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“You want to say it, don’t you? Of course you do, of course! Say Dad! Or daddy, or dada or papa. I’m not picky. Just not Father, that’s a bit stiff.”
James was laying on the floor of Harry’s room, looking up at the ceiling. They had put glowing stars up there, some Muggle and some Magic. Sirius often snuck in here and changed the magical stars to show Canis Major.
Harry was laying down on James’ chest, his little hands grabbing and pulling at the hem of James’ shirt. Lily called this ‘tummy time’, but James likes to call it Father-Son bonding.
Harry squirmed a bit, and tried to reach up and take James’ glasses, but his arms were much too short. He tried again, probably not realizing how distance works. “Ba,” Harry went.
“Hm well, that’s close,” James said to his son, reaching his arm down so Harry could hold on to his finger rather than his shirt, “but not actually that close. It’s Da, with a duh sound. Good job though, mate.”
“Ba. Ba ba bada.”
James jolted, but forced himself still when Harry whined. “Holy Merlin, Prongslet! That was really actually close this time! You made that duh sound! You’re so smart, you know that? Probably get it from Lily.”
He heard footsteps coming up the stairs, but kept talking to Harry. “Want to try again? I bet you do!” James pet his hand down Harry’s back, drumming his fingers lightly, and smiling when Harry let out a happy squeal.
“Do it with me, baby. Da. Da. Hm? Give it a shot.”
“Hm. Ba.”
“Damn.”
“James, I better have not heard what I think I just heard,” Lily’s voice came from outside the door. When she stepped into the room, she had her arms crossed.
“Oops,” James said with grimace.
“Yeah, ‘oops’ is right. For your crimes, you have been banished to laundry duty. Give him here.”
“Damn.”
“ James .”
“Say, Paddy, baby boy! Paddy! Pad… foot!” Sirius cooed, poking little Harry lightly in the stomach on each syllable. The child giggled brightly, and squirmed around in his cradle.
“Now,” Sirius continued, “say… Father.” His voice dropped to a deadpan in an instant, any playfulness gone from his tone. “Father. Dad. Male parental figure.”
Lily snorted at the man’s antics as she walked into the room and scooped Harry into her arms. The little boy grinned his gummy smile and said “Mam!”
She pressed a kiss to his cheek and smiled back. “That’s right Harry dear, I’m Mum. Also,” she continued, looking at Sirius, “Stop trying to corrupt my child, Black.”
Lily rolled her eyes when he whinged from the couch, “I have to win somehow Lils! James already has the advantage of being Harry’s dad!”
“So you decided on sabotage? Also, it’s not a challenge, flea-brain.”
“Everything’s a challenge if you let it be,” Sirius said earnestly, “Now give me back the baby.”
“Nope.”
“…ad!”
“WHAT?!” James roared and spun on his heel with a grin stretched over his face. His hand of exploding snap cards blew up in his face, and based on the smell, no doubt singed an eyebrow.
Harry gurgled and clapped from his place at the table. He babbled random syllables, trying to form the word again. So he did say something!
Sirius yipped happily— not unlike his dog-form— and fell from his seat. His cards also fell, emitting sparks and smoke. He cheered from his place on the floor, “HE SAID PADS!”
James paused in his movement toward Harry’s highchair and turned on his friend with a promise of pain glinting in his eyes. “Sirius Orion Black, he bloody well did not .”
“Did to! He said "Pad!”
“You absolute bastard, he said Dad!”
Their bickering continued until Sirius lept from the floor onto James in a tackle, and they slammed to the floor with a yell.
Lily Evans Potter, mother of four Marauder man-children and one actual child, sighed wearily as she walked back into the dining room. She grabbed the baby food from the fridge and walked over to Harry, watching as her husband, James, and her husband’s husband, Sirius, wrestled on the living room floor.
“James Fleamont, you sad excuse for an adult. I left to the loo for five minutes.”
“Shite, get off me, she used the full name.” James stage-whispered to Sirius who was still sat on top of him.
Sirius tsked. “Not until you admit he said Pad and not Dad.”
“Why the bloody hell would he say Pads? I’m his father!”
“Because I’ve been training him, Jamie. And also because Harry has great taste, and it's only logical he would choose me over you,” Sirius snickered.
James grabbed Sirius by the hair and yanked him down again. The man howled as his long hair was tugged, shifting into his Animagus form and gnawing (lightly) on James’ leg. James bit Padfoot back through the shaggy fur, and Sirius shifted back into a human with a loud “oof!”
“Ma! ‘Addy!”
“Well done, sweetheart!” Lily congratulated her baby and fed him more, Harry gurgling around the spoon of mushy baby food.
Lily also heavily ignored the renewed screams from the pile of men on the floor, humming to Harry as she fed him another spoonful.
“Harry baby, maybe one day you'll have a special someone as crazy as your daddy, and then we can complain about them together ,” she whispered, leaning towards Harry to boop his nose. “Lord knows I can't complain to any of my friends anymore – they just keep telling me that he's ‘my problem now’ and that I ‘did this to myself’.”
A thump came from the living room again, much louder than the last ones. She looked over, sighed, and rested her forehead against the table. James had morphed into his Stag form, and was slobbering all over his friend’s hair while making teasing chuffing noises.
“I can’t believe I love him .”