Ron was afraid he wouldn't be able to keep the good news to himself any longer; he had been avoiding Harry at work, not replying to any owls from his mother, and making sure not to be around when Ginny floo-ed in (as she did quite often). Thus, he was ecstatic when Friday finally rolled around. He had to admit, though, it was a good idea to wait and tell everyone together so they wouldn't have to choose who to tell first. (They also made arrangements to take Hermione's parents out to dinner on Saturday to tell them.) The whole Weasley-side of the family had been on them since they got married—five years ago, now—about when they were going to have a baby and he was glad not to have to decide who to tell first.

"Ron, are you ready? I don't want to be late." Hermione appeared in the living room where he was sitting, waiting for her.

"I've been," he said, not accusingly.

"Right, let me just grab my purse and jacket, then we can go. Oh, and the present! I nearly forget." In the fitted red shirt she was wearing, he could almost see that she was starting to show; just enough that only he would notice. He smiled. Hermione returned to the room. "I think we should go by floo, I've heard it's better for the baby than apparating."

"That's fine with me." Though he was quite used to it, and made use of it all the time for his job as an auror, Ron would never forget the problems he had with apparating and splinching himself and therefore still liked auxiliary means of transport. He stood up and walked toward the fireplace. He grabbed a handful of powder from the urn on the mantle, Hermione followed.

They arrived seconds later in the already crowded parlor of Ron's childhood home. "Oh, how are you two? Hello, Hello." Mrs. Weasley had run to them before they could get out of the fireplace.

"Hi, mum," Ron hugged his mother.

He pulled away but she held him at arms length. "Why haven't you returned either of my owls this week?" she scolded. Ron towered over his aging mother but he still cringed at her stern tone.

" 'Been busy."

"Well you had me worried sick! I had half the mind to stop over there to make sure—" She would have kept going had Hermione not stepped in.

"Hello, Molly," she hugged her mother in law and then both moved along to say hello to the rest of the family. Bill and Fleur were there with their children. Their oldest, Victoire—now five—had just walked in to the room with enchanted balloon in hand and Teddy—nearly seven—at her heals.

"Uncle Ron!" Victoire yelled and ran over to where he and Hermione stood; now talking to George about his and Lee's new idea for the company.

"And how are you?" Ron asked, picking his niece. Victoire looked quite like her mother, but had bills eyes. She was a gorgeous little girl and had a slight French accent in her voice.

"Good!" she said, giggling.

"Hi, Teddy," Hermione didn't want to leave him out. Teddy was living with Harry and Ginny now; his grandmother, though happy to take him for the first five years of his life, was no longer able to keep up with him. She had lost both her husband and only child in the war which left her frail in comparison to her former self. As she said, "he's really saved me from a lot, but I'm not as young as I once was". Teddy was tall for his age with his father's cool grey eyes; his hair was currently a bright blue having inherited his metamorphamagus power from his mother. He smiled and waved at her.

Hermione and Teddy followed Ron as he carried Victoire to the kitchen. Harry and Ginny were at the table fussing over their one-year-old son who was giggling from his highchair. Arthur Weasley was also there deep in conversation with Charlie, Percy and Percy's wife. "Hey, dad!" Ron said. "Charlie, Percy. Good to see you Penelope." He put Victoire down on a chair and sat next to her.

"Hello Harry," Hermione hugged him. "Ginny," she hugged her as well. "And James," she reached over and picked him up. "I'll do this now before you're a mess with food later." She tickled him and he giggled. "I can't believe that he's one already!" She looked at him as she said it, thinking how wonderful it would be to finally hold her child. "Is anyone else coming today?"

"Neville's at Hogwarts already, said he wanted to get a head start on planning his curriculum and check on the greenhouses." Harry explained. "He sent another very—er—interesting plant."

"Oh, I nearly forgot! Luna sends everyone her love. She's in Austria following a heard of—oh what were they?" She asked Harry; he shrugged in response. "Oh, well you know Luna. And…" She turned on Hermione. "She said she's met a man; she promised she'd tell us all about it when she gets back."

"Really? That's wonderful. I'll have to send her an owl." Ron rolled his eyes. 'Women'.

Mrs. Weasley rushed into the room, everyone who was in the other room followed. "Come on everyone sit down, sit down. It's almost ready." Everyone sat and were quickly bombarded with flying plates, napkins and silverware. Mrs. Weasley stirred, tested and sent all of the food its spot on the table before taking her seat next to Ginny. "Well, tuck in!" she said gesturing to the hearty display.

And everyone did; the family ate, drank and laughed merrily. Everything—well almost everything with the exception of a few new additions and one particularly painful loss—was normal again and everyone was happy. It would be impossible for anyone on the outside to tell that just seven short years ago they had been through and survived so much.

"Mum that was wonderful," Ron said leaning back in his chair after his third serving. He was the last to finish; like always he could out-eat anyone else in the family.

"Really, Ronald, where do you put it all?" Mrs. Weasley asked, almost concernedly.

He ignored the question, still basking in the glory of all that food. "I haven't had a dinner this good since what you made on my birthday."

Hermione shot him a reproachful glance. "What?" he asked innocently, obviously oblivious to his insult. Everyone, save Hermione, laughed.

"Now everyone's finished, let's have some dessert!" Mrs. Weasley stood and retrieved a huge chocolate covered in white and blue icing. It had a single candle sticking out from the middle; she lit it with her wand and placed the cake on the table in front of James' highchair.

Harry and Ginny stood on either side of the high chair with their arms around their son who was giggling madly, banging his food splattered tray and yelling "Cake!". They both smiled at their first born with immense pride as everyone sang 'Happy Birthday' to him. When they finished singing everyone held up their glasses of wine—which Hermione had politely refused trying not to cause suspicion---to the baby as Harry and Ginny blew out James' single candle for him. Ginny started to tear up as she hugged her son—her's and Harry's son—who just seven years ago she thought may never be able to come to be.

This scene was all too much for Hermione and her newfound pregnancy hormones; she began to ball right there at the table. " 'Mione what's the matter?" Ron, horrified though he was, put his arm around his wife, trying to console her.

"I'm just so," she sniffed. "Happy! I never though we'd ever be able to do this" she said through her tears. Everyone's attention quickly turned to her.

"Dear, is everything alright," Mrs. Weasley asked cautiously. Hermione nodded back, rather shakily as she wiped the tears from her eyes and face.

"Well, now I feel just dumb," she choked out a laugh when she noticed everyone staring at her. "Well, I guess now's as good a time as ever. Ron?" They stood up together, arms around each other.

"Hermione is—well we are…" Ron smiled. "Going to have a baby!" Ron finished looking both releaved and excitied as one of the enchanted balloon floating overhead burst raining confetti down onto the speachless family.

A little bit of a cliff hanger there. :o) Hope you enjoy this chapter, the next one should be fun with everyone's reactions.

Thanks so much for all of the encouraging reviews!