Chapter 13: Jealousy and Surprises

Ginny collapsed next to me on the couch and let out a long sigh. "I thought James would never fall asleep." She sighed. James was five months old now, and it seemed as though he wanted to be up all hours of the day. Suddenly, Ginny sat up straighter. "Harry, do you want another baby?"

I smiled. "Of course, Ginny."

Ginny shook her head. "No, I mean, do you want to have another baby, now? Obviously, not right now, but now that James is five months old, he and his younger brother or sister would be more than a year apart in age.

I hesitated. "If I can handle James, I can handle anything. But it's up to you. After all, you're the one who has to go through the pregnancy and birth. Are you ready for another one?"

Ginny smiled. "I most definitely am."

One weekend, about two months later, Ginny and I were watching you. You were wild as ever, and to make matters worse, James was teething and learning to crawl at the same time, so he was crabby and constantly getting into things he shouldn't. Ginny was exhausted, and obviously needed a break, so I suggested that she see if she could go out for lunch with Hermione for a girls' outing.

Ginny frowned, but her eyes were full of temptation. "Are you sure you'll be alright?" she asked.

"I'll manage." I said with a smile. "Go have fun."

About a half hour later, Ginny was gone, and you and I were left alone with James. Things were going fine, until you reached out a snatched a toy right out of James's hands, causing him to burst into tears.

"Teddy!" I exclaimed. "Give that toy back to James right this instant."

"But –"

"No buts, Teddy." I snapped. "James had the toy first, and you just took it away from him. I expect better of you. Give, it back right now, or I'll have to put you in timeout."

"Fine." You pouted, and reluctantly handed the toy back to James, who immediately stopped bawling and grinned instead.

A few minutes later, James crawled right over whatever you were playing with. In your frustration, you pushed James, making him fall over, and once again burst into tears.

"Ted Remus Lupin!" I snapped. "You know better than that! Now you need to go to the 'naughty step'." The "naughty step" was the bottom of the staircase and the place you would go whenever you got in trouble.

"NO!" you screamed, and tears began to pour from your eyes as well. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

"It's too late, Teddy." I replied. "Go to the naughty step."

"No!" you repeated, and attempted to run away from me again. I was too fast for you though, and I scooped you up in my arms and carried you as you kicked and screamed to the naughty step. I set the timer for seven minutes, one minute for each year of your life, but you kept trying to escape, so I had to reset it multiple times. Finally, you calmed down slightly and stayed seated, so I could attend to James. After James stopped crying and the timer went off, I went to the naughty step to take you out of timeout.

"Harry?" you asked, tears streaming down your face. "Don't you love meanymore?"

So this was what this was all about. Ever since James had been born, I had less time for you, and you were jealous of him. That was why you had been acting so poorly. You only wanted attention, and in some ways, I couldn't blame you.

"Teddy," I said with a sigh. "Of course I love you. But James needs to be loved too, and what you did to him wasn't very nice. Do you know why you're in the naughty step, Teddy?"

"Because I was mean to James." You said weakly. "I'm sorry, Harry."

I warped my arms around you and gave you a hug. "It's alright, Teddy." I whispered softly. "I forgive you."

I knew you would get over you're jealousy eventually. But until then, we would get through this tough stage in your life, together.

One day in June, Ginny gave me some fantastic but unexpected news. She was pregnant again, but this time she was due February 1st. We wanted to tell Ron and Hermione immediately, and luckily, we soon got the perfect opportunity.

The following day, I got into work slightly late. There had been a storm the night before, and James had woken up. He wasn't scared, but he refused to go back to sleep afterwards. When I walked into the aurors' office, I found Ron sitting at my desk.

I suddenly cleared my throat loudly, making Ron jump. "Uh, Ron, why are you sitting at my desk?" I asked.

"Oh, sorry," Ron said and got up from my chair. "I was just wondering… well, Hermione and I were wondering if you would like to join us for dinner on Friday night at our place."

"What?" I asked groggily, because I was half asleep. "Oh, sorry Ron." I said, and explained why I was so tired.

