E N C H A N T E D

you need to fight for him - even when he says he doesn't want you to

Remus felt like he was going to vomit. Hearing the words "his outpatient treatment isn't working anymore," made Remus' stomach plummet. He knew that meant that Max was going to need to be admitted to the hospital. Which was what Remus had been dreading. He didn't have the capacity or the support system to make a change like that work. There was no one he had who could share this burden with him. It was going to be a hell very different than the one he'd already been living.

After spending seven hours in the emergency room, Dr. Karev conceded to give Remus one more night at home with Max. Remus had to beg a little to make it happen, but even Dr. Karev admitted that no treatment would start until tomorrow morning anyways, so all Remus needed to do was have Max back at the hospital at 8 AM to get underway.

After buckling a very exhausted kiddo back into his car seat, Remus shot Sirius a quick text "just finished up and I'm leaving with Max. Where should I meet you to get the kids?"

Sirius responded almost immediately, "we're settled in at my mom and dad's house and we have dinner for you," in a message immediately following that once he dropped an address.

Remus' stomach churned now with a whole different kind of anxiety - he wasn't just going to have to face Sirius, but also Orion and Sirius' mother. Two people that had all the right to believe that Remus was taking advantage of their son, and would probably detest getting drug into this whole mess themselves. Nevertheless, all Remus could do was enter the address into his cell phone GPS and make his way to their home.

...

Sirius was honestly probably having one of the best times of his life. He felt so incredibly content as he tried to keep up with the five young kids running around his childhood home. Watching his mother interact with them made his heart swell with so much pride. This is all he ever wanted, a family of his own, and to watch his mother be a grandmother — something he knew she always wanted to be; he was overjoyed. Even if this was as temporary as Remus probably thought it was, Sirius knew that the joy he was bringing to his family home was genuine.

After some rambunctious exploration of his old toys, and a small feast on takeout pizza, his little charges seemed like they were ready to settle down for the night. Sirius let them choose two different shows to watch - one in the living room and one in the den. If the pizza hadn't won them over, that did. They had him wrapped around their little fingers.

Once they were practically dozing off on the couches, Sirius made it way back to the kitchen to help his mother tidy up. "Thanks for letting us take over your place, mom," he said as he loaded the remaining slices of pizza on a baking sheet and slid it in the oven to keep warm.

Walburga had been humming to herself as she loaded the dishwasher full of plates and forks, but she stopped and looked up at her son. "They are welcome here anytime," she hesitated for a second, "do you think this might be a common thing?"

Sirius sighed as he proceeded to disinfect the countertop. Walburga knew a lot about his relationship with Remus. After all, she was the first person he confided in when everything they had ended. He even sheepishly told her about everything with Preston, because he knew it would be better coming from him than from his father.

She wasn't upset with him per se, but she felt terrible for "allowing it to happen", as if Sirius hadn't expertly hid the whole thing. Even when he explained that everything was entirely consensual and never coerced, he could tell that that the mere thought of it was distressing his mother.

In that same conversation, he went on to detail the heartbreak he felt towards losing Remus. His mother, ever the optimist, was certain  that one day they would make it work. Even so, Sirius knew it must've been a wild surprise when he called her and told her that he'd be pulling up in 30 minutes with a car full of children who belonged to Remus.