Chapter Twenty-Three - Lily's Eyes
There was some good-natured kidding going on in the family as to whether Hermione and Ron would have the baby arrive on their seventh wedding anniversary (and, of course, Harry and Ginny's). That had been a possibility, except that where James had been in a hurry, Hermione's baby was apparently quite content to wait a little longer, and finally decided to make an appearance in the second week of July.
Rose Weasley had brown hair and eyes, and definitely looked like her mother. Ginny and Harry were getting their few minutes with the baby, and Ron and Hermione were watching as their best friends fussed over their little girl.
"You're just so beautiful," Ginny told Rose. "Victoire will be very happy to finally get a girl cousin to play with, after being so outnumbered by the boys." Harry put a hand on Ron's shoulder.
"Congratulations, mate. You guys have an amazing little miracle there." He gave Hermione a hug, and then went over to get a turn holding the little girl before their time was up.
"You are a very lucky young lady," he told her quietly. "You've got a beautiful, brilliant Mommy, and a world famous Quidditch player for a Daddy, who's going to go out and help England win the Quidditch World Cup again this year just for you." The girls laughed at him, but Ron just nodded.
"You've got that right, mate. If I'm going to miss so much of her first few weeks, those other teams are gonna pay big time."
It seemed that the entire summer was a whirlwind of activity. Ron came home every chance he got as the National team progressed through each round of the Quidditch World Cup. Harry and Ginny helped Hermione whenever Ron was away. Ginny was getting closer to her own due date, and the work at the Institute was getting even busier as they geared up for the fall launch of the 3D game system.
The Quidditch World Cup finals were being held in the United States this year, and England was in the final against Bulgaria, who had defeated the hometown favourite American team to reach the finals for the third time - losing in 'ninety-four, winning in 'ninety-eight, and missing the finals in 'oh-two. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley attended the final, along with a large contingent of the Weasley clan, but Harry stayed with Hermione, Ginny, James, and Rose.
Hermione and Rose were staying over at Ginny and Harry's place the night of the game. They watched it on WWVN, or at least parts of it. The match lasted nearly nine hours, and England ended a close match when Dennis outraced Viktor Krum to catch the snitch for the win. Harry was rocking Rose in the early hours of the morning when the game ended.
"See, sweetie?" he said quietly. "I told you that your Daddy would win the Quidditch World Cup just for you." Ginny woke up from where she'd fallen asleep on the sofa when she heard the cheering of the stadium fans over the WWVN.
"I take it that since you're smiling, our team won," she said, and Harry nodded.
"Dennis definitely showed Viktor who the number one Seeker is now."
Ginny laughed. "I'll bet Ron loved that."
Harry smiled. "Probably. How are you feeling?" Ginny shrugged.
"Sore, and really tired," she told him. "Why don't we head to bed and I'll let you rub my back before we go to sleep. We can tell Hermione that her husband won the Cup in the morning. James was up late, so he'll sleep in, and it looks like you have Rose off to la-la land too." Harry helped Ginny up, and the three of them went to bed and let the rest of England celebrate the Quidditch World Cup victory without them.
Ginny was getting ready for a short day at the lab when the pain of the first contractions hit her. She called to Harry, who was getting James dressed for the day. When he came into their room, she quietly told him that it was time to go to St. Mungo's. He called Winky to come and take care of James, helped Ginny to finish getting ready, and then they were off to the maternity ward.
Albus Severus Potter arrived before noon, and Harry was once again deeply touched by the incredible miracle of childbirth. Ginny was resting later that afternoon when Mum and Dad got to the hospital. Harry was holding Albus when they came into the room, and he handed him to Molly first. She was looking down on his beautiful face when he opened his eyes, and she gasped.
"His eyes are just like Lily's," she said, then looking at Harry, added - "They're just like your eyes too."
Harry nodded, a soft smile on his face. "Looks like he got the hair from either my mother or from Ginny, and definitely got Mum's eyes," he agreed. He stood up and stretched. "Can you two stay with Ginny for a while? I want to go get James so he can come and meet his new brother." Mrs. Weasley nodded, and he hugged them both before leaving to go home and get his other son.
By the time Harry and James returned, Ginny had woken again, and was propped up with pillows into more of a sitting position. Ron and Hermione had arrived, as had Fleur and Bill, who had brought an excited Victoire with them. Ginny was holding Albus, and Harry sat on the side of the bed with James in his lap. Ginny smiled at them.
"Say 'hi' to your new baby brother, James," she told him softly.
"Hi," James mimicked. He looked at the baby for a minute, but was soon distracted by seeing grandma and grandpa, and reached out to them to pick him up.
"He seems reasonably unimpressed," Ron commented dryly.
Harry laughed, and Ginny handed Albus to him. "I think he missed you while you were gone getting James," he told Ginny as he gently held the baby and smiled down at him. He thought both of their little boys were just perfect. Mrs. Weasley gathered everyone else up, and shooed them out.
"We'll take James with us for the night," she told Ginny and Harry. "You just worry about taking care of my little girl and your new baby tonight," she added, smiling at Harry. He nodded, and Mum and Dad went through a quick round of hugs, and then left with James. Ginny sighed and smiled at Albus.
