Fic: Baby Dear

[minnow_53]

Baby Dear
By minnow_53

Disclaimer: Lily, James et al belong to JK Rowling.
Pairing: Lily/Baby, Lily/James
Summary: Lily finds that looking after a baby can be hard work.
Genre: AU
Rating:PG

Now crossposted to hp_whatif and genfic_hogwarts.

Comments

[snegurochka_lee]

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

Oh, you devil! *cackles madly* I almost didn't read this, you know, because me + babyfic = :( But! It was you, so I had to try, and it was so lovely, and even if it had turned out to be a simple Lily + Harry scene, I was liking it! Loved that she'd run out of nappies, and didn't know what to do with him by 2pm -- seemed very realistic to me.

And now I've read it twice, and she doesn't have nappies, and the look from the supermarket clerk, and, and, the towel on the floor, and oh man, you little genius, you! This is like the very definition of how to write a story like this: first read, it all seems normal; second read, everything makes sense, and all your little clues spring forward. I was also ready to hate James for liking "quiet time" after work, but no, of course not, now I know it's not him. Oh my God, I can just envision the next scene!!

Holy cow, woman. Your writing remains amazing. ♥ !!

[minnow_53]

Oh, goodness, thank you! :) Not just once, but several times: for taking a chance on this, for the rec, which has got me so many comments, and for generally being awesome. I'm not a huge fan of baby fic either, so I know the sort of leap you had to take...

Many ♥

[lls_mutant]

Oh, that had a nice creepy edge to it! I was thinking, you know, Lily shouldn't be this clueless about babies with Harry being this old, and then with the ending, it made total sense. (I was also wondering why she was freaking out about buying formula, and wondering if she was a militant breast feeder or something.) And the constant comparisons with Petunia that were really Lily trying to figure out what to do.... That was awesome.

Great stuff!

[minnow_53]

Thank you very much! :) I was wondering what the other mothers on my list would make of this...you obviously got a lot of the clues! I'm really happy you enjoyed it.

Aaaaarrgghhh!

[fera_festiva]

Oh my god, what a twist! I was genuinely shocked when I got to the end - I mean numb-tongue, jaw-dropping, stomach-in-shoes, Bruce-Willis-in-The-Sixth-Sense shocked. And then of course I had to go back and re-read to spot all the foreshadowing. I don't know if I want to go like this :O or like this D: or like this >:D or all three at once. You evil genius.

Re: Aaaaarrgghhh!

[minnow_53]

Oh, gosh, thank you, for reading and commenting and for the rec! :) All greatly appreciated: I wondered if you'd brave this... It's another one of yours that got away, because I thought that babyfic, even this one, wasn't quite what I want to give you. :D But yours is being done, though not exactly as I write this...

*continues to fangirl you*

[fera_festiva]

I've just re-read again and there are so many little details that are just killing me. Like Lily wearing her best skirt, which on the first reading just seemed like one of those abstract background things that's only for colour, but of course it makes sense that she'd be wearing clothes too fancy for looking after a small and messy baby...

I agree with others who've said this is publishable. (Although, saying that, it works particularly well with Lily because a) she's a sort of paragon of motherhood in canon and b) we know she has one child and it's Harry, so it makes the ending even more shocking.)

I'm going to stop squeeing all over your journal now, but srsly, can't get this story out of my head. (And shocking twists are one of my all-time favourite things.) Bloody brilliant.

Re: *continues to fangirl you*

[minnow_53]

I'm going to stop squeeing all over your journal now

*blushes* Squee away! That's another lovely comment, and I can’t tell you how happy I am you enjoyed it! :D Yes, Lily would be wearing the skirt for her meeting at work, so it was quite important. Though I did wonder if she'd have some expensive skirt that could only be dry-cleaned, so maybe it shouldn't be in the machine. But that would be a nit-pick too far...

I have to say that I see this firmly as fanfic, mainly because of the Schrodinger’s Kittens thing, which I mentioned in another reply. My original idea was that Lily is famous for having a son, so in an alternative universe she’d probably be unable to have children. (It made a lot of sense when I thought of it!) So I don’t know if I could mentally separate the woman in the story from Lily in HP.

Just ftr, the first attempt at this got lost in the Great Computer Crash at Christmas, which was just as well. It consisted mainly of Remus and Sirius warning everyone not to mention babies to Lily. :/

♥

[brighty18]

Oh, that was so lovely!! And I very much felt for Lily in her anxiety as she compared herself to Petunia and her "Harry" Dudley. Poor thing! I also love how one can totally tell that you have kids of your own and have an intimate knowledge of the world of babies!

EDIT: I hit "Post."

Most of all, I loved being in her head and her head/imaginary world throughout the whole thing. The end was really a surprise and, yet, when I went back to read it again (the car seat, the bare boards, the curtains, etc.) one could see the clues. Wow.

[minnow_53]

Thank you very much! :)

Fortunately, my kids are past this stage now, but it was actually quite traumatic going back to it, even for one story...

[entrenous88]

So great! I was wondering, as the clerk looked at her, if she'd somehow conjured a baby from a kitten or something like that, but this was even better. Slightly mad!Lily, baby-stealer!Lily = fic gold. And now I'm thinking this baby became Harry somehow, and James was nervous enough about Lily and her headaches that he sort of let himself believe it, or conveniently fell prey to a quick Obliviate. Great work!

Here by way of Lee's rec, btw.

[minnow_53]

Lol! I love the kitten reference, because the story was inspired by Shrodinger's Kittens, and that was nearly the title. But I went for simple and understandable instead...

Thank you very much for reading and commenting. :)