Chapter Text
"Finally," Regulus muttered to himself as the clock struck one.
He grabbed his headphones, put them on his ears, and turned on his playlist as he picked up the rest of his belongings. It had been a long day, and he was only half done. He loved working at the bookshop but hated it when a popular new release came out. Some of the fans could be a little chaotic. Regulus scooted around the remaining customers and snuck out the door before Lily could ask him to stay longer. He was hungry and just wanted to relax while reading his newest book.
Regulus walked the couple of blocks to the cafe, grabbing a coffee and a sandwich before heading to the park. It was a weekday, so there wouldn't be many kids around, and he could read in peace. When he got there, he noticed the same couple of women with small children he had seen every time he decided to read in the park. Regulus settled on the bench, unwrapping his sandwich and taking a bite.
He was so wrapped up in his novel that he hadn't noticed when the little girl, maybe four years old, sat next to him on the bench until she tapped him on the leg. He jumped slightly before sliding his headphones down around his neck, pausing his music and looking around. There didn't seem to be anybody around whom she belonged to. The group from before had long since gone, and Regulus couldn't see anybody else as he looked behind him again.
He looked back at the little girl with her brown, curly hair in pigtails and a bright, toothy smile. He couldn't help but soften a little as she beamed at him. Regulus marked his place and set the book on the bench beside him, next to his forgotten sandwich and half-drunk coffee.
"Hello," he said tentatively as he looked around again to find they were alone. "Are you lost?"
She grinned, sitting up on her knees on the bench and facing him fully. "No. I'm hiding," she giggled, covering her mouth.
"Oh," Regulus whispered with a small tug at his lips. "Who are you hiding from?"
"My daddy," she chuckled, leaning closer to him, "but he doesn't know."
Regulus reared back slightly, looking around again. He was about to ask her where her father was when there was a frantic call for someone's name.
He turned back to her. "Are you Bella?"
She giggled again, nodding her head and grinning at him as if her father calling for her was normal. Regulus sighed before looking towards the sound of her father calling for her. He froze when he saw the man in question. Of course, he had to look like sex on a stick and clearly off limits since he had a kid and most likely a wife.
"Bella!" the man said in relief as he jogged over to them. "Don't scare me like that. You could have been kidnapped." He turned towards Regulus with a grateful expression on his tan face, his glasses slightly askew. "Thank you for keeping her safe. I hope she wasn't a bother."
It took Regulus a few seconds to realise he was talking to him.
"Oh, it's no problem," he replied with a small smile. "She wasn't a bother. You and your wife are lucky to have such a sweet kid."
"I'm not married, but thank you," the man said absentmindedly, focusing back on his daughter. "I thought I told you to stay on the playground."
"I wanted to play hide-and-seek," Bella, the little girl, said defiantly, putting her hands on her hips and standing on the bench.
Regulus had to look away to stop himself from laughing at the exasperated expression on her father's face and her determined little eyes. The father pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed heavily before taking what Regulus expected was a calming breath.
"I understand that, Bella, but running off is not the way to tell me that. You know I would have played with you if you had asked."
"I know, daddy." She held her arms up for her father to pick her up. "Can we get ice cream?"
The father sighed again before picking her up and turning towards Regulus. "Thanks again. I don't know what I would have done if I hadn't found her."
"Daddy, ice cream," Bella whined petulantly, squirming in her father's arms.
Regulus couldn't help the smile that spread across his face. He never wanted kids, but she was definitely adorable. The tan god hiked her up farther on his hip before smiling at Regulus. Oh, how Regulus wished he weren't attached.
"Yeah," Regulus smirked. "Wouldn't want you to get in trouble with your girlfriend," he replied, trying his shot and watching the man's expression closely.
"No, girlfriend," he replied as Bella squirmed again, and Regulus' heart skipped a beat at the new information. "Isabella," he said with a stern tone, "stop trying to escape, or no ice cream."
"Fine," she grumbled, but stopped moving.
"I'm James, by the way," the man chuckled, holding his hand out for Regulus to shake.
He took it, willing his blush to disappear before James noticed. "Regulus."
"Nice to meet you, Regulus," James chuckled as Bella started wiggling in his arms again. "Okay, okay, we're going." He kissed her on the nose, causing her to giggle. "I hate to run, but she's gonna start screaming if we don't go. Maybe I'll see you around sometime."
"Okay. See ya," Regulus muttered to himself as James and Bella walked away, hand in hand. He pulled out his phone to check the time. "Shit!"
Regulus grabbed his garbage, tossing it in the bin, and his book, shoving it into his bag before speed walking back to work. He was already ten minutes over on his break, and Lily would kick his ass if he didn't show up soon.
"It's about time," Lily groaned exasperatedly as Regulus walked through the door, the bell announcing his entrance. He tried to contort his features into something that appeared apologetic, but he kept thinking about James and Bella and couldn't keep the sly smile off his lips.
"Sorry, Lils."
"What did you do? Drown in your book?" she scoffed as he set his bag down. He looked away quickly, folding his headphones and putting them in their case. "Not in your book then," she smirked before giddily saying, "You met someone."
