"mm'daddy, wan' milky." harry slurred, lazily making grabby hands for the warm bottle of milk in louis' hand, as the older man climbed in the car next to harry.
"shh, calm down bubs, you can have it in a second." louis assured him, reaching over the boy to grab his diaper bag from niall and setting it down by his feet, before shaking the bottle to distribute the vanilla essence he put in it earlier, knowing harry likes his bottles sweet.
"everyone's buckled?" niall asked as he got into the driver's seat next to liam, louis checking that harry's car seat buckles were secured before handing him the bottle, harry taking it easily and bringing it up to his mouth, beginning to suck on the teat quietly and letting his eyes fall closed.
"we're good back here, babe," louis said, "zee, you're all buckled?" louis asked, leaning forward in his seat to tap zayn on the shoulder, the boy turning and taking his earbuds out so he could hear louis properly.
"you're all buckled up?" louis repeated, zayn nodding and putting his earbuds back in once louis had nodded and patted his shoulder, leaning back in his seat and buckling his seat belt as niall started the car and pulled out of the driveway.
the family was currently on their way to the doctor's office, for the liam and zayn's yearly checkups, as well as a solution for the nasty rash harry had. it pretty much covered his entire lower regions, and the two dads felt downright awful for him. louis and niall had tried practically everything, from rash creams to baby powders in hopes to soothe it, but nothing was working. in fact, it only seemed to be getting worse for poor harry, who had a full on meltdown almost every time he needed a change.
the ride was quiet for the most part, as niall and liam chatted quietly in the front seats while zayn listened to his music, and the only sounds coming from harry was him snuffling around his bottle, the warm milk making him sleepy, and not long after, the boy was passed out, his parted lips glossed over with milk and curls a mess. louis gently took the bottle from where it had dropped on his thigh and tucked it away in the diaper bag, quickly wiping his lips clean with his thumb and switching the bottle for a soother so harry wouldn't complain about it when he woke up.
louis caught niall's gaze in the rearview mirror, the irish man smiling at him for a moment before glancing back to the road. "he's passed out back there, babe?"
"yep, managed to finish his bottle too," louis said, "hopefully he'll just sleep the rest of the ride." he chewed on his lip, glancing over to harry.
"lou, he'll be fine. it's just a quick checkup." niall said, sensing his husband's worry about the appointment. neither of the men had told harry where they were going, as the mention of doctors around the boy usually just resulted in a meltdown, which was normal for most kids.
"i know, just don't want him to be overwhelmed or anything." louis mumbled, niall giving him a reassuring smile in the mirror again.
it wasn't long before the family was pulling into the parking lot of the doctor's office, and to say louis was worried was a bit of an understatement. the four unbuckled their seat belts, louis reaching over a still snoozing harry to pass niall the diaper bag before unbuckling the younger boy and situating him on his hip, niall locking the car doors after everyone was out and slinging the bag around his shoulder.
the family made their way into the office, louis taking harry, liam and zayn to sit in the waiting room while niall checked them in, the man digging the boys' health cards out of the diaper bag before handing it over to louis and heading over to the front desk.
"harry baby, wakey wakey bub," louis murmured into harry's ear, gently plucking the soother from his lips and rubbing soothing circles on his back as he stirred awake, whining softly into his daddy's neck at the disturbance of his nap. "i know, i know, daddy's sorry love, but it's time to wake up, we're just gonna go for a quick little check up." louis cooed as harry rubbed his eyes adorably and glanced around them, the waiting room completely empty except for a few nurses passing through here and there, as it was early, only around ten, on a saturday morning.
"check up?" harry mumbled sleepily, louis giving a gentle nod and rubbing over harry's ankle where his sweatpants had ridden up.
"yeah love, we're just at the doctor's office for a quick little checkup, it'll be super fast." louis assured him, seeing the tears well in harry's dilated eyes as he became a bit more oriented. "shh, you're okay baby, papa and i will be there the entire time." louis said, trying to soothe the boy before he started wailing in the middle of the office.
"how about we put this back, huh love?" louis said softly, slipping the soother between his lips as harry went to let out a cry, niall making his way over to the empty seat next to liam. "yeah, you're just tired, shh it's okay." louis said, feeling harry's body relax against him as he sucked on the comfort item.
"i take it we're not impressed, are we?" niall said to louis, reaching over liam and running his fingers through the boy's hair.
