Michael was pacing about the apartment trying to decide whether everything was ready. By the Christmas tree were two neat stacks of presents ready to be summoned away, one with presents for Iden's family and one with presents for Michael's family. On the hob were several dishes keeping warm until brunch at Iden's mum's house. In the refrigerator were several more dishes keeping cool until dinner at Michael's parents' house.
"Iden, are you ready to go?" Michael called from the kitchen.
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Iden half-smiled and used the conversation the other two were in to take a quick break. He headed up the stairs to his old room, and Inky, meeting up with him in the kitchen followed. Iden felt like a jerk and like he'd let Ollie win. Sitting on the bed that was still in the room, he absetly pet Inky's head. He'd be right back down, but he needed a few minutes. Usually, he was the type to take a beating, not almost give one. He guessed it was partially due to Oliver's insane idea that he and Michael were going against what was supposed to be or his repeated implications that Iden had forced Michael into it...
Moira chose to keep the conversation going. Iden was a big boy. He'd figure himself out. "I don't know what I'll be seeing. I've not had much time to plan. There's supposed to be a museum of ancient magic in Rome that would be lovely. And of course I'll be sending postcards. Your mum and I can share owls if she comes along... Is she comfortable with owl post? Iden's never told me how magical she keeps her home."
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"Oh, Mum likes to do things the Muggle way most of the time. She insisted on making Stephen and I learn how to do things without the aid of magic. I suppose I appreciate that. I don't get out into the Muggle world often, but when I do, I'm much better at navigating that society than the average Wizard. Dad and I have made little magical improvements to the house here or there. It's kind of a game, you see, because in the end she appreciates not having to work so hard to keep things in order, but if the magic is too obvious, she makes us undo it all." He realized that he'd gotten rather off topic from what Moira had actually asked, "But, um, she's not opposed to owl post, even if she finds owls a bit odd. And she's not really opposed to being around magic. She'd probably enjoy seeing the magical wonders of Rome."
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Iden's mum laughed a bit at Michael's family game. "I'd like to see the muggle destinations in Rome too and perhaps stop in at Venice and Milan. Really, I'm not much of a planner. I like to go places and just see what strikes my fancy," Moira babbled for a moment, then took a sip of her cocoa.
"Michael, may I ask you something?" she asked, barely pausing before just asking anyway. "Do you plan on putting up with my little pincushion for the long run? If so, do you want children? Ollie, as you can tell, is a bit challenged when it comes to interpersonal relationships, and it seems far more likely that Iden will settle down and adopt than Oliver'll find a girl patient enough to deal with him."
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Michael sputtered a bit at first as the question caught him off guard.
"Well, I'm happy, and I think he's happy. I don't foresee that changing. I certainly don't want it to. And I haven't given the prospect of chidlren much thought. Iden and I really haven't talked about it before. I think I'd like to have children some day."
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"I only want one of my boys to have a child before I'm 70, just the one would be fine for me... Michael, he's quite happy with you. Just the other day he was mentioning a lovely little hou-"
"Mum, what are you telling him?" Iden asked as he came back into the room, looking much better and with Inky at his heels.
"Nothing, Iden. Just that you'd make wonderful fathers," Moira gently teased.
"Er, okay. You know, there's breakfast waiting," Iden said, blushing quite red.
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Michael couldn't pass up the opportunity to tease Iden. He hopped up and threw his arms around Iden, saying, "Oh, couldn't you just imagine it, pincushion, three little ones running under foot, little wands in hand."
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Iden mock-glared at his mother and grabbed Michael with one arm around the waist. "Pincushion? You told him about that? And you," he said turning to Michael, "Three? I wasn't consulted on this three business. How about one or two with imaginary friends? That's like three." Iden was still blushing a rather warm shade of red. He was sure his mum had mentioned the house he had seen near Hogsmeade and knew she'd passed on Pincushion. "Really, I leave the room for five minutes and look what you two get up to."
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Michael hadn't actually expected this to turn into anything resembling an actual conversation about having children. He just shrugged it off as an eventual possibility. "Two seems reasonable. Now what were you saying, Moira, when your son interrupted?"
