No Strings Attached

Chapter Three

Louis scoffed at the idea of sleeping with somebody from work. He didn’t want to mention anything about Harry’s not-so-subtle interest in his restaurant work schedule. But it was something he had given thought to. After all, why would someone say that they wanted to see you at work if they didn’t have the intention of following through and visiting? That nagging feeling lingered in the back of his mind, that feeling like he might actually see Harry again.           

“Somehow, I feel rather inappropriate having this conversation,” Louis admitted. “It’s strange to talk about all of this like a horny teenager when I’m a father.”           

“A horny father, but a father nonetheless,” Zayn corrected, prompting Louis to throw a crumpled napkin at him.           

***

Louis didn’t like going to bed with the image of Harry in his mind, nor did he really appreciate waking up in a similar fashion. It would have been one thing if this were some sort of childhood crush on a famous pop star. But it was another thing entirely to be 20-years-old with a strange infatuation for a singer he had actually met. Something about having had a real conversation with this supposedly ‘unattainable’ boy band member made the entire situation seem a little bit more…plausible. 

Like it could maybe happen. 

But Louis pushed those thoughts from his mind, coming to terms with the fact that a casual fuck buddy wasn’t necessarily in Rosie’s best interest. The last thing Louis needed was another stranger to confuse his daughter; he didn’t want her getting attached to somebody that wasn’t going to stay around. Besides, Harry probably wasn’t interested in the first place. 

He groaned from the sheer ridiculousness of his scatterbrained thoughts, causing Rosie to look up from where she was playing with her toys on the living room floor.

“Dada?” The toddler cocked her head to the side, her bright blue eyes gazing concernedly at her father.

Louis fell from the couch and dragged his way on the carpet over to Rosie, who abandoned concern and started giggling instead. He scooped her up in his arms as he fell backward to lie on the ground, dangling her above him like some sort of bird or plane or superhero. She squealed in glee. 

“Who’s flying?” Louis teased in that high voice he only ever used with Rosie. “Who’s that flying up there?” 

“Me, me, me!” Rosie screamed delightedly, thrashing her arms like some sort of frantic butterfly. 

After a few more minutes of suspending Rosie in the air – something she never got tired of – Louis held his daughter close to him, hugging her lightly while she lay sprawled on his chest. He twirled a finger in one of her chestnut curls, absently wondering where the time had gone and how Rosie had gotten to be so big already. It seemed just like yesterday that he held her for the first time, at first unsure of how to hold a baby, but eventually encouraged by the way she blindly but knowingly gripped at his pinky. Since then, he promised he wouldn’t let go, either. 

“What do you say we go to the bookstore?” Louis suggested finally, pressing a light kiss to the top of Rosie’s head. He would never get tired of that toddler smell. 

Rosie instantly perked up and looked at her father with those giant blue orbs. 

“Book?” she asked, mesmerized by the proposition. Louis knew how much she loved her picture books. Then her face lit up with a giant smile. “Book!” 

Louis chuckled. “Off to the bookstore we go, then.”

It had taken Louis a greater deal of time to get used to having to dress two people before going anywhere when Rosie was born, but he finally had their routine down pat. It also helped that Rosie was a thousand times more cooperative and willing to get dressed whenever she was excited to get to their destination. The bookstore was what they needed; an hour or so reading fairy tales to Rosie would surely rock Louis from his own improbable fantasies.