That Little Extra Push

Chapter Six: Ron

Hermione Granger Weasley sat on the floor in a freshly painted yellow room, surrounded by dark pieces of wood scattered about the floor. She faintly heard the front door open and close before her husband yelled, "Hermione! I'm home…Hermione?"

"I'm in the nursery," she answered softly. Ron's footsteps thundered down the hall. He poked his head in the doorway and found his wife sprawled out in the center of the room clutching her swollen stomach.

"Hermione! What's wrong? Is everything alright? The baby! Is she alright?" he cried frantically, kneeling down to touch whatever part of Hermione he could reach. Despite her assurances that everything was fine with her and the baby, he knew otherwise. "I know bloody well that everything is not fine. You've been crying." He caught his first glimpse of the room's state. "And what is all this mess?"

Hermione huffed. "It's the crib. I was trying to put it together…to surprise you when you got home, but I can't because my enormous belly keeps getting in the way." She started to cry again and leaned against Ron's shoulders.

"Well…why didn't you just use magic?" Ron put his arms around her and squeezed.

Hermione hugged herself, looking down as if ashamed. "I w-w-wanted to put it together the Muggle way, you know? I thought that if I could, then you would be proud of me…that the baby would be proud of me. I've never known a pregnant woman to put together a crib before, especially a woman who is eight and a half months along." She sniffed and began to pick at her rapidly growing fingernails.

Ron smiled, "Hermione, I appreciate the gesture, really I do, but you know I told you I would put it together as soon as I got home. If you wanted to surprise me, you should have called Harry and Ginny to help. I wouldn't have even known."

"No!" Hermione looked up at her husband with huge, angry eyes, "This is for our baby! I shouldn't have to ask for help to take care of our baby. If I can't do this…" She was interrupted by a loud guffaw from Ron. She hit him on the arm, "This is NOT funny Ronald Bilius Weasley! What if I can't do this?" Her voice got quiet, "I'm good at almost everything. What if I'm not a good mother? What if-"

Ron's laughter abruptly subsided, "Don't talk like that, Hermione! You're bloody brilliant, you are! Of course you are going to be a perfect mother. You may think you have no clue right now, but as soon as our daughter is born, you are going to figure this parenting thing out beautifully, just like everything else you do. Besides, you have read about every wizarding and Muggle parenting book there is." He heard Hermione's sobs begin to slow.

"Thank you, Ron. You're right, I-uh-we will figure this out together." She smiled up at her husband and let him help her off the ground. "You know, I don't understand why you keep insisting this baby is a girl. It feels more like a boy."

Ron put his long arms around her and kissed the top of her head before insisting, "Our daughter is going to be the luckiest child in the world. Now, why don't you go start lunch, and I'll go ahead and finish up in here. We'll just tell everyone you put the crib together all by yourself the Muggle way. 'S not like they'll notice the difference anyway."

Hermione nodded. Pulling Ron's face down to meet hers, she thanked him silently before waddling out of the room to go make some sandwiches. Ron's gaze lingered in the direction she went for several seconds. "And I'm the luckiest bloke in the world," he whispered after her. He then got to work.

Ten minutes later, Hermione came back with a tray full of sandwiches and two glasses of milk. She found Ron standing over their baby's newly built crib. He turned to take the tray from her, but didn't even have a chance to set it on the table before Hermione let out an unexpected "hmph." A pool of water was suddenly at their feet.

Later that evening, the couple laid in Hermione's bed at St. Mungo's surrounded by their family, their new baby daughter in their arms. There was a long period of silence when Ron leaned in to whisper, "Told you our daughter was the luckiest child in the world. She can already tell she has the best mother." Hermione just smiled to herself.