Life Changes

6. With The Exception Of You, I Dislike Everyone In The Room

"I mean, I don't get it, man, I've been good. Some female says, "Oh, Tommo, you can forget the condom," and I say no and I still end up with a kid!"

Harry rolled his eyes and held up his hands. "Okay, look. We need to figure out a schedule. I need to work tomorrow."

Louis' face scrunched up, his nose twitching. He sniffed the air a few times, turning towards Harry with his face twisted as if he had finished sucking on a sour lemon.

"Do you smell that?"

"What?" Harry stopped in his tracks, his eyes widening comically. "Oh, maybe she finally pooped. Did she?"

Louis tilted Isabella sideways and lifted her with his hands wrapped around her legs, pressing his face to her middle. He sniffed hesitantly and rolled his neck backwards instantly, holding out Isabella at a safe distance away from him.

"Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah." Louis' face scrunched up impossibly more as he handed one soiled Isabella over to Harry. He rubbed his hand over his nose and muttered, "I think she, um..."

"What? It's not that bad." Harry lifted Isabella and sniffed, his calm face contorting into an affronted gasp. He lowly groaned, "Oh, Bella."

A couple minutes later, Louis and Harry hovered over Isabella's half-naked body. Isabella was dressed in only nappies, her feet kicking out and the smile on her face coy. She was probably having the time of her life enjoying the view of her godparents' wrinkled noses.

"Such a weird smell, right?"

Harry's left arm loosely rested on his upper stomach, his right hand covering his nose.

"Okay." Louis slid his hand to Harry's lower back, patting it twice before letting his arm fall limp to his side. "Go ahead."

Louis' hands came up to rest on his hips, avoiding Harry's obvious stare and instead focusing on Isabella who was babbling nonsense on the changing table.

"What? Why me?" Harry's defensive mode flicked on like a rapid-fire switch. He pointed one stiff finger to his chest, his mouth popped open on the last syllable. "Because I'm feminine?"

"Um, yeah," Louis replied as if it was the most obvious answer in the world.

Sure, Harry had an interest in things that were culturally coded as feminine or at least considered so by the majority of the population such as painting his nails a bright red color or wearing silky shirts unbuttoned to expose his nipples, but it didn't mean he had that maternal instinct like most mothers had. If anything, Louis had more parenting skills than Harry had. Those little six siblings must have taught Louis something.

"No! Uh-uh, Tommo! I am not changing diapers for the next two years. Get in there."

"Listen, Haz. Okay, fine, you know what?" Harry nudged Louis forward gently, Louis stumbling on his feet and huffing out a soft breath. "Easy. It's not that—"

"It's not something you can take off the checklist," Harry finished for Louis, making the universal motion of drawing a ticked off check symbol in the air. "Check."

Louis inched closer on cautious feet, his hands hanging still over Isabella's nappy before he lowered them. He poked at the stretched fabric, his fingertips fumbling over the tabs. Harry gestured to Louis' fingers and up to his blank face with one quick flick of his hand, his eyebrows twitching together.

"What are you doing?"

"I don't know what I'm doing! It's not a bra that I'm taking off a woman, it's a nappy that I'm taking off a baby...is there a box I can read?"