Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Harry Potter characters.
A/N-This is basically just a happy cute Ron/Hermione story that I wrote for my friend Melanie who complains that I don't write enough Harry Potter stories. Thanks to Meg for editing this for me.
Ron paced back and forth nervously. It was a nervous excitement though.
Hermione was in a delivery room with Healers, the birth of their first child impending. He had wanted to be in there with her but after they had gotten into their third argument, the Healers had kicked him out to the waiting room.
Secretly, though Ron would never tell Hermione that he didn't want to be in there with her. For one thing, the whole birth process grossed him out. Hermione had made him read the books-twice. He had seen a movie that she made him watch. He had nearly passed out when he saw it and he realized that if he was still in the room with her he might very well do that. Hermione would kill him them. So he might have started the fights on purpose. She never needed to know that.
It wasn't only that reason though that had him thankful that he had been able to leave the room. He hated seeing Hermione in pain. He had seen it enough times in their short lives and he hated seeing it. It made him feel horrible and he would feel even worse knowing that there wasn't anything he could do about it.
So he was satisfied with his pacing in the waiting room. He could be sitting patiently but he found that to be rather impossible at the moment.
A Healer walked slowly into the room. "Mr. Weasley?"
Ron looked at her. "Yes?"
"We just wanted to let you know that it's going to be a while before the baby is born. If you want you can go and see your wife."
Panic swept across Ron. He had thought that he was safe from being in there.
The Healer smiled at him, intercepting what he was feeling. "I'll tell her that you thought she should rest for a while and that you send her your love."
Relief washed over his face. "Thank you."
The Healer nodded at him, then left the room. Ron finally decided to stop the pacing. He sat down on one of the chairs and started to think. The first thought that entered his mind was the night that Hermione had told him that he was going to be a father.
Ron came home, a bouquet of flowers in hand. He never did things like pick up presents for Hermione, but she had been feeling a bit under the weather lately. He wanted to try and make her feel better. Though he realized that this wasn't something that really would cheer one up, but it would for Hermione. He rarely did anything like this, so he knew that it would delight her.
"Hermione?" he called when he saw that she wasn't in her usual post in the living room.
"I'm in here!" she called back.
"In the kitchen?" Ron questioned.
"Yes."
Ron entered the kitchen to see Hermione standing in front of the stove, an apron tied around her waist, her hair pulled back. She was stirring something that was on the stove.
"What is this?" Ron said, greeting his wife with a kiss. He looked at her beautiful shining face, which had a spot of flour on it. "An apron? Stirring something on the stove? Flour on your face?"
"There's flour on my face?" Hermione questioned, wiping at her face, missing the spot. Ron took her face in his hand, wiping the spot off with his thumb. She smiled at him. "Thank you. It was from the cake that I made."
"So really what are you doing in here?"
As rare as it was for Ron to bring home flowers for her, it was rare for Hermione to really cook a meal. Basically, without using magic as an aid. She cooked once in a while without magic, mostly when her relatives visited them.
"I'm cooking you dinner."
"Why thank you," he paused. "Is one of your relatives coming by?"
Hermione shook her head. "No, it's just to celebrate."
Ron felt panic rise. He hadn't forgotten her birthday had he? No, that was months ago. Their anniversary? He was pretty sure that he had remembered it this year. What was he forgetting?
Hermione smiled at him. "Don't worry, you didn't forget anything."
"Oh. Okay-not that I was worried about that or anything," Ron said. He remembered the flowers that he had gotten. "I got you some flowers. Since you've been feeling a bit down lately."
"Thanks Ron."
Ron shoved a roll from the table into his mouth. He mumbled something that didn't come out very clearly with the food in his mouth.
"Ronald, it helps if you swallow before you speak," Hermione stated, rolling her eyes.
Ron grinned sheepishly. "Sorry. I asked how your doctor's appointment went today."
"It went great."
"So there's nothing wrong? Are you just overworking yourself like I said you've been doing?'
"Actually," Hermione turned to face him, a bright smile on her face, "I'm pregnant."
Ron dropped the roll that had been in his hand. "You're wh-what?" His voice cracked at this, sounding much like he was once again going through puberty. He cleared his throat, trying to fix that.
"I'm pregnant," Hermione repeated, though her smile faltered slightly this time.
"Wow." That was the only word that came to his mind at the moment. He didn't think it was probably the best word to use but…they were going to have a baby. A little tiny baby. His sister and Harry had a baby, James. Ron was still afraid to go near him, fearful of dropping him or something.
"Are you not happy?" Hermione asked, her voice sounding tearful.
Was he not happy? No. He was happy. He was ecstatic actually. It was just not what he was expecting to come out of her mouth. He was happy though. "I'm really happy Hermione. It was just…a very big surprise."
"But it's a good surprise right?"
"Of course." He got up, hugging his wife, kissing her hair. He was happy. Just nervous.
At least he had time to adjust to the fact that there was going to be a small baby in their household.
