Chapter 43: Pregnant

"What did you say say?" James barely managed to get out. His hands tightened themselves around her waist as if she would run away. How could this be happening? They'd been so careful! They couldn't have a baby in the middle of a war! She was joking. She had to be. They'd barely made itaway from Voldemort and this just couldn't be happening.

Lily spun around to face him, making him take a few steps away from her. Her green eyes seemed dull. "I'm pregnant."

James stared at her for a moment before speaking, "How?"

"James, I think you already know that," Lily replied, glaring at him.

"I mean how we haven't since. . . ." James trailed off, as his mind thought of other ways she could have gotten pregnant. Was there another man?

"You remember the night before you went on that mission?" Lily asked. "I stopped the day before that. I should have started a few days ago, but I didn't so Alice and I brewed a potion to see if I was pregnant. . . . .and I am."

Lily had started to shift from foot to foot about half way through telling him everything. She looked at him nervously biting her lip. James just stared at her open mouthed. He couldn't be a father! No way. He wasn't ready for this. How was he supposed to raise a child when he was still practically one himself? What if he messed up? What if the kid hated him?

"Well, say something!" Lily snapped.

James then realized he hadn't said anything for the past few minutes. He ran a hand through his hair deciding on what to say. He was excited, but scared at the same time. They couldn't raise a baby in the middle of a war! He loved the idea of having a child though. He just didn't think it would be so soon.

"Lily. . . .I. . . .are you sure?" Maybe she'd made a mistake or maybe the potion had been a fluke.

Lily glared at him. "Yes, I'm sure."

James couldn't help the smile that slipped onto his face. He was going to be a father. This was the greatest day of his life. Quickly he pulled Lily to him and hugged her tightly. She could have died without even knowing they were going to have a baby. Lily returned his embarrass burying her face in his chest. After a moment, James felt his shirt dampen and Lily's shoulders started to shake. Immediately James pulled away and wiped the tears from her face.

"Hey, what's wrong?" James asked softly.

"James, I'm scared," Lily told him. "How are we going to raise a child in the middle of the war? We'll surely be on Voldemort's hit list after what happened. I didn't know if you would want to keep it or-"

"Of course, I want to keep it," James cut her off. "Lily, nothing could ever make me change my mind about that. As for the war, we'll just have to be more careful about what we do. I promise you that nothing is going to happen to you or this baby as long as I'm around. We'll get through this somehow. We'll make our house safeand then we'll figure out something."

Sighing, Lily nodded laying her head on his chest. James wrapped his arms around her tightly. He had the sudden urge to bend down and talk to her stomach or at least, put his hand on it. He didn't know if Lily would like that though so he settled for a hug instead. Lily seemed to notice that something was off and pulled away slightly.

"Are you sure about this?" Lily asked quietly.

"Yeah, I'm sure just. . . . .can I touch it?" James nodded to her stomach. She looked down at her flat stomach then back at him before nodding. Slowly James stepped away from her sightly, reached down and placed his hand on Lily's stomach. He knew that it couldn't kick yet, but it still felt like there was something alive in there. Something that they had created together. Standing there with his hand on Lily's stomach, a joy suddenly filled him. He couldn't quite describe it, but it felt something like pride.

"James, you're not mad about this right?" Her question was tentative. James was surprised she had asked such a question at all. Couldn't she tell from his behavior that he was happy?

"No, Lily. Why would I be? This is the. . . .best thing that's ever happened to me," James smiled. "Can we tell people?"

"Well, Alice already knows and she probably told Frank, but we can tell everybody else," Lily smiled.

James grinned and looked down at her flat stomach. "We're having a baby."

James was laying awake in bed the next morning. It was aboutsix thirty, but he couldn't manage to get back to sleep. The baby was on his mind. Was it going to be a boy or a girl? Was it going to have red or black hair? Green or hazel eyes? So many more ran through his mind. Glancing over at Lily, he saw that she was fast asleep. Gently he pulled the blankets down past her stomach. Once he saw that she didn't stir, he laid his head on her stomach. She still didn't stir, the only thing James heard washer breathing.

"Hi, there, baby," James spoke quietly as not to disturb Lily. "It's your daddy talking to you right now. We can't wait for you to get here. You'll have a nice little house to live in and maybe a dog or a cat. I don't know how Lily will feel about that though. I'll talk her into it. Uncle Sirius will come over and play with you whenever he can. You'll like him. He's a laugh. And-"

"James, are you talking to my stomach?"

Lily's question startled him so much that he nearly fell off of the bed. Lily sat up on her elbows giving him a questioning look. James looked at the bed sheepishly.

"Yeah," he admitted. "I was."

Lily smiled. "Well that's lovely. Anyways, I was thinking that we could go over to Sirius and Karen's today and tell them the news. What do you think?"

"Yeah, that sounds good," James nodded.

James tapped on Sirius' door a couple times before stepping back. They had just Apparated to his flat, and with any luck he won't be out on a mission. After a few moments, the door was pulled open and Sirius was standing there beaming at him.

"What's up, mate?" Sirius asked as he moved aside to let them in.

