"You ready?" James asked, peering intently into Lily's eyes, their hands clasped between them.

"Ready as I'll ever be," she grinned.

James nodded and let go of one hand so that they could walk into the living room together, side by side.

"OI! Hurry it up in there!" Sirius called with feigned annoyance.

"Calm down, Padfoot!" James replied, laughing as he and his wife entered the room (he still loved calling her that).

"Well you're the ones who invited us and told us to wait here. The least you could do it tell us why," Sirius shotback, an eyebrow raised. He was, of course, wearing his typical leather jacket, his black hair falling in smooth waves to his shoulders. He was sitting in the middle of the couch, lounging against the cushions with a casual ease.

Remus rolled his eyes at his friends and continued to wait patiently on one side of the couch, balancing a cup of tea with one hand on the armrest. Peter was on the other side of Sirius, leaning forward anxiously, per usual, like he was about to jump to his feet at any second.

James and Lily stood in front of their friends, James clearly relaxed with his hands in his pockets and enjoying the suspenseful torture he was putting Sirius through. Lily smiled warmly at them, but wrung her hands together nervously.

"I see you made yourself at home," James smirked, nodding to the mug of tea in Remus's hand that he did not have when he arrived.

Remus shrugged unabashedly. "I didn't know how long you'd be. You don't really have a reputation of punctuality."

"Speaking of which," Sirius interjected. "Can we get on with it?"

James raised an eyebrow and turned to his wife. "Lily?" he urged.

"Right." She took a deep breath and glanced at each of the three wizards on the couch. "I… er… we have something to tell you."

"We figured as much," Remus commented dryly.

Lily ignored his comment and pushed forward. "It involves James and I, but I suppose it also involves all of you, that's why we're telling you now even though it's still pretty early on in the… er… process."

She glanced up at James for support and shut her eyes, ready to just tear off the bandaid.

"You're leaving James!?" Sirius blurted out.

Lily's eyes snapped open and James sent him a piercing glare.

"I always knew you were too good for him. No offense, Prongs," Remus smirked.

"What? No-" Lily started to say.

"Thanks Moony. I appreciate the support," James said at the same time, rolling his eyes.

"My pleasure," Remus said with a modest shrug.

"Wait, won't that make Order meetings a bit… y'know, awkward?" Peter chimed in.

Sirius gave a bark of laughter and slapped him on the back. "Don't worry, Wormy. Lily isn't leaving James yet. They haven't done the paperwork so they still have time to sort it all out."

"I am not leaving James!" Lily shouted, suppressing the urge to roll her eyes dramatically.

The Marauders grinned back at her with expressions that said 'duh' written all over their faces. But, Sirius couldn't help but poke the dragon, so to speak.

He gasped impressively. "James… You're leaving Lily!?"

James snorted and picked up a pillow from the nearest chair to chuck at his head.

"Well this is truly a turn of surprise," Remus commented.

"Never saw that coming," Peter whistled in awe.

"Don't be daft! I'm not leaving Lils!" James clarified with a laugh.

Lily squeezed her hands into fists by her sides, feeling that she was about to burst if she didn't get her secret out in another minute. "I'M PREGNANT!" she screamed.

The living room and entire cottage fell silent enough to hear a pin drop in less than a second. The couch squeaked and she peeked one eye open to see Sirius rising from his seat on the sofa. He had one finger pointing between the two of them and a look of disbelief on his face.

"You had sex?" he finally said, his mouth open slightly.

Lily's cheeks turned pink but James just laughed.

"Don't act so surprised, Pads," James scolded. "We are married now."

"I'm just saying. Evans used to have standards," he shrugged.

James reached for another pillow but Remus jumped up in between his two friends with a large smile. "Congratulations, Lily," he said, dropping all intentions of joking.

Lily smiled and let out a sigh of relief. "Thanks, Remus."

Remus walked forward and enveloped his long-time friend in a hug. "This is so exciting!" he said to her.

She chuckled slightly and nodded. "But just know that it's still really early! Miscarriages are common at this stage."

"Of course," Remus confirmed comfortingly. "But it's still exciting."

"Yeah," Lily agreed with a small smile. "Very exciting." She dropped a hand to her flat belly, trying to feel the miniscule baby growing within her.

"Move it, Moony. I want to say congrats!" Sirius demanded, shoving past Remus to get to Lily.

Lily grinned and wrapped her arms around Sirius in a hug.

"Congrats, Lils," he whispered. "And all jokes aside, this might be the best news ever!"

"Thanks Padfoot," she whispered in return.

