HARRY // MAY 2020
Seven Weeks
Louis had just walked out of the front door of their house with a bag of clothes. Harry had never felt so lost and sad in his life before. He had the ring in his one hand, it felt heavy as a reminder that Louis no longer wanted to be engaged. In his other hand, the ultrasound photo. Their twins. Would Louis cease from Harry's life again? Would he ever see his babies?
Harry went into their bedroom, placing both things on Louis' bedside table. He went into the bathroom and scrubbed his face with ice cold water, hoping this was all a nightmare. It wasn't. He was willing to forgive Louis for his hurtful comments, he was upset and angry. He didn't really mean it, Harry knew that.
But he couldn't leave work right now. Things were picking up, getting ready for the fall release cycle. If Harry left now, he wouldn't profit as much as he could. He wouldn't be able to stay home after the babies were born. He just needed until August. After August, he would assist Louis for whatever he needed.
"Daddy?" asked Olivia from the doorway to the bathroom. "Where Papa?"
Harry turned off the water, grabbing the towel to dry off his face. He murmured, softly, "Papa's visiting with Uncle Niall and Auntie Jade."
"Oh. We go to Nan's soon?" Olivia continued to question.
"Of course, babydoll. We'll leave in a few hours. Want lunch?"
Harry made his daughter lunch, trying to get over this heartache. Was his job really going to end his relationship? If it was, he would quit tomorrow. When did it become an issue? Harry was aware that Louis wanted him home more, but he didn't know he felt so passionately about it. Harry wished Louis talked about it more, or maybe he did but Harry never processed it. God, he felt stupid and heartbroken.
Harry and Olivia went to Anne's around four. Gemma, Michal, and Sophie were there as well. Olivia went over to Gemma, chatting away. Anne immediately pulled Harry to the side and asked, "What's wrong? Where's Louis?"
"I-I..." Harry said, not sure how to say it. He didn't want it to become real. He wanted this to be a nightmare, so badly. "Louis and I broke up this morning."
"What?" Anne asked, absolutely flabbergasted. "Why? What happened?"
"Well, we got in an argument last night..." Harry started, his eyes filling with tears for millionth time that day. "It progressed into this morning. I was ready to move pass it and Louis was all in his head about it. I didn't.. I didn't think that I was going to end up like this. God, Mum... I don't know what to do. I love him so much... I can't lose him, not again. We never fight like this, never this bad."
"You need to apologize then," Anne said, softly. "Whatever he's upset about, you need to try to resolve. Don't let him push you away."
"He's pregnant, Mum," Harry told her. Her eyes lit up and then filled with tears. "We're expecting twins."
"Twins? Oh, Harry," Anne cried, pulling her son into a hug. "That's wonderful, so wonderful."
"That's another reason why I can't lose him," Harry murmured into his mum's ear.
"Apologize and resolve," Anne reminded him.
"Alright," Harry agreed.
Harry told Gemma and Michal the news about the babies and told them, when Olivia was out of the room, what happened with Louis. Gemma told him to do the same thing his mum had said.
So that's what harry was going to do. He was going to talk to his label and manager, tonight when they got home, and he was going to work out some sort of deal with them. He couldn't lose Louis or their peas.
LOUIS
Niall and Jade were consoling Louis through this. They listened to him as he cried through his story. He couldn't believe what had happened, how things had progressed. What had happened?
Jade gave him a cup of tea, chamomile, and said, "Are you sure that you want to end the relationship over this? You've built a life together. It's not just you and Harry, you have a daughter involved in this as well."
"I know that, Jade. It fucking killed me to leave without saying goodbye to Olivia. I should've-ve said something to her. And I don't want end this, I just felt...felt like this was the only thing I could do to show how serious I was about this."
"Well," Niall said, "You two love each other. You need to talk it out. If you can talk it out, perfect. If you can't and still end up broken up, we're here for you."
"I-I... I haven't made an official announcement yet, I was waiting, but I'm pregnant."
"What?" Jade asked, scooting closer to Louis and grabbing him by the hand. "Why didn't you tell us sooner? How far along are you?"
"Seven weeks. I'm waiting until twelve weeks. But if you're offering your home to me in case I can't work things out with Harry, I want to tell you about it."
"Louis, that doesn't change our minds whatsoever," Niall said.
"You need to go lay down," Jade said. "You've had a rough morning and you need to relax a little. Follow me."
Jade led Louis down the hallway to the room that was supposed to be Louis' four years ago. Louis placed his bag on the bed and laid down, feeling cold all over. Jade said, "Let me know if you need anything," before shutting the door.
