Archive of Our Own ^beta

IUI - Intrauterine Insemination (The surrogacy method used in this fic is the traditional one where Louis is the egg donor and technically, he’s the biological mother. It’s not the same as the Gestational Surrogacy, where the method used is IVF instead of IUI)

Louis hates making decisions. He really does. He always wonders why the universe can't just decide everything for everyone if it wants to produce humans so badly. Choosing is one thing, but it’s better when he’s given so many options that have their own pros and cons and he can at least  consider the best choice. But settling on the final result may or may not affect his life, and if his choice leads to a path of downhill, it will be on him. The thought of being responsible for his own choices makes him shudder more often than not. So, yeah, he hates making decisions.

But the one where he decided to carry a child in his body for a man pushing 40 was not one of the simplest decisions he had made, and yet here he is, two months into his pregnancy, crouching down next to a toilet bowl that he’s becoming a little too familiar with, after dropping a single ‘yes’ a few months back. 

“Your father’s genes are a bit too strong for me, yeah? If you could just, maybe, tone it down for me, that’d be great.” Louis speaks slowly as he leans against the cold tiles, rubbing his small tummy gently. He’s not quite showing yet.

Being a 26 year old midwife has contributed a lot to the omega's mental health and patience ever since he was discharged from the ward after his, hopefully, first and last surrogacy session. Having learned almost everything about pregnancy from all the years spent in the midwife community club was what made him confident with this specific decision. Financial struggle was something that edged him a bit, but the certainty of not being emotionally, if not physically – which is a bit obvious – attached to the little creature growing inside him had completely pushed his hand to drop his signature on the agreement paper. It’s just that after being convinced by Mr. Styles, the lonely and rich farmer from the village, and his genuine reassurance that everything will be taken care of and that all he needs to worry about is eating healthily and resting well for a good development of the baby, he just couldn’t resist. Mr. Styles was just too good to be an alpha and perhaps Louis had poor self-control around his kind eyes.

He slowly rises from his position and exits the cold area, walking towards the bedroom that doesn’t really belong to him but somehow feels homier than his actual one. It will be hard to let this room go when he’s finally given birth.  As he changes into another shirt, his phone lights up.

‘Going home in 15, does baby need anything?’

‘Baby needs bananas and salmon :)’

Truth be told, he’s actually craving for some greasy doughnuts from the Krispy Kreme in town but despite carrying a child that belongs to someone else, he’s pretty much set his priority on making sure everything that the baby eats is healthy food and healthy food only. 

‘Okay.

Do you need anything?’

‘Did you forget the part where the baby and I are pretty much sharing the same system?’

‘Okay mommy, don’t get pissed. Was only asking ;)’

Louis certainly does not feel the rising heat on his cheeks at the name.

‘Come home quick, baby could eat a tortoise right now’

‘Oh… your pregnancy humours are terrible’

He leaves the farmer on read with a small laugh. 

He knows that being pregnant comes with challenges and that’s why he’d been mentally prepared since a few weeks ago for all the headaches, cramps, increased urinations, and tender breasts especially. And it’s borderline bizarre to him as well, this new sensation of sharing practically everything with another human that he didn’t really have the time to sit and think when and with whom he's going to conceive all his life. Of course the omega in him had thought of having pups someday, but the idea has never once been persuaded by all the alphas he’s dated before. Some even suggested that having pups is an inconvenient liability to their dynamics which, to Louis, is a very… crude thing to say to an omega – a life giver, a mother. But if that’s their preference then it’s better for Louis to just pack up and leave rather than having to swallow the bitter truth and explicitly respect it. 

While he needs to take a gamble and hassle through the awaiting symptoms as he crouches during the first trimester, cries the entire second, and waddles his way towards the water breaking moment, it’s comforting to remember the presence of Mr. Styles by his side. The alpha has been nothing short of attentive, caring and considerate to all his needs. 

Well, Louis is literally carrying his baby so obviously he has to tend to him explicitly, but that only further proves the point of this whole arrangement. Mr. Styles is ready to be a father and he’s doing a pretty good job at showing it. He even asked the omega to come and live with him since that would make the process of surrogacy easier, meaning that Louis wouldn’t have to worry about the condition of the baby alone. The alpha prepares everything and while Louis is more than capable of doing a lot of things at this early phase, he appreciates the efforts more than anything. Even if there are times when he serves the omega more than necessary.

