Tonks crossed her legs, grateful she'd thought to wear the new black maternity dress Mrs. Weasley had so graciously gone with her to pick out last weekend, as she desperately needed new clothes now that she was expecting a baby. She tapped her leg restlessly; glad she'd opted to wear flip flops instead of her combat boots today. The more her pregnancy progressed, she was grateful Madam Malkin's devoted an entire section in the witch's section of her shop towards maternity clothing. The blustery April morning spent in the St. Mungo's waiting room for her checkup appointment was as old as the coffee cup in her hand. She tapped its murky surface to break the thickening skin and watched the new gap grow with a purple manicured finger, scrunching her nose in disgust. The frigid brown drink dripped from her fingertip, the ripples spreading toward the rim in ever larger circles. Oh, Tonks knew she was spoiled, so used to the finest coffee beans, always freshly brewed and served with a subtle undertone of hazelnut and included half-and-half.
Tonks still craved for her cup to be a festive color with cardboard around it to protect her fingers from the heat. Instead, though, it was this instant muck, served warm in polystyrene, depression served without a smile. "It suits this place, though," grumbled Tonks, tapping the rim of her coffee cup with her wand, watching as bubbles began to boil and heat her drink. The coffee matched the beige walls and the melamine reception desk of St. Mungo's, where the blonde witch sat, utterly bored.
The place was as welcoming as the unguarded strip lights and blue carpet. The only thing alive in here was the ticking clock on the wall.
"I think the rest of us died some time ago," she sighed, lifting the rim of her cup to her mouth and drinking, shuddering a little as the hot coffee now burned her taste buds on her tongue. Remus gave her hand a squeeze. "Thanks, love," she murmured softly, leaning over to plant a kiss on his cheek, chuckling at the warm blush that speckled along his face.
The door swung open, and their midwife and Healer, Megan stepped out, brushing her hands on the sleeves of her lime green Healer's robes. When she spotted Tonks and Remus, she smiled warmly and gestured for them to come on back. "Come on back, you lot," she said.
Tonks heaved a little sigh, stifling her groan as Remus gingerly helped her to her feet. Her time was almost upon her, another day or two.
"How are you feeling, Mrs. Lupin?" Megan asked as she waved her wand, and a sort of light blue holographic screen materialized out of thin air in front of Tonks' swollen abdomen. "Any pains, anything unusual?"
"Yes, but…" Tonks froze, feeling a horrible constricting feeling in her gut, almost causing her to fall off the edge of the examination table, and she would have had her husband not shot out an arm to catch her. "Ow!"
"What? What's happening?" demanded Lupin urgently, wincing only once as Tonks clutched onto his right hand in a vice grip, threatening to break his fingers. He pulled a face but made no comment. If it hurt, he ignored it. "Doctor?" he asked, the tone in his voice desperate and hurt.
But to their surprise, the midwife was smiling. "Contractions," came her answer simply, rummaging through a cabinet and pulled out a hospital gown. "Ten centimeters. Your cervix is fully dilated, you're about to become a mom. Here," she answered. "Change into those. We're admitting you to the maternity ward for labor and delivery."
Tonks did as the midwife commanded, changing quickly and allowed herself to be led down the hall and into a private room of her own.
"Ow, when do I get this spinal tap thing, Rem?" she pleaded, pacing the room of their hospital room restlessly, not caring that she was barefoot. He sat next to her bed, wringing his hands together painfully. "Holy shit Almighty, Rem, this—this really hurts," she cried, struggling to control her breathing. "Where's the midwife? I—I need her. NOW!"
Almost as if on cue, their midwife re-emerged, shedding her robes, revealing the bright lime green scrubs underneath. "How are we feeling?"
Tonks bit her bottom lip hard enough to bleed, shuddering as another contraction came and went. "Doctor, I—I need medicines, something. You gotta give me something, just—just light a fire up in there and smoke it out!" she begged. She threw a desperate, pleading look to Remus, whose face was white and drawn, almost even terrified.
But Megan smiled, and her smile was kind and reassuring. She had the kind of warm eyes that put the mothers-to-be at their ease, she was the voice of calmness and knowledge in the painful intensity of childbirth. She'd seen it all, the majority of births that went as nature intended and the ones where not everyone survived. She attended more christenings than the average pastor and more funerals than she ever cared to recall.
With each new life there was risk, but there was something about this young couple that told the midwife that they could handle being parents.
