Hi all,
Sorry for the delay in getting this up, I had some computer issues and then it took about twenty tries to get this chapter uploaded to the site. I'll try and get the other chapters posted more quickly.
Thanks for all the great reviews, I really appreciate them!
Enjoy,
Failte
"Who's the smartest little boy in the whole world?" Tonks asked, tickling Sirius' belly.
The six month old baby kicked his legs and opened his mouth in a toothless smile.
"That's right! You are!" She leaned over and blew a raspberry on his tummy. "Yes you are! The smartest, bestest little boy in the whole world!"
"Bestest isn't a word," Remus said.
She lifted her head and scowled at her husband. "Says you."
"Says the English language," he teased, bending over to kiss the top of her head.
Tonks sat up and watched him as he gathered papers together and put them in his briefcase. "When will you be home?"
"I should be back no later than six."
"Okay, I'll have supper ready for you."
He raised an eyebrow.
"What? Molly has been helping me and tonight I'm going to make my specialty."
"You have a specialty."
"Yes."
"What is it?"
"A surprise." Tonks stood from where she had been sitting on the floor with the baby and crossed to him, grasping the front of his robes, yanking him to her and kissing him hard. "Good luck, I'm sure it will all go well."
He nodded, trying to hide his nerves, but she could see right through it.
"This publisher will love you every bit as much as Sirius and I do."
Remus smiled weakly and kissed her. "Thank you, love."
She whirled around and scooped up the baby as he began fussing. "We're so proud of your Daddy, aren't we Sweet Pea?"
"What do you two have planned for the day?" He asked, setting his case down and taking his son from his wife.
"Well, if the weather clears up, we might go to Diagon Alley."
Remus looked out the window at the large, wet snowflakes that were falling. "Yes, well, be careful if you do."
"We will. It'll be the perfect chance for Sirius to try out the snowsuit Grandma sent him. Don't roll your eyes, Remus, it is an adorable outfit."
"It's a monkey costume."
"The little ears are cute and Sirius likes it."
Remus lifted his son up in front of him. "I'm sorry, m'boy, but it's just for now. In a few years I'll take you out and buy you the nicest set of Quidditch robes I can find. I promise."
"The first year of a baby's life is meant to be filled with cute outfits and embarrassing naked photos." She pointed to the photo of their son splashing in the sink during a bath that sat on the mantel.
Sighing heavily, he kissed the little boy's forehead. "I promise to make this up to you, Sirius, and when you hit your teen years and don't want to talk to us, I'll totally understand."
Tonks held her arms out. "Give me my kid."
Smiling, Remus kissed her and handed her their son. "Have fun."
"You too. Knock 'em dead, Sexy."
He laughed, releasing some of the tension that had been building up in him all morning. "Good bye, Dora."
With Sirius on her hip, she walked him to the front door. "Go, make us proud, then you can come home and have your way with me."
Shaking his head, he took his scarf off the hook by the door, winding it around his neck. "Watch what you say in front of the Rugrat."
"When he starts repeating what I say, I'll start editing myself."
Remus kissed her again, lingering a bit. "Love you. Both of you."
"We love you too." Tonks lifted Sirius' hand and they waved good bye.
With a low pop he disapparated.
"Okay, Sweetie Pie, we have got a lot of work to do." Tonks twirled around, earning a giggle from Sirius. "Your Daddy has had so much on his mind lately I bet he's forgotten what today is. But that's okay, he's been working so hard for us."
It was exactly one year to the day that she and Remus had married in a small ceremony at Hogwars. Her family had been there as well as the Weasleys and other members of the Order and Harry had stood with Remus as his best man. It had been the best day of her life and the fact that she hadn't tripped as she walked down the aisle had made the day perfect.
The past couple of months had been quite busy for Remus. His book was finally finished, he had found a literary agent he liked, and he was meeting with the publisher one last time before the publication. When word had reached the CEO of the publishing company that the book was autobiographical and that Remus was a werewolf, he wanted to stop the publication, but the editor who was working the Remus and his agent were going to be at the meeting that day to help him get the book published.
It had been a rough time for them, making ends meet with their savings, his advance and the money she made working part-time with Harry, helping him plan his Defense Against The Dark Arts classes. Remus had also taken up some odd jobs for the Order and even picking up some proofreading jobs through his agent so they could give Sirius a big first Christmas. They were getting along well, but they were still living in her small flat, scrimping and saving to fulfill their dream of saving up enough to get a house by the time Sirius was eighteen months old.
