School turns out to work wonders for Harry's confidence. After just a week of going he's like another kid entirely, talking Louis' head off when the man is trying to make dinner.
"And - and Miss Wilson said I'm really, really extra good at writin' my name, look," he rambles, and Louis turns to face the boy as he demonstrates writing his name in the air with a finger.
It makes the man want to laugh but he does his best to keep a straight face and nods encouragingly. "That's amazing, sweetheart," he says, and Harry beams practically from ear to ear before he sucks in a deep breath to start talking again. The man quickly interrupts. "Hey, do you wanna go grab your brothers and tell them dinner's nearly ready?" He asks, and the kid doesn't seem to register the man's tactic because he just nods quickly.
"Okay Daddy! Watch me go fast!" He says, before he runs out of the room and then peers back around the kitchen doorframe again. "Did you see?" He asks.
Louis lets his laugh ride out this time, nodding. "Sure did. Very fast," he comments, and the boy grins with his cheeks all rosy before he speeds away for real this time.
He smiles to himself as he continues to sort dinner, jumping a little when he feels two strong arms wrap around his waist. His husband presses a kiss to his neck from behind and he nuzzles into him.
"What're you doing?" He asks when the man continues to press tickling kisses along his shoulders.
He can hear the smile in Zayn's voice when he answers with "kissing the cook," as if it's obvious.
Louis laughs, turning around in the man's arms and lifting his own to loop around his neck, jutting his chin up so that Zayn presses a kiss to his lips. "Missed you," he says against his husband's lips, because they've barely seen each other all week in between work and taking care of the boys.
Zayn smiles back before kissing him again. "Hmm. This may be the first time we've been alone all week," he says into the kiss and Louis melts into it until he hears a small voice from the doorway.
"Ew! Yuck!"
The two of them pull apart with a shared laugh, turning to face the three boys in the doorway - Harry with his nose all wrinkled up in disgust, Liam shaking his head with his hands covering Niall's eyes from behind.
As soon as the three year old manages to squirm away from the hands blocking his vision to see Louis with his arms still around Zayn, he runs forwards and throws his little arms around his Papa's legs while trying to push Louis away.
"My Papa! Mine!" He yells out in the cutest manner possible, and it makes the men laugh, because the toddler has been going to work with Zayn every day and is particularly clingy to him recently.
He doesn't take it to heart. He was always clingy to his mother when he was younger, he knows it doesn't mean he loved her any less than his father.
Zayn leans down to pick the boy up, sitting him on his hip so the boy can cling onto his neck, pouting.
"My Papa," he whispers again, and Zayn just laughs, pressing a kiss to his head before he begins ushering the children to the table, sitting Niall in the chair beside Harry that he always likes to use, laying the table and teasing the kids as he goes along.
Louis watches with a fondness for the man he loves and their kids as he begins to dish up the food, setting the plates down in front of each of them one by one.
"Thank you Daddy," Harry says with a wide smile, and Niall watches him before he smiles too and nods.
"T'ank you!" He chimes.
The only person who doesn't thank him is Liam, and that's only because the oldest of the children seems to be in a world of his own with his cheek rested on his hand, staring into space.
He waits until they're all eating and Harry and Niall are constantly trying to out talk one another to Zayn before he reaches across to brush his fingers against Liam's hand gently.
He knows that the boy doesn't like to have all the eyes in the room on him, so he does his best to be subtle and thankfully the others are all too busy talking to pay any attention.
"You okay Bear?" He asks when the kid looks up at him with those big brown eyes, chewing on his bottom lip.
Liam gives a small nod before going back to prodding at his food. He frowns a little, and decides to push because sometimes, Liam finds it hard to find the words to describe how he feels and he's had a fair few years of practise to know how to help him.
"You sure about that? Nothing happened at school today?" He pushes, and Liam just shakes his head.
"No, Dad. It's fine," he says, using Dad instead of the usual Daddy in a way that makes Louis decide to leave it for now before he makes it worse.
"Alright bud. I'm here if you want to talk, okay?" He tells him, and he doesn't receive an answer but the kid starts eating properly so he takes that as a small victory.
Niall stands up on his chair then with his fork still in his hand, trying to show everyone his dance moves, and as funny as it is, he winds up having to step up and scold the boy.
"Niall, baby, we don't mess around with sharp things in our hands. Especially not on tall chairs," he says in a light tone.
Niall just pouts and stomps his foot, almost losing his balance on the seat. "But Daddy -"
Louis gives him a sterner look. "No buts. Sit down and eat your dinner," he says, and the boy sits down as told, looking ready to cry.
