Disclaimer: cover photo property WB, characters and world in this story property Jo Rowling. In short: it's not mine, and I do not claim it to be.

A/N: so I thought this was just going to be a one shot, but I got this character prompt and I got a great idea to keep the continuity and I'm very excited. Plus, who doesn't love babies? Massive fluff/cliché ahead; be prepared. Also, I never realized I gave a year to this. Also, it just occurred to me that for the record, all the dialogue in this one and the one shot before it is in Polish. But uh, I don't know Polish. So here, enjoy, lol.

(you can skip to the story now :P ) Written for:

Tien Len comp: rnd 2: ace of hearts: Josef Wronski, peach, "I wouldn't trade it for the world.", "There's a lit cigarette in the hand of my new angel. She's blowing smoke like halos."- Evans Blue 'Beg'; wizard sweets challenge: chocolate frog: write about someone on a chocolate frog card; Title acrostics comp: chp 3: M: action prompt- meeting someone new; Ffn terms comp: Drabble: write about something unexpected; test limits comp: rnd 5: prompts- genre: family, word: bitter, word: plethora;


Multiplied

Moaning aloud, Josef Wronksi could not recall a time in his entire life when he had been so nervous. Not in his first game at Durmstrang, not in the Goblins tryout, not before he made the Polish national team, and he couldn't remember a professional game that had caused this level of anxiety.

Because the woman he loved more than anything in the world was lying on the bed beside him, comforted by a plethora of pillows, screaming until she was hoarse, and gripping his hand as if life depended on it. Natalia cried out every time the contractions came, and in between all she could do was cry. Her suffering and the fact that he could do nothing to stop it made him bitter beyond relief. Nat's parents were outside in the waiting room, begging to be let in but the receptionist had said no, it was simply policy.

But the matter most pressing to Josef at the moment was that there were no Healers here yet. He knew that couldn't be right. His wife was sobbing and screaming for help, and no one was coming. Josef recalled the conversation he had with his wife's Healer, a woman around the age of Nat's parents (until now, that he had always liked), from hours earlier with crystal clarity. It was one he had immediately after the Healer had sent Nat into the Hospital Room with no attention at all:

"But, Healer Morgan! She- she looks ready to burst! My wife is about to have a baby, and you're going to go trouncing across the Hospital?" Josef waved his arms around maniacally, trying to convey the crisis of the situation Morgan was clearly ignoring."

"Mister Wronski," Morgan began, in a very condescending tone if Josef did say so himself, "I'm sure it may look to you as if we are ignoring your wife's health. Trust me, the health and safety of all our patients is our number one priority. However, Mister Wronski, you do not know anything about babies, or pregnancy, or birth. Your wife has hours, possibly a day of labor ahead of her. Her water only just broke. And in the meantime, I have babies to deliver. Your wife is not my only patient, and this Hospital does not revolve around her."

"But-" Josef continued indignantly, understanding what she was saying but not thinking clearly in his frustration and worry.

With one scathing look reminiscent of his mother-in-law, that silenced him completely, Healer Morgan then turned on her heel and strode briskly away.

And Josef had no bloody idea why. He had repeatedly requested answers, and he had no doubt if the walls were not soundproofed with magic for the sake of the other patients his angry, loud demands could be heard through the halls. He knew there wasn't an emergency, but that she was being closely monitored lead him to believe they were hiding something from him and if there was anything Josef hated, more than anything else, it was secrets.

The mediwitch was the only one supplying him with some sort of support. She repeatedly whispered soothing words to Natalia, and although Josef was trying, Nat had explained to him some months ago that normally, witches become very close with the woman and Healer who is to birth the child. However, Healer Morgan's normal nurse was not this woman, for Natalia's regular mediwitch was sick. The poor woman was probably getting tired of him; Josef had repeatedly yelled at her to get the Healers in here, not thinking straight and regretting his harsh tone but not apologizing in his clouded judgement.

Not that he was arrogant, or liked to exploit his fame, and he knew if his wife wasn't in labor he wouldn't be thinking like this, but now, all he could think of was how he hated that Saint Mungo's put everyone on the same level. In other corners of the Hospital, there were Aurors near death, woman giving birth, men and women struggling to hold onto their memories. Compared to them, Nat's labor wasn't a pressing issue. And he knew Morgan knew what she was doing, and he knew his son would be okay. It was just all very scary.

