What if I fall
What if I cry
And if I get scared

❧

She felt awful.

That was all there was to it. The bug had hit her out of nowhere and she had immediately known that it was going to last her through her birthday. She’d just had a feeling that she wasn’t going to get lucky enough for it to pass by in twenty-four hours and leave her be. In fact, she had actually woken up this morning feeling even worse, so she had known that her birthday was hardly going to be all that exciting this year.

It wasn’t as if they’d had any plans. None that she’d been aware of. If Griff had planned anything, then she hadn’t known about it, but she didn’t think that he would have. She didn’t think there was much of a reason for them to go out and do anything all that exciting. Griff didn’t like his own birthday, so she hadn’t thought that he was going to make that big of a deal out of hers. Especially since it had fallen on a Monday this year. He had work to deal with. She’d been thinking that they would likely just stay in tonight regardless. But they would have had far more fun if she hadn’t been confined to the couch.

That had been her big move today. She had known that she wasn’t going to be able to do much more than that. She’d asked Eithne to look after Ava Blair for most of the day. Yesterday had been easier, since the weekend meant that Griff was around, but since he had been at work all day… well, she didn’t want to be around Ava Blair more than she had to when she was feeling this sick. It was definitely difficult to just be laying around in the living room without her right there but the last thing that she wanted to do was get their daughter sick with whatever this was.

It definitely wasn’t going to be a birthday for the history books, but that was… fine. It could have been worse, anyway.

Last year, she had barely been past Blair dying, so it hadn’t been the best of birthdays either. But Griff had managed to make it better by painting Ava Blair’s nursery and that had made all of it better. She’d spent a good portion of that birthday on the couch as well. It was not something that she wanted to become a habit, but there was nothing that she could do about it this year. She was just going to have to get past this sickness and hope that her birthday next year was better.

She was more looking forward to Ava Blair’s birthday anyway. She thought that was just a mother thing. Her birthday seemed infinitely less important when they had their daughter’s first birthday to consider in a couple of months. It was the day before Griff’s, and she knew that that ended up working out all right because they could just celebrate Ava Blair’s and focus all of their energy on that. But there was still a few more months until they would have to even think about that.

For now, she was going to focus all of her energy on fighting through this bug. The coffee table had all of the necessities--Eithne had brought them to her earlier. Tea, tissues, crackers… soup that she had tried to eat earlier, and water. There were also several empty vials of potion, none of which had helped at all, really. Wrapping the blanket tighter around her, she shifted to lay down on the couch. She wasn’t even tired, honestly. She’d spent most of the day sleeping on and off, but she thought that she could maybe try again. That, or summon a book to pass the time. Happy birthday to her.

@griffith | Outfit

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

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The

Fighter

He knew that she hadn’t felt good for a couple of days, but Griffith had hoped that it was going to clear up by today. Whatever it was that had gotten her down was still going strong though, and he thought that that ruined a little bit of her birthday. He was still going to try and make the best of her birthday. The last two had been difficult now. But this year she was at least a little better than she had been last year. Even if she was sick. He didn’t think that there was going to be anything about it that was too hard to work around. She wasn’t scaring him this year. Last year he had been scared. He had been worried about her, and about Ava. It was something that he didn’t think that he could explain. And then she had almost slipped away from him, and he hadn’t been able to get past that for a little bit. He had been stuck on the fact that he had almost lost her the same way that she had lost him.

It wasn’t fair. And he knew that. But he also knew that life was considerably not fair for any of them. He didn’t think that there had been a moment in their lives when things had been easy, and fair, they were Yaxleys. It didn’t’ work like that. But today was still her birthday, and he still wanted her to have something nice for it. Even if that meant that he was going to have to try and come up with something that she was going to like, sick. Because there were some things that you just didn’t want when you were sick, and Griff had sort of figured out how to handle sad Davina. But sick Davina was something that he had only had to deal with while dealing with pregnant Davina. And somehow, he didn’t think that this was going to merit the same treatment. He was not the best at things like this, but he was trying his best. She was always going to get the best from him. Because he would believe that.