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"My mum was saying that it's time for breakfast," Iden said, looking pointedly at his mother.
"Yes, it's time for breakfast," Moira said, getting up. Just as she passed the boys, she continued speaking quickly, "And that Iden saw a lovely house near Hogsmeade come on the market." Moira sped up and began floating food to the diningroom table, pretending like she hadn't said anything.
"Mum, I only mentioned that it came up, not that I planned on buying it."
"Funny, I thought I heard you say something about the garden needing work."
Iden sighed and led Michael into the diningroom. His mum was such a silly woman sometimes.
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"House? You're not planning on moving out on me, are you?" Michael said, mock accusingly. Kidding aside, he was curious why Iden was looking at houses.
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"My mum's been sniffing too many cleaning potions. I only told her that a house outside of Hogsmeade has been put on the market and has a garden that's been overgrown for two years. She then sniffed more potion and told me that you and I should buy it," Iden said as Moira shook her head slightly.
"You know I gave up potion sniffing year ago," she joked as the last of the food came to rest on the table.
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Michael helped himself to some of the breakfast food and took a seat at the table. "So, what's this house look like? Is it nice?"
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Iden talked as he dished himself some food. "It's got 4 walls, multiple doors, and some windows for added appeal..." He quickly clarified so as not to get hit by either of them. "It's a 2 bedroom, two story place that looks a little like the place I took your for your birthday only after a few engorgement charms. Off white with medium wood trim round the windows and doors. Medium wood fence. Nice sized-garden."
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Michael chuckled a little, continuing to tease Iden, "I thought you hadn't really had a serious look? That you'd just noticed it in passing. Should I be packing?" He followed his jest with a wink and a devious look.
Michael hadn't been thinking about buying a house or moving, but he supposed that it was a logical choice... but added to Moira's questions from before, it was tied together with he and Iden deciding that their relationship was not just long-term but permanent.
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"You may notice that everything I just said could easily be seen in passing. There's a little sign out front that said 2 bedroom, 1 1/2 bath. You don't need to pack. My mum's just mad, that's all," Iden said spreading some lemon curd on a scone.
"If you have me committed, you could just have this house," Moira joked in return. "I hear Mungo's is lovely this time of year."
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Michael chuckled and said, "Oh, and Mungo's is quite close to where I work. I could visit regularly."
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"That sounds just lovely," Moira continued. The three children could have Ollie's old room, Inky could have Iden's, and I'd get regular visits... Only I don't know if they allow children and dogs to visit the incurable ward. Do you know Iden?"
"No, I suppose they wouldn't. They'd be worried about over exciting you. Michael could bring you lots of books to accupy your time, and I could give you a whole sleeve full of tattoos. Now what to tattoo on your first?" Iden mused.
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"Well, if she's going to be in the incurable ward, then it should be something light and fluffy that moves its mouth. She could hallucinate that it talks to her and always feel like she has someone to be with," Michael said, wondering how far they would take this little play-scenario.
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The rest of brunch went quite well, and around 1, Moira sent them on their way with many assurances that she completely understood that the boys had two Christmases to attend. A moment later, they were back in the flat depositing presents and changing for the next part of their holiday. As Iden hunted for an appropriate shirt in the dresser, he had a thought. "Hey, I don't think your mum will accidentally see any of my ink, but should I charm them to stay still? I'm just not sure if they'd creep her out, what with the moving."
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Michael hadn't given Iden's tattoos much thought. He'd gotten use to them.
"Um, yeah, that would probably be a good idea. I don't know that she would have a problem with tattoos, but if it started moving she might get a little antsy," he responded.
He looked at the tattoo on his own forearm. He hadn't told him mum about it yet. He'd been really bad about that sort of thing lately and he was sure that it would come back to bite him at some point. Hopefully not today!
Michael picked a rather conservative sweater and slacks. He didn't bother with a heavy winter robe: he'd just take it off right away when he got to his parents' place.
"Hey, um, just wear a light, open-front robe. Mum will insist on taking it from you when we get there," he said.
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