-Ava's POV-
I feel faint, the flashes blinding me as I keep a firm grip on the hand holding mine.
"Let us through.. Can you step back mate?" Harry's voice is strained as he tries to remain calm. "Seriously, just give us some space alright?"
One hand is pressed to the small of my back as he pushes us through the small crowd outside the venue.
"Are you daft? He said back off!" Ed raises his voice, clearing a path ahead of us.
"You alright?.. Ava, you alright?" Harry's voice catches my attention as another flash goes off.
I nod, trying to focus on my breathing as someone grabs my arm.
"Don't fucking tough her!" Harry snaps, pulling me towards him. "You have any bloody respect at all?! She's in labor for christ's sake!"
His arm moves protectively around me as a few members of security finally make it to us, shielding us from the crowd as we head towards Harry's car.
The back door is pulled open and I'm helped inside before Harry slides in next to me. Ed jumps into the drivers seat, yelling at security to get the paps away from the front of the car.
I feel a small sense of relief as the car starts to move, Harry's hand giving mine a squeeze.
"Love, you alright?"
I nod again, my eyes shooting to look out the window. "How far are we from the hospital?"
"Ava." Harry grips my chin gently, turning my head so I'm looking at him. "Are you alright?"
"I.. I'm only at thirty six weeks."
He sucks his lips into his mouth, nodding as he looks over my face. "It's fine. Little early is all. She'll be fine... She'll be fine."
I try to look away from him but he doesn't let me. "Av.. Look at me."
Our eyes lock and he gives me a small smile, "Don't upset yourself over that.. Bout to have our baby love. Bout to meet our little girl."
I swallow, my throat feeling overly dry as a kiss is pressed to the side of my head.
"How far away are we?" I ask, trying to read any street signs we pass.
"Be there before you know it. Look at me Ava."
My eyes once again meet Harry's intense gaze as he pushes a strand of hair out of my face. "We haven't even decided on a name have we?"
"A name? What?" I shake my head.
"Yeah. A name. Which ones do you fancy?"
"I don't..." I close my eyes a few times. "I don't know Harry. I can't think about that right now, I'm..."
"Got a whole list in my journal." He cuts me off. "Just jotted one down whenever I thought of it. Have marked quite a few out, but there's some good ones left I think."
"You what?" I furrow my eyebrows in confusion.
"Baby girl names. You have any favorites?" His eyes stayed locked on mine.
"I.. I don't know Harry. I..."
"Quite like Harriet."
"Harriet?" I cringe, causing Harry to chuckle.
"Has a nice ring to it."
"We are not naming our baby Harriet."
"Think it's worth considering."
"It's horrible."
"Nah..." He shakes his head slightly, "Sounds lovely."
"Never gonna happen."
"We're here." Ed speaks up from the front seat.
My eyes glance out the window, seeing the hospital sign.
"Right, Harriet is wretched isn't it?" Harry jumps out, holding his hand out to me.
"Will mark that one out as well. Out you go."
I narrow my eyes at him, realizing he was just trying to distract me from my worried thoughts. I would scold him for making me think he was serious about that name, but it actually worked.
Ed jogs ahead of us, finding a wheelchair for me to sit down in as Harry steps up to the front desk, placing his hands on the counter.
"My wife's in labor. She needs a room.. And Doctor Bell. Can you call her? Is she here? She's her doctor... knows the situation and.."
"We're paging her now dear." The older nurse gives Harry a reassuring smile, placing a hand on his. "Let's get her to a room alright?"
I try to focus on my breathing as I'm pushed down the hallway and into a room. It's early, way to early for my water to break.
Harry hands Ed his phone as I'm helped out of the wheelchair. "Ring Poppy and my mum."
Ed nods, giving me a small smile before stepping outside the room.
"We're going to need to get you into a hospital gown. Can you manage that alone or shall I help?" The nurse asks.
"I'll help her." Harry snatches the gown off the bed. "Is Doctor Bell coming? Should you ring her again? She should be here by now yeah?"
"She's on her way dear. Just get Ava into a gown and laid down on the bed. Everything will be fine."
"Right.. Course." Harry nods, biting on his bottom lip to keep himself from talking.
"Will you be alright dear?" She questions me.
"Yes we'll be fine, thank you for your help." I force a smile before she leaves the room, closing the door behind her.
By the time I look away from the door, Harry is already kneeling at my feet, undoing the straps of my shoes. I place a hand on his shoulder for support as I step out of them.