If they could do this, and she could have a decent birthday, then when it came time for Ava’s they could do that too. And she could just forget all about his. Griff hated his own birthday. And most birthdays, if he were being honest. But he was going to put in the effort every year for Davina’s. Even if she didn’t think that she needed presents and the like, he would still buy them. He could get away with that, because her dislike of her birthday was not stemmed in the same things that his was. He hated birthdays for all of the ones that he had missed. He hated birthdays because he had lost years of his life. He had bene in that coma, and things had been taken from him. Four years’ worth of birthdays had been lost. The next one had been spent still recovering in that hospital. Griff didn’t like birthdays, but especially not his own. His could be overshadowed by Ava’s though.

That was something that he could get behind. He had stopped on the way home and he had gotten flowers, and he had picked up dinner, so that she didn’t have to cook. He didn’t know if she was going to feel up to eating it, but he had gotten it anyway. Chicken alfredo, breadsticks, and some wine. He thought that if anything he would get her to eat some breadsticks. His wife’s love for bread had been one of the first things that he had learned about her all over again. And he had had to learn a million things about her all over again when he had gotten to know her this time around. But he thought that teasing her about her love for bread would never get old. Coming in the back door he was greeted by Duke and he rubbed the dog behind the ears as he headed through the kitchen, setting the food down as he went, to head towards the living room, and find Davina. Stopping in the doorway, still holding the flowers that he had gotten in Dublin, he smiled at her all curled up on the couch, “Hey, Birthday Girl.”

@ birthday girl - 728 - griffith's outfit

MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOXOGRPHY 2.0

[nospaces]

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[attr="class","cimg"]

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[attr="class","ctopline"]What if I fall (I won't let you fall)

[attr="class","cscriptspeci"]what if i cry (i'll never make you cry)

[attr="class","cline"]

[attr="class","clyrics"]And if I get scared (I'll hold you tighter)[break]
When they're tryna get to you baby I'll be the fighter

[break][break]

[attr="class","cbody"]She wasn’t having the greatest luck with birthdays, that was for sure.
[break][break]
It was something that she hoped wasn’t going to turn into a trend or anything like that. It wasn’t as if her birthday was her favorite day of the year, because it wasn’t. She had actually not celebrated her birthday for quite some time, just because she hadn’t had much of a reason to. Once her family had been implicated after the war, she had been on her own. It had been a little too depressing to celebrate her birthday on her own, so she just… hadn’t.
[break][break]
And that had been fine with her, for quite some time. She’d celebrated again when she had been in the Muggle world and with Pierce, only because he had insisted--but even then, she hadn’t let him do much and she hadn’t let him buy her any presents. It was allowed to be mentioned. And he was allowed to make dinner or take her out to dinner as long as it wasn’t anything too fancy, and as long as he didn’t mention to the waitstaff that it was her birthday to try to get a free dessert or something.
[break][break]
But past that, she had never really celebrated her birthday. Last year had been the first time that she’d really had people around that wanted to celebrate it, and it was too soon after Blair had died for her to be in the mood for celebrating at all. She had tried, but it had just… not been an easy thing for her to do. Griff had made her day better by painting the nursery, and that was the best gift that he could have given her.
[break][break]
This year was easier. She had accepted that Blair was gone, even if she missed her. She knew that she was happier wherever she was, and that was what mattered. Getting caught up in her own feelings on the matter wasn’t fair when it had been Blair’s choice and she had been willing to make it. She just wished that they’d had a little more time to actually be sisters, but she was sure that she would see her again eventually.
[break][break]
Potentially soon, if this cold killed her, which seemed pretty possible at this point. She couldn’t remember a time when she had felt so awful, because she just didn’t get sick all that often. Davina had hoped that she would feel better by her birthday but that clearly hadn’t happened. Now she just thought that it would be much more likely that she’d spent the entire night in this exact spot on the couch. She couldn’t even imagine moving at this point.
[break][break]
Davina didn’t know if Griff had planned anything for her birthday, but he knew that she’d still felt awful when he had gone to work this morning, so she was sure that he would have cancelled whatever those plans were by now.
[break][break]
She didn’t even know what she wanted. She didn’t know what was going to make her feel better or if anything sounded good at all. Really, she just wanted Duke to come in and cuddle her--he had been earlier, but he had ventured off earlier, likely to find a bone to chew or to go lay in Ava Blair’s room which was probably his favorite place in the house.
[break][break]
The house was quiet enough that she could very clearly hear the back door opening, but she made no move to get up. Normally she would, but she thought that Griff would understand that she wasn’t really up for that much movement. As gross as she felt, though, she couldn’t help but smile when she saw him in the doorway with flowers. “Hi… how was work?”
[break][break]