Speaking of symptoms, the familiar ache starts to spike at the base of his feet before it crawls up to his hips as he walks into the living room, planning to tidy up a little. It’s the least he can do to show his gratitude as Mr. Styles lets him stay over for free. But the weight from his upper body that seems to increase gradually as weeks pass has another idea. Pressing a hand on his hip to add some pressure just so he can encounter the sheer pain, Louis walks slowly towards the new massaging cushion Mr. Styles had bought just for him. Like he said, it was one of the unnecessary things he’d done to fulfil the omega’s pregnancy needs. He told the alpha he could’ve just sat on the old sofa and waited until the cramps go away but of course, Daddy insists, the alpha had said. 

He sits on the cushion for a few minutes, counting on the vibrations to make the pain go away. But for some reason, the cramps only get more intense the higher the level of vibrations gets. 

“Not Mr. Styles spending his £1999 for this useless thing.” He turns off the cushion and pouts before rubbing his growing tummy. “Your dad could’ve bought an entire closet for you with that amount of money.”

He lays there for a while, willing the cramps to go away on their own soon. 

Except they don’t. Not until the sound of the door opening and closing can be heard from the other side of the room. Louis is almost pulled deep into a slumber when he feels a warm hand caressing his hair, touch as gentle as a feather.

“Hey, you alright, sweet?”

Blinking slowly, his lips are about to curve at the deep voice whispering close to his ear. But…

“Uh, what is this smell?!”

“Huh? What?” The concerned look on Mr. Styles’ face is interlacing with confusion.

“God, it’s awful.” He’s having difficulties breathing and it’s suffocating. Louis can’t do this anymore. “Get away from me.” With zero energy, he tries pushing the alpha away and groans when he barely moves an inch. 

Bubbles of gas are bustling up in his stomach, carrying the nasty bile up his lungs and at that, he takes off to find the nearest toilet in the house. He can hear Mr. Styles yell from behind him but surprisingly the alpha is the last thing he needs to be close to. In an overwhelming desperation, he crouches before the bowl and empties his stomach as he heaves harshly.

He shuts his eyes, groaning quietly when the stinky livestock scent hits his senses again. “Hey, Louis, do you n–”

“Get away, please. I’m sorry but get away from me. You stink!” he cries.

“I stink?”

“Get out!”

“Oh… oh, shit, I’m so sorry!” He hears the fading steps from the other side of the door, signalling Mr. Styles leaving him. In a weird way, it stings a little. He was the one who had asked the man to leave but there is this tiny voice inside his house that wants the alpha to coddle him, to tell him that he is doing amazing. The confusion makes his head spin as he vomits the remaining stuff out of his tummy.

Louis sighs tiredly, trying to calm down as he washes his face at the sink, leaning against the cold granite. He feels bad; God, why did he yell at the alpha like that. He’s such an ungrateful guest. He’s such a bad omega. The emotions start to rush in and at some point it is decided that the tears have to fall down. 

Okay, maybe being pregnant isn’t supposed to be this torturing. He thought being allergic to the smell of the father of your child was just a myth, something that the society had created to make pregnant omegas look whiny and bratty. Well, he still stands by his thought though. Technically, Mr. Styles is the father of a child that is not his, and to be fair the alpha had smelt like whatever things he had carried home from the farm. 

“God, I am an awful pregnant omega.” There’s a gentle knock at the door. “Yeah?” He cringes at the way his voice cracks.

“Uh, are you done? I brought you some water, and I’m not stinky anymore. I promise,” Mr. Styles says.

“You promise?”

“I promise, I’ve changed my clothes.” Louis opens the door, and finds that the alpha didn’t lie. He had changed from his old plaid shirt that was smeared with dirt into a fresh jumper, looking clean and cuddly, making Louis dangerously want to hug him, especially when he’s pulling an encouraging smile so Louis can come out of the bathroom. “There you are, sweet.”

Louis hesitates before approaching the alpha. “I’m sorry for earlier, Mr. Styles. I didn’t mean to say that and it was probably the hormones, but it was rude and obviously you would stink a little from the farm– ugh, I didn’t mean that too–”

“I told you to call me Harry.” Harry looks amused. It’s not funny. Louis throwing up because of him isn’t funny.

“But I’ve been calling you Mr. Styles for so long.”

“And now you’re carrying my baby.” Louis knows the alpha doesn’t mean it like that, but he can’t help but blush. “And I understand. You don’t have to apologise, yeah it was the hormone but I should’ve thought that before and changed into a clean shirt first before being close to you. I am sorry.” 

“It wasn’t your fault…”

“It was, and I’m responsible for that. I smell good now, want a hug?” Mr. Sty— Harry opens his arms with this hopeful look in his eyes that makes Louis crumble from the inside. He throws himself into the wide chest, breathing in the…

“Cocoa?” Harry smells like cocoa and Louis’ favourite smell is cocoa.