"not at all." louis murmured back, bouncing harry gently the best he could while sitting, bending over slightly to place the diaper bag on the floor in between his feet so he could fully adjust harry onto his lap.
"the tomlinsons?" niall looked up to see an older woman, maybe in her fifties, in scrubs, her curly hair tied back and a warm smile on her face. "follow me this way, please." she said, smiling at harry when he poked his head up out of louis' now damp neck, before quickly ducking back down.
louis flashed her an apologetic smile before passing the bag to niall, who ushered liam and zayn up, motioning for them to follow the nurse, the two dads trailing behind with a crying harry still sat on louis' hip.
"my name is cara, i'm just going to do a few minor things and then doctor postie will be right in to see you, okay?" she said, offering a hand to niall, who shook it with a smile before she led them over to a scale that rested against the corner of the wall. "alright, who would like to go first? i just need the shoes off and if you have anything in your pockets as well, that needs to come out." the nurse said, smiling at liam, who had shrugged before untying his shoes and toeing them off, as well as fishing his phone and his wallet out of his pocket, and handing them over to niall.
"alright perfect, just step on up there, and we'll just take your height and weight." liam stepped up on the scale, the nurse adjusting a few things, before jotting a couple notes down on her clipboard, and soon enough, it was zayn's turn.
"you're nearly taller than liam there, zayn!" the nurse joked, making both niall and louis chuckle when zayn poked his tongue out at liam, who scrunched up his nose in response.
"alright, you can step off." the nurse said, patting zayn on the shoulder before jotting down a few more things and then looking over to harry, who was currently holding onto louis for dear life and sniffling, a trail of snot running down his nose that louis was trying to wipe away with a tissue from his back pocket.
"c'mon bubs, we can't keep the nurse waiting, she has other patients to see." louis said softly to harry as he tried to set him down on the ground, the boy wailing behind his soother at the action.
"take your time, it's actually been quite slow this morning." the nurse said, sparking up a conversation with niall while louis tried to soothe the boy, getting zayn to take off his shoes while he distracted harry.
"there we go, let's just step up on here," louis said, guiding a still sobbing harry over to the scale, letting the nurse adjust it for him while harry made grabby hands for whoever was closest to him the entire time.
"all done, harry! you did great!" the nurse said enthusiastically when he was finished, the boy shying away and crying for louis in response.
"sorry about that, he's just a little nervous about this." louis said as the nurse waved him off, leading them into an exam room.
"don't worry about it, most kids are like this." she said with a smile, closing the door behind them and taking a seat in front of the computer in the corner of the room, motioning for the family to take a seat. "okay, so liam and zayn are just in for their yearlies, correct?"
"yes, that's right." niall replied.
"and harry is in for a bad diaper rash?" she continued, harry whining and hiding his face in louis' tummy from where he was sat on his lap, the older man shushing him as niall nodded.
"alright, so liam and zayn here are the perfect height and weight for their ages, harry on the other hand is a little under both measurements, nothing too concerning, but we want to try to get his weight up a bit, if we can. he's still in a car seat, yes?" she said, glancing up to niall, who was sat in between liam and zayn.
"yes, we actually just recently sized him up one because he was fiddling with the buckles and such, but i think a new one was needed anyways." niall said with a chuckle, the nurse smiling at that before typing some notes down on the computer.
"alright, i'm just leaving a little note for doctor postie about his measurements, but other than that, you're all done with me! doctor postie will be right in soon, you guys just sit tight, and have a wonderful rest of your day, okay?" the nurse said with a smile, standing up from the chair as niall and louis thanked her, closing the door behind her.
it wasn't long after when they heard a gentle knock on the door, louis telling them to come in. "hello, how are we doing today?" a young man walked in, his dark hair up in a quiff and a stethoscope wrapped around his neck, offering a hand to louis and niall.
"we're doing alright, a little upset," louis said with a laugh, motioning to harry, "how about you?"
"i see that," doctor postie said with a chuckle. "i'm good, i'm good, we're having a slow morning, you guys are actually my first patients today." he said, taking a seat on the swivel chair sat in front of the exam table, turning to grab the clipboard the nurse left on the desk and giving it a quick read over.
"alright, so just two yearlies for these two young men, and then i hear that harry here has a bad rash? that must suck, huh buddy?" doctor postie said, looking up from the papers to try and get harry engaged in a conversation.
harry poked his head out of louis' neck, giving the doctor a shy nod. "how about we take this out, huh love?" louis whispered to harry, gently pulling the pacifier from his lips, eliciting a whine, and handing it to niall, who tucked it away in the diaper bag.
