Stress Baking

James came home from playing a quick round of Quidditch with the boys to see Lily in the kitchen, flour all over her, and baking ingredients scattered around the room. He sighed, knowing what that meant. Lily only baked hardcore like this when she was stressed, usually about her sister. He took his coat off and went over to her, leaning back on the counter next to her.

"How are you doing love?" He asked, his voice soft and gentle, not wanting to seem too invasive. Sometimes she wanted to talk about it, other times she didn't.

"Fine..." She grumbled, hitting the mound of shortbread with her fist. She glanced at him, giving him the look that said that she wanted to talk but didn't know where to start.

"What did the shortbread do to you to deserve that punch?" He asked jokingly, reaching around and rubbing her back gently. "You can talk about it, I'm here to listen." He murmured softly, kissing her cheek and tasting a bit of something sweet.

"Petunia..." She said quietly, not looking at him. She looked like she was on the verge of tears again. "She called mum... To tell her that she wouldn't be coming to any family events where we would be present. She doesn't want to expose her new baby to us and our evil ways, she doesn't want to make him like us." She seethed, hitting the shortbread again when she said the last four words, like them being wizards was like a disease.

James pulled her hands away and took them gently, tangling her fingers with his own. "I'm so sorry Lily..." He said quietly, not sure what else he could say that would make her feel better. He looked at her eyes, hoping she would understand what he wanted to say more by looking at him then listening.

She sighed and looked at him, then looked back down. "It's okay... I kind of saw it coming, as horrible as that sounds." She said softly, wiping her eyes with her apron.

He tilted her chin to look up at him. "She doesn't deserve to see you, in the slightest. If she's going to be like that, then you just ignore her and wait for her to come around. And anyways, she's pregnant right? It could just be hormones talking, she may change her thoughts after she gives birth and has a more motherly instinct." He explained, stroking her hand gently with his thumb.

Lily nodded, looking up at him. "Yeah, hopefully. I still can't believe she's pregnant. And with Vernon..." She trailed off, making a face.

"His face kind of looks like a smushed hamster, doesn't it?" He joked with a smile, trying to cheer her up.

She giggled softly and smiled a bit at him. "Yeah, it does. Don't you dare say that to him or Petunia, ever." She scolded, but was really teasing and being playful.

He nodded and kissed her forehead. "Of course not love. Now, what are we making here? Can I help?" He asked curiously.

She grinned and turned back to all her handiwork of the multiple baked goods. "Well, the shortbread needs to be pounded a bit more, be sure you don't wake Harry. I cast a silencing charm around his room, but he still can somehow hear things. I think he knows he's being neglected. Also, those cupcakes could use some icing." She told him, pointing at a cooling tray with vanilla cupcakes resting on it.

He nodded and went over, getting the piping bag and listening to the Muggle monitor they had for Harry. With the silencing charm, they couldn't just hear him if he started crying, so Lily got this handy tool that he still didn't understand.

They both worked and listened to some Christmas music, and then a loud ding came from the oven. "Oh! I completely forgot, James could you get those? It's the peanut butter cookies!" She said happily, busy dividing the shortbread dough into cookies.

He grinned and opened it. "My favourite." He said happily pulling them out and immediately taking one.

"Oh shit, that's hot!" He exclaimed, fanning his open mouth, but couldn't help but smile when he saw that big smile again on his wife's face.

Hi everyone! I'm very sorry this story is coming to you a day late, I just had a really busy past couple of days and had absolutely no time to write or upload, so I got myself up (kinda) early this morning to write this. To keep the original pattern, I will be uploading AGAIN tomorrow so the days line up, so look forward to that! Thank you for all the views and favourites and follows and reviews, don't forget to keep leaving them! I like them more than Christmas gifts! I can't believe this series is already halfway done... I hope you're all enjoying it as much as I like writing it!