“Yeah, I remember you said you like the smell of cocoa when you were craving for some hot chocolate the other night and that the smell of it calms you down. So, I bought a new perfume. Was a little hard to get since Tom Ford didn’t have that code so I had to switch to Burberry. Still getting used to the wider bottle,” Harry rambles, chuckling as he tightens his hold around Louis’ waist.

“I’m…thank you. You smell good.” 

“I’m glad you like it. Way more hugs from mommy for me,” he jokes before pulling Louis down onto his bed. Louis realises that he had run into the alpha’s room when he was in his desperate state. “Louis, I know that you’ve only been here for a few weeks and that you’re still in your first trimester. And I know that I can never understand your struggles and pain, but I will always try my best to help you out and give you and the baby everything that you need. I want you to always feel comfortable and know that you can always tell me anything.” Harry’s voice drizzles like rich caramel and it makes Louis feel safe and full. As if he’s sensing the irritation that goes along Louis’ legs, he gently rubs the already weakening limbs, putting pleasurable pressure along the skin that makes it hard for Louis to control his moans. His touch runs along his growing tummy, making it flutter despite the lack of baby’s legs inside it. “I’m sorry the baby makes mommy feel uncomfortable, daddy will teach baby to behave when they’re here.”

And Louis has never been more grateful for agreeing to have Harry’s baby. 

But not for long, his mind reminds him as he breathes in the delicious cocoa scent deeper.

♡

It’s not like Louis was that close to Harry before the whole arrangement started. He only knew him as the humble, successful farmer that managed to charm every single villager where they live because Helena, the lady who lives across his own home who always talks about the ‘handsome young man’ whenever she was over to give the lonely omega her old dresses that didn’t fit her anymore or any baked goods that she made, which was quite frequent as the lady loves baking. It was always Mr. Styles this, Mr. Styles that. Sure, they met at some points whenever Louis was lurking around the village for evening walks, or when Harry visited the clinic he works at whenever he needed suppressants for his rut. But Louis has never imagined having a close relationship with the alpha, let alone carrying his child. Whenever Helena talked about how lucky Harry’s future omega would be and that she wished she had an omega child so perhaps she could mate them off to the alpha, Louis ignored it every time because what’s so special about this typical well-built alpha? She even suggested that Louis go over and try to get to know Harry better as the omega is the closest that she can ever have as a child, to which Louis replied, “Helena, stop being ridiculous.” 

And to say that the lady can’t stop fretting over him ever since she found out that he is carrying Harry’s baby is an understatement. 

Louis returns to his home to grab the old dresses given to him by Helena and some larger clothes as it’s getting harder for him to wear pants around Harry’s house ever since he’s entered the second trimester of the pregnancy. 

“I’ll never understand you young kids these days. What in the world is HIV–”

“It’s IUI , Helena.”

“Whatever. Mr. Styles paid thousands to get you pregnant when he could’ve saved the money and mated you properly. Getting you pregnant naturally. Living as an ever-after couple happily.”

“I didn’t know you could rhyme,” Louis says as he folds the dresses into the green bag that he stole from Harry’s.

“Not the point, young omega. Listen–” The older omega bends down to pick up the frilly shorts that Louis has tossed to the side and puts them into the bag, ignoring Louis’ protest.

“I’m not wearing those at Harry’s!”

“Why not? They’re beautiful, they suit an omega who wants their alpha’s attention.”

“Who said I want Harry’s attention? And they’re too revealing anyway, it’s inappropriate.”

“And you carrying his child without bonding first is appropriate?”

“You make it sound like I’m some cheap omega!” Louis gasps, he can’t believe this woman is the closest to a mother he’s ever had.

“Well,” Helena smiles cunningly as she zips Louis’ bag after putting another pair of frilly shorts into it, getting a narrowed pair of eyes from Louis, “I definitely didn’t say that. But if you really don’t want to be a ‘cheap omega’, make Mr. Styles bond you.”

“Yeah, that’ll never happen. You can only dream of having him as your son-in-law.” 

“My dreams always come true.”

“Except this one.” Louis loves Helena, he really does. But at the moment he just wants her to wipe off the happy smile on her face.

“Including this one.”

“Whatever.” 

He cleans around the house a little bit even though he doesn’t really stay here in his current state, but it makes him feel complete to take care of his home. His late mother had ingrained the significance of having a clean surrounding in him ever since he was a little pup. It also motivates him to be positive and keep moving on with his days. He sends Helena to her house with a goodbye and a promise to visit her again in the next few days before waiting for Harry to pick him up for lunch. The last time he had returned home and walked back to Harry’s, the alpha had freaked out after finding out the pregnant omega had walked around 3 miles without any aids, so he doesn’t want to risk making the alpha worry again.

