A/N: Finally! (The rest is at the end, like always)
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Chapter 25- Howl at the Moon
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"Nymph, you really should be taking it easy…." Ann told her.
"I know. Theron's been harping at me." She smiled.
"For all the good it's done him." Remus chuckled.
"You should be keeping her off her feet." Ted told him.
"I've tried. Nailing pudding to a tree is easier." Remus smiled.
"Yes, but it won't be long now." Ann said.
"Could we focus on the decorations please? I'd like to get them up before the baby gets here." Nymphadora muttered.
Bandit barked in agreement. He was enjoying chasing after the ornaments.
"You never know, might be a late one. Maybe even a New Year baby." Ted laughed as he helped Ann hang the mistletoe.
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He sighed and slumped onto the sofa heavily.
"You know my mum likes her Christmas decorations, Remus."
"Yes, I know…. I suppose I forgot how taxing a chore it is to decorate."
She sat down beside him and smiled.
He wrapped his arms around her, placing one of his hands on her stomach. True, she had stayed small, but she was still noticeably pregnant. He enjoyed holding her and placing his hand on her stomach, knowing that he was responsible….that their baby was just below his hand.
"How are you feeling?" He asked quietly.
"Huge."
"Dora….."
She giggled and shook her head.
"Good." She told him.
"Are you sure you didn't over do it?"
"I'm not a China doll, Remus."
"No, but the baby is due any day."
She laid her hand over his and patted it reassuringly.
"Think of any names yet?" She smiled.
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"That woman doesn't listen…." He muttered.
"Tonks?" Vi asked.
He nodded.
"She's a free spirit, Theron. She's not in danger so stop worrying. She's fine."
"I'm beginning to wonder if the baby will come before Christmas…."
"I'm surprised that she's continued to see you as her healer."
"That makes two of us." He laughed.
Neomandine ran up to him hugging his legs.
"Hello, princess."
"Hi daddy! Did aunt Tonks have her baby yet?"
"Not yet, sweetie."
The little girl pouted.
"Why make such a face?" He asked her.
"I'm tired of waiting." She told him.
He knelt down and smiled at her.
"I think Tonks and Remus feel the same but it won't be too much longer."
She nodded, then looked up at him curiously, a question in her eyes.
"Daddy?"
"Yes, princess?"
"Are you and mummy going to have a baby too?"
He chuckled and ruffled her hair.
"Perhaps, sweetie."
She turned at looked at Vi pleadingly.
Vivianna smiled at her daughter.
"I'll see what I can do, Neoma." She told her.
Theron looked up at Vivianna, his eyes a bit wide.
"Don't I get a vote?" He asked.
Vivianna arched an eyebrow at him and smirked.
" I would have thought you would like the idea…."
"Yes, but…."
"Neomandine, daddy and I need to talk…" Vivianna said.
"Okay." The little girl smiled and she went back into her room, closing the door behind her.
"Vi….."
She shook her head and folded her arms over her chest.
"I thought you wanted more children." She said quietly.
He stood up, walked over to her and wrapped his arms around her shoulders.
"I do, but I thought we had decided in a few years, once things settle down and…."
"It doesn't matter…." She murmured.
"Vivianna?"
She turned and looked up at him, giving him a sad smile.
"A few years sounds nice, but it's not possible…"
"Are you saying…. Vi, are you…?"
She nodded.
"When?"
She rolled her eyes at him.
"No, I meant… When did you find out?"
"The other day when I came to the hospital to see you at lunch… I thought I might be and had a medi-witch perform the spell…."
"So…we're going to have a baby….."
"Are you upset? I know you wanted to wait, but…."
He smiled.
"No, just a bit surprised. I didn't think we'd be in this position so soon, but…." He leaned close and kissed her lips lightly. "I suppose nature decided waiting wasn't as necessary as we thought."
"Apparently." She agreed.
"So…when are you due?"
"Late spring, early summer."
"Looks like Remus and Tonks' little one won't want for a playmate for very long."
She giggled.
"I guess not."
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She grimaced in her sleep.
Odd, she wasn't supposed to get cramps until….
Her eyes shot open and she felt another cramp.
She laughed to herself and carefully got out of bed and walked out into the living room.
It was far too early to go to the hospital. The cramps were still too far apart.
So much for my nap….
"Dora?" Remus called from the kitchen.
"Hmm?"
"Something wrong? You usually sleep longer than a half an hour…." He said, coming into the room.
