Jily oneshots

Showdown at the Full Moon Saloon

by letsdancevance

"I look like a whale."

Smoothing her black apron over a very apparent baby bump, Lily Evans gave her reflection the evil eye through the mirror hanging in the back office of the Full Moon Saloon. Pieces of red hair that always seemed to escape her practical ponytail framed Lily's puffy-feeling face, highlighting the shadows under her eyes. Sleeping at seven months pregnant was proving to be rather difficult. Tonight she was grateful for cheap stretchy pants, the fact that she'd be off shift in t minus two hours, and of course: Remus.

"Don't knock that baby-magic you've got going on," warned said-boss, her current employer and long-time bff. "We've sold more booze in the last month than I had in a whole year."

"You can just call the baby Gordon Ramsey then," Lily quipped, gesturing pointedly at the completely redecorated space.

Although it had taken her literally getting fired from her corporate marketing job, she'd finally convinced Remus to hire her to revamp his failing family bar. He'd given her full-reign, even with not quite-so-full pocketbooks, and Lily had stretched her creative muscles to transform the former Hollywood-themed bar into a "vintage werewolf" themed one. Niche? Yes. Shamelessly capitalizing on the latest werewolf blockbuster trilogy? Also yes. However, it kept the bar rooted in its history while guiding it into a new era.

The reno had been a risk, but so far it was paying off, along with the new big-screens that played any non-major sports competition that was happening. Gymnastics, bocce ball, competitive kite flying- you name it, they showed it as long as it didn't start in "base," "foot," or "soccer" and end in "ball."

Remus grinned. "You know I think Harry's a good name, but Gordon really should be- "

The soft wolfy howl of the door chime interrupted their banter and Lily took a breath, gearing up to be a perfectly perky waitress no matter how dumpy she felt. It wasn't often she had to fill-in for the staff, but one of their cocktail waitresses called in sick and it was Lily's turn to take one for the team. It hadn't been that busy tonight - not unusual for a Tuesday - and Lily was just trying to skate by until closing.

It should have been her first clue that the night would be a little... off when the family that trooped in - all four of them - wore identical-looking khaki pants. Trying to remember the last time she'd seen so much khaki in one place, Lily smiled and stepped out from behind the hostess booth.

"Welcome to the Full Moon Saloon! How many are in your party?"

Instead of answering, the woman eyed the bar dubiously before directing a sharp look at Lily, who wondered if they were going to turn around and walk out. They did look extremely out of place next to the giant "Werewolf of London" poster and the glass case full of screen-accurate replicas of wolf masks from "Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man."

The dad (she assumed) wore a sweater vest over his white collared shirt, while the kids looked somewhat normal in their "California" tourist tees. The mother wore a mauve sweater over a white collared shirt, both of which were buttoned up to the very tip top. Her streaked blonde hair sat in an unnatural-looking "C" shape that elongated her head.

"Young lady, do you work here?" the woman asked.

Lily looked down at her name tag and apron before looking back up at the shocked-sounding woman. "Yes…?"

"Mo-om!" whined one of the khaki-d off-spring, tugging at the perfectly tucked sweater. "I'm hungry."

"Of course, pumpkin. We need a table for four."

Unsure as to why that had to be said quite so firmly, Lily nodded and smiled mechanically. "Right this way please."

They followed her into the Full Moon's tiny, otherwise-empty seating section (most people were served from the bar) and sat down in complete silence while the woman stared intensely at Lily. Powering through the weird vibes that were happening, Lily began her spiel sans the usual werewolf puns. Call it a hunch but she didn't feel as if this was the right audience.