[attr="class","cnotes"]625 ● @ husband ● outfit

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

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the fighter

when they try and get to you

baby I'll be the fighter

There was something going around, and Griff thought that whatever it was, Davina must have caught it. Honestly, it was probably his fault. He had probably brought it home from work with him. But he didn’t know for sure if that was the case, and he thought that he had seen her a lot sicker than she was now. That was something that he didn’t think he ever needed to experience again. But if they ever decided to have another kid, which, he was sure, would happen eventually. Probably next year, or the year after, they were both three years apart from their siblings. At least, he was three years apart from Kate. The age difference with Fitz wasn’t exactly the same thing. But when their parents had each only had the two, they had both been three years apart from their sisters. He thought that boded well for them having one when she hit her second birthday. But Ava Blair was only going to be one in December. And Griff honestly didn’t think that they were ready for another one yet.

Everything that has happened in the last year, year and a half, had not been easy on his wife. And he worried about her. He always worried about her, but there were times when that worry was more present than others, and when she was sick, that worry came spilling out. Worry about his wife, and about his daughter. Worry about things that he couldn’t help worrying about. He didn’t worry about much outside of his family. But when it came to their health, and their safety, that was his responsibility he was responsible for these two people, and he wanted to make sure that they both knew that they were going to be taken care of. That he would do anything for them. And he thought that Davina knew that. He thought that she was well aware of the fact that she was the most important person in his life. It wasn’t hard to get to that point. But in a way, she always had been.

Even through everything. Even though his sister was important to him. Even though he loved his mother. He thought that Davina would always be the most important person. He had built this place, for her. He had built this house, with his own hands. And he was sure that there had to be something that he could do. Something that he could work up to. To try and make sure that she was going to have somewhere safe. And that had been before he had even known that she was still alive. Before he had found out what had happened to her. Before she had come back into their world, his world. Blair had been the sister that he had known all along. He had known her since they were little children, the same age, when it came to Death Eaters children, meant the same playgroups as infants. The same friend groups in school. He had known her sister.

But he loved her. And he hated seeing her sick on her birthday. When he had left this morning, he had made sure that things were going to be taken care of for the night. That he wasn’t going to have to worry about it on his way home. He could just stop, and get the food, and go right there. He had even made sure that the florist knew that he was coming. Sometimes Griffith wasn’t the best at reading her emotions, or knowing what she wanted, or didn’t want, him to do. But when it came to her birthday, he knew that understated and simple was usually a good bet. He smiled at her and moved to hand her her flowers and kiss the top of her head in greeting. “Work was fine. Catrine had some new proposals for the trainees that Fitz isn’t going to like. But, how are you? Stuck on the couch on your big day…”

@ birthday girl • 669 • griffith's outfit

MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOX 2.0

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[attr="class","ctopline"]WHAT IF I FALL (I WON'T LET YOU FALL)

[attr="class","cscriptspeci"]what if i cry (i'll never make you cry)

[attr="class","cline"]

[attr="class","clyrics"]AND IF I GET SCARED (I'LL HOLD YOU TIGHTER)[break]
WHEN THEY'RE TRYNA GET TO YOU BABY I'LL BE THE FIGHTER

[break][break]

