Zayn sighs, taking a deep breath before knocking on the door of his own house. His mind is in shambles, he planned to tell Louis about the divorce today, but with the surprise information about Harry's pregnancy, he can't handle the both of them at once. He's just going to get his things and avoid having a conversation with Louis.
Nobody answers, he frowns, wondering where Louis could have gone to. The man is almost eight months pregnant and the doctor really advised bed rest for him, especially since the incident a few weeks ago.
He decides to use his key, but surprisingly, the door is wide open. Louis probably forgot to lock it. He goes to his office first, no sign of Louis anywhere in the house. He gets some really important documents, he'd come for the rest later. Then he goes to the bedroom to get some of his clothes.
He realizes someone's in the bathroom, he hears water splashing about. It's probably Louis, so he's going to be as quiet as possible. He hears a moan from the bathroom, and he blushes.
Was Louis masturbating?
The sound gets louder, it almost sounds pained and that's now how Louis moans when he's being pleasured.
"Louis?" He calls out. "It's Zayn. Are you okay?"
He hears a whimper. "Yeah, it's just Braxton kicks."
"Can I come in?" He questions.
"Yes," he says, followed by another loud painful moan.
He enters the bathroom, Louis is naked in the bathtub filled with water. His skin looks clammy.
"What can I do to help?"
"Nothing, the doctor says it's normal, you can just- AHHH!" He screams at the last statement.
"Louis I don't think this is Braxton kicks..." he realizes. "I think you're going into labor."
"No way," he shakes his head. "I can't have this baby now. I'm not even eight months pregnant yet, he can't come out now, I'm not ready."
"I-I don't know but we need to get to the hospital," Zayn says. He offers his functional hand for Louis to hold while he comes out. Louis grabs it, almost pulling Zayn into the tub with him because Zayn isn't balanced. He's trying to lift a pregnant man with just one arm, it's a bit harder than he thought.
He manages to stand up, immediately leaning unto Zayn to prevent him from falling. Zayn leads him to the bedroom. Louis is whimpering at every contraction he feels.
Zayn grabs two of Louis maternity clothes and throws it to him. "Wear this."
Louis nods, putting on the slacks first and the shirt next. Another wave hits him and he falls back on the bed, gripping the bedsheets tightly.
"We have to hurry," Zayn says. "C'mon, lets go."
"We aren't ready, we don't even have the clothes he would wear after he comes out," Louis realizes.
"We can worry about that later, I don't know shit about delivering a baby so unless you don't want your child to be born in this bedroom, we have to hurry,"
"Our child," he corrects Zayn. The man doesn't reply, just helping Louis up as they go to Zayn's car.
Zayn drives as fast as possible to the hospital, nearly breaking all the traffic rules. He arrives there in fifteen minutes, no help to Louis who was groaning at the backseat. He helps Louis out of the car, immediately he's put in a stretcher to the hospital.
"He's going into labor," he tells them. "But he's just seven months pregnant."
They take Louis away into another room and tell him to wait outside. He's confused, he thought the father was supposed to be there while he's giving birth but they won't let him in, no matter how much he tells them he's Louis' husband.
He walks around the waiting room, scared. Something is wrong, he can feel it. The baby has come to early and he's scared Louis wouldn't even make it.
"It's my fault," he concludes. "I-I pushed Louis into an early labor by hurting him. Now he might lose the baby and die."
He feels himself getting emotional. He has to be strong. They don't tell him anything for almost two hours till the doctor comes.
Zayn approaches him immediately. "Is he okay?"
"Yes, you can come see him," the man replies.
"What about the baby?"
The mans quiet for a bit. "His lungs are very weak, which is to be expected since he's premature. He's been placed at the ICU for now and we're not sure when he'll be able to breathe on his own."
Zayn processes the information and nods.
The man leads him to a ward and he sees Louis on the bed. He's never seen Louis look so weak before.
"Louis," he whispers, holding his hand.
"Zayn," he says softly. "Where's our baby?"
"He's fine, perfectly fine. He's strong and beautiful like you," he says, even though he hasn't seen the boy, he doesn't want his husband to worry.
"You saw him?" Louis questions. "Why won't they let me see him?"
"You should rest, you'll see him later," Zayn says. "You did a good job, I'm proud of you Lou."
Louis smiles, closing his eyes and drifting off to sleep.
"Can I see my son?" He asks the doctor. The man nods, sending for a nurse to lead him to his son.
