Chapter Text
Louis stared at herself in the bathroom mirror and felt like screaming or crying or maybe hitting something. Or someone.
"This is what you get. You're gonna be a scandal splashed all over the tabloids. Your face is gonna be put in one of those broken heart shapes next to his on twitter. Teenage girls everywhere are gonna hate your guts," she said to herself as calmly as possible. Which wasn't very calmly as evidenced by the trembling of her fingers.
She itched for a cigarette but . . . She supposed that wasn't something she was allowed to do from now on. She sighed and leaned forward until her forehead bumped into the mirror and her own blue eyes were blurry in her vision. She tried to ignore the dark circles bruised under her eyes but they were pretty noticeable.
Thing is, she'd tried to be responsible. She'd tried to do the "right thing". She'd realised pretty late what was happening to her. Too many shifts at work and honestly just trying not to think about the colossal mistake she'd made about two months ago had meant she hadn't actually noticed that her period didn't come.
She'd finally realised when she tripped over a full box of tampons in her bathroom and straight away she'd had her phone out and called the doctors. She didn't want to mess around with those stupid tests you could buy in Boots. Her friends had told her far too many horror stories of false negatives and false positives.
She'd lied to the doctor and said she'd taken a bunch of tests but they kept coming back with different results and he'd found her an empty slot a couple of days later for a test.
The test had come back positive. She'd sat there in front of him, staring at the opposite wall, as he went on and on about what her options were. And all she could think was "there's a baby inside me". It was the strangest realisation of her life. She'd thought she'd be one of the "smart ones" who got rid of it as soon as possible and moved on with her life but . . . A baby. She had twin baby siblings for fuck sake. She kept hearing the doctor say abortion and picturing Dorris and Ernest.
She couldn't do it.
So here she was, hiding in the bathroom after her 12 week check up appointment and wishing she'd never had so many kiwi cocktails that damn night.
Eventually she pulled herself together and made her way out of the doctors office. She made her way home in a daze and soon enough found herself sat in bed staring at her dark phone screen.
She has his number. He had given it to her the morning after. He'd handed it over with that charming smile and a seemingly genuine "I wanna see you again," and he'd walked out of her tiny flat and back into his insane life.
Part of her hadn't been able to accept that she'd actually just slept with a celebrity, but a few days later she'd rung his number in a moment of weakness and when he answered with a "hey, Lou," she'd jabbed the red phone button and realised what an idiot she'd actually been.
She'd actually been relieved at first because there was only one report on twitter about him leaving with a girl that night and most people had called it out as bullshit. She had thought she'd gotten away with it. She'd ignored his phone calls and texts and pretended that nothing had happened.
Now . . . Now she has no idea how to proceed. Normally she's pretty good at handling all the shit life throws at her, but this is just too much. The nurse had asked her if she wanted to know the sex of the baby. She'd stared at the woman in shocked silence until she'd kindly placed a hand on Louis' and explained that she could find out at a later date when she felt more comfortable.
She had never wanted to have a kid at 25. Especially not with some 23 year old pop star after a drunken one-night-stand. Even if that one-night-stand had been pretty amazing from what she can remember of it.
Memories of a long, toned body above hers, strong hands holding her, clever lips on her body.
Instead of picking up the phone and dialling his number, she caved and rang her mum, she listened to the dial tone and knew this conversation wasn't gonna go well.
"Hello, baby."
"Hey, mum," Louis replied shakily. There was a moment of silence as her mum processed her tone and Louis knew there was no going back now. She'd already kept it a secret long enough.
"What's wrong? Are you okay?" Her mum asked quickly, her voice a little panicked. As Louis had mentioned, she's usually pretty good at handling stuff. But now she had a stupid tear falling down her stupid cheek and she'd never felt so damn stupid.
"Mum . . . I did something kinda stupid."
*** Two Months Later ***
"Go on, keep kicking around, I'll get you back when you get out of there," Louis said darkly down at her slightly extended stomach.
She wasn't all that big yet, just a little bump that let her know that her little bean was growing faster than she was prepared for. She stroked a hand over her stomach and actually felt sad when the baby stopped wiggling.
