"He is being ridiculous."

She got no response but Tonks didn't care. Because she was all annoyed and hot and bothered and she just needed to rant.

"It's perfectly safe."

Stomp. Stomp. Stomp. That was so satisfying.

"I mean, what does he take me for, an idiot? He's the idiot."

A growl and some angry noises came from her.

"Seriously? Suddenly now it's unsafe? I've been right there for loads of them and just now he decides that no, I shouldn't be there?"

'Them' being the full moon. Which she was not spending at hers and Remus' house in their bedroom, waiting for the night to be over and straining to hear anything from Remus. She never did, by the way. The charms on the basement were too strong. But still, she tried every time.

Not that she could even try tonight because he had all but banished her from their house! Oh, sure, she had agreed to it but she wasn't happy about it, let her tell you that!

"Idiot." She muttered again.

"It was bad for the baby," he had said. "You'd get a better night's sleep."

As if simply being somewhere else would stop her thinking of him and the fact that his entire body was reassembling itself into another form.

"You know, I am almost certain that this sort of stress is what Remus wanted to prevent in the first place," Andromeda said in an unconcerned tone, not looking up from her book.

"Well, sucks to be him then."

"Yes, I'm pretty sure it does."

Tonks rolled her eyes at her mother. She knew that was meant to make her feel guilty and it did. A bit. But it didn't stop her feeling annoyed.

Being at her parents' house on the full moon was no different from being at hers and Remus' house on the full moon. The only difference between the two is the small matter of Remus locking himself in the reinforced basement of their house. She was safe in both locations. But no, Remus somehow thought being just above him transforming would cause her and their baby undue stress.

To be honest, he was stressing more about it than she was the only reason why she came to her parents' house. Him being stressed before the moon rose did not make for a good transformation for him. Not that it was all that great without Wolfsbane and all but stress made it far worse.

So here she was, in a completely different house from her husband and she wasn't happy about it. No. Not at all. Definitely not. In case you couldn't tell. Her mother certainly could as Tonks could see her eyes roll despite her still looking at her book, ignoring her as best she could.

"I'm not stressed," Tonks said in an attempt to defend herself. "I'm just pissed off."

"Nymphadora," Andromeda said reprovingly.

"Annoyed then."

Tonks made sure to add yet another eye roll to the collection.

"He's just trying to keep you and the baby as safe as you can."

"But we already were safe."

"But this gives him peace of mind. At least let him have that. These days, it's pretty hard to come by."

Okay, that was just unfair. Tonks couldn't argue against that and Andromeda knew it. She sighed her acquiescence and Andromeda nodded approvingly. Great. Now she felt like a teenager who had begrudgingly done something that her parents approved of. Hmpf.

"Now, onto less frustrating topics," Andromeda said pointedly. "How is my grandchild doing?"

"Annoying me."

"Good," Andromeda said in satisfaction. "I'm already getting my wish of hoping your child is as stubborn as you were."

"Well, they're managing that. Kicking up a storm and making me pee all the time. Actually..."

On that note, she needed to pee now. She stood up, carefully because although she still wasn't that big, she didn't want to get all lightheaded again like she'd managed a few times recently.

She then took care of business and returned downstairs. Her mum had given up on the pretence of reading and was just staring at the wall. Or was it the fireplace? Dora took a proper look at her mother and frowned. Andromeda didn't, well, she didn't look well. But she didn't look sick either. She was a bit paler than usual, Tonks thought. Though that was hard to tell thanks to her Black family complexion. And she looked... pinched? Was that the right way to put it? Like she was constantly worried or thinking about things she couldn't fix.

"Mum?" Tonks began hesitantly.

"Yes, Nymphadora?"

"Are you... are you okay?"

"Hmm?" Andromeda glanced up. "What do you mean?"

"How are you feeling? Are you feeling, okay?"

Her mother didn't answer and instead busied herself closing her book, carefully placing a bookmark in it, and setting it on the side table.

"I am pretty sure that it is I who should be asking you that these days."

Ah, deflection. Tonks knew it well. Andromeda was just a bit more subtle about it than she was.

"It was just a question," she replied with a sniff, hoping to goad her mother into saying something.

Which, of course, didn't work because Andromeda Tonks was anything but stupid. All she got was a sniff of her own in return and an extremely imperious look. Which should have been her hint to stop asking question and to talk about something else but Tonks was very much her mother's daughter.

"Mum..."

"I am fine, Nymphadora."

"Yeah, I don't believe that."

"Don't be impertinent."

"I'm not, I'm being concerned."

She was allowed to be concerned about her own mother, wasn't she?

"You don't need to be."

Tonks looked around her and noticed that how much each of her parents were intertwined with this house. There were her mum's magazines on the table, where they belonged, while her dad's were in the little cubby under the TV as well as on the floor next to the sofa. His slippers were still in here- tucked to the side instead of kicked off in the middle of the room. Neat and tidy but out of sight. Then let's not mention the pictures. The family portrait on the wall. The pictures of her dads and her parents on the tables, on the bookshelf. A wedding photo on pride of place on the mantlepiece. Her dad was everywhere. No wonder her mum was lonely.

"Why don't you stay with me and Remus for a while?" She suggested. "Get away from here a bit?"

Stop seeing Ted staring down at her when she tried to relax.

"I don't know, Nymphadora..."

"Come on," she urged. "Just try it for a few days."

Her mum was wavering and Tonks knew it. It was too tempting an offer, to escape for a little while.

"You check with Remus first, make sure he's okay with it," Andromeda finally said.

"I will," Tonks promised.

She was sure he would say yes, he had even been talking about how they should have her mum over for a day or two. Someone different for them to see every day and hopefully help Andromeda take her mind off things. Even if it was just for a while. And maybe she would even be able to help them with the decoration of the nursery. Merlin knows, they needed the help there. Remus may as well be colour blind with what he thought went together and Tonks wasn't much better unless you were talking about punk clothes and style - which Remus said was a bit much for a baby.

"Okay," Andromeda said with a nod.

Tonks pumped her fist in the air much to the exasperation of her mother. Hey! There was another eye roll!