HARRY
Matty was going back to the pediatrics oncology unit that morning after being in the PICU for 14 days.
Those two weeks had certainly been difficult, especially the first few days, when they didn't even know if Matty was going to pull through, but he had, and now everything was working out like it was supposed to.
And frankly, Harry was an optimist, because, although the situation they had been through had been horrible, two good things had come out of it:
1. Louis referred to Harry as Matty's dad, and not only once, but 4 times (he had counted).
2. Louis and him were really, really close now; the longest they had spent apart in the last two weeks, had been 2 and a half hours, but only because Harry had to go to his office one day to fix a problem, if not, it would have been a lot less.
But Harry wasn't a fool, he knew those things didn't mean that from now on, he could start acting like Matty's parent and that he and Louis were suddenly in a relationship. The truth was, they hadn't talked about the dad thing, and Louis kept introducing him as his friend, but Harry was confident that things were heading in the right direction. Now, more than ever, he was convinced that the connection he felt with Louis when he first met him was real, and that they were meant to be together, so now, in his mind at least, it was only a matter of time until that happened.
"I think my belly's about to pop any day now" Louis said looking down at his stomach.
They were both sitting at their usual spot at the waiting room, the doctors were doing one last checkup on Matty before they moved him, to make sure he was really ready for that, so they were waiting for the checkup to be over.
"What do you mean?" Harry asked.
"Have you noticed that in the morning the bump is little, but then at night it looks a lot bigger?" Louis wondered.
"Yeah, I've noticed" Harry nodded.
Honestly, Harry spent a lot of time staring at Louis's belly, he thought it was the cutest thing, and knowing it was his baby who was growing in there made him want to stare even more.
"When I was pregnant with Matty, that same thing happened for a few days, until one morning I woke up and the bump was bigger all of a sudden, it just popped" Louis said putting his hands above his belly, showing Harry how it grew "And I think that's going to happen soon".
"How far along were you when it happened with Matty?" Harry wondered.
"16, almost 17 weeks" Louis replied.
"You're just 14 now, so you have a couple of weeks until it happens" Harry told him.
"No, Liam says I have crap stomach muscles now, so it will probably happen sooner" Louis sighed.
"What do you mean crap stomach muscles?" Harry asked confused.
"When I was pregnant the first time, my stomach muscles had to stretch a lot and that made them weak, so that's why I started showing sooner this time, and probably why my belly will pop sooner too" Louis explained "And do you know what that means?".
"That you need to tell Matty about the baby as soon as possible?" Harry guessed.
"Yeah" Louis murmured.
"He might surprise you Lou, maybe he'll be excited about being a big brother" Harry said as he wrapped his arm around Louis back.
"He won't, he's really going to be upset, and I don't want to see him like that" Louis said sadly, and rested his head on Harry's shoulder.
"We just have to paint the whole situation as something really exciting and amazing" Harry suggested "And maybe it wouldn't hurt if we get him a very big present and we tell him the baby sent it".
"Wait, we are doing all those things?" Louis asked lifting up his head and looking at Harry.
"Oh, I don't know, I just assumed I would be there when you told him" Harry explained.
"Do you want to be there?" Louis wondered.
"Do you want me to be there?" Harry asked in turn.
"I've imagined the situation in my head a number of times, trying to decide the best way to break the news, but I've always imagined it just being Matty and I" said Louis.
"Does that mean you don't want me there?" Harry asked raising his eyebrows questioningly.
"No, I just meant that I never pictured you there..." Louis trailed off, he seemed deep in thought.
"So...?" Harry wondered.
"I don't know what to do" Louis sighed dramatically "I didn't even want to tell Matty until we were home".
"You can't wait that long Lou, people are noticing you're pregnant, and someone might say something in front of Matty" Harry pointed out "And Matty might start asking why you're hiding a football under your shirt, the baggy jumper trick won't work forever".
"I know" Louis pouted, and once again rested his head on Harry's shoulder "I think I want you to be with me when I tell him".
"Yeah?" Harry asked, a smile forming on his lips.
"Only if you want to" Louis said uncertainly.
"I do, of course" Harry nodded, as he hugged Louis tighter and brought him closer.
"Then your job will be to make sure I don't chicken out at the last minute" Louis explained.
"I can do that" Harry agreed.
"Thank you Haz".
"What did you call me?" Harry asked smiling.
"Harry?".
"No, you called me Haz".
"Then why did you ask if you heard me?" Louis asked.
"Because I was surprised at the nickname, you always call me Harry" Harry explained.
"If you don't like nicknames, just say so, I can just call you Harry" Louis shrugged.
