Ficlet for sspring92
Looks like carnivalgirl and I were on the same wavelength today.
This little piece of Lupin family fluff goes out to sspring92, in honor of her birthday. Hope this helps brighten your day, hon.
“Oof! Bloody Hell. Remus!”
“What? What is it?”
“It’s bad enough I have a crap day at work, do you have to leave your shoes in the middle of the bloody floor?”
To his credit, Remus was immediately apologetic and hurried across the room to help her climb to her feet. “I’m sorry. I was out in the garden earlier with Teddy, and didn’t want to track mud into the house. Here, let me take your cloak.”
Tonks limped over to the couch in a foul mood. Dawlish had been on her case all day about when she’d be coming back to work full time, Antonin Dolohov was still very much at large, and the Ministry cafeteria had run out of custard tarts. The last thing she needed was to trip over her husband’s shoes on the way into her own bloody home. To top it all off, Remus, the prat, had immediately disappeared without offering her her so much as a cup of tea. Tonks let out a huff of annoyance and rested her throbbing head against the back of the couch.
“Here we go, here’s Mummy.” Tonks opened one eye as Remus reappeared with Teddy, who let out an excited shriek when he saw her. She felt her annoyance melt away as Remus placed Teddy on the floor a few feet in front of the couch, and gave him an encouraging pat on the bum. “Shall we show Mummy what we learned today?”
Teddy teetered precariously before taking a few wobbling steps towards the couch, his arms stretched out towards her. Tonks scooped him up and held him close, breathing in his sweet scent, feeling tears prick at her eyes. “That’s my brilliant boy!” she whispered into his hair.
Her emotional reaction to their son’s first steps was not lost on Remus. He sat down on the couch and put his arm around them both. “Dora? What is it? What’s wrong?”
“I don’t know, I don’t know! It’s just ... sometimes I feel like I’m spinning my wheels at work, you know, and here’s Teddy, growing up without me.” She looked up at her husband through watery eyes. “Remus, am I a bad mother?”
“What? Of course not.”
“You have to say that.”
“Well, yes, if I want to keep all my limbs.” He narrowly avoided her elbow. “But I also happen to know that it’s true. Look at Teddy.” The object of their conversation was babbling happily to himself as he grabbed a fist full of Tonks’ shirt and started to pull. “He’s happy, he’s loved. His mum kicks Dark Wizard arse. What more could a boy want?”
Tonks laughed in spite of herself, and helped Teddy pull her shirt out of the way to nurse. She reveled anew at the contented sounds he made as he fed, his hand patting at her breast and his eyes seeking hers as if to say, ‘There you are. Missed you, Mummy.’
“I miss him so much when I’m at work, you know? But lately there’ve been times when I’ve been so caught up that I hardly give him a thought.”
“I know. And he misses you, too. We both do.” Remus leaned in to kiss her forehead. “He also knows that you love him, unconditionally. And when he’s older he’ll understand that you go to work everyday to make the world a safer place. And he’ll be damn proud his Mum’s an Auror.”
“You think so?”
“I know I am, and he’s my son, isn’t he?”
Teddy chose that moment to noisily disengage from her breast. He sat up and placed a chubby hand on each of Tonks’ cheeks, saying, “Muk. Muk, muh-muh.”
“Did he just -?” Tonks looked at Remus, who was grinning widely.
“I think he did.” While it was true that Teddy had developed a few words, among them “muk” for milk and “baba” for his blanket, this was the first time he had used a word for either of his parents. As if to prove his point he looked from Remus and back to Tonks again, repeating, “Muh-muh. Muh-muh.”
“That’s my brilliant boy!” exclaimed Remus as he picked Teddy up and proceeded to blow raspberries on his tummy. Soon the room was filled with the sound of Teddy’s giggles.
Life, Tonks decided, was pretty damned good when you got right down to it. She’d tell Dawlish on Monday that she had no intention of coming back to work full-time until Teddy was at least two years old. In the meantime, a three day weekend stretched before her, time to do nothing but enjoy her husband and her son. And perhaps, by the time she went back to work on Monday, she could teach Teddy to say “Dah-dah,” as well.
