Restore (Sequel to Purge: Larry au)

Chapter 33

TW: flashbacks, panic attack, PTSD, r*pe, violence 

please keep yourselves safe, loves <3

Two days later

Louis's cleaning off the kitchen counter after dinner, only half-listening as Darcy babbles nonsense in the background. Harry is upstairs putting Morgan to bed. The baby's screams stopped a few minutes ago so Louis assumes she's probably fallen asleep by now. Harry still hasn't come down.

"Daddy, I have a sister," Darcy says, looking up at him from where she's coloring at the kitchen table. 

"You do," Louis says, smiling. 

"An' Papa has a sister," Darcy continues. "Aunt Gemma."

"That's right," Louis agrees, squeezing out the sponge he'd been using to wipe the counters. 

"Do you have a sister?" Darcy asks him. 

Louis pauses, thinking for a moment. He realizes they've never really told Darcy about his sisters and brother, as she'd never met them before. He smiles a little as he turns to face his daughter. 

"I have five sisters," he tells her. "And one brother."

Darcy's blue eyes go wide. "Really?"

"Yeah, that's a lot, huh?"

"Five sisters?" Darcy clarifies. 

Louis smiles. "Yeah. Their names are Lottie, Fizzy, Daisy, Phoebe, and Doris. And my brother's name is Ernest. I'm the oldest, which means I'm their big brother."

Darcy bounces in her seat. "Can I meet them?"

Louis sighs. "No baby, I wish you could."

"Why not?"

Louis sets the sponge down in the sink and dries his hands. Then he moves to look more closely at his daughter. 

"You know how we said sometimes people go away forever," he asks gently. "How sometimes, they stop living because it's time for them to go somewhere else?"

Darcy nods. "Yeah. It's called dying."

"That's right," Louis agrees. "Well, all of my sisters and my brother died before you were born. My mum and dad did too. So did Papa's mum and stepdad."

"And Uncle Li," Darcy says. She knows about her uncle Liam from stories her parents and their friends have told her, and she knows that he's no longer here with them. 

"Yes," Louis says softly. "Like Uncle Li. And it means that we can't see them anymore, but we still love them."

Darcy nods. "I'm sorry they died, Daddy."

Louis gives her a small smile. "It's okay Darcy. I really wish you could have met them, though. They would have loved you so much."

"Maybe they can see us where they are," Darcy says. "I think they watch us, and they still love us."

Louis feels his heart warm at those words and a lump forms in his throat. "Yeah. You're right. I bet they're watching over us right now."

Darcy smiles. "See Daddy? It's okay."

"Yeah," Louis says. "It's okay."

Darcy nods and goes back to her picture that she's coloring. Louis stands there for a moment, wondering how a three-year-old could be so wise. Eventually, he shakes himself out of his daze and goes back to cleaning up dinner. 

It doesn't stop his mind from racing, though, thinking about his little siblings. He hasn't taken enough time to think about them at all since before Morgan was born. In fact, the last time he can remember really thinking about them, more than just a passing memory, was right after Harry found Gemma again.