"Oh no," Ron groaned sympathetically. "That doesn't sound fun."

"It wasn't, believe me." I said with a smile. "Although, James seemed to think it was. As for dinner on Friday, it sounds good to me, but let me just send Ginny an owl to make sure it's good with her too."

Ron nodded and watched as I grabbed a piece of paper and a quill from my desk and scribbled down a message to Ginny on it.

"Can I borrow Pigwidgeon?" I asked suddenly.

Ron sighed. His little owl was getting old and was only able to carry packages short distances now, but knowing that my own owl, a snowy owl named Stella, was at home with Ginny, he agreed.

Ginny was quick to send a reply, saying yes, she would love to have dinner with Ron and Hermione, and at precisely six o'clock that Friday, Ginny, James, and I arrived at Ron and Hermione's. We rang the doorbell and went right in, because that is what we have always because we knew each other so well. After welcoming Ginny and I, Hermione asked everyone what they wanted to drink. Ron and I said "butterbeer" without hesitation, but Ginny, of course, because of the slightly alcohol content in the butterbeer, said, "I'll just have water, please." When Ron gave her a strange look, she added. "I'm not really in a butterbeer mood."

Ginny poured James a sippy cup full of apple juice, while Hermione served the meal. When she placed her own glass of water on the table, Ginny and I looked at her in surprise, but did not say anything.

"Ron and I have something to tell the two of you." Hermione said, halfway through the meal.

Ginny and I looked at her in interest. Even James was quiet. Hermione looked at Ron, who nodded.

"We're having a baby!" Hermione exclaimed.

Ginny's eyes grew wide. She jumped up from her chair and let out a squeal. "WE ARE TOO!" She ran around the table and gave Hermione a hug. "When are you due?" She asked, full of enthusiasm.

"December eighth. What about you?" Hermione was just as excited as her sister-in-law.

"February first! That means they'll be only two months apart!" Ginny exclaimed.

Meanwhile, Ron and I watched our wives, greatly amused. Then, I got up for his spot at the table and shook Ron's hand. "Congratulations, Ron! Welcome to fatherhood. It's a difficult job, but a pleasurable one."

Ron smiled. "Thanks."

"Hey, I just got an idea!" Ginny exclaimed suddenly. "Why don't we go to The Burrow? Mum and Dad will be delighted!"

Everyone agreed, so we all apparated to The Burrow. When Ginny rang the doorbell, Molly answered.

"What a surprise! What were you thinking, coming here unannounced? You didn't give me any time to prepare and -" Molly began.

"Mum, relax!" Ginny exclaimed. "We came because we have something to tell you. Where's Dad."

Molly's face softened. "Alright. He's in the living room. Come in, all of you."

Molly led us though the house we all knew so well into the living room. Arthur looked up from the book he was reading, and smiled.

"Look who's here Arthur!" Molly exclaimed. Arthur stood up and hugged everyone. Then, Ron said, "Mum, Dad, you might want to sit down, because we have some big news."

When they were seated, Harry said, "Ginny and I went to Ron and Hermione's house for dinner, and we found out some interesting information. Both Hermione -"

"We're pregnant!" Ginny interrupted, unable to control her impatience. "I'm due in February and Hermione's due in December.'

After Molly and Arthur hugged and congratulated all of us, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione, and I explained everything we knew about the children.

"This is so wonderful!" said Arthur. "Two grandchildren within two months of each other. How exciting!"

"Aren't you two tired of grandchildren yet?" teased Ron. "You already have five grandkids, one "adopted" grandchild, and now, three on the way, counting Percy and Audrey's second child!"

"I'll never be tired of grandkids!" Molly exclaimed. "That would be impossible!"

Everyone laughed. We knew that no matter how many grandchildren Molly and Arthur had, they would always welcome more into their hearts.

Author's note: Just to let you know, the second half of this chapter comes from Chapter Three of another one of my stories, "The Rose Without Thorns". :)

This chapter took even shorter than the last one! Maybe it's because 1/3 of it was copied and pasted from "The Rose Without Thorns". :) Anyway, please review!