"No, it's fine, I don't mind you giving me a nickname".
"What a great pointless conversation we just had" Louis said, and Harry could bet Louis had rolled his eyes.
"You're extra sassy today" Harry chuckled.
"And you're extra annoying" Louis sassed.
"If I'm annoying you, why are you so close to me?" Harry dared.
"Because your shoulder is a comfy pillow, and I'm tired because an annoying person snored in my ear all night" Louis answered.
"I didn't do that" Harry defended.
"So you're admitting you're annoying?" Louis dared.
"I never win with you, do I?" Harry asked amused.
"Nope".
They stayed silent for a while, and Harry's mind went back to something he had been meaning to ask Louis for some time now, but he wasn't sure if he should do it, fearing it might ruin things between them.
But he decided to get it over with.
The worst thing that could happen was Louis saying no... right?
"Hey, Lou?" Harry started.
"Mmm?".
"When do you have a baby appointment next?" Harry asked hesitantly.
"I had one last week" Louis replied.
"You went to an appointment last week? When?" Harry frowned.
"I didn't say I went, I said I had an appointment, but I skipped it" Louis explained.
"So uh..." Harry started.
"If you're going to lecture me about it, save it, Liam already did that" Louis interrupted.
"I wasn't going to lecture you, I know you probably skipped it because of Matty" said Harry.
"I did".
"So, did you reschedule it?".
"Not yet, I was waiting for Matty to get out of here" Louis replied "So I'll probably call later today, I don't want to put it on hold for much longer".
"That's good" Harry nodded, he was nervous now, his palms were even sweating.
"Why are they taking so long?" Louis complained suddenly standing up "The doctor said 15 minutes, and it's been like half an hour, do you think something's wrong?".
"No, don't worry" Harry said calmly, and was going to go back to the other conversation, but he couldn't quite do it "Louis-".
"I'm gonna go ask someone what's going on" Louis decided.
"Lou, I'm sure everything's fine" Harry called, but Louis had already disappeared.
"Great" Harry sighed.
There was no one else in the waiting, all the parents were in their kids' rooms with them, so while he waited for Louis to come back, he just dried off the sweat from his hands on his pants, and he thought about what would be the best way to ask his question, but he hadn't decided on a way by the time Louis came back a few minutes later.
"They're getting Matty ready to transfer him" Louis announced as he sat down again "But they have to wait for the room at the oncology unit to be ready".
"So the checkup went alright?" Harry questioned.
"Yeah, the doctor said it went perfect" Louis smiled "I'm so relieved, there was this small part of me that was convinced that they were going to find something wrong, and he was going to stay here for longer".
"You have to be more optimistic Lou, you're always imagining the worst" Harry said.
"I know, and I try not to do that, but I can't help it" Louis shrugged "But I think you're optimistic enough for both of us".
"You think I'm an optimist?" Harry asked.
"For sure, you see the glass half full" Louis replied "But me, I see the glass half empty".
"Then I guess we complement each other" Harry smiled a bit.
"I guess so".
"Louis?
"Yes?".
"About what we were talking about before..." Harry started.
"What were we talking about before? I forgot" Louis said, and he seemed like he was trying to remember.
"Your next baby appointment?" Harry reminded him, his palms starting to get sweaty again.
"Oh, yeah, right, what about that?" wondered Louis.
"I've been wondering if... uh... after you get a new appointment and everything... if uh... if it would be possible, I mean, only if you're okay with it, if... if there's a chance you would consider letting me... maybe go with you?" Harry asked hopeful.
"Sure" Louis said casually, like it was no big deal.
"Seriously?" Harry asked.
"Yeah".
"And I get to see the ultrasound?" Harry asked, he couldn't wipe the stupid grin from his face.
"I guess" Louis shrugged.
"Thank you Lou, thank you so much" Harry said taking one of Louis's hands in his.
"It's... eww, why are your hands so sweaty?" Louis asked making a face.
"Oh, I'm sorry" Harry said letting go of his hand, and he tried to dry the sweat on his pants.
"Your hands are never sweaty like that, what's wrong?" Louis frowned.
"Nothing, I was just nervous about asking you" Harry confessed looking down.
"Asking me what?" Louis wondered.
"About going with you to the appointment" Harry explained.
"Why were you nervous about that?".
"Because I thought you might get mad or something, you're unpredictable Lou, especially when it comes to these things" Harry told him.
"I think you're being unfair Harry" Louis pointed out.
"Why?"
"Because I haven't reacted badly to anything in the last... I don't know... 3 or 4 weeks?" Louis said.
