"Merlin! Dammit!" Lily cried out as another contraction tore apart her lower body. She felt the sting of tears in her eyes at the pain of it.
"Just breathe, Lily, it'll pass," Ginny reassured, smoothing back her daughter's hair.
Lily squeezed Scorpius's hand as it got worse. "Where the hell is Vic with that potion?" she screamed.
"She's on her way," Hermione assured.
In the hospital room with her was Scorpius, her brother, parents, his parents, Hermione, and Rose and Hugo. But the men in the room were quiet, obviously either scared or unsure of what to say. Scorpius just held her hand, and the women did their best to soothe her.
Lily did not want to hear pretty words. She wanted that freaking potion to end the suffering of her lower body! This was taking too long to start, and she felt like she was on fire with every contraction.
"Never again, Scorpius Malfoy!" Lily yelled to her husband. "I am not doing this again!"
"You didn't mean to the first time," she heard Hugo mutter, prompting half the women in the room to glare at him, his mother and sister included.
Lily loosened her grip on Scorpius's hand as the contraction subsided. Ginny looked to Hugo. "Did you time it?"
Hugo nodded. "Yeah." He showed his aunt his watch.
Lily looked at Scorpius, how looked a bit confused and uncertain. She took in a gulp of air, her breaths still light pants. "Is something wrong?" she whispered.
Scorpius brought his eyes to hers. "I'm just a bit nervous," he admitted lowly to her. "I'll be a dad by the end of tonight."
Lily gave him a small smile. "Yeah. It is a bit scary."
Scorpius brought his free hand to brush a bit of hair away from her cheek. "I feel really helpless right now."
Victoire walked into the room, a potion in her hand. "Here we are, Lily. Ready?"
"You've done this before, so what do you think?" Lily demanded dryly, making Victoire laugh. Once Lily had taken the potion, she felt relieved when her lower body became almost numb it was so relaxed and painless. She let her eyelids drop a little. "Oh thank Merlin," she mumbled.
"How much longer?" Scorpius asked, watching Victoire write something on a chart.
"A few hours still. I'll be in to check every hour," Victoire assured.
Lily groaned. "Hours? Just get this child out of me!"
Ginny laughed lightly. "Just be patient, sweetheart. It'll pass quicker than you think."
Lily sighed, already a little tense in waiting for the next contraction. "This sucks," she muttered.
Scorpius gave a strong squeeze to her hand this time. "It'll be ok, princess. I'm here," he whispered.
Lily looked at him, and she smiled softly. "Thank you," she murmured gratefully.
The hours still passed too slowly for Lily. The pain made it way too slow for her, and dragged it out. While each contraction began to get closer and closer together, time seemed to go no faster for her. Until the moment came when Victoire cleared the room of all but Scorpius, and the real challenge began.
Lily had been through a lot of difficult things in her life. She'd had multiple Quidditch injuries that had been brutally painful. But nothing turned out to be as difficult and as painful as giving birth. Nothing had ever made her scream, cry, and curse at Scorpius so much.
But the relief of that final moment, the moment when the small cry pierced the air. It made two more, small and painless tears, fall from her eyes. Her entire body sagged in exhaustion, her eyes closing for a short moment.
She felt a gently warm hand brushing hair from her sweaty skin. "You did wonderful, princess," Scorpius whispered.
Lily opened her eyes, her entire being absolutely tired. She looked at where Victoire stood with her small team of two, who were cleaning the baby. "Is it a boy or a girl?" she mumbled, her voice a bit breathless.
Victoire looked back and smiled at her cousin, but didn't answer until she had a small bundle in her arms. She brought the baby over to the couple. "Congratulations, Lily, Scorpius. You've got a beautiful baby boy," she said as she laid the baby into Lily's arms.
Lily felt a bit breathless all over again as she looked down at her and Scorpius's newborn son. Another tear fell down her cheek. While the early cry had softened, there was what almost looked like a small scowl in the baby's brow. A bit of hair laid on his head, the same color as Lily's.
"He's beautiful," Scorpius murmured beside her. He carefully brought his hand up, and allowed his thumb to gently stroke his son's cheek. "A son."