As much as she joked around she was mentally way more worried than she'd let on. Every twinge of pain sent her ringing the doctor to make sure the baby would be okay. She still hadn't gotten the courage to find out the sex of the baby, for some reason it felt a little too terrifying to know if she was growing a tiny boy or girl inside her womb.
Anyway, she had far worse problems at the moment.
After months of wonderful media silence, Twitter was in an uproar and rumours were circling. Harry Styles has a child. No one knew who the mother was but the rumours had come from a "trusted source" so the mags were running with it. With every new headline Louis felt her heart beating faster. Before, she'd been one of those people who thought that no matter what you should always tell the dad but . . . Her situation wasn't exactly normal. She didn't want a life in the public eye. She didn't want her little bean's life in the public eye. She didn't really wanna have to ever face Harry and the no doubt angry statement of "why the hell did you keep it?!"
Her mum had been . . . Disappointed by Louis' lack of contraceptive efficiency, but she'd understood why she had to keep the baby despite the circumstances. And why they had to keep it a secret. So Louis had no clue how the hell the rumour had gotten out. The only other people who knew who the dad was apart from her mum were the doctor and two nurses because Louis had pretty much had a panic attack during an appointment and spewed out the whole truth. She thought back on the reactions of the two nurses and frowned. The older lady had been a little confused but very sympathetic. The younger lass . . . Had she seemed a little too interested? Or was Louis just over thinking it? Her own siblings didn't even know so how the hell had it made it's way onto the internet?
Either way, hopefully Harry wouldn't even bat an eyelash at the rumours since he was probably pretty used to "wild" fake rumours about him in the tabloids.
That hope turned out to be pretty naive and futile in the end.
***
Harry rang her mobile a few weeks later.
She was napping on her mum's couch after basically moving in with her when her phone loudly declaring "Hey I just met you! And this is crazy!" woke her up with a jolt.
She answered without really looking at the screen, pretty much expecting her mum since that's the only person who ever rang her. Her friends had kind of distanced themselves from her as she got heavily pregnant and she wasn't all that surprised to be honest.
"Hello?" She asked sleepily.
"Shit, did I wake you up?" asked a deep, familiar voice and Louis sat up in a dizzying rush, a panicked hand going to cup her round tummy.
"Harry?" She choked out before pulling the phone away from her ear to jab the red button but before she could she heard him shout;
"Don't hang up! Please, Louis. I just wanna talk!"
She reluctantly put the phone back to her ear and waited. He sighed heavily and she felt guilty. Guilty because a "smart girl" wouldn't have kept the baby. Guilty because she hadn't told him. Guilty because she still wished he hadn't found out. Guilty because she could never regret keeping her little bean.
"Do you . . . I heard . . . There's a rumour . . . About a girl in England who . . . Whose pregnant . . ." He started haltingly and Louis sighed wearily.
"Yeah," she whispered, staring down at her tummy and feeling even guiltier when her little bean wiggled around a little.
"I . . . I don't know what to say . . ." He replied breathlessly and she laughed a little at that.
"Me either."
"Why didn't you tell me?" He asked softly after a moment of silence and Louis felt like crying. Damn pregnancy hormones.
"Look I know you're probably mad at me for not . . . Getting rid of it or whatever, but I'm not asking you to be involved. You don't have to be on the birth certificate or anything," Louis rushed to say, scrubbing a hand over her face to ward off tears. No time for crying. She'd already accepted that she was doing this alone. That's her choice.
"I'm not mad," Harry replied and Louis froze a little at that.
"You're not?" She asked sceptically.
"Look, can we meet up? This conversation would probably go a lot better in person," Harry said with a weak attempt at a laugh.
Louis looked down at her very obvious pregnant belly and frowned.
"We can't get seen together. With the rumours and then me . . . It'll be pretty obvious."
"Okay. I get that. How about I send a car to pick you up and it'll drive you to the underground car parking at my building. That way you can come up to my flat and no one will know that isn't paid to be discreet?"
"Yeah. Yeah that sounds okay," she replied reluctantly.
