Weeks passed and Hermione recovered. The cast was removed from her wrist and her parents stored it in the attic as a memoir.
Weeks turned into months and nothing changed. The baby continued to grow healthier and healthier. Hermione kept asking if the baby was okay and her parents always told her yes.
Mrs. Granger reached 7 months and the baby was healthy. Hermione of course, still asked. She wanted to make sure that her mother wasn't going back on her word that Hermione truly was getting a baby brother or sister.
One night half way through her 7th month, Mrs. Granger and Mr. Granger were lying in bed trying to catch up on some sleep they had missed. It was a Saturday night and Hermione had gone to bed early. Mrs. Granger opened her eyes suddenly, feeling as if something was wrong. Then she realized that she was going into labor.
"Oh my gosh, how can this be happening? There's still two months left. I can't be going into premature labor," she told herself out loud, panicking.
Mr. Granger woke with a start to his wife's worried voice. "What's wrong, honey?"
"I'm going into labor!" she almost screamed, catching herself as she remembered that Hermione was still asleep down the hall.
"But that's impossible," he exclaimed. "You still have two months left. You can't be going into labor!"
"I know, but I am!" She got out of bed and walked to the bathroom. Her water had already broken. She walked back out where Mr. Granger had already packed a suitcase. They proceeded down the hall where Mr. Granger picked up Hermione out of her bed. They walked down the stairs and out the front door.
"It's too late to call her grandparents. That was our plan," Mrs. Granger said as they pulled out of the driveway.
"Isn't there someone we can call? Couldn't we call my parents and leave a message for them to come get her from the hospital in the morning?" Mr. Granger suggested. They whispered back and forth different plans, but by the time they reached the hospital they had decided to use Mr. Granger's original plan.
The couple rushed into the hospital as fast as they could considering that Mr. Granger was carrying Hermione and Mrs. Granger was pregnant.
"Good evening. What's the emergency?" the receptionist asked.
"My wife is going into premature labor," Mr. Granger told her as calmly as he could.
"How many months premature?"
"About 1 and ½ months. She's 7 ½ months pregnant."
"I'll get her a wheelchair and then you can fill out the paperwork." The receptionist went to the back and removed a wheelchair from the line. She waited patiently as Mrs. Granger slowly sat into it. She then turned the chair so that Mr. Granger could hold the handles. "If you'll wheel her up to the maternity ward, they have a childcare center up there for your daughter. You may use the elevator over there," she said, pointing to the patient and visitor elevators in the corner.
"Thank you." The family walked over to the elevators and Mrs. Granger pressed the button to go up and the elevator doors opened. They walked through the sliding doors and Mrs. Granger pressed the button for the floor of the maternity ward.
After what seemed like forever to the Grangers, the elevator stopped and the doors slid open. The family walked out of the elevator and over to the nurse's station and receptionist desk.
"Ah, Mrs. Granger," a doctor said as she walked down the hallway. "What are you doing here so late at night? It's not good to have little Hermione out this late, or for you yourself to be out this late as pregnant as you are."
"I'm in labor."
"What? That's impossible. You've still got 1 ½ months left," the doctor said, the smile sliding off of her face.
"We know. My water already broke though," Mrs. Granger said, the panic echoing in her voice.
"Okay, Mrs. Granger. We'll get you checked in right now. Just don't get stressed out. It's not good for you or the baby and could cause complications."
Mr. Granger left his wife with the doctor to talk and check in and walked over to the nursery that the emergency receptionist had mentioned. He walked in and was relieved to find other children playing with the toys and several adults and teenage volunteers still on duty. One of the adults, a young woman around his wife's age, noticed the two first and walked over to greet them.
"Good evening. How are you?" she asked politely.
"I'm fine. My wife is in labor right now and I was wondering if I could leave my daughter here," Mr. Granger replied as calmly as he could.
"Of course you may. This is a childcare center, after all. What's her name?"
"This is Hermione. She's four. We had to get her out of bed with out waking her because my wife went into premature labor and we were totally unprepared. Her grandparents should be here in the morning to get her, but for now…" his voice trailed off as he looked at his deep-sleeping daughter.
"Wonderful. I will need you to wake her up, if that's possible. How long has she been asleep?"
"Well, she went to bed around 7. So I guess she's been asleep a good four hours. She should be fine to wake up. Like I said, her grandparents should be here as soon as they wake up and get the message on the answering machine and she can sleep then. I'll wake her up now."
He gently removed his right hand from around his daughter, being careful as to not drop her. He gently shook her should and she lifted her head.
"What is it Daddy?" she asked, yawning. "I'm still tired."
"I know you are sweetheart. But Mummy is having the baby."
"She is?"
"Yes honey. But I need you to be a good girl and stay here. You get to play with all these nice boys and girls. And I need you to promise me that you won't fall asleep until Grandma and Grandpa Granger get here. Can you do that for Mummy and Daddy?"
"Yes Daddy. When Gamma and Gandpa get here can I go back to sleep?" she asked, her words slurring and her 'r's getting dropped in her sleepiness.
"Of course honey."
"Okay Daddy. Can I see my new baby sister or brother in the morning?"
"Whenever it's born, of course."
Hermione slid down from his should and onto the floor. She stood for a moment and then walked over to where a couple of girls around her age were playing with building blocks.
"Sir, I need you to fill this sheet out. Just put you and your wife's names, phone number, daughter's age and name, and the name and relation of the person who will be picking her up," the woman said, handing Mr. Granger the information sheet.
He filled out the sheet and handed it back. He then walked over to the rug where his daughter was. He bent down and kissed her on the cheek. Mr. Granger then walked out the door quietly and down to where his wife was still speaking with the doctor.
It was a long chapter, I know. 2 pages on Word. So enjoy. I expect reviews if you want to find out what happens to the Grangers and their baby!