[attr="class","cbody"]Davina knew that it could be worse. She knew that there were far worse things in life than being sick on her birthday. But it definitely wasn’t ideal. It wasn’t like she loved her birthday anyhow. She didn’t mind it—she didn’t hate it the way that Griff didn’t like his. But it wasn’t like she’d wanted a huge celebration anyway. She hadn’t expected anything, hadn’t wanted to be healthy so she could have a party or anything like that. Davina just would have preferred to be healthy enough to at least appreciate… something.
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She didn’t know. Davina didn’t even honestly have a clue what she’d want to do even if she wasn’t sick.
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It was something that she at least would have wanted to have as an option, and she didn’t. It meant that she’d spent the entire day on the couch, and that she’d had Eithne taking care of Ava Blair. The last thing that she wanted was for her daughter to get sick too. It was much better to let their house elf take care of her than to risk that. She would just hole up on the couch until she fell asleep for the night—or until Griff carried her upstairs, which also seemed like a possibility.
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She knew there was a chance that Griff had some plans for the night that may involve her getting up off of the couch, but she didn’t know how he was going to convince her of that. Last year, he had decorated Ava Blair’s nursery as a present. This year, she didn’t know if there was much of anything that was worth getting up off of the couch for. Not when she felt this awful, and their couch was this comfortable. It really was tempting to just stay there for the rest of the night.
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After all, she hadn’t felt good when they had gone to bed last night, and she certainly hadn’t felt good this morning. Griff knew that. She very much doubted that he would plan something for her birthday when he knew how she felt. There was a good chance that he’d just let her stay on the couch and that would be that. Well, she figured he’d probably support her ending up in their bed at some point, but until that point, she thought he could be convinced that staying on the couch was the right decision.
[break][break]
Davina didn’t even know how late to expect him, really.
[break][break]
She knew that there was always a chance that it would be late, but that was fine. She figured that she’d just continue to not move and then maybe have Eithne make her some dinner if she actually got an appetite at any point. She hadn’t really touched her soup, so she didn’t have too high of hopes for that. But she knew that she should probably try to eat regardless, even just a little bit. But she figured that was something that she could deal with later.
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Right now, she was pretty sure that Eithne was upstairs with Ava Blair anyway, so she wasn’t going to bother her about food. Not when she didn’t know when Griff was going to be home anyhow.
[break][break]
But as if her thoughts had materialized him, only moments later he was in the doorway with flowers. Immediately, she could feel her mood improve. She didn’t really know how he did that—she’d blame the smile. And the flowers, which she gladly took from his hands. “Oh hush. It’s not my big day. It’s just my birthday. I’ll have a hundred more of them. Maybe.” If whatever she’d come down with didn’t kill her, at least. “Thank you for the flowers…” She added, with a smile.
[break][break]

[attr="class","cnotes"]623 ● @ husband ● outfit

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

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THE FIGHTER

when they try and get to you

BABY I'LL BE THE FIGHTER

He knew that she hadn’t felt good when he had left for work this morning, and Griff was worried that Davina was still going to be under the weather when he got home. There was something going around, he had seen that at work. They were calling out left and right, and he thought that they were going to be looking at a harsh winter if people were already starting to come down with something. It was barely September. They didn’t need an influx of sickness now. Not if it was going to be an indicator for how the entire cold and flu season was going to go.

Because wizard flu was so much worse than what the muggles claimed was the flu. He thought that it was probably the most miserable thing that you could get. He had had it a couple of years ago, and he had felt like he had been out of commission for weeks. It was awful. If that was what Davina was coming down with, on her birthday, no less, he was going to have to see what he could do to at least make her comfortable. Because you just had to sort of ride it out. There was nothing that you could really do, they had told him that when he had had it.

Keeping the fact that she was sick from Andromeda would be critical. Or he was going to have the Minister in his house, fussing over his wife, when she was supposed to be running the country. He could take care of Davina just fine, and there was a chance that this was just some twenty-four-hour bug and that she would be over it come tomorrow morning. That was fine, miserable, that she had gotten it on her birthday, but overall not the worst thing in the world. He didn’t think that she wanted to worry about it too much though. Her birthday wasn’t her favorite thing.

