Chapter 30
"All right, everyone. It's time for cake and ice cream!"
Ice Cream? I love ice cream. I run to where I heard my mummy's yell. She's walking in with a giant pink cake that has… one… two… three… four… Four candles on it. I'm four years old today. YAY!
All my aunts and uncles and cousins are here. So is my mummy and daddy and Harry and Artie and Grammum and Grampa. They all came to say 'Happy Birfday' to me! I smile when I see all the presents on the table beside the cake. Too bad the one I really want isn't there. I hear everyone start to sing. I look at all their smiles and start singing along…
Happy Birfday to me,
Happy Birfday to me,
Happy Birfday dear Candi,
Happy Birfday to me!
I clap my hands. I love birfdays. I start to take a deep breath to blow out the camdles, but Mummy stops me and says, "Make a wish first, baby."
Make a wish? I get to make a wish? I know exactly what I wanna wish for. I take a deep breath, close my eyes and think, think, think… I wish… With one big blow, all the camdles go out. I clap again along with everyone else and move to let Mummy cut the cake.
*
I watch proudly as my little girl takes a deep breath, closes her eyes, makes a wish and blows out all four candles in one breath. My baby is four years old. I can't believe it. Four years. It seems like yesterday that she was in my womb kicking me like the boys are right now.
I carefully pull out the candles and let Candace lick the frosting off the ends. Harry smiles as he hands me the knife to cut the obnoxiously pink cake. I dig the knife in and… "Ooooohhh…"
"Hermione?" Harry asks as I drop the knife on the table and hold my very pregnant belly. After a few moments, I finally catch my breath again and look up to see the concerned look in my husband's emerald green eyes.
"I'm fine Harry. It's just a small twinge. It's all right."
"Small twinge, my arse. That was a contraction wasn't it?" he whispers harshly in my ear, as to not make anyone else panic.
"It's all right, Harry. It's normal. They're not real. I still have five weeks to go. I had this with the other two kids, it's all right," I say reassuringly to him with a peck on the cheek. He did not look convinced. I gingerly picked up the knife and continued to cut the cake, with Harry never leaving my side.
For the next half an hour, Harry would not let me leave his sight. I love how he is so protective. It's so cute. Annoying, but cute. I start to move all of the presents over to the middle of the floor so Candace can open them easily, but Harry, Ron and Fred decide that I shouldn't be lifting anything, especially something as heavy as a baby doll. Merlin, help me.
I let the men think that they are being gallant and wonderful as they move all the gifts for me. You would think that I would relish moments like this, but no, I loathe them. I am not helpless; I am preg… "Ooooohhh…" Here's another one.
Before I can sit down, Harry has his arm wrapped around me. He and Fred guide me over to the chair as I catch my breath. This one is harder, longer. I try to breath through the pressure, and before I can even think about it, it's gone.
"Love, is everything all right?" I look into Harry's eyes. I can't lie to him. But I don't know. Is it real or is it the false kind. I still have five weeks. I've said that before though, haven't I?
I nod at him and try to reassure him that I am indeed all right. I look around the room and realize that the only ones to notice my moment of discomfiture were Harry and Fred. Fred is kneeling beside me, trying to not act concerned. For a prankster and an all-around pain in the arse, Fred is quite the caring man. I kiss him lightly on the forehead.
"Thanks Fred." He nods, but doesn't say anything. I can't miss the concerned look in his eyes. "I'm fine, I swear."
I call out to gather the kids around in a circle and set Candace in the middle. Harry helps me pass the presents to her. Her face is beautiful as she opens each gift. The paper and ribbons start to cover the floor and soon all I can see is the top of her red head behind a pile of paper, and she's only halfway through the presents. I stand up to clear the paper and feel a sudden release of pressure and something warm and wet trickling down my legs.
"Bloody hell!"
"Mummy!" Candace yells. I look up to her and see her smiling face. She knows what's happening. She can see it in my mind. It sucks to have such a powerful child sometimes. I nod at her and she jumps up and starts dancing.
"It worked! It worked! My wish came true!"
Harry, who just walked back in the room from fetching a garbage bag, kneels beside her and asks, "What wish, baby?"
