Lily buried her face in James’ chest to muffle her laughter, not wanting to wake Harry. This was what she wanted for the rest of her life, James with his shameless humor and boundless love and the way he always made her feel like she was exactly where she belonged. “I do love your way with words,” and she did. John Keats he was not, but Lily wouldn’t have him any other way.
Then Lily frowned and pulled back. She cupped James’ face in her hands and looked into his eyes. “I don’t like it when you talk like that. I want you with me forever.” She wasn’t naive, she knew that a long, shared life was not guaranteed, especially given James’ chosen profession and the political climate of the wixen world. But she never wanted James to think he was worth more to her and Harry as a sacrifice than husband and father. In her life Lily had lost multiple people in ways she’d never seen coming, and she’d learned the hard way there was no one she couldn’t live without. Still, she didn’t want to think about what it would take to put herself back together if she lost James.
“What will be.” Lily spoke with conviction born not of blind optimism, but steely determination. They’d both fought too hard to not have a beautiful life together. When they’d been in hiding, one of the ways they’d stayed sane was by dreaming and planning for the future. Curled up on the couch with mugs of cocoa, or something stronger on worse days, they’d pretend to argue about baby names, debate the perfect number of children, and consider the ideal age difference between siblings. It was something they hadn’t done in a while, but the pattern was still familiar.
“I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, just because I let you name Harry after yourself does not mean all our sons will be James Juniors. You have two brothers to choose from, too.” She smiled slyly, her tone light and teasing. There was a time and a place for pushing James to talk about his feelings, and Lily certainly wasn’t afraid to when necessary, but not tonight. Tonight they could dream and plan, because, truly, tonight she needed that, too.
James smirked at her response. "All of our children -- male, female or in between -- will all be named after me in some way," in one swift move he picked Lily up holding her bridal style as he had done the same night they had been married. He walked her down the stairs and over to their couch, their furniture a perfect blend of hand me downs and new things. James sat down, placing her on his lap but still giving her the option of moving off of him if she chose to do so.
"Just like old times," James remembered right before they had found out Lily was pregnant when they sat like this. Doing nothing that time, but still enjoying each other's companies. "Now tell me about your timeline Lily, because I know you've got one," he laughed softly kissing near her ear.