If she would have been feeling better, he would have taken her out to dinner. Something small, he wouldn’t have told the waiter it was her birthday, or hired a violinist, or anything else that people did for birthdays. But he would have taken her to dinner. That didn’t seem to be the case when he came in the house though. He thought that she was still feeling under the weather, just by looking at her. And when he kissed the top of her head, he was a little concerned about a fever. She seemed warmer, somehow.

He was glad to see her smile, and he chuckled at her words. “It could have been your big day. If you were feeling better. We could have gone to dinner or something.” He didn’t think that dinner would have been too much, but it was out of the question now. Maybe he’d just make her some soup, and let her eat it on the couch, and they could call it a night. “And I think a hundred more, at least. Maybe a hundred and fifty.” This wasn’t going to take her away from him. He was sure that nothing was going to take her away from him if he could help it. “You’re welcome. I thought you’d like them.” Wildflowers, the first of the autumn season. He had thought that they were prettier than the roses.

@ sickie birthday girl • 561 • griffith's outfit

MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOX 2.0

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[attr="class","ctopline"]WHAT IF I FALL

[attr="class","cscriptspeci"]what if i cry

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[attr="class","clyrics"]AND IF I GET SCARED[break]
WHEN THEY'RE TRYNA GET TO YOU BABY I'LL BE THE FIGHTER

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[attr="class","cbody"]It was gross to be sick on her birthday. Being this miserable wasn’t fun, no matter when it was. But it felt particularly unpleasant that they should be out doing something, and instead she barely had the energy to get off of the couch. It wasn’t like she was the biggest birthday person in the world. She wasn’t. Not as bad as Griff. If the day went by without anyone so much as mentioning that it was her birthday, she might end up being a little upset—whereas Griff would be happy for everyone to just focus on Ava Blair’s birthday this year and forget his altogether.
[break][break]
But that didn’t mean that she expected a party, or even a gift. She would have been fine with anything, even if it was just making dinner at home or something like that, as long as she wasn’t sick during it. That, unfortunately, was not going to happen. She had done everything that she could to try to combat this flu. Taken the potions she usually took, let Eithne give her some home remedies that she’d come up with… and nothing had helped.
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Not even a little bit.
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Coming to terms with being sick on her birthday was fine. She wasn’t going to pout about it. There was nothing that could be done, it was just the way that it was. Hopefully, unless this bug killed her, she would have plenty of other birthdays in the future. Really, the most irritating part of being sick was trying to keep her distance from Ava Blair so that she didn’t get her sick. As silly as it was, she didn’t like not being around her, especially on her birthday. This was her first birthday with a daughter, after all.
[break][break]
There would be others. For now, what mattered was making sure that she didn’t get her sick too. That wasn’t going to do them any good at all. That meant camping out on the couch. She knew that Griff would be home eventually and she would find out if he had any plans for the night, but she figured that he wouldn’t. Not when he had went to work this morning knowing that she was sick.
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Of course, she might have tried to pull herself off of the couch if he did have plans. Just to try it. She would make no promises that she’d actually manage to shower and get ready for whatever it was he had planned, but she at least would have tried it. “To that one Italian place?” Now she really wished that she wasn’t feeling sick, because her favorite Italian food in Dublin would be a really good birthday meal. Stupid flu. “A hundred and fifty? Are you still going to love me when I’m that old and wrinkly?” Davina couldn’t imagine making it to her 180s. That would definitely be old, even for wizarding standards. “They’re beautiful. Can you put them in water?” She would get up and do it herself, but that would require quite a bit of effort on her part, so she gave Griff her best puppy dog eyes in hopes that he’d do it for her.
[break][break]

[attr="class","cnotes"]530 ● @ husband ● outfit

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

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THE FIGHTER

WHEN THEY TRY AND GET TO YOU

BABY I'LL BE THE FIGHTER

When he had left for work this morning, he had known that Davina hadn’t felt well. It was her birthday, and he would have liked for her to have gotten to enjoy it, but he wasn’t really holding out hope for birthdays anymore. He didn’t care for his own. And he was rather good at making sure that everyone ignored when it came around, but he wanted Davina to celebrate being alive. And it had been a hell of a year. There was no denying that. They had lost her sister, they had nearly lost Andromeda. Davina herself had been close to slipping away from him.