"Drop it," Regulus gritted out, moving to the register to check out the customer waiting there. "Is this all for you today?"
Regulus focused on helping the line of customers while Lily sent him sideways glances, which he was purposely ignoring. It had been a while since he'd shown any interest in anybody. Especially since his last relationship didn't end well, and he had no intention of talking about it with her. It lasted until the rush died down.
Lily grabbed his arm and dragged him to the back room as soon as Remus walked through the door.
"What the fuck, Lils?" Regulus asked indignantly, pulling his arm free. "Trying to rip my arm off or something?"
She waved the comment off, sitting in a chair and gesturing to the other one across the table. "Spill."
Regulus groaned but sat in the seat. "There's nothing to spill. Nothing happened."
"Bullshit. I've known you since you were fifteen. I know when something's up."
"Clearly, your radar is off because there's nothing. I just got lost in my book and lost track of time," Regulus said nonchalantly, trying not to think about James and willing the inevitable blush that would appear if he did to disappear.
"Uh-huh, and what was your book about?" Lily asked with a knowing brow raised.
Shit! He had grabbed a new book today and had just got to a good part when Bella tapped him on the leg. He must have taken too long to answer when he looked up and saw the smug look on Lily's face. Regulus sighed before pinching the bridge of his nose and resigning himself to being interrogated.
"Can we not?" he begged. "It's not going to go anywhere anyway."
"How do you know?"
"He's got a kid, and there is no way he's into guys. Not looking like that," he groaned as he ran his hand over his face and into his hair, pulling at it slightly.
"Since when does having a kid mean anything? Did he say he was seeing anybody?"
"No," Regulus whispered, remembering the butterflies that started in his stomach when James said he didn't have a wife or girlfriend.
"What? I didn't quite hear you," Lily teased, leaning closer and resting her elbows on the table with her chin resting on her intertwined fingers.
Regulus glared at her for a moment while he considered a retort, but then the door opened, and they both snapped their heads to see who entered.
"Are you two planning on helping me, or are you just gonna hide in the back for the rest of the day?" Remus grumbled from the doorway with his arms crossed over his chest.
"Oh, come on, Rem," Lily batted her eyelashes at him. "Reggie met someone and won't tell me who it is."
Remus cocked his eyebrow in curiosity before glancing back out the door for a second. He turned back and stared at Regulus before sighing.
"You might as well tell her," he replied with a smirk. "She's not going to stop bugging you until you do." And then he went back out on the floor.
"Traitor," Regulus grumbled under his breath.
He slowly lifted his eyes to meet Lily's emerald ones. As soon as they locked, he knew Remus was right. Regulus sighed before crossing his arms on the table and dropping his head on them.
"If I tell you his name, will you stop bugging me about it?" Regulus asked quietly a few moments later as he peeked at her.
Lily tapped her chin for a few seconds before looking back at him. "I suppose that would be fine... for now."
"Ugh, you're a menace." Regulus leaned back in the chair and threw his hands up in the air.
"You love me," she chuckled with a wide smile.
"Do not."
"Do too. Now stop stalling and tell me his name," Lily demanded.
Regulus sighed again, pinching the bridge of his nose and avoiding eye contact. "His name is James."
He stood up and walked out the door before she could say anything else. It seemed to have picked up while they were in the back. He made his way to a register to help Remus with the ever-growing line of customers. Three more hours to go, and his shift was over. Then he could go home and drown in the sorrows of never having a man like James. He would probably never see him again either.
~~
Regulus went back to the park during his lunch break every day, but the gorgeous father and his daughter hadn't reappeared. He figured it was just his luck, walking sullenly back to work for the fifth day in a row. Why had he bothered to get his hopes up? The bell chimed, announcing his presence, and he dragged his feet to the back, setting his bag down and collapsing in the chair opposite Lily, who had her mouth full of something he didn't bother figuring out.
"No luck, huh?" she mused after she swallowed her food. Regulus grunted in answer but didn't add anything else. "Don't worry, Reg. I'm sure he'll show up eventually."
Regulus sighed. "I don't even know why I let you talk me into trying to see him again. I don't know anything about him aside from his first name. For all I know, he was just visiting somebody and doesn't even live around here."
"Well, that's depressing. Maybe he's just busy, and you keep missing each other," she tried to reassure him. "You did mention that he said he would see you around, right?"
"I guess."
Regulus sulked for a couple more minutes before he pushed himself out of his chair and headed to the front with Lily behind him. He started stocking the new shipment of books absentmindedly as Lily chatted with Remus about something he decided not to pay attention to. He made it through three boxes before Lily shrieked, and he snapped his head up.
"Marlene!" Lily was hugging a blonde when he came around the bookcase. "It's been so long since you've been in here."
"Yeah, I know. Work's been keeping me busy."
"I get that," Lily nodded. "And who's this? I know she's not yours. She's far too pretty to be yours unless you went and had a kid I don't know about," she chuckled, bending down to a small child.
Regulus shook his head with a small smile on his face before turning back to continue his work. Lily was always a sucker when it came to kids. He was almost back to his half-empty box when he heard the little girl giggle. He knew that giggle. It had been seared into his brain for the past week. He was headed back to the front before he could tell his feet to turn around.