Lily took in a short breath. "I told you it was a boy," she said with a small laugh.
Victoire stood by the bed as well, looking at her cousin's newborn son. "What's his name?" she asked, not just as a healer, but because she was also happy and excited at the new addition to their family.
Lily smiled, never in her life as happy, or as tired, as she was then. "Mitchell. Mitchell James Malfoy," she answered proudly.
Victoire smiled too. "I think that's a wonderful name. Shall I get the family in here?" she offered.
Lily nodded. "Yeah. They'll go crazy if they have to wait any longer." Soon it was just her and Scorpius in the room, both admiring their son. Lily held little Mitchell out to his father. "Here. You hold him," she whispered.
Scorpius was very careful as Lily placed their son in his arms. And Lily had never seen Scorpius so amazed as when he held and looked at Mitchell. "He's perfect," he murmured. Then slowly, a smile spread across his face. "My son." Then he chuckled. "I have a son."
Lily did her best to keep from falling asleep right at that moment. But her heart sped a little at the wonderful sight of Scorpius cradling their child. But before she could say anything, their family, their mothers first, hurried into the room. But their parents and her brothers seemed to freeze when they saw the small bundle in Scorpius's arms.
"Victoire said you had a boy," James commented finally as they all came in further into the room. Their mothers were immediately near the baby, tears in their eyes as they looked at their grandson.
Lily nodded as she looked at her older brother. "Yeah. We did."
"What's his name?" Astoria asked, her eyes full of tears.
Scorpius looked at Lily, who smiled gently at him. Scorpius smirked as he moved from the bed, and walked over to where James stood. "Well, brother-in-law, say hello to Mitchell James Malfoy," he told him, holding the baby out to James.
James looked frozen as Scorpius placed his nephew into his arms. He silently looked over his nephew, just as amazed as Scorpius had been earlier. Then he gulped and quickly moved to sit on the edge of the bed. James looked at his sister. "You named him after me?" he whispered hoarsely.
Lily nodded. "Two people who mean the world to us. Best of both worlds, really."
James took in a breath that had a bit of a shudder to it, and Lily thought that her oldest brother, who had always been strong, was going to cry. "He's got your hair, Lil," he mumbled. "Let's hope he doesn't get your quick temper." He smiled a little at his weak joke. Then he held out the baby to Draco. "Here, Mr. Malfoy."
Lily watched as Draco took his grandson, but then looked at her brother. Scorpius took a seat next to where James sat, and took his wife's hand. "Well, Potter, it's finally happened," he said.
James looked at him. "What do you mean?"
Scorpius smirked as he looked at him. "Your good name is mixed in with the Malfoys," he mocked.
And surprisingly, James chuckled honestly, and ran a hand through his hair. "Yeah. And I can't think of any better way for it to happen."
"He's a cute kid, cuz," Hugo complimented the next day. The entire family had already been to see Lily and the baby, but Hugo had decided to come by during his lunch break. Now, he held the baby, and sat in the chair next to the bed.
Lily smiled at her cousin. The night before, Lily and Scorpius had named Hugo the godfather to Mitchell. And she was sure that was why Hugo was skipping lunch to come and see her and the baby. "He really is," Lily murmured.
"So, are you really not going to have another one?" he teased.
Lily rolled her eyes. "I don't know. Give me a few years to decide."
"Well are you happy that you ended up pregnant on accident?" Hugo chuckled.
Lily smiled. "I've never been happier," she admitted.
"I can tell," Hugo chuckled. "You're almost glowing, you look so happy. Then again, I thought Scorpius was going to explode from being so happy last night."
"It's a wonderful feeling," she sighed, still smiling as she looked at her son. Her son. The thought still seemed so . . . surreal to her.
"Man . . . the girl I grew up and spent my entire life with, is a mother now," Hugo said in a bit of his own disbelief. "My best friend in the world . . . and she has a kid."
"It is weird," Lily agreed. "Last night, all I could think about was how . . . scary it is. I mean . . . I'm his mum. I'm raising a child now. And all I did was worry that I'll screw it up."