"Good. Thank you. Seriously, Louis. Would tonight be okay? Around six?" He asked hopefully and Louis nodded before remembering that he couldn't actually see her right now.
"Yeah. I'll see you at six," she replied softly before putting the phone down without waiting for a reply. It was just a little too much all at once.
She laid down on her side and smushed her face into the couch cushions, hoping they'd absorb all her tears so she could pretend that this moment of weakness hadn't happened. Her mum came through the front door at that moment, Dorris and Ernest running in screaming and giggling after her.
Ernest made a beeline for Louis' curled up form and pressed a wet kiss to where the bottom of her belly was exposed since her shirt had ridden up. She gave him a teary smile and he responded with a toothy grin before smushing another damp kiss to her cheek and running off. Dorris was a little more gentle in her hellos. She smiled wide and stroked her little hands over Louis' bump.
"Hiya, bean," she said directly at the bump and damn if that didn't have Louis crying again.
She scooped Dorris up in her arms and cuddled her close for a moment, enjoying the way her hair smelled like strawberry sweets. Eventually Dotty squirmed to get free and Louis let her run off with a sad sigh.
She sat up and attempted to stand up but her bump kinda got in the way and really it wasn't that big of an inconvenience but Louis had had enough.
"Fuck this!" Louis shouted and started sobbing into her hands. Her mum came storming into the room then, probably to shout at her about her language, but she spotted Louis' meltdown and immediately wrapped her up in her warm arms.
"What's wrong?" She asked softly and Louis took a deep breath before explaining it all.
***
The car showed up outside her mum's house at six on the dot and Louis nervously tugged at her baggy t-shirt.
She'd tried on all of her maternity clothes before giving up and pulling on some soft leggings and a giant pink t-shirt that Ernie said made her look like a giant "mushymellow" . . . Not the look she was really going for but her feet were swollen and her back ached like a bitch and she had already slept with the guy so it wasn't exactly like she needed to seduce him. Plus, if that was her aim all she'd have to do was show him a bit of cleavage because her damn tits had expanded ridiculously over the course of her pregnancy.
She grabbed a hoodie and tugged it on quickly, pulling the hood up over her shoulder length light brown hair. Thank god her mum had washed her hair for her this morning. She didn't really fancy seeing Harry with greasy hair.
She said a quick goodbye to her concerned looking mum before heading down to the fancy car with blacked out windows. She slid into the back and tried to ignore her shaking hands.
"Good afternoon, Miss Tomlinson," the driver said with a friendly smile and Louis gave him a shaky grimace of a smile in return.
"Good afternoon," she murmured. For the entire journey, maybe about half an hour long, she stared out of the window and stroked her hands over her stomach in a strange kind of reassurance. Like she was comforting the baby and not herself.
They eventually turned into a ramp that lead down into the lower levels of a large glass building filled with flats and Louis tried to keep herself calm as much as she could.
The driver hopped out and opened the door for her before Louis could get her numb fingers to work properly and she gave him a shaky smile in thanks. She headed over to the lifts that he indicated and hesitantly pressed the button. When the doors opened and she stepped inside the driver called over, "press for the top floor, he's had security clear you so it'll let you straight up."
She pressed the button and took a deep breath as the doors shut on the drivers friendly face. She almost wanted to make him come with her. She glanced down at her bump.
"We can do this . . . It's . . . It's your daddy, okay?" Louis said and the word daddy felt so foreign in her mouth. Her own dad had never really had much to do with her life, and though she loved Ernest and Dorris' father, he still wasn't her own.
The doors opened onto a white walled room that had one other door and a couch within it. Louis bypassed the couch and went to knock on the door but it was opened before her knuckles could meet the wood. Harry stood in front of her and she honestly couldn't tell you how long it'd been since she took a breath.
They stayed like that for a moment, eyes gazing over one another, before Harry stepped back and let Louis in. Despite her expanding tummy she felt so tiny next to his height.
She avoided his eyes and walked past him with her hands cradled protectively around her bump. She headed into what looked like a living room and awkwardly perched on the edge of one of the couches. Harry came to sit on the one across from her and she refused to meet his eyes.
