There was no giving up in this fight. She was going to get her way, no matter what, even if it could possibly harm someone.
Even those that she loved.
"Dammit, Remus!" Tonks crashed her fists into their sad excuse for a kitchen table; it wobbled hopelessly on its remaining limbs. "You promised! You promised!"
"I did," Remus replied in a soft voice; it was pushing the line of causality, which was definitely not appropriate given their situation. "But we never talked the detai—"
"Yes we did!" Cried an enrage Tonks, who looked to be on the verge of steaming tears. "You told me that with this—" She lifted her quivering hand to reveal the small, pewter ring, "—that we would have everything that we had ever wanted. You knew that that involved a child! And suddenly, after you've done all the dirty work, you want to back out? No! That's just not going to happen! I am not going to stand for this, Remus Lupin!"
Her partner bowed his head in almost a defeat, eyes boring self-loathed holes into his rugged, dragon hide shoes. He had to tell her. She would only be more anguished if he waited, if he prolonged the moment. With a dark grunt of a chuckle, he scuffed his heels.
What was he to do? If he told her, the yelling and ambushing would only increase; if he were to wait, he would receive a false sense of hope and calm, and would only be waiting for the storm that was sure to follow.
Remus decided to wait.
And so he did.
The day continued, Tonks, eventually, burning off her anger and blowing out altogether, like a candle. Mumbling and cursing under her breath, she nearly ripped the door off of its hinges as she left for work only hours later, half showered and only a quarter of her mind focused on the tasks before her.
Remus drug his feet around until he found himself in their bedroom, sheets still mangled and tangled from their sleep of the previous night. Tonks had had a particularly rough night, the inhabitants of her belly causing her a great pain, obviously emotionally and physically. She had rolled over on her back, swearing softly under her breath as a hand flew up to caress her swollen belly. "Tonks?" Remus had called, rubbing rare sleep out of his eyes.
"I'm fine," she muttered, bangs of her dull brown locks creating a curtain to hide her eyes. "Just go back to sleep."
"What trouble that baby is, inside now and soon to be out," Remus had muttered mistakenly.
And that was when the arguing had began.
The screaming.
The cries.
The moans.
The fights.
Was Remus John Lupin excited to be a father? Of course he was.
Though he was desperately terrified, terrified of what they had created. He himself was already a danger to the community if it weren't for the Wolfsbane. Who's to say the same couldn't be said for their little bundle of possible Hell? What if he didn't respond to the potion. Would he transform every month, since he was only half werewolf? Would he be an outcast at school? What would happen if they couldn't make the Wolfsbane in time?
Tonks didn't seem to realize his fear that was bubbling inside him, slowing brewing, mixing together all the right herbs and spices before it would soon be released.
Remus practically loathed the future baby, and yet loved him with all of his heart. He wondered idly if this was what Tonks thought of him. It sure seemed that, lately, she wasn't too fond of him.
Could she ever find the guts, the willpower, to leave him?
That would leave him empty. He would just be a lame carcass, lying helplessly on the ground. Every day he would be massacred by people, by their relentless feet that would topple over him, that would treat him like the true filth he was. He would be alone. He would be miserable. Somehow, he knew that if she were to leave him he would have to struggle every morning to find the willpower to wake himself up, to force his aching bones and heart out of bed, ready to face another pain-inspired day.
And yet he would do it. Remus would find the only will he would have.
His son.
Somehow, as much as Remus John Lupin hated the thought of his son, of the soon-to-be monster he had created with a monstrous women, he knew that, in time, he would grow to love the boy.
After all, he would be his own flesh and skin. He would be perfect. Remus would help him through everything, through all the pains and struggles of being what he was. He would have to teach him that with hard work came a sense of pride and, often, joy. As much as Remus was scared, he was shaking with excitement of his chance to finally do something right.
It was then that he would finally realize that he needed to calm himself, wait for Tonks to stumble through the door, and welcome home his lovely wife that was carrying their similar bundle of twisted joy.