Louis wrapped himself in the comforter, crying at the unfamiliar smell. Somehow Louis fell asleep. When he did, it was to the sound of his cellphone in his pocket. He pulled it out and swiped to answer the call, not checking who it was. "Hello?"
"Lou," Harry's voice crackled through. "Can we speak about this? Please."
"Harry-" Louis said, groggily.
"Let me speak, I let you talk earlier. You left me. You promised me that you'd never leave. Now, here we are." Harry said, obviously through his sobs. It broke Louis' heart all over again. "I...I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. Please let me see you and we talk through this. Don't let this end like this. Please."
"Tomorrow, okay? It's," Louis said, looking for a clock and seeing it was almost ten at night, "almost ten, Harry. I need to sleep."
"Okay. Olivia misses you. She cried her eyes out when I put her to bed and then you didn't answer when she had me call for you."
"I miss her, I do. But please don't use her as way to make me feel guilty."
"I'm not, Lou. Come home. Whenever you want," Harry said.
"Alright, goodnight."
"Wait! How's the peas?"
"Fine," and then Louis hung up. He sighed, pushing back tears as he got up to take his prenatal.
As he stood, there was a sharp pain. In his lower abdomen. He started to panic. The twins. He sat down, taking the pills slowly with his now cold tea. He sat there, feeling the pain intensify. He grabbed his phone, ready to call Harry. But he called out for Jade and Niall instead.
HARRY
It was past midnight when Harry got a phone call. It was Niall, and he instantly got a bad feeling and his stomach dropped. He immediately answered, "What's wrong?"
"It's Louis, he's in the ER," Niall said.
"Text me which hospital, I'm on my way." Harry said, hanging up. He pulled on sweats, a coat, and shoes and went into Olivia's bedroom while he dialed Anne.
"Harry, love, what's going on?"
"Louis' in the ER. I'm bringing Olivia over and heading over," Harry told her, quickly packing a bag for his daughter.
"Alright, I'll be waiting."
He scooped up Olivia, she barely even flinched. He buckled her into her booster seat and drove the three blocks to Anne. His mum waiting outside and met him outside. She helped Olivia out and took her bag and said, "Please keep me updated. Don't forget to tell Jay either."
"I won't. Love you," he told his mum. He kissed Olivia on the forehead, whispering, "I love you."
Harry made it to the hospital twenty minutes later. Niall met him out front with a frown. Harry's stomach dropped once again. He jogged up to him and asked breathlessly, "What's wrong?"
"He was having pains and we took him here." Niall said, leading Harry into the hospital. "It's been two hours."
"What's wrong with him?" demanded Harry.
"We don't know yet," Niall said, bringing Harry into a room. Louis' eyes were closed as he gripped the pillow tightly. Jade was rubbing him down the back soothingly, but her expression was worried, anxious. Niall said softly, "Harry's here, Lou."
"Harry," Louis said, his hand reaching out. He sounded like he was in such a great amount of pain. Harry sat beside him, grabbing his hand.
"I'm here. I'm here, love."
"The babies," Louis cried, opening his eyes. They were filled with fear. Harry ran his thumb along Louis' knuckles and nodded.
"I know, I know." Harry told him, lifting his hand up to his mouth and pressing a kiss to his knuckles. "I'm here. I'm not going anywhere."
A male doctor entered the room and said, "Hi, Mr. Tomlinson. Is this the father?"
"Y-Yes," Louis hiccuped.
"If I can talk to the father's, please," the doctor said to Niall and Jade.
"Of course," Jade nodded, kissing Louis on the cheek before exiting with Niall.
The doctor sat down and said, "I'm Doctor Reedus, by the way. Now to your test results, Mr. Tomlinson. Both fetuses are perfect. There's no sign of distress whatsoever." Louis cried out in relief, Harry leaned down kissed his...kissed Louis on the forehead. That was the best news ever. The babies were perfect. Thank God.
"What caused the pain?" Harry asked.
"He has an urinary tract infection, very common in pregnancies and also extremely painful," Doctor Reedus said. "It hasn't progressed much so we can send you home with some antibiotics and pain medicine that are perfectly okay to take while pregnant."
"Thank you, Doctor," Louis said, sitting up slightly.
"No problem. You should take a few days off, probably until Wednesday, from work. Keep hydrated, you'll be urinating a lot. I'll send in a nurse with your doctor note for work, discharge papers and prescriptions."
Once the doctor was gone, Harry said, "I'm so glad you and the peas are alright."
"Me too," Louis agreed, closing his eyes again.
"Can we talk about what happened?" asked Harry in a gentle tone.
"Not the time or the place. I'm still having a lot of pain."
"Okay. I love you," Harry said, pressing another kiss to Louis' forehead.
