Harry could not find Harlow, and the lady at the daycare upon seeing his prosthesis peeking out of his pant leg, ignored him, and refused to answer any of his questions so he did the only thing that his brain could conjure up in his panic induced state. He rushed towards the elevator, and towards Louis's office.
He had finished his work for the day, and was planning on heading home, but before that he needed to pick Harlow up from the daycare. Except, when he arrived there, Harlow was nowhere to be seen, and the daycare staff refused to help him which he did not understand at all until their eyes trailed down to his prosthesis. He immediately fixed the area peeking out, feeling insecurity seep through him before he rushed towards the only person he knew in the building. The boss.
He knocked on the door, his hands trembling. "Come in." Louis's voice sounded from the other end, and Harry was quick to burst through the door, a tear now rolling down his face. Louis was already walking towards him, having smelled his distress before he entered. "What's wrong?" he asked as he held the back of the omega's neck. Harry sobbed. "Speak to me, love. What's wrong. I can't help you, if you won't speak to me," he said, gently pulling the omega into a hug.
"H-Harlow," he rasped out. "I can't find her. Oh God, I'm a terrible mother," he sobbed quietly.
Louis immediately pulled away, thumbing Harry's tears away. "Firstly, Harlow is fine. I'm sorry I forgot to tell you, she came back up with me when I went to check on her earlier, and secondly you are not a terrible mother. You are an amazing mother, Harry." Harry looked over Louis's room only to see Harlow asleep, peacefully. He relaxed, and let out a relieved sigh.
"Sorry." He wiped his tears away. Why did he keep crying in front of Louis? Why was Louis always so nice to him? Why could he not be an absolute asshole so Harry's omega would not be attracted to him for not only his looks, but his personality as well?
"Don't apologize," Louis said as he pulled Harry towards the sofa on which Harlow was sleeping. "Never apologize to me." Louis furrowed his eyebrows. "Did the daycare staff not tell you where Harlow went?" Louis asked.
Harry hesitated because he did not want to get anyone in trouble. A finger was placed under his chin before he was looking into sharp blue eyes that sent shivers down his spine. "Do not lie to me, omega." The way Louis used the word "omega" did not sound condescending, rather, it was respectful yet demanding.
Harry sighed as he averted his gaze by looking towards the white wall opposite him. "I do not want to cause any trouble."
With the same finger under the omega's chin, Louis gently moved his face until their eyes met. "You are not causing any trouble. They should have been able to answer you, and instead, they caused you distresss, you will tell me the truth. You will tell me what happened," Louis's tone was more demanding, and it made Harry reluctant to lie or withhold the truth.
With a soft sigh, Harry finally gave in. "I went there after I finished my work, and I removed my prosthesis while I was working, as you asked me to so when I went to the daycare, a bit of it was peeking through my pant leg. I asked the omegas who worked there where Harlow was, and upon seeing my prosthesis peeking out through my pant leg, they looked disgusted, and ignored me. I got scared because if something were to happen to my baby, I would go insane. Since they were not helping me, I did the only thing I could think of. I came to you," Harry explained.
Louis's nostrils flared dangerously, and the anger radiated through his scent, but within seconds, he suppressed it when he felt Harry tense. "I will take care of it, and I am glad you came to me. Come to me when you are in trouble or you just simply wish for company," Louis's voice grew softer towards the end, and his thumb stroked Harry cheek. Harry gravitated towards the rough hand holding his face gently as if he were made out of glass, so brittle that a simple touch would shatter it.
Harry felt soft. He felt like he could lean on Louis, depend on him, and that in itself was a scary revelation. "Okay," was all Harry said.
Gently coaxing Harlow awake was not difficult. Harlow, much like Harry was a light sleeper, constantly aware of their surroundings. They never really shut off, and entered a deep satiated state of mind. It had never been an option for them, not with Arnold. They were always aware of the fact that Arnold could arrive at any time, and hurt them. Even now, after the man was gone, it was still hard to readjust to the mindset of knowing he would never be able to hurt them again.
She looked up at Harry, and smiled. "Mama," she said, sleepily.
"I'm here baby," Harry replied. She sat up and smiled at Louis who returned the smile before smoothing out her hair. "How was your day, Harly?"
Her eyes lit up. "I don't wanna go back to daycare. They are mean. I wanna stay here every day instead," she pouted.
Louis watched as Harry looked conflicted. "No, Harly. We can't do that, now can we? We have bothered Louis enough, hm," he spoke to her gently.
Harlow frowned, her scent mirroring sadness while Louis frowned. "No, actually I love having Harlow here. I was going to suggest it myself if I'm going to be honest with you," Louis said as he moved a stray curl away from Harry's face, and gripped the omega's chin. "You nor Harlow will ever be a burden to me. Do you understand that? I never want to hear you say that again, understood?" Louis's demanding tone was not the same as Arnold's. Louis was gentler with him. So very gentle.
He nodded. "Yes," Harry breathed out. "Okay. I'll drop Harlow off with you before I go to work then?" he asked, unsure of what exactly he was supposed to say. This was his boss after all, and you never hear stories of a boss looking after someone else's child. Alphas did not normally take care of a child that was not their own anymore.
