Chapter 28 – Early Miracles
Lily sat on the couch, her legs crossed at an awkward angle. She couldn't help it with a child on the way, a woman could only move so much. Henry came through the front door, loosening his tie along the way. He set down the old leather bag that carried his case files, etc. His head peered around the corner to find Lily, sitting there, a bowl of cantaloupe resting on her stomach, looking up at him with those large chocolate brown eyes. He took his robe off and hung it on the coat rack, next he slipped off the dress shoes and made a beeline to the backside of the couch.
"Hey there my love" He said as he kissed her forehead.
"Hey babe" Lily beamed, grabbing a hold of his tie before he walked away and kissing him gently on the lips.
He smiled as he moved away and looked into her eyes.
"You taste like fruit" He chuckled.
"Well, fruit is a very healthy option for mom and baby, not to mention, it curves that sweet tooth I've got" Lily giggled in equality.
"I love you" he said as he walked around to the correct side of the couch.
He picked her legs up and laid on the inside of the couch, closest to the cushions. Then, he moved her legs back and rested her toes on his shoulder. Lily could feel his fingers begin to massage her ankles, which had begun swelling due to the extra weight her body had suddenly gained.
"You know all too well, Henry" She smiled with some ease and comfort.
"I can tell, babe" Henry replied quietly.
Lily looked down at her bowl of fruit and kept eating it. Enjoying the hydration it gave her, but also the curb of the sweet tooth she had. Lily was in heaven, with the ankle massage from the one she loved and her sweet tooth being curbed.
She looked up to see Henry giving her a longing, thoughtful look.
Lily smiled and raised an eyebrow slightly.
"What?" She questioned.
"You" Henry smiled.
"Always" Lily giggled a little.
"Yeah, how was your day?" Henry mused
"Eh, you can tell by how tired my feet are..." his wife sighed, laying her head back on the arm rest of the couch.
"Yeah, your day was long..." He sighed.
"Ohp... yes.. it was... god that tendon was tight until you hit it with your fingers" Lily said with relief.
"You scared me for a moment love..." Henry sighed.
"I'm sorry. Did ya think I was in labor or something?" Lily smiled.
"Yeah... I did actually." Henry said.
"Oh dear... only you" Lily said quietly.
"Is something wrong?" Henry asked hesitantly, not wanting to sound too paranoid.
"Only you... would think that... and only you would be right" Lily said in a quiet voice.
"Can you be positive its real?" Henry asked concerned.
"Oh believe me, babe, I can tell... its real!" Lily panicked a little.
"But... you're not due... for another two months" Henry said with wide-eyes.
"Don't you think I realize that?!" Lily sighed through a small cramp.
If she could remain calm during dark wizard attacks at the age of 12, she could remain calm with the fact that she was going to have an early baby.
"What are we going to do? We're not ready, I haven't finished painting her room yet. The crib isn't put together. Nothing is here yet. Oh god" Henry panicked, running up the stairs as Lily sat calmly on the couch trying to clear her head and call the hospital.
Henry ran back downstairs with a backpack of things Lily had kept in the back of the closet since the day she had found out she was pregnant.
"We're going to the hospital babe" Lily said as she got up off the couch like it was no problem and slipped her ballet flats on. Henry passed her his robe he had just hung up on the coat rack only half an hour earlier.
Lily felt the sharp pains in her side and took calm deep breaths.
"You okay love?" Henry asked as he drove the muggle car quickly and occasionally looking over at Lily. Lily and Henry had both mutually agreed that they would not use the floo network or apparate when it came time to have their baby. They did not want to take any chances, even though they both knew the systems were fairly safe systems. In the end, they decided to use their car. They actually enjoyed their muggle car more often than the wizarding world transportation systems. They both ejoyed seeing the country side when they went on vacations.
"I would be okay if you could keep your eyes on the road" Lily clenched her teeth a little.
She knew that when she clenched her teeth, it was about to get worse.
"Oh... god..." She quietly panicked.
"What?!" Henry was quick to ask.
