"The doctor said you should rest, lovely."
Louis rolls his eyes and sighs, crossing his arms. He thought he'd have less limitations after coming back home, but it feels as though Harry's giving him more.
"I'll be f-fine," Louis assures. Harry shakes his head, Emma crawling over to Louis on the bed as Louis looks over to her and smiles.
"I'll have to give you a bath after I do some laundry, alright?" He kisses the top of Louis' head and Louis nods solemnly. "I love you."
"I love you too," Louis mumbles, and Harry walks out of the room. Louis leans forward and picks Emma up, sitting her in his lap. "Hi, love."
"Da," Emma slaps her hands down on Louis' thigh, smiling wide as Louis kisses the top of her head.
As he starts to play peek-a-boo with Emma he gets a pain in his abdomen, hissing and quickly putting his hand right above his hip. Emma looks at him with wide eyes, noticing his sudden shift in mood. Louis brushes the hair out of her face calmly, and Emma must take that as him being fine, so she goes back to giggling while Louis plays peek-a-boo with her.
Harry finishes two loads of laundry before walking back to the bedroom, smiling at Louis and Emma.
"You feel alright, Lou?" Harry asks softly, bending down in front of the dresser to put away some clothes. Louis nods solemnly, not wanting to worry Harry. "Good. Let me put Emma down for her nap, okay?"
"Okay," Louis sighs softly, kissing the top of Emma's head before Harry lifts her up and carries her out of the room. The pain comes back stronger now. Louis grunts, gripping the duvet as he grits his teeth. He knows why it hurts, but he doesn't say anything when Harry walks back into the room.
"Are you sure you're okay?" Harry asks worriedly, walking over to the bed and sitting next to Louis. Louis sighs and nods.
"'M f-fine," He assures. He doesn't want to stress Harry out–he doesn't need that right now. "Just the normal pains, H, 's o-kay."
Harry doesn't say anything. He just leans into Louis, his face buried in Louis' broad shoulder as he bites his lip. "Please tell me if it hurts, please," He practically whimpers. "It's for the best, love, please."
"It hurts," Louis mumbles. "My abs. They hurt."
"How badly?" Harry asks hesitantly. Louis kisses the top of Harry's head, hoping Harry won't ask again. "How badly, Lou?"
"Enough," Louis decides.
Harry stands up off the bed and takes his phone out of the pocket of his joggers. "I'm calling Lottie to watch Em," He explains as Louis frowns and looks down at his lap. "I'm going to take you to the emergency room, and then call your doctor."
♛
"We couldn't connect your abdominal pain to anything specific," The doctor says as Harry squeezes Louis' hand, their fingers entwined on top of Harry's baby bump. "It could just be a side effect."
"Of what?" Harry asks softly, voice concerned as he looks from Louis to the doctor.
"Mr. Tomlinson," The doctor sighs, speaking to Harry. "Louis' physician tells me that he's been warning you of this for a long time."
"Wha-No," Harry shakes his head. "Louis' fine, he's fine, he just has a tummy bug or something."
"Haz," Louis mutters wearily, giving Harry a pleading look. Harry sighs, fingers trembling as the doctor gives the boys a sympathetic look.
"He'll be okay for the baby," The doctor blurts out. Harry's head whips toward her. "He's going to be okay then, I mean, he'll be stable. He won't miss the birth." Harry looks down at his belly. "I-I know how important it is."
"Thank you," Harry mutters, barely a whisper.
The doctor steps out of the room with a frown, and Harry bursts into tears right after. "Haz, love, c-come lay with me," Louis pleads, pulling Harry's arm a bit. Harry sniffles and stands up, laying down next to Louis in the tiny hospital bed. His baby bump is pressed into Louis' side, and his nose is nuzzled into Louis' collarbone as he sniffles. "It's going to be okay."
"Lou," Harry weeps, the baby kicking at all of the commotion. "Louis, stay."
"I'm not leaving," Louis says sternly, wrapping his arm around Harry's waist and squeezing it. "Not now, and not ever. My th-three babies need me here, yeah?"
"I love you," Harry's drooling all over Louis, but his husband doesn't seem to care.
"I love you too, Hazza," Louis kisses the top of Harry's head, rubbing his back and closing his eyes. He absolutely refuses to cry in front of Harry, especially when he's so upset himself.
♛
"We knew this might happen, Harry," Jay's voice wobbles as she hands Harry a cup of tea, her hand on her cheek. Harry can't even think about eating or drinking anything right now.
"Not so soon," Harry sniffles. "He needs to watch Emma grow up, and what about this one? She can't grow up without her dad either."
"I'm so sorry, babes," Jay sighs, wiping her eyes. "I would never be able to handle this as well as you are, love."
Harry doesn't feel like he's doing very well at all.