Even Harry has gone quiet, as if he's waiting for something worse to happen. He smiles to reassure them both.
"You're not in trouble, okay? I just don't want you falling and getting hurt," he explains gently.
Niall just pauses for a moment before he starts wiggling in his seat. "S'okay. I just dance like this 'stead," he says, and Louis and Zayn lock eyes, bursting into laughter.
The situation with Liam goes forgotten about temporarily.
Later on that evening, the sun disappears behind plumes of thick grey clouds, bathing everything in a weird shade of charcoal-gold.
Louis watches with a smile as Liam sits up on the windowsill in the living room and helps Harry up to sit beside him, pointing out at the sky and talking to him about storms.
"It's 'cause there's all static in the sky, and that makes the lightning and the thunder. And then it'll be extra nice tomorrow, 'cause there won't be any rain left," he explains, and Harry watches with interest, latching onto the older boy's every word.
Then the tranquility of the scene ends with Niall running into the room, screeching and giggling with Zayn chasing after him.
"No! No, Papa!" He squeals before running behind Louis. "Help me, Daddy!"
The man just laughs, watching as Zayn scoops the smallest of their boys up, blowing raspberries on his stomach whilst the boy screams in playful delight.
He catches sight of Liam still sitting on the windowsill behind with a small frown on his face, but before he can question him, the first flash of lightning illuminates the room and Niall stops laughing and flinches instead as Zayn sets him back on the ground.
They all fall quiet, listening for the rumble of the thunder that follows straight after before Harry grins. "That means its gonna be extra nice tomorrow!" He says, repeating what Liam had just told him, and Liam looks back to the window to watch for the next hit of lightning.
It's clear that Niall isn't a fan of the storm as much as the other two are, and so Zayn opts to take him upstairs for a bath to distract him from the sound, whilst Louis stays downstairs with Harry and and Liam.
They watch the TV for a while, Harry curled up on the man's lap as he drifts to sleep and Liam sitting beside him, gnawing on his bottom lip whilst his eyes stare through the TV.
As soon as Harry is completely asleep, he reaches out to nudge Liam, the boy snapping his head around to look at him the second he is pulled from his thoughts.
"Wanna tell me what's bothering you now?" He asks quietly, so as not to disturb the sleeping boy on his lap.
Liam eyes Harry then looks up at his Dad with his eyes a little teary. "D'you love Harry and Niall more than me?" He asks quietly after a moments pause.
Louis practically flinches at the words, because it had been something he and Zayn had talked about - their shared worry that Liam might grow jealous of having to share his parents for the first time. And he gets it, it's tough to go from being an only child one second to being one of three the next.
"Of course not, Bear!" He says quickly, then glances down at the sleeping Harry in his arms and lowers his volume a little, looking back up at his son. "Never, okay? We love you all just the same. You'll always be my baby, you know that," he says softly, and Liam swallows, giving a tiny nod.
He holds his free arm out, smiling when the boy tucks himself into his side, burying his head into his chest. He smiles down at him, pressing a kiss to the crown of his brown hair.
"You do like having Harry and Niall here still, don't you?" He asks quietly, because the last thing he wants is for this whole process to be harmful to the kid. Still, he also knows that there's no way in hell he'd ever give up on Harry and Niall, just as he never would with Liam.
Thankfully, Liam gives a small nod. "Uh-huh. Jus' miss you," he mumbles, which Louis knows translates to 'I miss having you to myself'.
He sighs and pulls the kid in a little closer. "Hey, you're not losing me. I'm still just as much your Dad as I've always been," he says lightly. "Plus, we'll still go out for food every time I have to take you to your appointments with Gabbie," he adds, because it's something they've done since his appointments with the child psychologists started. Every two weeks they go to talk about his anxiety (or at least, he waits in the parent room whilst Liam goes in with the lady) and afterwards, the two of them go out for pizza or ice cream or sometimes just to the park. It's their thing, and he's determined to keep that going for as long as possible until Liam grows up.
The kid smiles a little at that, nodding. "Hm. 'Kay, Daddy," he murmurs, already drifting off.
And it's weird, how such a hectic week can come to such a tranquil close. The storm outside has morphed into heavy rain that audibly hits the roof and windows; the sky outside is a dark shade of grey which makes the inside of the living room dim and cosy with the only lights coming from the TV and the lamp beside the couch. And he has two of his boys peacefully sleeping beside him.
He wouldn't have it any other way.