"well, i'll get that all checked out for you and then you'll be all good to go!" doctor postie said with a smile, "can i just get you to hop up on the exam table, please harry?"
louis set harry on his feet, taking his hand and leading him over to the exam table, doctor postie pulling out the step stool attached to the bed for him to easily sit on it. "there we go, perfect." doctor postie said, watching harry clutch louis' hand as the older man went to go sit back down.
"harry bubs, it's okay, i'll be right there." louis said, pointing to where he was previously sitting, harry only letting out a choked sob, shaking his head rapidly and pulling on his arm again. "d-daddy." harry cried.
"harry, would you like it if daddy sat next to you instead? you can't sit with him right now, but you can hold his hand if you'd like." doctor postie offered, standing up from the stool and wheeling it towards louis when harry nodded, louis smiling gratefully at him and taking a seat on it, letting harry grasp his hand again.
"do you think you could take his shirt off for me, so he doesn't have to keep holding it up? i'm just gonna take his blood pressure and check his heart rate." doctor postie asked, louis nodding and helping harry out of his shirt while he took the stethoscope from around his neck and placed it in his ears, warming up the bell on his palm so it wasn't as cold.
"perfect, harry i'm just gonna listen to your heart and lungs for a moment, is that okay bud?" doctor postie said, harry looking over to louis, who nudged him in response, making harry hum softly in reply to the doctor to let him know it was okay.
"perfect okay, deep breath in..... and out. and one more time, in..... and out." doctor postie said, before moving the bell of the stethoscope to his tummy, and then his back, asking harry to take deep breaths every so often.
"your heartbeat is a little fast, but i think that's just because you're nervous," doctor postie said with a small smile before looking to over to louis. "his lungs sound great, so there's nothing to worry about there."
"oh okay, that's great." louis replied, rubbing a thumb over harry's knuckles affectionately.
"alright harry, now i'm gonna take your blood pressure, alright? you can keep holding daddy's hand, but you can't squeeze or else i'll have to do it again, okay?" doctor postie said, placing the stethoscope around his neck again and reaching over harry to grab the blood pressure moniter that was hooked up to the wall, harry nodding and adjusting his grip slightly on louis' hand while doctor postie strapped the velcro band around his arm.
"you're just gonna feel some pressure and the band will get tighter, but it won't hurt." he said, beginning to pump the machine, harry whimpering when he felt the band tighten on his bicep, not liking the strange feeling. "we're almost done, you're doing great."
"good boy, okay i'm just gonna unstrap this." doctor postie said when the pressure released, harry sighing out a bit when he was un-velcroed from the machine. "there we go, okay i'm just gonna have a little feel on your arms, legs and tummy, and then i'll just have a quick peak at that rash of yours, and then you won't have me bothering you anymore, i promise." doctor postie said, emitting a chuckle from niall and louis.
"can you just hold your arms out in front of you like this?" doctor postie asked, demonstrating by holding his arms straight out with his palms facing down, harry following suit. "yep, just like that. i'm just gonna have a little feel along here." he said, running his gloved fingers up harry's left arm, feeling the underside as well before moving his arm behind his head, and then doing the same on his right arm.
"awesome, okay now i want you to put your hands out flat, and i'm gonna push down on them, but i want you to push back into mine, alright?" doctor postie said, gently pushing down on harry's outstretched hands, feeling him push back.
"good okay, i'm just gonna tap on your knees a bit, check your reflexes and such." doctor postie said, pulling a reflex hammer from the breast pocket of his coat and crouching down in front of the exam table, placing a hand on harry's upper thigh before gently tapping his left knee and doing the same to his right knee, harry's little legs knocking against the table.
"awesome, your reflexes are fine and your central nervous system is emitting the proper signals to your body, so that's great." doctor postie confirmed, the complicated information flying over harry's head as he let out tiny hiccups, sniffling here and there.
"almost done buddy, can you lay back for me, please? just gonna have a quick feel around your tummy." doctor postie asked, harry letting out a panicked "daddy", not understanding why.
"shh it's okay bubs, i'm right here, no need for the tears. he's just gonna touch your little tummy for a moment, and then you'll be almost done." louis said softly, harry crying out as louis gently pushed on his chest, getting him to lay back on the table.
"just gonna press around a bit." doctor postie murmured, placing his hands on harry's pudgy tummy and feeling around, massaging here and there to feel for any abnormalities. "he feels quite a bit bloated, is that normal for him?"
