Work Text:
The house seems rather cold after not being in it for a day and a half. Ron wishes that he had thought to run ahead and warm it up, even just turn on the lights, but he had been spending all of his time with his wife and his baby girl.
His Rose.
Therefore, when he leads the two of them into the house, he darts in front and immediately casts his wands at the globes that light the way up the stairs. They’ve been preparing themselves for this for such a long time that there’s no way it’s going to be what they’ve imagined it to be, but Ron still makes sure that he savors ever second of what is going on. He’s got to retell it to Hermione, because her body is so exhausted that she nearly seems like she’s asleep.
“Why don’t you give her to me?” Ron suggests after he has firmly closed the door and swung the lock on it.
“Are you sure?” Hermione asks, blinking down at the baby in her arms as though she’s just realizing that Rose is there. It’s okay. That’s been happing to both of them for a while now.
“I’m sure,” Ron nods. “Why don’t you go take a bath, actually? Scrub the hospital off of yourself?”
“I don’t want to leave you to your own devices on the first night…” Hermione admits wearily. “Are you going to be okay?”
Ron raises an eyebrow.
“You’ve had her to yourself for forty-one weeks. Give me a turn.”
“Okay,” Hermione laughs. She steps onto the stairs, then turns around when she’s on the one that puts her at the same height as her husband. After kissing Ron briefly on the cheek, then the lips, she moves up the staircase and into the bathroom.
Ron takes a different course, leading Rosie down the hallway and into the nursery that they had designated for her. They had known that she was going to be a girl, but had chosen not to go with the traditional pink, knowing that it would drive them both crazy and that Rose would probably end up hating it anyways. With that in mind, Hermione had chosen a nice, soothing periwinkle.
“So this is your room,” Ron says conversationally. Rose’s wide brown eyes scan the nursery, bright and alert. She’s much less sleepy than her mother. She looks like she’s beginning to live. “Of course, you can’t sleep in here yet. I’m just giving you the tour.”
He exits the room and continues down the hallway, commenting on Hermione’s office and the room that will eventually go to Rose’s sibling. Finally, they reach Ron and Hermione’s bedroom. The bassinet is set up on Hermione’s side of the bed, so Ron sits down on the bed before laying Rose down on her own place to sleep.
“How you are doing so far?” he inquires. “Actually, scratch that. How am I doing?” Rose just stares up at him. Ron leans down to kiss the top of her head, then rises. “Let me just go check on your mum.”
His daughter begins to whine almost as soon as he reaches the door. Ron moves swiftly back over to the bed, and as soon as he’s in her sight line, Rose stops crying.
“Alright then,” he says, picking her up. “You want to spend some time, then? That’s okay. I get it. I don’t like being lonely either.”
She stares up at him.
“I guess we should wait to go to sleep until mummy gets out of the bath. We probably have some time to kill, huh?”
Rose blinks twice. Ron settles into a more comfortable position on the bed, making sure to support her head.
“So, Rose,” he begins, “have I ever told you the story of how I met your mother?”