They Way Life Should Have Been
The date is March 24, 1982: 7:42 am. James Potter is trying to leave for work with his tie undone, coffee in one hand and his almost two-year-old son screaming in the other. The reason young Harry James Potter is crying because he cut himself, getting out of the crib. James is trying to figure out where his wife is and why she isn't here to help him by taking care of Harry.
Lily Potter is in some of the most pain ever. She hears her husband and her son yelling at her. She is trying to get out of bed, but is having too much trouble because she is almost Forty weeks pregnant. Her due date is April 5. Finally, she gave up on trying maneuvering her overly enlarged stomach, and rolled out of bed. She caught herself on her hands, and walked over to her dresser. She pulled out one of James's tee shirts and slipped it over her head.
"Lily!" James finally yelled up the stairs. Harry had poured his coffee on him and had to change his blue cotton shirt.
"I'm coming! I'm coming!" Lily shouted back down the hallway. When she got to the stairs, she saw Harry crying with his right hand in his mouth. James was in the red and gold bedroom changing his shirt. Lily picked up her son and looked at his hand.
"Oh my goodness James! What happened?!"
"Well, after I stubbed my toe getting out of bed-"
"Not you, Harry!" Lily snapped. She cradled the crying child to her chest. By the tones in their voices, the Potters weren't in very good moods this morning.
"He cut himself on the gosh darn crib again! Bye, I love you. I'm late for work!" James snapped back frustrated, and apperated away.
'Count back ward from ten, nine, eight, sevensixfivefourthreetwoone' Lily tolled herself. She picked up Harry and placed him on the table. She took out her wand and fixed the deep cut on his hand. Instantly Harry stopped crying. He got down and ran to his room. Lily started to feel kicks. She placed her hand on her stomach. She had a feeling that this little bundle of joy was going to come very soon. She wobbled to the shower, brushed here teeth and got Harry some lunch. Suddenly, she started to feel contractions. She decided not to panic. Then she got the muggle phone, and called the Ministry of Magic.
"Hello, Ministry of Magic, Catherine Chang speaking, how may I help-"
"I need to speak to James-urg-Potter now!" Lily yelled into the phone.
"Okay, let me see if he is available…I'm sorry, but Mr. Potter is in a meeting-"
"I don't care! You get you sorry ass over there and tell him his wife needs him on the phone A.S.A.P!" Lily shouted at Mrs. Chang.
"Okay Mrs. Potter, I'll get him…. Here he is." Mrs. Chang handed James the phone.
"Hello? Sweetie, I am in a meeting-" James asked concerned.
"James, -gasp-the baby is coming! My water just broke and my contractions are 6 minutes apart!" Lily said panicking while holding a whining Harry.
"Ok. Let me tell Sirius, and we'll be on the way." James hung up. And within 2 minutes, James and Sirius were at the house.
"Ok. Where's the fire!" Sirius said concerned. "Where's Harry! What's wrong with my godchild?"
"Nothing you idiot! I am having the baby!" Lily snapped.
"Oh. So what do you want me to do?" Sirius asked?
"HELP!" Lily shouted back as another contraction hit her.
"Ok. James, start packing an over night bag. I'll take Harry… Not for you! For Lily!" Sirius said.
James franticly searched around their bedroom, thinking of what to pack. "Clothes check. Toothbrush, check. Hairbrush, check. Baby clothes, check…" James threw the rest of the items in the bag for Lily. He ran downstairs where Lily was leaning on the couch, holding her stomach. Harry was playing with his toy broom.
"Ok, you start up the bike, and I'll get Lily and Harry. Ok?" James said taking Harry.
"Alright. Where are the keys? Aha! Found them!" Sirius said going out to his motorcycle.
"Ok. Now Lily, can you calm down please? Or at least loosen the grip on my hand?" James made the stupid mistake of asking.
"No I can't! This is YOU FAULT! JAMES POTTER!" Lily yelled at him. Three minutes later, Lily was calling for Sirius to hurry up.
