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𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐑𝐓𝐘 𝐅𝐈𝐕𝐄
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IT FELT AS IF AS SOON as Olivia's head touched the pillow, she was out. Yet it was just as fast when her eyes flew open due to the matching screaming that she's sure woke everyone else in the gigantic manor.

Both James and Olivia let out a sigh as the ear piercing cries continued.

"You get them," Olivia said. "I carried them in the womb for seven and a half months and they had the audacity to look like you so you get up at three am."

James chuckled as he pulled himself up. "You can't use that forever, you know?"

"I can and I will," Olivia muttered, already falling back to sleep.

James smiled at his sleeping fiance before exiting the room to head to the twins' shared nursery. The problem with having twins is that when one cries, the other immediately follows. Even though it's mostly just Max who has the tendency to wake up in the middle of the night, Mari - having been rudely awoken - would also start crying. James and Olivia are seriously considering giving them rooms of their own because of this.

They had also decided to call the two Max and Mari instead of their full names. They had named their children after the two who had left such a big impact in Olivia's life to honor them but that didn't mean they wanted their kids to grow up having that pressure placed on them just because their namesakes had done incredible things in their lifetimes. James and Olivia want their kids to form their own self identity.

"What do you two little buggers want?" James asked them as he checked their diapers.

Mari's cries - the calmer of the two - immediately starts to cease once she hears her father's voice but Max's was not relenting.

"Are you hungry, bud?" He asked softly as he picked up the tiny infant to check his nappy. He did the same for Mari but found both still clean.

James thanked God for magic as he wordlessly acciod Olivia's pumped milk from the kitchen and performed a heating spell to warm it up. He placed both bottles on the table by the rocking chair before picking up the two infants, balancing them with his arms before settling in the chair.

Feeding both babies at the same time alone was a very difficult task at first, especially before Euphemia suggested they use a levitating spell then came the challenge of mastering wandless and wordless magic considering he can't exactly be waving his wand around while holding two babies with both arms. Thankfully, the young parents easily mastered it after almost a month since they brought the twins home.

"You guys have to let your mommy rest sometimes," he softly told the two once they finally quieted after finally getting their milk. Mari looked at him with her wide hazel eyes and James smiled at her.

Max was already starting to fall asleep and obviously couldn't care less about what his father is saying so long as he gets his food. It took only two weeks for the healers to allow Mari to leaveSt. Mungos while it had taken little Maxwell Potter a month. The healers say it's only normal for one twin to develop at a faster rate than the other and so there was nothing to worry about but the twins still visit St. Mungos once a month for an annual check up just to make sure they're developing nicely.

"I have never been more tired than I am these past month," James admits as Mari's eyes start to flutter. Max was already asleep and so James took the bottle from him and placed it on the table beside them before he did the same to his little girl after making sure that she had fallen asleep. "But it's fine. You two are the most amazing thing to ever happen to me. Goodnight, mes amours."

He waited a few more minutes before he tried to move and put them in their cribs but as soon as he attempted to make even the tiniest move, Max's eyes started to peel open and James can just tell that he's going to start crying again.

"Okay fine," he muttered as he settled back into the rocking chair. "I'll stay with you clingy nuggets."

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IT WAS THE SUDDEN MOVEMENT that woke Olivia up and she quickly glanced at the clock on their bedside table to see it's forty minutes past eight knowing that the twins often woke up by nine.

"Did you just get back?" Olivia asked James who had used his arm to block his eyes from the sunlight.

"Yeah," he muttered, voice tired and body aching all around from having been stuck in the same position the better half of the night. "They'd start waking up whenever I try to leave. We need a new chair there, by the way, because that one is not doing my spine any favors."

"They'd probably start waking up soon again," she said as she pulled herself up, pulling on a sweatshirt over the tank top she wore to sleep. "You can take a nap. I'll handle breakfast."

James sighs in relief. "Have I ever told you how much I love you?"

Olivia smiles before laying on her stomach to plant a kiss on his lips. "Yes, but it wouldn't hurt for you to say it again."

"I love you so much," he tells her, returning the kiss.

However, before it can become anything more than a smack, piercing cries once again broke the manor's peace, immediately making Olivia pull away. "Go rest. I'll handle this."

It was halfway on her way to the nursery when the cries suddenly ceased and Olivia let out a sigh of relief, thinking that Euphemia had gotten there before her. However, it was Sirius she found cradling the two infants when she finally arrived. Max's smiling face greeted her as Sirius played with him all the while allowing Mari to pull at his hair.

"You're a lifesaver," Olivia tells him as she picked up her baby girl from his chest and planted a kiss on her little forehead. "Good morning, my loves."

Sirius smirked at her. "Tell me about it."

"Help me change their nappy?"

Almost immediately, Sirius handed Max to her. "You're on your own there, Liv. I'm willing to do a lot of things for you but changing these nuggets is not one of them."

Olivia laughed as she placed Mari on the changing table while she held Max. "Okay fine but help me run a bath for them, won't you?"