Just being here, and being alive, and getting to the next birthday was important. He knew that. And he knew that she wasn’t going to feel much like celebrating. Not when she didn’t feel well. But he thought that they could do something. Something here at home. He had painted Ava’s nursery last year. This year he thought that juts bringing home flowers and being around was going to have to do for tonight. That was all that she was going to feel like, and that was okay. He didn’t really mind. So long as she knew that he had thought about it.

It wasn’t important now though. He thought that there was only so much that they could have done anyway. They had Ava to think about and taking a baby out to dinner with them on her birthday made it a little less special. Still. It would have been something. Instead it would be take out or whatever else he could scrape together in the kitchen. And they would be eating on paper plates in the living room. Which was fine. He wasn’t going to push her to do anything she didn’t feel like doing. He just wished that she felt better.

There was something going around. People at work seemed to be getting sick left and right, and he was a little worried about who was going to be left doing their jobs by the end of the week if this bug hit them all that badly. He didn’t think that there was any way he wasn’t exposed though. It seemed like the entire department had it, and Davina had it at home. If he was going to catch it, he was already exposed. No matter what it was. If they had some clue, he thought that they could get ahead of it. Some potion or something, but it seemed like just a freak, early flu.

At least to him. But he didn’t have it. So maybe it was worse than that to actually have it. He chuckled a little bit when she brought up the Italian place. It seemed almost crazy to him that this time last year he had nearly lost her, because she wouldn’t eat anything. And now she was talking about her favorite Italian place as if they had been going there for years. “If that was what you wanted.” Griff shook his head, “But not now. You don’t feel good, we aren’t going out when you don’t look like you can stand up without wobbling.”

She didn’t, either. She looked a little peaky and he didn’t think that he really wanted to go over there and get more exposed, but at this point, he knew that it wasn’t going to make that much of a difference. “I think I probably will.” He didn’t know how long either one of them were going to be around, and they both knew how easy it was to die young in this world, but one hundred and fifty more years seemed about right to him. “Yeah.” He nodded and headed for the kitchen. “Any particular vase? Or whichever one I grab?”

@ sickie birthday girl • 631 • griffith's outfit

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WHEN THEY'RE TRYNA GET TO YOU BABY I'LL BE THE FIGHTER

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[attr="class","cbody"]A lot had changed since her birthday last year. There was no denying that. This time last year, she hadn’t been up to doing much of anything—for an entirely different reason. She hadn’t been sick. Physically, she had been completely fine, other than the whole being-pregnant thing. But they had lost Blair only a few months before, and she hadn’t been dealing with that very well at all. She had barely been eating, barely getting out of bed, and she knew that Griff had been worried about her. That Andromeda had too.
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She had been doing a little better than she had the weeks following her death. Andromeda hadn’t had to come over to stick an IV in her arm to make sure she was getting fluids. That was probably the lowest she had been. Since that day, she did enough to get by. Sometimes, anyway. It was just hard to come to terms with the fact that her sister was gone. So, when her birthday came along, and she wasn’t there to celebrate with her, Davina hadn’t wanted to do anything. In fact, she’d hoped that her birthday could go by without anyone even mentioning it.
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Of course, that hadn’t happened. Andromeda had sent presents, and Griff hadn’t let her birthday go by without saying anything either. He had probably given her the one present that she couldn’t even be mad at—he had spent the day leaving her alone, to paint Ava Blair’s nursery, and she couldn’t ask for a better present than that.
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This year was different. As much as she missed her sister, she was coping with her. They were moving forward, and things had been good. She had been worried about Andromeda and Griff working in the Ministry, but apart from that worry, everything was good. Davina had thought it was a good time to actually want to celebrate her birthday. Not with anything big or crazy, but with something. Except now she was so exhausted, she could barely get up off of the couch. She didn’t even know how she was going to make it up to their bedroom later, let alone anything else.
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Seeing Griff in the doorway with flowers helped. She was happy to know that he was just home from work, honestly, and that she didn’t have to sit alone on her birthday anymore. Though, he hadn’t gotten sick, so she probably should let him hang out without her, so he didn’t come down with whatever this was either. That was what she should do, probably. As much as spending another minute alone didn’t sound all that great, they didn’t need him getting sick either. “I can stand up without wobbling,” she argued, and paused for a second before continuing. “And I swear I smell Italian.” She might be sick, but she was sure she smelled something. Breadsticks, maybe?
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She shook her head at him, but a smile still formed on her lips. “You probably will? How reassuring,” she teased. Being one hundred anf fifty years old seemed so far off. It was hard to believe that, if they got lucky, they’d have another hundred plus years together. It made her feel a bit better about how much time they’d missed. “Any’s fine. But then bring it back in here! They had plenty of vases. It was something that just started to accumulate when flowers were bought, it seemed.
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[attr="class","cnotes"]569 ● @ don't play with me, i smell italian ● outfit