"Wow," he murmured, like he didn't mean to voice the statement. His voice was filled with awe and Louis couldn't help but turn to take in his expression. His eyes were wide and his plush lips parted a little. He kept glancing between her face and her stomach like he couldn't believe what he was seeing.
"Yeah," Louis said awkwardly. Harry cleared his throat loudly and shook his head as if clearing his mind too.
"Do you want a drink?" He asked suddenly and Louis shook her head.
"Can we just kinda get this over with?" Louis asked, a little tired of all the stress and a lot exhausted from growing a human.
"Yeah . . . Why didn't you tell me you were pregnant?" Harry asked gently, elbows on his knees, hands clasped between.
"I'm not stupid. No matter how stupid I may look right now," Louis said with a sarcastic eye roll that had Harry frowning.
"You don't look stupid. You look amazing," Harry said and . . . Louis believed he meant it. Something in his eyes made her feel like she could have greasy hair and be wearing pyjamas right now and he'd still think the same.
He looked great of course, his hair shorter now than it was before, his clothes fashionable, his eyes bright. There really was just an air about him. An aura that drew you in. Could she really be blamed for her stupid decision?
She relaxed a little and scooted back on the couch to draw her legs up and cross them. She felt a little better as the pressure eased off her hips. Harry noticed her actions and smiled a little.
"I didn't tell you because I knew what we did was a one time thing. You don't want a kid with some girl you happened to shag after a few too many shots," she said, feeling calmer now than she had before. Perhaps because her secret is out to him now. The one thing she'd held in her heart and let hurt her was out and she didn't have to think about what his reaction would have been anymore. He hadn't shouted at her like she had thought he would. He didn't seem mad at all, in fact.
"If I remember right, it was those weird kiwi cocktails, not shots," Harry replied with a chuckle and Louis snorted.
"Damn that bartender and his magic mixology," Louis said in exaggerated regret. Harry grinned at her and she couldn't help but smile back. Her mind replaying the flashes of their first brief encounter over and over. And now she's getting horny, stupid hormones.
"You really do look amazing, Lou," he said and damn him. She flushed and pushed her hair back from her face nervously. How could she be nervous right now? She's literally growing his child.
"Thanks. It's kinda hard to find things that fit right at the moment," she replied playfully.
"Yeah," he glanced down at her bumped before meeting her eyes again, "how far along are you?" He asked with this hopeful glint in his eyes, like part of him thought Louis would deny him any information.
"I'm just about to go into the third trimester, so like 28 weeks-ish?" She said with a shrug.
"When . . . When is the baby due?" He asked, his voice small and a little scared. Louis frowned.
"Harry, you're 23, I'm really not expecting anything from you," Louis said earnestly, trying to ease his worry. "I don't want money or anything. I've told you. You don't even have to be on the birth certificate."
"No, no I want to be!" Harry replied almost angrily and Louis pulled back a little in confusion.
"What? You didn't even know I was pregnant until today. Why do you want to be involved with this train wreck?" Louis asked incredulously with a sweeping hand gesture to encompass her whole messy state.
"You're not a train wreck," Harry said with a sigh before getting up and moving to sit on the couch next to her. They turned to face one another and Louis felt her heart beat a little faster.
"I don't want you to think that I kept the baby so that I could get a bunch of money and five seconds of fame as Harry Styles' baby mama," Louis insisted.
"I don't think that. You didn't even bloody tell me," Harry pointed out. He reached out and stroked a thumb over her cheekbone and she could stop herself from turning into the touch.
The moment seemed suspended between them and she nervously glanced up into his eyes. He searched her expression for a moment before seeming to make some kind of decision. He lifted his other hand so that he cupped the sides of her face and slowly leaned in to connect their lips. Louis' eyes fluttered closed of their own volition and she couldn't help but kiss him back.
She's not gonna lie, she's spent years seeing him in magazines and thinking he's fit. Sleeping with him once hadn't cured her crush at all.
The kiss gained in momentum until he licked her lower lip asking for more. She opened her mouth and met him with tongue and teeth and lips and all the need inside of her. Her hands went to his chest and his went to her hips to tug her until she was almost in his lap. It was her extended tummy bumping into his hard abdomen that drew her out of the haze. She pulled back but didn't remove herself from his personal space.
