Chapter 18
A Wedding and A Baby
It didn't take long for the news of Lily's pregnancy to get spread around, and soon both Lily and James were being showered with peoples congratulations.
For the first few months, Lily was positively glowing at the prospect of being a Mother. She had always loved children, and now, she could have her own. She couldn't be happier!
James found himself being dragged to furniture stores and clothes stores constantly along with Lily and what seemed like every other female in all of Britain (but only really consisted of their Mothers, Kayla and Aria).
Lily had said that she didn't want to know the sex of the baby yet when the obstetrician had asked them if they wanted to know, so Lily decided that they wouldn't do any major decorating until later on in her pregnancy, (which James was fearing, thanks to horror stories that his own Father decided to reveal). But they had went through the whole, house, top to bottom, and started to make it baby safe. Meaning nothing that could tip over onto a baby was on the floor, breakables were put up out of the reach of toddler's fingers, all doors now had locks, all cabinets were spelled so that no baby could get into the contents, and the stairs were protected against falls too.
Before anybody could blink, James and Lily's anniversary was upon them all.
Lily had to admit, that while James might not have taken her anywhere special for their first honeymoon, she couldn't have dreamed of a better one. They had spent the entire day together, and then, as soon as the sun started to set, James led Lily out to the cliffs and set up a nice dinner, and then gave her a beautiful emerald bracelet, which caused Lily to gasp and launch herself into her husband's arms happily. James couldn't have been happier with the outcome of that night, having ended it in their bedroom, naked in the sheets.
Shortly after their anniversary, Christmas came. This year though, everybody got into the holiday spirit, and enjoyed the season once again, made the most of it, enjoyed the company of one another, and toasted to the upcoming wedding and the phases of pregnancy. Everyone seemed happy; carefree. Everyone acted like they had before the death of Nicholas Evans.
A few days after New Years, Kayla was starting to go to fittings for her wedding dress. She would bring Lily along, in hopes that she would help calm the raging fear in her stomach. Kayla would admit it, she didn't know what to expect out of her wedding. She didn't know if Sirius would be able to handle being married, and she was terrified that Sirius would all of a sudden realize who he was marring. Not some model off of the front pages of Witches Weekly, but Kayla Cameron, the mean ill-tempered woman.
While Kayla was getting fitted for her dress, she also made sure that Lily was getting fitted for her Maid-of-Honors dress, much to Lily's displeasure. Lily was gaining weight, and she knew it. With all of her late-night cravings for pies, chocolate, ice creams, chocolate, and pasta, and chocolate, she knew that she was gaining weight, and despised the idea. She wanted to stay the same weight! But, she was proud to say that she hasn't had any weird cravings yet. Yet being the operative word.
The end of January came with rapid speed, and Kayla began to fret about the smallest of things. That, and the fact that she started to wonder if she'd make an announcement sometime soon that was exactly like Lily's. Yes, Kayla started to wonder if she too was pregnant. 'God help us all if I am,' she thought as soon as she started to worry.
February 1 was finally here, after much waiting, and Kayla was sick to her stomach. Literally. She was about to pledge her life to one man within the next . . . hour and ten minutes. Wasn't she allowed to me nervous?
"Kayla, come on, breathe," Lily instructed as she kneeled in front of stool where Kayla was presently sitting.
They (Aria, Lily, and Alexandra) had finally gotten Kayla into her dress, but they still needed put her veil on, but Kayla couldn't stay still long enough for them to get it on securely without messing up the beautiful ringlets that flowed down her bare back.
The bright white of the dress was a shocking contrast to the darkness of Kayla's hair and skin, that it made her look like she was illuminated. She just had that wedding day shine to her. And the cold feet too, but that was understanding. Everyone had them when they were about to get married.
The dress itself was a sleeveless white gown with sharp lines, and the skirt was layers upon layers of silk and lace, that made it look like Kayla just stepped out of a fashion magazine. She looked brilliant in the dress. She looked like it was made for her.
"What if he isn't there? What about that Lily?" Kayla fretted as she looked into the green eyes of her best friend.
"Kayla, Sirius will be at the end of that long walkway waiting for you, got that? Now all you need to do is breathe deeply, calm down and let Aria and I put this veil on you. But we need you to stay still to do that," Lily instructed as she looked straight into Kayla's smoke gray eyes.
Kayla nodded her head and took five deep breaths. By that time, Aria and Lily had already managed to place the veil on the crown of her head, which was good considering that Kayla didn't think that she could stay still.
Despite Kayla's worries, the ceremony went perfectly. Sirius was waiting in front of the alter looking proud at the sight of his soon – to – be – wife, with James standing besides him, looking at Kayla as if she was the only woman on earth.
Authors Note: I don't want to put the full ceremonies in this story, because they belong in the Spellbound story. Sorry!
