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[attr="class","lyric1min"]happy birthday, mum

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[attr="class","lyric2min"]And I guess the bad can get better
Gotta be wrong before it's right
Every happy phrase engraved in my mind

[attr="class","textbodmin"]It was his mum's birthday, and Cal couldn't help but think that this was probably the most mundane thing they had all done in a while. With the epidemic raging on, and Lufkin's late start, and he and his father both being sick... nothing had felt normal. Nothing at all, and Cal had been grasping at straws for even a shred of normalcy. Sure, he could still do his job, and he could still study what he wanted to study, but life just wasn't the same. Cal felt like he had lost a part of himself--because he had. He had spent years of his life at Hogwarts, learning about his magic and how to use it. Cal didn't really know to live another life, and he didn't really want to. This was his life. The wizarding world. But lately, it had felt like it was all crumbling apart, and that was... scary. Which was not something that Cal liked to admit. He wasn't supposed to be the one that was scared of... well, anything. Cal was supposed to be the big brother that knew how to handle anything. He was supposed to be the one that would never get fazed. But it felt really hard to keep that up in the face of an enemy you couldn't even see.

Birthdays, though, were normal--magic or not. It was a reason for all of them to just forget about everything going on and spend some time together. They had all had a lot on their plates lately, so Cal had jumped at the chance to make today special. It was his Mum's birthday, Lyla was visiting home, and they could all be together... and happy. They could focus on catching up and playing games and just being happy. After everything the epidemic had put them all through, Cal thought they deserved at least that much. And, if anything, he was hoping that it would set him on the track to being a little more optimistic, and focusing on the things that were good. As depressing as it was to work in International Trade when the borders were still shut down, at least Cal could still do his job, and he still felt like he was learning something every day. And even though his first year at Lufkin had had a rocky start, he was there now--and Cal loved his classes, so things were... not so bad. Besides, he had the same afternoon break as Kasey, and that was a pretty nice upside, too.

He had, quite obviously, enlisted Lyla's help in making the cake for Mum. Both of them knew how to cook rather well, but it two heads were always better than one--especially when it came to the two of them. Besides, with Cal being out of Hogwarts, this was the first time in a while that they had done something together, just the two of them, and it felt nice. It felt normal. The cake seemed to be all done, and now there were just dishes... which Cal was hoping his sister would take care of with a swish of her wand. Because he couldn't do that anymore, and that was probably the silliest reality check he had had in a while. "You know where Dad's at?" Cal asked as he turned his gaze away from the cake and glanced at his sister.

@lyla + Beckett Archibald Graves + @olivia + @ anderson obvs is there too | 563 words | outfit

[attr="class","cred"]MADE BY VEL OF GS + WW

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[attr="class","ctopline"]smooth as Tennessee whiskey

[attr="class","cscriptde"]sweet as strawberry wine

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[attr="class","clyrics"]you're as warm as a glass of brandy[break]
I stay stoned on your love all the time

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[attr="class","cbody"]Birthdays had always been a big deal in their family, and this year would be no different. Even with everything that was going on, it was important that they pause and celebrate. Even if it was hard to stop thinking about everything else that was going on, it was still necessary.
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He knew that this had been difficult on all of them. Liv and Lyla because they didn’t know how to help. Both hadn’t been impacted by the epidemic. Lyla likely because of her age—he still thought he had heard the youngest known cases were eighteen year olds, and Liv just because she hadn’t gotten sick at all. He didn’t know why that was. He wasn’t sure if anyone knew why those that hadn’t been touched by the epidemic were immune from it. Odelia hadn’t gotten sick either. But the rest of them had. There was no rhyme or reason behind it, but he knew it had been hard for them to feel like there was nothing they could do to help.
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It had been hard on Cal to lose his magic, when he had just finished Hogwarts and now had a chance to get out in the world and start the next chapter of his life. He could still work, he could still go to school, but doing all of that without magic was still going to take some adjusting. It hadn’t been easy for him, and Beck knew that. It had been even more difficult for their extended family, especially Delilah. She had loved her job so much—every time he saw her, she was talking about work, and it was impossible to be a potioneer without magic.
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He needed to check in on her and see how she was doing. He knew that. But time had gotten away from him as of late. Cancelling Quidditch, being sick, worrying about his family, and still trying to come to terms with the fact that there would be a baby here in a month… but he knew that those weren’t any excuses. He still needed to check on Delilah and see how she was doing.
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But today wasn’t for worrying about his niece. Today was about it being Liv’s birthday. He’d had a long day of work and he had known that he would need to cut out early to come home. By the time that he got there, he wasn’t surprised to hear the sound of the kids in the kitchen. “Present and accounted for,” he said, with a smile, as he headed into the room. “How’s the cake?” He knew that he could count on them to be in charge of the baking. It would probably turn out better than if he’d done it himself.
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[attr="class","cnotes"]458 ● @ the fam ● outfit

[attr="class","cred"]MADE BY VEL OF WW + ADOX 2.0

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happy birthday, mum

You got me runnin'

wild at heart

Lyla was well aware of how hard the last couple of months had been on her brother. And so, when he had said that he still wanted to do all of this for Mum she had jumped at the chance. She had Astronomy later on tonight, but it was early enough still that she wasn’t worried about it. If she didn’t make it back, she didn’t make it back. School had lost all of its appeal when she had had to go back by herself. But she was still a prefect. She was still team captain. She couldn’t break all of the rules that she had. But missing one class wasn’t going to kill her either. And if she didn’t miss it, she supposed that no one was going to realize that she hadn’t gone. At least no one here.

There were more important things right now, and being together, and being a family was important. Because she knew that Mum wasn’t sick, but she was still worried about her anyway. She was eight months pregnant. And Lyla knew that she had done this before, the three of them were testament to that, but she was still worried about her. And she was worried about Dad, and she was worried about Cal. They were both sick, and they had lost their magic, and she didn’t know what they were going to do without it.

Neither one of them really needed it for their jobs but she couldn’t say that she wasn’t worried. Because she would always worry about them. That was just who she was. Lyla was a worrier. Dad. Cal. Delilah. Even Uncle Landon and Owen. Meredith. They were all sick, and she didn’t know what to think about that. She didn’t know what to think, because she didn’t know how to help, or what to do. This made all of her fears from the summer seem even more silly. It made everything seem silly to her. When Delilah was as sick as she was. And Cal and Dad had lost so much. It was silly to be worried about herself.

Lyla thought that focusing on Mum’s birthday was for the best. That way she could smile, and laugh, and things would be okay. She could spend the afternoon here, she had been here since a little after three after all. And she could make sure that everything was taken care of, because tonight dinner was going to be perfect. She was going to make sure that it was. That when Mum got home with Anderson things would be ready to go.

The sound of her dad’s voice had her turning around and she smiled at him. “Done, I think.” She looked over at her brother for confirmation before she turned back over her shoulder and flicked her wand at all of the dishes in the sink. “Everything will be clean and dry before Mum gets here. Did she go get Anderson from Grandmum?” Lyla had thought about going to get him from school herself when she had left Hogwarts, but she didn’t think that she wanted all of the Peverell people asking why she wasn’t in school herself. It hadn’t been worth the questions. And one of her grandmothers picked him up most days anyway.

@ family • 547 • lyla's outfit - no bag

MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOX 2.0