He arrives at the ICU, a lot of babies are there. The nurse shows him his son. He smiles, the baby is a bit bigger than he expected for being premature, but he's generally still small. there's an oxygen mask placed over his face. He places his finger on the boys hand.
"Hey baby," he whispers. "I'm your daddy."
The baby grabs the finger, his whole hand can't even wrap around it. The boy is beautiful, he wasn't lying to Louis after all. He has pale blonde hair that has the promise of getting dark later on. He can't see the baby's eyes yet but he's sure he would have Louis blue eyes. Already, the child looks so much like Louis.
He spends more than an hour admiring his son till a nurse sends for him, telling him that Louis is awake. He follows the nurse to their ward.
"Zayn!" Louis enthusiastic voice says. He looks better than he did earlier. "I want to see him now."
"Are you sure you can walk?" Zayn questions.
"I-I don't think so," he replies, scrunching up his face.
"He should use the wheelchair," the nurse adds.
Zayn helps him get on the wheelchair and moves him to the ICU where their baby is. He shows Louis the boy.
Louis sheds tears of joy. "Hi Freddie."
"Freddie?"
"That's what I'm naming him," he whispers. "He's so beautiful."
"I like it," Zayn replies. "And yeah, he is. He looks so much like you."
"How long is he going to stay here?" Louis asks.
"Doc says till he learns how to breathe on his own, his lungs are weak but he's a strong baby," Zayn explains.
Louis hums. "are you planning on staying?"
"I-I will be here for him," he says.
"When should we take the DNA test?"
"We don't need that," Zayn says. "He's my son no matter what."
Louis smiles. "I'm glad."
Zayn smiles and he realizes in this moment, he loves Louis. He's not in love with the man anymore, but he still finds himself loving him like how he would love an old friend. They've both hurt each other so much, but it's amazing how they're both calm because of their son. This is something they should have figured out earlier, Zayn didn't want to let Louis go because of that love that was still there, but it's different from the love he has with Harry.
"Zayn?" Louis questions. "Are you supposed to be bleeding from your cast?"
Zayn has been so focused on getting Louis to the hospital, he didn't realize he's strained his wound. He didn't even notice the pain, but now that Louis pointed it out, he feels everything.
"I should get that checked," he says.
"Yeah, get it checked now since we're already at a hospital," Louis says.
"Later, let's just enjoy this moment," Zayn replies.
"This moment isn't going anywhere, go get your arm checked before it gets worse," Louis advises. "You just got this cast in less than thirty six hours, you weren't supposed to put any strain on it."
"Well I'm sorry for forgetting about my broken arm and helping you to the hospital instead, how insensitive of me," He rolls his eyes.
"Are you sure that's the only way you could have strained it?" Louis raises up his brows.
"We aren't even together and here you are suspecting me of shit again," Zayn shakes his head.
Louis chuckles. "Can we go ten minutes without fighting?"
"Nah, it's what makes us so awesome," Zayn replies. "We're going to be amazing parents."
"We are," Louis agrees. "Now can you please meet a doctor about your arm? The sight of your blood is making me nauseous."
"Sorry for bleeding and annoying you," Zayn says, giving Louis an annoyed smile. "Can you stay here by yourself or should I move you to your hospital room?"
"I'm good here with Freddie," he smiles.
Zayn nods, leaving the ICU. He should call Harry, he hasn't spoken to him since earlier today. On the way to the receptionist to find a doctor, he calls Harry.
"Hello?" The boys voice comes out groggy from the other line. Zayn realizes he was sleeping, and also realizes that it's almost 1am. He didn't realize time flew so past.
"Hey babe," he starts.
"Zayn?" He questions. "Where are you?"
"Well... that's the thing, Louis just had the baby," he says, figuring there was no need for him to lie. "I'm at the hospital right now."
"What? Already?" Harry sounds surprised.
"Yeah, he's a bit small though because he's early," He replies. "It's a boy by the way, I knew it would be a boy before but just in case I didn't tell you."
"Well, congratulations," Harry replies flatly. "When are you coming back? We still haven't talked about what we planned to earlier."
"I know, I know. I might stay at the hospital a couple of days more because of the baby, he can't breathe on his own yet. But you can feel free to visit me," he adds.
"Yeah, that's not happening," Harry replies. "Can we talk tomorrow? I'm sleepy."
"Yeah sure," Zayn says. "I love you."
"Mhmm," harry hums. "Goodnight Zayn."
...
Thoughts?
Noticed how Harry is acting?