"You're the past the point of a spinal tap or any medicines," Megan calmly explained, pulling up the stool that had rested dormant in the corner with a quick flip of her wand. "You're just going to have to get through this hard way. And no," she added, smirking slightly. "Just like with all things, magic has its limits, pregnancies among witches included. There's no magicking your baby out of you, Mrs. Lupin. You're going to have to get through this hard way, I'm afraid. Yes, it's going to hurt, but the pain you feel is completely worth it in the end when you get to hold your baby for the first time," she explained through one of Tonks' yells.
"Okay," whispered Tonks, biting her lip as yet another contraction rippled through her body. Remus was whispering something into the shell of her ear, soft, encouraging words, but it made no difference at all.
They'd not thought ahead to this part. Everything had seemed to go so smoothly following when they'd first learned she was pregnant, and now this. What if their baby was born with lycanthropic features?
The minutes dragged on and turned into hours. Before Tonks knew it, eight hours had passed, and still, no baby. "God," she cried, feeling tears well in her eyes. "Eight hours. Why doesn't it want to come out?"
Remus rested a gentle hand on the swell of her stomach, thinking fast.
"You know what I think it is?" he murmured quietly, pressing his lips to her forehead, which was beaded in sweat. "I think you've made such a nice home for our baby over the last nine months that he or she just doesn't want to leave," he soothed, hoping his words were a comfort.
Tonks smiled through her haze of pains, reaching up a hand to caress his cheek, her fingertips grazing over his scars. "Look at you, Rem, making up crap for me," she crooned lovingly. "Too bad it didn't work."
She groaned as another contraction came, scrunching her face to keep her hair from sporadically changing between pink, purple and red.
"I—I can't push anymore," she sobbed. "How other witches do this, I don't know. Rem, I—I can't do this," she cried weakly. "Let me die."
"Don't talk like that!" he snapped darkly, but then his expression softened as he reached for the wet cloth he was holding to wipe the sheens of sweat off his wife's brow. "I know it hurts, honey, but you can do this. You've already gone eight hours, and you're fine. I promise."
"No, I'm not," she panted, biting down hard on an ice chip. "I—I don't think I can do this anymore, Remus. You do it for me!" she cried.
"You know I would if I could," her husband answered, looking sympathetic and holding her hand, sitting with her at the edge of the bed. "And don't talk like that, sweetheart. You can do this. I know you can. You're doing so great, already! I'm so proud of you, Dora. It's almost over. Just—just a few more big pushes, and we'll meet our baby, love."
Tonks shot him a dark look. "How would you know I'm doing great?" she gasped, swiping her pink bangs out of her forehead. "Have you ever witnessed a woman giving birth before? How do you know?"
"No," he responded, suddenly wishing he hadn't said anything. "But I'm supposed to tell you everything is fine," he soothed, gripping her hand tight and giving it a reassuring squeeze. "You're doing so great!"
"Well, think of something else because it isn't helping!" She let out a piercing scream and blearily focused her gaze on her husband. "GOD!"
"What do you need me to do, Dora?" he pleaded. "Tell me, and I'll do it," he begged. Poor Remus looked so helpless and lost that Tonks would have felt pity for him if the next wave of pain hadn't hit her at that exact moment. Lupin dropped the cold rag he'd been using on her as she squeezed his hand with even more force than before, in a tight vice grip.
"Make it stop!" she begged. Her voice was tiny and cautious.
"You know I would if I could, but sadly, I-I don't have that power, sweetheart," he protested. "But…well…I think you're doing awesome."
Tonks moaned and shot him a withering glare. "Oh, as soon as our baby is born, I'm going to kill you, Rem," she hissed through her pains.
Remus turned even paler than before, but Tonks didn't know whether it was because of her threat or if his hand got crushed in her embrace. She had been proven wrong when she thought the pains couldn't get any worse. Tonks turned her attention to the midwife.
"Please, please, keep it inside," she begged, her voice still quiet.
Megan's voice when she spoke was calm but authoritative. Everything Tonks needed in the moment to get through this. "It doesn't work that way, Mrs. Lupin. Your baby is coming. Don't think about anything else."
Soon, her screams filled the hospital room, and Megan worked quickly to put barriers around the vicinity, including the Muffliato spell to prevent passerby and other patients from hearing the young Auror's screams, and she magically locked the door to prevent interruptions.
Tonks' contractions started coming every two minutes and lasted up to a minute and a half, but it was just no use. She could barely breathe and with every new contraction, she thought she couldn't possibly stand this pain any longer. Remus kept murmuring something in her ear that did not help her one bit while he cooled her face and held her hand.
But his voice was quiet and soothing to listen to, and it wouldn't do her any good to kill him now, so Tonks stopped attacking her husband.
Of course, that could have also been because the intervals between her contractions were just too short to do more than lie still and struggle to control her own breathing, deep and slow, just like the midwife said.