A nurse came in and gave Louis his discharge papers and two bottles of medicine. Niall and Jade were waiting patiently in the waiting room. They were relieved that the babies were okay. Jade then asked, "Are you coming back with us or Harry?"
Louis was wrapped up in Harry's coat and he yawned, "I'll go back with Harry. He and I have some stuff to talk about in the morning."
Jade nodded and pulled Louis into a hug, then Niall hugged Louis as well. They didn't hug Harry, which was understandable. They were closer to Louis. They said their goodbyes and Harry led Louis to the car. He opened the door for him and then got into the drivers seat.
"Where's Olivia?" asked Louis, buckling his belt.
"I dropped her off at Mum's. I'll get her in the morning."
"Oh," Louis murmured. "I'm sorry for dragging you out of bed for a stupid UTI."
"What? I will always be there for you." Harry promised him
"I-I wasn't sure you'd come... I said things that were awful," Louis sounded remorseful.
"You did, but that doesn't mean I stopped loving you."
"I'll sleep in the spare bedroom, you slept there last night."
"No, take the master. Please."
"Whatever you want," Louis sighed. He started to groan in pain. Harry wished he could take away the pain.
"How often do you take a pain pill?" Harry asked, turning onto the main road to get to their home.
"Every four to six hours," Louis said, shaking a pill out. There was an old water bottle and Louis took it with that.
They got home and Harry helped Louis in. He settled him into the bed. Harry kissed Louis on the forehead, feeling like that was the only acceptable place to do so. Louis closed his eyes and said, "Don't do that. It makes me feel like nothing happened and that we didn't break up."
"We don't have to break up," Harry told him.
"I know that, but... We need to talk about what happened before we can talk about getting back together."
"I quit my job."
"What?" Louis asked. "When? Why?"
"I did it last night, before I called you. I did it because if that job was going to cause us to end our relationship, I wouldn't allow it to happen. I tried to get more time off in-between projects, but they wouldn't allow it."
"What are you going to do then?" Louis asked.
"I don't know... I've always been a songwriter. Maybe I can find another label to work with that won't take me away so much. But money is going to be tight until I find something," Harry told him, his hand coming up and brushing his hair off of Louis' forehead.
"You'll find something. You're talented, Harry."
"Thank you." Harry said with a smile. He saw how heavy Louis' eyes were, so it was his cue to leave. "Sleep tight, I love you."
"Stay, Harry. Please," Louis pleaded, his hand reaching out and grasping his shirt.
Harry didn't have to be told twice. He climbed into the bed, maintaining the distance between them. How does one sleep in the same bed as the person who dumped them that morning? Harry laid there quietly, listening to Louis.
He heard Louis start to snore, then flip over and curl into Harry. Harry stiffened, but allowed it. He couldn't just push off the love of his life and the man who was carrying his babies. He just closed his eyes and hoped that in the morning, they would resolve this mess.
In the morning, Harry woke up first. As usual. He prepped Louis' ginger tea and all his medicine and prenatal vitamins. He brought them in and woke up Louis, softly, "Love, wake up. Let's get the first dose of antibiotics in you, okay?"
Louis groaned, but sat up, "Thank you."
"No problem. I'll make you something to eat so you don't take that medicine on an empty stomach."
Harry busied himself at the cabinet, trying to think of what to make. He suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder and looked over to see Louis. He started to ask why he was up when he pressed his lips on Harry's. Harry was taken back, but he didn't reject the kiss. He softly kissed him back, trying to keep things soft.
Louis broke the kiss and said, "I wanted to kiss you before we spoke."
"I have no issue with that, ever."
"Now," Louis said, sitting down at the table with his tea. "You have to understand my frustration. I take care of Olivia all week long while you're in London. I feel overwhelmed as is and when you brought up the swimming lessons and then you didn't want to stop working to watch a movie with her... It set me over the edge.
"I know you work hard for all of this, which I'm thankful and appreciative for. I know I complain, but it's because I want you involved. I would never ask you to quit your job. In the four years we've been together, I never wanted that. I just wanted time. With you, me, and Olivia together. I don't want to Olivia to grow up with one father taking care of her and her other father always working. I grew up like that and it was hard on my mum to take care of five children and work at the same time.
"How everything escalated yesterday and the night before was all pent up frustration I had about you being in London all the time. I wanted to be okay with you being there because you give us such a great life... But I miss you and Olivia misses you. It makes me feel...like I have to everything."
Harry felt horrible. All of Louis' feelings that he had harbored away. He reached out, touching him on the hand. He thought everything was under control, but he was wrong. So wrong. He whispered, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry for not helping you out. I'm sorry."