"Pretty sure sleeping together right now is a poor decision," she murmured and he snorted out a laugh, those insanely adorably dimples showing as he dropped his head to rest his forehead against her collar bone. She helplessly wrapped her arms around his broad shoulders and rested her cheek on top of his silky hair.
"Probably not the best idea," he murmured and she smiled where he couldn't see her.
He lifted his head once more and pressed an gentle kiss to her forehead.
"We're gonna work this out, okay?" He said, eyes wide and honest and damn her . . . Her heart leapt in her chest and she almost cried (again) as her mind filled with more hope than she'd felt in months.
***
After ringing her mum to say she wouldn't be home until tomorrow, Louis slid into bed next to Harry wearing a set of his pyjamas, the t-shirt almost comically stretched over her tummy, but the fabric so old and soft that it didn't feel restrictive. The trousers were far too long on her short legs and were a little tight around her bum but they were comfy enough for her to not complain.
They sat facing each other in bed with cups of tea and she couldn't help but smile at him.
"You really are too good to be true, you know," Louis told him with a playful smile.
"What is that even supposed to mean?" He laughed.
"It means that when most celebrities knock up their one night stand they don't often share their pyjamas and give them tea," Louis replied before taking a sip of said tea.
"You're not just a one night stand you know," Harry said with a slight frown. "I tried ringing you," he said.
"I know you did. I just wasn't ready to talk to you I guess," she shrugged, placing her tea on the nightstand.
"I wanted to talk to you. I wanted to see if you'd like to meet up when I was back in England. But you didn't answer and I thought you weren't interested in more," he said. Louis frowned and reached over to grab his hand after he put his mug on the other nightstand.
She held his large hand between both of hers and smiled a little at the ridiculous size difference. She stroked her fingers over his, rubbing a thumb over a tattoo, taking in his tanned skin, the callouses there from playing guitar.
"If I hadn't gotten pregnant I would have eventually called you back. But when I found out about the baby it didn't seem right to contact you," she said whilst looking down at his hand. She stroked her fingers along the lines of the anchor at his wrist and finally looked up when he gave her fingers a little squeeze.
"I'm not just here because of the baby, okay? I really wanted to see you again. For months I couldn't stop thinking about you," he replied earnestly and she couldn't help but smile at that. She challenges any woman to have Harry Styles say those words to her and remain stoic. It's simply impossible.
They were quiet for a few easy moments before Harry took a deep breath and seemed to debate something.
"Do you . . . Do you know if it's a boy or a girl?" He asked softly and his eyes were shining with emotion. She shook her head in response.
"Couldn't face it. Knowing just seemed so scary," she shrugged.
"I'm sorry you were scared," Harry frowned.
"It's okay," she said honestly. He hadn't known so none of it was his fault. She'd made the choices she had and she was fully prepared to deal with all of the consequences.
"It's not okay. I'm sorry you had to go to doctors appointments and stuff alone. I should have been there," he said, stroking his thumb over her knuckles where their hands still lay entangled.
"I made the decision not to tell you. You don't have to be sorry for anything. Other than maybe not using a condom," she said with a playful laugh and he rolled his eyes.
"Hey, pretty sure you weren't all that concerned about a condom either," he pointed out and she bit on her bottom lip in a failed attempt to hide her grin.
"I was distracted," she said teasingly. He smiled back at her and she felt the moment the mood changed and he leaned in to kiss her. She didn't try to stop him, despite her earlier statements, and she leaned in to kiss him deeper.
He tugged her until she straddled his hips, kissing her hungrily as if he couldn't get enough. She raked her fingers through his hair and pulled herself as close as she could get to him with her belly in the way.
His hands stroked confidently over her hips and arse, squeezing appreciatively.
"How has your bum actually gotten better? I didn't think that was possible," he joked against her lips and she bit his lower lip in punishment for that cheeky statement.
The kiss carried on until they were grinding against one another and panting into each other's mouth. Harry hooked his fingers in the sides of her borrowed pyjama pants and knickers and made as if to tug them down.