Another one of Natalia's screams knocked him from his trance, and his heart broke as she squeezed his hand with all her might.

"Can you please bring Morgan in now?" he asked the mediwitch, desperation clear in his voice. The mediwitch could clearly see the pain he was enduring, and her hard look softened, moving to check if the baby was ready to be born. When she shook her head, Josef sighed angrily.

"I'm sorry Mr. Wronski, she's just not ready yet."

"How do you know?!" he cried, the frustration pushing him over the edge. Before she could respond, he implored, "Can't you make the pain go away?"

"I'm sorry, Sir, but only if there are complications do we go against the wife's wishes. Mrs. Wronski requested a natural birth. We can give her a potion if we feel birthing the twins is too difficult."

"But she doesn't want that anymore! Look at her! Can't I, as her husband, make-" and then, Josef froze. A moment silence passed in the Hospital Room, as Nat's contraction ended. "Twins?"

When the mediwitch raised her eyebrows, as if this was an obvious fact, the fact that he was having two children missed him for the past six months of appointments, as if this wasn't a big deal and as if he should know this, Josef Wronski almost fainted.

Almost.

"Excuse me?!" said Natalia and Josef together.

This new mediwitch, who had not been there for their other appointments from the past nine months, frowned, creasing her brow, and moved to check the parchment records. She looked down into her folder, and then back up at the pair, and nodded, confirming that indeed, "Yes, twins. That's what I have written here, and that's what we confirmed when you came in."

"The spell you cast made my stomach turn blue, for a boy. I didn't see anything about two of them!"

"We have not developed a spell to show you physically through the stomach. Casting a see-through charm on a living, breathing individual can have harmful effects to the babies. But yes, you're having twins. Twin boys. I have not been here for your other appointments, but your regular mediwitch is one of my closest friends. She specifically wished me luck today, and wanted to pass on the message to Natalia to not panic, for she knew the babies would be safe."

"But- babies?" Josef stammered. "She never said anything about twins. We've done so many spell and potion tests these past months- how did we not know this?"

"I'm-," the mediwitch stuttered, at a loss for words, "I'm sorry Sir, but there are definitely twin boys in that stomach. I'm not quite sure how you missed it. Perhaps in the earlier appointments, but we have been known to make accurate results since halfway through the second trimester. I promise you, I know what I'm talking about."

"Nat," he tried to calm himself and turned to speak to his wife, "how could we have missed this?"

"I- I don't know! Maybe the records were confused?"

"I don't mean to interrupt, but your mediwitch also has another pregnant patient, due in a month. Her name is Natalie Rollins, and she is expecting a boy. Perhaps she had the two of you confused in a few appointments?"

And then there was silence, because no one knew what to say.

Finally, Natalia spoke up. "I guess- I guess we're having two boys. Are you okay, Josef?"

"Just peachy," he replied sarcastically, then grew serious: "Nat, we have a nursery especially designed for one little boy, and toys and food and diapers for one little boy for the next year. This is so much! I was nervous about raising the one, Merlin knows my father was awful. Twins? That's two babies, together at once. What if-"

"Josef," she said quietly, squeezing his hand, and meeting his eyes. They were filled with love. "We're going to be okay, all right? Everything's going to be just fine. Darling, listen to me. You are going to be an incredible father, and these boys are going to be just as incredible as you are. If anyone should be nervous, it should be me. But you made it okay all those months ago. I was scared, but you were there. This is me, here for you. I'm right here. You're going to be amazing." Just as she finished, she cried out again, another contraction coming.

The mediwitch rushed to check, and then waved her wand in a circular motion, notifying Healer Morgan. "It's time," she said firmly.

Josef placed a sweet kiss on Natalia's forehead. "I'm right here."

In the middle of a blizzard, at precisely two o clock in the morning, on December 28th, 1969, two beautiful babies were born to Josef and Natalia Wronksi. The first was named Aleks Dominik, for both parents loved the name and the middle was in recognition of Josef's grandfather. The second was named Nikolas Gregor, the given name being the parents' second favorite and the middle name for Natalia's father. "I wouldn't trade them for the world," Natalia whispered.

"Neither would I," he said immediately.

And with his twins sleeping soundly, cradled between Natalia and himself on the hospital bed, with snow swirling outside their window and moonlight shining through, this was the family he never had. Josef Wronski could not recall a time in his entire life when he had been so happy.


I actually really like how that turned out. Please let me know your thoughts! I love to hear them.