"Where's Karen?" Lily asked in return.

"She went out on a mission for the Order," Sirius explained. "Now what's up?"

"We've got some news," Lily told him.

"What? Did something happen? Who was attacked?" Sirius grabbed his wand off the table and started for the door, but James stopped him.

"Good news, Padfoot," James smiled. Lily nodded so he continued, "We're having a baby."

Sirius' mouth nearly hit the floor, while he stood there staring at them. He recovered after a moment. "Both of you are having a baby?" he questioned raising an eyebrow.

"No, you prat, Lily," James laughed.

"I had to ask, you said we," Sirius reasoned. "So is this a joke or something? Is Moony going to jump out and yell surprise?"

Lily rolled her eyes. "No, Sirius, do you really think I would do that to you? Honestly, this isn't something you joke about."

Sirius grinned at her. "Well, Momma, I had to be sure."

Lily glared at him in return. "Don't call me that."

"Sorry," Sirius put his hands up in defense.

"You should know better by now, Padfoot," James scolded lightly.

"It's not like she hexed me," Sirius said rolling his eyes.

"Yet," Lily added.

Sirius rolled his eyes. "How long?"

"Few weeks," Lily answered. "Not longenough for me to get big."

"I had to make sure you weren't hiding it," Sirius replied. "You're naming him after me right?"

James rolled his eyes. "We have to go see Moony."

"I didn't hear a no."

"No," Lily said.

Sirius pouted beforewalked them to the door. Just as he was about to shut it, James stopped him.

"Be the godfather, yeah?"

Sirius stared at him for a moment before straightening. "Yeah, alright."

"Thanks, mate," James nodded before grabbing Lily's hand and Apparating.

"Lily, James!" Dorcas cried. "What brings you here?"

Lily hugged her friend as soon as the door was opened while James peeked inside. He couldn't see very much besides Dorcas and Lily, but one thing was for sure. He didn't see Remus.

"Is Remus around?" he asked when Lily let her go.

"Yep," Dorcas answered stepping aside. "Remus!"

"Yeah?" said person called from the kitchen.

"James and Lily are here," Dorcas told him, beaming.

"Hey, you two," Remus greeted them as he came out of the kitchen. "What bring you here?"

"Well, we've got to tell you something," Lily smiled. "I'm pregnant!"

"Really?!" Dorcas squealed jumping up anddown before hugging Lily. "I'm so happy for you! Have you picked out a name? How far along are you? When did you find out? Who knows?"

"Yep," Lily answered happily hugging her back. "We don't even know if it's a boy or a girl yet so no, we haven't picked out a name. I'm only a few weeks and I found out a few days ago. Including you and Remus, Frank, Alice, and Sirius know."

James smiled at the girls. There was a yank on his sleeve and turned to Remus, who gestured to the kitchen. James followed him before the girls could notice they were gone.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Remus asked as soon as they were out of earshot.

"It's not like we did this on purpose, Moony," James shot back. "I didn't mean for this to happen, but it did and I'm not about to leave Lily."

Remus sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I know, I just. . . .you have to be careful alright? Don't do anything to get killed, because she can't raise that baby on her own. Besides, if you do get killed, I'll bring you back to life and kill you again."

"Thanks for that," James nodded.

"James, come on, we have one more stop to make," Lily called from the living room.

"I've got to go, I'll see you later," James nodded to Remus before starting for the living.

"James," Remus stopped him. "Congratulations."

James grinned. "Thanks."

"You're what?" Peter asked.

"Pregnant," Lily repeated for the fifth time. "I'm pregnant with James' baby."

"I thought that was obvious," James snorted reclining back in his chair.

Peter rolled his eyes before turning to Lily. "Do you want to stay here for the night? Should you be Apparating while you're pregnant?"

Lily smiled. "Thanks, Peter, but I'll be fine. I can Apparate until my second trimester."

Peter nodded. "Alright. Just be careful."

"I will, thanks," Lily told him.

"She doesn't need to be careful, she has me," James said cheekily leaning his chair back on two legs.

Lily glared and kicked one of the legs of the chair causing James to fall on the floor. While James glared at them, Peter and Lily both burst out laughing.

"Some protector," Lily reached out her hand to help him. He took it rolling his eyes.

"Come on," James sighed. "We better be going."

"I'll be right up," James told Lily. She smiled and went up the stairs to their bedroom.

James sighed. He really needed to get that house fixed so they could get out of Alice and Frank's way. He made his way into the kitchen. When he got there, Frank was sitting at the kitchen table. James smiled at him.

"Hey," Frank nodded to him. "Congratulations by the way."

"Thanks," James couldn't help, but smile.

"You better be careful," Frank told him. "You're on Voldemort's hit list now."

"I know," James sighed. "We're working on getting the house fixed and then we'll put some charms around it."

Frank shook his head. "I didn't mean I wanted you out of the house, stay as long as you like. Just be careful, James, once you're on that list you don't get off. I wouldknow."

James nodded. "I'll be careful."

A/N: Hey guys! Sorry it took so long to update. Hopefully the next chapter won't take so long.