"Can I?" He asked breathlessly and she nodded.
"Not like I can get knocked up," she said and he snorted unattractively at that. She smacked him on the arm with a grin and then they were working to get each other naked. She had a moment of anxiety when he went to remove her top but swallowed her nerves down. He helped her lay back and took a moment simply kissing her stomach gently before coming back up to her mouth and kissing her with even more passion than before.
The kiss gentled a little as he lay between her thighs, arms outstretched and hands planted on either side of her shoulders to keep his weight off of her stomach.
"You're so beautiful," he murmured against her lips and she blushed helplessly.
"Shut up and fuck me," she said bluntly and felt his wide, cheeky grin against her lips.
She reached down and took his erection into her hand, stroking along the length appreciatively before pressing him to her entrance. Her body was far too ready, stupid pregnancy hormones had had her humming for him from the first kiss.
She gasped a little as he gently pushed inside, lifting her head and pressing her lips to the sweat slicked skin of his shoulder to muffle her moan as he bottomed out inside of her. He was a little too big so technically there were a couple of inches still outside but he paused like he knew the exact moment the fullness became a little too much for her.
He pressed a soft kiss to her lips before starting to move his hips in a practiced glide that had her nails digging into his back within moments.
"Fuck," she whispered, screwing her eyes shut as he managed to thrust at the just the right angle.
"You okay?" He murmured against her temple, voice shaking a little.
"Yeah, don't stop," she gasped out and he quickened his thrusts enough that she couldn't stop her moan.
Honestly, she came far quicker than she'd like to admit but to be fair she hasn't had sex since she got pregnant and the damn hormones have had her a horny mess for weeks. He wasn't too far behind her, as if her orgasm triggered his, and he muffled his moans against her skin as his hips stuttered.
As they took deep breaths and came down from their highs Harry managed to move them so they were on their sides facing one another, their legs tangled together in twisted sheets.
She never thought that she'd be in a situation where the second time she'd slept with a guy she'd already be pregnant with his kid, but honestly she wouldn't have changed anything about that moment they laid in.
He stroked his fingers idly up and down her arm and she started to consider all the ways in which things were going to change.
"What did your PR team say about the rumours?" Louis murmured, feeling safe from the world in Harry's big bed surrounded by his warm, tanned skin.
"They told me to deny the rumours until they'd had a paternity test done," Harry replied, his voice deep and soothing, though his words had Louis' brow furrowing.
She pushed back her messy hair and turned to face him properly.
"The baby is yours. You know that, right? I haven't slept with anyone but you in ages," she explained, now a little concerned that he didn't believe her.
"I know," he said firmly, raising a hand to stroke over her hair. "I know that you wouldn't have handled this the way you have unless you were sure it was mine."
"You know? How can you know anything? We've known each other a total of maybe two days," she said with a roll of her eyes, suddenly feeling stupid for the way she'd so trustingly fallen for every word he'd said. She should know better. She used to know better.
She sat up and pulled on the discarded t-shirt and bottoms before walking to the bathroom to clean up a little. When she felt less sex dirty she closed the lid of the toilet and sat on it, planting her face into her hands with a sigh. She's so fucking stupid sometimes. It was like, despite all her experiences of guys being douches who break you into pieces and don't give a shit, part of her held out hope that Harry was different. Why would he be any different? He's 23 years old, stupidly rich and famous, and can have any girl he lay his eyes on. Girls would literally queue to sleep with him. Guys too. Why the hell would she think she's special enough to make him want her? Her and her accidental baby that could cause him a hell of a lot of drama and bad pr?
She stayed like that until a soft knock came at the bathroom door. She sighed and lifted her head.
"It's not locked."
Harry opened the door a moment later, he'd put on his pyjama bottoms but was otherwise still bare and gorgeous, and came into the room to crouch in front of her. He put his hands on her knees and looked up into her eyes.
"Don't treat me like a stranger," he said softly and she could see the pleading in his eyes.