"Rem, I need you to check for me," she gasped out at last.
If she thought her husband was white before, she had been sorely mistaken. It paled in comparison (pun intended) to what he was like now.
"What?" he'd asked his wife as though he'd misheard her. Remus glanced towards Megan for confirmation, who kept her attention focused on her work, having eyes only for Tonks, ensuring the delivery of her patient's baby was the first priority, panicking husbands coming in second.
The Healer looked as though she was barely fighting back laughter.
Tonks blew a stray wisp of pink hair out of her eyes and struggled to control her urge to scream, clenching and unclenching her fists as though not sure what else to do with them. "I need you to check between my legs and tell me if our baby is coming, Remus. You can do this."
Panic crossed his brown orbs as he processed his wife's request.
"Can't you just—hold it in until it's ready to come out?" he pleaded. Then he pointed to Megan, and the corners of her mouth twitched as she fought back her smile. "Besides, she's the midwife! Ask her to check!"
"Because I want you do it," Tonks snapped, biting back the worst of her temper as it threatened to erupt. Don't lose your cool, her conscience advised her. If you do, then your baby is born into a stressful environment, and then it's totally wired for stress the rest of its life.
"B—but I'm not a Healer or an Apothecary! I—I'm not a doctor, Dora. I'm not an expert!" Remus shouted, in full panic attack mode.
"REMUS!" Tonks bellowed, on her last thread of patience. "I want you to do it. Women have been having babies for thousands of years, most of them without healers or midwifes," she explained wildly, biting her lip hard enough to cause it to split, crack and bleed. "I need you."
"Yes, but before that, infant mortality rate was incredibly high, i—it was something like one in three babies survived, and a Healer is a very important part of this process! Dora, what am I doing, I—I don't know what you need me to do!" he shouted, going over to the foot of the bed.
"WILL YOU PLEASE JUST LOOK, REMUS?" she yelled.
Cringing at the harsh bark in her tone that was unlike his wife, he obliged, coming over to stand behind their midwife. Panicked, he glanced down between her legs and suppressed a shudder as he looked, no clue what on earth to do with this request. "Oh, I can see its head!"
"That's good," Tonks gasped out weakly. "That's a good thing, Remus," she said warmly, smiling, hoping it was enough to calm him.
Megan couldn't resist piping up. "That means it's almost over, you two. You're almost there, just another couple of good pushes." Unable to resist teasing the poor, tormented husband just a little, she turned towards Lupin, who looked whiter than before. "Do you want to take over?"
"Oh, God! B—but am I supposed to touch it? Am I allowed to touch it? What if—what if it breaks or something? What do I do?" he shouted.
The poor man could not have looked more lost if he was trying.
"REMUS!" Tonks screamed. "You were the one who said you wanted to be there with me to support me, no matter what. I need you to do this for me. You said you wanted to be a part of the birthing process, so do it. Please," she begged desperately. "I need you, Rem."
Lupin took a deep, shuddering breath. "What do I need to do?"
"Now," she breathed, closing her eyes and taking in a deep breath that pained her lungs. "You need to catch it…. when I push it out, Remus."
Remus stared in disbelief. "Catch it?" he asked, as if the wizard had never heard of such an idea before. "Well, just…underhand him, I don't know! I've never been good at baseball. Or Quidditch, for that matter."
"Please, Remus!" screamed Tonks, tears streaming down her cheeks.
Lupin cringed as another one of his wife's piercing screams filled the hospital room. Her pleas seemed to reach him and something within him changed. A light ignited in his brown eyes and his panic evaporated, replaced with a fierce determination to do right by his wife and baby.
"Okay," he murmured to himself through gritted teeth, rolling up his sleeves of his black sweater and pulling up the spare stool to sit next to the Healer, who would be supervising the new father every step of the way.
"That's the spirit," Megan encouraged quietly to Remus, giving him a gentle pat on the shoulder, much like Molly Weasley would have done.
"I can do this!" he said softly, talking mostly to himself in order to coast some courage back into his spirt as he situated himself at the foot of Tonks's delivery bed. "I may have panicked a little back there, Dora, but we're going to do this. You're doing so great, honey. I'm so proud of you, beloved. It's almost over. We can do this. I'm your husband. I'm going to help you now, it's my turn to do something for you. I am great with children. Especially the—the little ones that don't talk back to me."
"Thank you, Rem," Tonks whispered. "Help me. Please."
Remus nodded, his panic slowly subsiding. When he spoke again, she recognized the former teacher in his tone, quiet but commanding.
Everything she needed right now to get through this, with most of the help coming from their midwife, of course. "I need you to push, Dor. Can you do that, honey? It's almost over, I promise," he said quietly. "You're doing so great, darling. I know you can do this. One more."