"No, everything's as it should be. But I don't think we'll need to worry about dinner tonight…."
His brow furrowed and she grinned at him.
"My contractions have started."
"Are you serious?"
"No, I'm Tonks."
"Dora…."
"Yes, but my water hasn't broken yet, so we don't need to worry just yet."
"Uh huh…."
She laughed.
"Alright…. We can go to St. Mungo's."
"No offense, love, but I don't think you have a choice." He smiled.
"True, but we'll need to let my mum and dad know and Vi and Neomandine too."
"Let's get there first, hmm?"
"Okay…."
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"I said I want healer Sicarius!" She screamed at the medi-witch.
"He's not in, Mrs. Lupin…."
"Then get him in here! Or I'll bloody well go and find him!" She bellowed at the witch.
The medi-witch looked at Remus and he sighed.
"You'd better get him." He recommended.
The witch left and Nymphadora turned to Remus.
"I'll rip his bits off if he doesn't get here soon!" She muttered.
"Dora, another healer could help. Why do you want Theron?"
"He's been my healer through out. I don't want another one. Besides, Theron's scared to hurt me. Another healer wouldn't be 'trained'."He smiled.
"Alright, love."
The medi-witch came back into the room a few moments later and was closely followe by Theron."I see someone just couldn't wait until after Christmas…." Theron smiled.
"I see someone doesn't understand the concept of 'on-call'." Muttered Nymphadora.
"Yes, well, I wasn't expecting you to go into labor, Tonks. Especially not at this time of day…" He told her."She went into labor several hours ago." Remus told him, rolling his eyes.
"Yes, well….. I should examine you and see how far along you are. Remus, perhaps you should leave the room?" Theron suggested."Is that alright, Nym? I'll go and find Ann and Ted." He said.
She nodded and he kissed her hand.
"I'll be back in a few minutes." He smiled and he left the room.
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"You really shouldn't run off Remus." Ted laughed.
"I came to find you two." He told him.
"How's she doing?" Ann asked.
"Alright, so far. Theron's in with her now."
"I'm surprised it's going so fast…" Ted smiled.
"Fast?" Remus asked.
"When Nymph was born, Ann was in labor all day." Ted explained.
"Twenty-one hours and seventeen minutes of hell." Ann grinned.
"I don't think it will be long now, so…."
A medi-witch hurried up to them.
"Mr. Lupin?" She asked.
"Yes?"
"Your wife is asking for you….demanding, actually."
He hurried back to the room and could hear Nymphadora screaming from down the hall.
"It bloody well hurts!" Nymphadora screamed at Theron.
"You need to push, Tonks."
"Why don't you try pushing for a few hours? See how much you like it!"
Remus walked to her side and took up her hand again.
"Where were you?" She whimpered, squeezing his hand.
"Looking for Ann and Ted. They're just outside."
"Push Tonks." Theron told her.
She closed her eyes and pushed, then slumped, out of breath, tired and in agony.
"I can't…." She whispered.
"Dora…"
Her eyes met Remus' and he smiled at her.
"You're almost done, don't quit now. You're not a quitter, love."
"Easy for you to say…"
"Think of it this way, the sooner you push, the sooner the baby will be here and the sooner we'll be holding them in our arms."She closed her eyes and pushed again.
"Good girl. One more should do the trick." Theron told her.
She pushed again and Theron smiled.
Then the shrill cry of a newborn was heard.
"Congratulations." He said as he quickly attended to the baby and wrapped it in a fluffy blanket that the medi-witch handed to him.He handed the baby to Nymphadora and then began to tend to her.
She held the baby close and looked up at Remus.
"You did it, love." He smiled, sitting on the side of the bed, leaning close and pressing a kiss to her forehead.She smiled up at him before looking down at the baby.
"Theron, is the baby a…?" Remus started to ask. The white hospital blanket gave away no indication of gender.Theron grinned.
"A healthy little boy."
Remus nodded.
"Hello, little one." Nymphadora whispered to the babe. "Happy birthday." She said, tears in her eyes."He has your nose." Remus chuckled.
"And your hair." She said.
"What are you going to call him?" Theron asked. "I need to tell Vi and Neomandine." He chuckled.Nymphadora looked up at Remus and they smiled at each other.
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He was glad when Ann, Ted, Vivianna and Neomandine left. They were all overjoyed to see the new baby, but their visit had tired Nymphadora out. She had fallen asleep as soon as the door closed behind her parents.But it had been a very long day.
