"Harry, what is James trying to do?" Ron frowned, watching his nephew worm around on the floor near all of his toys.
"He's been trying to sit up by himself for the past few days," Harry chuckled. "He's nearly got it; watch."
After a few seconds, James had managed to get halfway into a sitting position before tumbling back onto his back, laughing hysterically.
"He can do that for hours," Harry grinned.
"Won't be long before he's up and walking on his own, getting into everything around here," Ron smirked.
"I know," Harry sighed. "He already gets into enough stuff as it is."
"What are you two doing in here?" Ginny asked, coming into the living room with Hermione.
"Watching James try to sit up on his own," Ron replied. "It's pretty funny."
"I bet you he gets it by the end of the week," Ginny said, smiling at Harry.
Spotting Hermione, James held his arms out, cooing happily.
"He adores you," Ron commented as his wife immediately picked him up.
"Yeah, he really does," Harry nodded.
"Well I adore him as well," Hermione smiled, ticking James' stomach.
"Are you okay to watch James by yourself tonight, by the way?" Ginny asked Harry. "Hermione and I were going to go and get tea with Luna."
"Sure," Harry nodded. "Have fun."
"We should probably get going then," Ginny said, turning to Hermione.
"Oh, right," Hermione said, gently handing James off to Harry, rustling his dark hair affectionately.
"I'll see you at home, Ron," she said, giving him a short kiss. "Bye, Harry."
"Bye, Jamie, be a good boy for daddy and Uncle Ron," Ginny said, kissing her son.
"Are you going to be hanging around here tonight then?" Harry asked as Hermione and Ginny disapperated. "James should fall asleep within an hour or so. We can play a round of chess or something then."
"Fine, although I've got to say, mate, you've only gotten more and more pathetic at chess over the years," Ron pointed out. "You're nearly as bad as Hermione now."
"Thanks," Harry grinned. Just then James began to fuss in Harry's arms.
"Do you think he hurt himself when he was trying to sit up a few minutes ago?" Ron asked, concerned.
"No, he's just hungry," Harry said, getting to his feet and handing James off to Ron. "Watch him a second, will you? I'll go get him a bottle."
Ron stared down at his nephew, who had calmed down slightly.
"I know, it's not a good feeling, being hungry, is it?" Ron said.
James let out a series of incoherent babbles, causing Ron to chuckle.
"I'll take that as a no," Ron said.
"Alright, here you are, James," Harry said, returning with a bottle.
James face lit up at the sight of his dinner, letting out a happy sigh as Harry began to feed him.
"I can't believe he's been here four months already," Ron commented.
"I know," Harry nodded.
Ron thought for a moment. "Can I ask you something?"
"What?" Harry asked.
"Well…when did you and Ginny decide to have him?" Ron asked.
"Er, truth be told, we didn't exactly plan to have him," Harry admitted slowly.
"Thought the two of you always wanted kids?" Ron frowned.
"We did," Harry said quickly. "But the plan was to wait for Ginny to play at least another few years on the Harpies. But um, that-that sort of didn't happen."
"Right," Ron nodded, clearing his throat.
"Why are you asking about that?" Harry questioned.
"Well, I, um, I sort of think I'm ready to, you know, have kids of my own," Ron said.
"Really? Well that's great news," Harry said.
"The thing is, though, I haven't exactly brought this up to Hermione," Ron said.
"Why not?" Harry asked. "Does she not want kids?"
"She's mentioned a few times," Ron shrugged. "But we haven't ever sat down and seriously discussed it."
"Ah," Harry nodded, gently removing the bottle from James' mouth. "Well, you know, she will be playing a rather big part in you two having kids…You should probably mention that you're ready so she at least knows."
"Fair point," Ron agreed. "I suppose I wouldn't mind waiting if that's what she wants. She did just get that promotion at work."
"Just put it out there on the table," Harry said, burping James.
"Yeah…" Ron said. "You know, Hermione wanted us to go to dinner tomorrow night. Said she wanted us to have a nice night together…suppose I could bring it up then."
"There you go," Harry said. "Now then, if you're planning on having kids, you should probably start getting more practice dealing with them, and it just so happens that it smells like James needs a diaper change-"
"Nice try," Ron told him.
…..
That evening, as Ron sat on his and Hermione's bed, he kept thinking about the prospect of being a father. To raise a child with Hermione…well, he could think of nothing he wanted more in the world.
"Luna and Rolf are planning on having their wedding in Spain, you know?" Hermione said, coming out of the adjoining bathroom and settling down on the couple's bed. "Won't that be nice? I've always wanted to go, and now we'll have a reason."
"Yes, but why Spain?" Ron asked.
"There's a beautiful ranch there that apparently has a large population of Frackle-Frogs," Hermione said.
"Er, what?"
"No clue," Hermione sighed. "So, did you and Harry have a good night?"
"Yeah," Ron said. "Hey, you know James did the funniest thing while Harry was giving him a bath. Every time Harry would go to try and wash his hair, the little guy would throw big balls of soap suds right at Harry's face…it was great."
"He's such an adorable baby," Hermione smiled.
Ron nodded. Suddenly, he no longer wanted to wait even one more night to talk to Hermione about starting a family of their own.
"Hermione," Ron said. "I-I'd like to talk to you about something…Something important."
"Is everything alright?" Hermione frowned.
"Yes, it's not anything bad," Ron said quickly. "It's just…Okay look, I know we haven't exactly formally discussed this, but-but well I-I think I'm ready to start trying to have kids of our own."
Hermione blinked, clearly caught off guard. "You-You are?"
"I understand if you want to wait," Ron said quickly. "You're doing so well at the Ministry, I get that. But I just wanted to let you know how-how I feel."
"Oh," Hermione said, still looking rattled. "Well…Ron, the thing is…we're really not going to be able to try for a baby right now."
"Right," Ron nodded, trying not to look too disappointed. "Because you want to wait a bit longer. That's alright, I-"
"Ron…actually, that's not it," Hermione said. "Waiting isn't the issue here."
"But…I thought you wanted children," Ron said slowly. "I thought-"
"I do want children," Hermione said quickly. "I mean…we can't try to have a baby right now because, well…we've already succeeded."
Ron gave a confused look. "What do you mean?"
"I mean," Hermione said, a huge smile appearing on her face. "I'm pregnant, Ron. We're going to have a baby."
Ron looked as though he was hit in the face with a bludger. "You-You-Bloody hell!"
He threw his arms around Hermione, kissing her senseless.
"I thought I might be," Hermione said, positively beaming when Ron pulled away from her. "I went down to the muggle pharmacy this morning and bought one of their tests and took it…it came back positive! I was going to tell you tomorrow night, that's why I wanted us to have a romantic night. We're going to be parents Ron!"
"I can't believe it," Ron said, his cheeks beginning to hurt from smiling. "We-We'll have our child. We-Come here."
He pulled her back into his arms, pressing more kisses to her lips. "I love you so much…"
He gently placed a hand on Hermione's stomach, and leaned down and pressed a kiss there as well. "Both of you."
