A/N: I'm humbled once again by the response the story has gotten. I want to thank each of you for taking the time to read. A special thanks to those who take the time to review as well.
If it wasn't for my beta, Unbloomed, this wouldn't look as good. Thank you!
This chapter is one of my very favorites so far, so I hope you enjoy it as well.
HERMIONE'S BABY
CHAPTER THREE: JUST A BIT AWKWARD
He would find a way to convince her that he was her only choice to have a child.
He just had to.
0-0
"She's quite taken with him, isn't she?" Ron whispered to his wife and friend.
"Yes, she is. She's going to be a great mother," Luna added.
"And I'm going to make it happen," Harry said and blushed when he realized he had spoken aloud.
Luna and Ron smiled at him.
"Good of you, mate. It's about bloody time," Ron said while patting him on the back.
"Why don't we conjure up a blanket and find a nice shade to sit and talk for a while. We haven't spent much time together as of late," Luna suggested.
"I think it's a great idea, love. Maybe between the three of us we can talk some sense into Miss Stubborn over there," Ron agreed.
Harry laughed at his comment and it caught her attention.
"What seems to be so funny?"
"Nothing, love, just having a grand time."
Hermione blushed at the endearment, since it flowed so naturally from his lips. She was sure it wouldn't take much to get used to hearing it all the time.
"That tree over there has plenty of shade," Luna said pointing towards her left. "Why don't we settle there for a while?"
They all nodded and started walking in that direction. In no time, they had a freshly conjured blanket on the ground and were sitting around chatting amicably.
That is, until Ron decided to push Hermione's buttons, something he was brilliant at.
"Hermione, where's your wand?" he asked nonchalantly.
She looked suspiciously at him. "Shrunk in my pocket. Why?"
"Can I see it for a moment?"
Harry and Luna exchanged amused glances knowing well what was coming.
"Why do you want to see my wand? What if a Muggle sees you with it? Where's your wand?"
"You do know we're at a park and not in front of the Wizagamont, right?" he asked her.
"Don't be a prat, Ron."
"Seriously, Hermione, you need to learn how to relax. I need your wand because I want to talk to you about something important without fear of losing my bollocks by one of your hexes."
Hermione's eyes widened at his answer.
"I'm definitely not parting with my wand now. Say what you have to say now and deal with the consequences after."
"Bloody hell, Hermione, you're no fun. Give me the wand, come on, don't be difficult," he begged.
"Give him the wand, `Mione, he's not going to break it," Harry assured her. "He just wants it because he's scared of you."
That caused Luna to laugh. Hermione had to smile as well when she saw Ron's flushed face.
"Oi! Don't try to help me too much, mate. I was doing fine on my own."
"Sure you were, Ron."
Hermione finally relented and took the shrunken wand out of her pocket. She handed it to Ron and he sighed with relief. He pocketed it for good measure before turning back to her.
"Now then, when are you going to make up your mind about having Harry's sprog? Clock's ticking you know, and he desperately wants to help you with the situation. I don't see what the big deal about it is. It seems like a perfectly good idea to me!"
Hermione visibly paled.
"Why, you conniving little bastard," she exclaimed as she sprung forward to try and grab him.
Used to this by now, Harry easily reached for her waist and prevented her from attacking Ron. He pulled her back against him and settled her between his spread legs. He kept his arms loosely around her while Luna smiled at them affectionately. Even Matthew laughed at the silly adults around him.
"Harry, let me go. I'm going to kick his red-headed arse," Hermione threatened as she tried to get lose.
"You will do no such thing. This is Ron we're talking about. Your wonderfully tactless best-friend. Besides, you don't want to leave Luna a widow and Matthew fatherless, do you?"
Hermione looked over at Matthew and he smiled at her, blowing bubbles with his mouth. As usual, her heart melted at the sight, especially when he raised his arms towards her. Hermione immediately forgot about Ron as she grabbed him and bounced him up and down to his delight.
"See what I mean? You're a natural, Hermione. Having a child of your own will change your life forever and for all the right reasons. Harry is willing to help. So are Luna and I. You don't have to do this alone because we are family, and as such, we want to be involved and help in any way we can."
All eyes turned towards Ron in surprise. It wasn't usual to hear him spout such insightful words.
"Ronald, that is one of the reasons I love you so much," Luna said as she moved closer to him. "Most of the time you're clueless, but there are times, like now, when you show us all the mature man you are as well!"
"Oh, thank you, love."
Hermione pondered his words for a while, wondering why she was being so hesitant about saying yes to Harry. She knew it'd be the perfect solution. She was being impractical, but deep down she knew that crossing that line with Harry would entail more than just having a child. It could change their relationship forever and that gave her pause.