"Um…Prongs? Can we…uh…talk for a second?" Sirius said glancing nervously at Lily, afraid that she might through something at him.
"What! I am kind of busy at the moment…" James said frustrated with Lily in one hand and crying Harry in the other.
"The bike won't start. I even tried to fix it magically." Sirius said protecting himself from flying objects like a waffle iron that Lily chucked at him last time with Harry.
"Did you try everything?" James asked
"Yes, it won't start."
"Sirius! Of all the time for it to stop working, why now?" James groaned.
"James I swear, if you don't get me to a hospital right now-" Lily started through gritted teeth.
"The Knight Bus!" shouted Sirius as he took Lily's bags and ran outside.
"No, I will not ride on the contraption that they call a bus!" Lily said.
"Lils, I love you a lot, but it is only option left! We have to use it!" James said carrying her and Harry to the bus. When they got there, Sirius was arguing with the conductor.
"I paid 4 gallons! I get hot chocolate!" Sirius snapped.
"Sirius quit arguing! Get on the bus! Lily is having the baby!" James shouted. "This bus needs to get to St. Mungo's now! Before anywhere else!" James ordered to the conductor. He got Lily onto a bed and she calmed down, a little.
"Do your breathing exercises, honey." James said handing Harry to Sirius as he rushed Lily inside.
"Ah, Mrs. Potter, good to see you. We didn't expect you here for another two weeks." Healer Kylerstan said.
"Yeah, well she went into labor about thirty minutes ago. Can you get her into a room please? Please." James said with a hint of order in his voice.
"Oh, yes, yes, of cores. Come along, this way." Healer Kylerstan said. Twenty minutes later, Lily was under an epidural, and in her room.
"Why is this taking so long? Harry didn't take this long. They put me on a stretcher, rushed me to the delivery room, halfway there, pop, he was out and they took me back." Lily whined.
"Pretty soon, we'll have a baby. I promise babe." James said soothingly. The room they were in was finally quiet. Since Lily's contractions were far apart, she couldn't get into a private room.
Since she arrived about forty minutes ago, three women have come and gone, and had their babies.
"Ok, Mrs. Potter, lets see how far along you are." She looked under the sheet. "Hmm... still only five centimeters…It's still going to be awhile…But until then we have a new room mate for you…"
"Ugh, is she pregnant yet? She doesn't need to be; she'll still have the baby before I do. Oh James, another contraction!" Lily leaned on the back on James for some support.
"That's it. That's it."
"Oooh, that sounded like a bad one." The new room mate said.
"Yeah it was." Lily said not happy to not be alone again.
"Mine haven't been so bad. Oh! Here comes one now. Oh, that was a big one!" the woman said only after humming for a second.
Lily motioned for James to shut the curtain.
O.o
"Healer, I've been at this for almost seven hours! Four women have come and gone with their babies, you got to give me some good news! How many centimeters am I dilated? Eight? Nine?
"Seven. We are moving along, just slowly. Don't worry, you're doing great. I'll be back soon."
"Hey, y'know what? I'm not waiting! I'm going to push this baby out! I'm doing it! I mean it's what? Seven centimeters? That's got to be like this!"
"Actually it's more like this…" James pushed her hands closer together.
"Oh stupid metric system!" Lily said sighing.
O.o
"This room's available." Said a nurse.
"Okay! Okay wait! You listen to me! You listen to me! Since I have been waiting four women, that's four have come and gone with their babies! I'm next! It's my turn! It's only fair! And if you bring in one woman and she has her baby before me I'm going to sue you! Not this hospital, I'm going to sue you! And my husband he's a lawyer!" Lily yelled losing her cool. She hadn't seen Harry in four hours…But James said that he was asleep in the waiting room with Sirius.
"Uh, Lils."
"Go get back on that case honey!" Lily said.
"I don't think the next patient is very far along." The healer replied.
"Okay, well then bring her in." Lily said smiling.