"Louis, you almost chew my head off yesterday when I asked if you were going to eat the last scone" Harry reminded him.
"Of course I was going to react badly to that! You implied I was fat!" Louis spat.
"I only asked 'Lou, are you going to eat that scone?', I never said anything about you being fat, because you're not" Harry said calmly.
"I know I'm not, and it wasn't the words you used, but the way you said it, what I heard was 'Lou, you shouldn't eat that scone, you're big as a house already'" Louis explained.
"Let's not go back to that argument again, alright? I think yesterday was more than enough" said Harry.
"Okay" Louis said and crossed his arms "But just so you know, before, I was talking about important stuff".
"What do you mean?" Harry wondered.
"Lately, I've only gone off on you about petty things, like the scones, or your poor taste in soda" Louis explained.
"7up tastes better than Sprite" Harry mumbled.
"If you say that one more time, I'm going to slap you Harry" Louis threatened.
Harry raised his hands up in surrender, and gestured for Louis to continue whatever he was saying.
"I haven't yelled at you about anything that really matters for weeks, so I don't think it's fair what you said" Louis said, and he seemed a little hurt "And to be honest, it sucks to know that you don't even realize that I've been making a very big effort to let you inside mine and Matty's life".
"Lou, it's not-" Harry began.
"I would have thought that after everything that's happened, you wouldn't have been afraid to ask me if you could come to the appointment to see the baby" Louis continued.
"You're right about everything you said" Harry nodded "And I'm sorry if it seems like I haven't noticed the effort you're making, because I have noticed it, but can you blame me for being afraid of your reactions? Because in the past you've told me that you can decide that I can't see Matty anymore if I do something wrong, and that scares me".
"But that was before Harry" Louis argued "Do you really think that now, after you've been here for me day and night for what were the worst days of my life, I would kick you out of Matty's life because you ask the wrong question? Seriously? You think that little of me?".
"I don't think little of you, and I'm sorry if I made you feel like that" Harry said gently.
"You do, and that's okay, I probably deserve it, but if there's one thing you can be sure of, is that I will never tell you to get out of Matty or the baby's life" Louis said, his eyes shiny.
"Thank you Lou" Harry said, his voice soft.
"No" Louis shook his head "Thank you, Harry, I will never forget what you did for me".
"I didn't do anything, love" Harry denied.
"Are you kidding me? If it hadn't been for you I probably would have gone crazy" Louis declared, and Harry could tell he was struggling not to cry "You kept me sane and in one piece, and that's something I needed to be able to stay healthy enough for the baby, and for Matty when he woke up, so thank you, I mean it".
"Lou, baby" Harry cooed, and wrapped his arms around him "Everything I do, I do it because I care so much about you".
"You're the best person I've ever met Harry Styles" Louis said, his arms tightly around him "You deserve the world".
Harry let go his grip a little, he wanted so see Louis' beautiful face.
"I would be happy with just a little part of the world" Harry said as he cleared with his thumbs the few tears that had fallen from Louis' eyes.
"What part is that?" Louis whispered.
"I think you know Lou" Harry whispered back.
They were only a few inches apart, and Louis was staring right into his eyes, his blue eyes still a little shiny. But suddenly his eyes drifted, and he looked down at Harry's lips, then up again, and he licked his lips. Harry closed the distance between their faces, and he looked at Louis's lips, as if asking for permission, and...
"Mr. Tomlinson?" someone called.
Just like that the spell was broken, and the first chance he had had to kiss Louis in months, went to waste.
"Yes?" Louis said quickly standing up from the sofa.
"We're ready to transfer Matthew now" announced the nurse that interrupted them, her name was Mia... or was it Maia?
"Okay, thanks" Louis smiled at her.
Harry stood up too, he wanted to kick something, but he tried to play it cool.
"I'll take the bag" Harry offered, picking up the overnight bag where both of them kept things.
"Oh... okay, thank you Harry" Louis said, but he was avoiding making eye contact with him.
They followed the nurse, and just as they reached the hallway, they saw a lad pushing a gurney across the corridor, and Matty was on it; he was fully awake and he had Paw with him.
"Hey monkey" Louis said to Matty "Are you ready to go back to your old room?".
"Home?"
"No, love" Louis shook his head as they walked alongside the gurney "Your room here, where Dr. Z is, and nurse Perrie, and nurse Jill...".
"An' nuwse Patty?" Matty asked making a face that said he wasn't too excited about it.
"Yeah, her too" Louis chuckled.
"Go home swead?" Matty asked.
"We can't yet baby" Louis said softly.
