A/n - shout out to Amber, Bex, and Liza for looking over this for me. I hope you like this, Ash

Holyhead Harpies, Team Captain at your service with my Keeper's NOTP - Romione. Word count is 1016.

"Keep the water in the tub, Rosie," Ron says exasperated.

Hermione watches from behind Ron, snickering softly. He kneels in a puddle of water their daughter managed to get out of the tub. Rose happily ignores him as she splashes. She giggles.

"Come on, time to get out," Ron says.

Rose tears her attention away from her toys to look at Ron with horror. "No!" she exclaims. "More play."

Hermione purses her lips together to prevent her from outright laughing. She shakes her head fondly; Rose loves the water so much that getting her out of the bath is a struggle.

Ron stands up to grab a towel. "I know you want to play more, but it's time to get out. Mummy's going to read your bedtime stories tonight," he coaxes. "You want that, don't you?"

Rose looks in between the water she's sitting in and the towel Ron's holding before she looks up at Hermione. "With the voices?" she asks.

"With the voices," Hermione confirms.

Rose glances back down at the water. "But splash," Rose says.

Ron looks at Hermione with pleading eyes. Hermione's always been able to coax Rose out of the water better and quicker than Ron can. "You can splash tomorrow," Hermione assures her. "With your cousins. Alright?"

Finally satisfied, Rose stands in the tub and allows Ron to wrap her up in the towel. He picks her up easily. He leans down and unplug the tub before he heads towards Rose's room.

Hermione takes her wand off the sink and vanishes the water off the floor. The toys float to their basket next to the tub. She prefers to do household chores like this the Muggle way, but she's so far into the third trimester it's making bending over troublesome.

"Mummy!" Rose calls.

Hermione smiles as she makes her way towards Rose's room. The room isn't too big or too small; they had made sure of that when they bought their house. They had commissioned Dean Thomas to paint the room when they found out they were having a girl, and then again when they found out about their son.

There's a beautiful woodland scene painted on the walls of Rose's room that reminds her of the Forbidden Forest - there are Centaurs and Unicorns around the lake. Hermione had admired Dean's skills when she first seen it and the admiration for it has yet to wear off, years later. For now, she doesn't have time to spare it more than a passing thought.

"Mummy!" Rose cheers when she see her. She gestures to Hermione's stomach. "Baby?"

Hermione sits next to Rose on the bed. "I thought you wanted a story." When Rose just looks up at her with pleading eyes, Hermione smiles. "Of course you can. Remember to be gentle."

Rose smiles brightly at she cuddles up against Hermione, putting her ear against Hermione's large belly. She's quiet for a few moments. Then she pulls away. "I hear him."

Hermione smooths down Rose's still damp hair. "He's probably sleeping. You can listen more tomorrow," Hermione says. "Now did you pick out your story?"

Rose picks up the book from bedside her, showing it to Hermione proudly. Hermione takes it from her. She smiles at the book. It's her copy of The Tales of Beedle the Bard.

Hermione waits until Rose slips further down in her bed. She looks up expectantly at her. Hermione smiles and starts to read.

It takes four stories before Rose falls asleep, two more than normal. Ron offers her a hand and pulls her up. Hermione stands at the door as Ron leans down and presses a kiss to Rose's forehead. He pulls the covers around her. Hermione turns off the light as Ron wraps an arm around her waist.

"Let's go to bed," Ron whispers. "I'll give you a foot massage."

Ron leads her down the hallway towards their bedroom. They quietly change into bed clothes, Hermione slower than Ron. He's waiting on her by the time she gets into bed.

He waits until she get comfortable before he moves down and picks up a swollen foot. She moans in relief as he starts to massage. Her feet ache from the walking she's done today. When she looks at him, he's smirking at her. "Like you wouldn't do the same in my position!" she tells him. "I haven't had the chance to ask, but how was your day?"

Ron talks about the joke shop and the customers that come in. He smiles as he speaks, but he doesn't stop rubbing her feet. He's been happier since leaving the Aurors to help George.

She masks a grimace as the baby kicks against her ribs. Ron looks up at her with a frown.

"Is he kicking again?" Ron asks worriedly.

Hermione nods. "He's kicking his favorite target: my ribs," she says. She was lucky with Rose; she only kicked Hermione's ribs twice.

Ron moves up from his position at her feet and places a hand on Hermione's stomach. "Hey little guy," he whispers, "Mummy doesn't like it when you kick her ribs. Maybe you could stop that, huh? How does that sound?"

Hermione smiles as Ron talks to her stomach. She never imagined Ron would be this caring when she first got pregnant with Rose. Now, being pregnant with her second, Hermione finds the way Ron makes sure to always talk to the baby endearing.

Ron pulls away. "We don't have too much longer before he's here," he says.

Hermione nods. "I hope he'll be as easy as Rose," she says. "She was such an easy baby."

Ron kisses her. "Whether he's easy or not, we'll figure something out. I'm sure George will be happy to give me all the time I need so that you can go back to work after your leave is over. He'll understand."

Hermione is reminded of why she fell in love with him. She kisses him again. "I love you," she murmurs against his lips.

He pulls away. "I love you too. Get some rest or you'll be tired in the morning."