And now he did feel his eyes getting hot and vaguely itchy. He cleared his throat, rubbing at them absently and gave a shake of his head. There she was. Whole, happy, and suddenly the baby that had felt like such a big deal was really just another extension of her; of them. Besides, one look at the kid and he knew without a doubt that was his daughter. This way he got to miss all the awful part leading up to the baby? That was the silver lining. Sure making the baby would have been fun but then came the morning sickness and stuff he wasn't sad to have missed.
Suddenly she was in front of him and while there were a few differences from this Lily and the young wisp of a girl he had left back home, her eyes still captivated him. James found a small smile tugging at the corner of his lips until his whole face was struggling to contain his joy. And then she was asking if he missed her and that question was just so utterly stupid that he laughed. "I don't feel whole without you ,you dolt. Of course I missed you." He gathered her into his arms, pulling her close and then a little closer, taking a shaky breath against her neck. He didn't trust his voice and so instead he just stayed quiet, holding her in his arms as he had been wanting to do for more weeks than he wanted to think about.