Chapter Twenty-One

When Shadow burst into the Hospital Wing, he was surprised by the calm that was in the room. Remus was lying in a bed, feet propped in the air with stirrups and Sirius was sitting in a chair next to him, chatting. "Hey, kiddo!" Sirius called, waving to him.

Shadow blinked for a few seconds before walking over to the bed. "What's with that face, cub?" Remus laughed slightly.

"I just…this isn't what I was expecting…It's just…it seemed too calm." Shadow scratched the back of his head, ruffling his hair up a bit.

His parents looked at each other and shrugged. "We learned the last time, cub. No point in freaking out over it."

Shadow for some reason blushed as Remus spoke. Sirius nodded his head, holding onto Remus' hand. "They'll get here when they get here. Freaking out won't make them hurry."

The three heard the door of the Hospital Wing open with a soft creak and they each directed their attention to it. Severus stood in the doorway, looking both intimidating and a little nervous, if only in his eyes. "Am I welcome this time?" The question was soft and the man's black eyes bore into Remus'. Both Shadow and Sirius looked away from the two men. Shadow because he clearly understood that Severus had not been welcome at his own birth. Sirius because he clearly remembered threatening the same man he now considered a close friend.

Finally, after a long moment of silence, Remus nodded. The lycan kept his eyes trained on his and Sirius' linked hands. "You're a part of this family, Severus. Think you can handle this much Gryffindor influence?"

Severus smirked as he walked over and placed his long, pale hand on Shadow's head, ruffling the long hair even more. "I believe there is some Slytherin in this one," he gave his son a small, proud smile. "There may be hope for the rest of you."

"The hat wanted to put me in Slytherin, you know." Shadow stated matter-of-factly.

Three pairs of eyes widened visibly. "What?!" Sirius looked horrified. "Our son was almost a Slytherin!?"

"You're aware of who my birth father is, right?" Shadow guffawed at the look on Sirius' face as he gestured at Severus.

The family remained in amicable silence for a while, breaking the silence with some side conversations, or when Remus had a strong contraction. Only Madam Pomfrey interrupted occasionally to check on Remus. "This isn't anywhere near as painful as it was the first time," Remus panted out after another contraction had passed. Sirius flexed his hand with a grimace but was smart and said nothing.

Shadow soon learned that the calm that he experienced when he walked in was the calm before the storm.

Madam Pomfrey came over after Remus had a particularly long, harsh contraction. She checked between his legs, where his magic had formed a birth canal, and clucked her tongue. "Remus, I'm sorry you simply aren't dilated wide enough. I'm going to have to attempt to snag a water bag, and hope that it speeds this process along."

Remus' eyes bugged out as his face paled. "Snag a—? Is that a medical term?!"

The matron rolled her eyes slightly and pursed her lips. "Do you not trust me, Mister Lupin?"

Remus blushed and averted his gaze downwards. "I trust you, Poppy."

The woman nodded once sharply and went over to her medical cupboard. She rummaged within it for a moment and returned quickly, holding an object that resembled a knitting needle. "Lovely," she said. "This may sting a little." With that note, Poppy disappeared under the sheet that was covering Remus' propped legs.

Shadow winced and covered his eyes with his hands, even though he wasn't able to see the activity itself. Remus let out a brief cry of shock and pain and just like that, Poppy reappeared, a frown on her face. "What's wrong?" Sirius' voice wavered a bit and definitely lacked some color in his face.

After disposing of the needle, Poppy sighed heavily, brow furrowed in worry. "There is no liquid remaining."

"What does that mean?" Shadow had never seen that look on Madam Pomfrey's face before and felt his heart tighten at the sight.

Severus, Sirius, Remus, and Poppy all turned and stared at Shadow, as though they had completely forgotten he was in the room. "Come," Severus rested a long hand on his son's shoulders with an arm wrapped around him, and attempted to lead him towards the door. "This isn't something you need to be here for."

Shadow shrugged off the arm and turned away from Severus. "I'm a part of this family too. I have a right to know."

Poppy shifted her eyes to Remus and Sirius, knowing that they had the final say in whether or not Shadow was allowed to stay. Sirius, hand gripping Remus' so tightly that his knuckles were white, opened his mouth to speak. He was however cut off by Remus. "Shadow, listen to your father." The man's voice was very tight, as though he was holding back the urge to cry or yell. Or perhaps both.