"The wish I just made when I blowed out my camdles. I wished that my baby brovers would be borned soon."
"They will be born soon. But we still have a few more weeks," he says to her and pats her head lightly. But Candace won't have anything to do with that.
"No, Harry. They're gonna to be borned on my birfday. They're gonna be borned today!"
Harry looks over at me… hell, everyone's looking at me. I meet my husband's gaze, smile and nod. The look on his face is priceless. I wish Colin Creevey were here right now, just to take the picture for posterity's sake.
"Now?" he asks me shakily.
I nod again, "Yes, Harry. My water just broke."
"Your water just broke?"
I nod, yet again. Does he have to repeat me? I am standing her in a puddle of amniotic fluid, and he is standing there repeating what I say…
"Don't just stand there, Harry. Take her to the bloody hospital." Thank you George, the voice of reason. I never thought I would ever say that, but at this moment, anything is possible.
Harry finally comes to his senses and pulls me to his side. Molly comes over and pushes us toward the door, assuring us that they will finish the presents and clean up. Someone, thank Merlin, remembered to summon my overnight bag for the hospital and we are off. I stare back at my children who are smiling and yelling how much they love me. My heart hurts. First, I miss Christmas and now Candace's birthday. What kind of mother am I? I stop midstep and fight back the tears that urge to come.
"Mione?"
I look up at him. I feel like the worst mother in the world. "I don't want to go yet. It's Candace's birthday. I missed Christmas, and now this. I've at least got a couple of hours. I can sta… Ooooohhh…"
"No, love, we are going to St. Mungo's. Ginny already summoned Healer Morningstar, he'll be waiting for us. Besides, I think the kids are too excited to be upset that you had to leave. It was Candi's wish after all." How he is he being so rational? He was the one who was freaking out five minutes ago. I look back at the house once more as Harry urges me to the street. He holds out his wand hand and in moments I hear the rumbling of the Knight Bus as it approaches Grimmauld Place.
I look down the street at the ugly purple bus. I abhor riding in that monstrosity, but at this point I have no choice. Harry can't apparate us, due to the amount of magic involved and the Floo is definitely out of the question; I don't think I'd fit anyway. So here we are boarding the big purple monster of a bus to go to St. Mungo's.
Harry stops to talk to the driver who is smiling at me, if you want to call it a smile; he's missing more than half of his teeth. I shudder slightly before returning the gesture. The driver then nods to the bed closest to the door. Because we'll 'need to get out in a hurry.' If I have to do this right now, just get me to the blasted hospital.
Harry sits down beside me and pulls me into his arms. Everything goes away. All my inhibitions, nervousness, anxiety… everything vanishes in his arms. I feel his warm lips softly on my hairline. "I love you," he whispers.
My heart warms and my skin tingles at the power of the emotion in his voice. "I love you too, Harry."
Harry's strong hands come to rub the huge bulge of my belly. I can see the excitement in his eyes. "You're going to be a dad in a few hours, Harry."
"I know, it's awesome," he says against my abdomen and lays his head down to feel the babies under his cheek. My hand comes up without prompting to run my fingers through his unruly hair.
I try to contain the chuckle trying to escape. I wonder what our children will look like, between his unruly locks and my bushy mess, they will undoubtedly have horrendous hair. Will their eyes be brown or green? Will their hair be black or brown? Will they look alike or not? No one ever told us if they were identical or fraternal, all we knew was that we were having two boys. Two boys. Candace and I will definitely be outnumbered now.
My mind wanders to my little girl who is probably now playing 'Pin the Wart on the Witch" with all of her cousins. She had seen that game at a Halloween party at one of my Muggle friends' homes, and instantly became obsessed with it. She thought it was so funny that Muggles thought witches were green and ugly. In my mind I remember the look on her face as my water broke. She was so excited, I can just picture her telling everyone that Leo and Linus are coming.