"Ah, you'll do fine. No matter how bad things are, or how low the odds are, you always do fine. We all do," Hugo said with a reassuring smile. "Besides, Scor's there, and I'll always be here, as will the rest of the family."
"I know," she sighed. "It's still a bit daunting."
There was a knock at the door, and it peeked open a bit before bursting open when Candice ran into the room. "Lily, you had the baby!" she cheered with a smile.
Mr. and Mrs. Pritchard walked in after her, Max holding his father's hand. "Sorry to barge in, but Astoria told us about the baby, so we thought we'd come and visit you," Elisa Pritchard explained.
Lily smiled as Candice tried to stand on her tiptoes in order to see the baby in Hugo's arms. "It's fine. I can't stand staying in this hospital without company anyways."
"Hello, Hugo," Mr. Pritchard greeted with a mumbled.
Hugo just smiled as he lowered the baby so that Candice could see him. "Hello, Mr. Pritchard."
"What's his name?" Max asked curiously.
"Mitchell," Lily told him as she watched the young boy look at the baby.
"Like Mitch Avery?" Elisa Pritchard questioned.
Lily nodded. "Yeah."
"Would you like to hold him, Mrs. Pritchard?" Hugo asked politely.
"Oh, I'd love to!" Elisa Pritchard gushed as Hugo handed her the baby. But Lily noticed that as soon as he did, he looked at his watch.
"What's up, cuz?" Lily asked.
Hugo looked at her innocently. "Oh, nothing. I was just checking the time. I feel like something has been planned."
Mr. Pritchard finally grinned as he looked at Hugo. "So you know, do you?"
"I was the one that let them know," Hugo retorted with a laugh.
Lily felt confused. "Let who know what?"
She was answered by a small and quick knock on the door, which opened soon after, and had Lola and Jace walking in, Melody in her father's arms. "Lily!" Lola squealed as she hurried to the bed. "I'm so sorry we couldn't be here yesterday."
Lily hugged her friend. "It's fine. How did you even know it happened?"
"Hugo," Jace said simply. "He flooed us as soon as you went into labor, apparently. But I didn't have spare time until this afternoon. So Lola and her mum made the plans for us all to show up."
Lily smiled at her cousin. "Thank you, Huey."
Hugo shrugged. "That's just what best friends do."
When Lily was cleared to go home, Scorpius took the entire day off, which was of course approved by his boss as a "good reason." Lily was happy to be out of the hospital and back home, and she was happy to finally have Mitchell at home.
As Lily first set him down in the crib, Scorpius looked around the room. "Do you think we'll need a bigger place?" he asked.
"Not with one child, no. That guest bedroom is pretty big, so it'll be enough for when he gets bigger," Lily replied.
"But what if we have another kid?" Scorpius pointed out.
"We have time before that happens," Lily said with a smile and a roll of her eyes.
"How much?" Scorpius persisted.
Lily looked at him and raised her brow. "Do you really think I'm all that eager to go through that again so quick? Trust me. We have time, as in years."
Scorpius nodded as he came back to look at the baby. "Ok. But I do want another one someday."
Lily smiled. "That's fine. So do I. Just not in the next year or two."
They both heard the distant knock at the front door, and were sure that Tiff would get it. Sure enough, Brandon was soon stepping into their bedroom. "Hey, I heard you were released today," he said with a smile. He came over to stand by the crib with them. Brandon set a stuffed tiger next to Mitchell in the crib. "A gift from Uncle Brandon." Then he looked at Lily. "Also, I've got something for you."
Lily looked at him curiously. "What?"
Brandon pulled what looked like a picture out of his pocket. "According to Mitch and Rex, it comes with a price. You can have this picture if they can have a picture of Mitchell."
Lily laughed. "Of course they can."
"Then here," Brandon said, holding out the picture. "It's Jacoby on his first birthday."
Lily smiled at the picture. Jacoby was Rex's son who was born last year. Lily had forgotten that he was already a year-old now. "He's adorable," she cooed.
Scorpius handed a picture of Mitchell to Brandon. "Here. My mum took dozens already. Give them this one."