"Oh, yeah, we're having this baby. My water just broke" Lily said with a little quiver in her voice.
"No, oh no... no..." Henry kept driving, soon turning into the hospital garage.
"I literally just left this place like 3 hours ago" Lily sighed, thinking back to the appointment she had just gotten done with.
She looked over at Henry who had worried tears in his eyes. Lily could handle the pain long enough to wipe the tears before they fell.
"We'll be okay, love, she'll be okay, I'll be okay" Lily whispered calmly.
She looked down and noticed his hand had moved from the steering wheel to rest on hers, which laid on the console lazily the entire car ride there. She had not even noticed it. Lily gripped his hand tightly, not out of pain, but out of love.
"Come on, lets go have a baby" Lily smiled softly.
Lily got out of the car and was soon followed by Henry with the backpack. She stopped only once between the parking garage and the check-in desk to deal with the pain and even at that, it was brief.
Lily was immediately rushed to the critical care rooms, where she waited patiently, with pain of course. She was impatiently patient one could say. As Lily was excited to meet her bundle, but not this soon. Lily didn't want Henry to know she was so worried. She wanted to remain strong through the entire situation.
As Lily gently wrapped the hospital gown around herself, she noticed Henry pull his wand out of his pocket and conjuring a patronus message. He was sending it to the soon-to-be Grandparents. Oh, and his boss. Henry looked like he would've cracked at any moment with an overwhelming feeling of emotions.
"Henry, I love you, just always know that" Lily smiled briefly before feeling more pain.
"I love you too" Henry replied quietly, his voice almost cracking.
Lily grabbed a hold of his hand and never let go. She pulled him close to her body and wrapped her other arm around him. Henry held his wife close as he ran his fingers up and down her back. Lily buried her face into the corner of his neck, she could still smell the cologne he had put on this morning. In fact, she noticed, he was still in his office clothes.
"Babe..." Lily said softly.
"Hmmm?" He asked as he looked into her always beautiful eyes. They were the first thing he fell in love with, her eyes, now they looked like they had been injured, in pain.
"You're still in your office clothes" She said even softer, she could feel an increasing pain.
"I didn't have time to change" He said wearily as she gripped his hand tighter and screamed a little.
"Go change" Lily said in between the pain, her voice a little loud.
"But, I don't have a single thing" Henry said in slight defense.
"The backpack" Lily said, breathing heavily on his neck.
Henry turned around to the backpack sitting in the chair next to him. He opened it up, inside were clothes, the necessities, etc., digging around he found that Lily had put a t-shirt and gym shorts in the bag, just for him.
"You-" He smiled.
"Always know best. You know, be prepared" Lily smiled briefly, with a quick wink of an eye before scrunching her face in pain.
Henry winked a worried eye back and went to the bathroom and quickly changed. He came out of the bathroom to find Lily motioning for him to come over close to her.
She wrapped her arms around his neck quickly and cried. She cried out of worry. She cried out of pain.
"Ssssshhhhh, there, there love" Henry said tenderly quiet in her ear as he rubbed her back.
He knew he had to be the strong one now and Lily could let go for a little while. He understood that they would both have a long journey ahead of them and he knew he needed to be strong for her in that moment.
Henry pushed Lily back a little and held her face in his hands.
"It'll be okay" He said with sincerity as he wiped the tears off her cheeks and kissed her forehead.
"I just hope she's healthy" Lily said with a sniffle.
"She will be, I just know it. Shes a strong little fighter, just like her mother" He smiled.
Lily would've laughed a little, but she was in too much pain.
Lily took a deep breath and exhaled heavily. She could hear the assistant healers and healers counting to ten. She could hear Henry encouraging her to keep going. She could feel all the pain accumulating into a ball. Then, suddenly, she could feel relief. Lily laid her head down on the pillow behind her as she felt a tear drop land on her collarbone. She looked up and could see Henry in tears of joy. Lily could hear loud, strong, shrill cries from a newborn baby. She knew that newborn baby was hers. Lily then knew that she was healthy, just by her strong cries.
