The Rise And Fall Of The Stag And The Doe

hear you me

"Well, are we going to run?" Marlene asked, stretching her long athletic legs in front of his flat door.

James waited for her stand and then gently looped his arm around her, guided her down the hallway despite her groans of annoyance. Her bright blonde hair was piled on top of her head and though she wasn't showing yet, she still wore a dark grey sweater two sizes too big for her and the most shapeless sweatpants to ever exist. But she did have a glow and otherwise he probably wouldn't have noticed she was pregnant at all.

"Are you really supposed to be running this much?" James asked, when they walked out of the building and began to jog in unison.

"As long as it's not strenuous it's fine. Women run marathons when they're pregnant as long..." She paused to take a breath, "As long as it's a low risk pregnancy and mine is."

James said, "I know. Lily told me. You should be nearly out of your first trimester soon."

Marlene's laugh echoed on the sidewalk, along with the sound of their tennis shoes scraping against the pavement. "It's so weird hearing you talk about pregnancy with such a confident tone."

"Well, my wife is five months pregnant. My little sister is three months pregnant, Alice Prewett is somewhere in there too and I just finished my second pregnancy book. So I'm kind of involved."

"It's Longbottom." Marlene reminded him, but grinned at him all the same.

James shrugged, dodging a trash bin while they turned the corner. "Yeah. I forget sometimes. It's hard to remember that everyone is married with babies."

"Especially you," Marlene smiled at him. "You getting excited to be a dad?"

"I've been excited." James remarked. "We just bought the house and we'll move in a little after the baby is born, Lily is determined to build the crib by herself, so Sirius is going to supervise that. She tends to get a little wild with the hammoid."

"Hammoid?" Marlene furrowed her eyebrows. "I don't think that's the word...is it the stick with metal part at the end?"

"Yeah."

"That's a hammer." Marlene corrected him, picking up the pace, her sweat soaked completely through the tank top under her sweater. "You nervous at all?"

James let out a sheepish laugh. "Of course, but it's like every thing else I guess. You learn how to do it once you get there."

"I know you'll be a great dad." Marlene told him sincerely, slowly her pace down, her hands going to her hips. She glanced at him. "If ...If this thing works out. If I carry it to term and nothing goes wrong..."

"You can't think like that Mar." He placed on her shoulder to slow her down. His hazel eyes were steady on her. "You have to think positive."

"I-I know. I just don't want to jinx it. If I get too excited I feel like...I'll lose it."

He wrapped his arm around her shoulder. "You can't think like that. You are going to have a chubby, golden baby."

"Why would my baby be chubby?" Marlene exclaimed.

"Because you're not doing it now, but watch, the minute you hit your sixth month, you are going to inhale everything mint chocolate chip in the nation." He teased her. "And it will go straight to your kid."

Marlene snorted, rubbing her eyes. "Well, I was about to ask...if you would be godfather."

James stilled, his eyes watering up and his voice getting raspy. "You know you don't have to ask."

"Yes, but, you're having a baby and," She began, tears running down her face. "I didn't want you to feel like you had to-"

His arms slunk around her waist and he held her torso close to his torso and rested his temple to hers. "I would be happy to."