Chapter Six

The Twins

They looked just like Hermione, and I think everyone was grateful for that. She didn't have to see two mini Ron's every time she looked into her son's eyes and have to visually be reminded of the man who abandoned them all. They had his long nose and ears that poke out a little further then they should, but overall they looked like tiny Hermiones. She named them Hugo Daniel and Hunter David. Their surname she insisted by hyphenated Granger-Weasley.

Ron was there for their birth, his official start date wasn't for another two weeks so he didn't really have an excuse not to be there. He didn't say much to anyone and specifically avoided eye contact with me, but he was there, and although Hermione was still a revolving door of emotions when it came to her ex-husband, she did want them there to see them born. She confided in me that she was afraid he wouldn't come. That he would continue to distance himself from his family and their children would grow up with a very part-time daddy.

Rosie came and stayed with us for a few days after her baby brothers were born, to give Hermione a bit of a break. It was going to be hard enough taking care of two infants plus a rather hyperactive four-year-old mostly by herself so we said we would take her for a bit. Rosie was a sweet girl but she ran around like the energizer bunny. Hermione thought she might have ADHD, so she cut out a lot of sugar from her diet and put her on some sort of supplements. The Healers had suggested a potion, but apparently it has some weird side effects so she decided to try a more natural approach at first.

My strategy, being a more proactive type of guy is to have Rosie and James go out in the back garden, provide them with as many toys and activities as I can, and let their imagination run wild. I get them out there early and bring them in late, that way they won't want to do anything but eat and then fall asleep soon after.

Brilliant! right?

So I am currently sitting in a lounge chair, sipping on a butterbeer, watching the two kids go to town on each other with water guns. I imagine if I had been allowed, my summers growing up could have been quite similar. Dudley was always doing something with his mates, Aunt Petunia tried to keep him out of the house as much as possible. I spent most of what should have been free time cleaning the house or doing yard work.

Taking a deep breath I shook the thought from my head. Like my therapist says, I can't let my past control the joy of my present or future.

"Hey there sexy, can I join you?"

I let out a boisterous laugh as my wife sat down in the lounge chair beside me. "Absolutely, want a butterbeer?" I offered and pulled one from the bucket of ice-cold one on the grass beside me.

"Sure," plopping down beside me she took the better beer and popped the top. "So...Ron left the country, apparently just an hour or so before I arrived." My wife sighed, "He spent two whole days with his baby sons and took a port-key to Brazil. Right in front of Hermione too."

"I thought he didn't start for two weeks?" That was the last I had heard anyway, had something changed?
Ginny just shrugged, "All I got from Hermione was, "He said he had to go." I stayed with her for a couple of hours...I felt bad leaving her but she said her mum was going over in the morning."

My beautiful, sweet wife had been making and bringing meals to Hermione so she and Ron didn't have to worry about cooking and could focus on the twins.

"I honestly don't know what happened to him, Gin." I told my wife. "I don't understand how he could do this. He's always had his moments, but he'd always come around, till now…

My wife swallowed a gulp of butterbeer as she shrugged her shoulders. "Ron's always been a bit selfish, even before he went off to school. He has a very one-sided way of thinking about things. It takes a lot to convince him he's wrong and even then, he usually only relents because either he gets tired of being bothered with it or he was losing something he wanted because of it."

Taking another sip she licked her lips and put the bottle on the grass beside her chair. "Ron has a lot of good qualities, he can be quite funny, very passionate about what's important to him, and most of the time very brave and loyal, but… there's another part to him. He is stubborn as a mule, extremely insecure, and can get very jealous very quickly.

To be completely honest I don't think he ever should have gotten married in the first place...I think he realized this too just a little too late. He'll take care of his kids. He'll make sure financially they are provided for and when he visits he'll be 'the fun one' and they will get whatever they want when they are with him. In the long run, and although I would never say this to Hermione, it's better this way. She would have been miserable being married to Ron for the rest of her life."

Her gaze turned out to the two kids happily soaking each other in water and smiled. "She has 3 beautiful children and maybe one day she will find Mr. Right but Ron… I think, in the long run, everyone is better off with him at a distance."

I could tell her words, no matter how true, hurt to say. No one wants to think of their family like that. Truth is, she's right.

"Well," I said raising my bottle, "Here's to hoping he never knocks-up one of his quidditch groupies."

With a snickered laugh Ginny picked back up her bottle and clanked it with mine. "I'll drink to that!"

Our eyes then turned back to our son and niece who were now building a fort with a bunch of plastic colored blocks. Ginny and I watched them enjoy their care-free time together all afternoon and into the evening. We finally had them come in when the sun went down, but first, we made sure to all have a cold glass of lemonade as we watched the sunset.

I don't think I could have asked for a more perfect summer day.