"I know it's just a day trip, but I don't like the fact that he's been having day time accidents." Louis pouted as he finished putting a couple of things in a small backpack for Harry to take. "I just think a pull-up will be better."
"We don't want to him to be embarrassed in front of his school mates. We'll just tell the teacher to keep an eye on him."
"Yeah, you're right." Louis sighed, "I'll go get him up. Will you make sure the Liam and Niall are up?" Once the man received a nod from his husband, he proceeded down the hallway into Harry's bedroom, finding him sat on the middle of the bed with a destressed look on his face.
"Hey," Louis sighed, he never knows when the boy wakes up as he's always just sat on the bed when either of the husbands walk into the room. "You ready for a fun day at the Zoo?" Louis beamed as he helped the boy off the bed and get him ready for the day.
Harry sniffled in response, gently shaking his head because he didn't want to go. Going to school was bad enough, going on a field trip with them was something the boy did not look forward to. "No?" Louis frowned. "But it will be so much fun! I heard a rumour that you'll get to feed the monkeys, your favourite." Harry still shook his head because he didn't want to go. Louis sneakily put a pull-up on the boy, quickly pulling his trousers up. "Come on, let's get some breakfast." Louis smiled and took Harry's small hand in his own as they walked down the stairs together, finding Zayn buttering a few pieces of toasts and putting them on plates with small portions of scrambled eggs.
"Where are the boys?" Louis asks as he pulls a chair out for Harry to sit on and grabs a glass of water for the boy. "Li's got a fever, just a little bit and he feels fine, but he has a little bit of cough. I want to keep him home just in case. Niall forgot to pack his football kit yesterday and he's got practice today. He'll be down in a second." Zayn smiled and pecked Louis' lips before serving the plates.
"Good morning, Harry." Zayn smiled as he placed the eggs and toast in front of him but the boy just frowned, still feeling nervous about the day ahead. "You feeling okay?" Zayn placed a hand on his forehead but it felt completely fine.
"He's feeling a bit nervous I think." Louis smiled, "but he'll have so much fun today. There's nothing more fun than going to the Zoo!"
They scarfed down their breakfast, a sleepy looking Liam walking into the kitchen about half way through demanding some cuddles and breakfast which Louis happily provided. Liam always got a little bit clingy when he was feeling a little bit under the weather and Louis enjoyed that.
"Okay, hurry to the car please, we don't want to be late." Zayn instructed. "I'm taking your car Lou; it has Harry's seat in it and frankly I'm too lazy to move to the other one. Here are my keys if you need to go somewhere." Zayn gives his husband a kiss before lightly pecking Liam's warm forehead.
"Tell Harry that if he feels the need to, he can tell his teacher to call me. He isn't too excited about going but I want him to go. If he doesn't like it once he's there, I'll be happy to go get him." Louis fussed, making Zayn laugh. "Not funny babe, I want him to feel happy and safe."
"I'm sure loads of kid's dread going, but fine, I'll talk to him." Zayn assured which made Louis feel a little bit better.
They drop Niall off first and the boy wasted no time saying bye to his father before rushing out of the car to meet his friends. Harry did kind of envy Niall, and Liam too. They had loads of friends and always came home with fun stories to tell but that was never the case for Harry.
"Okay, hat, mittens, coat. You warm enough?" Zayn fussed as he stood by Harry and his class. The boy simply nodded, his bobble hat bopping up and down. "Louis put a sweater in your bag in case it gets too cold, and there are snacks and juice in there as well." The man crouched down to Harry height, helping him adjust the bag on his back before turning the boy to face him. "If you need to, I've told your teacher that Louis will pick you up, okay? Just tell him if you feel uncomfortable or don't feel good." The men weren't ones for special treatments, but Harry just seemed like he needed it. If it were Liam, they'd say he'd have great time and he would have so many stories when he got back home, but Harry, he was just different.
Zayn led the boy towards his teacher where he was counting the children and marking their names once he spotted them. Harry clung tightly onto the man's hand, not wanting him to leave but soon he felt the bigger hand slip away from his grip. "You'll have so much fun." Zayn smiled and gave the boy a hug before leaving him with the teacher.
"Alright, everyone on the bus please. Sit by your buddy and don't lose sight of them. Two and two together." Tim sighed as he watched the children run inside the bus, battling for the seats in the back. He felt a small tug on his trousers once he was about to step onto the bus, finding Harry stood behind him with a frown on his face.
"Haven't you found a buddy?" The small boy shook his head sheepishly, "Well, looks like we'll be buddies today huh?" He sent the boy a small before helping him to the bus. A twenty-minute bus trip isn't really that long, but when you have about fifteen kids with you who practically shout each word as they talk, it gets tiring. The kids pile of the bus and to Mr. Rogers relief they instantly for a line, two and two together and wait for instructions from the teacher.
"Okay kids. We're waiting for a staff member who is going to walk with us through the park. I want you to keep close attention because today's homework will be writing two paragraphs about your favourite animal you see today. Please don't go wandering off and hold your buddies hand." The man explains just as a young woman walks towards their group. Tim grabs Harry's small hand and the boy hears a few snickers come from his classmates but he chooses to ignore it. He'd much rather have his teacher as a buddy than any one of the kids.
