

TJ was still lying in the bed, I could just make him out under the disillusion charm and quickly flicked my wand at him making him appear again. Tommy stopped upon seeing him and stumbled over to the bed, his hand resting on the boy's chest to ensure he was breathing.

With a sigh of defeat, Tommy climbed into the bed, brought TJ onto his chest and brushed his hand over the boy's hair. I bit my lip before climbing into the bed next to him, setting my wand on the bedside table.

As I pulled the covers over him, Tommy slid his arm under my back and pulled me close to his side, pressing a kiss to my forehead.

I woke before Tommy as the sun brushed across my face through a crack in the curtains.

TJ was wrapped up in his dad's arms, the pair of them still sleeping peacefully. I didn't want to be the one to wake them so I pulled the covers over them and left them to it.

I could hear movement and soft talking from the kitchen and wasn't too surprised to see Polly, Newt, Ada and Finn helping themselves to breakfast.

"Morning," I said, lifting a cup and smiling as the teapot floated over and poured me a drink.

"Where's Tommy?" Polly asked, getting straight to the point, She wasn't going to beat around the bush about knowing where he was, so why should I?

"Still asleep with TJ," I said, sitting next to Finn and pulling his school work over. I was insistent that if he wasn't going to school then he could at least do his work at home. "You've got a busy day."

"I wanna help Newt," he grumbled around a piece of toast. I shared a look with the dishevelled wizard, raising my eyebrow as he fell for Finn's game.

"Err, you can help once you finish your schoolwork," Newt said, running his hand over Voodoo's head as he climbed on the table.

I could see Polly looking at the cat in annoyance but she wouldn't say anything to him, he wouldn't listen.

"When did Tommy come round?" Polly asked, taking the attention off Finn knowing I'd been trying to cause a distraction away from the current conversation.

"Last night." I glanced at Finn hoping he'd be ignoring us. "He had a dream." I had hoped that they'd be able to understand that I meant nightmare due to the stress on the word. "It was about TJ. He needed to check on him."

"Is he okay?" I knew Polly worried about her nephews, they were like her children and she hated seeing them in any pain, even if they'd caused it themselves.

"He was once he saw TJ."

There was a silence in the room when Polly didn't reply. Ada looked concerned for Tommy but we all knew he wouldn't talk about it. There was no point in starting a conversation we all knew would be pointless at the end of the day.

"What are the plans for tomorrow?" Polly asked, referring to the fact that it was Christmas Day tomorrow.

"We can do it here," I said, nodding my head slowly as I came up with everything. "The children can stay here and Ada's got her own room too so it's not like I'd be going out of my way to sort everyone out. You can stay in the parlour as usual and I'll add an extension charm on the living room and the kitchen."

"You sure you want everyone here?"

"It's a lot bigger than Watery Lane, Pol, plus Phineas and Ellanora are coming round. Harry too. And I have a few friends popping in throughout the day."

"Friends?"

I turned to look at Tommy as he joined us, TJ in his arms, snuggling close to his dad's shoulder.

"A few friends I've made throughout the years while being here in Small Heath," I said, rising from my seat and taking TJ from him. "Good morning." I pressed a kiss to Tommy's lips before smothering TJ in kisses. "Oh, Tommy this is Newt."

"Hello," Newt muttered, his face growing red as he began to get all flustered. I understood it really. Tommy had a cold stare and could frighten the life out of anyone.

"Don't scare him off, Tommy. Newt's here to stay," I told him, giving Polly a look as Tommy sat opposite Newt and stared at the poor wizard.

"They tell me Finn likes you," Tommy said, pulling out a cigarette and placing it between his lips. Newt nodded looking between me and Finn before looking back to Tommy. "Polly said you went to France with Romy."

"I did, yes," Newt said, nodding his head slowly. It was hard trying to figure out what Tommy was doing but I knew he was trying to get an understanding of Newt, trying to figure him out.