Matty pouted.
"But at least you're getting out of that room you hated" Harry tried.
"Yeah, and now you don't have to sleep all alone in a room, now I can stay with you again all night" Louis added.
"Kay papa" Matty nodded.
They reached the familiar pediatric's oncology unit a few minutes later, and the nurse (Mia or Maia) who had come with them from the PICU, told the lad that was pushing the gurney, to stop for a second at the nurses station, because she needed to check what room was Matty's.
Louis was about to tell her where it was, when suddenly he noticed Perrie was the nurse at the nurse's station.
"Pewie!" Matty said when he saw her, she was always his favorite by far.
"Hey Matty!" Perrie greeted him "I'm so happy to see you're better buddy, I missed you".
"Miss you" Matty said back, and smiled at her showing his dimple.
Perrie smiled at him fondly, and then turned to the other nurse.
"I can take it from here, I have Matty's transfer papers" Perrie said.
"Okay, great, Dr. Tucker said she's coming here to check on him this afternoon".
"I know, Dr. Malik spoke to her earlier, and he told me" Perrie replied.
Harry and Louis exchanged an amused look when she said 'Dr. Malik', and they both had to stifle their laugh. Perrie glared at them for a second or so, and then went back to the other nurse. They exchanged a few more information about Matty, and then Mia or Maia announced she had to go back, and Louis thanked her for her help.
"Come on, is this way" Perrie told the gurney lad.
They started walking again across the corridor, but Perrie didn't stop walking where she was supposed to.
"But this is Matty's room" Louis frowned, pointing at the room that had been Matty's for months.
"Not anymore, now he has the corner room" Perrie said smiling.
"Is this one occupied by someone else?" Louis wondered.
"No, but the corner room is the best one" Perrie explained as they continued walking down the corridor "While Matty wasn't here, the little girl that used to occupy it, went home, so I decided to keep anyone from changing there, because I wanted to save it for Matty".
"That's so nice of you Perrie" Harry smiled.
"It's nothing, besides, Matty's everyones' favorite here" Perrie shrugged "Especially Dr. Malik's".
"Aww Dr. Malik" Harry said, obviously teasing Perrie "He's such a sweetheart".
"Shut up Harry" Perrie rolled her eyes as they reached the corner room, and she let the gurney in first.
Harry walked in there last, and she realized Perrie had been right, the room was much better than the one Matty used to have; it had more windows, which made the room brighter and less depressing, and it was a lot bigger. The rest was the same though, same decorations, same bed, same recliner, same curtains, you name it.
"Do you like your new room Matty?" Louis asked while Matty was being transferred to the bed.
"Yesh" Matty replied "Pway caws now?".
"Let's get you settled first, okay?" Louis proposed.
"Kay" Matty agreed, a small scowl on his face.
Harry carried Louis's overnight bag to the recliner and set it up there, and then he watched the gurney lad leave.
"Can we change him into his normal jammies, now?" Louis asked Perrie "They wouldn't allow it in the PICU, and Matty says the gown's itchy".
"Ichy" Matty nodded.
"Yes, definitely" Perrie agreed, she was checking on the IV Matty had in his arm "Matty's things are still in Zayn's office though".
"I have a pair of his pajamas in my bag" Louis said walking up to it "I asked Niall to bring it from my flat the other day".
"Haw-wy?" Matty said.
"Yes, love?" Harry smiled at him.
"Pway caws, pwease?" Marry asked making adorable puppy eyes.
"We will monkey" Harry nodded, and looked at Louis, who was digging around the bag "Do you have cars in there too, Lou?".
"No, just clothes" Louis answered.
Harry turned around to look at Matty, and he was looking at him with a sad little face.
"I'll go get your cars, okay?" Harry proposed.
Matty nodded, he was smiling now.
"Lou, I'll go get Matty's things from Zayn's office, alright?" Harry told Louis who was coming up to the bed with Matty's dinosaur pajamas.
"Okay, great, thanks" Louis replied.
"I'll be right back with your cars Matty" Harry smiled at him and kissed his forehead.
"Thank Haw-wy" Matty said.
"You're welcome, love".
He left Matty's room, and headed to the other side of the unit, where the doctor offices where, and knocked at Zayn's door, he had no idea if he was there or not.
"Come in" Zayn's voice said.
"Hey Z, it's me " Harry said after he opened the door.
"Oh, hey, is Matty settled here already?" Zayn replied, standing up from his desk where had been looking at some papers.
"Yes, I came here to get his things" Harry explained looking around.