Life was starting to calm down for them. Voldemort was dead. The Death Eaters were almost completely gathered up and locked away. There were a few stragglers, but their names and images had been plastered all over The Daily Prophet and posters throughout the wizarding world so that they couldn't go outside without being recognized. The aurors were sure they would have them all in custody before spring.
Tonks spent the morning cleaning the flat, making sure everything was put away and sparkling. Then, while Sirius took his morning nap, she sat at the table and made a list of all that she needed to pick up. For a month, she had worked with Molly, learning how to make Remus' favorite things from scratch, using his mother and grandmother's recipes. She didn't have a lot of money to spend on him, but she knew this would mean a lot to him. He did most of the cooking, she was lucky if she could boil water, so if she could do this one thing for him, it would be special.
Molly had carefully written out the recipes and the spells in her neat hand writing. Tonks had the cards laid out in front of her as she went over everything one last time. She and Sirius would go and pick up what she needed. Then she was going to drop the baby off with Molly, who was going to babysit for the evening, and then come home and whip up a romantic, delicious meal for her and her husband.
It was still new enough to her that Tonks still got a thrill when she thought of Remus as her husband. She loved introducing him as "my husband" to people. There were some ignorant jerks who wanted nothing to so with a werewolf and his family. For all the wonderful friends they had, there were a few people who didn't want to be in a restaurant with a known werewolf or attend a party where he might be.
Remus took it all in stride. He said he was used to it and he barely noticed it anymore. But it upset Tonks terribly. The first time they had been 'politely' asked to leave a restaurant when word had spread that a werewolf was there and people complained, she had returned to her flat and cried. Remus had held her and crooned softly, telling her that it was all right, this was the life he was forced to live, and how sorry he was that she had to experience that. But as time passed and Harry Potter made it clear that Remus Lupin was not only his friend, but an honorable, trustworthy man, things became a little easier. There was still a lot of bigotry and fear, but, slowly, tolerance was starting to creep into their lives.
The sound of her son fussing and babbling reached Tonks' ears. She grabbed her list and stuffed in her pocket before going to him.
The first time she had disapparated with the baby, Tonks had nearly dropped him. It had frightened her so much, she would only travel by muggle means for a couple of months. Then Remus had bought her a contraption she wore like a backwards knapsack that strapped Sirius to her chest. It had taken him some time, but Remus finally convinced her that it was safe to carry their son when she disapparated or traveled by floo powder. His creativity and thoughtfulness never failed to amaze her.
Thirty minutes later, Tonks, with Sirius in his monkey snowsuit strapped to her chest, walked through a muggle market, checking items off her list. She knew Remus had a soft spot for Italian food. After he had been bit, a lot of parents didn't want their children playing with him, so young Remus had spent a lot of time with his Italian grandmother who had taught him how to cook.
They were going to start with fresh bruschetta and antipasto. She had visions of them feeding each other and sipping wine in front of the fireplace. Then they would move to the table where she was going to serve lasagna, from his grandmother's recipe. For dessert, one of Molly's specialties that he was fond of, a big chocolate cake with layers of whipped cream in between and a thick, fudge icing.
Selecting a fresh package of mozzarella cheese, Tonks sighed, wishing she could have known Remus' parents. He had such wonderful stories of them, their patience and intelligence, his father's sense of humor and his mother's kindness. He was the man he was because of them and she wished she could thank them for that.
By the time they arrived at the Burrow, Tonks was feeling wonderful. Nothing could possibly go wrong. She had everything she needed to make dinner, the meat, cheese, and olives had all been on sale. Sirius hadn't fussed once while they shopped and she was way ahead of schedule.
"Tonks, dear, come in, come in. Let me see that darling little boy!" Molly greeted her.
"Molly, I can't thank you enough for all your help." She said, setting the diaper bag on the kitchen table.
"Oh, it has been my pleasure, dear. And Bill and Fleur are coming for dinner with Adele so Sirius will have a playmate."
"Great. How are they?"
"They're doing wonderfully, everyone is. Percy will be coming for dinner on Sunday."
Tonks quickly went through the diaper bag, cursing quietly when she realized she had forgotten wipes.
