Summary: When Remus is in transformation the night that Tonks goes into labor, who will help her through the contractions? A story about the birth of Teddy Lupin.

Disclaimer: Not mine, all characters belong to JK Rowling.

This is my second story in a serie of birth stories about several characters giving birth. My first story about Ginny giving birth to Lily you can find under the title "Did you ever wonder". I'm a slow writer, first because I try to write with care and eye for detail, second because I have a 11 month old daugther who takes up a lot of my time. I'll do my best to update soon, but please bear with me! Also, I'm not a native english speaker so I might make some mistakes, feel free to point them out.

Hope you enjoy the story, please let me know!

love, Zimra.

Chapter 1

The evening was chilly and wet and despite the season of late April, spring seemed far away. Tonks didn't mind though, for the kitchen of the Burrow was cozy with candles spreading a soft light and warmth emanating from the stove.

She wrapped one hand around her warm tea-mug and let the other rest on top of her pregnant belly. Immediately she felt a little nudge from inside. She smiled and moved her hand to the side of her belly. The baby followed her hand and nudged it again. It was one of her favorite pass-times lately, playing the nudging game with her unborn child. At night in bed Remus would join in as well. They were both so curious about the baby, they could hardly wait for it to be born. It could be any day now, at 38 weeks Tonks looked ready to pop.

Her duties for the Order at this point only consisted of being present at their weekly meetings. Something she didn't have to do, but it made her feel like she was still taking part in the resistance to Voldemort, and she liked that feeling. Occasionally she still came up with an idea for the Potterwatch broadcast, which she created for a large part together with Fred and George Weasley. But the last few weeks her mind seemed befuddled by hormones and she found herself more often playing the nudging game or fantasizing about the baby instead of paying attention to the meeting.

She let her eyes wander through the kitchen were the other Order members were deeply immersed in their conversation. Kingsley Shacklebold at the head of the table, accompanied today by Dedalus Diggle, Hestia Jones, Lee Jordan and Arthur Weasley. The composition of the group varied as some members were elsewhere occupied or sometimes on a mission for the order. Such as Fred and George who had joined Charlie Weasley in his task to find support for their anti-Voldemort movement abroad and Molly Weasley was spending a few days at their aunt Muriels where Ginny was staying.

Remus was also missing, as he had had his transformation last night. With Snape gone from the Order, he had no longer access to the wolfsbane potion and therefore needed to go to some remote place to transform. Tonks didn't like the idea of him running around somewhere on his own, but Remus had been firm: she couldn't know where he was going, so she couldn't come after him and risk harming herself or the baby. He usually stayed away for 24 hours, then returned exhausted. Last night before leaving, he had been anxious. What if she went into labor while he was away? Tonks had done her best to calm him down. She felt completely fine, with no signs of labor whatsoever and first babies usually came after the 40th week of pregnancy. She didn't tell Remus that she was anxious as well, because there simply was no alternative. Remus couldn't stay around when transforming, so he would have to go.

Last night, alone in bed, she had been wide awake, highly aware of every little twinge in her body. Was it the baby moving? Was that a cramp? Could it be a contraction? She knew she drove herself nuts, but she couldn't help it. At dawn she finally dozed off and slept till noon. But it wasn't until now, seated in the kitchen of the Burrow surrounded by friends after a hearty dinner, that she finally felt relaxed. Remus would return in a couple of hours, and tonight in bed she could once again snuggle up beside him.

The baby shifted position thus creating pressure on her bladder. Tonks excused herself to go to the toilet and upon returning tried to make herself comfortable again on her chair. That wasn't easy because her back was bothering her. The dull ache reminded her somewhat of a very mild period pain. To keep her mind off the sensation she tried following the conversation of the meeting for a couple of minutes. But is was no good, she had missed too much of the meeting already to understand the point of the discussion.

Luckily for her, they were nearly done and after another ten minutes Kingsley rose to his feet to indicate that the meeting was over. While the others gathered their things and bade their goodbyes Tonks stretched her back, wincing slightly.

"Are you okay?" Kingsley addressed her in his deep voice.

"I'm fine. Just a little backache, not surprising though, with this load I'm carrying around."

"You should try to alternate between standing, sitting and lying down. Variation in positions is the best for your body at this moment." Hestia Jones added.

Hestia was a trained Healer and, although obstetrics wasn't her specialty, had been providing Tonks with al sorts of advice during her pregnancy. Tonks was grateful for that, because with her being a known order-member and married to a known werewolf, it was way too dangerous to just walk into St Mungo's for a prenatal visit. That also meant that they had needed to make a plan for the birth and what to do for medical assistance. It was arranged that Hestia and Molly would help Tonks give birth at Remus and Tonks' own home. The former because of her medical background and the latter off course because she had experienced childbirth several times herself. In case of an emergency they would disguise Tonks and themselves with a couple of appearance changing spells and take her to St Mungo's where she would be registered under the fake identity of a foreign cousin going into labor while on a family visit.

They had had quite a laugh when working out the details of their plan and memorizing their fake names and backgrounds. Although she completely agreed to the necessity of a plan, Tonks felt confident that they wouldn't need it. She trusted in Molly and Hestia's combined experience and with her pregnancy progressing without any complications she also had confidence in her own body.

"Arthur, thanks for the meal. We'll keep in touch for our next meeting. Tonks, take care and let us know if we can do anything for you." Kingsley en Hestia went out of the front door and disappeared after Lee and Dedalus.

"Yes, thank you for dinner, Arthur." Tonks stretched once more and yawned. "I should go too, but its really comfy and warm in here."

"By all means, you're welcome to stay a little longer. Molly planned to stay at Muriels overnight so I'm on my own and don't mind some company."

"Well, in that case I'll stay for some more tea. I expect Remus to come home late and I'm not really in the mood for being home alone this evening."

Tonks treated herself to an extra pillow for her aching back while Arthur made them both a fresh cup of tea. She had always liked Arthur, straight from the moment that she first met him as the father of Charlie Weasley, her friend and classmate at Hogwarts. He was one of the very few people that she didn't mind using her given name. Arthur reminded her of her own father, usually calm and reliable, though fierce and protective towards anyone who touched his family.

It hurt to think of her own father. Three months after his death she missed him more than ever. He had been so happy when she announced her pregnancy and even more so when she and Remus made up. She had once voiced her concerns about bringing a child in this world of war and danger. Ted Tonks had responded by assuring her that he, and with him a lot of people, would do everything in his power to make the world a better place for his grandchild to live in. He had kissed her on the brow and vowed to keep them safe. A week later he had left home to do exactly that. And now he would never see his grandchild.

Arthurs hand on her shoulder broke her somber train of thoughts. As he placed a steaming mug in front of her, he gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze.

"He would have been proud of you, Nympadora."

It was enough to make the tears fall. Arthur said nothing, just kept his warm hand on her shoulder. After a minute or so, Tonks blew her nose.

"Thanks. I'm sorry. Ruddy hormones…" she gave him a watery smile.

"No problem. You could say I have some experience with pregnancy hormones. Do you perhaps care for a slice of Molly's apple pie or a game of chess? Or both?" Blue eyes and a freckled face smiled at her warmly.

"Both would be nice."

Liked it? Hated it? Comments? Please let me know!

Love, Zimra.