Growing up, Lily Evans, well now Potter, had always been told that the best surprises were the unexpected ones. The doll that her Mum had bought her after the other came into a run in with the vacuum. The surprise party her parents threw her when she was seven years old. The visits from her grandparents, few in number, but meaningful each visit. Her letter from Hogwarts when she was 11 years old. All instances unexpected surprises and each better than the first.
However, the white stick that she currently held in her hand bearing an orange plus sign was unexpected, and a surprise, but far from the best. It wasn't even in the same category. It was more a bearer of bad news than anything. Pregnant. With child. In the midst of a war that had been oncoming since her days in Hogwarts. The thought made her head spin. The thought of having to tell James made her head spin. The thought of bringing a child into a world like the one they lived in just made Lily sick.
When pondered upon, the positive sign on the test was something that had been blatantly obvious to her for at least two weeks. Between vomiting just about every meal and her general malaise, Lily wondered how it wasn't as sorely obvious to James as it was her.
It wasn't that she didn't want to have children, because she did, more than anything. She'd give anything to have little untidy, black-haired, green eyed babies running around, but only if she could be assured that they would be safe. In a world on the verge of a war, and the rise of a dark wizard such as Voldemort, Lily couldn't be assured anything. She couldn't even be assured that James would come home safe; let alone bring a child into the mess.
Hands raking through her hair, she stared at the white stick like she had her Transfiguration text when she was in school; like it was the enemy. But it wasn't an enemy. This was good news. Despite her protests and knowledge that bringing a child into the world was completely foolish, there was still a part of Lily that desperately wanted the normalcy. The timing was unexpected, but all pregnancies were, weren't they? It was what Lily tried her best to convince herself as she curiously pressed her hands to her currently flat abdomen.
She breathed slowly, "There's no way you can hear me in there, or understand what I'm saying, but I will do whatever I have to in order to protect you." She spoke to her currently nonexistent stomach seriously like she would with James if they were discussing an Order matter. "I promise you that I will do whatever it takes, and when your Daddy finds out about you, he'll say the same. No one will hurt you." Lily promised the fetus, wondering if she should get her mental status evaluated for talking to the baby that was probably the size of her thumb, or for making a promise she couldn't keep.
"Lils? Lily, babe, I'm home!" James called for Lily, completely oblivious to what was going on in the bathroom a few feet away from him. "You hate lilies, despite your name, and I'm thankful for it because I'm allergic. Charlie's middle name is Raptor, thanks to Mary. And there's a mark currently residing underneath that shirt. Right on your left hip." He stated the facts in his matter-of-fact tone, drawing his wand when Lily walked out of the bathroom with hers.
It was pathetic that things had come to this. Having to identify themselves to their own significant other. He was just as quick to ask Lily for her identification as well, having come up with their facts a few nights before. His last fact had just been thrown in for fun.
"Threw a shoe at you in fifth year for spreading the rumor that we were married. You still have the shoe and it's hidden around here somewhere. You talk in your sleep. I sing in mine. There used to be a chart above your bed ranking the level of your whippedness. As put there by Sirius." Lily replied easily, despite the debacle that she had just gone through in the bathroom.
Both of their wands put away, James grabbed his wife, and closed the distance between them. He'd never get tired of doing that. "Mmph, work today was awful. Another training day with Moody. What's his deal anyways? I don't g—…"
"I'm pregnant, James," she blurted uneasily, unsure of what her husband would say or do at that point. Heart rate increasing by a good 100 beats, sure that James could more than likely hear it from where he was standing.
James was in the middle of his sentence when Lily interrupted him. She hadn't meant to, but the words just sort of slipped from her mouth. The blame was on him for always telling her the truth. There was no possible way that she could keep this from him and be completely sane.
"You're pregnant? Oh, Gods, Lils. Are you joking, or are you serious? You're serious." James rambled, searching her eyes for his answer, no pun intended with the serious part. When she nods, he feels like his heart could explode with happiness, the more rational part of him left behind to worry about later.
Lily stared at her husband curiously, his reaction being the last that she had expected when she had gone through the debacle. Reassuring arms wrapping around her, and kisses pressed to every part of her face, she finally allowed herself to smile in true happiness, the fact finally hitting her. They were having a baby. She and James were having a baby, and at that moment, in that embrace, everything that was wrong in the world didn't matter so much.
Maybe the best surprises really were unexpected.