"New-New?" TJ called, throwing himself out of my arms and at his uncle. "My New-New."

One had to be blind to miss the smile as it appeared on Tommy's lips as he watched TJ snuggle closer to his favourite wizard - no one could ever tell Phineas. It was also that smile that told us Tommy had accepted Newt, even if he wasn't going to say the words.

"I can't believe you're collecting bets on Christmas Eve," I said as I entered the betting den, frowning at the men lined up to place their bets.

"Boxing Day races, Romy," John said as he made his markings on the chalkboard. I rolled my eyes at him and shifted TJ on my hip.

"Where's Tommy?"

"You're not dumping the baby on him are ya?"

"No, I'm not, but if I was would it be a problem?"

You could hear the men laughing at John silently as they hide their faces. John's eyes widened and he shook his head pointing over to Tommy's office where he was talking to Arthur.

"Da!" TJ cried upon seeing his father, clapping his hands in excitement as I opened the door and set him down. I smiled as TJ stumbled his way through Arthur's legs and tried to lift himself up onto Tommy's lap.

Tommy lifted him and set him on the desk, holding onto his knees as I closed the door behind me.

"You're not dumping 'im on us, are ya?"

"Fucking hell," I hissed glaring at Arthur and smiling in triumph when he practically ran out fo the room. "What have you been telling them?" I asked Tommy, frowning at him as he tried to hide his smile.

"Nothing."

"Right. I believe you." I shook my head as I stepped closer to him, leaning my hip on his desk as I ran my fingers through TJ's hair. I had noticed that he'd styled it the same as Tommy's. He was showing more of his metamorphmagus abilities as he grew older and I had to wonder what else he'd be able to do. "Someone called me Mrs Shelby on my way over here. You wouldn't know about that would you?"

"It's what I called you."

"When?" This was news to me. How long had this been going on?

"The night you ... dropped him off to me in the Garrison." It was like Tommy had to stop himself from saying 'dumped'.

"Why?"

"People were asking questions."

"What questions?"

"You're annoying me."

"Tommy!" I snapped, hitting him on the shoulder as he rolled his eyes at me.

"Look. There were a lot of questions about him, alright," he huffed out nodding his head toward TJ lightly.

"Polly said to expect it," I said, running my hand over TJ's head again. I could see why she was expecting it. TJ looked more and more like Tommy with each day he spent with him. "We have to come up with an explanation. Not many people knew about Merry and no one really saw us much until after TJ was born."

"I already solved it."

"How?"

"I told them we met in France, got married and you fell pregnant."

"What?"

I was trying not to shout at him. I didn't want to keep causing arguments with Tommy when TJ was around. I didn't want him seeing his parents fighting all the time. It would only lead to complications later in life.

"I'll not have anyone thinking he's a bastard!"

"Keep your voice down," I hissed, glancing out the window in case anyone heard him. "Well, he's technically not a bastard. His parents were married."

"That's not what I meant, Romy."

"I know what you meant, Tommy." I sighed and ran my hand over my face. "Look, I was going to keep it a surprise for tomorrow, but I've agreed to let you sign the blood contract. From tomorrow he'll technically be yours by blood. Expect some changes in his appearance and personality. I guess he'll turn into an annoying little shit like you."

I ignored the glare Tommy tried to send to me. It wasn't very scary and he needed to be shoved down a few pegs. He was going to get too big for his boots one day.

"What about our marriage?"

"Can we talk about it another time?"

"No." I turned to face him, taking in the frown on his face and the way his lips were turned down. "I tended to be married before he turns three, Romy." Tommy rose from his seat and pulled on my arm until I was bumping into his chest. "We'll let the world believe we're married for now. I don't care about a big fucking wedding, I just care that we'll be married next year."

"What if I don't wa—"

Tommy cut me off with a kiss and for once, I let myself forget about all the problems we'd be facing in the future and sunk into his embrace.