Weeks had gone by since the night of the family party. Hermione was about four and half months along in her pregnancy now. The once barely visible bump was now very noticeable.
She stood in front of the full length mirror in their bedroom. Looking at herself, she smiled with satisfaction. Being pregnant made her gain a few pounds here and there but it also made her skin glow like the sun. Readjusting her top and jogging pants, she glanced one last time in the mirror and walked out the door and down to her daughters room.
"Knock knock, can I come in Rosie?" Pushing open the door, she saw Rose bent over into her toy bin, searching for some buried object.
Rose stood up straight, back still to her mother. Hermione took this opportunistic moment and crept up silently behind her.
"Boo!" she shrieked, grabbing Rose by her sides. The little girl nearly jumped out of her skin, dropping the newly extracted toy. Turning around, she grinned and wrapped her mother in a hug.
"Did I scare you?" Hermione laughed, squeezing Rose tight.
"Uh huh," Rose giggled, "I 'fought you was sleeping."
"Well, I was taking a nap, but I'm up now. And I was thinking maybe we could go do someting fun. Do you want to go for a walk to the park with me?"
"Yes!" Rose shouted, jumping up and down with her eyes shinning bright.
"Alright, well do you want to take a toy with you?" Hermione asked, eyeing the toys scattered around the toy bin.
Rose thought for a moment, then turned back to her toys quickly. After rummaging for a moment again, she resurfaced with her toy wand George had given her.
"Rose, sweetheart, you can't take that with us," Hermione tried to explain. "Remember I told you about the secret. And you know we can't tell secrets --"
"No, no, no!" Rose screamed. Hermione jumped back, surprised by Rose's sudden temper tantrum. She watched as her daughters face turned red and her eyebrows furrowed. 'Goodness,' she thought, ' she got both of our anger issues. It'll be so much easier when she understands all about magic.'
"Okay, okay, okay," she soothed, "you can take it with you. Just no flinging it around, okay?"
Rose silenced at once, smiling and nodding in agreement. She grabbed the wand and her blanket, then waddled over to her mother. Hermione sighed and picked up her daughter, carrying her out the door and down the stairs.
As she reached the bottom of the stairs, she set Rose down and watched her waddle over to the couch. Placing a hand over her mouth, Hermione stifled a laugh as she watched Rose climb on the couch and stare at her sleeping father.
Sleeping on the couch, head back and mouth open, was Ron. No notice went into his daughter, who was slowly creeping closer, a sly smile on her face. A snore escaped from him that startled Rose and made her jump back. She caught herself by grabbing the back of the couch and stood herself straight again. Hermione watched from behind the love seat, holding back laughter at the scene unfolding before her. Ron shifted in his sleep, but it didn't disturb the prowling prankster standing next to him. Slowly lifting her toy wand, Rose inched it closer to Ron's face.
"Rose, don't you do it," Hermione warned in a quick whisper, still trying to mask her giggles. However, Rose paid no attention to her mothers warning and stuck the toy wand right up her fathers nose.
Ron awoke with a start, causing Rose to fling backwards, landing at the end of the sofa. Hermione fell onto the couch in a fit of laughter.
"Rose Weasley!" Ron yelled, "that is not funny!" He glared at his wife and child as both lay laughing on the sofas.
"I can't believe you let her do that Hermione," Ron hissed at his wife, "you of all people. That bloody hurt." He rubbed his nose gently, wincing in slight pain.
"Oh come off it Ron," Hermione laughed. "It's not like she poked all the way to your brain. Oh wait, that shouldn't be a problem since you have no --"
"Ha ha Hermione, that's real witty of you," Ron said, glaring at his wife, "no she didn't poke my brain, which I do have, but she almost jabbed it out the side of my nose!"
"Fine then," Hermione huffed, "and you say I suck the fun out of everything. Rose, apologize to your father."
"Sorry Daddy…," Rose pouted, looking at him with big, wide eyes.
Looking at his daughter, Ron sighed. She was only two and yet she already had the puppy dog look mastered. It wouldn't have been so bad if she didn't have her mothers eyes, his weakness. 'Merlin, that's going to be tuff when she gets older,' he thought. "It's alright Rosie, just don't do it again." He hugged her and her bright smile returned to her tiny face. Turning his attention to his wife, he looked her up and down, eyeing her outfit carefully.
"Where are you going?" he asked, yawning and rubbing the sleep from his eyes.
"Well I've been cooped up for long enough," Hermione responded, walking over to the closet and pulling out her cardigan. "I figured I'd take a stroll and take Rose to the park for a bit."
