Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

For him it was caring to the point of annoyance for Lily. Her hormones didn't just make her cry, they made her angrier than he had ever seen and that was saying something. She was so mad that he kept treating her like glass but he couldn't help himself.

She had always been his world but now she literally was his whole world, carrying his child in her stomach. He watched her bump grow lovingly and knew she loved it too, despite her frustration with it. She would wake him when she couldn't sleep and they would talk for hours of how the baby might turn out. Boy or girl, quidditch star or studious, Gryffindor or not.

He bought so many tiny clothes Lily was exasperated. "We don't even know the gender James." She would say in exasperation. He even convinced her to go see her nephew, because he knew she wanted to tell her sister the news, and because he thought a bit of practice might be good for them.

Unfortunately, he had forgotten how hostile Petunia could be, and how much Vernon hated him. The whole evening had been strained and even Dudley seemed to hate him. He had quieted as his aunt rocked him in her arms though, to Petunia and Vernon's annoyance. As they left he knew the Dursley's were not sorry to see the back of them and figured that Aunt or not, Petunia would not be contacting her sister anytime soon.

Then it was their wedding day and it was small but lively and full of love and neither of them drank but both had the time of their lives. It had a warm feel about it and they found out that Alice was pregnant too and due around the same time as Lily.

It was the happiest day of his life, and would hold that title for only six short months until the title would be reserved for the birth of their child.

Annoyed by their failure with Dudley (and wholeheartedly blaming it on his nephew's parents) he told Arthur and Molly they would babysit. They wanted a night to themselves because they had not had any quality time in the two months since their sixth child had been born.

Lily was not happy with this appointment and even James viewed it with a slight apprehension, he knew how tricky their twins could be, taking after their Uncles in every way. But he decided to have blind faith in their ability and hope that that was enough to pull them through.

It was not. Blind faith and teamwork were what got them through that evening. Lily immediately figured out how the system of siblings worked and what their personalities were. She handed Percy a book from the nook and made Bill and Charlie their helpers.

The older boys took a liking to both of them immediately and agreed to help settle Fred and George where they could. James looked after Ron as Lily made sure no one got hurt in their fun, giving up on chasing after them almost immediately and instead put her hands on her large belly and watching them from afar.

Unfortunately, Bill and Charlie were small too and their help only lasted for so long. Percy and Ron were angels but soon the other four become very rowdy and generally mischievous.

Eventually, when Lily was near tears and James had pulled a fistful of hair out of his head, he decided to tell them one of his legendary stories. He had developed an intimate knowledge of useless spells for special effect for pranks back at Hogwarts and decided to put them to good use through story telling.

He handed Ron to Lily and corralled his five other charges into the living room. They swarmed the chair he was sitting in and finally paid attention after many threats.

He captivated his young male audience with heroic tales of knights and dragons, directing his wand into making them appear before them in bright colours and bangs and smoke. Luckily, Fred and George, the tiny terrors, had tired themselves out enough that sitting still for a while put them right to sleep.

Bill, Charlie, and Percy stayed awake through the whole story, watching rapt with attention, but their eyes started to droop as James finished off the story. "The end." He said softly, smiling at Lily who was absentmindedly rocking a sleeping Ron.

He carried one, two, three, four, five boys up into their beds, thoroughly winding himself, as Lily put Ron to sleep. Luckily, Arthur and Molly were due home any minute.

"Well I think that was a smashing success, don't you agree Mrs. Potter?" He pulled her into his side.

"I do, Mr. Potter." She giggled.

"Oh." She said softly as the baby kicked her. James watched in awe as he saw the brief outline of a foot in her skin.

"That's so mental." He said, a touch too loud. Lily shushed him but smiled.

"I know right? There's a baby in my uterus." He made a face.

"Lily."

"James."

They were interrupted by the whoosh of the floo. Arthur and Molly came through looking very happy and were very grateful and slightly shocked, James noticed wryly, that they had all six boys sleeping peacefully. After many thanks they left for home.

A couple months later, ready but nervous, Lily went into labour quickly. There was barely time to floo call Madame Pomfrey and Sirius it was happening so fast.

Lily was screaming in pain and it tore straight through James' heart. He had done this to her after all.

And suddenly, just like that, they were parents to a healthy baby boy, Harry James Potter.

For her it was briefly hating him again during labour and then loving him more than life itself as he cradled their baby boy in his arms.

She was crying again, she couldn't seem to stop. She didn't care. She loved her son, their son, their precious Harry.

It had been a treat too to watch Sirius cradle the baby, wide-eyed and terrified of dropping him, love blossoming in his eyes. He had readily accepted his post of Godfather and then had to hurry back to Remus to help him transform. He promised to tell docile wolfsbane-fed Moony all about 'Prongslet' before leaving the small flat.

"Lils?" James asked sometime later, both of them just watching Harry sleep in his cradle.

"Mmm?"

"I think I love him a little bit more than you." Lily laughed heartily, almost waking the baby.

"That's alright, so do I." James chuckled at that.

"I still love you more than anything in the world though."

"Me too." She whispered back. "More than anything."