Brandon chuckled as he put the photo in his pocket. "Ok, thanks. They've been eager ever since I went to see them a few days ago. They'll be happy to see this. Oh, and I thought Mitch was going to dance when I told them the baby's name."
Lily smiled. "Well it was his idea."
Lily felt like almost crying when the sound of Mitchell crying woke her up. She opened her eyes, and the clock said that it was two in the morning. She groaned into the pillow.
"I can get him," Scorpius offered.
Lily shook her head as she got up. "It's ok. Go back to sleep," she whispered. "You have work in the morning." Lily walked over to the crib, and gently picked up the wailing infant. "What's wrong, sweetie?" she murmured softly as she held Mitchell to her. She moved to sit on the edge of the bed, and she felt the weight on the mattress shift as Scorpius sat up.
"He's not hungry, is he?" Scorpius asked before yawning.
Lily shook her head. "It hasn't been that long since I last fed him." And although it felt like forever, Mitchell's cries did soon die down, and Lily watched as he began to fade back into sleep.
Scorpius laid back down. "Think he'll do that every night?" he asked.
Lily put Mitchell back in the crib, and then crawled back into bed too. "I don't know. Maybe. All babies are different," she said with a small sigh.
Lily was careful as she wrapped a towel around Mitchell. He was a little damp from the bath, and Lily was careful as she dried him. A knock sounded on the door, startling Mitchell, although he didn't cry, but just looked surprised, which made Lily laugh softly.
"I've got it, Mistress!" Tiff said quickly as she hurried to the door.
"Thank you, Tiff," Lily replied as she began to dress Mitchell.
She heard the door opened, and then a few footsteps. "Hello, Lily," Harry greeted as he walked over to the counter where she was slipping a shirt over Mitchell's stomach. He smiled. "And hello to you too, Mitchell."
Lily smiled at her father. "Hey, Dad. What are you doing here?" It was only a little past lunch time.
Harry shrugged. "I finished my lunch early, so I thought I'd take time to come and see you."
Lily laughed. "Don't you mean to see Mitch?" she teased.
Harry chuckled too as he picked up his grandson. "In a way, yes. But also, I wanted to ask you something."
"Sure, what is it?" Lily asked, as she watched as Tiff immediately continued to make lunch.
"How often does Scorpius insist on getting up with Mitchell?" Harry asked.
Lily looked at him with a bit of curiosity. "Um, well he always offers. And then he generally stays up until Mitch has gone back to sleep," she answered. "Why?"
Harry grinned. "Because I caught him asleep at his desk this morning," he mentioned. "And he's been looking quite tired for the past few days."
Lily sighed. "I always tell him to go back to sleep, but he's stubborn."
"Is Mitchell a crier?" Harry inquired.
"Sort of," Lily answered. "He's a bit fussy at night . . . every night."
"Well that's expected for a newborn," Harry assured.
Lily rested her cheek on her palm. "I know. But it's . . ."
"Exhausting?" Harry guessed. "It always is. Make it through, and it'll get better with time."
As time did begin to pass, it came with ups and downs. Mitchell had begun to make more noises, small laughs, and Lily had never been so excited as when he first smiled. But, he was still waking up at night. It was getting better in only that it was later and later that he was waking up. It had gotten to the point where he was just simply waking them up an hour earlier than they normally got up.
"Hey, I'm home," Scorpius announced.
"Sor!" Cecilia cheered as she ran over to him, pronouncing his name the best she could.
Mitchell perked up in Lily's arms, and immediately began to attempt to reach behind her to see his father. He had begun to always look for Scorpius as soon as he heard his voice.
Lily turned, making it easier for Mitchell to see Scorpius, and also because she was a bit surprised. "What are you doing home so early?"
Scorpius sighed as he picked up Cecilia, and walked to where Lily stood, placing a kiss on her cheek. "Captain and the boss sent me home. Told me I looked like hell and needed a break and some rest," he grumbled as he set Cecilia on her feet. Then he took Mitchell into his arms.
Lily reached up to brush some hair from his brow. "Then sit down and relax. Have you had lunch?"
"I can make you something, Master Malfoy!" Tiff offered immediately.
Scorpius shook his head as he sat down and kicked off his shoes. "No, I ate. Thanks though."
