A/N: This is just a chapter to show how James is handling the whole Amber situation, the next chapter he'll have to bring her to meet the rest of the family. Thanks for the reviews.
Disclaimer: Let me check...nope, still not J.K. Rowling.
James was told by his mum not to worry too much about Amber having red hair, "You had red hair when you were born," she had told him while teaching him how to fix Amber a bottle, "and it's as black as your dads now." So he had decided not to worry about it and hope that the situation would resolve itself.
Al and Harry had set up a bassinet in the middle of James's room-despite his protests that Amber would be more comfortable sleeping somewhere else, anywhere else.
Ginny and rocked Amber to sleep that first night, but only to show James how, he would be expected to do it from now on. She was curious about the name, just as Al and Harry had been, though she was more curious about Amber's middle name.
"Why Ginny?" she asked laying a sleeping Amber in her crib, "my name is Ginevra."
James rolled his eyes, "I know but Amber Ginny sounds a lot better than Amber Ginevra," he scoffed at the name.
"I suppose," Ginny pondered. "Are you just naming her after me to get on my good side?"
James looked offended, "I chose your name because I want Amber to be as strong, witty, and wonderful as the mother I love."
Ginny raised a curious eyebrow, "And the fact that I am thinking about making it so that my stupid son, who got a girl he doesn't even know pregnant at nineteen, can have no more illegitimate children, has nothing to do with your decision?"
"That might have been small factor in the naming process," he allowed.
Ginny tried in vain to hide a small smile, "Goodnight, James."
"Wait," James, whisper shouted-so as not to wake Amber-at his mum's retreating back. "What do I do if she wakes up?"
"I've already taught you to make a bottle and you know how to change a diaper," James stared at her blankly. "Oh...well, you'll figure it out. If she wakes up try everything until she falls back to sleep. But please cast a silencing charm, the rest of us have to sleep." She winked at her bewildered son and walked out of the room.
James was left alone in his room which he now shared with his-he cringed at the word-daughter. If anyone had told him a week ago that he would be a single dad to a little red haired ankle bitter then he would have recommended them to Mungo's long-term ward. Yet, here he was.
He looked down at Amber's sleeping form, sighed heavily and lied roughly across his bed. Today had not gone the way he had wanted it to go. He had woken up intending to laze around the house and maybe annoy Lily so much that she would hex him and then receive a warning from the ministry. But no, he gets a baby instead.
James drifted to sleep and dreamt of being drowned by red-haired baby's who all yelled 'Dada'. He was woken after what seemed like a few moments to a high pitched squealing coming from the bassinet. James groaned and got up. Amber's face was red and blotchy as she sobbed.
James looked to the clock on his nightstand which read three a.m.
"Why couldn't you just sleep through the night?" he asked Amber, who cried even louder in answer. "Fine," he sighed as he picked her up out of the bassinet. "Let's see what's wrong with you," James peeked into her diaper, it was full. He didn't know whether to be happy or not. On the one hand, he had figured out why she was upset and it could be quickly fixed. On the other hand, he had no idea how to change a diaper. But how hard could it be?
It turned out that it was very hard; Amber kicked her legs angrily as she screamed her displeasure. It took him a full ten minutes to get the dirty diaper off but after that was done he didn't know what the hell to do about the mess. Looking around on the old changing table that Lily and Ginny had stocked earlier that day he found a box that was conveniently labeled 'baby wipes.' He had seen Teddy do this before with the twins, so he had a vague idea of what was suppose to happen: remove diaper, clean mess, put on new diaper. It seemed easy enough but the very thought of wiping the mess off of Amber's backside made James gag. The actual process was even worse and he was more than relieved to get the clean diaper on and button the outfit back.
He allowed himself a triumphant dance that he had completed his task and he put a now clean, Amber back into her bassinet. Though something was wrong, she was still crying.
"Come on, Amber," he begged, "I have to sleep!" But Amber paid no attention to her dad's distress as she cried on. He picked her back up into his arms, "What do you expect me to do?" he asked her.
He had remembered seeing Victoire rock Lita and Leslie to sleep but James had no rocking chair. He recalled the recliner downstairs and decided to try to rock Amber back to sleep using that.
He didn't bother to be quiet as he walked down to the living room, knowing his family they had probably put muffling charms on their rooms so they wouldn't be able to hear Amber cry. He went into the kitchen and made a bottle for Amber (his mum had said to try everything) and then he went and rocked Amber on the recliner…and rocked…and rocked. By four in the morning she was still screaming her head off and her voice had gone hoarse. "What do you want?" he whined when he tried-and failed-to get her to take her bottle for the fifth time.
By four thirty his legs had fallen asleep and he was exhausted, he stood up to rock her in his arms. By five he was at his wits end and decided to try and sing Amber to sleep.
"Go to sleep, go to sleep,
Because you daddy is losing it,
Go to sleep, go to sleep,
Because your daddy doesn't know how to deal with this shit,
Your mummy sent you through owl post,
So now your daddy suffers the most,
So if you love the guy, who's trying to take care of you,
You'd fall asleep and make these late nights few."
James had to admit that it was a great song to come up with from the top of his head, but he'd never be able to sing it to her when she was older, she'd think that he didn't love her. But on that thought, did he love her? Sure she was his kid, and dads were supposed to love their children. But there was no way that James Sirius Potter could be a dad to any child, let alone little girl. He was too selfish; he lacked the patience necessary to raise a child. He wasn't ready to be a parent; he was still a kid himself. What had he gotten himself into? "Shit like this only happens to me," he whined.
When Amber finally fell asleep the sun was coming up and shining through the windows. James looked at the sleeping infant in his arms and that was when he realized that it's not just about him anymore, he had a daughter, he was going to have to get use to it and try to be the best parent for her, he was the only one she had after all.
That morning his family woke up to find James passed out on the floor, two feet away from the recliner-as though he had tried and failed to make it to a chair before falling asleep-cradling the new occupant of their house in his arms.
A/N: Review please! :)