Ten
Charlie and Hermione spent the next couple months preparing for the baby. They'd decided to wait to find out the gender until he or she was born but had still set up a nursery with sunny yellows and playful greens.
Hermione's due date came and went, and she grew grumpier and more uncomfortable as the days passed slowly.
"Charlie!" Hermione said his name in a demanding growl. "You need to have sex with me. Now."
He sputtered, completely blown away by the demand. "Not that I wouldn't enjoy doing just that, but why?"
"Because if you do, it could push me into real labor."
Charlie wisely swallowed a chuckle at that pronouncement.
"Love, if you'd like, we'll go to the hospital and see…" he trailed off as she went deathly pale and stopped her pacing. "What's wrong?"
She looked down, saw and felt the moisture on her legs. "I think my water just broke."
There was a moment of complete silence and shock before Charlie jumped up, wand out. He cleaned the mess with a wave of his wand and a silent spell and ushered her to the fireplace. Pulling the hospital bag over his shoulder, he grabbed a pinch of Floo powder and tossed it in the hearth.
"I'll be right behind you, love."
Hermione went through the Floo to St. Mungo's. The spinning had her nauseous, but she stepped out and moved away so that Charlie could come through.
"Oh! Mrs. Weasley, is it time?" her Healer asked as he spotted her.
"Yes, I do believe it is. I think my water broke about two minutes ago," she said calmly as Charlie came through the Floo.
The Healer procured a wheelchair for her and led the couple to a delivery room. The process was long and painful, more painful than anything she'd ever experienced. It hurt more than any curse ever thrown at her, yet Hermione was oddly happy. Though each push was torturous, she kept thinking about the wonderful life she was bringing into the world. And Charlie stayed with her through it all. They'd sent someone to fetch the Grangers and Weasleys, but only Charlie was allowed to be with her through it all.
Nothing she had ever experienced before, no pain or fears or worries could intrude upon the pure joy she'd felt through the exhaustion when they placed the infant wrapped in a pink blanket in her arms. Charlie sat on the side of the hospital bed, one arm around her and his other hand holding his daughter's tiny fist.
Choked with emotions, Hermione looked up at Charlie with bright eyes. "Isn't she beautiful?"
"Stunning," he whispered, fighting off tears of his own.
The Healer gave them a few minutes before coming over with a clipboard. "Do you have a name picked out?" he asked them with a smile.
Charlie and Hermione looked at one another, smiling cheerfully. Charlie nodded, and Hermione looked back at the Healer.
"We do." She looked down at her daughter. "Her name is Julie Abigail Weasley."
Charlie helped Hermione get cleaned up a bit so that they could present their daughter to their family. Weak and exhausted, Hermione held Julie as Charlie pushed them in the wheelchair out to the waiting room. The chatter quieted as they entered the room, but a moment later everyone began talking excitedly all at once, and Charlie had to raise a hand to get them all to quiet again.
"Hermione and I would like to present our daughter," he said.
Hermione held the sleeping baby up to better show them. "Julie Abigail Weasley, meet your family."
Julie was passed around the room and had woken up while Molly was holding her. When Ginny got her chance, Hermione noticed the tears that fell down her cheeks. Ginny stood, handed Julie to Harry, and walked to where Hermione sat.
"She's beautiful," she said as she knelt in front of Hermione and held her hands.
Hermione grinned. "So how far along are you?" she whispered so that no one else could hear.
Ginny laughed appreciatively. "Eight weeks. Harry and I just found out."
Hermione pouted, though she couldn't quite keep the smile out of it. "They won't be in the same year."
The girls laughed but didn't have a chance to talk more about it as others came over to congratulate her and Charlie. Before long, Hermione felt the little energy she'd had left leave her. She found Julie with Fred and George.
"…hex anyone who dares to try to date you," Fred was saying.
"Oh, hello there Hermione, Charlie. She came out pretty cute considering who her dad is," George teased them as they approached.
Charlie laughed and said, "All thanks to her mother."
They made their way back to the delivery room, but a Healer directed them to the room they would be sleeping in. Once they settled in, Julie in the small, hospital crib beside the bed, Charlie lay next to Hermione in the cramped space on the hospital bed.
"When can we go home?" Hermione asked, yawning.
He pressed a kiss against the top of her head. "In the morning, love. Go to sleep."
"Hmm, yes I will." Her eyes slipped closed. "I'm really happy I got pregnant, Charlie."
He smiled in understanding, though she couldn't see it. "Me too."
"Even though I didn't mean for it to happen, she brought us together. I mean, we might still have got here one day, but I think everything worked out just the way it was meant to."
His fingers brushed through her hair soothingly. "Of course it did. You know, you're the only woman who has ever made me even consider marriage, even before I found out you were pregnant."
She didn't respond, and as Charlie looked down at her he smiled as he realized she'd finally fallen sleep. He didn't know how long he lay next to her, watching her, but he knew he wanted the spend every night of the rest of his life laying next to her.
"No regrets," he whispered and pressed a kiss against her forehead.
A/N: And we have come to the end of Charlie and Hermione journey of how a summer fling turned into so much more. I hope you all have enjoyed this!
If you have, please leave me a little something to let me know. If not, well then, feel free to leave me a little something to let me know why not. I appreciate constructive criticism as well as glowing reviews!
A baby will make love stronger, days shorter, nights longer, bankroll smaller, home happier, clothes shabbier, the past forgotten, and the future worth living for. - Unknown