"It's those boxes in the corner" Zayn said pointing at the left corner of the room, where two boxes were piled "You take one, and I'll take the other".
"Don't worry, I can take both" Harry brushed off as he bent down and grabbed the boxes, they weren't really heavy.
"Let me take one" Zayn insisted as he put the folder he had in his hand over the box on top, and then he took it from Harry "I have to go check on Matty anyway".
"Okay, then" Harry gave up.
"Let's go" Zayn said pointing at the door with his head.
"Perrie says you guys saved the corner room especially for Matty" Harry commented as they walked down the corridor "She says Matty's your favorite patient".
"I care about all of my patients, but you're my best mate, so of course Matty means a lot more to me, and that's why I want him to have the best, even if it's just a bigger room" Zayn replied.
"Thanks Z, you're a great friend".
"Don't mention it" Zayn shrugged.
After they reached the room, Zayn left his box on a chair by the window, and went to wash his hands to be able to examine Matty, who was all tucked in the bed, wearing his own pajamas instead of the itchy gown.
"Haw-wy, caws?" Matty asked Harry.
"I'm looking for them Matty" Harry said as he dug around the box.
"You have to stay still so Dr. Z can examine you properly, baby" Louis told Matty.
Harry looked at the bed, and he realized Zayn was struggling a bit with Matty; Louis was right, he wasn't staying still.
"Huwwy doctow Z!" Matty demanded, and the way he said it made Harry laugh a bit "Wanna pway caws".
"That was rude Matthew" Louis scolded "Say you're sorry, and stop moving so much".
"I no sowy, I wanna pway papa" Matty said looking at Louis, but he stopped moving anyway.
"You should be sorry Matty, because when you say something rude, you have to apologize" Louis lectured him.
"It's okay Louis, don't worry" Zayn said while he examined Matty's neck.
Harry went back to his search, and found the cars at the bottom of the box, he picked up Matty's favorite and he brought it to him.
"Here Matty" Harry said handing him the toy.
"Yay!" Matty cheered excited.
"Matty, buddy, please stay still for 5 more minutes, and then you can play all you want, okay?" Zayn smiled at him.
"Kay" Matty nodded.
"Good boy" Zayn replied, and went on with his examination.
"Can I talk to you for a second?" Harry whispered at Louis.
"About what?" Louis asked.
"Come here" Harry said and led him to the corner of the room.
"What's going on?" Louis wondered, his voice quiet.
"It's about earlier, in the waiting room, I mean..." Harry started.
"We don't need to talk about it" Louis denied "Let's pretend it didn't happen, alright?".
"If that's what you want" Harry shrugged.
But Harry definitely didn't want that; he wanted nothing more to have Louis in his arms, kiss him like he had never kissed anyone in his life, and finally be able to call him his
"I think that's for the best" Louis murmured.
"Okay" Harry nodded, it wasn't really okay, but he wanted to respect Louis' decisions "You know, it's going to be weird not sleeping on that sofa tonight".
"Don't you miss sleeping in your own bed?" Louis asked.
"Not as much as I'm going to miss having you in my arms tonight" Harry smiled.
"Harry" Louis said reproachfully.
"What? It's the truth" Harry shrugged.
"Louis, can I talk to you?" Zayn suddenly said.
"Yes, of course" Louis nodded, and went over to where Zayn was scribbling something in a chart.
Harry joined them too, he wanted to know what was going to happen with Matty's treatment.
"We're going to wait a few days, and then we're restarting the round of chemo Matty was getting when he got pneumonia" Zayn explained.
"Alright" Louis nodded.
"We're still going to keep giving him antibiotics as a precaution, that way we avoid him relapsing or getting a new infection" Zayn continued.
"Okay" Louis said in understanding "And then he gets more chemo, or is the original plan still on?".
"We're sticking to the original plan" Zayn nodded "8 days of chemo, then we'll run tests to check how he's doing, and if everything comes back as I'm hoping, he won't need any more chemo".
"And he'll get to go home?" Louis asked hopeful.
"After we wait a few weeks for his immune system to get stronger, yes" Zayn nodded.
"That's amazing" Louis beamed at Zayn, and then he looked at Harry, who returned the smile "Matty's getting out of here soon".
"We still have a way to go, but I'm glad you're being optimistic" the doctor told him.
"I think he's a glass half full kind of person now" Harry joked.
"Only because I learnt from the best" Louis replied.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Is it weird having your best friend as your doctor?" Harry asked while they waited for Liam in the exam room.
"No, it's actually great" Louis replied "I can call him whenever I want if I have questions, I can be rude to him and not worry about it".