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THE FIGHTER

WHEN THEY TRY AND GET TO YOU

BABY I'LL BE THE FIGHTER

His wife being sick on her birthday was not something that he would have wished for her. One of these years, he just wanted her to be happy on her birthday. And he knew that last year there had been little chance of that. But he had had better hope for this year, until she had gotten sick. And she wasn’t the only one. There seemed to be more and more people getting sick by the day. It was sweeping through the Ministry, and everywhere else that he looked. Griff wasn’t sure that there was really any escaping it. That was just how it was going to have to be right now. They were stuck trying to balance all of it.

He didn’t think that it was going to kill her or anything like that. He wasn’t as concerned about her as he had been last fall. But he didn’t think that it was good. Whatever it was, it was taking its toll, and he wished that there was something that he could do to help her. If he was going to get it, he had been exposed from all sides already, and he didn’t think that there was any stopping it, but he hadn’t seemed to have gotten it yet at all. He hadn’t so much as coughed, or sneezed, or any of it. And he knew that it was hitting everyone.

Their family was sick. She wasn’t the only one. He had seen Andromeda today, and she had said that Rodolphus hadn’t been feeling well either. She seemed… Fine, which surprised him, but then again, he was fine too, and they were probably the most exposed of the family. Perhaps they had more of an immunity than anyone else. It would take it a little longer to get through their defenses. That made sense, at least in his very poorly educated – medically wise – mind. Then again, he hadn’t gone to university either. He didn’t really know much about anything other than what he did for a living.

He was a good auror. He was a good solider. That was what he had always been good at. That was what he had been raised to do. And he thought that that was exactly what he would have always done. He couldn’t imagine a life where he wasn’t an auror. Every version of his life landed him right back in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. And he thought that that was exactly where he was supposed to be. He was a Yaxley after all. They belonged in the Ministry.

With the exception of Sloane. He knew that this cousin had never expressed any interest in the Ministry. And Kate had left the Ministry, but that wasn’t because she wasn’t cut out for it. He thought that she was. There had just been other circumstances, and promotions in other places. And he knew that she loved being a journalist more than she loved working in that office every day. There was a freedom to her life that the envied. But he wouldn’t have traded everything that he had now for that. He wouldn’t give up his family, or his career, for just a little bit of freedom.

He didn’t think that he really needed it. And today was not supposed to be about him anyway. It was Davina’s birthday. And they were supposed to be focused on her. They were supposed to be focused on what she wanted to do, and what she felt up to doing. The latter of which was more important than the former, considering that she was sick. “Uh huh…” There was Italian in the other room, he had brought it with him, but he rather liked teasing her. Even if it was her birthday, he could make her wait for breadsticks just as long as he could…

Heading back into the kitchen he dropped the flowers into a vase and filled it with water before he levitated the food that he had brought with him and headed back out to her. “Are you sure that you aren’t just smelling things?” The food was floating just behind him as he set the flowers back down on the coffee table. “Maybe your nose is broken from all of your sniffling…”

@ birthday girl • 713 • griffith's outfit

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