"What are you thinking about?" Harry asked softly after a few minutes of silence.
Without noticing she had done so, Hermione had nestled comfortably against his chest while Matthew sat on her lap munching on his closed fist, gurgling happily as he did so. Hermione was stroking his strawberry-blonde hair and smiling down at him.
"I'm thinking this feels right. I love being with Matthew and I love being with all of you. I know you might not believe me, but I miss doing this. I'm always at work and I don't get to see any of you as often as I would like. At some point in my life I have to rearrange my priorities and do what makes me happiest."
Harry nodded in understanding. "You're so good with him, `Mione. Sometimes you do it without even noticing. You're going to be a great mother and I would love to be the one to make it happen."
She tilted her head sideways to look at him. "Can you promise it won't change things between us?"
"I can promise to do my best, but you know very well I can't make a promise like that. Besides, who's to say things won't change for the best?"
"What do you mean by that, Harry?"
"Have you noticed how we're sitting?"
Hermione took a moment and then smiled shyly.
"Somehow I always end up in your lap, don't I?"
"I think it's because we're so comfortable around each other that it comes natural to us. I mean, right now we're thinking about having a baby together and that will take a lot of commitment from both of us. But maybe, later on, it can grow into more."
"Do you think that's really possible?"
"I don't know. Maybe. We have the foundation for it, so anything is possible."
"I guess you're right, but let's not focus on that right now."
"So what do you say, `Mione?" he asked while pulling her closer to him. "Are we going to have a baby together or not?"
Hermione thought about it for a few more minutes in silence. Finally, after weighing pros and cons for a bit, she made her decision.
"I would like to have a baby with you, Harry. I can't think of anyone more suited for it than you," Hermione finally answered.
"Then it's settled," Harry, said, letting go of the breath he hadn't been aware he was holding.
"What's settled?" Luna asked anxiously.
She had been watching the exchange between Hermione and Harry for a while and was basically holding her breath waiting for the answer as well. Ron didn't fair much better.
"We're going to have a baby!" Harry announced happily.
Hermione was floored, since hearing Harry say it made it real. For the moment she would ignore the butterflies in her stomach at the thought of it.
Luna gave a little squeak of delight. Ron let out a loud whoop. Harry just smiled goofily.
Hermione snapped out of it a few minutes later. "I'll call my doctor as soon as you are ready to make the appointment. Hopefully it won't take more than one try."
"What won't take more than one try? I'm not sick. Why do I have to go see the doctor?" he asked, clearly confused.
"So you can donate the sperm that will then be transferred to my body," she explained blushing madly.
Harry's happiness evaporated in an instant. Luna and Ron frowned.
"I think you misunderstood me, `Mione. I'm not donating anything."
Now it was Hermione turn to frown. Luna held her breath. Ron bit a nail. Matthew gurgled on.
"What? Then how am I supposed to get pregnant, Harry?" she asked bewildered by what he had just said.
"Why, the old-fashioned way, of course. Luna was right. I don't want my child to be brought into this world because of some clinical advance. I want our child conceived out of love."
"But we aren't in love with each other!" Hermione reminded him in a frustrated voice.
"That might be true, but we do love each other and that's what counts."
"Harry is right, Hermione. It would make more sense to do it that way. Besides, what you want to do is very expensive and sleeping with Harry won't cost you a Knut!" Luna pointed out with a bright smile.
It was clear that Luna was enjoying the current turn of events immensely. Hermione wasn't too thrilled and wanted to smack her a good one. She could feel her face burning with embarrassment. Ron just smiled gaily as he watched his friends.
"Fine. I can see I won't win against the three of you on this one," she finally admitted in defeat.
Harry smiled brightly at her statement. Ron grinned at his two best-friends and wondered if this would finally bring them together. Everyone always thought he was slow on the uptake, but he'd figured his friends belonged with each other ages ago. He was surprised they hadn't noticed yet, as smart as they both were. Go figure!
"How about I take you home later and we can discuss how to go about this?"
Hermione just nodded. There wasn't much she could say at the moment.
Harry, noticing her discomfort, hugged her closer still. "Please don't worry so much. We've been a team for a long time and I promise you we will make this work. I won't let you down, love."
"Harry's right, Hermione. He's going to do right by you. If not, I'll be the one hexing his bollocks off," Ron promised.
"Hermione, focus on the positives and everything will work out fine," Luna advised.
"I know. It's just a lot to take in at the same time."
"We defeated Voldemort. This will seem like child's play compared to that. Besides, anytime shagging is involved, things turn out better," Ron pointed out with a grin.
"Ronald, don't be so crude," Hermione reprimanded while blushing madly.
Luna and Harry just laughed.
