It had been a whole day and no sign of Remus. None at all. She had pace up and down this house so many times that she was amazed not to see a path etched into the floors.

At first, she hadn't worried, she had just thought that Remus needed to clear his head. She did as well after everything that had happened and that newspaper was just the straw that broke the camel's back, so to speak. She cleared her head by ranting and a good bit of cursing. Remus cleared his head by removing himself from the situation and people. That was fair.

So, an hour or so with him gone wasn't unusual, considering. But when the third hour passed, she had to admit to herself, she swatted to get nervous. Anxious. Worried. All of those things. There was a war going on, after all. And the Dark side were in charge. It wasn't safe to be out and about. Sure, Remus could look after himself but still, she worried. That was normal, wasn't it?

Then six hours past and she was seriously wondering where he was. She had gone past worried (though it was still there) and was now angry at him for making so worried. Couldn't he just drop by? Send a Patronus or something just to say that he was safe?

Then it was night-time and still know Remus. And she hadn't told anyone either. Then a bloody wolf Patronus came tumbling through the window, making her sigh in relief and be annoyed all at once.

"Am safe."

And now she was even more annoyed. What was that even supposed to mean? She couldn't ask Remus because he wasn't here. She kicked at a wall and left a very satisfying scuff mark. Her boots were excellent for releasing frustration like that.

After a good stomp around she decided that she may as well go to bed. Except, her brain didn't exactly get the whole going to sleep bit. Of course, it wouldn't! What with Remus' side being very much empty and her mind on bloody overdrive. Come on! No one could sleep like that and she didn't! Tossing and turning all night long, so she was.

Waking up the next day (still without Remus - he didn't appear in the middle of the night) was the wrong word seeing how she never fell asleep. Still, she went through her whole morning routine, freezing when she made herself a cup of coffee. She couldn't have that whole she was pregnant, could she? Great. Just great.

Just as she was about to kick at another wall, there was a 'pop' noise from outside and Tonks leapt to her feet, wand firmly in hand.

"It's I, Remus Lupin, your husband," Remus called as he came into view, his wand also out. "What do I always say to you if you've fallen over?"

Tonks couldn't help but sigh as she replied through gritted teeth, "You say, 'Need a hand, Nymphadora?' and then hold out your hand which I used to pish away but now I take."

He nodded sharply at her and held up his hands further as she raised her wand a little bit higher.

"And, you, Remus? What colour are my eyes?"

A simple question but one very, very few people knew the actual answer to.

"Grey blue," he answered simply. "Like Sirius."

Her breath caught in her throat at that name but she lowered his wand. It was definitely Remus. Not that she had much doubt about that.

She turned on her heel and walked inside, letting him follow her in.

"I was worried sick," she told him once they were inside.

No hug or kiss, just straight to the point.

You shouldn't have worried," Remus said, shrugging off his cloak. "All the worrying isn't good for the baby."

"Don't you tell me not to worry, Remus Lupin!"

Not when he was the cause of most of it! He had no right!

"Sorry, you're right."

Damn right she was right. And Tonks couldn't put her finger on it but something about Remus had changed. What was it? Then it hit her. He had referred to their baby as, well, a baby. Not obliquely referencing it or calling it it. She was even doing it! She just called it 'their baby'.

"Our baby," she said, touching her stomach

There wasn't any bump or anything yet but she knew it was there. Her stomach very much knew it was there.

Remus sighed but gave her a genuine smile. "Yes, our baby."

He then engulfed in a hug. And she meant engulfed. Like, he used his whole body to hug her kind of hug. Which felt amazing, don't get her wrong, but it was a bit strange.

"Remus?"

"Mmh?"

"Are you okay?"

Another sigh but this one was heavier somehow. It made her feel okay.

"I need to give you an explanation for my behaviour."

"And your disappearance yesterday," she added.

Because yes, she did deserve an explanation. A good one. He had been so weird. Weirder than usual. Not a good sort of weird either because usually they were a good sort of weird. Okay, that was enough rambling in her head, she should be listening to Remus right now.

"And my disappearance yesterday," he repeated heavily. "Or, I need to apologise for that."

Tonks just raised an eyebrow. She didn't want to interrupt him or make him lose his train of thought.

Not that what came out of him next was a coherent train of thought. No, it was more of an outpouring of all his insecurities and worries and paranoia. She never knew how paranoid and anxious he was about his condition. Sure, she knew that he worried about it but this? About him and their child? Why didn't he say anything?

And there was more. About being worried about her. About her association with him, like they were just friends or something instead of being married.

How did he think all of this and still be sane? This was a lot of worries and she only knew about some of them! And the ones she did know of evidently weren't the important ones.

And then there was the whole thing about trying to avoid all these worries by trying to join Harry, Ron and Hermione! Even she knew that that would have never worked. Running and ignoring problems never did. Too bad that was the one thing they were both good at.

"Remus, I -"

"I know I was being stupid. I know that now," he interrupted her. "It was just-"

"Worried which makes you really stupid," Tonks finished for him.

He gave her a sheepish look. "Yes."

Tonks sighed heavily, though she felt a tiny bit of relief. They could work through this.

"Remus, you have to start talking to me. This isn't healthy or good for either of us. I've told you this."

She had and he had agreed, hadn't he? So, what was all this?

"I know. I know," he said, running his hand down his face. "I've messed this up again."

"And you're going to keep messing it up if you don't try."

"I'm not going to just try; I'm going to do kt." He said determinedly.

Which was a definite step forward. And she could appreciate that.

"Make sure that you do."

She actually trusted that he would this time. It was like this was as low as he could go so, he could only go up from here, right?

"You don't really regret marrying me, do you?" She asked, twisting her wedding ring around her finger.

"NO!" Remus said, startling her with the intensity he said it. "Dora, no. No, I don't."

"Promise?" She didn't think her voice had ever been so small but her emotions were all over the place and if she tried to say anything else she was sure that she was going to burst into tears.

Remus grabbed both her hands and look right into her eyes. Had she ever noticed how warm an amber his eyes were? They were so warm.

"I swear to you, Nymphadora Lupin that I do not regret marrying you one bit. And I never will."

They kind of just sat there, staring into each other's eyes until Tonks breathed a sigh of relief.

"Okay. We can make this work."