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Chapter 36

A week or two later it had been pretty quiet as Mom and Dad decided to take Harmione on vacation. They wanted to take her camping and then to an amusement park. We knew she'd be safe and bond heavily with my parents. She'd be starting back to school soon; I wanted her to enjoy her summer break but more importantly I wanted her to enjoy being a kid. Since I found the Omnitrix, I had to grow up pretty fast. I didn't want that kind of life for her, especially after everything that's already happened.

Hope and I contiued with our jobs, going back and forth between them and the house; trying to earn and save as much as possible. It seemed peaceful for a while; and for lack of a better word: normal. We sat watching TV for a little bit, enjoying each other's company. She smiled at me and took my hand in hers. I gave it a gentle squeeze and kissed the side of her head.

"Ben?"

"Yeah, what's up?"

"I love you."

"I love you too."

We kissed. I patted her knee and stood up.

"I'm gonna get me a soda, you want something?"

She shook her head. "No thanks."

"Okay." I got up to leave and she spoke out:

"I've missed my period."

I turned.

"Really?" In that moment I don't know why but tears came to my eyes. She nodded and tears came to her eyes too. I quickly ran over to her hugging her.

"Are you..."

"I don't know, I need to take another test to find out."

Hope prepared another test strip and took a seat in the bathroom floor next to me.

"How long do we-"

"The box said 5 to 8 minutes max for a more accurate result..."

I sighed heavily and leaned my head back on the wall. We sat in utter silence. The air was deathly still. I was ecstatic for us and I didn't even know the true results yet. Hope acted differently. She was so anxious her hands trembled frantically. I slowly reached for one of them and interlocked my fingers with hers. She didn't look at me. Gently, she let go and got to her feet. She acted as if she didn't want me there. I watched as she paced about the bathroom floor with her hands on her hips. She licked her lips and rubbed her hands together.

"Hope..."

"What does it say?!" She shouted. I got to my feet and stroked her shoulders.

"Easy...it's not time yet...Relax."

I kissed her forehead. She closed her eyes against the kiss. I held onto her as the minutes passed. She then walked over to the sink to look at the test. She let out a whimper and turned away.

"Okay I can't...look for me Ben please...one pink line for no...two for yes...please just look."

I walked over to the test and picked it up. I stared long and hard at it then turned my attention to Hope. I only smiled and she teared up.

"We're gonna have a new baby?" She asked through a lining of tears gleaming in her eyes. I just hugged her. She sobbed softly and took the test from me to see the truth for herself. Her smile was bright but her salty tears still ran down her face and she trembled more. She placed her fingers on her lips to hold back her uncontrollable sobs. I hugged her tightly and swayed with her. She cried loudly into my chest. I began to cry too. I hid my face into the top of her head and balled. Though these were not tears of sadness. We were going to go on living, and give a new baby a "charmed" life.

By the time August arrived Harmione was actually ready to go back to school. One thing about her, is that she loves to learn. We still didn't tell her about the miscarriage. I thought it would be better to tell her when she was older, if we decided to tell her at all.

With Hope's new pregnancy, we got to experience things as a couple we couldn't with Harmione, due to the unfortunate cirumstances that happened before her birth. Hope and I take everything in, and we're grateful for it. Understandably, Hope's even grateful for the morning sickness.

I mean she was until she couldn't get it to stop. She vomits at least once every 15 minutes for an hour each morning. She's been so ill, she's had to miss work. I take Harmione to and from school each day.

She's in the 1st grade this year. Her new teacher Mrs. Miller isn't as bubbly as Ms. Brunner. Might take Harmione a little bit to get to know her better. I'm confident though that she'll be alright.

While Hope was bathing, one night, I decided to talk to Harmione about school; and life in general and she opened up to me in a way I didn't think she ever would.

"Hey baby what's going on?" I asked casually as I entered her room. She was sitting on her bed, crying. I closed the door behind me and sat on the bed next to her.

"What's going on baby?" I asked again. This time with great concern. "Come here."

I slowly put her in my lap. She hyperventilated a little and coughed. Her face was red and tear stained. It seemed she had been crying for a while but only began to sob louder upon my entry. I pulled her long brown hair behind her ear and stroked her back.

"I don't want to be a big sister." She blubbered.

"Why not sweetie...you were so happy before."

She drew in a few breaths and coughed again.

"Hey...ssh it's alright."

"I...want a brother or sister but I don't want to be older than them." She sobbed. It was a little hard to make out the sentence but I got it.

"I thought you were so excited to be a big sister, Har?"

She sobbed again and her fingers trembled up to her mouth and she tried to silence herself.

"I'm scared!"

I wrapped my arms around her.

"When the bad guys come...i don't want to protect the baby with my powwwers!"

Snot ran down her nose over her lip. I used the top of my hand and my thumb to wipe it and her tears away.

"You won't have too...Mommy and I will use our powers to protect you both...nothing's going to happen to you or your new brother or sister...okay I promise."

She shook and more tears came to her eyes.

"Okay?" I questioned again. She nodded and I hugged her tightly. She sat up and wrapped her arms around my neck and squeezed. Her small frame making up maybe half of my shoulder blade. She was still so little. So innocent. And yet...so damaged. Just like Hope was those years ago. Harmione slowly began to calm down, but continued to sniffle. I just rubbed her back.

"I love you Harmione."

"I love you too Daddy."

Hope was now about 13 weeks into her pregnancy, and our doctor told us that it's possible in another 3 to 4 weeks we would be able to know the gender of our baby; if we wanted to know I mean. Then in another 3 to 4 weeks they could get a clear picture of our baby on the ultrasound. Hope and I discussed names, and even took some family maturity pictures we didn't get to take with Harmione. Probably one of the best things about having the photos taken is having Harmione there with us.

I felt it would benefit Harmione more than it would us. Her involvement in this pregnancy is something we want Harmione to remember. She'll always be our first baby, and while I might be a little biased; she's my baby girl. After telling Hope all about Harmione being upset; Hope did all she could to start Harmione's advanced magic training.

Having Harmione mentally, physically, and emotionally prepared for the new baby is all that concerns us right now.