To his own surprise, Harry is quite enjoying the trip. He's just in his own little world, blocking out anything the others had to say to him, he's simply having too much fun. Mr. Rogers can't help but to laugh when the small boy couldn't stop giggling as he watched the penguins, they were easily favourite animals, behind the monkeys of course. Harry's highlight of the day was when he got to hand a banana to a very small monkey and watch him open it, Harry had never been so engrossed in something in his entire life and it was quite the sight. You could easily pin point what animals the boy didn't like as he would grab the teachers hand so tight he would cut off some circulation.
To Harry nightmare, the teacher was talking to the lady that worked at the zoo and one of the kids managed to distract the boy somehow, walking a little bit away from the group with him and then hurrying back, leaving Harry stood alone in the middle of the crowd. It wasn't very busy as it was the winter, but there were quite a few people. Many other school groups along with tourist so they are quick to fill up the space. Harry wishes he knew which way he came from so to avoid walking in the wrong way he opts to stand still, hoping that his class will walk by or his teacher will be looking for him. He doesn't know how long he stands there but he feels like it's been quite a while.
The teacher and the zookeeper are frantically looking for the small child that has somehow been separated from the group but they are walking in the complete other direction. Ten minutes later and Harry can't help but to burst into tears, jumping when a woman with kids approaches him. "Are you alright, dear?" Harry doesn't answer, he's too busy wailing and rapidly trying to wipe his eyes. He's lost and no one will find him again. He'll have to live in the zoo for the rest of his life and he doesn't want that, even if he would live with the monkeys.
"Who are you here with darling? Let's get you to the information. Don't cry, you're okay." She grabs the wailing boy's hand and pushes her stroller with her free one. She doesn't know what she'd do if one of her children went missing so she had to help.
"Hello, I think this boy might be missing. I found him standing there alone and I'm not quite sure who he's here with." She gestures to the crying boy who his tightly holding her hand, still failing to wipe the rapid flow of tears from his eyes. "Oh! Zip his jacket down, I think he's wearing a school uniform. He must be here on a field trip." The lady at the desk noticed and the woman who helped him was quick to check and see if he was wearing a uniform. "Darling, what school do you go to?" The woman zipped his jacket back up, not wanting the boy to get cold, and helped him wipe the tears off his red cheeks. The problem was that Harry had no idea what his school was called, he should know but he just never bothered to learn the names since he changed frequently.
"Harry. Oh my god! There you are!" Tim, his teacher ran towards him, followed with a group of kids and a zookeeper. He had already dialled Louis' number, about to call the man and inform him he had lost the boy but he was glad he didn't have to. "Hey buddy, I'm sorry I couldn't find you." He crouched down in front of the crying boy, checking to see if he was alright, no scratches or something. He thanked the woman who stood by him who said it was nothing, she was glad the boy was found.
"Wan' Louis." Harry almost whispered but despite the low voice and the sniffles, the teacher heard him. The man had to inform Louis what had happened, which made him easily freak out but he calmed down a little when Tim told him that Harry had been found. Louis said he would be right there as the zoo wasn't that far away from his house and Harry was very thankful when the teacher informed him that Louis was on his way.
"Aw man, he gets to go home and we're stuck here?!" One of kids groans but Mr. Rogers was quick to scold him, already putting the pieces together when he looks over his group and a couple of the kids stood out with guilt written on their face. It was just supposed be a little fun, they didn't know Harry would be this distressed. Honestly, he's nine and he was just acting like a baby. "Yes, he gets to go home. We still have a little bit left to see and then once we get back to school, I will be calling a couple of parents." He gave the kids a stern look, a few of them gulping, knowing they had been caught.
Mr. Rogers phone rings again a couple of minutes later. Harry can hear him give directions and soon Louis shows up with a bundled-up Liam holding his hand. Harry was so relieved and almost instantly started crying again. Louis thanked the teacher who once again apologizes to the man before he heads off with the group.
Louis is quick to pick the crying boy up, Harry wrapping his legs tightly around Louis' waist and his arms around his neck as he took in the comforting scent. "I'm so sorry you got lost, that must've been so scary, huh?" Louis coos, kind of relived that he didn't put the boy in regular underwear this morning, his pull-up was quite heavy. He felt the boy nod against his neck and cuddled the boy closer. He supported Harry with one arm under his bum, with a little bit of struggle, and took Liam's hand in his other before walking back to where his car was messily parked since he was in quite a hurry to get inside the park.
"You think you can sit in the car?" Louis cooed as the boy refused to let go of him. "I need to drive the car so we can get home. I'm not going anywhere. You can hold Liam's hand, will that help?" Harry sniffled and nodded, allowing Louis to put him in the back seat and buckle him before he took Liam's outstretched hand.
"I got lost in the mall once." Liam explained as Louis drove off carefully; Harry didn't have a car seat in this car so he was avoiding him being thrown around. "It was quite scary because I thought I was lost forever! But then papa found me and we got ice-cream." Liam whispered the last part, "You should ask for ice-cream since you got lost."
Louis just smiled as he looked at the two boys through his review mirror. Harry had calmed down a lot, only sniffling occasionally. "It's quite cold outside for ice-cream don't you think?" Louis laughed when he saw the disappointed look on Liam's face. "We'll make hot-chocolate when we get home. How does that sound?"
They had barely made it inside the house, Harry on Louis' hip as the boy was rather distraught at the moment, when Louis' phone started going off.
"Hey Lou, it's Lottie." Louis heard his sisters voice on the other side. "Could you possibly meet me at the hospital, like now please, it's urgent. Please bring Harry."
------