Remus and Sirius then moved to congratulate James and slap him on the back in brotherly affection. Meanwhile, Peter still hadn't moved from his perch on the couch and a look of sheer wonder and confusion was frozen on his face.

"You okay, Peter?" James asked with a lopsided grin.

Sirius answered for him. "Don't mind him, mate." He raised a hand to pretend to whisper, yet his voice barely lowered. "He's just confused 'cause he never had the talk."

Peter sputtered and jumped to his feet. "No, no, it's not that. I know how… you know… how…"

His cheeks burned furiously as James, Sirius, Remus, and Lily stared at him with amused grins.

"I'm just surprised! But thrilled, obviously. Congratulations!"

"So eloquent," Sirius reflected.

"A true poet at heart," James added, lifting a hand to cover his heart in mock appreciation.

Lily couldn't help but laugh at their antics. But then she took pity on the mortified wizard and went over to hug him and say "thanks."

"Well now that that's out in the open," Lily began, tucking her hair behind her ear. "I think Remus had the right idea with tea and snacks."

"See? I was just ahead of my time," Remus said, picking up his mug of tea from the table beside the sofa and following Lily into the kitchen.

"Either that or you're just an old man who can't go twenty minutes without tea," Sirius teased, shoving him playfully.

Soon enough, the five were rearranged around the kitchen counter, leaning against the tile with five different patterned mugs and a plate of biscuits and scones floating between them.

"So, have you thought of names?" Remus urged, biting into a chocolate dipped biscotti with a loud crunch.

"Hasn't even crossed my mind," James replied cheerfully.

"They don't even know if it's a boy or girl yet," Sirius said.

"It's a boy," Lily answered confidently without a trace of doubt.

James smirked. "I think it's a girl."

"Mmmm… I'll have to go with Lily on this one," Sirius said thoughtfully. "Don't they say that Moms can usually tell or something?"

"Can you?" Peter asked curiously.

Lily laughed and responded honestly. "No, not really. I just have a feeling, that's all."

"Well, what'll you say Remus? Boy or girl? Witch or wizard?" Sirius asked, nudging into him.

Remus smiled over the rim of his tea. "I'll give it a fifty-fifty chance either way."

"Boring!" James announced. "What about you, Wormtail?"

"I'll say girl, just so you're not all alone when you're proven wrong," he replied.

Remus smiled and commented snidely, "Gryffindors are known to be chivalrous."

James and Lily laughed and the group fell silent for a moment, save for the sound of occasional slurping and biting into treats.

"Vrophtht," Sirius announced suddenly.

"Excuse you?" James asked with a twinge of curiosity.

"Vrophtht," Sirius repeated unhelpfully.

"Vro-f-th-t," James mimicked slowly.

"Yeah. Vrophtht! If it's a boy!"

"You want us to name it Vro… Vroph… Vrophtht if it's a boy?" James asked with a laugh, stumbling over the name a few times.

"Either that or Zemislav," Sirius shrugged with a straight face.

James chuckled and turned to Lily. "I like it. Vrophtht Zemislav Potter. It has a nice ring to it, don't you think?"

"It's certainly one for the idea box," she grinned.

"Ouch. You wound me Evans," Sirius replied, raising a hand to his chest.

"Well how about if it's a girl?" Remus asked Lily.

"It's not," she replied definitively.

"Humor me," he fired back.

Lily shrugged. "I'd probably name her after a flower then. Keep the family tradition alive, you know? Maybe Iris. Ooo! Or Dahlia… Daisy, or is that too bland?" she thought aloud.

"What tradition?" Peter interrupted bewildered, always a step or two behind them.

"You've got to be kidding me, Wormtail," James grinned.

"Lily? Her sister is Petunia? Her mom is Rose?"

A light of clarity went off in his eyes. "Huh," Peter commented breathlessly, connecting the dots for the first time.

"Chrysanthemum would be pretty," Sirius suggested in all seriousness.

"Or Rhododendron," Remus fired back.

"Hellebore," Sirius listed, starting to count off their suggestions on his fingers.

"Honeysuckle," offered Remus.

"Tulip?"

"Heliotrope."

"And… I'm out of bad flower names," Sirius admitted.

"Really? I've got more if you'd like. Stonecrop, oleander, heliotrope-"

"Okay, okay. We get it!" James interrupted with a chuckle and holding up his hands to stop Remus's perpetual flow.

"I don't know," Lily conceded with a slight smile. "Heliotrope or oleander could be good for a boy too."

"We are NOT naming our child heliotrope," James said firmly.

"Oleander it is!" Lily said cheerfully. She lifted her mug of tea in front of her and the Marauders lifted theirs, clinking them together merrily in celebration.