Buses & Bunk Beds (Zarry)

Chapter 47

"Baaaabe, come on, cheer up. I hate it when you're in a bad mood. I feel morally obligated as your boyfriend to be in a bad mood too, and I'm sure you don't want me to sit here pouting all day. You know you won't be able to resist my adorableness in the long run, so you might as well turn that frown upside down now."

Harry was right; I was in a bad fucking mood. I'd been in a bad mood all day, ever since I'd been woken up from my nap by a phone call from Nancy, reminding me about our upcoming meeting in London. She'd made sure to warn me that it wouldn't be over until we came up with a plan to handle what she referred to as "the Zarry situation," and I could only imagine how pissed off she was going to be when she found out about the pregnancy.

"I'm sorry, but this is all so fucking annoying," I complained as I pushed my dinner plate away from me. "The the idea of sitting on a sofa while Barbara Walters or Oprah or somebody asks us about personal shit makes me sick. I'm fine with the world knowing about us, I really am, but I just wish it could happen naturally, without interviews and press releases, you know? Or better yet, I wish everyone would mind their own fucking business."

"I know what will cheer you up. Come on," Harry said as he pulled me out of our room and onto the lift. We got off on the floor below ours and headed towards Lou's room, Harry practically vibrating with excitement over whatever he was planning. She answered the door with an exasperated sigh after he banged on it repeatedly.

"Lou! We're here to borrow Lux. For practice."

"You are not borrowing my baby for some sort of experiment Harry."

"We just want to take her to the pool. We'll even keep her for the night, so you can go out. Come on Lou, you know she loves us."

"You'll really take her for the night? Are you sure you can handle it?" she asked.

"I'm sure. Let's ask Lux what she thinks. Lux, where are you?" Harry called. I heard the little pitter patter of her footsteps before she poked her head out from behind Lou.

"Hally!" she yelled, launching herself into his arms.

"Hey boo, how are you?" he asked as he picked her up and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "I don't know Lou, she seems pretty happy to see me. Come on, let us have her."

Lou sighed. "Fine. You can have her for the night. Just promise you'll call me if there's any problem."

"We promise," I chimed in, making Lux notice me for the first time.

"Zee!"

"Hey Luxie! You wanna go to the pool with me and Harry?"

She nodded as she squirmed in Harry's arms until he put her down. "Lux go to pool," she ordered as she grabbed both our hands and tried to pull us into the hallway.

"Wait Lux, let's go get your swimsuit on first. Don't you want to show the boys your new suit?" Lou asked as she steered her daughter towards the bathroom. They were back a few minutes later, and Lux spun in a circle as Lou packed a bag for her.

"Lux soooo cute," she said as she posed with her hands on her hips, leading to a chorus of agreement from Harry and me. She pouted, our praise apparently not up to her standards, so we ooohed and ahhhed and clapped some more.

"She's a proper show off, isn't she? Reminds me of you Haz," I teased.

"I packed two changes of clothes, and a snack and a bottle are in there as well. Make sure you put it in the fridge when you get to your room, because she won't take the bottle until bedtime. And be sure to-"

"Relax Lou, we've got this. Go out and have some fun. She'll be in good hands," Harry assured her as we led Lux out of the room. We went to our room to change and we met Paddy at the pool a few minutes later, knowing that it would be best to have someone there to keep people away from us so that we could focus on Lux.