Petunia smiled after Severus left. He had used a spell to check on her pregnancy at her request, after they had put the boys to bed. It was a healthy baby girl, he said. A girl! Vernon had liked the idea of yet another little boy running around the house, but Petunia was thrilled to have a daughter on the way. They would still have to wait another month or so before they could reasonably tell Vernon's parents the gender, but it was so lovely to know now, a little secret for her and Vernon to share. And the boys. They were planning to let the boys know about their impending sibling for Christmas, and it would do no harm to tell them the gender too. Four-year-olds barely understood the concept of pregnancy, let alone the expected timing for gender determination on gestational ultrasounds. And if the children talked about it to Marge or others, well, adults would see nothing unnatural in the unpredicated confidence of a child.

"We should repaint the nursery," Vernon said after a time. He was still sitting beside her, one hand wrapped around to hold her shoulder, the other resting on her belly.

"Which room is to be the nursery now?" Petunia asked. She assumed Vernon was not planning to displace Dudley.

"We should get the boys bunk beds. They'll love them."

"Harry's room, then, I take it."

"We can convert the guest room if you prefer, Pet, but I think it would be good to keep it as is. Remember when your mother came for the first month after we had Dudley? Marge or someone might be able to come and help again for awhile. I might not be able to get more than a week or two off at work..."

Petunia might prefer looking for help from Rachel or Mrs. Polkiss, or even Arabella rather than Marge who would undoubtedly want to bring along a dog, but she saw Vernon's point. "We'll get bunk beds for Dudley's room," she affirmed. "Twin-sized, with rails on the upper bunk. The boys will be big enough for them by then."

"And the nursery can be a light purple this time, like the sash on your wedding dress."

Petunia giggled. Vernon's tone was matter-of-fact rather than dreamy or romantic. That's just the kind of man he was, keeping his charm hidden under a gruff exterior most of the time. She knew it was there, though. She was one of the few who saw it. Neither Lily nor her own parents had ever gotten to know Vernon well enough to recognize it.

"You don't want to please your mother and make it pink?" she suggested teasingly. Dorothy Dursley had begged over and over again for Petunia to change the wedding color theme. Petunia had refused because she thought pink would clash terribly with her own mother's red hair. (And Lily's, but the sisters were on the outs because of James' insulting Vernon, so Petunia had petulantly excluded her from the wedding party until and unless James apologized, which he never did). Besides, it was her wedding, and she did like purple.

"I'd think I'd do better to please you. I remember how cranky you used to get when you were pregnant with Dudley."

She smiled and laid her hand over his. "What if I want yellow?"

"I'll be surprised."

"We could please Harry and Dudley and make it every single color."

"We can have flowers in every single color decorating the wainscoting," Vernon offered the compromise.

"That sounds lovely, actually."

"What do you think of a floral name, like your family does for the women?" Vernon ventured.

"I... maybe. I don't want to name her after my mother or Lily directly. It would be too... fraught, I think. But maybe we can find something else to suit. I do like the tradition."

"I do, too. And I agree, I don't want to give her a family name, not from my side either."

"I'm open to other, regular names too, though. We still have six months to think about it, you know."

"We'll come up with something perfect."

They decided to tell the boys on Christmas Eve, when it was just the four of them in the house. Marge and Sev were coming early the next day, and Marge and Vernon would then take Dudley up to London to visit the grandparents. When the time came, Petunia wondered if they should delay until morning after all. The boys were intensely excited about Christmas and their anticipated presents and were busy dragging seemingly every pillow in the house down to the living room in order to build a fort next to the couch from which they planned to spy on Father Christmas. It seemed a shame to disrupt their ambitious undertaking. Vernon was not deterred, however. He reached between the cushions, hands following the giggles, and plucked both boys out of the pile to deposit them on either side of Petunia.

"Boys, sit still for a minute. We have something to tell you."

"And something to give you," Petunia added.

"But it's not Christmas yet," Harry pointed out. "You said we had to wait 'til Christmas."

"This is special." Dudley immediately sat up straighter.

Vernon smiled and fetched the box they'd gotten for the boys. He passed it to Petunia, who set it on her lap. "It's for both of you. Who wants to open it?"

"Me!" Dudley immediately, and predictably, answered. He didn't wait for Harry to argue but immediately started into the pink-and-blue wrapping paper. He made short work of it and lifted up the lid. Both he and Harry peered into the box. It was Harry who reached in and pulled out the baby doll.

"It's a doll."