The newly weds stayed at the reception only long enough to get in the first dance, and thank their guests for coming, then they were on their way to Greece for their honeymoon.
"Kayla was so beautiful today," Lily whispered as she lay down in bed and snuggled into the heat that was her husband.
"Yeah, she was. But to me, you were even more beautiful. Are more beautiful," he smiled as his hand rubbed her lower back.
"No I'm not. I'm turning fat," she sniffed. She wasn't used to the extra pounds, and was a little pissed that none of her clothes fit her anymore. She had always took pride in being physically fit; she always ran, ate healthy for the most part, did daily exercise, and she had never in her memory, been overweight. Now, it looked like she didn't care one way or another about what her body looked like! "Why can't you have the baby, James?" she asked him as she poked his side right between his ribs.
"Ow! I can't have the baby because I don't have the right organs to do so, sweetheart," he explained for the fiftieth time. Ever since her pants started to become a little tighter on her, Lily had been asking him that same question over and over again. It was then that he realized something that he never knew about his wife; she's self conscious about how she looks, and doesn't like to look fat.
Before Lily had gotten pregnant, she always knew that people were looking at her because they thought that she was pretty. But now, every time someone looks at her face, she thinks that they are saying that she's fat. If this woman could get anymore self-conscious, he felt sorry for himself. (Forget her, he would feel sorry for himself. He was the one who had to deal with her crazy mood swings. And those in themselves were something to look out for.) As it was already, he had to keep on telling her eighty times a day that she was beautiful. Not that he minded, because to him, his wife was beautiful. No, she was more than beautiful. She was gorgeous.
Lily sighed as she rested her head against his shoulder, and immediately her breathing evened out, telling him that she had already fallen asleep.
James smiled and closed his eyes and let slumber take over.
~*~*~*
Lily's six month marker was about when she started getting her disgusting cravings. Spaghetti with tarter sauce, pickles with whip cream, apple pie with chocolate syrup, and much more that would most likely turn your stomach. Hell, it'd turn Lily's stomach if she hadn't been pregnant!
Kayla had found out after she had come back from her honeymoon that she was two and a half months pregnant, and was shocked as hell. She had never expected to be pregnant this early into her marriage, but there was nothing she could do about it. She had told Lily, as soon as she found out, and her friend grinned and said, 'Wait 'til the cravings and blimpness comes, Kay. You'll love Sirius for that.' As she finished a quart of ice cream, Kayla figured that Lily was most likely right. She would hate the cravings most likely. Knowing that she would being eating things that would regularly make her gag? Poor Sirius was going to be without some vital organs.
In Lily's seventh month, she began getting supremely touchy on her weight. If you said one thing about what size you wore, or what Lily looked like, she'd snap at you, and then break down and cry hysterically.
And James! He had it worse than all of them! He lived with the woman! Every night after he came home, he got the same question. Do you think that I look fat? With Lily looking at him with tear-stained eyes, and a sweet smile, expecting him to give her an answer that she would actually want to hear. Ha! Yeah right. There is no pleasing pregnant woman, and James had to find that one out the hard way.
No matter which way he answered to the fat question, she cried! If he said yes, she got mad and said and I quote, 'Fine then James Potter! Since you obviously don't think much of your fat wife, you can go sleep somewhere else!' and she'd storm out of the room in a huff. But if he said no, she would always come up with, 'Don't you dare lie to me James Potter! I want to know what you really think!' which would result in another argument. He had to say though, he'd seen more of the couch in that one month than he had since the year and five months that they'd been married. He sorta grew a fondness for the thing after a while. It was quite comfortable if you gave it a chance.
But never fail, sometime during the small hours of the morning, Lily would come down stairs with a blanket wrapped around her increasing figure, wake James up from slumber, and make him come upstairs and hold her and fall asleep in their bed. She always explained with a 'I can't fall asleep without you next to me James, I need you,' and would manage to make James feel like the biggest and strongest man on Earth with those few words as she cuddled next to him, nuzzling his neck as she fell into a restful slumber.
In Lily's eight month, James started to worry. He had heard that sometimes wizarding babies came in the eight-month rather than the ninth month, and every time Lily moved, he held his breath. He hated going to work, not knowing if his wife was going into labor at that exact moment. It was driving him crazy!
Every night he came home and sprinted up the stairs to see if Lily was in bed. Which was usually a 'no'. That woman would not stay in bed for anything! She insisted on decorating the babies room while she was eight months pregnant, and wouldn't let anyone else but her do it either.
And the heart stoppers were when she would go out to the cliffs just to gaze at the crashing waters and breathe in the sea air. James always had visions of her climbing them as she did before she was pregnant, and his heart would literally stop with fear. He wouldn't be surprised if he had any hair left by the time this baby was finally born. Lily was driving him insane!
