Restore (Sequel to Purge: Larry au)

Chapter 26

Two weeks later

"You all know why I called you here," Louis says seriously. "We've got a very important mission today."

He looks around at the huddled circle around him. Niall's nodding his head determinedly, Zayn looks like he's trying not to smirk, and Scarlett (who drove an hour to be there) is rolling her eyes. 

"Just get to the point, Tomlinson," she demands. 

"We have one goal," Louis says. "But that goal can only be accomplished if we all work together."

"What's the goal?" Zayn asks. "All you said in your text was 'come over, I need your help with something'."

"Our goal is to set up the nursery for Baby Tomlinson," Louis says. "Now, Harry's due in about two and a half weeks, although the baby could come at any time now. Currently, he's spending the day with Gemma and he's taken Darcy with him. They won't be back until her bedtime, which gives us about twelve hours to complete the mission."

"That's a small window of opportunity," Niall says, playing along with Louis's attempt to make it sound like how they'd introduce missions during the war. "Are you sure we have enough people for it?"

"Ella's on standby," Louis says. "I didn't want to ask her to leave Seamus. Gemma knows too, so if worse comes to worse, she can keep Harry out later, or have him and Darcy stay at her place overnight, so we have more time."

"Give us the rundown," Scarlett sighs. 

"Right," Louis says. "There are a few jobs that need to be done. We need to get the paint, and then actually paint the walls. We need to pull out Darcy's old crib from the attic and reassemble it. We need to grab the rocking chair from her room and put it in here as well. And we need someone to go to IKEA or something and buy a dresser and changing table as well. We've already got clothes and nappies; Harry and I went shopping yesterday, but as you can see, the room needs to actually be set up."

"You don't even have the crib set up yet?" Scarlett asks, raising her eyebrows. "Isn't Harry, like, almost nine months pregnant?"

"Yes," Louis says, a little annoyed, "which is why we're setting it up now."

"Why haven't you done it sooner?"

"Trauma," Louis deadpans.

Zayn presses his fingers to his temples. "Louis, you know you're supposed to be completely ready for the baby to come a month before they're due. Babies come early all the time - what was going to happen if Harry went into labor today?"

"He's not going into labor yet," Louis says. "And I know that, but we've been busy."

Zayn shakes his head, disapointed. "Do you at least have a hospital bag packed yet?"

Louis rolls his eyes, feeling his frustration growing. "No, not yet. Harry said we'd do that tomorrow."

"Louis..." Zayn groans. 

"You know what, Zayn, we've had a lot of other stuff going in our lives; setting up a nursery kind of takes a backseat to being diagnosed with extreme PTSD, so why don't you just shut up and help me instead of judging me for not being a good enough father," Louis bursts out, glaring at his friend. 

Zayn flinches a little. Niall and Scarlett exchange worried looks. Louis sees it and deflates a bit, turning around and running his fingers through his hair. He closes his eyes and hears Taylor's voice in his head telling him to breathe. He inhales and exhales deeply a few times before turning back to his friends.

"Sorry," he says softly. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap at you."

Zayn's expression softens and he looks at Louis sympathetically. "It's okay, Lou. I was being insensitive. I know you've had a lot going on."