Lily sat next to him, and pulled Cecilia into her lap when the little girl started to climb on the couch. "You know, we'll have to talk to Lana, because your hair is starting to get long again."
Scorpius smirked. "I'll remember that. But, I've got a better idea for today."
Lily rested her chin on his shoulder. "And what would that be?"
"How about we take the kids, and we go out for the day?" Scorpius suggested. "Maybe go to Diagon Alley . . . hell maybe even get them out to Hogsmeade? What do you say?"
"I think that sounds great," Lily agreed.
"Scorpius! Lily! Did you bring the baby?" Astoria asked as soon as the two of them walked into the parlor of Malfoy Manor.
Scorpius rolled his eyes as he held Cecilia. "No, we left him at home," he muttered sarcastically.
Lily ignored his attitude as she passed Mitchell off to Astoria. "He might be a bit tired. We've been out all afternoon, and he's really been enjoying taking in so many colors and sights."
"Pitch, start up dinner, won't you?" Astoria commented offhandedly. She looked at the two of them. "You should stay for dinner."
"I don't think we have a choice now," Scorpius said with a laugh.
"We'd love to," Lily replied.
"Hello, Cecilia," Astoria greeted to the sweet little girl.
Cecilia smiled almost bashfully. "Hi," she greeted coyly.
"Will she be able to stay for dinner, or will you need to take her home first?" Astoria asked.
"No, she is spending the night with us," Lily said happily as Scorpius set the little girl down. Cecilia immediately began to walk around. Lily looked at Scorpius. "One of us will need to go back and walk Padfoot. Or at least tell Tiff to."
"Well why not have Tiff bring him here?" Astoria suggested. "He is such a cute dog."
So soon Malfoy Manor was the loudest it ever was on a normal day. Tiff had brought Padfoot, along with some toys for the little ones. Cecilia mostly played with Padfoot, who, as giant next to her, was careful with her. At Astoria's suggestion, Pitch had gone and got Narcissa, who happily came over to see her great-grandson. While she didn't seem too keen to have a dog in the manor, she didn't even mention it.
Draco walked in looking a bit surprised. "I didn't know we were having a family dinner," he commented.
"Well we originally just stopped by for a visit," Scorpius joked as he scratched Padfoot's ear, while Cecilia petted along his side.
"Ah," Draco said with a simple nod. "I understand what happened now. How's work, son?"
Astoria looked at Lily. "On that subject, when do you plan to go back to working, Lily?" she asked.
Lily shrugged, glancing at Mitchell who was in his great-grandmother's arms. "I don't know. At the moment, I'm way too tired to even think about it. But I do know that Brandon is being politely impatient on the matter as well," she said with a laugh. "He's constantly asking me the same question."
"Well you take your time, dear," Narcissa said reassuringly. "There's no need to rush when a baby's in the picture."
"Do you miss it?" Astoria asked curiously.
Lily gave her a slightly sheepish look. "Yeah, a little," she said honestly. "Mostly, I just miss doing something other than always being at home."
"I felt that way after Draco and I got married," Astoria said with a nod. "For the longest time, it felt like I did absolutely nothing but drift around this big manor. It was why I got into fashion, just so I could have something to do with myself."
"I always find myself studying over my potion books whenever Mitch finally goes down for a nap. But that's when time seems to just fly by, and then he's up again," Lily said with a sigh. "I mean, I love spending the day with him. He seems to do something new every day, and I love it."
"But you sometimes wish for the freedom of not being a parent?" Astoria guessed. "Dear, just wait until Mitchell is off to Hogwarts. All you'll do is miss him, and wish he were this size again." Astoria looked at her own son, grown and now a man. "I know I sometimes still do."
As months started to pass, Lily and Scorpius both delighted in watching all the little milestones that Mitchell passed. Teething was a bit difficult for all three of them. Whenever the small and short periods of irritability in Mitchell's gums came, he was inconsolable. And since he now was always insisting on Scorpius holding him before going to work, he would sometimes leave with drool stains on the shoulder of his shirt where Mitchell had tried to ease his discomfort by gnawing on the fabric.
