Remus knew Dora was worried and he hated that he was the cause of it. Again. Because that's all he seemed to be able to do; make her worry. And he hated it. Seriously hated it. And he was going to make it better. Earn back that trust.

Oh, his wife (his wife!) trusted him. With her life. With her heart. Just like he did with her. He knew that. But he knew the fear was there, lurking under the surface under her warm smiles and teasing. He felt it in her lingering touches and the squeezes from her hand like she needed to persuade herself that he was still here.

He was going to fix that. Remus wasn't so stupid as to think he could do it all at once. Things didn't work like that. It was going to happen bit by bit. Slowly. But it would be worth it.

So, he would made up his mind to reassure her. Put her mind at ease. Because he wasn't going anywhere. Not without her. Never again.

"Hey," she greeted, returning from another trip to the bathroom. Apparently, the pressure on a bladder started earlier than he thought. He had thought that the baby would have had to be bigger to do that. "What are you thinking so hard about?"

She settled next to him on the sofa and tested her head on his shoulder. It was one of the best feelings in the world, in Remus' opinion.

"This," he said, giving her stomach a gentle poke.

"You can't poke her!" she exclaimed, batting his hand away.

"Her?" He asked, eyebrow raised. "You think we're going to have a girl?"

"Yes? No? I don't know," she said in exasperation.

"Mother's intuition?" He teased.

"Something like that. I just don't want to keep calling her 'it' or 'the baby'. That's so cold and impersonal."

"We could call it something else if you don't want to pick a gender?" Remus suggested.

"Like what? Splodge? Because that what she looked like on the ultrasound. A splodge with arms and legs."

"Lily called Harry her little alien baby because of one of the early ultrasounds," Remus said, chuckling at the memory. "James was horrified when he discovered what an alien was."

Dora laughed at that. A proper laugh. With a jolt, Remus realised that he hadn't heard that for a few weeks. Or was it months? Time was passing so weirdly recently.

"Well, we aren't calling her Splodge," she told him. "I'd almost prefer 'it' over that."

"Tiny?" Remus suggested.

The baby had been measuring small at their last check-up. Still in the range of healthy, just on the small side.

Dora shrugged. "Sure, why not?"

"Tiny it is then," he said with a grin.

Everyone needed a nickname, after all. Though, if Tiny stuck around, it would be hilarious if it ended up being six foot tall when it grew up.

They sat in silence for a bit, just enjoying each other's company. They did this a lot and it was comforting to Remus. It was one thing being able to talk to a person but a completely different thing to feel safe sharing silences without feeling awkward.

"Come on," Remus said suddenly.

"What?" She asked, blinking in surprised. He tugged her to her feet. "Where are we going?"

"Out."

"Out?"

"Baby shopping," he said confidently. "We're going to start getting ready for the baby."

They really should be doing that. The months were sure to fly in and they didn't want to be caught unprepared.

"We're supposed to be avoiding Diagon Alley unless we absolutely need to," Dora said suspiciously.

Remus grinned at her. "Who said anything about Diagon Alley?"

[xxxxxx]

"Have I told you how ridiculous you are today because you really are being ridiculous," Dora was saying as they walked out the door.

They were going out to do some baby shopping and no, not in Diagon Alley like Dora assumed. In the Muggle world. Where they would be much, much safer. The only problem was that Apparition really wasn't recommended for pregnant women beyond their first trimester. Too great a risk of splinching that only increased each month. Which left flying or floo for magical travel, neither of which they could do to get to the muggle world.

Which meant traipsing down the underused lane near his house that eventually brought them to civilisation.

"This is a pretty walk," Dora said admiringly, looking all around her.

There were none of the wildflowers or even shiny green leaves that there would be in spring and summer but the hedgerows were neat and the bare trees were oddly satisfying to look at.

"It is," Remus agreed, then he nudged her to the left before she walked onto the suddenly appearing road. "The bus stop is this way."

Yes, they were getting the bus. It was a quick enough trip into the centre of town, if he remembered correctly. He always apparated there if he needed shopping done. There and the next town or two over so he didn't give the appearance of being a recluse that re-emerged every few weeks.

They were just in time for a bus too. It was sitting at the stop, the last person about to get on.

Soon they were in the town centre and sure enough, there was a mother and baby shop right by the bus stop. Perfect.

It was bright and airy inside, full of bright colours and teeny, tiny clothes. They both sighed in relief as the heat of the shop hit them. It was bitterly cold today.

[xxxxxx]

"Come on, Dora, we should definitely get this," Remus said.

He was holding up, in his opinion, the cutest little one-piece pyjama set. It was a soft tan colour, with little paw prints up one leg and one-piece embroidered Teddy bear on the chest. It had feet and little mittens and even a matching hat! And it was soft, oh so soft!

"I thought I was meant to be the one cooing over all the cute baby clothes?" Dora asked, hands on her hips.

But there was an amused look on her face so he wasn't in too much trouble.

"It has a little cap with Teddy bears ears on it, Dora. Teddy bear ears."

She pursed her lips and looked at it with her head tilted to one side.

"It is kind of cute," she admitted.

"Kind of?" Remus demanded, shaking it at her. "It is extremely cute."

"Okay, Remus, it's extremely cute."

He sniffed at her teasing. "Do you realise how hard it is to find anything remotely this cute that isn't gendered?" He asked, waving his hands at the racks of blue and pink.

"There isn't much of a neutral choice," Dora agreed. "Except for the bright yellow onesie back there."

Which they had both agreed was downright horrendous.

"Do you want to find out the gender?" He asked as casually as he could.

Which failed if the amused look she sent him was anything to go by. She was now past the eighteen-week mark so it should be possible to see on a scan now. Baby's position permitting and all that. He knew from Molly chatting to Dora that she and Arthur hadn't known whether Percy would be a boy or a girl until her six months because he decided to not cooperate with them.

"I'm not sure," she said slowly.

"Oh, come on," Remus all but whined, throwing away and pretence at being uninterested in this. "Don't you want to know?"

She scrunched up her nose. "Kind of? I mean, I don't know. I suppose I don't really mind either way."

Remus shook his head in fond exasperation. How could she not want to know?

"Of course, now I know you want to know, maybe I can wait to the end of these nine months to find out," she said teasingly.

"You wouldn't," he said in mock outrage.

"Want to try me?"

He backed off at that. No. No, he did not. He knew that challenging glint in her eye and knew that she was stubborn enough to do what she threatened. He'd rather have some chance than no chance.

"No. I'm good," he told her. "Whatever you decide."

That got him a grin.

"I, on the other hand," he began. "Am deciding to get this," he waved the pyjamas at her again, which earned him an eye roll.

"Oh!" He said, darting towards another rack of clothes as something caught his eye. "Tiny socks!"