"Okay." Shadow shrugged and looked at Sirius. "Dad?"

"No," Remus' voice cracked out like a whip. "Listen to your father."

Sirius' shoulders slumped and he clamped his mouth shut, overall he looked both hurt and sullen at Remus' statement. He now understood where he stood on the parental hierarchy when it came to Shadow; Remus was at the top, Severus was next, and Sirius was at the bottom. He angrily remembered an occasion in which Severus was not even involved. It didn't seem to matter at all to Remus that Sirius had been in Shadow's life longer than Severus, technically.

The room remained quiet for several seconds after Remus spoke. Shadow's eyes kept flicking between Sirius and Severus with uncertainty. He wanted to stay, but at the same time, he knew better than to not listen to Remus, especially when he was obviously this distressed. "Now, Shadow!" Remus yelled, glaring at his son with tear filled eyes "I don't want you in here for this! Get the fuck out!"

Shadow jumped and skittered out of the door, noting with a sour expression that he had been the only one kicked out. Papa has potion experience; a small voice in the back of his mind reminded him. If something goes wrong…he can be there to fix it. Still…Shadow pulled out one of Fred and George's new prank prototypes, an Extendable Ear, and smirked. Mama said he didn't want me in there. Didn't say anything about not listening in. He carefully snaked the object underneath the door and listened.

Back in the wing, Madam Pomfrey began to explain. "The fact that there is no liquid whatsoever means that they need to get out as soon as possible. If not, complications can and will arise." She stared into Remus' swimming blue eyes imploringly. "Remus, I know you wanted to do this naturally, however that doesn't seem to be an option anymore. My recommendation now is a Cesarean section."

"Absolutely not!" Remus covered his abdomen with his arms, as if shielding it from Poppy. "I refuse to be cut open!" One hand strayed from his stomach to lightly touch at the scars marring his face. "That has happened enough in my life."

"Remus, you don't seem to understand." Poppy was trying her hardest to remain professional, but it was becoming increasingly difficult. "Your children could die!"

"I did it naturally with Shadow, I can do it with them!"

"Remus, for Merlin's sake you aren't twenty years old anymore!" Sirius finally spoke up, slamming his hand on the bedside that was beside him. "This pregnancy has been hard on you, a lot harder than when you were pregnant with Shadow sixteen bloody years ago! Dammit, they're my children too!"

Remus balked at Sirius' words and finally agreed, though with extreme reluctance. "Severus, please grab me the special anesthetic potion from my cabinet." Poppy instructed as she began to rearrange Remus into the appropriate position. She ran a soothing hand through the shaking blonde's hair. "Remus, I promise you, you won't feel anything. Everything will be fine."

Severus returned and passed the potion to Remus. "Before you ask, yes, I have adjusted it particularly for lycans. It will work." Remus took the potion and downed it quickly, grimacing at the taste. He squeezed Severus' hand tightly in appreciation.

Sirius noticed the minute exchange and his eyes flashed. He stood at the head of the bed, possessively, and carded his hands through Remus' hair. "It's going to be fine, love. I know it. It'll all be fine and soon our little boy and little girl will be here." Sirius lowered his head and kissed his husband's brow.

"Alright Remus, I'm going to apply some pressure on you." Poppy, donned in Healer garb, informed him. "I need you to tell me if you can feel it or not. I need to gauge whether or not the anesthesia has kicked in."

"Okay," the voice that responded to her was quiet and shaky. Poppy pressed down on his legs and applied gentle pressure to his swollen abdomen. Each time Remus informed her that he could not feel anything.

Poppy nodded once solemnly and grabbed her wand. She covered Remus' lower body, for decency, with a sheet and conjured a partition that blocked Remus from being able to see her cutting into him. Immediately following that, she banished the hospital gown Remus had been wearing a moment ago. "Okay, Remus, I'm going to begin now." With that, after hearing a frightened sounding squeak from the man in question, Poppy gently drew her wand across his stomach, using a surgical version of the common cutting charm.

After Poppy eased the blood flow, she made quick work of removing the twins. She had two sterile hospital cribs ready and nearby and Severus would be in charge of checking the infants' vitals and cleaning them up. She noticed as she was pulling the first twin out that the placenta had already begun to deteriorate, which explained the lack of amniotic fluid. She passed the first twin off to Severus to be cleaned. Sirius stood diligently by Remus' head, offering words of encouragement and a non-gory play-by-play of what was happening.

