A/N: Ok, so, baby Potter is FINALLY on the way. Taking a page from Luna's book, Hermione's going to have a party to make the announcement, pretty soon. Good thing no one's due to give birth now!
Gonna switch it up for this chapter and get Harry's view on things. So, change the gears a bit.
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It's been four days since Poppy told us that Hermione is pregnant. Pregnant … I can't believe it. I'm going to be a father. It's amazing.
Tonight, we're going to Hermione's parents house for our monthly dinner there. The timing couldn't be more perfect! We're going to have a party next week to tell the Weasleys, and the Lupins and Sirius and such, but since these are Hermione's biological parents (well, almost), we wanted to tell them first.
Poppy's potions are helping immensely. Mione usually only gets her morning sickness first thing in the morning now, as opposed to "whenever sickness."
I can't believe how beautiful she's become in the last few days. I always thought she was a gorgeous woman, but now that she's carrying my baby? Well, there's nothing more perfect in this world.
"Mione! Are you almost done?" I call. She's still in the shower.
"Yeah," she replies as the water turns off.
A few moments later, she steps out with a towel around her head and one around her body. She's so sexy.
"Harry!"
"What?"
"You're leering again."
"And can you blame me?" I ask. "Come on! I've got a loving and bloody gorgeous woman in front of me, she's carrying my child, and she's only dressed in a towel. And you wonder why I leer?"
"Well, yes," she says.
"Silly woman." I drop to my knees in front of her and gently put my hands on her stomach. "Hello, little one! This is your Daddy again. You're probably going to get tired of me talking to you, and your Mummy probably already is, but I just want you to know how much we both love you. I am going to make sure that you are the happiest baby anywhere. And between Grandma Emily, Grandpa Richard, Grandpa Sirius, Uncle Remus and Aunt Tonks, Grandma Molly, Grandpa Arthur, Uncle Ron and Aunt Luna, and ALL your cousins, you are going to be one busy little baby."
"Ok, Harry, I need to get dressed. You can give the baby all the family tree lessons when we get back."
"Fine, fine. I love you," I say quickly to the baby and give a quick kiss to her tummy before standing.
I watch her and am positively amazed at how quickly she moves. She's fully dressed in a matter of moments (without the aid of magic - bravo for that) and she lets her hair out of the towel.
"What do you think? Up or down?" she asks me.
"Um, go with down," I reply.
"Down it is," she says as she sits by the mirror, dries her hair and mutters some spell that makes it curl a bit. "What do you think?"
She turns and she's beautiful.
"Like an angel," I whisper.
"Harry, honestly. Calm down. You've got nine months to flatter me. Don't use it all up now!"
"Like I could!" I protest.
Hermione rolls her eyes at me and asks me if I'm ready.
I am, so we Apparate to her parents house.
"Hermione! Harry! Wonderful to see you!" Emily calls as we appear.
"Hi Mum!" Hermione says, kissing Em on the cheek. "Daddy? Where are you hiding?" she says as she heads for the kitchen.
"How are things, Harry?" Emily asks me.
"Quite well, Em. Quite well," I reply, trying not to give myself away.
But, there's a glimmer in Emily's eye. Surely just saying that didn't let the cat out of the bag … did it?
"Well, let's go get those other two before they eat everything without us," she says and winks.
She wraps her arm around me and leads me to where Hermione and Richard are.
"There are the slow pokes!" Richard exclaims as we enter.
"Hey, it's not my fault that Hermione bolted in here!" I defend.
"Well, someone was just excited for her father's famous chicken!" Emily says as she takes her seat.
"Very excited! I'm famished!" Hermione says.
Emily gives Hermione a glance that Hermione misses. Yeah, she suspects something.
I pull out Hermione's chair and she sits down, I sit as well, and finally, Richard joins us after putting the meal on the table.
"So guys, what's new?" Richard asks.
"Eh, same old, same old," Hermione answers, completely nonchalantly.
"Um, yeah. Just waiting for finals at this point," I add, hoping to sound as convincing as she did.
"Gonna be busy in the library then, hmmm, Hermione?" Emily says in between bites.
"Yeah, but I'm not concerned. I've been through finals at Hogwarts as the librarian and as a student. No worries. Plus Patty is the best assistant anyone could ask for."
Dinner continued on like that. Work chitchat, some updates on family members and some hysterical jokes that Richard heard recently.
While I normally salivate for Emily's pumpkin pie, my stomach is in knots as we eat dessert. I know that Richard and Emily will be over the moon about a grandchild, but it's still a bit awkward for me.