This little piece of Lupin family fluff goes out to sspring92, in honor of her birthday. Hope this helps brighten your day, hon.
“Oof! Bloody Hell. Remus!”
“What? What is it?”
“It’s bad enough I have a crap day at work, do you have to leave your shoes in the middle of the bloody floor?”
To his credit, Remus was immediately apologetic and hurried across the room to help her climb to her feet. “I’m sorry. I was out in the garden earlier with Teddy, and didn’t want to track mud into the house. Here, let me take your cloak.”
Tonks limped over to the couch in a foul mood. Dawlish had been on her case all day about when she’d be coming back to work full time, Antonin Dolohov was still very much at large, and the Ministry cafeteria had run out of custard tarts. The last thing she needed was to trip over her husband’s shoes on the way into her own bloody home. To top it all off, Remus, the prat, had immediately disappeared without offering her her so much as a cup of tea. Tonks let out a huff of annoyance and rested her throbbing head against the back of the couch.
“Here we go, here’s Mummy.” Tonks opened one eye as Remus reappeared with Teddy, who let out an excited shriek when he saw her. She felt her annoyance melt away as Remus placed Teddy on the floor a few feet in front of the couch, and gave him an encouraging pat on the bum. “Shall we show Mummy what we learned today?”
Teddy teetered precariously before taking a few wobbling steps towards the couch, his arms stretched out towards her. Tonks scooped him up and held him close, breathing in his sweet scent, feeling tears prick at her eyes. “That’s my brilliant boy!” she whispered into his hair.
Her emotional reaction to their son’s first steps was not lost on Remus. He sat down on the couch and put his arm around them both. “Dora? What is it? What’s wrong?”
“I don’t know, I don’t know! It’s just ... sometimes I feel like I’m spinning my wheels at work, you know, and here’s Teddy, growing up without me.” She looked up at her husband through watery eyes. “Remus, am I a bad mother?”
“What? Of course not.”
“You have to say that.”
“Well, yes, if I want to keep all my limbs.” He narrowly avoided her elbow. “But I also happen to know that it’s true. Look at Teddy.” The object of their conversation was babbling happily to himself as he grabbed a fist full of Tonks’ shirt and started to pull. “He’s happy, he’s loved. His mum kicks Dark Wizard arse. What more could a boy want?”
Tonks laughed in spite of herself, and helped Teddy pull her shirt out of the way to nurse. She reveled anew at the contented sounds he made as he fed, his hand patting at her breast and his eyes seeking hers as if to say, ‘There you are. Missed you, Mummy.’
“I miss him so much when I’m at work, you know? But lately there’ve been times when I’ve been so caught up that I hardly give him a thought.”
“I know. And he misses you, too. We both do.” Remus leaned in to kiss her forehead. “He also knows that you love him, unconditionally. And when he’s older he’ll understand that you go to work everyday to make the world a safer place. And he’ll be damn proud his Mum’s an Auror.”
“You think so?”
“I know I am, and he’s my son, isn’t he?”
Teddy chose that moment to noisily disengage from her breast. He sat up and placed a chubby hand on each of Tonks’ cheeks, saying, “Muk. Muk, muh-muh.”
“Did he just -?” Tonks looked at Remus, who was grinning widely.
“I think he did.” While it was true that Teddy had developed a few words, among them “muk” for milk and “baba” for his blanket, this was the first time he had used a word for either of his parents. As if to prove his point he looked from Remus and back to Tonks again, repeating, “Muh-muh. Muh-muh.”
“That’s my brilliant boy!” exclaimed Remus as he picked Teddy up and proceeded to blow raspberries on his tummy. Soon the room was filled with the sound of Teddy’s giggles.
Life, Tonks decided, was pretty damned good when you got right down to it. She’d tell Dawlish on Monday that she had no intention of coming back to work full-time until Teddy was at least two years old. In the meantime, a three day weekend stretched before her, time to do nothing but enjoy her husband and her son. And perhaps, by the time she went back to work on Monday, she could teach Teddy to say “Dah-dah,” as well.