"Alright. Well can I come too?" Ron asked, getting up off the couch.
"No Ron you can't," Hermione started, but seeing the look on her husbands face, she started laughing. "Of course, I wouldn't expect you to sit here by yourself. Could you get the stroller for me please?"
Stretching, Ron grabbed his wand from the coffee table. "Accio stroller," he called. Moments later the stroller came flying down the stairs and into the living room.
"Oi! Watch it," scolded Hermione, as it came bashing down the stairs, denting the wall.
"Err…sorry," said Ron sheepishly, catching the stroller and surveying the damage done to the wall. "Eh, it's not that bad. Reparo! See, all fixed."
"Okay, thank you Mr. Fix-it. Now let's go." Hermione buckled Rose into the stroller, grabbed her wand and led the way out the front door.
It was a beautiful day outside, quiet uncommon for the time of the year. The sun was shinning, peaking out from behind the clouds, warming the faces of all the people out for the day. Ron picked up the stroller, Rose and all, and carried it down the front steps while Hermione followed behind. They set off down the street, their destination about four blocks away.
The trip was peaceful as they walked in a comfortable silence. Ron and Hermione walked arm in arm pushing Rose, occasionally mentioning or pointing out something new. They reached the park finally, gazing at other families picnicking and enjoying the weather.
Hermione lifted Rose from her stroller, setting her down on the ground. She glanced at her parents, looking for their approval, then hurried to the sandbox a couple meters away. Pushing the stroller over beside the bench, Ron and Hermione sat and watched their daughter, enjoying the natural curiosity that she had.
"Looks like she forgot this," Ron said, picking up the toy wand laying with her blanket.
"Oh Merlin, don't remind her. The last thing we need is her taking that and having it transform in front of the other children," Hermione warned, trying to push the wand out of sight. However, as she did that, Ron gave it a squeeze and it turned into a rubber chicken.
"Merlin's pants Ron, put that away now!" she exclaimed. A nearby muggle man eyed the couple curiously, but Hermione smiled at him and he shrugged it off and returned to his paper.
"Sorry love," chuckled Ron, "you know how I like get 'yer knickers in a twist sometimes." He pinched her side affectionately, causing her to jump in surprise. "Ronald Weasley!" she scolded, slapping his arm away.
"Alright, alright I'm done," he said whole-heartedly laughing now. "Love, I do think you need to relax a --. Wait, what's wrong?" His tone drastically changed to one of complete worry. Hermione scrunched her face in confusion, her hand feeling around her stomach.
"Hermione," Ron said seriously, "what is the matter?" His voice was urgent and panicked. If there was something wrong, he needed to know now.
"I -- I thought," she paused for a moment, concentrating very hard, her hand still feeling her stomach. Suddenly her face went from a look of confusion, to one of utter delight.
"Ron, Ron feel this." She grabbed his hand quickly, placing it on her swollen tummy. Ron waited for a moment, and then he felt it. A strong kick could be felt from underneath Hermione's cardigan, the baby was starting to kick. Ron's face light up like fairy lights at Christmas. He put both hands on her stomach, waiting for another movement. Sure enough, the kicking came again, just as strong as the first time. He hugged his wife and called Rose over from the sand box.
"Rosie, do you want to feel your new baby brother or sister kick?" She nodded yes, and climbed onto her fathers lap, placing her sandy hands on her mothers stomach. Waiting for a moment, she stared at where her hands were placed and finally got what she wanted. She clapped her hands together and giggled as Ron hugged her tight. They all sat on the bench, laughing and smiling brightly. Rose stood up in her fathers lap, facing him, and grabbed his face with her sandy hands.
"Go home now," Rose said, smiling at her parents.
"Really? Are you sure you don't want to stay longer?" Hermione asked.
"No, home now," Rose stated simply and climbed back into her stroller.
"Well, alright then." Ron fastened the buckle, making sure she was in there tight, and then turned to his wife. "God, I love you," was all he said before kissing her and holding her tight.
They broke apart and she looked up at him, "I love you too," she said, squeezing him firmly. They let go and turned back to Rose, who was sticking out her tongue and making a disgusted face. The couple laughed and then set off back home to enjoy the rest of their evening.
Please forgive my horrible lateness once again...
I've been very busy lately and haven't had much time for writing.
And to be honest, I really didn't know where to take this chapter.
But about an hour ago, I got this idea and decided to go with it...
I hope it's okay.
Thank you to all who have reviewed, favorited and subscribed to
my story(ies). It means the world. :)