"oh, yeah he had a bottle in the car, those tend to make him bloat, but we usually rub his tummy afterwards which always helps, just didn't have the time today." louis replied with a sheepish laugh, doctor postie waving him off with a smile.
"that's totally fine, any drastic changes in diet or weight recently?" he asked, continuing to feel around harry's belly, louis looking over to niall for confirmation before shaking his head.
"and bathroom habits? he's still in diapers full time right now, yes?" doctor postie asked, harry whining in embarrassment on the table.
"yes, niall and i were talking about pull ups for the day soon, but he'll stay in diapers at night for now." louis said before leaning over and cooing some soft words in harry's ear to soothe him.
"sounds good, he's regular when he poops and all that fun stuff?" doctor postie asked with a laugh, seeing zayn scrunch up his nose at the conversation topic.
"yep he is, aren't you bubs?" louis said, rubbing over harry's knuckles, the boy blushing slightly and turning slightly to hide in louis' neck.
"that's great. now harry, this part isn't so fun, but is it okay for me to just check out that rash of yours? it'll be super fast." doctor postie asked, harry looking over to his daddy with a panicked look on his face.
"it's okay bubs, he just wants to have a quick peek and then you're all done. i'll be here the entire time, you'll be fine." louis assured him, but harry was having none of that, the tears starting again as he squeezed his legs together, shaking his head at louis.
"n-no, daddy." harry cried, reaching out for louis, who gently laid a hand on his chest.
"baby, it's okay, it's nothing to worry about, he's just gonna have a little look and then i'll put you back in your diaper and then you're all done. does that sound okay, love?" louis murmured to harry soothingly, though he still wasn't on board with the plan whatsoever.
"no, don't wan'." harry mumbled, upset that his daddy wasn't listening to him and kicking lightly on the table, reaching for louis.
"harry, behave please." niall said sternly, as he could tell louis was getting impatient with the situation.
"harry, would you want to play with my stethoscope while i check you? if you put it in your ears, you can hear your heartbeat." doctor postie offered, seeing harry start to get worked up again.
doctor postie took the stethoscope from around his neck and offered it to the boy, harry sniffling sadly but being gentle as he took it. doctor postie helped him put it in his ears, harry being completely distracted by the sound when he pressed it to his chest in various places, too distracted to even notice that louis had quickly wiped the snot off his nose and managed to lift his bum to wiggle his sweatpants down to his ankles, leaving him in his diaper.
"okay harry, good boy, keep listening to that and i'm just gonna untape this and have a quick look," doctor postie warned, pulling the tabs open before looking over to louis. "oh louis, do you think you could just give him a quick wipe? he's wet himself."
"oh, yeah of course." louis said, reaching over for the diaper bag and pulling out a baby wipe from the package, telling harry he was just gonna give him a quick clean, the boy paying no attention to it, minus a few whimpers when the wipe came into contact with his rash.
"thank you, there's a trash can right next to niall, there." doctor postie said, pointing to the bin before moving his attention back to harry, who was now placing the bell of the stethoscope in various spots on his tummy, before reaching over and placing it on louis' chest once he had sat back down.
"how does daddy's heart sound, harry?" doctor postie asked, keeping harry distracted as he pushed his knees to his chest in the all-to-familiar changing position to take a quick look at his bum.
"s'good." harry murmured, inhaling sharply and whimpering when doctor postie reached out and gently touched his red inner thigh.
"alright good news, this can be fixed with an antibiotic cream that i can write you a prescription for, and you can pick it up on your way home. it'll make it less itchy and the inflammation will go down within a week, give or take." doctor postie said, gently pushing harry's knees back down so his feet were flat on the table again, before peeling off his gloves and tossing them into the bin.
"that's great, is it okay for us to start using baby powder again, or no?" louis asked, patting harry's tummy as the boy continued to play with the stethoscope, now reaching out for liam, who was closest to the exam table.
"that should be fine, obviously if he reacts to it, stop using it immediately and bring him back here, other than that, it's fine to use." doctor postie said with a smile, heading over to the sink in the corner of the room to wash his hands, and then pulling on another pair of gloves.
"okay great, thank you," louis said, "harry baby, let's give doctor postie his stethoscope back now, okay?" louis murmured to harry, who shook his head.