"That's for girls," Dudley pointed out, sounding disappointed.

"They are for both boys and girls, both to play with, and to practice," Petunia corrected. The boys looked up at her questioningly, and she grinned. "When mummies and daddies love eachother very much, they can decide to make a baby. That's where you two came from. Well, Mummy and Daddy decided we should make another baby. You're going to have a little sister."

"...But it's a doll," Harry pointed out uncomprehendingly.

Vernon chuckled. "I told you that thing would just confuse them, Pet." He had also objected to the idea because dolls were too girly a toy for young boys.

Petunia sighed. Her husband might have been right on both counts. But, if Harry and Dudley didn't want it, she'd save it to give to their daughter in a few years. "Do you two remember when Piers' little sister was born?"

Dudley screwed up his eyes in thought. "I think so?" Harry shrugged, but then, he hadn't known the Polkisses or any of the other neighbors really until that same summer.

"Do you remember seeing Mrs. Polkiss earlier that year?"

Dudley nodded. "She got really fat, and then skinny again."

"That's because she was pregnant. Mummies carry their babies inside their tummies until they're ready to be born."

"Oh." Dudley contemplated this new information.

Harry meanwhile stared at Petunia in a new light. "You have a baby in your tummy?" he finally gasped. Dudley's head whipped up. Petunia nodded, pleased they seemed to be getting it.

"But you're not fat!" Dudley objected.

Vernon laughed again. "The baby is still very small, Dudders. But she'll grow, and so will Mummy's belly. Here. This is a picture of Mummy when she was pregnant with you." He presented the boys with a photo album for their inspection. Petunia smiled to herself when she saw it. She flipped through the pages showing her gradually growing baby bump, culminating with the picture of her and Dudley in hospital. The photographic evidence proved convincing.

"It's just like in the Christmas play," Dudley observed. Petunia suddenly recalled the girl who had played Mary had spent half the play with a lumpy pillow under her shirt before swapping it out for a doll. She had thought it rather silly at the time.

"We get to be big brothers!" Harry shouted triumphantly.

"Yay! What's her name?" Dudley asked.

"We haven't decided yet," Vernon explained. "We'll think of one in the next few months."

"What do we do with this?" Harry asked, holding up the doll.

"Well, you can learn how to hold her gently and how to dress her. And you two get to name your doll."

"Oh! So this one's Duddy's and me's baby."

"Sort of, yes."

Harry stared at the doll. Under his intense inspection, the painted eyes unexpectedly blinked. The lips, which had been molded into something of a pout, softened and became a happy, toothless smile. The effect was uncanny rather than cute, unfortunately. From behind the boys, Vernon grimaced slightly. Dudley leaned over her to get a closer look, but he didn't seem unnerved at least. Harry gasped in delight and picked up the doll, holding it up in front of him. Its little fists waved at him, and its feet kicked, remarkably similar to real baby movements. "Show me how to hold her, Auntie Petunia!"

"Of... of course, Harry," Petunia managed. She instructed first Harry and then Dudley on the proper way to hold the squirming plastic doll as if it were a real baby, then showed them the two outfits that came with it. The boys listened attentively. Then Dudley promptly tucked the doll (which stiffened up again as soon as Harry's mind wandered) under one arm so they could all disappear back into the pillow fort.

Once they were out of sight giggling again, Petunia shrugged up at Vernon helplessly. "I think that went well, except for the m-a-g-i-c. That part was disconcerting."

"Make sure they don't take it to school," Vernon agreed. "And tell Harry not to animate any of his friends' toys either."

"I'll also mention it to Severus. There might be a way to stop him from animating it. Can you imagine what Marge would say if she saw it?"

Vernon nodded. "Work of the devil or of the drink. One or the other."

"I'll make sure it stays upstairs tomorrow. Now, how long shall we allow this to continue?" She gestured at the quivering pile of pillows. "It's time they were going to bed."

"I imagine they'll be falling asleep soon enough. I'll carry them up once they do."

"They should brush their teeth," Petunia said.

Vernon shrugged. "It's Christmas, Pet." He turned the television back on and flipped the channels until he came to one playing a Christmas film.

She smiled and curled up next to him. "I guess one day of unclean gums won't hurt."

Author's note: Petunia and Vernon get creepy moving doll nightmare fodder for Christmas this year, lol. Harry and Dudley will probably be receiving nothing but art supplies, building blocks, and games in the future... Early update because I'm busy tomorrow. Be back next Friday. Thanks for the reviews, as always!