0-0
Harry dropped-off Hermione at her flat a couple of hours later and promised to be back that night with take-out. She just nodded her acceptance and walked into the bathroom the moment he was gone. She was nervous and unsettled and a warm soak was in order. Harry had thrown her for a loop and she was confused. It was hard to tell if this was another case of his `saving people thing' or if he was doing it because he really wanted to.
After soaking in the warm water for an hour, she dried off and dressed comfortably. It seems as if she was on auto-pilot, going to the kitchen, pouring a glass of red wine, going to the living room and sitting on a favorite chair by the fireplace, and automatically reaching for a book. The last action snapped her out of it knowing she was too nervous to read it properly.
Instead, she thought long and hard about her future and what she wanted.
About an hour later, she heard Harry Apparating into the kitchen. She swallowed with difficulty and got up from the chair when he called out her name. She walked into the kitchen to see him humming happily to himself and taking plates out of the cabinet.
"I went to that Thai restaurant you like and brought all your favorites. I hope you're hungry!"
"Actually, I think I'm too nervous to eat right now, but you go ahead without me."
Harry swirled around and looked at her. "You have to eat, Hermione."
"I'll eat a little later, I promise."
"Alright. I'll eat later as well. I'll just put a charm on the food to keep it warm and we can talk in the mean time."
Hermione tried to protest but he would have none of it. After charming the food, he took her hand and led her back to the living room. As she moved towards the chair, he pulled her with him to the comfortable leather couch that faced the fireplace.
Harry waited for her to sit and then sat sideways so he could face her. "Alright, `Mione, let's really talk about this baby business of yours. What brought it on?"
Hermione turned on her side as well and faced him. She fidgeted with her hands nervously.
"I guess I realized that life was passing me by uneventfully and I decided to do something about it. My friends are all in committed relationships. Some even have babies. All I do is work. I don't want to wake up one day and realize that all I have to show for my life is in the form of Certificates of Appreciation and plaques on my walls."
"I'm single as well and I don't have any kids," Harry reminded her softly.
"It's different for men. You can father a child for a long time. Women are dissimilar. The older you get, the more risks involved. I might be a Witch, but I'm also a Muggle, so I'm not sure how that will work in terms of longevity. I don't know how having a magical child will affect my body, so I don't want to wait much longer to try."
"Why were you thinking of going to a sperm bank?" he asked curiously.
"Because we don't have anything like that in the Wizarding world. I figured it was my only choice," she explained with a shrug of her shoulders.
"And you're sure you don't want to wait until you meet someone special?"
"Harry, when was the last time I went on a date?"
Harry had to think hard about that one. It had been a while, of that he was sure.
"I don't remember," he finally admitted.
"Exactly. I don't meet many men that interest me. I don't go out much. My life is centered on my work and the little I do go out is with all of you. At that rate, I'll never have a child."
"Did you think of anyone else besides me to father your child?"
"No! That was Luna's idea after all. I was set on in-vitro or adoption. I didn't think it would be fair to involve any of you."
Harry nodded. "You still don't like the idea, do you?"
Hermione met his eyes and blushed. "Harry, it's not that I don't think you would be an excellent father. Actually, I think you would be absolutely brilliant at it."
"Then why the hesitation if I'm willing?"
"Several reasons, in fact. I don't really want a commitment, Harry, and that is why I was willing to go at it alone. You've been sacrificing yourself for others for most of your life. I don't want you to do this as a sacrifice to help me as well."
"Having a child is a life-long commitment, so excuse me for not really believing that one. And who told you it would be a sacrifice? Having a child is one of my dreams, as you well know. You're my best friend, `Mione and I would do anything to make you happy. Anything," he stressed.
"Don't you think it's going to be just a little bit awkward?" she insisted.
"Why would it be awkward? I love you and you love me. We might not be in love with each other, but there are still strong feelings involved. We both want this child. We would love him or her unconditionally. I would support you every step of the way and then after. I don't see a problem."
"What if later on you meet someone you want to be with? What are you going to do then?"
"I would still love and take care of our child. Besides, the same could be said for you. What if it's you that falls in love later on?"
"That's highly doubtful at this point, but if it happened, that child would still be ours. That would never change," she promised.
"See? This isn't as difficult as you think. Can you just imagine what a powerful Wizard or Witch our child is going to be? Not to mention gorgeous!"
Hermione laughed at his words, her nervousness finally lifting. "You're so ridiculous, Harry!"
"It's true and you know it. We're both very powerful and you're beautiful. I'm not too shabby myself. This kid of ours is going to be something special."
They were quiet for a few minutes, each lost in their thoughts. Hermione finally broke the silence with a question that had been bothering her for quite some time.
"Harry? Does the thought of sleeping with me not bother you at all? Are you really okay with that?"
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