Baby Fiasco

"You sure you'll be okay?" Hermione looked doubtful.

Ron rolled his eyes.  "Yes, Hermione.  We'll be fine.  After almost a year of doing this, I do actually know what I'm doing."

"I labeled her dinner, and how much she gets.  Make sure—"

"Hermione!  Will you go already!"

Hermione looked slightly affronted, but kissed her husband and daughter goodbye.  "Be good for Daddy."

Ginny chuckled and placed their younger son in Harry's arms.  "Bye, love."

"You two enjoy yourselves."  He kissed her, and with a last wave, the two women Dissapparated, leaving two dads and three babies.

Ten minutes later, all three of them were bawling.

Ron tried to get his daughter to tell him what was wrong, but seeing as all she could say was "Dada" and "Boo", and was too upset to even point at anything, he didn't get very far.  He tried giving her a favorite picture book and reading to her, but this didn't seem to help.  She probably couldn't hear him over James and Albus, anyway.  

Harry wasn't having any better luck.  James was not quite two, but already knew how fun it was to upset his brother.  

"What I don't understand," Harry said, pointing his wand at a bottle of milk to heat it, "is why James starts crying once Al does.  If he doesn't like it, then why does he keep trying to upset him?"

The bottle exploded and the crying increased tenfold.

Two and a half hours later, the three babies had cried themselves into a deep sleep.  Harry and Ron had fallen asleep to, hanging off of various pieces of furniture and covered in their children's dinner, spit-up and more unpleasant things.  They were snoring like a pair of hippogriffs when Hermione and Ginny Apparated in, laden with shopping bags.  

"Looks like everything went well," Hermione whispered.

"To be honest, I was half expecting the house to be completely destroyed.  A little mess is easily remedied."

"I'll need to see if Rose wants more dinner.  It looks like Harry and Ron are wearing more than got eaten."

"That happens no matter who feeds them."

Both women set the bags in a corner and moved carefully, so as to wake no one.

"Ron," Hermione whispered, and kissed him lightly.

His eyes flew open and scanned the room wildly.

"Ron?"

"Hermione!  Thank Merlin!  The kids only just fell asleep five minutes ago, I swear!  They cried the whole time!"

Hermione frowned.  "Ron, look at them.  They're sacked out and have been for a while."

"Hermione—they cried the whole time.  I swear it."

Ginny chuckled softly and stepped around the children sleeping on their blankets to wake Harry.

"Ron, be serious.  Look at them.  They're little angels."  She picked up a sleeping Rose and waved her wand at their things, which all flew neatly into the bag.

"I am being serious.  They—"

"Ginny!  You're back!  The kids—" Harry paused as he saw the perfectly sleeping children.   "Were crying their eyes out for the last two hours, I swear."

"Uh-huh.  Right, Harry.  My goodness, you two are such drama queens."

"Gin—"

"Stop it, Harry."

Harry fell silent.

"Thanks for helping out, Harry," Hermione said, pulling Floo Powder out of a pocket.  And for the shopping trip, Gin.  We'll do it again soon, yeah?"

Ginny smiled at her friend.  "Definitely!  I had so much fun."

The two fathers exchanged pained looks before the green flames swept the little family out of sight.