Author's Note: First off, thank you to all who reviewed, favorited, or alerted.
This chapter is more baby stuff. It doesn't have a lot of plot, but hopefully that's alright.
Niftygirl is awesome once again for reading through most of this.
I don't really have anything else to say. Reviews are the best!
Enjoy!

Chapter 6: Chess

Ron and Hermione were in the kitchen, preparing supper when they heard Harry's voice from the living room.

"Hello?" he called out. Ron wiped his hands on his pants and went into the living room.

"Hiya mate," he said as Harry was joined by Ginny, grasping two year-old James's hand and holding tiny Albus in her arms. James's hair was every bit as messy as his father's. Albus yawned, cuddling into his snitch embroidered blanket and closing his green eyes. Even though they looked just like Harry, somehow their behavior and attitudes always reminded Ron of Ginny as a child.

"No Teddy?" Ron asked as Ginny let go of James and he set off to the kitchen, no doubt in search of some of the treats that Hermione usually gave him.

"Andromeda has him tonight," said Ginny. "She thought we deserved a bit of rest." Ron couldn't help but agree. Harry's own children were probably exhausting enough, without having to deal with his eight year old godson, Teddy Lupin. Besides, it made Andromeda happy to watch him. She had lost her husband and daughter in what was now called the "Second Wizarding War"; her grandson Teddy was all she had left.

Ginny gave Ron a small, slightly annoyed smile by way of greeting. He was not sure if she was really angry with him for her loss of sleep, or if she merely wished to appear that way.

"Hermione's in the kitchen." He told her, though she seemed to be already on her way.

"I'd better rescue her from James." Ginny rolled her eyes, but Ron was not fooled. Both she and Harry complained about what a horrid little beast James was, about he smashed things and made awful messes, but the sheer adoration with which they said it somehow lessened the affect. They loved James and Albus more than anything else in the world, and despite how loud they were or how much sleep they cost them, in their eyes, they could do no wrong. That was exactly how Ron hoped to feel about his own baby, though he'd prefer if it wasn't particularly loud…

Ginny moved along into the kitchen to greet Hermione, and Ron turned to face his best friend.

"Blimey, Al's getting huge." Ron remarked as Harry slipped off his jacket.

"Yeah, he keeps on growing every day." Harry smiled fondly.

"'Fore you know it you'll be putting him on the train and teaching him to apparate."

Harry sighed. "To be honest, I'm more worried about James going to Hogwarts than Al." Ron laughed as he and Harry made their way into the now slightly crowded kitchen.

"He'll have to beat the girls off with a beater's bat, what with being your son and acting just like Ginny,"

"And what exactly, Ronald, is 'acting just like Ginny' supposed to mean?" It was Harry's turn to laugh as they entered the kitchen. Ginny had evidently heard his remark, and the tone in which she questioned him reminded him all at once of how famous she had been in school for her Bat Bogey Hexes. Oddly enough, the fact that she was cradling Albus in her arms did not make her look any less terrifying.

"Need some help Hermione?" he asked as an excuse to ignore Ginny's death glare. This made Harry laugh even harder as he slipped into a seat beside Ginny.

"I'm helping!" shouted James defiantly. Hermione laughed, and stooped down to pick up James and set him on the counter.

"Yes you are," she said brushing his hair out of his face. His expression changed to one of smug superiority.

"You replace me so easily." Ron said in a voice of mock indignity, Hermione turned to him.

"Sorry," she kissed his cheek quickly, prompting a loud 'eww' from James.

"Will you hold this for me James?" said Hermione, turning back to the counter and handing him the colander with the air of offering him a very important job. James nodded eagerly, and stuck his tongue out at Ron, who did the same back to him.

Hermione began to drop peeled potatoes into the colander, making James squeal and squirm whenever drops of water splashed up onto him. Ron simply watched them for a moment, thinking of how someday soon Hermione would be laughing and playing with their own baby. Hermione would make a fantastic mother, just as she had made a fantastic aunt. It hardly seemed possible that they were this close to becoming parents.

It was moments like this where he amused himself by imaging what it would be like to go back in time and tell his fourteen year old self where he would be in a little over ten years. That lousy little git would probably deny that he even wanted any of this. Sometimes he almost wished he could tell his younger self what he would be someday; he felt that knowing it might have prevented him from making some of the mistakes which were still his greatest regrets.

But that was ridiculous; it had all worked out, hadn't it? He had made those mistakes yes, but she had forgiven him and here they stood, laughing in their kitchen, expecting their first child. He was far from forgetting how horrible he had been, but it grew easier every day to ignore how impossible it would be for him to ever deserve her, and simply be grateful that for whatever reason she was his. He didn't deserve her, but it that seemed increasingly unimportant. She wanted him, why he had less than no idea, but he wanted her to be happy and being with him made her happy. The universe's sense of justice was fatally flawed, but he wasn't going to complain, at least not as long as it's flaw was decidedly in his favor.

"Did you manage to get that crib we gave you assembled?" asked Harry abruptly. Ron scowled at Harry's tone; it seemed he had no faith in his friend's ability to assemble a crib.

"As a matter of fact I did manage. Would you like to come upstairs and inspect my work?" rather than be offended by the iciness of Ron's statement, Harry laughed.

"Yeah, alright." Grumpily, Ron led the way out of the kitchen and stomped up the stairs. He stopped in front of the crib which had been set up in Ron and Hermione's bedroom for the last two weeks.

"See? Care to check how tight the screws are?" Harry laughed again.

"There isn't any need to get so defensive Ron. I'm not really inspecting your crib. Ginny just wanted to talk to Hermione alone, some awkward girl stuff."

"Oh," said Ron sheepishly. "Thanks for getting me out of that." Harry grinned.

"No problem, I didn't want to hear it either." They both laughed.

"How long do you reckon we need to stand up here?" asked Ron.

"A while I'd say."

"Up for a quick game of chess?"

"Going to beat me senseless again, Weasley?"

"I was planning on it." Ron replied simply, and he went about setting up the chess board, fully intending to soundly whoop his best friend, who sighed and sat down across from him…