"Not to worry, we have it all covered, don't we?" Molly asked Sirius as she unzipped his snowsuit. "You just go and get ready for your dinner, we'll be fine."
"Are you sure? I can pop right back over and…"
"I'm positive."
"All right then, um, I'll be back for him in a few hours."
"He can stay the night, if you'd like. There's plenty of room."
Tonks chewed on her lower lip. It was hard enough for her to leave him for a few hours, let alone the night. "Thank you, Molly, I appreciate that, but…"
Molly nodded, understandingly. "But you're not ready to be apart from him a whole night."
"Is that silly?"
"Not at all. He's a darling boy and you're blessed to have him."
"Thank you, so much." Tonks kissed her cheek. "You're a doll, Molly, I don't know what I'd do without you."
As soon as she got back to the flat, Tonks threw herself into preparing dinner. She knew that if she kept busy, she wouldn't notice how quiet and lonely it was without her boys there. The cake baked to perfection. She set out the layers to cool as she set a whisk to turning heavy cream into whipped cream. Knives chopped tomatoes, fresh basil, and onions for the bruschetta. Humming along with the Christmas music on the wireless, Tonks moved quickly, keeping an eye on the clock.
She knew Remus wouldn't be home before six, she had spoken with his agent who promised to keep him occupied until then. Her heart raced as she thought about him and what he was doing at that moment. Was he upset? Nervous? Angry? Hurt? She wished she could be there, at his side, holding his hand, offering him support.
With a flourish, she swirled the last of the icing over the cake and stepped back to look at it. It didn't look nearly as good as Molly's always did. It was lopsided and a bit lumpy looking, but, judging by the samples she had tested, it tasted wonderfully.
After carefully layering the ingredients in a dish, Tonks slid the lasagna in the stove, feeling very proud of herself. The food was looking good, the table was set with a linen tablecloth her aunt had given her. Two candles and two wine glasses sat in the middle of the table with a bottle of red wine.
Now it was time for her to get changed. The dress was his favorite. A deep maroon red with a sweetheart collar and a full skirt that fell to just above her knee, the bodice was snug and her cleavage looked bigger than it actually was. It was the girliest thing she owned, her mother had talked her into buying it years ago, and the first time she had worn it in front of Remus, the look on his face told her it had been worth every galleon she had paid for it. She slipped her feet into a pair of black high heels she had borrowed from Ginny, they were a bit tight, but they made her legs look longer and sexier.
The hot pink spikes she had done her hair in clashed with the dress. After trying a couple of different colors, she decided to go natural. The glossy brown hair hung to her shoulders in thick waves and her eyes were deep, dark brown. With a quick wave of her wand, a bit of color highlighted her eyes and her lips appeared plumper, stained a deep red. Twirling in front of the mirror, Tonks liked what she saw.
"You're in for one hell of a night, Remus Lupin," she told her reflection.
It was after five when she returned to the kitchen, a bit unsteady on her high heels. She arranged the antipasto platter and took the bruschetta from the refrigerator. Checking the recipe, she set a knife to cutting half-inch slices of baguette to toast.
"All right." She stood in the middle of the kitchen, hands on her hips. "The cake is done, the antipasto is ready, the lasagna is almost ready, all I need is to toast the bread and scoop the bruschetta on it." She glanced at her watch. "And I'm ahead of the schedule. I should take a picture for Molly, she will not believe how beautiful this all looks."
Tonks practically floated into the living room. She couldn't be happier. This was just one evening, one special evening when she would do what she could to show the man she loves how much he means to her. Humming, she lit a fire in the fireplace, lowered the lights and lit the candles. Returning to the kitchen, she laid the sliced baguette on a baking sheet and set it under the broiler.
The clock struck six just as she set the two platters on the coffee table along with the wine and their glasses. Her heart raced with excitement as she realized that it was really coming together, that she was going to succeed in surprising Remus when he was impossible to surprise. She couldn't keep a secret from him if her life depended on it. But she had kept this secret.
She did a quick twirl and all but danced into the kitchen. Opening the oven door, she saw the cheese had melted into a golden color and the sauce was just starting to bubble. Acting on distracted impulse, she reached in and grabbed the casserole.
"Ow! Damnit!"
It all happened in slow motion and Tonks watched as the hot dish slipped from her unprotected fingers and smash on the floor. Sauce, noodles and cheese crashed onto the scarred linoleum floor, splashing on her shoes and the cabinet doors.