Leo and Linus. I shake my head at her idea for names of the boys. Harry must have felt me move because he looked up concernedly. I smile at him before venturing into the conversation we have had almost a thousand times. "We haven't decided on names yet, I thought we would have more time," I say softly. At that moment I realize what was really happening. I am on my way to St. Mungo's to give birth to my twins, five weeks early. Before Harry can answer the name debate query my thoughts come out loud. "Do you think they will be all right, Harry? I mean, they're five weeks early. It's the beginning of March, they weren't supposed to be here until the end of April. I thought we would have more time. I wanted to do so much more to get ready for them. We haven't even thought of names, for Merlin's sake. All we do is fight over them. This wasn't supposed to happen this way."
Harry's finger to my lips stops me before I can go any further down this thought path. "Mione, they'll be fine. I'm just as worried as you are, but Healer Morningstar is the best, you said so yourself. Our sons will be here soon and will be healthy." He calms me with a soft kiss. I still don't understand where this calm Harry came from. I've been through this twice before; I know what's going to happen, to an extent. I am the one who is supposed to be calm. "And as for names, we will decide when we see them. I don't want to pick names that don't suit them, do you?"
I shake my head. He's right. I need to calm down, everything will work out. I lie back and curl myself into Harry's lap. If I could stay in this position all day, I would. But I am immediately thrown from his arms as the retched bus comes to a stop in front of the empty storefront that masks the entrance to St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries.
Harry didn't even have to say anything to the mannequin in the window. I think she could tell what we were doing there, because she immediately nodded and we stepped through the glass. Mediwitches and Healers were bustling around the corridors, and Harry tried to get anyone's attention.
Finally, as I am bent over in the midst of yet another contraction, someone stopped to help us get to the Birthing Ward. This is the second time in three months that I've been here and I still hate it. I look up to see Healer Morningstar smiling brightly.
"They must be ready to meet us," he says as I nod and grit through another round of pressure around my womb. He guides us to a room and sets me on the bed. "Well, let's not make them wait any longer, shall we?"
As I lie back on the starched white sheets, I catch Harry's eye. In his eyes, I see the love and excitement that I am feeling at the moment. Too bad he doesn't mirror the fear and apprehension that must be seen in mine. With a soft kiss to my temple, he smiles and rubs my belly. Someone kicks him through my womb, and I laugh. They know it's time. They want out and can't wait to see us. And you know what? I can't wait to see them either.
Healer Morningstar begins to examine me and eases my fears of it being too early. "Twins tend to want to come on their own schedule. Five weeks early is not all that odd. They sound and look healthy. I think you may be having these boys by the end of the day."
"That will make Candace happy," Harry teases. My baby girl wished this. Her biggest wish for her birthday was for her baby brothers to be born.
I look up at my husband. He is listening intently to the Healer. I can't help but soak in the fact the Harry is my husband; that we are going to be parents together; that these boys are his sons. You would think that all these things would have occurred to me before, and they have. But now, it seems so surreal.
Harry catches me staring at him and smiles. His emerald eyes are sparkling at me. "I love you, Harry."
"I love you, too Mione. Thank you."
"For wha…" Damn these contractions. Breathe. Slowly. Inhale and exhale. In… out. I hear Harry murmuring the words that are reverberating in my head.
"That's good, love. In and out. Breathe, love." As my breathing become regular again and the pain and pressure subside, he leans over and kisses me sweetly. "Thank you for being my wife. Thank you for carrying my sons. Thank you for going through all of this for us. You are amazing."
Amazing. I never really thought about it, but I guess all this is amazing. To think that our love for each other produced two babies who have grown in my womb over the last eight months. It is amazing that I will be able to hold my babies in a matter of hours. I can't wait to hold them and kiss them and snuggle them. I look up and see Harry's eyes shining with tears. For everything that has happened up until this point, 'Amazing' is actually an understatement.
*
A/N - This chapter fought me tooth and nail. I have been through labor twice and this is a combination of both of them. Some of the things Harry said to Hermione, my husband actually said to me. Awwww. :) I am sorry for the semi-cliffie. I will have the birth up as soon as I can. My fanfiction.net account has been suspended until Wednesday night, because of the new non-chapter rules they have. They had to delete three non-chapters (Author's notes only) from three of my stories and have put my uploading on hold. Damn! So if you read this on my Aff.net and Portkey, you are reading it before anyone from ff.net. Feel lucky or privileged, however you want to look at it. :)