"But you pretty much are. I only know stuff about you that's on twitter for everyone to know," she pointed out stubbornly. He sighed and stroked her hair back from her face. He had a thing for her hair it seemed.
"When we met at that club we were both sober, Louis. Don't act like you didn't feel the way we clicked," Harry said firmly.
And Louis couldn't deny that. The second they'd started talking it'd been so . . . Easy. She'd been a tad star struck when she'd first bumped into him but as soon as they'd started speaking it was like they fell into the kind of easy banter that you only had with old friends. It was like she'd known him forever, and suddenly he was just Harry, just a man she knew with eyes so green she couldn't stop staring into them.
"Just because we get along doesn't mean that we know each other though," she replied tiredly.
"We shouldn't have slept together that night. I wish I'd taken things slow with you. Taken you out on dates and treated you right. But things happened and I can't change them," he said calmly. "Look, we have what, 12 weeks until you're due? We have time to get to know each other," Harry said and his eyes were so open and she wanted to believe him. She wanted to think that things could work out in this extremely strange situation she'd found herself in.
"We shouldn't have sex again," she said regretfully and Harry frowned.
"Ever?!" He shrieked and she snorted out an extremely unattractive laugh at the shock on his face.
"I meant until we work things out between us," she said with a helpless smile.
"Yeah, you're probably right," he said with a sigh and she smiled and leaned forwards to kiss the tip of his nose. He scrunched up his face adorably and damn, how did she even wind up here?
***
Going in for her next scan was . . . Strange. Harry had to turn up separately to her, she'd gone back to her mum's after their emotion filled night together, and he'd been doing some sort of album promotion in France.
She was waiting in the doctors room for him, idly chatting with her doctor about what vitamin supplements could be good for her, when Harry came rushing through the door.
"I'm sorry! Am I late? There was all these paps and then someone tweeted where I was and these fans turned up and we had to drive around a load to get rid of them and I'm so sorry if I'm late," he said breathlessly, coming to her side and taking a hold of her hand. She smiled up at him and heard her doctor laugh a little at Harry's panicked speech.
"It's okay. I've only been here for ten minutes. We figured you'd gotten held up," she said and he sighed in relief before dropping an affectionate little kiss on her lips and collapsing into the chair beside her. He was dressed in an oversized pink jumper and black skinny jeans today and he looked stunning. Whereas Louis felt kinda . . . Huge. But at 29 weeks she couldn't exactly be blamed since she's possibly the size of a planet right now.
"Right, let's get started then now that dad is here," the doctor said formally and she saw the way Harry's lips spread into a grin at being called the dad. It did something to her heart to see that smile and she had to force herself to focus on the doctors words.
He gave her a few explanations as to what to expect from her third trimester, let her know that all her tests have come back clear and she is classified as low risk, which is good.
"Now, would you like to see the baby?" The doctor asked with a smile and Louis turns to Harry questioningly. She wouldn't make him watch if he wasn't ready. He's had far less time to adjust to this than her.
"Yes, please," Harry told the doctor with a soft smile and the doctor waited for her nod to proceed. He set up the ultrasound as she tugged up her jumper, used to the process by now as he used the tissue to cover the top of her leggings and spread the gel over her stomach.
He pressed down gently and began to move the wand back and forth across her bump. The "whump whump whump" came from the machine's speakers to signal the baby's heart beat and Louis noticed the way Harry's lips fell slack and his eyes went wide. On the screen pixels began to form the recognisable shape of her little bean.
The doctor narrated as he swiped around, more for Harry's sake than hers since she had already seen their baby multiple times due mostly to anxiety. "There's the feet . . . The little tummy there . . . Their arms are up . . . Little face is turned just right let me snap a quick screen shot for you guys."
Harry stared at the screen, his body frozen, his fingers holding on tightly to Louis'. Louis didn't know how to take his reaction so turned back to the doctor.
"Can we know the sex now?" She asked nervously.
"Only if you're comfortable," the doctor said kindly, having heard about her gender freak out earlier in the process.
"I want to know," she said softly and she felt Harry looking at her but kept her eyes on her little bean up on the screen.
