Starting a family.

CHAPTER 15: BACK TO TEACHING.

September first came and the teachers and the staff were running around trying to get ready for when the students arrived that evening. Minerva had to deal with a screaming toddler and a crying baby all day. She had to carry both Rosemary and Sage around the school. Minerva couldn't get much work done in her classroom because of the two children. She was running on close to no sleep. Rosemary was screaming all afternoon because she didn't have a nap at all.

"Mama, hold me," Rosemary said. "I can't hold you right now, I'm busy," Minerva said. Rosemary started to cry and scream. She was throwing a tantrum. Minerva knew that this would happen. "Mama," Rosemary screamed. Minerva tried to ignore Rosemary's behavior for a bit and see if she would calm down on her own. She put Sage down in the bassinet after a bit.

"Rosemary, you have to calm down. I know that you're tired, but you have to calm down," Minerva said, kneeling down to Rosemary's height. "Mama," Rosemary screamed once again. Minerva pulled Rosemary in close and started to purr. Sage started to cry, and Minerva went and picked her up. Minerva continued to purr to calm them both down. "Mama," Rosemary said, starting to calm down. "I know that you're tired, kitten, but mommy has to work right now," Minerva said. Rosemary laid her head on Minerva's shoulder. "Minerva, is everything alright?" Pomona said, quietly walking into the classroom. "Everything is fine now, Pomona. Rosemary is just starting to get tired," Minerva said. "Ah, I see," Pomona said. Minerva sighed, looking at the two little girls in her arms. "What's wrong Minerva?" Pomona said. "The students are coming this evening and classes start tomorrow. Last school year, I was a little nervous about having a toddler and a baby on the way, but now that Sage is born it's going to be even harder to be a professor at Hogwarts," Minerva said. "Don't feel guilty about going back to teaching. There's a lot of people here to help the both of you out with your two young children," Pomona said. "I guess. The children are so young, and they need so much care right now," Minerva said. "I know Minerva," Pomona said. Minerva continued to purr to calm her children and herself down.

The students soon arrived and the current first years were soon sorted. They were all sitting down for dinner. Minerva took the sorting hat and stool back to Albus's office. She sat down on the stool and placed the sorting hat on her head. The hat sprung to life as soon as she placed the hat on her head. "Ah, Professor McGonagall. I know something is bothering you," the hat said. "Of course, you do," Minerva said. "You're thinking that you're going to have a hard time with teaching and raising two young children," the hat said. "I am thinking that," Minerva said. "You have been told that everything will be fine and there are a lot of people that will help you," the hat said. "Thank you," Minerva said. She took the hat off of her head and placed it on the shelf in her husband's office. She went back down to the Great Hall to be able to eat dinner.

She walked into the Great Hall. She walked up to the staff table and took her place next to Albus and Rosemary. Albus was feeding Sage a bottle of expressed breast milk. Everyone was enjoying the start-of-term feast. She was nervous about starting to teach for the new term the next morning. Albus burped Sage and passed her over to Minerva. Minerva was able to eat while holding Sage. Rosemary didn't really want to eat as she was exhausted from the long day and not having a nap. It was hard to get Rosemary to sit still and eat, even while she was falling asleep.

That night after putting the girls into bed, Minerva and Albus crawled into bed themselves. "What took you so long to put the sorting hat away in my office?" Albus asked. "I put the hat on myself. It told me something that I needed to hear," Minerva said. "Mama," Rosemary called out. "I'm coming, kitten," Minerva said, starting to get up. "I'll go and get her for you," he said. "Are you sure?" she said. "I'm sure. You need to rest for your classes tomorrow," he said. He got up and left the room. Minerva could hear crying from another room.

Minerva fell asleep until she was woken up by Sage. Albus wasn't next to her. She got up and took Sage into her arms. She breastfed Sage and changed her diaper. Minerva got Sage back to sleep, and she put the little baby down into the crib. She went to check on Albus and Rosemary. They were both asleep in the rocking chair in Rosemary's room. She gently lifted Rosemary out of Albus's arms and placed her into bed. Albus woke up from the movements.

"Come back to bed, Albus," Minerva said quietly. He stood up and followed her back to bed. They went back to sleep until the morning. It was hard raising two children that are so young and are in constant need of care and supervision. Minerva almost didn't want to teach but she knew that she was going to need to teach. She felt that she could teach her students with having a baby in her arms, even though she might not have Sage in her classroom for most of the day because of her classes for the day. She was the mother of two young daughters that needed her.

They laid down and went to sleep for the rest of the night. Albus woke up a few hours later to the crying of Sage. He got up and changed her diaper. She was calm for about a minute, and she started to cry again. He went and got a bottle of milk for her. It was Minerva's breastmilk that she had pumped a day ago and it was still good to use according to Poppy.

Minerva came into the little living room of the private living quarters. She saw Albus finishing up feeding Sage a bottle. He handed Sage over to Minerva to be burped. Sage started to cry. Minerva burped Sage over her shoulder. Sage threw up a little on Minerva's shoulder. Sage started to cry once more. "There, there," Minerva said soothingly to the baby. She rocked Sage gently in her arms. Albus went to check on Rosemary to see if she was still asleep or not.