"I'm not trying to make you feel bad, Harry. I'm telling you the truth."
"I know," Harry said, smiling solemnly. "I could be better. I want to work on that. Please let me work on that, please. Don't let this end of this fight."
"I didn't want to end it to begin with. I felt...like it was my way of showing you how serious I was about how I was feeling. It seemed like you weren't picking up on what I was saying. It was childish, now that I'm thinking about it."
"So, are we back together?" Harry asked, gently. "The past twenty-four hours have been hell for me."
"Same here," Louis agreed. He leaned in, closing the gap between them. Harry got the kiss this time, making Louis giggle a little bit. Louis said, "I guess this stupid UTI ended being a good thing, forcing us to see each other."
"Oh, I was going to be at Niall and Jade's bright and early, but the UTI helped me out. I wasn't going to let you slip through my fingers."
"Good," Louis said, laughing.
"But I'm serious, we're going to make this work. I'll be home for who knows how long, but I think it will be a good thing for us. Right?"
"Yes," Louis agreed. "And it'll start with you taking to Olivia to those swimming lessons."
"Deal," Harry said, kissing Louis again.
"I'm glad when we fight it resolves rather quickly," Louis commented, pulling back to sit fully on the chair and drink his tea.
"Well, that's because we can't stand being mad at each other. I love you."
"I love you too. Go pick up Olivia. I need to call Liam and my mum and tell them about the UTI. You know how Nurse Jay is," Louis said, standing up.
"I know," Harry said, standing up. He started to exit the kitchen but then stopped, "Lou, wait, does your mum even know you're pregnant yet?"
"Oh shit." Louis said. "No, she doesn't. Well, I'll tell her over the phone then."
"Alright," Harry said, "I'm going to change and pick up Miss Olivia."
When Harry left, Louis was chatting on the phone with his mum while relaxing on the couch. That's how Harry liked it. He drove to Anne's, remembering that he forgot to keep her updated about Louis' condition. Oh well, Harry thought, too late now. Harry knocked on the door and he heard Olivia shout as loud as she could, "NAN! DADDY IS HERE!"
The door opened and Olivia bombarded him, throwing her little body at her father. Harry kissed her on the head and said, "Hi, babydoll. Have you been a good girl this morning?"
"Yes," Olivia answered. "Missed you. I woke up here but I sleep at home."
"I know," Harry laughed. "Papa got sick and I had to meet him at the doctor."
Harry looked at his mother as she asked, "How's Louis? What was wrong?"
"He's at home, it was an UTI. Apparently common in early pregnancy. He's taking until Wednesday off. Doctor's orders," Harry explained.
"I had one when I was pregnant with you, Harry," Anne grimaced. "Poor lad. I'll come by tomorrow when you're at work to take care of him."
"Actually," Harry said, "I'll be home for an unknown amount of time."
"Why?" Anne asked.
"Olivia, go get your things, love. We're going to see Papa," Harry said to his daughter, as he placed her on the ground and not wanting her to know that her father was now unemployed. After Olivia was gone, he told his mum, "I quit."
"Why?"
"The job was killing me, and my relationship."
"Did Louis give you an ultimatum or something?" Anne asked, raising an eyebrow at her son.
"Of course not. He wanted me to have more time off in between jobs, but when I asked, they declined me. So I quit. It's better off than being stuck in London five days a week."
"Well, what are you going to do now? You just bought a huge house and you have two new babies on the way, not to mention a three-year old to take care of."
"I know that, Mum," Harry said, "It'll be tight for awhile until I get another job. I have a lot in savings that I'll crack into if we absolutely need to. But, it'll be better for all of us in the long run, you know?"
"You're a grown man, you know what's best for you and your family. Do what you want, love. I'll support you no matter what."
"Thank you, Mum. You're still welcome to come by tomorrow, if you'd like."
"Are you and Louis back together?"
"Yeah, we talked everything through. It's all better now."
"Okay," Anne said with a smile. Olivia came back with her big bag and hugged and thanked Anne before they left. When they got home, Olivia launched herself at Louis, like she did with Harry.
Louis held her tightly, kissing her on the head. "Missed you, my little nugget."
"Missed you more, Papa."
Harry's eyes filled with tears. He loved this sight and he would do whatever, even if that meant that giving up everything, to keep this picture together.
"I love you."
A/N: here you guys go! Did you think I'd actually keep Harry and Louis apart for long?
What do you think of this chapter? What do you think is next for Harry, Louis, Olivia, and the twins? Please feel free to leave a comment! I love reading through them all. And I hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it!
See you all in the next one! :)
- SRWS xx