We'll Manage

Disclaimer and A/N: I do not own anything from the Harry Potter world, it all belongs to J.K. Rowling. Any similarities to other stories or works of any kind are not intended. Please enjoy reading!  

Author's Note: Teddy is around four or five and this story is set a few years after the war. No one died because I  love the HP characters too much!

12 a.m.

Tonks rolled over on her sitting room sofa. She blinked bleary eyes open and stretched her arms over her head.  Sitting up now, she turned her head to look out the window. The sky behind the fluttery white lace curtains was black. The dark skyscape held a leftover full moon resting at its highest height mockingly. It was over, thank God. But, he wasn't home yet. She checked the clock over the top of the simple red brick fireplace. Midnight on the dot. He should be on his way home to her now. She lay back down and readjusted her fluffy blue blanket knowing he would wake her when he opened the front door.

6 a.m.

A heavy bang against the door, like something had fallen against the sturdy wood, jolted her awake. Her blanket cascaded to the floor. The loud, high, squeal of the doorknob turning in its socket beckoned her to run over and jerk the door open. As she did, someone fell into her arms. A rather familiar, heavy, someone.

"Remus!"

Breathless, she wrapped an arm around his back pulling one of his arms over her neck, offering him support without question. He had made it back home. She looked at the clock again, it read six.

"What took you so long?" she tried to ask calmly knowing panicking would not help right now.

"I...may....have....gotten...a....little....lost." He puffed out a little air between each word.

The question of how he could have managed such a thing when all he had to do was apparate from Hogwarts' Grounds dissolved on her tongue as she looked him full in the face. A gloomy gray shadow hugged his cheekbones and spread out to the rest of his face. Adding to this the fact that she wasn't sure if he realized he was leaning all his weight on her, the unspoken answer was clear. He was exhausted, though not hurt.

"Let's get you to bed then, love."

He nodded weakly twice and they made it to their bedroom.

She sat him softly on the bed and gently undressed him. Starting with his shoes, she worked her way up until he was wearing nothing but his boxers and his socks.  She picked up his feet and let his legs rest on their bed.  Once she was done she brought her hand up to his hair and brushed her fingers through it. 

He tiredly huffed out a soft, "Thank You, Dora." 

She hummed in acknowledgement and lowered her lips to his forehead.

Then she settled the bed covers over him and went to lay down opposite him. When she got there, she snuggled closer to him, and slung an arm around his middle. Finally comfortable, they both drifted off for a few hours of sleep before breakfast.

9 a.m.
The cuckoo clock above their bed chirped just to annoy her. According to the demented bird, it was already nine in the morning! Time for breakfast. She made her way to the kitchen to start on some pancakes. At least the pancakes had gone smoothly.  She set the finished pancakes out on the table, making sure to cover them in ungodly amounts of syrup, and called for her husband and son. Tonks put Teddy in his highchair and sat next to him to cut up his food into smaller bites. Remus sat at the far end of the table. They started to eat and Remus choked slightly.

"Not good?", Tonks asked.

"No, they're lovely, dear."

Tonks speared one of Teddy's pancake pieces onto the end of a fork and flipped it over. They were burnt on the bottom.
She sighed, then unable to help herself, she laughed,  "Well, there's always cereal!" 

Remus laughed loudly. That alone was worth a few charred pancakes.

1 p.m.

Remus had finally gone back to their room to take a nap after lunch. She had been asking him if he wanted to take one since breakfast but he refused saying he wanted to spend as much of the day with them as possible.  Now, she would play with Teddy and hopefully keep him distracted while Remus got some more sleep after last night.

Teddy decided he wanted to play with blocks today. Tonks had just put a block on top of his latest tower when suddenly he knocked it over with his arm. 

''Mama, where's Uncle Harry?'' 

"Sweetheart, he's on vacation with the rest of the family, remember?"

"He left us!"

"No baby, he didn't leave us. He offered to take us with him. Even Uncle Sirius asked us to go! We just said no because we wanted to see if we could take care of Daddy by ourselves this time. All of us together, you, me, and Daddy too."

"I want to play with Uncle Harry! Why can't he come help take care of Daddy like he always does?" Teddy demanded.

"I told you baby."

Angry tears streamed down the little boy's face. "It's not fair!", Teddy yelled while stomping his feet. 

"I know honey, but we'll manage. Now, you need to calm down before you wake up Daddy." She pulled him into her lap for a hug. She gently wiped her baby's tears and rubbed his back until he was done crying. 

Eventually, he calmed down again and they went back to playing build the tower and a few other games until dinnertime.

10 p.m.

It was well past time for Teddy to be in bed. Even so, when Tonks picked him up for the night her feet did not take her to his little bedroom. Instead, she plopped him down in the middle of their bed right next to Remus. She stretched out on the other side, yawning. 

Remus snuggled Teddy up to his side and asked hoarsely, "Would you like a bedtime story, Teddy?"

"Remus!", Tonks scolded. They both knew he didn't have the energy for a bedtime story. The full moon took so much out of him. He raised an eyebrow at her and glanced pointedly at Teddy. She understood that look, both of them would do anything for their son.

She relented and gave him a gentle smile. "We have to turn out the lights first." She flicked her wand at the candles around the room and they dimmed pleasantly.

"Good idea, Mama!", Teddy chirped happily.

She snuggled up to Teddy's other side and leaned her head on his shoulder. The sound of Remus's voice wrapped around them, soft and soothing like a blanket, as he moved through the story, until Teddy drifted off to the words. His mother and father followed shortly thereafter, Remus still clutching the book in his hand as he slept.