"It must suck not to be able to be rude to your doctor" Harry joked.
"Shup up" Louis said, but he was laughing.
It had been 3 days since Matty went back to the oncology unit, and as promised Louis had set an appointment to check on the baby the very same day Matty got there. And the best part, and what made Harry happier, was that Louis actually asked him when was the best time for him to get out of work, because he wanted to make sure he could be with him at the appointment.
"Hi Lou" Liam said as he walked inside the exam room looking at a file.
"Hey" Louis said back "Harry's here too, you know".
"What?" Liam looked up from the file, and he seemed surprised to see Harry next to Louis "Oh, hello mate, it's nice to see you here".
"I'm happy to be here" Harry smiled.
"That's great to hear" Liam said as he took a seat behind his desk "So, Louis, I was just looking at what the nurse wrote, I'm a little worried about something".
"What?" Louis frowned.
"You have barely gained any weight since the last time you were here, and that was over 5 weeks ago" Liam said looking at the file again.
"I told you I'm not fat" Louis said turning to Harry.
"You told him he was fat?" Liam asked Harry in disbelief.
"No! Those words have never left my mouth" Harry denied.
"He implied it, when I wanted to eat a tiny little scone the other day" Louis explained.
Harry rolled his eyes, but decided not to say anything else, it was useless.
"Are you eating enough?" Liam asked going back to the main issue "Or are you still having morning sickness?".
"I'm eating more than enough, and I haven't had morning sickness in a while" Louis replied.
"He lost weight the first week Matty was in the PICU, he almost didn't eat anything, and what little I convinced him to eat, he threw it up right away" Harry explained.
"Lou, when I asked you back then, you said you had been eating" Liam reproached.
"I know, I'm sorry, and it's not like I didn't want to eat, I just couldn't" Louis apologized "I had this constant knot in my throat, and whatever I ate, I couldn't keep it down for more than 10 minutes, do you think it affected the baby? Because I still made sure I kept hydrated, and I never stopped taking my prenatals".
"Your blood panel and urine test are not back yet, so I can't tell you for sure, but I don't think it has affected the baby" Liam said in a very professional voice "You had gained a little extra weight at the beginning of the pregnancy, so you're not really underweight".
"So I'm overweight?" Louis asked surprised.
"No, you're only a little under average weight, nothing too serious, but on your next appointment, I want to see an improvement, okay?" Liam
"See, Harry? I can have extra scones if I want" Louis said to Harry, but he was smiling.
"I never said you couldn't" Harry snorted.
"We'll do the ultrasound now, and then we'll discuss the rest when they bring the lab results back" Liam explained.
"Oh goodie" Louis smiled and stood up "Harry's been wanting to see the baby, right Harry?".
"Yeah" Harry grinned.
"Have you ever seen an ultrasound before Harry?" Liam asked.
"No, never, just the pictures" Harry shrugged "I saw my sister's yesterday, by the way".
"Is she still pissed?" Liam wondered.
"She is" Harry laughed.
"Why is she pissed?" Louis asked as he sat down at the ultrasound table.
"Because apparently her baby had his or her legs crossed, so they couldn't find out the gender, and she had been looking forward to it" Harry explained, he was standing next to Louis.
"Oh, that's too bad" Louis pouted.
As he spoke Louis lifted up his shirt and he pulled down his elastic waist pants a little so they were right under his belly, so reveal his cute baby bump. The truth was, Harry had only seen his bump bare once before, when Louis was admitted for dehydration, but he had only seen it from a distance, so it didn't even count.
"I had warned her before that the baby had to be in the right position for me to be able to see, but apparently it was still my fault" Liam said as he brought a stool with him and placed it next to Louis "Harry, sit here, mate".
"Thanks, Liam" Harry smiled and sat down.
"It's nothing" Liam said and went to the other side of the table, and he started examining Louis's tummy "At least your bump has grown enough".
"I thought so" Louis said looking down "And I think it's going to pop any day now".
"I think so too" Liam agreed.
"I think this little one is very resilient" Louis commented as he watched Liam's hands on his tummy "I mean, without wanting to, I've made the baby go through a lot, all the stress, the lack of sleep, the crying... but he or she never complained".
"To be honest, I was really worried about the baby when Zayn called me to tell me what was going on with Matty, that's why when we got here I kept insisting you rested and drank water" Liam explained.
"You thought I was going to lose the baby?" Louis asked surprised.
"I thought there was a chance, especially when I saw the state you were in when we first arrived" Liam said, a sad smile on his face.