But there were other ones, good ones. As his body and muscles got stronger, he was now able to support himself better, and had even mastered sitting up. And while he still had trouble crawling, he made up for it by rolling. They found it cute, although a bit scary at times.
And other big changes came, although it had nothing to do with Mitchell. It had more to do with their family, both to be exact. The month of May brought great surprise, and big news for them all.
"You know, at the rate they were going, I would have never thought that Tanner and Kimberly were ever going to get married," Lily commented at the wedding reception.
Apparently, just a month before, Tanner and Kimberly had finally decided that it was time to get married. It had only been years since they'd gotten together, but that wasn't what made it surprising. It was the relationship itself. The two were constantly arguing, and constantly having little break up periods, where they would finally get back together after at least a week. Apparently, their record was being broken up for two weeks.
"I love my cousin, but I'm amazed that Kimberly puts up with him," Scorpius said in agreement as he fed a small bite of cake to Mitchell, who was getting better with certain foods. He could even eat certain solids now.
"Hey, guys," Will greeted with a bit of a mumble as he joined them at their table.
"Hi, Will," Lily greeted in a more friendly manner.
"What's got you so grumpy?" Scorpius retorted sarcastically.
"I just got done being uncomfortable by having to sit next to my sister, who insisted on snogging her boyfriend every few seconds," Will grumbled with annoyance.
"I thought you couldn't care less if Tamara had a boyfriend?" Scorpius pointed out.
"Not Tamara. Jo," Will muttered.
"Oh, that's right, Jo's graduated now," Lily said as she remembered. "I forgot. Wow, I remember when that girl was just a third year."
"Well now she's eighteen, and thinks she knows all," Will said dryly. "Personally, I could care less if she's been in a relationship for almost a year now."
"What's the guy's name?" Scorpius inquired as he passed Mitchell off to Lily.
Will shook his head. "Believe it or not, it's Bobby Pritchard."
Lily looked at him in mild surprise. "Robbie? Really?" It made Lily happy to hear that Robbie seemed to be moving on from his young-minded feeling for her.
Will nodded. "Yeah. Apparently they started dating a little before they graduated."
Scorpius sighed. "Man, I'm starting to feel really old. I remember that kid when he was scrawny, short, copper hair, and looked like he might puke during his Sorting."
"What are we talking about?" Tanner asked with a loud sigh as he dropped into a seat at the table.
"Hey, congratulations," Will said.
Tanner grinned. "Yeah, thanks. But instead of talking about the lost of my freedom, let's continue with your topic," he joked.
Lily laughed. "Why did you ask her to marry you then?"
Tanner leaned back into his seat. "Well . . . I didn't really ask. Neither of us did."
"Then how did we end up here?" Scorpius questioned with amusement at his younger cousin.
"Well, we'd had a little . . . tiff," Tanner tried to say lightly.
"You broke up," Will stated.
Tanner ignored him. "And, when we were starting to try and patch things up, she said that she was tired of going back-and-forth. And it's not like she was being pushy or anything. But she simply said that she didn't want to do it anymore unless there was a real commitment between us," he explained.
"So you decided to get married? Just so the two of you could fight and make up?" Scorpius replied.
"Yeah, basically," Tanner agreed.
"And from what I hear, you don't even make up the fun way," Will said with a small laugh.
"Hey, let's not laugh at my agony," Tanner quipped. "Let's move on something . . . well anything is better. Like about this little tyke." He reached out and let Mitchell take hold of one of his fingers.
"Is the reason you got married because you're expecting one?" Will joked.
"No!" Tanner said quickly. "No, not for a long time."
"What would be wrong with having a kid?" Lily teased.
Tanner raised a brow. "Really? Can you see me being a father at this point in my life?"
"I can't see that in any point in your life," Scorpius laughed.
"And I agree," Tanner said simply. "Not happening for a long time."
Lily looked at her son. "Yeah, I used to think that too." She grinned at Tanner. "And look where that got me."
Lily smiled as she watched Mitchell look at the book and the magazines on the floor, as if he were fascinated by all the colors. He'd just gotten done pulling them off the table one-by-one, and was now simply staring at them. Every once in a while, he'd reach out to put his hand on one, but would then pull it back.