And then, the second week into Lily's ninth month, while she and James were standing outside, watching the ocean beat ruthlessly against the rocks, away from the edge of the cliff that is, Lily's water broke.
"Uh. James, honey," Lily said calmly.
James smiled down at his wife. "Yes?"
"I believe that my water just broke."
James looked at Lily with confusion. "Your water?" he asked her trying to figure out what she meant by that. As soon as the words were out of his mouth though, he realized what she meant.
"You mean- the baby – the baby is coming?" he rushed as he expressed himself with wild hand movements.
Lily nodded and gripped James's arm. She was scared, and there was no use denying it. She was past scared. She was terrified! Something that big coming out of something so . . . small! 'This is not happening! I'll just be fat for the rest of my days, but this baby is not coming out of me!' she thought wildly.
"James honey? How about we just go back inside and read or something," she suggested weakly as he propelled her forward so that he could get them to the hospital.
"Uh-huh, Lily, darling, we're getting you to a hospital. Now." He told her.
James knew what was going on in his pretty wife's little head, and he knew that in the end, she'd go through with the pain, but he wasn't going to miss a step, and he was going to get her to the hospital now. He wasn't about to give Lily time enough to start freaking out on him. That was his job.
Not hers.
Luckily, James takes his wand with him everywhere, so as soon as they got far enough from the cliffs, he grabbed onto Lily, and apparated to St. Mungo's.
"Hello, Sir," the witch at the nurses station smiled at him as he walked up to it after sitting Lily down in a nearby chair.
"Yes, my wife is going into labor," he explained.
"Does she have a doctor or a midwife that she has requested?" the lady asked as she looked at James.
"Yes, she has requested Nichol Evans as her mid-wife," James told the young witch, referring to Lily's aunt from her fathers' side of the family.
The witch nodded her head, got up and went towards the doctor's station.
In no time, Lily was seated in a hospital bed with a nightgown on, trying to stay still.
"I'm going to go and tell everybody, and go home and get your things, okay honey?" James asked as he kissed her forehead.
Lily smiled weakly and nodded her head.
"And I'll wait here with you," Nichol Evans smiled as she walked into her only niece's room.
"Okay," Lily croaked.
With one last kiss, James walked out of the room.
"How do you feel sweetheart?" Nichol asked as she sat down in a chair.
"Scared. Terrified. Help!" She pleaded with a wild look going through her eyes as her gaze darted from corner to corner, trying to find some way to get out of the hospital. Or maybe a book of spells that would help either making the baby magically appear or to magically stay inside of her, but that was to no avail.
Nichol laughed and smiled at her niece. "Don't worry about anything Lily. Everything will turn out just fine. Yes, there will be pain, but it's worth it all in the end. Don't worry."
Lily started crying. "I want my Daddy!" she sobbed, thinking about the fact that her father wouldn't be there to see his first grandchild. To be able to teach his grandchild what he taught her, to be able to bounce the little boy on his knees and laugh with him, and sneak him cookies and play with him in the dirt. It hadn't hit her until now how much her child would be missing out on. How much she needed her dad at this time in her life.
"He'll always be with you Lily," Nichol told her. "In your heart. Even if you don't think about him, he'll still be here with you."
Lily nodded her head deftly and continued to cry.
"Lily! What's wrong, baby?" James asked as he walked into the room to see his wife crying. He worried when she didn't answer and rushed to her side, wondering if it had anything to do with the baby.
"Daddy isn't here," she whispered as she grabbed James's hand and pulled him closer.
"Shh. It's all right baby, shh," he tried to soothe as he perched himself on the edge of her bed and stroked her hair lovingly.
It wasn't long after that that the room was filled with visitors.
Mrs. Black, Mrs. Evans, and Mrs. Potter were all relating stories about their experiences with birth, trying to calm Lily down a little further.
But Lily was starting to go crazy with all the contractions that she was having. They hurt! They hurt like hell.
Soon though, Lily was led to the delivery room, with James following nervously.
It was time for the next generation of the Potter line to come into the world.
And God help James as soon as the pain was over for Lily. Because he is going to pay. He was definitely going to pay for all this pain.
~*~*~*~*~
Authors Notes:
I'm sorry that this seems so rushed, but I promise you guys that this is the last chapter like this. I just needed to get from there to giving birth and this was the only way that I could think to do it, so yea. Sorry!
The next chapter is probably going to be short, 'cuz it's gonna mainly be about Harry's birth, and Lily going home with him. So yea.
Well, I hope that you liked this chapter! Review and tell me what you think!
Oh, and just so you know. We're almost done with the story now. I only have about 5-7 more chapters to go.
:::Sniffles::: I'm gonna miss writing this story.
Well. Review!!
Mistress del Mare