"That I can do," Sirius grinned as he once again accepted the little Potter boy so Olivia can strip Mari of her clothes and Nappy before exchanging babies with Sirius for her to do the same for Max.

Holding little Maxwell in one arm, Olivia headed to the bathroom and ran a bath for the little ones, making sure the temperature wasn't too hot or too cold before she put their baby shampoo to form bubbles.

"Pads!" she called back as she let Max settle on the bath. "Get Mari here please."

Sirius obliged as he gently placed the infant in front of her brother.

"Have you heard from Wormy?" Olivia asked as she made sure to gently wash the tufts of hair on her babies' head. They're as black as their father's and from the looks of it, will turn out to be just as messy. The twins ended up taking more after James than Olivia. Both share his hazel eyes and black hair - a fact Olivia may have gotten a bit bitter about as soon as they opened their little eyes.

"I sent him a letter two weeks ago," Sirius admitted, counting the days in his head as he helped Maxwell stay upright. "I haven't gotten a reply."

"James sent him a letter too," Olivia said as she playfully pinched Max's chubby cheeks. "We invited him to Euphemia's little get together but he hasn't responded. I'll send him another one."

Perhaps Olivia is being paranoid, desperate to keep her friends as close to her as she possibly can. Most of all, desperate to prove to herself that there's no traitor because they're a family. Each of them owns a piece of her heart and just imagining it being torn apart because someone had betrayed them already makes her want to curl into a ball and cry.

"He's probably just busy looking for a job and all that," Sirius shrugged, not thinking much into one of his best mate's sudden distant nature. "I heard Lily got a job in the ministry."

Olivia nodded, thinking back to her redheaded friend's letter. "She's interning in the magical foreign affairs department, but she said she'll be here."

"How about you and James?" He asked. "Any plans?"

Olivia smiled as Mari reached for the bubbles with her tiny hands and Olivia started to rinse them before drying them off with their towel all with the help of Sirius. "Not at the moment, no. Fleamont and Euphemia advised we stay put with these two and Lucas for now after everything that happened."

"That's probably for the best," Sirius agreed. "Moony and Smauel are doing the same."

"How about you and Kat?"

Sirius shrugged again as he cuddled little Amara Potter who's still wrapped in her light yellow towel while Olivia fixes Max's nappy and morning clothes. She made sure to prepare a bib for the two, knowing they'll make a mess while drinking their milk.

"Kat's fixing her application for St. Mungos as far as I know," he answered. "I'm probably going to wait for James so we can start auror training together."

Olivia smiled at him as she took her daughter from his arms, dressing her in a simple overall. "Sometimes I think he's dating you more than he's dating me."

"Well, I am his first love."

Olivia chuckled as she handed him the two babies, whom surprisingly, hadn't started crying yet. "Why don't you go take care of your first love's kids and bring them to the kitchen while I wake Lucas up."

"You're such a mum," Sirius teased before doing what he's told.

Olivia rolled her eyes. "That's because I am a mum."

Olivia gently knocked on Lucas' door, pushing it open when no response came. Lucas' room, for the lack of a better term, is every child's dream. It's large with it's high ceiling and king sized bed. Multiple shelves lined with whatever he takes interest in and his walls lined with quidditch posters. There's a study area and his own bathroom as well as a walk-in closet.

The Potters definitely did not spare a single penny for their new son.

"Hey, Chunky Monkey," Olivia called softly, gently shaking him awake. "It's time for breakfast."

Lucas groaned as he pulled at his sheets, ignoring Olivia's calls.

"Are you okay?" She asked softly, knowing that she and James hadn't been able to spend as much time with the little boy than they used to.

"Are the twins up?" He asked, finally allowing her to pull the sheets away from his face.

"Yeah, they are," she said. "Is everything okay, Lucas?"

The little boy frowned. "Charlie told me what it's like when younger siblings arrive."

Olivia gave him a soft smile, already knowing what's coming but wanting to encourage him to always express his feelings through his words. "And what did Charlie say?"

"He said the older ones always get left behind," he admits, looking down at his fingers and refusing to meet her eyes. "And well, I'm not really your kid so you don't really owe me anything, right? At least Charlie isn't adopted."

Olivia slowly lifted his chin to force him to meet her eyes. "Hey, don't think like that. You're just as much as my kid as Max and Mari are. We're just paying more attention to them now because they're babies and they need us and I know you can take care of yourself but that doesn't mean I'm not always here for you."

"Really?"

"How about this? I'm sure Mum and Dad will be more than willing to look after the twins today while you, James and I go get ice cream," she offered, seeing the boy's face instantly light up. "Maybe we can finally get you that pet you've been begging for."

"I'd really, really like that."

"Let's go eat breakfast first and let James rest for a bit more then we can head out." She tapped at his nose teasingly, a smile on her face as she led him by the hand. "I'll always love you, chunky monkey. Don't ever forget that."

𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫'𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐞:

here's a series of fluff to give
you cavities bc my babies
deserve this moment of peace.

last two chapters omg i'm not
sure if i'm ready to say goodbye
to olivia