CHAPTER THIRTY FIVE
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June 21st 2006
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A month before Arty's birthday exactly, was the day that Hermione had been dreading. Ginny, knowing that Hermione and Charlie would enjoy the night to themselves, had insisted that he stay with her and Harry the night before and Charlie had just left to go and pick him up, leaving Hermione to prepare to tell their son that he was going to be an older brother. She had prepared a kind of kit, with a copy of their scan, a t-shirt that declared him the world's best big brother and some books about having having a new sibling, which would hopefully ease the process of telling him their news. She sighed as the floo chimed and fixed a smile on her face as Arty came bounding out of the floo, running straight at her!
"Mummy!" He shrieked, grinning from ear to ear as he clung tightly to her neck and Hermione chuckled as she swung him from side to side.
"Hello, my little love," she laughed, setting him down on the floor and smiling at Charlie as he stepped out of the fireplace, "how was Aunty Ginny's?"
"Aunty Ginny let me help with Albuses bath and I read him a bedtime story!" He said excitedly and Hermione looked up at Charlie who was grinning, "and Uncle Harry said that one day, I would be the best big brother in the whoooole wide world, because I did such an amazing job."
Hermione was in awe of how simply her best friends had managed to introduce the idea of a new baby to Arty, and decided that they were absolute geniuses when it came to dealing with children and she definitely needed to thank them in some way for being so wonderful. Not only had they now planted the idea in Arty's head but, somehow, they had managed to get him excited about it, too! Charlie obviously agreed with her, because when she rose her eyebrow at him, he chuckled and shrugged, before coming to sit on the sofa and pulling Arty with him.
"And what do you think of that idea, buddy?" He asked as Hermione sat down, both watching their son's face scrunch up as he thought.
"I wouldn't mind," he said eventually, his eyes widening slightly, "as long as I don't have to share my room!"
"Well, how would you feel if you were to have a little brother and sister very soon?" Charlie asked and Hermione bit her lip, nervous.
"Very soon like my birthday?" Arty gasped and Hermione chuckled, shaking her head.
"No, my little love, not that soon," she grinned, ruffling his hair, "probably more around Christmas time."
"Do I have to share my room?" He asked and Hermione looked up at Charlie who sighed, looking around the flat that they both loved.
"That's a discussion for another day, buddy," he said diplomatically and Arty nodded, though he frowned, "for now though, we're trying to tell you that mummy is growing your little brother and sister right now, in her tummy."
"You are?!" Arty gasped, looking at Hermione wide eyed who smiled nervously as she nodded, "so I will have a baby brother by Christmas?"
"Or a sister," Hermione nodded, reaching behind the sofa and pulling the gift bag out, handing it to Arty, who frowned as he pulled out the wizarding scan picture, "look, this is your little brother or sister, moving around inside my tummy."
"So he's in there," Arty said, poking Hermione in the tummy, "right now?"
"Yep." Hermione chuckled, poking him back and smiling as Arty threw his arms around his mum and hugged her around the belly.
"Hello little baby," Arty whispered and Hermione looked up at Charlie, wide eyed and tearful, "please be a brother, because girls are yucky."
Hermione burst out laughing as Arty squeezed her again and asked to go and play in his room, taking his little bag of gifts with him as Hermione stared after him, sniffling. She felt Charlie shuffle closer to her on the sofa and pull her into a hug, allowing him to rest her head on his chest as one of his hands rested on her stomach. She reminded herself that she needed to thank Harry and Ginny for being so good with kids and putting the idea into his head, allowing him to get used to the idea without even knowing he was.
"And you thought he'd react badly," Charlie snorted and Hermione slapped him on the chest, laughing as she pulled away, "Ginny said he was really happy to help with Albus last night, so we shouldn't worry about how he will be with his brother or sister."
"He seems pretty convinced that this one will be another boy," she said, grinning as she rested her hand on top of his where it laid on her stomach, "I mean, as you heard, girls are yucky."
"Yeah, but that doesn't seem to bother him a bit when Victoire is around," Charlie laughed, laying his head on the back of the sofa, "how are you feeling?"
"Hungry," she laughed, "so far this pregnancy is almost identical to what I experienced when I was carrying Arty."
"Almost?"
"Well, the main craving I had when I was pregnant with Arty was McDonald's fries dipped in ice cream. This time, it is something that any normal person would find so much more revolting." She chuckled and Charlie groaned, turning to face her with his eyebrow raised.
"Do I even want to know?" He asked and Hermione shook her head, very sure that he probably didn't.
"But you need to, because I'm about to send you out to buy it," she laughed, shoving him in the side when he rolled his eyes, "I need gherkins and custard, please."
"Wait what?" He gasped, frowning at her, "you can't be serious, those two foods shouldn't be a within a mile of each other!"
"Hey!" She giggled, looking up at him as he jumped up, "this is just what your child is demanding. It's not my fault that your genes include bizarre food tastes!"
"Oh yeah, my genes," he snorted, shaking his head as he headed to Arty's room to see if he wanted to join him on his very odd shopping excursion, "it's got nothing to do with it's mum enjoying chocolate and cheese in the same mouthful!"
"That's a perfectly normal combination!" She shouted.
Hermione grinned, lifting her shirt to stroke the skin of her belly and enjoying the tightness of the skin there. Being so petite and thin usually, her belly was very obviously rounded even at such an early stage of her pregnancy. She had quite forgotten how much she enjoyed the simple pleasure of running her hands up down the taught skin and was looking forward to the further stages when they would be able to see her stomach move as their child repositioned itself or kicked it's legs. She was also very much looking forward to being able to call the baby something other than 'it'. There were already name ideas floating around in her head, though the final choice would be left to Arty as she and Charlie had agreed.
She waved goodbye to Charlie and Arty, who informed her that his dad had promised him ice cream if he joined him for his errand, for which Hermione was secretly pleased as it would give her the opportunity to take a long soak in a warm bath, to try and relax her back muscles. As she lay in the water, her eyes closed and her mind drifting, she realised that Arty's determination not to share his bedroom meant that they would need somewhere bigger to live, meaning that they would have to move. Making a mental note to discuss possibly moving to a house, maybe in Hogsmeade, Hermione relaxed in the water until she heard Arty's shouting voice re-enter the flat.