There was whispering going on just outside the door, or at least, Ron could swear there was.

He wasn't certain at first, as he hovered somewhere between sleep and consciousness--not quite awake, but not fully immersed in slumber anymore either. He wondered for a moment whether he had actually heard real voices or whether he had just been dreaming them, but at the moment it seemed too big an effort to open his eyes and complete that transition into consciousness.

Now there was giggling. It started out soft, but grew louder and more confident as each second passed, until finally it was cut off by a rather annoyed, "Shh!!!"

He heard one of his daughters--Caroline, from the sound of it, as she was much more assertive than her older sister--protest loudly in response.

"Don't shh me!!"

"You're such a baby, Carrie!"

"Mum!!" the little girl wailed. "Jack called me a baby!!"

"Oh, be quiet, both of you-"

"No one was talking to you, Maddy!"

"Mum!!"

At last, Hermione's voice joined the chorus. "All right, all right, settle down now..."

Ron smiled, now fully awake, and--he had to admit--more than a little entertained by the goings-on in the hallway right now.

"We don't want to wake Dad, remember? This is supposed to be a surprise, so we should be as quiet as possible..."

"I was being quiet, Mum-"

"Jack..."

"Well, I was! Carrie was the one who-"

"What did I just say?"

"Sorry, Mum..."

Ron wanted badly to laugh as he listened to them, but he knew any sound he would make would surely be picked up by Hermione (motherhood had sharpened her hearing, as she was able to pick up any of the children's cries, sometimes even before they had let out that first wail). Besides, it was obvious they had gone to great pains to surprise him this morning, and he wasn't about to spoil all their hard work.

There was fumbling at the doorknob seconds later. Quickly, Ron shut his eyes and pretended to be sleeping soundly, throwing the covers over his head for good measure, just as the door creaked open. He heard tiny footsteps shuffle along the carpet soon after, and then a tremor rocked the bed, as three children converged on it at once.

"SURPRISE!!!!!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DAD!!!"

Someone pulled the blanket down to expose him; he thought it had been one of the children, until he saw Hermione looking down on him, then greet him with a kiss.

"Eww!! You've got young, impressionable children in here!"

He felt Hermione smile against his mouth, and when they finally parted, he cocked an eyebrow at Jack and said, "You know, someday you'll find that there's no better way to wake up in the morning than to have the love of your life giving you a kiss..."

Jack exchanged horrified looks with his sisters. "Right," he muttered.

"All right, you," Hermione said, tugging at him to get him to sitting, "time to wake up. Can't have the birthday boy miss out on all the fun..."

"Oh?" He gave her a mischievous grin, then whispered in her ear. "What kind of fun?"

He was rewarded with a very promising murmur. "All in good time, Ron. I can't give away all my secrets at once, now can I?"

Caroline shoved a small box in his face before he could respond.

"Open our present, Dad!!"

"Well, what do we have here?"

"It's from all of us, Dad. Mum said you'd really like it!"

"She did?"

He looked at Hermione, who was teasing him with one of her brilliant smiles. This was going to be fun indeed. He tore at the wrapping paper, with some help from Caroline, who apparently thought he was taking a bit too long to open the gift.

"Sugar quills!"

"Mum took us to Honeydukes," Madeline explained. "We got to pick out what we'd give you!"

"It was so cool!!" Jack said dreamily. "I've never seen so many sweets in all my life... I can't wait till I go to Hogwarts and can go every weekend..."

Ron grinned and turned to Hermione once again. "Yup, they're my kids all right," he chuckled.

"You like them, Dad??"

"Yes, I love them, Carrie... You all have excellent taste, if I do say so myself--which doesn't surprise me in the least, since you surely inherited that from me."

Satisfied that they had done their duty by presenting him with his gift, they leapt down from the bed one by one. Hermione had rustled them out of bed quite early this morning; Ron knew they were probably anxious to get back to sleep, or at least rummage through the kitchen and eat breakfast.

"Happy Birthday, Dad!" they said one more time, and gathered around for one last hug before filing out of the room.

He caught Hermione's smile, and pulled her down onto the bed. "That," he said, "was certainly a nice way to start one's birthday off."

She kissed him, then slipped beside him under the covers. "Well I'm glad you liked it."

"I can think of other things I'd like just as much..."

"Mmm, but first, let me give you your present..."

Ron grinned. "That's the idea..."

"Ron!" she giggled. "One more box for you to open, and then... we can move on to other things..."

He let out a mock sigh of disappointment. "Oh, all right..."

"All right, then... Accio gift!"

Another small box glided over to her, this one even smaller than the first. It wasn't wrapped, only tied with a simple red bow. She smiled and offered it up to him.

"You'll never guess what this one is."

Intrigued, he took it from her, giving her a long, drawn-out kiss first, before turning his attentions towards the box.

"I know you so well," he told her, as he untied the bow, "I bet I can guess." He placed his hand over the box, and closing his eyes, he muttered, "It's a... chess piece..."

He opened his eyes once more and grinned at her, but she only shook her head.

"Nice try, Madam Trelawney, but not even close..."

"Hmm, I'm losing my touch..."

"Ron, just open it!"

He laughed. "Okay, okay... A little anxious, aren't we?"

"As a matter of fact, yes."

It wasn't what he had been expecting at all. In fact, he wasn't even sure he knew what it was. It looked to be some strange contraption--probably a Muggle one, but he couldn't be certain. It had a clear ball attached to a bright yellow handle made of plastic, and inside the ball were even smaller balls, the size of beads. They rattled around, making an odd racket as he shook it.

"What... is it?"

"It's a rattle, Ron. A Muggle toy."

"I see... er, Hermione, don't take this the wrong way, but, well, I'm a bit old for toys, don't you think?"

She had a strange smile on her face, and something told Ron that this was no ordinary gift.

"It was mine, when I was a baby," she said, taking it from him, then shaking it. "See? Babies shake it like this and it makes a noise that they like..."

"Er... that's nice, but-"

He stopped short. There was something about the way she was looking at him in that moment, with that tell-tale twinkle in her eye, that made him wonder...

"Hermione, is this... are you... are you trying to tell me something?"

The smile grew only wider, and he realized he had never seen her look more beautiful than she did in that moment. He knew exactly what she had meant by the gift, even before she said the words out loud.

"I'm going to have another baby, Ron..."

"Another... another baby?"

She laughed, tears rolling down her cheeks as she nodded.

"Hermione..."

It was all that could come out of his mouth. He could only look at her, with wonder and amazement. She was going to have his baby once more.

"Are you happy?"

He knew of only one way to answer her question. Gently, he traced her jaw line with his finger, and pulled her face towards his, expressing with a kiss something he could never in a million years find words for--at least any that could be profound enough to tell her exactly what he felt at that moment.

She smiled, as he rested his forehead on hers and caressed her cheek with his knuckles.

"Happy Birthday, Ron..."