Hermione paced around the nursery trying to calm her breathing while rubbing concentric circles around her growing pregnant belly, unable to help the feelings that were currently overwhelming her. She wasn't prepared to be a mom, and due to the fact she hadn't had her mother in her life for over ten years, that she would be a horrible one.
Bill was the first one home that day, immediately noticing that his pregnant wife was not napping on the couch like she usually was when he got home. "Hermione, love? Where are you?" he called out.
He was met with silence.
He shrugged off his coat and toed off his shoes – remembering his wife's new rule - something about bacteria on shoes all over the ground and babies not mixing, with a smile.
It was then that his brother tumbled through the floo, shaking the excess soot from his robes and hair.
"Aye, how was work, Bill?" Charlie peeked around Bill expecting to see their wife in her usual napping place and not seeing her there.
"The usual, I was just going to go look for her, reckon she's upstairs?" Bill gestured towards the staircase to their two-story home.
Charlie nodded and shrugged, "Probably decided to nap in bed today."
The men began their ascent up the stairs when they heard the sound of pursed-lip breathing and quiet sobs coming from behind the closed door of the nursery.
Bill rushed in first, opening the door wide for Charlie to follow "Hermione babe, what's going on? Is everything okay?"
The moment that her husbands appeared in her vicinity, she broke down fully, ceasing her pacing and crumbling back into the rocking chair.
Charlie and Bill rushed to her side, twin looks of concern inscribed over their features. Charlie placed his index finger under her chin to pull her head up so he could look in her eyes while Bill tucked his arms under hers from behind, pulling her back into his chest. Charlie pursed his lips as he watched tears pour from his wife's eyes. "Talk to us, love, what is wrong?" Bill whispered, his lips brushing the shell of her ear.
Hermione hung her head again, placing her hands over her face and crying harder. "I can't be a Mum, I don't even have one." The sound was muffled through her hands.
Bill and Charlie exchanged a knowing look. From the time they were children, the two shared unspoken communication between them, similar to that of the twins, and now that they shared a wife, it certainly came in handy.
Charlie pulled Hermione into his arms and lifted her from the chair, her arms automatically looping around his neck as he carried her from the room, bridal style."Come on, love."
Bill followed closely behind and grabbed their son's homecoming outfit from the overnight bag in the corner before following his brother and their wife into the master bedroom.
Charlie placed Hermione gently down into the middle of their bed, cradling her in his arms. "Hermione, you are going to be the best mum to our little love. You are so loving and so caring that it comes naturally to you." Bill cleared his throat, desperately trying to hide the tears that were bubbling to the surface, his own fears rearing their ugly head. "We have prepared for the last eight months, and you, my love, are so ready. We see it." He placed a gentle kiss on her temple, swiping a thumb over her cheek to clear the tears from her face.
"The Healer mentioned that this was a normal feeling when the time is getting close. Just remember in less than a month, our baby boy will be coming home in this." Bill offered his wife the little onesie with the words "Hi, I'm new here" written across the front in a pretty script.
The smile that spread across their wife's face caused both men to sigh in relief. "You're right. Argh! These damned hormones." She wandlessly conjured a handkerchief to wipe her tears and nose, while her husbands watched her intently. She smiled at both of them and then patted her belly, "You can come out anytime little man, we can't wait to meet you!"
Hermione was exhausted. Every time she saw her healer the infernal witch would say, "You are making so much progress! I wouldn't be surprised if you delivered by the end of tomorrow."
That was fine except she had heard that same sentence four times now in the past week and a half. Little man was two weeks late. She had tried everything: Tea, spicy foods, castor oil supplements, bouncing on a yoga ball, even convinced her husbands to take her to bed - several times. Her healer even tried a muggle trick called "stripping the membranes" and the only thing that did was make Hermione feel like her insides were being pinched and jiggled about in a way that made her feel exceptionally queasy. But nothing worked. The kid was not coming out.
She couldn't walk up the stairs without needing a nap. She needed to pee every two hours, sometimes more. She couldn't eat more than five bites before she was full and short of breath. Even her usual 'how was your day' conversation with her husbands would leave her huffing and puffing.