When the baby stirred, he quickly stood to retrieve him from his crib. He was glad that the hospital had a policy of keeping newborns with their mothers.
Carefully, he picked the little boy up and cradled him close, slowly shifting with weigh from one foot to the other and back again to help sooth the child."I'm afraid you're stuck with me, little one. Your poor mum deserves a rest." He smiled.
The baby calmed and he sat back down in the chair beside Nymphadora's bed, still gently rocking to keep the baby quiet.He looked down at his son's face and sighed.
He really did have Nymphadora's nose and his light brown hair.
"You surprised us all, you know. We thought you might be a New Year baby."
The newborn blinked up at him and he smiled.
"You've got an amazing mum, little one. She…she wanted me and loved me when she should have run. And she only wanted to make me happy… She wanted to give me a family… She gave me you." He whispered, tears welling in his eyes."I never thought I'd be a father….and I can't promise I won't make mistakes, but I'll do everything in my power to make sure you're happy." He smiled.
He heard a sniffle and looked up to see Nymphadora looking at him, tears in her own eyes and a bright smile on her face."Dora? What's wrong?"
"Nothing." She smiled. "I've just seen my fantasy become my reality."
The memory of their conversation so many months ago flashed in his mind.
"Me holding our child…." He murmured.
"You becoming a father." She said, a tear slipping from her eye. "The real thing is better than I ever imagined. All the pain was worth it, to see this moment.""Dora…."
"You're a dad, Remus." She grinned through her bright tears.
"You're a mum." He smiled.
The baby wailed and they both laughed.
"And he's hungry." She chuckled.
He handed their son to her and she began to feed him s he sat down, once again on the side of her bed."I'm afraid I can't compete with you when it comes to feeding, love." He smiled.
"No, I don't suppose you can." She grinned.
He shook his head and smiled.
"What?"
"I do believe Vi thinks that one day Neomandine and our son may marry."
She arched an eyebrow.
"I doubt it."
He nodded.
"And Theron said they're expecting now…."
"Yes, I bet Neomandine will drive them crazy." She laughed.
"Probably right."
"I'm glad today was the day. I wouldn't have wanted to go into labor on Christmas or New Years." She said."And this way, we can all be home for Christmas." He smiled.
"Our first Christmas as a family…." She mused. "Just like you said, last year."
"Mhmm."
"Remus?"
"Hmm?"
"Are you sure about his name?"
He smiled.
"I thought you liked it." He said.
"I do, but the middle name…."
"I thought it was a family tradition?"
"But….."
"Nymphadora Cassiopeia Lupin, you don't want to break tradition, do you?" He chuckled.She scowled.
"You just had to say it, didn't you?"
"Yes." He smiled.
She sighed and nodded.
"So that's it then?" She asked.
"I believe so, unless you don't like it?"
"No, I do." She said and she looked down at their son.
"Rowan Aldebaran Lupin."
The baby's eyes darted to the sound of his father's voice.
"I think he likes it." Nymphadora smiled.
"It's a big name for such a small boy." He said.
"He'll grow into it."
He smiled and leaned close, pressing his lips to hers.
"Thank you, Dora."
"For what?" She smiled.
"For making me so happy I could howl at the moon."
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A/N: Wow...Over a year's worth of creativity in this one. And I know some of you thought I wouldn't be able to wrap it all up in one chapter. lol. So, first thing's first. Some of you asked if Theron and Vivianna would have more kids. YES. And I think they are very happy about itand I doubt Neomandine has any complaints...except that she seems to get sent out of rooms a lot. And Bandit put in an appearance, so you know he's fine and happy. And Ann and Ted had a few lines too. But from the start I knew how I wanted to end this one, it just took a long time to get here. I couldn't help myself. I had to give them a little boy (to balance out Neomandine). And I had to give Nymphadora a middle name worthy of the Black family. Cassiopeia is the constellation that's supposed to be a queen sitting on her throne. And then little Rowan... I didn't like the idea of naming him Romulus, but I wanted an "R" name, so that's the one I chose. And Aldebaran...more astronomy (Sorry, but I took the course, so I might as well use what I learned) is the eye of Taurus the Bull. See? Learn something everyday, lol. And the last line...Well, come on. The title had to come into play sometime, didn't it? I hope you liked the chapter, but more importantly, I hope you've enjoyed the journey. I know I have. Thanks for coming along with me and for your continuing support by reading and reviewing. And now we've come to it, THE END.