Tears welled in her eyes and she fought hard to not burst into frustrated tears.
"It's okay, it's okay." She chanted under her breath. "We'll just have a lighter meal of antipasto and bruschetta followed by big pieces of cake. It's okay, it's okay."
Tonks froze when she heard the front door open.
"Dora?" Remus called out.
"Oh no, oh, damn," she muttered, looking around for her wand.
Slipping on a sauce covered noodle, Tonks lost her footing. She gasped loudly and reached for the counter, hoping to regain her balance. Her fingers slipped and she grabbed at anything as she went down hard on the floor right in the puddle that had been her lasagna and pulled the plate on the counter with her, toppling the cake so it hit with a splat on her shoulder and chest before landing in a chocolate mess on her lap.
"Dora!" His voice rose as he ran into the kitchen.
"No!" She cried out. "Don't come in here."
Remus stood in the doorway, his wand out. His mouth fell open and his arm fell to his side as he tried to make sense of the scene in front of him.
"Um, c-could you pretend to not see this, go away and come back in about half an hour?" Tonks pleaded pitifully.
"Are you okay?" He asked, slipping his wand back into his pocket.
"No, no I'm not." She fought to keep her voice steady as she felt disappointed, frustrated tears fill her eyes. "It was so perfect, just a minute ago everything was perfect and now…now it's not."
He held his hands out and hauled her to her feet. "What happened?"
"I happened," she replied, throwing her hands up. "It was so perfect. I was going to surprise you with your favorite food and romance you for…for our anniversary. I wanted it to be special and I screwed it up. Bloody hell!"
Remus looked around at the mess and tried to hide the smile that threatened to split his face. "Where, uh, where's the baby?"
"He's with Molly. She's babysitting for the evening." Tonks swiped her hand over her cheek, leaving a smear of chocolate. "Just…just give me a minute, I'll, uh, I'll clean this up and we can go get him."
He turned to look at her, seeing the evident disappoint on her face. "I can't believe you did all this."
"I worked all afternoon, baking the cake and Molly taught me how to make lasagna using your grandmother's recipe."
"I figured it was something like that," he murmured, peeling a noodle off her hip. "I didn't think you were planning to serve 'Nymphadora al dente'."
"Don't tease me, I am so upset about this."
"Don't be, Dora, I love the fact that you did this for me, that you went to all this trouble. It really is the thought that counts."
"It's just that you've been so busy lately and you've had so much on your mind, I really, really wanted to do this for you. I know it's not much, but..." She sighed and her shoulders fell.
With a smile curling the edges of his lips, Remus stepped closer. "I love you, Dora."
Despite herself, the corner of her mouth quirked up. "Happy Anniversary, Remus."
He dipped his head and slowly licked a spot of icing from her throat. "It tastes wonderful."
"Remus…"
"I don't think this was a total loss," he whispered, lifting her hand and gently sucking the chocolate from her fingertips. "I think we should get that dress off you before it stains and then I can help you clean what's left of the cake off you."
A familiar tingle began deep in her stomach and spread throughout her body. "I wasn't planning on this part of the evening until later."
"I think we need to reexamine your planned schedule."
"But the food…"
"Is wonderful from what I've tasted," he interrupted, moving his lips up to hers.
"I wanted to do something special for you," she whispered. "I wanted to romance you."
He leaned closer, moving his lips to her ear. "All I want to do is slip that dress off you and carefully lick every spot of chocolate and whipped cream off your body. I don't know about you, but that sounds very romantic to me."
Tonks lifted her head to look at him, seeing that look of pure lust he wore. "You're not disappointed?"
"Darling, I get to come home to you. Why would I ever be disappointed?"
She blinked, trying to hold back tears. "I love you so much."
He raised an eyebrow, lifting his hand to toy with the zipper on the back of her dress. "Care to show me?"
An hour later, the two of them laid tangled in their bed.
Tonks was sprawled across his chest, her eyes closed, her body limp and warm. Lulled by the way his chest rose and fell beneath her and the hand that stroked her hair, she began to doze, awakened quickly by his chuckling.
"What's so funny?" She mumbled, not opening her eyes.
"I was just thinking of you, sitting on the floor covered in chocolate cake and lasagna."
She moaned. "It was perfect, just thirty seconds before you walked in, it was perfect. I looked gorgeous, the food looked great, it was the height of romance."