"i's the doctor now, daddy." harry said with a sniffle, louis chuckling as he reached for a tissue from the diaper bag, harry letting him wipe the snot and tears off his face for probably the eighth time that day, before grabbing a fresh diaper for him, as well as the spare blanket they keep in the bag, louis draping it over his hips so he was a bit more covered.
"i listen." harry said pointedly as doctor postie approached him, the older man chuckling and sitting on the bed next to harry, letting him press the stethoscope to his chest. "okay, you listen, harry." doctor postie said, before turning to louis and niall.
"now i know cara mentioned it to you earlier, but i want to make sure we get his weight up a bit. the average weight for a child his age is anywhere from 75 to 145 pounds, depending on height, but because harry is underdeveloped, he weighs quite a bit under that- oop, hello, harry." doctor postie paused as harry shifted slightly onto his lap, his bum half on doctor postie's thigh as he brought the stethoscope to the man's stomach, frowning when he didn't hear anything and managing to sneak a hand up doctor postie's scrub top, having no sense of personal space whatsoever.
"right, as i was saying, that's fine as of right now because he's not caught up with the average height of a thirteen year old, but this could potentially affect his growth in the future, so we want him to gain anywhere from 5 to 15 pounds over the next couple of months, and then i want to see him back here." doctor postie said, harry all over his abdomen with the stethoscope, before reaching up and digging through the breast pocket of the man's lab coat, doctor postie keeping his hands on harry's waist to steady him as he practically sat in his lap.
"okay yeah, i think we can do that." louis said, both him and niall nodding at the information.
"perfect! alright mister, i'm all done with you!" doctor postie said enthusiastically to harry, who had found a thermometer in the man's lab coat pocket and was now waving it in front of his fingers, trying to figure out how it worked. "yeah, that's a thermometer, you just hold it in front of your forehead and it detects the heat coming off your body." doctor postie told him, harry mumbling something before handing it back to him.
"alright monkey, c'mon let's get you all diapered up again." louis said when harry reached out for him, doctor postie smiling and picking up his stethoscope and all the items harry had pulled out of his pocket. "sorry for the lack of personal space." louis apologized, doctor postie waving him off, telling him not to worry about it.
"quite the distraction, isn't he?" doctor postie said, making louis laugh and nod as he laid harry back down on the table, slipping a fresh diaper under his bum and taping him into it, before lifting the boy onto his hip and wrapping the blanket around harry's shoulders.
"alright, which one of you wants to go next?" doctor postie asked, turning to zayn and liam, who both looked at each other before shrugging in response.
"i guess i'll go then." liam offered, standing up from his seat and sitting on the exam table, doctor postie smiling and placing the stethoscope back in his ears.
"great, if you wanna just hold up your shirt for me, gonna listen to your heartbeat for a minute," doctor postie said as liam hiked his shirt up, the older man placing it on various spots on his chest and abdomen, before moving to his back and asking him to take some deep breaths. "awesome, your lungs sound fine and your heartbeat is steady, so that's great, can i just get you to tuck your sleeve in so i can get your blood pressure?" doctor postie requested, reaching over for the blood pressure machine while liam tucked his sleeve out of the way, letting doctor postie strap the band around his bicep.
"i heard this shoulder was giving you some grief the other week, hmm? dad made a trip to the emergency clinic, didn't he?" doctor postie said, tapping gently on liam's right shoulder as he pumped the machine, liam nodding as he felt the tension in his arm, sighing when it was released.
"yeah, was in a bit of pain and meds weren't doing it for me." liam replied, doctor postie nodding as he removed the band from his arm.
"i'd like to take a look at that in a minute, if you don't mind." doctor postie said, liam telling him that it was okay.
"great okay, same thing as your brother here, just gonna test your reflexes and have a feel on your arms, legs and stomach, and then have a quick look at that shoulder, and then you're done, sound good?" doctor postie said, liam giving him a smile and nodding.
it didn't take long at all for doctor postie to finish up with liam, and then do the same with zayn, as they were both healthy and up to speed where they should be. and much to harry's relief, it was soon time for them to check out, niall digging out their health cards once more, before they were off to the car and all buckled in, on their way home to play video games, or cook dinner, or in harry's case, have a nice long nap because getting poked and prodded at is no fun at all.
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YALL I SWEAR I WAS GONNA WRITE OUT A WHOLE LONG ASS CHAPTER AND HAVE MORE OF LIAM AND ZAYN IN IT but i got lazy LMFAO SO IM SORRY THE ENDING SUCKS ASS
anyways ily hope u enjoyed