To say she was over her pregnancy would be an understatement.
Little man finally decided that he was ready to make his appearance.
Three weeks late.
Hermione woke up from her restless sleep when a gush of fluid soaked through her pajama bottoms and into the sheets. She tapped both her husbands' shoulders at the same time, "Charlie? Bill? I think it's time, I think my water broke."
Both men roused quickly, flying out of bed and rushing to turn on the lights to check what their wife was saying. Charlie beamed when he saw the wet staining the sheets and realized that his wife was right, "Oh Merlin. Our son is coming!" He quickly pulled his wife into his arms, planting kisses all over her face, from the line of her jaw to the crown of her head before leaning down to place gentle kisses against her belly, murmuring to it, "We can't wait to meet you, son. Try not to give your mum too much trouble. We want to keep her whole."
Hermione chuckled lightly and made a move towards her dresser when the first moderately painful contraction hit. She clutched her stomach trying to breathe through the wave of tightening pain as her healer instructed.
Bill rushed to her side this time, gently rubbing her back and whispering words of encouragement into her ear.
Charlie joined his brother at her other side, "There you are, keep breathing, love."
Hermione felt relief as the tightening in her belly began to loosen. She shimmied into the soft nightgown that she had bought specifically for bringing their son into the world while Bill grabbed her overnight bag. "We should go before I get another contraction."
Charlie ran down the hall to grab the baby bag from their son's room and smiled as he ran his fingers along the rail of the crib that his baby would be sleeping in soon. Warmth spread through his heart.
His son.
Their son.
He ran down the stairs to meet his wife, Bill at her side. "Do we have everything?" he questioned as he reached out to grab Hermione's hand.
Her hand slipped into his and as the next contraction began to tighten, so did her grip on Charlie's hand.
His face contorted with the force.
Bill laughed at his brother, massaging Hermione's back through the contraction. "That's it, love, keep breathing. You're doing so well."
Hermione released Charlie's hand and he shook it violently, hoping to restore blood flow to his digits. "Merlin, you have no idea how much this hurts!"
Hermione raised a brow at her husband as Bill let out a deep belly laugh, "Oh brother, you have a lot to learn. Come on, let's go."
After fourteen long hours and countless contractions at the hospital, the healers and the mediwitch told Hermione it was time to start pushing. The healers mentioned that after this point it could happen quickly, but usually, first-time mothers have a longer labor and birthing process. But the fact that they were so close to meeting their son brought forth feelings of inadequacy for Bill.
He remembered Victorie, the child he had from his previous failed marriage, whom his ex-wife took from him when she fled the country. When he finally found her, Victorie was seven and told her father that she wanted nothing to do with him.
Would his son feel the same way when he was Victorie's age? Bill didn't realize that he began hyperventilating and sweating as was consumed by his thoughts. His vision blurred and the tips of his fingers tingled. He barely heard the healer calling his name as a white tunnel of vision singled in on his brother's concerned face.
"He's going to hate me," Bill mumbled. When he made a move to back away from his wife's bedside, he felt a small but strong hand grip onto the front of his shirt.
"Don't you dare leave. William Arthur Weasley, our son – your son, is going to love you so much. I need you here with me, Bill." Tears had begun to stream down her cheeks as she met his eyes between contractions. "The three of us need and want you here Bill. Now get over here and hold my hand so I can curse you for knocking me up."
Charlie chuckled as the healer came in suited up, ready to deliver their baby.
….
Two hours and countless exhausting pushes later, Owen William Weasley made his debut, his full head of red curly hair and impressive set of lungs making an impression that would last a lifetime. But when the healer placed the newborn baby on his mum's chest, he opened his eyes and instantly ceased his wailing. The three doting parents looked down on their precious son with admiration and love like they had never felt before. All three parents wiped tears from their eyes as the mediwitches toweled and gently charmed their precious baby boy clean.
The healer smiled at them, watching the scene with a gentle, knowing smile, "Congratulations on the birth of your beautiful baby. You three will be wonderful parents."