"Dad." Louis felt someone shake his shoulder. "Dad, wake up." Niall tried again, successfully waking his father this time. "Papa sent me in with this." He handed Louis a small bag with a fever reducing medicine inside.
"Where is he? And Liam?"
"Outside in the car. Liam's throwing a fit since you're not coming." Niall explained, making Louis feel quite confused. "We were going to grandma's house, remember? But he thought it would be best if you two stayed home since Harry's sick. We'll bring back dinner for you though!" It was Tricia's birthday earlier that month, and the family were meant to be having dinner tonight as it seemed to be the only night everyone could make it...
The boy rushed outside again, leaving Louis alone in the silent house with a limp little boy on top of him. He had been throwing up nonstop since lunch but Louis had managed to rest his eyes for the lest thirty minutes as the boy was probably empty of things to throw up.
He peeked inside the bag, spotting the medicine he had asked Zayn to pick up and a small pack of sweets with a little note that said, 'I love you' on it. Louis couldn't help but to smile because sometimes Zayn could be pretty cute.
It wasn't long until the boy on his lap started to stir, soon starting to gag, making Louis place the sick bowl in front of him in record time. His suspicions were correct though, the boy was empty of things to throw up, just dry heaving over the bowl, only little amount of clear liquid falling into it.
"I think you've emptied yourself." Louis chuckled, placing the bowl to the side so he could cuddle the boy better. Harry just whined, burying himself in Louis' embrace, his Elmo squished right in between them. "I know, it's not nice, is it?" The man cooed, causing the boy to whine as he shook his head.
"Wish my Mummy was here." The boy whispered sadly, making the older man tighten his hold on the boy, never wanting to let him go. The boy was far too precious to have gone through everything he had, and Louis wanted to make sure he had only the best from now on.
"She's still watching over you, darling. She'll never be too far away." He rocked the boy gently, the TV was turned on low volume as some sesame street song played in the background and it was enough to put the boy right back to sleep.
The other three family members returned a few hours later and Louis hadn't moved an inch, but was thankful when Zayn offered to carry the boy to bed as Louis body felt numb after having the boy lay on top of him all day. The man did it skilfully, the boy didn't even stir in his arm.
"How was dinner with your mum? I'm sorry I wasn't there."
"It was great. She didn't mind Lou, she just asked how Harry was. How was he, by the way?"
"Slept most of the day after we got home, threw up a fair amount of times but it was over soon as he hasn't really eaten anything." Louis got rid of his shirt before cuddling with his warm husband.
"What about the appointment? How did it go?"
"Good. It was the first one so I wasn't really expecting much, but he has another appointment in a couple of weeks."
"So she didn't diagnose anything?"
"No. That's not how it works Zee, but I'm gonna talk to her before the next appointment, state our concerns and such, but all in all I think today's appointment was good for him."
- - -
Luckily it was just a twenty-four hour bug that Harry had caught so it wasn't too bad, just an overly cuddly boy for a day or two. Unfortunately, both Niall and Liam managed to catch it as well but luckily by Monday morning everything was back to the normal routine.
Harry was missing school again, not that he was complaining as literally everything was better the people at school, whether they were teasing him or excluding him. Today they were going to a meeting, as Louis had explained to him. A man might want to talk to him and Louis told him that there was nothing scary about it, just a couple of questions and then he could play while Louis and Zayn went inside with Linda and Daniel.
So, there they were, inside a large, tower building, made mostly from glass and the inside looked very new. When Harry asked where they were, Louis said it was a law firm and even though the boy nodded, he had no clue what that meant, but he had Elmo firm in his grip which set his mind at ease.
"Are you okay going in by yourself? We'll be right here, and you'll still be able to see us through the glass door." Harry thought about it before giving a gentle nod, allowing a woman to escort him inside, looking back a couple of times to make sure Louis was still there.
"Hello Harry." The man smiled, "I'm Alex. Where would you like to sit?" He asked gently so he wouldn't scare the boy. "The sofa is quite comfy, should we sit there?" Alex asked after noticing the boy starting to panic, not being able to choose a seat.
"I want to ask you some questions, if that is okay with you? Would you be willing to answer them?" Harry's response was just a little nod. "Okay. I've read here that you've spent some time with a lot of different families, huh? Is there anyone that made you happier than the other?"
Harry shrugged at first, as he hadn't really been happy in a while. But maybe with Louis and Zayn, he felt more loved than at any other place, not including his mummy of course. So he changed his response to a nod.
"How does it make you feel? When you change families?"
"Sad." The boy mumbled, looking at his feet that were dangling from the sofa as they didn't reach the ground.
"Sad? Yeah, I bet. Now, there's a family that was going to adopt you, do you know what that means?"
"They sign papers and I live with them."
"Yeah, I guess. But you weren't happy with them?"
"M'not happy."
"Oh? You're not happy with the Tomlinson-Malik family?" Alex wondered, "Were you happier with the Milton's?"
"Nuh'uh." Harry shook his head. "Not nice."
"Who's not nice?"
"Linda."
"So you like it with Louis and Zayn?"
"M'huh. They're nice, like my mummy."
"So, Harry. If you had a choice to live with either of these families, who would you want to live with?"
"Wanna live with Louis." Deciding he had everything he needed, it was a no brainer, really, he escorted the boy out where Louis gave him a tight hug.
"Was it okay? Not too scary?" He cooed even though he could feel Linda shooting daggers at him.
"Alright, I'd like to speak to the adults now." Louis handed the boy a bag with some colouring books and different toys to keep him occupied while they were in the meeting.
"I mean, after all the files I've read on this case, and after talking to the boy, I really have no idea what made you guys come here in the first place. It's clear that the boy wants to live with the Tomlinson-Malik family."
"It's the way our case was treated!" Linda shouted. "We were ready to adopt him. We had everything ready and then they just took him away, which they had absolute no right to do! He's ours!"
"Mrs. Milton, it clearly says here in the files I've got that you hadn't finished the adoption progress. It could take weeks or months and it says here that the boy didn't stay with you for very long."
"That's right, he never got to settle and get comfortable because he just got taken away from us!"
"Well, I'm sorry to have wasted your Monday morning, but I can't sign Harry off to you, Mrs. Milton. I can't go against the files and more importantly, the boy's wishes. You can't force him, and I suggest you let the boy be. He's had a rough life, don't make it worse for him." Alex signed a couple of paper before handing a copy to each family which stated that Harry would remain in Zayn's and Louis' custody and the lawsuit against them would be dropped.
"Oh, I'm taking this further. You'll see. Next time we'll see each other is in court!"
"Come on, Linda, it isn't worth it." Daniel sighed, dragging his wife out of the office.
"I'm sorry we wasted your time." Louis apologized as he shook Alex's and who assured him it wasn't a waste of time before the family left office.
Louis was over the moon because he could officially start the adoption process.
- - -
I have no idea how long this book is going to be.... and also, I'd be more than happy if you have any requests for it ?
Another thing, I know I don't really respond to your comments, but I want you to know that I truly appreciate them and I love every single one of you !! xx
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