She was placed into Lily's open arms for only a tender moment. She felt like she weighed nothing. She looked like a small porcelain doll. Soon, the assistant healers rushed her away to the NICU.
Lily's face must have had a pleading look as she watched her newborn baby disappear. An assistant healer turned around and came back to her.
"You can see her soon" She said in a kind, sweet voice.
Lily began to cry a little. Henry wiped the tears from her eyes as he hugged her close.
"Shes a strong little fighter. Just as strong as her mother, who is the strongest person I've ever known. While, she may not feel like she's a strong fighter right now, she's always fought, harder and harder. Today will prove her strength and she'll come out on top. Thats the girl I married" Henry said in the sweetest voice Lily had ever heard as he kissed her forehead.
Lily felt a finger on her chin as her head moved up to look at his.
"I love you, more than the sun and stars" He smiled.
"I love you too" was all Lily could muster in her exhaustion, then she gave him a small kiss.
Soon, Lily was asleep. Henry watched his wife sleep, she had been so strong, stronger than he had ever seen her before. Only a few times did she lose her strength, but even at that, she was still stronger than he could ever be. He had fallen in love with the best girl in the world and she never ceased to prove him wrong on that point. Henry felt his eyes getting heavy and soon, he was asleep in the rocking chair next to Lily's bed.
Meanwhile, Harry paced back and forth in the waiting room. No one had come in to tell him how his daughter was doing, how his grandchild was doing, nothing. Other grandparents had come and gone, but not Harry.
"Harry, why don't you sit down" Ginny pleaded for a moment.
"No" was all Harry could say.
"Honey, its their first child. Do you remember how long I was in labor for when James was born?" Ginny said sternly.
Harry finally sat down next to his wife of 32 years. "Yeah, you're right" He said putting his forehead in the palm of his hands while his elbows rested on his knees.
Lily woke up to the quiet squeak of a rocking chair. Henry sat in the chair, absentmindedly rocking himself while he slept. The door opened slowly, sheclosed my eyes and pretended to still be asleep.
"Oh, the poor things... they're exhausted. Look at them" a familiar voice said quietly.
"Well, you can only imagine what they must be going through" another voice said.
Lily could hear Henry wake up with a deep breath and say "Harry?"
Lily kept her eyes closed as Henry explained to her parents what had happened.
"Shes a strong one Henry, it must be hard for her" Harry said softly.
Lily inhaled deeply and opened her eyes, she looked around briefly and found Henry right there next to her, a hand resting gently on her thigh and a thumb just running back and forth over the blanket.
"Henry..?" Lily said quietly.
"Oh, hey there, babe" He sounded relieved as he laid down next to her to hear her quiet voice.
"Hey" her voice cracked from sleep. She could still feel his thumb running back and forth on her thigh.
"Do you wanna see your baby?" He asked quietly.
Lily nodded gently.
Henry got up walked past Lily's parents and came back with a pink bundle that had an oxygen line hanging out of it.
She held her arms out gently as she took the pink bundle and held her for the second time in her life.
"Awwwooohhhh, hey there little fighter" Lily wiped away a few tears.
"Three pounds, eight ounces" Henry said proudly, "Also, strong enough lungs to breathe on her own, with oxygen of course."
"Yeah" Lily smiled the widest she had ever smiled.
"Do you have a name for her?" Ginny asked.
"Anna, Anna Rose" Lily smiled.
She was favoured by everyone in the room, by her parents, by her grandparents. She was small and precious in her own way and it was perfect. She looked up at Lily with her large, familiar blue eyes that she had fallen for and married. She moved her small head with red hair that matched the color on her own head. She yawned her little lips that mimicked the ones she had kissed so many times. She scrunched her little nose that was all the same as the one that made her go cross eyed. She was perfectly balanced between which parent she looked like. She was the perfect product of love. She would be their pride and joy. She would be their miracle child. Lily soon realized that Henry was next to her, an arm around her shoulders, and his cheek against her head. They were the perfect little, sudden, yet miracle family.
Lily looked down at the little sleeping baby in her arms and sighed.
She was happy.
