15 Days of One-Shots

The Kid Factor

15 Days of One-Shots (12/15) 

Harry wants a kid. Louis isn’t so sure. Niall and Liam are all too willing to give the boys a chance of parenting, with their own son. Harry and Louis discover the trials and turmoils of parenting, while babysitting. 

“Emergency numbers are on the refrigerator,” Liam muttered, as he struggled to tie his tie, baby Wes squirming on his hip, “We shouldn’t be out too late. Niall’s going to get bored-“

“What was that?” Niall asked as he bounced down the stairs to where his husband was standing, plucking his son from Liam’s arms and cooing at the toddler who buried his face into Niall’s shoulder, hiding from Harry and Louis, who had been recruited into babysitting, while Liam and Niall attended Liam’s cousin’s wedding.

“Nothing love,” Liam insisted and Harry snorted, rolling his eyes and holding his hands out, making grabbing motions at Wes, until Niall reluctantly handed the two year old over.

Almost instantly Wes’ eyes began to tear up and he squirmed in Harry’s arms, whimpering for his dads who reluctantly kissed his forehead goodbye, and after a few more detailed instructions from Liam, slipped out the door.

The door slamming shut set Wes off completely and Harry winced as loud shrieks filled the room.

Louis hurried over to Wes and plucked him out of Harry’s hand, pulling the baby up to his chest and bouncing him to a simple rhythm, shushing him quietly as Harry watched on bewildered.

“Why is he screaming?” Harry asked and Louis rolled his eyes, as he continued to hold Wes close.

“His Daddy and Dad just left him, he can’t be pleased,” Louis muttered, bouncing Wes along and cooing at him, as he continued to shriek and squirm, “Mum used to say to just let them cry it out.”

“But it’s so loud-“

“Harry,” Louis rolled his eyes, “You’re the one who wants a child. The screaming and the crying come with one.”

Harry crossed his arms and raised a brow at Louis, “Oh, is that why you volunteered us to babysit? So you could change my mind-“

“No!” Louis insisted, trying to keep his voice calm, as not to upset Wes more, “You know that I’d love nothing more than to start a family with you. I just want to make sure we’re both ready, and I figured this would be the best way to find out.”

Harry sighed and nodded, and followed Louis into Niall and Liam’s living room, where Louis settled himself into an armchair, pulling Wes closer to him on his lap, where the baby’s sobs were starting to stifle into loud hiccups.

“Turn the station onto something kid appropriate-“

“Like MTV?”

“Harry!”

Harry snorted and grabbed the remote, flipping through the stations until it settled on a cartoon that caught Wes’ attention immediately, because his head popped up, and his mood did a 180, as a bright smile spread on his face.

He clapped his hands and crawled off of Louis lap, sliding himself careful off the armchair and onto unsteady feet, that he used to toddle up to the TV and point excitedly.

“Dora!” He giggled, turning to Harry with round eyes and a drooling grin and Harry smiled, shaking his head and laughing at the boy.

“You got a crush, do ya kid?” He asked, and Wes stared bank, same excited expression frozen on his face, seemingly oblivious to whatever Harry said. Louis turned to Harry and raised a brow, to which Harry shrugged, reclining in his seat, sitting back to enjoy the show that Wes was clearly pumped for.

He must’ve fallen asleep though, because next thing he knew, Louis was throwing a pillow at him, jolting him out of his nap.

“Falling asleep on the job Styles?” Louis asked and Harry yawned in response, stretching, eyes darting around the room for Wes, who was on his back in front of the TV, bottle held to his mouth as he sucked down whatever Louis had given him, while still staring at the TV where a new cartoon was on. “You missed dinner.”

“Gourmet organic shi-I mean, stuff Liam insists on buying-” Harry asked and Louis nodded, reaching down and pulling Wes up, “Bummer I missed that.”

“I saved you some,” Louis said, gripping a struggling Wes tighter, who seemed to have read Louis’ mind on what was next on the agenda. And he was not pleased, “But first, help me bathe this little rugrat”

“Nooo,” Wes whined as he squirmed his way out of Louis arms, taking off in the opposite direction, where Harry scooped down and picked him up, throwing him over his shoulder.

“Solid try,” Harry consoled, as Wes continued to kick and squirm, all the way upstairs to the bathroom that connected to his nursery.

By the time it was over, Harry and Louis were both soaked to the bone, Harry had bubble residue in his hair, and both were absolutely shattered, but Wes was clean and dressed in a snug pair of pajamas.

Wes’ room was straight out of a PB Baby magazine, in a typical Liam fashion, with every last toy in place, and Harry smirked as Wes reluctantly crawled into his bed, clutching at a Woody doll.

“You want a story, yeah?” Harry asked and Louis glanced at Harry with a small smile, watching as his husband settled himself on the foot of Wes’ bed. Wes curled up under the covers, propping his head up on his small pillow, and stared wide-eyed and patient at Harry, who paused only a moment before gathering his thoughts.

“Once, there was a boy, named Luke. And Luke’s parents passed when he was quite little, and he never knew his true destiny. But one day a wise man came into his life…”

Harry summarized the first three Star Wars movies, until Wes’ eyes had fallen shut and Woody was hanging loosely in his hand.

“You’re going to be a good Dad,” Louis whispered, bending down and pecking Harry on the lips, before Harry slowly pushed himself off of Wes’ bed, situating the covers over the toddler, “But maybe you s hould work on some better bedtime stories? Hm?”

“I almost had a good one about a group of men robbing a casino-“

“We’ll work on that then.”