Cecilia, who had decided that she was hungry early, was sitting at the table eating a small lunch. Padfoot was following Lily diligently around the room, resting his head against her side whenever she stopped moving. And Salazar was sitting on the top of the couch, watching Mitchell. Ever since they had brought Mitchell home from the hospital, Salazar watched him suspiciously. Lily thought he might be remembering the times Theo used to try and play with him years ago.
A knock on the door stopped Lily from doing the bit of rearranging she was already doing with the books in their bookshelf. She'd sent Tiff to pick up a few things from Diagon Alley, not really wanting to take the two kids with her. Cecilia was always trying to run off and look at everything, and Mitchell was always trying to pull things off the shelves to look at them.
As Lily walked to the door, picking the book up off the floor as she did. After all, she didn't care about the magazines, but the book was one of her potion books. After setting it back on the table, she walked over and answered the door. It was a surprising sight, because there was Louis, holding a little girl, whose face was buried in his shoulder, so all Lily could see was light blonde hair.
"Um, hey, Louis. This is a surprise," Lily commented curiously. "Come in."
Louis, who looked oddly panicked, stepped in, but he didn't put the little girl down. So Lily closed the door, now a bit worried about her cousin. "Lily," Louis said, his voice sounding like he looked, "I need you to keep a secret. This . . . this is like me telling you I was gay all over again!"
Lily nodded her head immediately. "Ok, of course. What is it?"
Louis hesitated, but then he set the little girl on her feet. And when she tried to cling to Louis, he whispered something softly, and Lily was unable to hear it. But then as Louis stood back up, the little girl turned around, and Lily couldn't believe what she was seeing.
The little girl, who couldn't be older than five, had a cute face. Almost strikingly cute. Her eyes were crystal blue, and they seemed to sparkle in the light. And with the light blonde hair added into all of that . . .
"Please tell me that this is Theo, and you two are playing a game," Lily said, now feeling a bit hesitant herself.
Louis gulped. "Lily, this is Dom Kylie Weasley. My . . . daughter."
Words welled in Lily's chest and throat, but she pushed them away as she looked at the little girl, who looked so sad and confused. She choked them down, and instead smiled at the little girl. "Hello, Dom. It's nice to meet you," she said.
The little girl whispered something that Lily again couldn't hear.
"You have to speak louder," Louis urged.
Dom looked at Lily. "I'm hungry," she murmured.
"Oh," Lily said. "Well, how about I make you something, ok?"
That was when Padfoot came up again, and looked at the little girl. He sniffed her, which blew her hair around her face, making her giggle. Louis seemed to notice the opportunity. "Why don't you play with the doggy, and Aunt Lily and I will make you something to eat?" he suggested.
As Dom went to play with Padfoot, Lily took Louis over to the kitchen area, and looked at her cousin in amazement. "Daughter?" she demanded.
Louis let out a large breath. "I know, I know. I just found out about her yesterday!"
"How the hell is this possible?" Lily retorted. "Last time I knew, children did not spawn from gay relationships."
Now Louis almost looked a bit sad. "Remember when told you about how I got drunk at House party, and I woke up next to a girl, Kylie Wright, and I thought that was why Paul was mad at me?"
Hearing that made it click for Lily. "She happened from your one night stand years ago?"
Louis nodded. "Yeah. She's four!"
"And you never told anyone?" Lily hissed.
"I didn't know!" Louis insisted. "Like I said, I only found out yesterday. Kylie never said a word, and not even a letter. She said nothing to me about it."
"Then why wait four years?" Lily asked.
Louis's sad look returned. "She died, Lil."
Lily stopped what she was doing and looked at him. "What?"
Louis ran a hand over his face. "She died a week ago. She was an Unspeakable, and . . . she died in a work-related accident."
"Oh," Lily murmured, not really sure what else to say.
"A man came to my place yesterday, and he told me about it. And he said that it was assumed that I would take custody of our child. Imagine my surprise," Louis said with a bit of scoff. "But . . . how could I not? I mean, Kylie named her after my family, and she looks like me! Even Paul said that she was without a doubt my daughter."