Ron ran his fingers through his hair. He was now facing the reality that the baby was coming very very soon.They had been preparing for months. Reading, watching, babysitting other kids. Okay, well Hermione had been doing all of those things. Aside from the fact that she made him read the books on the birth process and the movie, he didn't do anything much. Hermione probably read every single book she came across, despite half of them containing the same things. She had picked out every thing for the nursery-gender neutral as they didn't want to know the sex. Whenever James or another one of their friend's children would come over, she would be fawning over them. Ron would always hang out in the background. It worked better that way.
He knew that it was something he was going to have to get over it, this fear of children that he seemed to always have. First of all, he didn't really want to have to tell his kid that he was afraid to go anywhere near it. Second of all, Hermione knew more curses than he did and she would use that advantage against him.
He sighed, leaning back in the chair. He was wondering how much longer this was going to be. He was anxious.
As he was thinking this, a person entered the room, though not a Healer like he had been hoping. It was Harry along with Ron's parents. All three were smiling widely at him.
"Ronald I'm so happy for you and Hermione!" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed, pulling her son into a tight hug.
"Thanks Mum," Ron said.
"How's Hermione? The baby?"
"Hermione's great, she hasn't had the baby yet."
Mrs. Weasley looked perplexed. "Then why are you out here? Shouldn't you be in the room with her?"
"I, uh, got kicked out. We were fighting quite a bit and the Healers didn't want me to stress her out." Ron shrugged.
"Ron, how horrible of you! I cannot believe that you would argue with your wife when she is going through this!"
Ron just shrugged again and looked at Harry who was smirking at him. "Hey, Harry. Where's my sister and my nephew?"
"Ginny was tired so she stayed behind with James. She's going to come later."
Ron nodded his head, understanding. Two months after they had found out Hermione was pregnant, Harry and Ginny had announced that they were having their second child. Hermione and Ginny had both been over the moon they were so happy but Ron and Harry had been apprehensive about the whole thing. One of them pregnant was tough enough to deal with. The only good thing that had come out of it was they understood all complaints that were exchanged between each other.
"So are you excited?" Harry asked.
"More nervous than anything," Ron admitted.
"I was the same way before James was born," Harry lowered his voice. "I was honestly more nervous than I had been the day of the final battle."
Ron's eyes became wide. "Are you serious?"
Harry smiled, his eyes twinkling. "No, I'm just messing with you mate. I was just a normal amount of nervous. Once you see your baby you'll be fine."
"Oh sure. That's easy for you to say. You defeated You-Know-Who. Fatherhood is probably a breeze for you."
Ron went back to his thoughts. He thought about a talk that he and Hermione had recently had, about the changes occurring in their lives.
Ron shifted in the bed, unable to really fall asleep. He knew that Hermione was still up, as she was finding it more difficult to get comfortable. As many times as Ron had offered to go and sleep on the couch, she wouldn't let him.
"Ron?" he heard her voice softly say.
"Yes?" he turned so that he was facing her now.
"What if I'm a terrible mother?" she whispered, as if she almost didn't want this thought to be heard.
"Hermione, there's no way that you could be a terrible mother."
"But there is! What if I drop the baby? Or I can't tell what it wants when it starts to cry? Or what if I didn't read enough information and I'm not prepared enough."
"Shh, stop working yourself up over this nonsense."
"What if it hates me?" she was in tears now, having totally worked herself up.
"Hermione listen to me. You will be an amazing mother. You already are. All of this preparing for the baby has just shown how great you are going to be. If anyone should be worried, I should be."
"Why should you be worried? You're going to be amazing."
"Hermione, I can't watch James without freaking out. I don't know how I'm going to be able to take care of our own baby. Plus I'm pretty sure that children aren't too fond of me."
"But they are Ron! They love you. Whenever I am watching the children, they always are asking for their Uncle Ron. They absolutely adore you."
"Really?" Ron asked in disbelief. He was pretty sure that something like this wasn't possible. He had never done much with the kids. Well, except for the one time when he had given them all turns to go on his broom with him. His mum hadn't been happy about that, but the children had loved it. He was doing things like that all the time.
"Yes, Ron. Our son or daughter is going to absolutely adore you and hate me."
"Hermione. Please stop saying that," Ron said. Not only did he not like hearing her talk like that, he couldn't handle her crying this late at night. It was difficult enough during the day, at night it was ten times worse. "You're going to be amazing. The best mother ever. I can already tell."
She sniffled. "Are you sure? You're not just telling me that to make me stop crying so you can go to sleep?"
"Of course not. If you want to stay up all night and talk or cry then I will stay up with you. If you really need me to convince you of you're abilities as a mum then I will do it. I would do anything for you Hermione."
Hermione smiled slightly. "I love you Ron."
"I love you too Hermione." These words weren't said often between the two. It wasn't that they didn't like expressing it, the understanding was there about the love. The love between the two was so powerful that they didn't need to constantly express it. They knew it was there and that was what mattered.
Ron was starting to get impatient. He really was hoping that a Healer would be coming soon, as he wanted to hear news of his child.Just as he was thinking this, the same Healer from earlier in the day came into the room. "Mr. Weasley, your wife would like for you to come into the room. She said that it's very important."
