"You're looking just fine, dear," Molly said happily, stepping away from Dora.

The older woman had taken over the role of nurse, Healer and midwife for Dora recently. Insisting on it, actually. And nothing either he or Dora said could sway her. They had tried. Said that they would make discreet trips to St Mungo's, though none of them liked that thought - too much risk.

"Are you sure?" They both asked at the same time in the same anxious tone.

That got then a fond smile in response. "Absolutely. I would tell you otherwise. A baby's life is nothing to take chances over."

Dora leaned back on the temporarily extended chair in relief while Remus released a breath, he hadn't realised he'd been holding. Sure, Dora had been feeling fine but they hadn't been able to go for regular check-ups or anything so they had really been flying blind.

"Are you definitely sure you want it to be a surprise?" Molly asked, referring to the sex of their baby.

Both of them nodded. They had both agreed, ever since the very first opportunity they had to check the sex and their baby had refused to cooperate, that maybe having a surprise wasn't such a bad idea. Especially such a nice one as this. Either of them even knew if they were hoping for a boy or a girl.

"It's going to be our little splodge for a little bit longer," Dora said with a smile.

Molly rolled her eyes disapprovingly at their nickname for the baby. Hey, it was better than some of the things Sirius had come up for Harry!

Huh. That memory didn't hurt as much as Remus thought it would...

Molly sorted herself out quickly and left with very little small talk, anxious to get back to her own family. Not that any of them blamed her.

"Ted would have been interrogating any Healer that went near her," Andromeda said sadly as she returned from the apparition point- she said she would show Molly out.

"I'd like to see him interrogate Molly Weasley," Dora snorted.

"He was always a bit afraid of her, even in school," she remembered.

Remus chuckled at the thought, he could see that. He doubted there was a time where Molly wasn't intimidating.

"Well, I'm going to have another go at my knitting," Andromeda said in determination, as if she was trying to force herself out of her thoughts.

Remus knew the signs. He had been there. A lot.

"I thought you gave that up!" Dora cheekily called after her mother."

"Giving up is for the weak," Andromeda shot back.

"She's doing a hat now," Dora said to him conspiratorially. "Much easier."

He couldn't help but chuckle at that, though he did it carefully. There was no way he wanted Andromeda to hear him. He rather liked his life, thank you very much.

"I'm going to get some tea," he said diplomatically as Dora laughed to herself.

Remus leaned over her to grab her now-empty mug. He was about to ask if she wanted a top up but then his eyes caught the little piece of paper next to it. It was a list. Without thinking about it, Remus assumed it was a shopping list but it wasn't a neat one like that, some words were in a lost, some were of their side or upside-down. And then some were crossed out and others were circled. Then he looked at it properly. Jacob. Amelia. Lewis. These were names.

"What's this?" He asked, just to confirm what he had been thinking.

Dora blushed and turned away, muttering, "Names."

"Did you say 'names'?"

She nodded and bit her bottom lip.

"Names? For our baby?" He reiterated.

"Yeah. I've been thinking about it because, you know, less than two months," she gestured at her stomach. "And I kind of want to have a name ready, so our baby doesn't go without a name for days or something. I know someone in work who he and his wife took a week to name their baby. The poor thing didn't have a name for a week, Remus!"

He chuckled, loving how adorable she was, getting all indignant over something like that.

"I've been thinking about names too," he admitted.

He hadn't written a list or anything but he definitely had a few ideas. How could you not when you had a baby on the way? They couldn't call it Splodge when it arrived.

"You have?" She asked hopefully. "Thank Merlin because I have no idea how to go about doing this."

"Well, you have a list. That's a good start."

"That I can't make up my mind on!"

He summoned a blank piece of parchment. "Why don't we make a list of names together?"

[xxxxxx]

Why in Merlin's name did they agree to do this? It was turning out to be not such a good idea. You know why? Because they couldn't agree on anything! Not even one measly name! It shouldn't be this hard, should it? It was a name for a baby. There had to be one out there that they both liked. Well, two. They need a possible boy's name and a possible girl's one but still! It really shouldn't be this hard!

"Clarice is a nice name," he protested

"It sounds like a name for an old woman and nothing else," she argued. "Can you seriously imagine calling a tiny little baby Clarice."

Well, maybe when she put it like that, he wasn't. He just thought it was a nice name. Maybe that shouldn't make the list then.

"Okay, then, what names were you thinking of?"

"I was thinking Romulus," Dora said with a teasing smile.

"Please, no," he said emphatically. "Do not do that to our child."

"Don't you like your name?"

"I think my parents chose the better one of the pair."

She thought for a moment and then nodded, thankfully crossing Romulus out.

"You have a point."

"Thank you."

That was just corny, going with the same theme as his.

"Amelia?" He said, reading off her original list.

She scrunched up her nose at that. "I like the name but I don't love it," she explained. "Even if it is the name of my boss. Former boss. Whatever."

A shadow passed over her face at the thought of Amelia Bones

"It's a nice name," Remus said, liking it. "Why don't we put it down with a question mark?"

"I guess."

"That makes one possible name for a girl," he said with a sigh.

"And even that's a big maybe," Dora said unhelpfully.

"Why on earth would you name a child Erytheia?" She demanded after looking at the next name on his list.

"She's a nymph," Remus tried to explain his reasoning. "You know, because your name's Nympha-"

"Don't say it," she cut him off. "And I thought we weren't going for name themes?"

"I just said no to ones like mine," he argued. "Romulus is a horrible name."

"And Erytheia isn't?"

"There's other nymphs," he tried. "There's Maia and Electra and Melinoe..." He listed off, his broad reading appetite coming in useful.

She scrunched up her nose at his suggestions.

"I suppose Maia is okay..." she said reluctantly. "I think it's a star as well..."

"See? It goes with tradition as well!"

"I didn't think that we of all people would be following a Black family tradition," she said dryly.

He shrugged. "We're weird like that."

"We really are. Fine. Stick Maia down."

He did so and then think for a moment, looking at the blank half of the parchment.

"We need some boys names."

They had absolutely none. And it looked like Dora couldn't think of any either if her delicate frown was anything to go by.

"Maybe we need some help with this," he finally said.

Dora snorted. "We are not asking my mother. She was the one who came up with Nymphadora."

She shuddered in disgust.

"I happen to like your name."

"Merlin knows why."

He gently touched her arm. "It suits you. I can't imagine you being called anything else."

She rolled her eyes at him. "You are so soppy sometimes, you know that?"