Harry didn't even like to remember that, because the way Louis cried when they thought they lost Matty forever, was the most heartbreaking thing he had ever witnessed. And then, even when the doctors were able to bring him back, Louis kept crying and crying and crying, and Harry had been afraid for the baby too. But Louis was right, their little one was resilient, and not even the slightest issue had arisen with Lou's pregnancy that night, nor any other night for that matter.
"Can we talk about something else? I have enough remembering that awful night when I dream about it" Louis sighed.
"You're right, I'm sorry" Liam nodded as he grabbed a piece of paper towel and he tucked it in the hem of Louis's pants "Have you felt any movement?".
"Yeah, for a few days now" Louis smiled "At first I thought it was gas, but then I realized it was the baby swimming in there".
"That's a good" Liam nodded, and picked a tube of gel, and he put some on Louis's tummy.
"You didn't tell me that" Harry said quietly.
Louis looked at him and frowned.
"Yes, I did".
"I would remember if you told me, Lou".
"But I remember telling you" Louis argued.
"When?" Harry questioned.
"Two days before Matty was released from the PICU, it was in the middle of the night, and I woke up, and I thought I had gas, so I stood up and went to the bathroom, because you know..." Louis said, and blushed a bit "But then I realized it was the baby, so I went back to our sofa, and while I was trying to get comfortable again, you woke up, and said 'Lou?', and I said 'I felt the baby move', and you replied 'oh, that's nice', and then we went back to sleep".
"I have no memory of that" Harry said confused "And I said 'oh, that's nice'? What kind of reaction is that?".
"Well, it was nice that I felt the baby move for the first time" Louis shrugged.
"But it deserved a better reaction than 'oh, that's nice'" Harry said in disbelief.
"Well, that's what you said, why are you blaming me?".
"I'm not blaming you, I just think I was sleeping, because I know I would have had a better reaction if I was awake" Harry declared.
"Like what?".
"I would've said 'wow, that's amazing' or something similar, and I would've asked what it felt like" Harry explained.
"Well, it feels like gas" Louis laughed.
"Lads, if you're done with your little argument, I think you would like to take a look at this" Liam interrupted.
Harry turned to Liam, and he was pointed at the screen, and there in black and white and gray was the clear imagine of a baby, his tiny little baby that was growing in Louis's belly.
"Oh my god" Harry smiled.
He was completely in love with that baby, there was no turning back now, he needed to be his or her dad more than he needed air, there was no other choice.
"Baby you look so much bigger now" Louis cooed at the screen.
"And so perfect" Harry whispered.
And when Harry thought his smile couldn't get any bigger, Liam turned on the sound, and they heard the heartbeat of that perfect baby, and it was the most beautiful sound Harry had ever heard in his entire life.
"Harry, are you crying?" Louis asked amused, but he had a few tears in his eyes as well.
"Yeah" Harry laughed as he wiped his eyes a bit "Thank you for letting me be here".
"Of course, Haz" Louis smiled, and outstretched his hand at Harry.
Harry took it in both his hands, brought him up to his lips, and kissed it.
"Is he or she okay?" Harry wondered, his eyes staring right at the screen.
"I haven't finished checking, but so far everything's looking good" Liam replied.
"Good" Harry smiled at the screen "And can you tell if it's a boy or a girl?".
"I could take a guess, the baby's in the right position, but I don't like to tell parents before week 16, because there's still a chance I could make a mistake" Liam explained.
"Does a week really make that much of a difference?" Harry asked curiously.
"It does, actually" Liam nodded "So you decided you want to find out the gender?".
"Why wouldn't we want to know?" Harry asked confused.
"Lou didn't find out with Matty, he wanted it to be a surprise" Liam explained.
"Really?".
"Yeah, right Lou?"
"Hmm?" Louis hummed, he seemed very concentrated on the screen.
"Matty's gender" Liam told him.
"What about it?" Louis asked.
"I was telling Harry, that you didn't want to find out the gender when you had Matty" Liam repeated.
"Oh, right, I wanted it to be a surprise" Louis smiled turning to look at Harry "And it really was, I was convinced he was a girl, and Liam was very good at keeping it secret, he has a really good poker face".
"It was actually very difficult, especially having Niall as a husband asking me 24/7 about it" Liam commented while he still stared at the screen "He even tried to get me drunk once to get it out of me".
Harry laughed, he didn't know Niall that well, but he could picture him doing that.
"Do you want it to be a surprise this time too Lou?" Liam asked.
"To be honest, I haven't even thought about it" Louis declared, then he looked from Harry to the baby, and then at Harry again "Do you want to find out?".