"Okay." Ron got up and followed the Healer to the room that Hermione was in. She was sitting in the bed, sweat glistening on her face, but Ron still thought that she looked beautiful. She had a somewhat annoyed look on her face and he wondered what that was from.
"How are you doing Hermione?"
"I'm doing just grandly," Hermione replied, though it seemed that there was an underlying tone of sarcasm in her response.
"Are you comfortable?"
"I'm as comfortable as one can be when they are about to give birth," Hermione replied. "But that's not what's bothering me."
As if on cue, someone entered the room. This person had blond hair and a smirk on his face.
"Draco Malfoy?" Ron's jaw dropped when he saw him. He hadn't seen Draco since the end of the battle at Hogwarts. What was he doing in the same room as his wife? "What is he doing in here?"
"He's married. His wife just came in, apparently she is going to have her baby also."
"Wow. Whoever thought that he would get married or reproduce?"
"That's not the point Ron."
"Has he said anything to you?"
"No. That's the problem."
"I don't call that a problem, I call that a blessing."
"It's unusual. It's so odd that he hasn't said anything to me. No comments about me having your child. No insults, nothing at all."
"That's unusual."
"I know."
"I think it's a good thing though," Ron said. He grabbed her hand, holding it in his own. "But I think we should concentrate on more important things. Like the fact that you're having this baby soon."
Hermione smiled as much as she could, gripping Ron's hand tightly. "Ron, I'm glad that you're here with me. I didn't mean to argue with you before. It was just…"
"Sh, I don't care. It's fine. It didn't mean anything."
"I'm really glad that you're here. I don't want to go through this alone."
Ron kissed her cheek, pushing her hair out of her face. He felt slightly guilty at the fact that he hadn't wanted to be in the room with his wife. It was stupid and selfish of him. The fact that Draco Malfoy was in the room with his wife just showed Ron that he was being a pansy. He had to do this, not for himself, but for his wife.
Ron looked through the glass, smiling at the only baby in the nursery. His baby. His little girl.
He smiled even wider at that thought. Rose Charlotte Weasley. She was the most beautiful baby he had ever seen in his life.
Now that she was here, he was no longer nervous. He was excited and happy. He realized that he was going to be a good father, at least by his standards. It was going to be an adventure, a different kind than what he was used to. He was excited to embark on it though.
As he was staring at Rose, another baby was brought into the room and placed next to Rose. He heard footsteps coming towards him and saw Draco come and stand next to him in front of the glass.
They stood in silence, both staring at their children. Ron cleared his throat, feeling awkward just standing next to him and not saying anything.
"So, you, um, have a son. Congratulations."
"Congratulations on your daughter," Draco replied.
"What did you name him?"
"Scorpius." Draco looked proudly at his son.
"We named her Rose," Ron replied. He was pretty positive that he had the same look that Draco had on his face as he was looking at her.
"They're going to be in the same year at Hogwarts," Draco said a few minutes later.
"They are."
Ron thought about the fact that Draco's son would be very close to his daughter when they got older. He certainly hoped that his son was going to be nothing like his father when he got older or else he was going to go there and knock some sense into little Scorpius.
Ron shook his head of thoughts of Rose going to Hogwarts. That was far in the future. If she happened to meet up with him again, then she did. The future would bring whatever came to them.
He looked at Draco, feeling more awkward as the minutes ticked by. He wanted to go see Hermione now anyways. "Congratulations again Ma-Draco."
"You too," Draco nodded his head, not tearing his gaze away from his son.
Ron headed to Hermione's room. He slowly opened the door to reveal Hermione lying in bed, her eyes closed. He decided that he was just going to sit in there with her, not wanting to leave her alone. He had done that enough already. He moved a chair close to her bed so that he could sit close to her.
"Ron?" her eyes fluttered open."I'm sorry did I wake you?"
"No, no I was just resting my eyes." She opened her eyes wider. "I was just waiting for you to come back."
"I was looking at Rose. I can't help but stare at her."
She smiled at him. "She is beautiful isn't she?"
"That she is."
"Ron?"
"Mhmm?"
"Are you still scared?"
"Yes. A lot actually. Especially after realizing that our daughter is going to end up going to school with Scorpius Malfoy."
"Wow. That'll be interesting."
"Yes. That's what I though also. So I decided not to think about it because it is so far away in the future."
"That is true."
Ron thought before he spoke again. "I'm sorry I was not in here earlier."
"That's all right Ron."
"No, I should have been here, holding your hand."
"It was only two hours that you were not in here."
"Really? Only two? It felt like an eternity."
"Yes, well, it felt longer to me."
"I really am sorry. I was just thinking about it all and freaking out slightly."
Hermione smiled. "Ron, I understand. I know you. I had a feeling you might do something like that. Including starting a fight with me about the names that we had picked out."
Ron looked down at his feet sheepishly. "Was it that obvious?"
"Yes. To me at least. But at least you came back. I'm happy that you were there."
"I am too," Ron replied. "I love you so much Hermione. You and Rose. More than you can ever imagine."
Hermione smiled back at him. "I love you too Ron."
He kissed her on the lips quickly. This was the exact way he had wanted this day to go. Though it had its ups and downs, in the end, it ended up going perfectly.