"Remus…one of them is out. It's…it's our little girl. Our daughter is here!" Poppy glanced up briefly and peeked behind the partition that covered her patient. She saw the two parents had tears in their eyes and Sirius cupped Remus' cheek as he kissed him from above. Remus began crying when the baby's first cries were heard.

Once she was sure that Severus was finished cleaning the girl, Poppy quickly pulled out the youngest Lupin-Black child. Her heart lurched when she noticed the difference in size between the two. It wasn't uncommon for one twin to be larger than another, however the new boy was runt-like compared to his sister, or even when compared to Shadow when he had been born. She nevertheless handed the squirming child to Severus and began to close Remus' incision.

When all was complete, there were two perfectly healthy babies, crying their lungs out beside their parents. Sirius, like Poppy, noticed the size difference. Their daughter weighed eight and a half pounds, whereas their son weighed only five and a half. He wasn't concerned by the weight difference, as Poppy had given them both a clean bill of health.

Sirius, technically a new father, peered into the cribs. He noticed that their little girl had his dark hair and that their littlest son had Remus' blonde hair. In both of them though he saw a perfect mixture of himself and Remus. It was unsure as of yet what eye color each would have.

"We should have Shadow-boy come in, yeah?" Sirius asked Remus, pecking him on the temple.

Remus didn't hear Sirius' question, as he was too busy intently staring at their son. He's…he's so tiny… Remus thought. He's a runt. A voice growled in the back of Remus' mind. He won't last.

Remus shook his head violently, trying to get Moony's words out of his mind. However they still rang constantly in his ears. Runt. Runt. Runt.

"Remus?" the man jolted as he heard his name called. "Don't you want Shadow to come back in?" Sirius looked at him with concern. "Are you alright?" He reached out to caress the other man's cheek.

"Fine," Remus said impatiently, swatting away Sirius' hand. "I'm still a little tired from the anesthesia. But yes, let's bring Shadow back in."

Shadow sat in the hallway, long abandoning listening in on the whole process. He checked his watch for the umpteenth time when the door opened to reveal a slightly perturbed looking Sirius. Shadow stood back up immediately. "Well?" He questioned eagerly.

This caused Sirius to laugh, forgetting his sour mood. "Everything is perfect. Why don't you come in and meet your brother and sister?"

Shadow rushed back inside quickly. He gave Remus a gentle hug and kiss on the cheek before taking a seat on the foot of the bed. He peered into the two cribs and smiled at his siblings, giving each a finger to grasp onto. "So, can I finally know their names?"

Remus and Sirius smiled softly at each other. Remus reached into one crib and held their daughter close while Sirius did the same with their son. "This," Remus spoke softly. "Is your baby sister, Sidra Regina Lupin-Black."

"And this," Sirius breathed out. "Is your baby brother, Solaris Regulus Lupin-Black."

Shadow laughed softly, causing his parents to look at him with dual confused expressions. "I see you two decided on a naming theme."

Remus shook his head bemused whereas Sirius pouted. "I didn't think he'd notice that quick," Sirius sulked.

"He has my brains, puppy." Remus chuckled. "Of course he would."

"I don't really mind," Sirius whispered, placing Solaris back into his temporary crib. "I'm the happiest man on Earth right now." He took Sidra from Remus and gently placed her into her crib as well. "I have my star," he kissed Sidra's forehead. "My sun," he then kissed Solaris. "And the two of you," Sirius sat between Shadow and Remus on the bed and pulled them both close, pecking each of them on their temples. "Are my moon."

"How does that work, Dad?"

"Simple, kiddo. You're just the dark side of the moon. Because you're just like your Mama, but you get your dark side from me!"

A/N: Hooray! Twins! Also if you are curious about the name meanings, they're below. I hope you liked it! This is a little bit longer than my usual chapters. As always, review! It helps me get my creative flow going!

Sidra: Star Born

Regina: Queen

Solaris: Of the sun

Regulus: Named after Sirius' brother, which I could not find a meaning for.

Also, if you don't like the names, I'm sorry. It's my story, so I get to pick them. Also I like them. Plus, chances are they won't be going by their real names. I'm thinking of having Sidra go by either Gina or Sid and Solaris go by Reg or Reggie.

Luv,

GoM