O.o
"Hello Mrs. Potter." The healer said walking into the room. "How are you doing?" She looked under the Sheet. "Uh, Lily, do you feel any pain?"
"No, why?" Lily asked concerned.
"Because you can see the head." Healer Kylerstan said with a frown on her face. "I think we gave you too much epidural. We put the baby to sleep. We need to take it out now."
The rolled her to the delivery room. " Ok, now Lily, we need you to push, two, three, four, good, six, seven, eight, nine, ten. Good." The Healer said.
"I'll be right back." James left the room to check up on Harry and Sirius.
"Jamie! What's going on?" Sirius said with a curious Harry in his lap looking for cookies.
"Lily's have the baby! Get Remus!" James said going back into the delivery room.
"….Okay, Okay, It's almost out! Breath, breath, Lily, I need you to breath. Good one more push…and it's a…. Girl! We need to get her check out." The healer said taking the baby girl from the parents. James was getting tears in his eyes. He had a little girl. She was so beautiful. James kissed Lily's forehead, and smiled at her.
"A girl, a beautiful girl, I love you." James said.
"You too. But at the moment, I am in so much pain that I swear on my mother's grave, if you ever get me pregnant again, I will take that thing," she said pointing at James' prize, "and make sure that you will NEVER reproduce ever again!" James was starting to get scared, but kept his cool. " So James, what are we going to name her?"
"Well, how about Bellance?"
"Ha Ha Ha, No."
"Samantha?"
"No"
"Rose"
"No"
"Beonca?"
"No."
"Well that Lily, what?"
"Rebecca?"
"Only if the middle name is Ann" James said.
"Okay, Rebecca Ann Potter, I love it."
"That was easier than I thought." James commented.
"Good thing she was born before April, that's when the cutoffs are for sing ups are for Hogwarts." Lils said switching sides in the bed.
"Sweetheart, she's not going to Hogwarts." James said laughing.
"What? Why!" demanded Lily.
"Because, I am not sending my baby girl to school with a bunch of horny boys for 10 months. Come on we were at Hogwarts, you know how boys are. Think about how we were at school." James said proving his point.
"Of course I do James. But, we'll let Becca decided." Twenty minutes later, Healer Kylerstan came in with the baby.
" Hi Mommy and Daddy! Here's you new daughter. She is pretty healthy. 5lbs 7oz. 19 1/2 inches long. We need you to sign the birth certificate and decide on godparent or (s)." Lily and James both knew who would be godfather. "Okay, friends and family came come in." Sirius came running in with Harry and Remus on his tale.
"Hi Lily and James. Congratulations." Remus said. Not wanting to remind anyone that tonight is full moon.
"How is it going fireball?" Sirius shouted excitedly.
"Shhh. Sirius! You'll wake Becca."
"So, it's a girl?" Remus asked. Lily nodded. Holding her.
"Rebecca Ann." James told Remus picking up his daughter.
"Remus, we wanted to know if you would be Becca's godfather?" Lily asked. Remus was speechless. He wanted to. Really he did. But he didn't know if he could take the responsibility with him being a werewolf.
"But, Lily James, why me?"
"Because we wouldn't want anyone else. No matter if you were a werewolf of not." James spoke. Remus bit his lip.
"I would love to. May I hold her?" He said with a tear in his eye.
"Of cores you can." James put Rebecca in Remus arms. As he held Becca in his arms, he knew he made the right choice.
Harry started to cry. He didn't understand why every one would rather hold a pink blanket than him. He went over to his mother wanting up.
"Up! Up! Me want up!" Harry shouted with his arms out.
"Come here baby." Lily picks up her son. Remus gave Becca to Lily. Now she was holding both of her kids. James sat next to her. He gazed a Harry and Becca, he was so happy to realize that he created them.
"Oh! Oh! Family picture! Let me get the camera!" Sirius said getting the camera. "Now every one say cheese!"
"Idiot!" three out of the four Potters said. When they got home, James put the picture on the mantle. It has been there ever since.
