Mommy Needs a Nap
"Thank god for slow days," Ron Weasley commented as he passed the desk of his best friend, Harry Potter, on his way to his own. "I think 'Mione was going to kill me if I was late again today. I dunno what she gets so mad about though. Rose is only three, how difficult can she be?"
Harry, who knew better from the days he had spent alone with James, his own three year old, just shrugged and smirked in response. Ron would learn, oh boy would he learn. "See you later mate," Harry said once Ron had collected all of his belongings to go home. "Good luck," he muttered under his breath once his friend had apparated from the ministry.
Meanwhile, Ron appeared inside his living room, his ears immediately assaulted by the shrieks only a three year old girl was capable of producing. That old Gryffindor curiosity cam over him and he silently moved to hide behind the wall between the living room and the kitchen. Peeking around the corner, he quietly watched the scene before him unfold.
Rose was sitting with her arms crossed in her booster seat at the table while an obviously distressed and very pregnant Hermione stood before her, looking close to tears. "Rose, you need to eat your lunch, please, it's almost naptime."
"No!" Rose shrieked again, picking up her sippy-cup filled with some kind of juice and throwing it to the floor.
Her frustration finally over powered her fatigue and Hermione's face took on a look that was usually only reserved for Ron. "Rose Weasley, you need to eat now. You complained for weeks that you wanted the dragon shaped chicken nuggets, and now you won't even eat them. What is wrong?"
"They're too cold," Rose whined, pushing the plate away.
"They just came out of the oven not even two minutes ago. There is no way they are too cold."
"They're too hot."
Thinking quickly, as she usually does, Hermione picked up on of the nuggets and ripped part of it off and popped a small piece into her mouth. "Rose, they're fine. They aren't hot and they aren't cold, now eat!"
Rose looked hopeless for a moment before she moved her little fist in front of her mouth and forced out a ridiculously fake cough. "I'm sick."
"Fine," Hermione moved to grab Rose from her seat, "Then you can just go up and go to bed since you're so sick."
"No!" Rose screamed, pushing her mother's hands away.
"Rose," Hermione sounded close to tears again as she covered her face with her hands.
Ron figured it was time to intervene and walked quickly over to his wife and daughter. "Daddy!" Rose exclaimed, reaching out her arms for him as soon as she saw him.
"Hey, princess," he smiled picking her up and holding her to his side as he hugged Hermione with his free arm and planted a kiss on top of her curls. Sitting Rose back in her chair, he moved so both his arms were around Hermione's swollen middle. "Go upstairs love, I'll get her lunch and then up to bed."
Not in any condition to protest, she stretched upwards and gave him a quick kiss on the lips before turning and going directly to their room. "Where's mommy going?" Rose asked as Ron sat down next to her.
"Mommy needs a nap, so I'm going to eat lunch with you okay?"
Rose just nodded and smiled, always happy to spend time with her daddy, and picked up one of the nuggets and began nibbling at the edge. When Hermione hit the five month mark in her pregnancy, they'd almost lost the baby. Ever since that day, they had decided it would be best for her to take off of work and just relax until the baby was born. So, to make up for the lost income, Ron had been picking up extra hours at the ministry while Hermione stayed at home with Rose.
"All done," Rose stated once she had eaten half of the chicken and pushed the plate towards Ron.
Knowing if she didn't eat more, she would just end up waking up starving he pushed the plate back. He pushed two of the smaller pieces towards her and offered, "Why don't you eat two more and then I'll finish the rest?"
"But, daddy," she whined, some crocodile tears began welling up in her eyes.
"Rose," he warned, giving her a hard stare.
"Fine," she gave in quickly, snatching one of the pieces off the plate. Once they had finished the plate together, she reached her arms out towards her father once again.
Once he had convinced her to use the loo and wrestled her into a pair of pull-ups and her pajamas, he finally tucked her into her new 'big girl' bed. "Have pleasant dreams, baby," Ron whispered as he planted a kiss on his daughters nose.
After letting out a large yawn, she muttered back, "Love you, daddy."
"Love you too, Rose." With that he stood next to her bed and watched her sleep for a moment before exiting, leaving the door slightly cracked to allow light in. Carefully he crept across the hall to his and Hermione's bedroom, hoping she had been able to fall asleep. But, to Ron's surprise, Hermione was sitting up in bed reading, the bottom side of the hardcover resting on her belly.
"Did you get her to eat?" Hermione put her bookmark in place and sat it on the night stand.
"Most of it," he answered as he slipped his shoes off and sat next to her on the bed. Slipping an arm around her shoulder, he pulled her so that her head was resting on his chest and one of her arms wound around his waist. "Now, its time for you to take a nap. From what I saw, it doesn't look like you've been able to get much relaxation time in."
"Take one with me. Rose isn't the only one that's been missing her daddy," Hermione pointed out as she snuggled deeper into her husband's chest.
"Alright," he agreed, tired from all the overtime at work. It wasn't long before all three Weasley's were busy taking their naps, dreaming of when there would be no more overtime at the ministry, no having to worry if they were going to lose the baby, when Ron would always have time to just spend the day with his two girls and the new baby.