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Tom was holding onto Teddy on his hip, who was rather fascinated by the buttons on his shirt. His eyes were round and his tiny, chubby fingers touched them, eyes brimming with curiosity. The former Slytherin chuckled at his antics.
Harry returned with two bowls of ice cream. It was a substitute for going out. Honestly, Tom preferred this; the simplicity of staying home along with Teddy as opposed to going out and inevitably dealing with imbeciles.
"You're so good with him," Harry said fondly. "Not to mention he loves you. Hasn't fussed once."
Tom tapped the child's nose, much to his delight. Teddy giggled. It was a sound he'd never get tired of hearing. "Yes, well, he makes it easy."
Harry only smiled some more, pushing the bowl of chocolate ice cream towards him. "Are you sure you're alright with this? Staying here, I mean. We really haven't had a date out." Tom knew Harry preferred this setting as well. He was never keen on being out in public for things like this. But he sometimes worried over what Tom wanted. Tom hadn't experienced such a thing before. It was kind of nice, having someone think about him and what he would want.
And luckily for Harry, their feelings for this matter matched up perfectly.
"Absolutely," Tom said with a smile.
Teddy made a noise, hitting Tom's chest with his fist.
"Teddy, no," Harry scolded. "We don't hit people."
Teddy pouted, burying his face in Tom's neck. The former Slytherin adjusted him, patting him gently on the back. "There, there. What's the matter? Are you not getting enough attention?" He chuckled.
Harry snorted. "That's definitely not true. Not the way you spoil him."
Tom chose to ignore that. It was true, technically. While he didn't buy an outrageous amount of material items for the child, he did give Teddy a very generous amount of affection every time Tom came over. Harry once jokingly said that he thought Teddy preferred Tom more, seeing the way the toddler's face would light up and he would inch his way over.
Teddy had his thumb in his mouth, nosily sucking on it. Tom gently extracted it, not minding the saliva. "Teddy, if one wants to achieve greatness, one just also realize that needs to be done without sucking one's thumb." He raised his eyebrows in amusement when the child wrinkled his nose at Tom's words. "I see I've offended you."
"You know," Harry said conversationally as he took a bite of his ice cream. "To some people, you would look a little mad for talking like that."
"I'd look like a loving parent," Tom corrected with a warm feeling come over him at the word parent. "Do you know how many women look for this kind of thing? I could have them at my feet in an instant, darling."
"Please do it. It'll do me so much good."
"I will throw that bowl at you," Tom said playfully. Teddy laughed at that and Tom grinned. "See. Teddy agrees. Don't you? Should I throw it at him?"
He'd deny it if ever asked but yes, his voice did go up in pitch. Just a smidge. It was practically impossible to talk like an adult when in the presence of a child.
Teddy giggled again, reaching over to give Tom a somewhat slobbery kiss on the cheek. His heart felt like it was soaring; this boy really was too precious for his own good.
Harry shook his head, snickering. “And you insist he doesn’t have you wrapped around his finger.”
“Oh, bite me.”
“Now or later?” Harry smirked.
Tom rolled his eyes.
“Eat your ice cream before it melts,” Harry told him, pushing the bowl closer.
“Yes, mother.”
Tom, still keeping a grip on Teddy with one arm, nearly had the spoon to his mouth when the toddler suddenly grabbed his spoon. The former Slytherin turned to him, eyebrows raised, amused as Teddy jammed the spoon in his mouth.
He had a shameless grin on his face and Tom couldn’t find it in him to be even the slightest bit annoyed.
“Teddy,” Harry’s voice was laced with laughter. “That’s not yours!”
Now that he was satisfied, Teddy lowered his head onto Tom’s shoulder. Tom sighed fondly, kissing his forehead.