"Alright let's just wiggle the wand around a little and see if we can get baby into the right position," the doctor murmured as he set to work. A few moments later he paused and studied the screen, "alright, looks like you'll be welcoming a healthy baby boy."
"A boy?" She said breathless and suddenly the tears came and she couldn't stop them, "it's a boy?" Her voice cracked over and over and she just couldn't find it in herself to care.
"Yep, a small boy by the looks of it but that's not all that unusual," the doctor replied kindly and Louis . . . started laughing. It was like relief bubbled through her at finally knowing if she would be having a son or a daughter. It's not like it even mattered to her, it was just that it had been this boundary that it had felt so scary to cross and here she was now with Harry holding her hand and learning that they're going to have a son.
Harry laughed in response to her giggles and tugged her into a smiling kiss before pressing his forehead to hers.
"I'm . . . Thank you. Just, thank you," Harry said softly and she reached up to wipe away the tear that had fallen from his lashes to make it's lazy way down his beautiful face. She gave him another quick kiss in response to his happy words and turned to take the scan photos the doctor had taken for them. She passed one to Harry and he immediately took a photo of it to send to someone. Louis curbed her curiosity for now about that.
"Alright. We're all done here. Louis, you have the contact details for the midwife, yes? And if you have any problems don't hesitate to call in," her doctor said with a genial smile and Louis thanked him as she used the tissue to wipe away the gel on her stomach.
They said their goodbyes and left the office quietly, Louis grinned when Harry openly took her hand in his as they left the doctors surgery.
And that was when Louis got a harsh dose of reality.
Lights were suddenly flashing from every direction and Louis stopped in shock. Harry turned so that his broad back hid her mostly from view.
"Fuck, shit, fuck," Harry was cursing under his breath, fumbling for his phone, "I'm so sorry baby. I didn't know they'd followed me here. I'm so sorry," he stammered out as he started typing on his phone. Louis frowned and took a deep breath before lifting her hands to cup his face and make him meet her eyes.
"The public was going to find out at some point. It's okay," she said softly. She was scared. More scared than she'd ever admit. But it wasn't fair of her to blame any of this on Harry. She'd known who he was when they slept together.
Harry searched her eyes for a moment before nodding. He held his hand out and she took it with a smile. They turned to face the paps and gathered fans together and Louis kept her face down and powered ahead, following Harry's lead as he headed towards the fancy car that had just pulled up at the curb.
The men were shouting things like "is this the baby mama?" "Are you keeping the kid?" "Are you sure it's yours?" At them but Harry ignored them all to open the car door for her. She shuffled inside and he shut the door behind her before walking around to the other side and hopping in.
"Management is gonna be so pissed at me," Harry said wryly and she laughed before reaching out to hold his hand.
***
They were watching Netflix in Harry's flat when she remembered him taking a picture of the scan and sending it to someone at the doctors office.
"Hey, Harry?" She murmured, shifting so that her chin was pillowed on her hands atop his chest and she could look down at him. He turned from the telly instantly and Louis liked that so she gave him a little peck on the lips in reward. He smiled up at her sleepily and damn . . . She really didn't need to be feeling so much for him this soon.
"What's up?" He asked, deep voice rumbling in his chest against her side and tummy.
"Who did you send the photo of the scan to?" She asked curiously.
"My mum and my sister . . . Is that okay?" He asked as if suddenly thinking he might have upset her by not asking her first.
"He's your baby too," she said clearly, wanting to make sure that he had no doubts as to his rights towards their baby. "You can tell whoever you want to tell."
"Mum was . . ." He glanced around as if searching for the word and Louis grinned, happiness bubbling in her chest, "well, she slapped me on the back of the head if I'm honest," he finished and she laughed against his t-shirt.
"Yeah, my mum wasn't exactly pleased either," Louis said dryly.
"We kinda need to meet each other's family before he's born," Harry said softly, lifting a hand to play with strands of her hair.
"I know. I just . . . Don't actually think my sisters believed me when I said that I couldn't tell them who the dad was because he was famous," she said with a grin, "they may actually piss themselves in shock."
"Well I don't wanna make your sisters pee themselves but I do wanna meet them," Harry laughed.