Prompt – The Marauders find out Lily is pregnant before James does.
Authors notes: This is my oneshot for Jily week, which I only realised existed this morning, and it actually finishes today. Great timing! I haven't had time to send this to a beta, (so please message me if you find typos – I have checked but I'm bound to have missed some!) and I had to write in one sitting, but this is my contribution to Jily week! I used a prompt because I'm lazy ;D Enjoy!
Great.
I looked down at the remarkably innocent-looking stick, finding it slightly ironic that something so mundane and simple could be the bearer of such important and surprising news.
We definitely could have been more careful. We were using a few contraceptive spells but I'd never thought I'd need anything else. I wasn't as wary as I should have been, I realised.
This wasn't exactly how I'd planned the moment. The moment I'd been thinking about from a young age almost as much as my wedding day, and we were already married, thank God. I didn't imagine being so bloody scared! The creation of new life was supposed to be a blessed event, not a mind-numbingly-terrifying event, I reminded myself.
How was I supposed to tell James? He was going through such a hard time with a big new case at work and his Dad's illness was noticeably taking its toll on him This was not a great time to have a kid, I had to admit.
I sighed and, after disposing of the stick, left the bathroom.
"Lily?"
I looked up, somewhat surprised at the voice, which I did not expect to hear.
"Oh, hi Remus, I didn't know you were stopping by."
"Yeah, sorry. Are you OK? You look kind of pale."
"Really? Couldn't think why. Can get you a butterbeer?"
"Please."
I walked through to the kitchen, wondering why on earth he was here. He wasn't someone to turn up unexpectedly; he almost always called ahead. I grabbed two butterbeers from the fridge before walking back through to the living area to join him.
"So, what brings you here? I'm supposed to be at work, were you expecting someone else?" I joked.
"Oh, er, sorry, just going through a tough time, er, I, I wondered if James was around, but, oh, of course – work."
I smiled. I knew Remus had a lot of trouble with his health but he looked really ill. I was glad he didn't ask why I wasn't at work too – morning sickness apparently. That was what drove me to take the test.
I guess if Remus had been his usual self he might have noticed something was off, but I was so thankful he didn't. It would not have turned out well.
"Well, he might be home soon, so you can wait if you like or I could tell him you dropped by."
"Er, no, I'll be off thanks."
He hurried out the door leaving his butterbeer completely untouched. I frowned in confusion.
James got home late that night, but he was working longer hours due to this big case. I waited up for him but I might have well not bothered.
"Hi, how was your day?"
"Uh, fine. Listen, I'm tired, you OK if I go straight to bed?"
"Um, yeah, sure."
He whirled away and was in bed and asleep within five minutes, no 'feeling better?' or anything. I sighed and followed his lead – I was exhausted too.
The next day was a Saturday, and Sirius and Peter were round for coffee. I still hadn't found a way to tell James about my pregnancy. I was hoping I could keep quiet until things blew over and he'd caught up on some sleep. The four of us were sat in the kitchen making small talk – work and the weather.
Just as the kettle started to boil, the phone rang.
"Could you get that?" I asked James as I went to do the coffees.
"Sure."
I tried to listen into his side of the conversation but he was talking quietly and was moving down the corridor, away from company. I frowned – that wasn't like James. I wondered who had called.
As I took the drinks through to the living room, James came up behind me, looking very panicked.
"What's wrong?" I asked worriedly.
"I need to go, Dad's not doing too well and my Mum needs some help."
"OK, do you want me to come?"
"No, I'll be fine. Thanks though. Sorry guys," he said to Sirius and Peter who nodded. He gave me a quick kiss, grabbed his coat and left.
I sat down on the sofa and started to make conversation – before I suddenly felt incredibly ill. I ran to the bathroom, a hand clasped tightly over my mouth.
"Lily?!"
"Are you OK?"
I heaved over the toilet, incredibly embarrassed. I composed myself, washed my face and headed out.
"Yeah, I'm fine, sorry."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah."
"Well then, why are you crying?"
Oh. Right. I walked over and collapsed on the sofa. Why was I crying?!
"Oh, I don't know!" I wailed. Peter came and sat next to me, stroking my arm.
"Bloody hell! Are you – are you pregnant, Evans?!"
"What?! No Sirius! No, I am not –"
I sighed. What was the point?
"Yes."
Sirius let out a low whistle as Peter's jaw dropped to the floor.
"Does James know?"
"No."
Sirius crouched next to me. "Lil', you need to tell him."
"But he's so stressed with his Dad, and work, and Remus is ill all the time and he can't cope with this!"
"Well, you can't deal with this on your own!" Peter pointed out.
"Lily, listen to me," Sirius began. "James loves you more than life itself. Yes he's stressed, but he will be so happy, you know he will. It won't make things worse at all, it'll make then ten times better, knowing you are carrying his child. Nothing will make him happier. You know that, don't you?"
I hesitated before nodding. Yes, I did, but this was big. What if he wasn't ready?
"Promise us you'll tell him as soon as you can?"
I nodded, wiping my eyes.
"Being pregnant sucks, you know?"
"Can't say that I do."
I chuckled. "You just throw up all the time and cry and want to eat everything."
"Well, tell James and then you can do all those things together," Peter added.
I laughed. Yay, throwing up with James!
"I need to tell him, don't I?"
"You really do."
James got home late again that night, even more stressed than before.
"Sorry Lil', I need to go to bed."
"No, wait."
Time to see if Sirius' theory was right.
"Huh?"
"There's something I need to tell you…"
He looked at me exasperatedly. "Lily, can't this wait?"
He walked towards the bedroom, away from me.
"James! No! Look, just sit down, this is really important.
He sighed before sitting. I had never been more nervous before in my life.
"Lil', are you sure you want to tell me? You look like you'd rather stick pins in your eyes."
"No, I need to." I breathed deeply, trying to compose myself, anticipating his reaction. "James, I'm pregnant."
There. It was out. Now it was all up to him. Strangely, I felt none of the nerves leave. I realised it wasn't my telling him but his reaction that I was nervous about.
But his eyes lit up. He erupted into a huge grin. "Really?"
I nodded. He ran forward and grabbed me into a huge hug. "Oh my God, Lil'! That's huge! Oh, this is going to be great! We're having a kid Lily!"
I nodded, grinning hugely. "I didn't know how to tell you, you've been so stressed out and –"
He ran towards me and kissed me passionately, cutting me off mid sentence.
"I'm so sorry. Look, I love you, OK? I want nothing more than to look after you, and our child, and I'm so sorry. I know I've been distant recently, and I know I've haven't spent as much time with you as I wanted to. But this will not make me stressed. This is the best thing that has ever happened to me."
He moved his hands down to cradle my stomach.
I pressed my lips to his. "I love you."
"I love you too."