Louis's frown turned into a smile. "Good, I'm glad. I'm looking forward to it," Louis said, feeling unexpected, and foreign excitement bubble through him.
»»----- ★ -----««
The previous night was really bad. One of their worst. Harlow was half asleep as they entered the office building. Harry had to power through the day, but he was not sure Harlow would be able to do that. She dropped in the middle of the night, and Harry nearly fainted, but it was nothing new.
When Harlow's nightmares were extremely bad, she dropped because she was still small, and unable to fully cope with it. She was under for a few hours, and Harry ignored his own nightmares, and helped her come back up.
He was sure that he had bags under his eyes. His skin felt cold to his own touch and his curls were messy. He was breathing in heavily, body tired.
His heart felt heavy with exhaustion, but this was his second week of work so he could, and he would power through it. The elevator was not empty as there was another alpha inside, and both omegas stayed as far away from him as possible. The thing with an omega dropping was that usually they needed an alpha to take care of them, and help them through it. Harry could deal with dropping, but Harlow was small. It saddened him to think that his five-year-old daughter was used to dropping.
Add to their exhaustion, the frigid climate that constantly prevailed in London, Harry was shivering, and his inner omega was pleading, begging for rest that Harry could not provide.
Stepping out of the elevator, Harry carried an exhausted Harlow towards Louis's office. He truly felt like a burden, taking advantage of the alpha's kindness towards him. Before he could enter, he was stopped by the lady at the desk who Harry assumed was Louis's secretary. "Where are you going?" she asked.
Harry blinked a few times, and inhaled deeply before answering. "To see Louis," that may have been the wrong thing to say considering the fact that the lady's eyes widened comically.
"You cannot call him by name, omega. Know your place," the beta said condescendingly. Harry really could not afford criticism right now. He was so tired, and his omega needed affection not criticism. "You will address him as Mr. Tomlinson, and you are not allowed inside. You are just an omega," she mocked.
Harry took his phone out while still carrying Harlow, and dialled Louis's number. It only rang a few times, long enough for Harry to take a deep breath before Louis answered the call. "Hello? Harry?" he asked.
"Yes, hi, Louis. I'm sorry for like bothering you, but I'm here. I'm outside your office," he said and Louis frowned on the other end of the line.
"You can come in. You know that right?" he asked, confused.
Harry shifted the weight onto his other foot. "Your secretary won't allow me to come in," he whispered.
"I'll be right out," Louis said before the line went silent.
Harry put his phone inside his pocket before shifting Harlow into his other hand. "Leave, omega. Don't loiter here," the beta woman's tone was so condescending that Harry wished he was never born as an omega.
"You will treat him with respect, beta," a sharp voice that Harry knew belonged to Louis, spoke up. Harry had seen this side of Louis once before. A cold, intimidating, and scary side of him, but Harry found even that soothing. He just wanted affection so he would not drop.
The beta immediately stood to her feet. "I am sorry sir. This omega-" Louis cut her off.
"Is Harry, and you will treat him with respect," his eyes darkened as the words left his mouth.
"Sorry, sir," she said, and lowered her head.
"Get back to work," she nodded hastily before continuing with her work. Louis walked over to Harry, and Harlow, his features softening. "May I?" He held his hands out, and Harry gave Harlow to him, using all his willpower to not lean into Louis, and bury his face in the alpha's neck.
Louis frowned when Harlow did not greet him nor open her eyes to look at him, but instead buried her face in his scent gland. Something was wrong, and Louis could tell. Harry had bags under his eyes. He looked tired, and exhausted.
Louis guided them to his office, and shut the door behind himself. "I'm sorry if Harlow is a bit clingy today. She...... dropped," the last words were so soft that if Louis's hearing was not above a normal alpha's range, he would not have heard it.
His eyes widened as he carded his fingers through his hair. "What? When did this happen?" he inquired.
Harry sighed, sadly. "Last night. She had one of her really bad nightmares," he explained. "It's quite common for the two of us to drop, but it affects Harlow a lot," he said, sadly, feeling incompetent for being unable to protect his own daughter.
Louis shook his head, frowning. "I will look after her. How are you?" he asked, moving closer to the omega.
"I-I'm fine," Harry lied, and was immediately reminded of what Louis asked of him, to never lie to him. "I'm not okay, but I will manage," he gave a smile that looked so pained that Louis pulled him down to hug him.
"Thank you for telling me the truth."
Louis pulled back, and gently rubbed under Harry's eyes, the bags hurting him. "If you need anything, come to me. Hold on a moment," Louis said as he stepped away, approaching his desk.
He grasped his scarf, the one he always wore, and smelled heavily of his scent, and approached Harry again. With one hand, he wrapped the scarf around Harry's neck, Louis's scent assaulting Harry's nose, effectively calming him down. "Thank you," Harry said after Louis finished, not even knowing that he needed that.
Louis smiled. "Like I said, come to me," it was not forceful. It was gentle reassurance that Louis would always be there to help him, and just simply be there to support him.