"Yes, but I think you should be the one to decide" Harry said, he was still holding Louis' hand.
"But I want to take your opinion into account" Louis explained.
"Thanks, love" Harry said, and gave his knuckles another kiss "You have time to decide though, right Liam?".
"Yes, and even if you haven't decided by your next appointment, I will keep it to myself until you make up your mind, just like last time" Liam promised.
"Thanks Liam" Louis smiled.
The appointment went on for about 15 more minutes; Liam declared that the baby was developing just fine, and when Louis' tests came back, he told them that those were normal too, so that there was nothing to worry about.
"Hey, how did it go?" Niall asked when they came back to Matty's room.
Louis hadn't gone back to work yet, he was spending all his time with Matty, so he had asked Niall to stay with him while they went to the appointment, and of course Niall hadn't had a problem doing it.
"Uh..." Louis hesitated as he looked at the bed, and Matty was asleep "It went great actually, baby's healthy".
"That's great" Niall grinned.
"Do you want to see a picture?" Harry offered showing him the pictures in his hand.
"Of course" Niall said stading up and heading over to him.
"Here" Harry said and gave them to him.
"Aww, baby" Niall cooed.
"Doesn't it make you want to have a baby too?" Louis asked his friend.
"No" Niall shook his head firmly "No more babies for me, how many more times do I have to say it?".
"I had to try" Louis laughed.
"So, are you going to tell Matty anytime soon?" Niall asked, changing the subject "Or are you waiting until you actually have the baby?".
"I'm telling him in the next few days, I promise, I'm just mentally preparing myself" Louis said.
"I think you just have to rip it off fast, like a band aid" Niall suggested.
"I know, I know" Louis nodded.
"Okay, I have to get going back to the office now" Niall declared and gave the pictures back to Harry.
"Hey, what happened to the things I asked you to bring me from my office? Did you forget?" Louis pouted.
"No, I didn't, I just forgot to bring them from the car" Niall said "I'll go get them".
"I could go with you, that way you don't have to come all the way back here" Harry offered.
"That would be great, Harry, thanks" Niall said and turned to Louis "He's very helpful".
"I know" Louis chuckled "He's the best".
Harry grinned at Louis, and after Niall said goodbye to Louis and gave a kiss to a still sleeping Matty, they left the room, and headed to the parking lot.
"What is it that Louis asked you to bring him?" Harrya asked as they reached Niall's car.
"Just some things from his events" Niall explained "I told him I have everything handled, but he feels bad for just bailing on his clients, so he wants to make sure that things are going well".
"So he's supervising you" Harry joked.
"I guess so" Niall laughed as he opened the trunk of the car, he took out some folders and he gave them to Harry "Thanks again mate".
"No problem" Harry brushed off "Say hi to the kids for me".
"Sure thing" Niall nodded "I'll probably see you tomorrow".
"Yeah, most likely" Harry smiled "Bye Niall".
"Bye".
Harry was entering the pediatrics ward, when a kid that was running around crashed into his legs, and because he was the clumsiest person in the universe, he lost his balance, and he dropped all the folders, some of them opening and the papers flew everywhere.
"I'm sorry mister" the little boy that had crashed into him said.
"Don't worry about it buddy" Harry smiled at him.
"Okay" the boy said, and ran away in the other direction.
Harry sighed, and bent down to start picking up everything, and as he collected the scattered papers, he hoped that he wasn't messing anything up.
He wasn't being nosey, of course he wasn't, but as he continued picking up papers, something caught his eye, and when he realized what it was, his heart broke in a million pieces.
Because everything happened so fast when he donated sperm to conceive the baby, he never really signed the papers to give up his legal rights, but right now he was staring at those papers.
Louis had asked Niall to bring them over.
He wanted Harry to sign them.
But Harry didn't want to do that, not in a million years.
Frankly, it hurt, it hurt a lot that Louis wanted him to sign off his rights, especially after everything they had gone through together, after everything Louis told him at the waiting room that day, after he had referred to him as Matty's dad, after he had let him see the baby in the ultrasound.
But Louis hadn't changed like he claimed he had, he wasn't making an effort to let Harry in; he was still the same person he met all those months ago.
Harry decided he wasn't going to say anything, he needed time to process the information, so he put the papers between everything else, and he took them to Matty's room, where Louis was waiting.
--------------------
A.N. When I finished this, I realized that, without wanting to, I had all the boys in the chapter!
What did you think about the almost kiss? What about the appointment with Liam? And more importantly, what are your thoughts about the ending?
I hope you don't think this story is ending, because there's a lot more to come 😊
Xoxo