I remember years ago, when the Dursleys went out to dinner and (of course) left me at home alone, I snuck to the living room and watched a movie. It was an American movie with Steve Martin, "Father of the Bride II." It was a pretty funny movie, and now there's a part that sticks out in my head. When the daughter and her husband announce that they're having a baby, the mother goes nuts and hugs them. The father, however, looks at his son-in-law with contempt, seeing him as some sort of Casanova in a smoking jacket with a cigar and one of those pointy mustaches that just look evil.
It's stupid really, to fear that. It's just a movie. But what if Richard has the same idea? What if he gets furious that I got Hermione pregnant? I had sex with his little girl. But we are married after all!
But that doesn't help me at the moment.
Before I know it, dessert is over … when did I finish my pie? Hermione is calling me to follow them into the living room.
Time to face the firing squad.
We sit on the couch opposite of Emily and Richard. Hermione and Emily begin talking about girl things while Richard tries to talk to me about … um, something. I can barely concentrate at this point.
Finally, Hermione clears her throat.
"Mum, Dad, um … Harry and I do have something new in our lives," she begins.
Emily is smiling while Richard is just staring.
"Well, we just found out the other day that … well, I'm pregnant!" Hermione says excitedly.
Emily squeals and runs to Hermione, standing her up and hugging her tightly. I glance to Richard … oh, Merlin, he's staring at me. It's that scene all over again!
He stands up and begins stalking towards us. I stand and prepare to die like a man. Goodbye, Hermione. I'll always love you and our baby …
"Harry," he bellows.
"Yes?" I squeak.
"Congratulations, son," he says, extending his hand to me.
Wait, wait … he's ok with this? Oh, thank God.
"Thank you," I say, accepting his hand. Then he quickly turns to his daughter and hugs her tightly. "Oh, my baby is having a baby," he mumbles. "Congratulations, baby doll."
"Thank you, Daddy," she replies.
"Ok, so tell us all about it!" Emily says.
"About it? There's not much to tell, I'm only two and a half weeks along!" Hermione says.
"Two and a half weeks? Well, that would have been your anniversary, wouldn't it have?" Em calculates.
"Um, yeah," Hermione says, blushing. Not a comfortable topic to discuss with your parents/in-laws: when you conceived your baby.
"Well, I think it's fabulous! What do you think you're having?" Emily asks.
"I haven't thought about it much. What do you think, Harry?" Hermione asks me.
"Oh, um. I haven't thought either." I turn to Hermione and smile. "I'm just happy that we were having a baby at all!"
Hermione beams. "I hope we have a boy. Some little Potter with that same mischievous grin."
We share a smile and stare into each other's eyes before Richard clears his throat.
"Sorry, Daddy," Hermione whispers.
"That's ok," he says with a laugh. "So, have you thought of names? Or where you're going to live?"
Hermione looks at me as if I know.
"Well," she begins. "We were going to move into Hogwarts, but now I don't know. I mean, not exactly the greatest place to raise a child. I don't know. There's always Godric's Hollow," she says carefully as she looks directly at me.
"Um … that's a definite possibility," I stammer.
"Oh, Harry, I shouldn't have even mentioned it. It would be uncomfortable, wouldn't it? I knew I should have just kept quiet! Why on earth would I ask you to-"
"Mione!" I interrupt. "I didn't say yes or no! I said it was a possibility. I actually think it could be nice. But we'll talk, ok?"
"Ok," she says.
"Oh, Hermione! I just can't believe you're having a baby!" Em squeals.
The ladies are so involved in their excitement, that neither of them sees Richard pull me away. He leads me to Hermione's old room and motions for me to sit on the bed.
I do so and he pulls up a chair.
"Harry, I know that you don't really have someone to go to through this. I mean, I know there are Sirius and Remus, but neither of them has been a father. And Arthur is a great guy, but he's often busy. So, I want you to know that if you ever need someone to talk to, I'm right here. I know how scary it is during that first pregnancy."
"Yeah, it's slightly terrifying," I say with a nervous laugh.
"It's not going to be easy, I won't lie to you. I love Hermione dearly, but I know her. She's going to make life difficult for you, through no fault of her own."
I open my mouth to protest, but Richard continues before I can.
"Harry, trust me. I know you want to defend Hermione now, but it's the truth. She's a wonderful woman, but she's going to be sick a lot, she's going to be in pain a lot and she's going to be cranky … a LOT. But she's going to need you to be strong throughout for support. Understand?"