There was no mistaking the note of excitement in his voice now.
Tonks nodded mutely, saving the last of her strength. With each contraction came a pain that dominated Nymphadora's entire being.
In those moments, for those seconds that stretched into infinity, there was nothing else. Tonks could have sworn she heard screaming. Was it hers? She couldn't tell, though she tried to make no sound at all the closer their baby was to being born, knowing if it was born into a stressful environment, the baby would be wired for stress for its entire life.
When the pain passed, it was only for a minute or so and she breathed with closed eyes, unwilling to re-engage with life outside her own body.
The room might as well have been empty for all the awareness she had, and when they did talk, touch, gain her attention she found it so hard. To reply she had to find herself from the deepest recess of her own mind and drag herself forward, to use her voice, open her eyes. The midwife was telling her that is was time, time to push. With a guttural grunt she did so and was told to stop, one was enough. She felt the baby crowning, the hot stretching of flesh and held her breath. Tonks struggled and pushed, groaning and breathing rapidly, until at least she heaved one final groan. Remus cringed at the slightest sound of release but stayed quiet. Without any further effort the baby slid into the hands of her husband. There was elation, a boy at last, and in seconds he was there, nascent eyes opening, and letting out a tiny cry, its cries suddenly filling the room. "I caught him!" Lupin beamed happily, glancing down at the newborn baby in his arms. "It's a boy, Dora!" he exclaimed, delightedly.
"You did so great,' she whispered, flopping back against the pillows, utterly exhausted. "Thank you, Remus," was all she managed to say. "Watch his head," she cautioned carefully to her husband, who had eyes only for his new son. Tonks felt more thoroughly exhausted than she ever had in her entire life, but still, she began to realize that it was over.
Their new son was here. "Whoa," she whispered, jolting upright.
"Is that…?" Remus stared, his eyes wide and round with shock. He glanced to their midwife, who was beaming. "What's going on? Tell us."
Their baby's hair had looked black when it was born, but now they watched as tiny strands on his thick tuft of hair slowly began to change colors, almost blond or a light ginger in color. "But—but how?"
To her credit, Megan chose to ignore the slight rude way Remus asked, knowing full well he was just concerned for the welfare of their new son. A quick wave of her wand and what she knew of the two parents confirmed to the Healer and midwife what she already knew.
"Congratulations, you two. Your baby is a Metamorphmagus, just like his mother," she chirped happily, shooting a kind smile Tonks' way.
"But what about his…" Lupin's voice trailed off, not wanting to finish that thought. The Healer knew what he was asking. If he was a half-wolf.
"No," she answered, murmuring a complicated incantation under her breath, doubling checking her answer behind her. "Not that I can see."
The midwife watched, unable to stop her smile from spreading as she witnessed the new father breathe an audible sigh of relief and his shoulders sag, fresh tears gathering in the corners of his brown eyes.
"Thank Merlin," he moaned, kicking over the chair to sit next to his wife, but not before leaning down and planting a gentle but passionate kiss on his wife's lips. "I love you so much," he whispered. "Thank you."
"For what?" Tonks whispered, still keeping her eyes closed shut.
"For giving me my life back," Remus answered, shifting the newly wrapped bundle in his arms. "What should we name him, Dora?"
Tonks fell silent, thinking. "Let's name him after your father?"
Remus pulled a face. "Lyall?" he asked incredulously. "No, that's the worst. Let's—let's call him Ted. After your father. Teddy…Teddy…"
His voice trailed off as he fell silent, thinking. It was Tonks who broke the silence as she reached for their new son, cradling him close to her chest. "Teddy Remus Lupin," she answered softly. "That's his name."
The color was drained from her face, but Tonks was smiling in only a way that a new mother could. "Teddy," Remus repeated slowly, enjoying how the sound of the name rolled off his tongue. His heart melted as the baby's tiny fingers curled around Remus's index finger.
"Welcome to the world, Teddy Remus Lupin," Tonks whispered, pulling their newborn son close to her face, nuzzling his cheek with her nose. "Here," she said, holding out her arms. "Hold your son, Remus."
Lupin beamed as he sat up straighter on the edge of the bed, scooting closer to join his wife so they could hold him together. He caressed his son's cheek with the tips of his fingers. "This is truly amazing, Dora. For the first time in my life, I really feel like I've done something important, something that made my existence on this earth worthwhile. You and I parents, love," he said, reaching over and kissing her forehead.
Tonks managed a weak, tired smile. "I'm too exhausted right now to argue with you about this being the first time you've done something important, but you're right, Rem. This is huge for the both of us. Now we have to live up to it. We cannot ever let Teddy down as his parents."