His laughter was a little louder. "And somehow, in thirty seconds, you ended up on the floor, wearing it all."
"Not funny." She lifted her head to glare at him. "I tried."
"And I appreciate it," he told her, cupping the back of her head and bringing her lips down to meet his. "This was the best first anniversary I ever had."
"Me too," she muttered, resigned.
"Well, almost." Remus lifted his wand from the bedside table. "Accio flowers."
Seconds later, a bouquet of roses drifted into the room. Red, pink, and yellow buds all tied with a white ribbon.
"I didn't forget our anniversary," he told her, catching the flowers. "I dropped these when I heard you fall and I almost forgot about them."
"Oh, Remus," Tonks sighed, sitting up and gathering the flowers in her arms, drawing in a deep breath of their sweet aroma. "Thank you. You didn't have to, I know you've had a lot on your mind."
"No matter what I'm doing, you and Sirius are always at the forefront of my mind. I could never forget our anniversary, I could never forget the best day of my life." He said quietly.
Gently laying the flowers on the bedside table, she turned and stretched out beside him again, kissing him. "How did your meeting go?"
He grinned. "Very well. My editor had convinced the CEO to read the finished book and he really enjoyed it. He's still not too sure about having a werewolf on the payroll…"
"Ignorant prat," she muttered, peppering his chest with gentle kisses.
"Yes he is, but we were able to talk him into a two thousand print order, we'll see what, if anything, happens after that."
Tonks lifted her head to smile at him. "After the first two thousand sell, they'll print a million more and you'll become famous."
"We'll get our home."
"I am so proud of you, Remus."
"I couldn't have done it without you."
"You could have, you just like having me nag you into getting off your butt and actually doing something with your writing."
"You just like talking about my butt."
"Well, I do, now that you have a butt."
He raised an eyebrow. "What?"
"You used to be so skinny that you had no butt when I first met you. But, a year of marriage, proper meals, and a lot of sex has put some meat on you and now you have a butt worth talking about."
"Do you often talk about my butt?"
"Ginny, Hermione, and I often swap stories about our men's butts."
He groaned and closed his eyes. "They were my students, Dora, they used to respect me."
"Don't worry, Darling, after some of the things I've told them, they have a whole new respect for you." Tonks giggled when his eyes flew open and he glared at her. "I'm kidding, Remus."
He gently pushed her aside and sat up. "Well, I don't know about you, but I've worked up an appetite."
"Well, there's still bruschetta and antipasto," she said, throwing aside the blankets. "But I'm sure the bread's soggy now."
"We'll find something."
"Then you can have your way with me one more time before we have to pick up the baby."
Remus laughed, slipping a bathrobe on. "Glad to see you have your priorities set."
Current Day
"It had been perfect," Tonks muttered.
"So you've said." Remus slid his arm across her shoulders. "But I came home to a mess."
"A mess you had fun helping me clean up."
"Yes, I did." He turned his head and pressed a kiss to her temple.
Alone in their house, the two of them sat on the sofa in front of the fireplace, reminiscing. Snow fell softly outside and Snuffles laid on his back in front of the fire.
"I did eventually get the lasagna made for you."
"Just as good as my grandmother."
"And if you hadn't told Molly about what had happened, I wouldn't have been teased about it for three years."
"I don't think it was three years."
"They still bring it up every so often."
He snickered and squeezed her shoulders. "But everyone thinks it was sweet of you."
"Yeah."
Remus wrapped his other arm around her and pulled her closer. "I think it was very sweet of you."
"Was it the most romantic thing I ever did for you?"
"It was definitely in the top five."
Tonks nuzzled his throat. "Really?"
"Yeah, you look unbelievably hot covered in whipped cream and chocolate icing."
"I know."
"Do, uh, do we have any? Whipped cream and chocolate? I wouldn't mind reenacting that night."
"Really? Because I was thinking about another night, a couple of years after our first anniversary."
He furrowed his brow, obviously searching for the memory she was referring to.
"A certain evening in which I believe led to the birth of our beautiful daughter."
A smile slowly crossed his face as he remembered. "The kids are gone for a few hours, I don't see why we can't reenact a few different memories while we're at it."
"Why, Remus Lupin, you're just a dirty old man, aren't you?"
"I wasn't before I met you."
"True." She untangled herself from his embrace and stood. "You get the whipped cream and I'll get the icing."