"I can manage from here, why don't you go check and see..."
"Am not leaving." Harry shakes his head, holding my wrist gently and taking my bracelet off.
I sigh, knowing it's no use to fight him but not wanting him to help peel the now wet dress off of me. I feel disgusting.
"Turn around." He places his hands on my shoulders, turning my body so he has access to the zipper of my dress.
It's tugged down slowly and I hold it against my chest so it doesn't fall to the floor.
"Love..."
"I'm scared." I say quietly, causing Harry to swiftly turn me back around.
"Av, everything will be fine." His hands cup my face, tilting my head up so he can look in my eyes. "I'm here alright? Will always be here. Now let's get this on you, Harriet's on her way."
I narrow my eyes at him as he chuckles, ducking down and giving me a quick kiss before the tugging the dress out of my grip.
Within minutes I'm laying in the bed, being examined by the doctor as Harry grips my hand tightly.
"Alright Ava.." Doctor Bell stands up, peeling off her latex gloves and discarding them in the trash. "It appears you have preterm premature rupture of the membrane. We discussed earlier this may occur due to the damage that was done to your cervix.."
I nod, remembering our discussion on the risk factors of my pregnancy. PPROM being a prominent one.
"Being you are already almost at 37 weeks, we won't try to prolong your pregnancy. We're going to give your body some time and see if you'll dilate anymore. If not, we're going to need to perform a cesarian."
"But the baby.." I finally manage to find my voice. "Is she alright?"
"There are risks giving birth pre-term but none we need to worry about right now. Nothing I see makes me overly concerned about the health of the baby. Right now let's just focus on your breathing and keeping you relaxed as possible alright?"
"Is Ava alright?" Harry speaks up, "She looks pale.. And a C section.. It's dangerous right?"
"Ava is fine." Doctor Bell smiles, glancing between Harry and I. "There are risks involved, but we're only going to perform the procedure if it's absolutely necessary."
"But what.."
"Styles." I squeeze Harry's hand, getting his attention. "Let's focus on what she said alright?"
"Right.. Yeah..." He nods, "Thank you Doctor."
"Not a problem. I'll be back to check on you soon." She slides my file back into a tray hanging off the end of the bed. "If you need anything, don't hesitate to call for a nurse."
I thank her before she exits the room, leaving a fidgeting Harry standing next to me.
"You want a softer pillow? Or ice? Or... I can turn the Telly on if you want." He rambles off. "You cold? I can get you.."
"I'm fine. Just sit alright?" I motion towards the chair next to the bed, which Harry promptly plops down in.
"Sorry.. Bit nervous I think." He takes my hand, running his thumb over the back of it. "But you're alright? Really?"
"Yeah. Contractions aren't that bad right now. They will get bad though, so I'm warning you now... If you flip out I'm kicking you out of the room."
"No faith in me at all do you?" He smirks, knowing full well how he gets when I'm in any sort of pain.
"I have complete faith you're going to faint at some point tonight."
"Will not. Now hush, focus on your breathing. Am like a rock over here.. No chance of fainting spells."
I shake my head lightly, doing as he instructed and taking deep breaths.
It feels like forever before the Doctor comes back in and tells me I'm well on my way. Harry is on the phone soon after, calling Gem and his mom who are both headed to the hospital.
Poppy bursts through the door soon after, practically pushing Harry out of the way to give me a hug and ask after me. I sigh as they start to bicker back and forth on who should be at what end of me during delivery.
I finally yell at them when my contractions along with their fighting become to much to bear. They both promptly shut their mouths, to afraid to be banished to the waiting room.
Two hours later, after having Harry constantly hovering over me each time my body tenses from the pain, Doctor Bell comes back in and gives us good news.
"Think we're ready to head to the delivery room." She smiles. "Everything is progressing well, we should have a new baby Styles by morning!"
She leaves to get a few nurses to help move my bed, and I glance over at Harry, who's suddenly silent.
"Harry, you okay?"
He nods, staring down at his black boots. "Am about to be someone's dad. Shite....... I'm gonna be a father."
"I do hope you're not just now realizing that." Poppy speaks up, "And I always thought you talked so bloody slow cause you were a smart lad."
"Poppy." I shake my head at her before looking back at Harry as the nurses enter the room.
"You with me Styles?"
His head shoots up, a dimpled grin overtaking his face. "Always."
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