Lily continued with lunch. "So . . . when are you going to tell the family?"
"I don't know how," Louis admitted as he helped. "I mean, this isn't like my being gay, where I could just casually say it at the table during dinner. This is huge!"
"So why come to me?" Lily questioned.
Louis shrugged. "I knew I could trust you to give me time. I thought about telling Vic, but she's not home. You two are the best choices." He paused, then sighed. "Lily, I don't know what to do. I mean, this little girl . . . my daughter, is heartbroken that her mother's gone. She's just met me, she's four, and I don't know what to do. I don't know how to take care of her, how to make her feel better, or anything! I was never mentally prepared for the fact that I could one day be a father."
Lily sighed too as she finished the sandwich and small salad. She put the plate on the table and went over to where Dom was still playing with Padfoot. "Here, sweetie, lunch is ready. Pad will happily play with you once you've finished."
Little Dom hurried over to the table, but stopped when she saw Cecilia still eating, not hardly paying attention to anything around her. But then she noticed the slightly older girl near the table. "Hi!" she greeted happily.
Lily smiled. "Dom, this is Cecilia. Cecilia, this is Dom."
"Hi," Dom greeted by shyly as she sat down at the table.
Louis stayed by the counter, but looked at Lily when she joined him. "How do you do it, Lil?"
Lily sighed as she looked at her own son, who was still looking at the magazines in amazement. "It's not easy. It's really hard, and it's really scary. Dealing with the loss of a parent . . . I don't know how I could help you with that. As for taking care of her . . . do what you do for yourself. Feed her, talk to her, spend time with her, make sure she'd happy and comfortable."
Louis scratched at his neck. "You know, a lot of guys who are gay sometimes wish for a kid of their own. I never did, though. I was happy with just Paul and me being together. But now I have what people wish for . . . and I feel so lost on what to do."
Lily nodded as she walked over and picked up Mitchell, who had just torn a page from a magazine. It was an advertisement of some kind. "Well, this is from a new parent, but I always feel a bit lost sometimes. While I've got the basics down, feeding, bathing, etc. . . . some things aren't basic. I know that certain things he does make me happy and excited, and there are things that we've found that make him smile and laugh . . . but I sometimes wonder will it be that easy when he's older. When he's four," she said as an example.
"But my daughter already has a personality, and four years of her life that I missed. Now her whole world has changed, and so has mine. Now . . . it's like she's some secret. And I don't want that. She's my daughter. I mean, I already love this little girl, and I don't care that it's only been a day. But some how . . . I've got to tell the family," Louis said.
"You should take her to your parents," Lily suggested. "They should be the first to know they have a grandchild. And Dom should meet them, especially if she's just lost her mother."
"But what about the rest of the family?" Louis questioned.
"Well, you could just tell Grandma Weasley, Uncle Ron, and Uncle George. Then the word would spread like wildfire among the family," Lily said with a bit of a laugh.
Louis finally laughed a little too. "That's not a bad idea," he agreed. "And maybe . . . maybe I'll go to Mum and Dad tonight. After all, with our place only being a one bedroom, we'll need somewhere for her to sleep."
"What are you going to do about that?" Lily asked curiously.
"We told our landlady this morning that we'd be moving. And with the fact that I have to tell Mum and Dad, maybe they'll let us stay there until we find a place," Louis mentioned.
"I'm sure that with a new grandchild, your mother would leap at the idea," Lily assured as she finally took the page from Mitchell, who was beginning to try and chew on it.
"Well, at least I got to skip the whole teething, and baby-stage," he commented lightly. "And I got her before the moody teenage years." Louis let out a dry laugh. "I just got her when she's emotionally distraught and heartbroken. Not to mention scared. I honestly don't know which I would have preferred."
"I wonder why Kylie never told you about her," Lily wondered.
"Me too," Louis agreed. "I mean, doing the math, it would have been just at the end of my sixth year. But I still would have done all I could. And, I would have loved it. I would have loved to be around her when she was born, as she grew up. I mean, pictures at least would have been nice."
"She must have had her reasons," Lily replied.
"Yeah . . . but now I'll never know what they were."