"You tired me out, little man," she told him. "Why don't you let Daddy rock you for a while, and I'll just have a little nap." Harry leaned over and kissed her, then walked over to the nearby rocker, and settled in to take care of him while Ginny tried to sleep. He began singing a lullaby, and soon both his favourite girl and newest son were sound asleep.
Albus went home with his family the next day. Ginny had, along with her mother and several sisters-in-law, turned one of the guest rooms into a nursery for him, and he happily settled into his soft, warm crib from the very first time he was placed in it. Where James had been a fussy, busy infant, Albus was quiet and happy to just watch everything going on around him.
During the night, he would wake up and softly cry to be fed or changed, then would contentedly drift back off to sleep again. Late one night during that first week they were back home, Harry was cradling Ginny in his arms while she was feeding Albus, and commented on how different it was so far this time around.
"Do you realize that we've probably had more than twice the sleep this time around than we did with James when he first came home?" he asked her quietly.
Ginny nodded. "Don't hex it - we've still got a long way to go before he's sleeping through the night." He squeezed her gently.
"I have a feeling this is just how he's going to be," he predicted. When Ginny had finished feeding the baby, Harry took him back to his room, changed him, and put him back into the crib. When he got back to bed, Ginny was already asleep. "If I forgot to tell you enough today, I love you," he whispered as he drifted off to sleep too.
James was not impressed with the new addition to his family. He would be gently scolded when he tried to play with him - why was it his fault that Al couldn't catch the stuffed snitch and it bonked off of his head? James had thought it was really very funny, and he did not understand why his parents couldn't see that too.
His 'baby brother', which was a phrase James was coming to realize meant 'creature that sucks all the fun out of life', also required a lot of attention from his parents that he knew was rightfully his. When Grandma Andromeda and Teddy came to see the new baby, James tried to get these grown-ups to trade Al for Teddy, but he was defeated by a combination of limited vocabulary and adults that were obviously not quite bright enough to comprehend the brilliance of his recommendation.
Harry and Ginny did work very hard at giving James the extra attention he would need while he adjusted to the new reality of sharing his parents and home with another child. They both had great difficulty trying not to laugh at their oldest son's usually comical, attention-getting acts. James would have extra playtime with each of his parents. They would have surprises for him. He was also given some 'big brother' responsibilities, and they began a slow process of having the boys do things together - like bedtime stories.
Ginny was in the kitchen having breakfast with James while Harry was changing and dressing Albus. It was the first of September, and she thought about all of the students that would be heading to school today. 'Hermione's going back to work today too', she thought. The Marauders Institute daycare was opening up today too. Ginny smiled to herself.
You needed to have women running a company to think about doing stuff like that. When they'd announced the plans to everyone, it was so well received that their original plans were expanded. There were going to be nearly fifty little Witches and Wizards starting there today, including Rose. Ginny had only been away from her lab for a couple of weeks, but was already feeling the tug to get back to her job too. Harry and Albus joined them in the kitchen, and he gave her a big hug and kiss, then passed Albus to her so he could give James a tickle-hug and kiss before getting a coffee and a muffin.
"You looked lost in deep thoughts when we came in," he told her, smiling. Ginny nodded.
"Mostly just thinking about the students heading to school, and the new daycare at the Institute," she told him. Harry's eyes were sparkling in the morning sunlight.
"Why don't you take James this morning, and let him check out the daycare and meet some of the other kids - and maybe check in on your lab for an hour or two while he plays. Al and I will just hang out here while you're gone." Ginny laughed happily, her eyes lighting up with excitement.
"Was I that obvious?" she asked, and Harry nodded, laughing too.
"If we ever set a lab up in this house, the three of us might only see you at breakfast and bedtime." Ginny stood up and went around the table to him. She gave him a hug and a very sweet kiss. James saw them kiss and loudly said - "Yuck!" Ginny handed Albus back to Harry, and picked James up.
"I'll show you 'Yuck', young man," she said, and then kissed him all over his face. James was giggling and squirming in her arms.
"Yuck, Yuck, Yuck!" he squealed happily.
"Come on, short stuff, we're going in to work for a while, and you can come and play with some kids while we're there." James happily agreed to going out with mommy to play, and they grabbed the always-ready diaper bag and headed out the door.
During September, Ginny was supposed to slowly and gradually get back to work, but it wasn't long before she was pretty much back to her regular workdays. Harry would take care of the boys most of the time, although James really liked to go play with the other kids at the daycare, and so Ginny would take him to work with her once or twice a week so he could do that.
Near the beginning of October, Hermione had Harry join her top-secret project, and he agreed to spend three afternoons a week working with her in the lab. On those afternoons, Winky would stay with Albus. Mum and Dad took September off, and after they'd been back for a couple of weeks, they politely, but firmly, came over one afternoon and picked up both boys and ordered their daughter and son-in-law to go out on a date before they forgot how.
Harry and Ginny decided that since the kids were now gone for the night that they'd surprise Gabrielle and head to Marauders Paradise. Harry got in touch with Kevin, and they were soon on the island, enjoying a wonderful dinner, and getting to spend some time catching up with two friends they didn't get to see nearly enough of anymore. They got back to their cottage late, and fell quickly asleep, snuggled close together, another special day having come to an end, and a new one just hours away from beginning.