"Of course."
"Great. Now, do you have any questions?"
"I don't know yet. I guess I'm still letting it all set in. I'm completely overwhelmed. I'm scared, happy, excited, worried, ready and unprepared all at the same time."
"That sums it up pretty well. Harry, I have a lot of confidence in you, in the both of you. Hermione hasn't had it easy since her mother left and you grew up with … well … not exactly prize parents, so both of you are probably doubting your skills. 'What if I can't take it?' 'What if I'm not a good parent?' 'What if the other is a better parent than me? 'Will the baby hate me?' Am I close on those?"
"More than you know," I admit.
"It's natural, son. But understand that you will make mistakes. You won't be a perfect parent; there is no such thing. But if you try to be the best parent you can be, then you'll be fine!"
"But I'm still scared," I almost whine.
"Let me share something with you," Richard says. "There are a few lines from Frank Herbert's "Dune." It's The Bene Gesserit Litany Against Fear. It says, 'I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.' Does this make sense to you?"
"I think so," I tell him. If I let fear consume me, then I'll lose everything?"
"In one sense. Don't let fear control you. If you do that, you'll lose sight of those things that keep life in perspective. And your confidence will be shattered."
"Like if you're too scared to leave your house, you'll miss the sunrise?" I ask.
"That's a good analogy, Harry. If you're too fearful of the scary parts of being a parent, then you'll miss the joys and the beauty that comes with it."
"I gotcha. And now I see where Hermione's book smarts come from," I say with a laugh.
"Yeah, her mother loved to read, but mostly those romance novels. Hermione and I would read classics."
I smile, thinking of 10-year-old Hermione reading "Pride and Prejudice" or some unbelievably advanced book for her age.
"She's a brilliant woman," I whisper as I look to the floor.
"That she is. And I couldn't be more proud of her. Or you."
My head snaps up.
"Harry, I never had a son. When we were told that Miranda could have no more children, we figured we were blessed enough with Hermione and that she was all we needed. And we were right. I couldn't have asked for a better daughter. But a small part of me did want another child. I wanted a son to share the manly things with. And now that I have one, you're everything I could have asked for."
Tears threaten to spill from my eyes with that one.
I sniffle a bit and try not to sound too shrill when I say, "Thank you, Richard." But I'm sure it comes out in a squeak.
I'm relieved when his reply comes out in a squeak as well.
"You're welcome," he says as he pulls me into a hug.
"Well, there they are!" I hear Hermione from behind me.
"Are we interrupting something?" Emily teases.
"Maybe …" Richard teases.
"Ok! Too creepy for me!" Hermione says as she walks over to me. "Are you almost ready to go home? I'm getting really tired."
"Yeah, that's fine," I say, pressing a kiss to the top of her head.
"Well, take the leftovers home! You can have them for dinner tomorrow!" Emily says as she hurries to the kitchen to pack up the food.
"I'll go help her," Hermione says, following her quickly.
"Thanks," I say again.
"I meant it all, Harry," Richard says.
"I know. You're an amazing father to Hermione, you're the best father-in-law I could have asked for and I know you'll be a brilliant grandfather."
"That's one of the best compliments I've ever received." He smiles. "Now, let's get you guys packed up so you can get her home and resting."
"Great idea," I agree and we go to the kitchen.
After lengthy goodbyes, we finally Apparate home. I put the leftovers in the fridge while I send Mione upstairs for her shower.
Lucky for us, we have tomorrow off, so there is plenty of rest in our future.
Once we're both washed up, we climb into bed and cuddle together.
"So, what did you and Daddy talk about?" she asks.
"Fatherhood and fear."
"Two closely related subjects."
I nod my head. "Indeed, they are. But he gave me a great quote to help me along."
"The "Dune" quote?" she asks.
"Yeah, that's the one."
"Cheater! I was going to tell you that one tonight!"
"Well, you'll have to be quicker next time!" I kid.
She sticks her tongue out at me and I melt. Such a beautiful woman. And she's actually mine. And I'm actually hers. And we're actually having a baby. Wow.
And then she yawns and leans in to kiss me.
"Good night, Harry. I love you," she whispers, drifting off already.
"Good night, Hermione. I love you. And I love you, too, little one," I say softly, as I lay a hand on Hermione's belly.
I'm such a blessed man.
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A/N: Many thanks to MapleMountain for the Dune quote!! (I hope it got it all right)
And thanks to all the reviewers as well! I appreciate your questions, comments and suggestions!