"We won't," he promised solemnly. They sat in silence and absolute peace for a while, the only interlude was when Lupin sent a Patronus along to Andromeda to let her know that her grandson had arrived at last.
Remus stroked back a strand of dark hair from his new son's face. "He has your eyes and your hair, Dora. Just look at that tuft on his head."
Tonks admired it, collapsing back against the pillows. "He's beautiful. We did good, I think," she laughed. "We did it. We're parents, Remus."
"He has your face, love," Remus remarked quietly. "He's perfect, just like you, sweetheart." He wanted nothing more than to drink in this moment with his new son in his arms. Teddy's tiny fingers clutched his father's fingers as dreams swirled around in his little head as he slept.
He felt his eyes mist with the beginning of content tears. Lupin didn't try to stop them. As he looked at his wife's now sleeping form and his newborn son cradled in his arms, his heart swelled with so much lover and a fierce protectiveness he thought that it would burst.
His wife and son were his. The most perfect feeling he had ever known swept through him, rocking him to his core. Remus knew he would do anything in the world to protect his daughter and his son.
Even if it cost him his own life. He would be their hero, their keeper, and the one who kept them safe. He would be his son's father. Always.
A ginger rapping on the door interrupted his moment alone with his wife and daughter. Lifting his head, Remus beamed as Andromeda poked her head through, a delighted expression her worn but still pretty face.
"May I come in?" she asked politely. "How's Dora? Is she okay?"
"She's fine," Lupin reassured quietly. "Just tired. We should let her sleep," he murmured, gingerly lifting his newborn son in his arms, careful to mind and support Teddy's head. The pair fell silent for a moment, just watching Teddy sleep, snuggled and swaddled firmly in his bundle of blankets. Remus lifted his head to smile at Andromeda Tonks.
"Would you like to hold your grandson? I'd like you to meet your grandson. We—we named him Ted. After Dora's father. I hope… that's okay with you, Mrs. Tonks," he asked softly. Without waiting to be asked, the new, proud father gingerly placed the squirming bundle in Andromeda's arms. Teddy opened his eyes to stare up at her.
A slow smile crept onto Andromeda's face as the baby's tiny fingers curled around her pinky finger, silent tears rolling down her cheeks. She tilted her head to the side, much like a dog would, and Remus could practically see the woman's hardened heart softening as she looked into the eyes of her grandson's eyes. She'd become hard after losing Ted.
"You two will be wonderful parents," Andromeda said after a long silence. She handed the baby back to Remus after a while. "Somehow, ever since that first night that Ted and I met you, we knew that you would be the one our Dora would marry and share her life with."
"I know," he responded, unable to stop the sense of pride swelling within his chest. Andromeda had to suppress a laugh to avoid waking Tonks up. There was no mistaking that look of fatherly pride and love in the younger man's brown eyes. He was a father and always would be.
"Do you want me to send the word out to the others?" Andromeda asked, raising her wand, prepared to send out a Patronus. "I'm sure they'd love to meet Teddy, and check on Tonks. Molly and Arthur, maybe?"
Remus nodded, not bothering to look up, having eyes only for Teddy in his arms. "If they're up for it, tell them I'll be coming," he said excitedly. He gently rocked the baby against his chest, pacing the floor of the hospital room until the rustling sounds of the bed's sheets alerted him.
"What is it, Dora?" he asked soothingly, going over to his wife's bed. "Are you hurting? Are you in pain still? What can I do?" he asked.
Tonks smiled weakly as she held out her arms as Remus handed Teddy over so she could nurse him. "If you're agreeable, I—I'd like for Harry to be Teddy's godfather. If something ever happens to us, I want him to be protected and in good hands. What are your thoughts on this, Remus? Do you agree with it?" she whispered, her voice barely above a whisper and sounding slightly hoarse, exhausted from her day's efforts.
Remus's response was a gentle kiss on the lips. "I think that's a wonderful idea, love. I agree with you. There's no one better. I'd like to tell the others that our son is here, sweetheart," he announced, getting up from her hospital bed, getting that spark of fatherly pride in his eyes again.
Tonks nodded. "That's a good idea. Hurry back!" she teased, a light smile creeping onto her face as Teddy started making little cooing noises.
Lupin smiled. "Nothing could keep me away from you two for too long," he responded, leaning down to kiss her again. He paused to stroke Teddy's head gently, kissed his son's forehead, standing up and pulled his jacket tighter around himself, before walking out of St. Mungo's to Disapparate. First things first, he had to ask Harry to be Ted's godfather.
He hoped he would say yes.