And there she was: Bella, James' daughter. Regulus looked around, but he could only see Lily, Remus, and the blonde, Marlene, holding the little girl's hand. Lily and Marlene were chatting while Remus helped a customer who had just walked in.
"-Like I said, I'm just babysitting while her father is out. She's my goddaughter, though," Marlene mentioned, picking the little girl up and placing her on her hip easily as if she did it every day.
"Oh, and where's your daddy today, little one?" Lily asked Bella, bopping her on the nose and making her giggle again.
"With Uncle Barty," she grinned. "It's a secret, though. I'm not supposed to tell."
"Really?" Lily asked in a whisper, leaning a little closer to the little brunette. "Are they doing something they're not supposed to?"
"Daddy said he had to help Uncle Barty with something. They were whispering when Lenie came over."
Regulus was frozen in place as he watched the interaction. Was James dating Barty? He wanted to join the ladies, but he didn't want to find out the answer to the new question plaguing his mind. He wasn't sure which was worse: thinking James was straight or thinking he had been taken by another man, thus crushing all his hopes of meeting him again.
"Those two are always getting up to something. I swear," Marlene laughed. "I'm honestly surprised they haven't gotten arrested yet. Or, well, Barty, at least. James is another story."
"James?" Lily cocked her head to the side, glancing at Regulus for a second, who was still just out of sight behind the bookshelf.
"Yeah. Little Bella's daddy." Marlene snuggled close to the little girl, blowing a raspberry into her neck and causing her to laugh again. "He's a little more cautious nowadays."
"Oh, that makes sense if he has this little angel to look after," Lily cooed.
"I mean, she is one reason, yeah, but he's a lot more... complex than people tend to give him credit for."
"Oh."
Lily looked back over to Regulus, silently asking if he wanted to join them. He shook his head and headed back to what he was doing. It would be better not to get attached, and if he got close to Bella, then he didn't know what he would do to get more information on her father. For instance, what did the blonde mean by 'more complex'? She seemed a little sad when she said it, too. Had something happened to James in the past? Regulus couldn't help but think about everything that could have entailed.
He shook his head to rid it of the thoughts before grabbing a book from the box and setting it on the shelf. They had to get all the boxes shelved before the end of the day, and Regulus wasn't even half done with them. He got so lost in the rhythm of stocking the books that he hadn't noticed when somebody came up behind him and tapped him on the leg. Regulus looked down to see the big, toothy grin of the little girl, and his heart melted from just looking at her. When he glanced up, Lily was holding her hand.
"What are you doing?" he asked in a whisper, hoping Bella didn't hear him.
"She wanted to check out some books and dragged me over to you," Lily replied with a knowing smirk.
"My daddy wants to see you again," Isabella announced unceremoniously, as if she were asking for ice cream.
"Oh."
"Yeah," Lily said smugly, "her daddy's been looking for you. Her father, whose name is James."
"Yes, I know who her father is," he gritted out before kneeling to be on Bella's level. "And where is your daddy today, Bella?"
"You remembered my name," she shrieked before throwing herself into his chest for a hug, nearly knocking him over.
"I did," he replied, hugging her back.
They pulled back from the hug, but Regulus didn't stand up. Bella grinned at him before leaning in close like she was going to tell him a secret.
"Daddy's doing something top secret, so I get to hang out with Auntie Lenie."
"Ah, well, that must be fun too."
"It is," Bella said loudly. "Lenie said she's gonna fill me up on ice cream and sweets before my daddy gets home."
"She must be a good aunt if she does that," Regulus replied, trying to keep the humour in his tone relatively calm, so he didn't encourage her anymore.
"Of course, I am. I'm the best aunt in the world," Marlene boasted from above them. She must have snuck up on them while he was talking to Bella. Regulus stood up to greet her instead of staring up at her from the level of a four-year-old. "You look familiar. Do I know you?"
"No, I don't think so."
"Daddy's been looking for him," Bella supplied happily, making grabby hands for Marlene to pick her up.
"Oh, you must be Regulus then," Marlene replied with a familiarity with his name on her tongue. He wondered how many times James had said it for her to be that familiar with it.
"I am. It's nice to meet you."
"Same. I can't wait to tell James that I found the boy he hasn't shut up about all week."
"Oh."
Lily giggled behind him, and he elbowed her in the side before she could say anything about what he'd been doing for the last week. She glared at him but didn't say anything else as he cocked an eyebrow in challenge.
"Come on, Bella. I think it's time to get some ice cream. Your daddy and Uncle Barty should be back soon."
"Ice cream!" Bella shouted, causing all the adults within earshot to chuckle at the adorable little girl.
Marlene and Bella said their goodbyes before leaving the bookshop with a ding on the bell. Regulus turned to Lily, who looked like she was about ready to burst with laughter. He glared at her and pointed a stern finger.
"I don't want to hear a single word."
Lily held her hands up in surrender after miming zipping her lips shut, and Regulus walked away with butterflies in his stomach. Maybe it wasn't as hopeless as he thought it was.