When Harry arrives, he quickly runs to open the door and helps Louis climb into the car. 

“I’m pregnant, Harry. Not dying,” he says with an amused smile, heart fluttering when he smells that Harry hasn’t forgotten to spray the cocoa scented perfume all over himself first as he went to the farm earlier.

“Daddy just likes helping mommy.” The alpha shrugs. It’s easy to blush around Harry, it really is.

The farmer drives them to Louis’ favourite cafe near the town and insists on getting the pregnant omega anything that he wants. They are looking at the menus and there is a stirring sense circulating around his brain that is making him request something sweet and savoury… and when the particular image of the food pops up in his head, he frowns.

“Uh…”

“What’s wrong? Do you need to pee?”

“No.”

“Okay, do you know what you want to eat?”

“I want…” Harry is paying close attention to him and it makes him squirm because what he’s going to say next will definitely make the man weirded out. “Spaghettibolognesewithchocolateicecreamonit.”

“I’m sorry, what?”

Yes, Harry is definitely weirded out by his request. God, fuck cravings. He feels so silly and embarrassed for requesting literal trash and it’s getting harder to keep his head up.

He huffs before throwing his face into Harry’s neck, he doesn’t think he can face the alpha any longer. “Stop making fun of me! It’s the pregnancy cravings…”

“No, no. I will never make fun of you, sweet. You were mumbling and I didn’t hear what you said. Can you repeat it again?”

“Promise you won’t make fun of me and my weird ass craving?”

“I would never.”

“It’s on the baby too. It's not just me.” Louis reminds the alpha to save his ass for later.

“I know.”

“I want Spaghetti Bolognese with chocolate ice cream on it.”

“Oh.”

Louis groans and pushes his face into the alpha’s neck harder. “See! I knew you were gonna laugh at me.”

“I am not. Just wasn’t expecting that. Of course we can order that. I just find it cute, that's all.” Harry rubs his back reassuringly, making him purr. Just a few seconds later, he feels the hard chest beneath his body vibrate. 

“You are definitely laughing at my weird craving, you can’t lie.”

“No, no, I promise it’s not because of that. Weird cravings are normal,” The familiar hand makes its way to rub Louis’ growing tummy, “I will never make fun of you.” Harry slowly pulls his face away and lifts his chin with a finger, soft eyes gazing right into his. “You’re really sweet and cute. I just can’t believe you’re carrying my child.”

And. “Oh.”

When the waiter comes to take their orders, Harry orders for Louis so instead of the omega, he is the one who receives the wide eyes from the young beta. That makes Louis giggle because, hell yeah get pregnant and be weird and hot like me!

Harry makes a stop at his farm to make sure that his workers will take care of the gate before he goes home and spends the rest of his day with Louis. 

“Can we watch the rabbits?” Louis requests when Harry enters the car, biting his lip when he sees the alpha spraying the cocoa-scented perfume all over his clothes beforehand. He had stayed in the car while Harry went into the farm, and he saw two white rabbits running around the area near the main gate.

“Uh, no Louis, you said you can’t smell anything from the farm? You’ll be puking later.” Harry answers as he starts to pull the seat belt.

“A-are you not letting me see the cute little rabbits and are you trying to make me and the baby get sad?” He sees his view getting blurred as tears start forming along his waterlines, lips trembling at the feeling of hurt after getting denied by Harry.

Harry's action is put to a halt upon hearing the crack in Louis’ voice. “Louis, no! Please don’t cry, baby. I didn’t mean to say no, I’m sorry.” He lets go of the seat belt and lets it snap into its compartment before pulling the omega close, consoling him with a kiss on the head. “Do you really want to see the rabbits?”

“Yes…”

The alpha sighs softly, “Okay then. But if you don’t like the smell of the farm please tell me quickly. We’ll go home before you throw up, okay?”

“Okay,” Louis answers slowly to keep his excitement at bay. It’s weird how two seconds ago he felt like pushing Harry out of the car when he got denied but now he just wants to hug the alpha and never let go. 

Harry guides him gently all the way from the car to where the rabbits are playing while telling Louis about the farm. He knows one of the reasons Harry really wants a child other than being a lonely alpha is because he wants an heir to give the farm to when he gets older. It makes him wonder if Harry wants to settle down with an omega and have a proper family, including the child he is carrying right now.

And Harry was right about him throwing up a few minutes after they stood before the rabbit house.

♡

It’s almost two in the morning and Louis is currently laying on his bed, feeling surprised at how active all his senses are. His gaze glides all over the angles of the white ceiling, his fingers are drumming softly on his little bump, his mind is fleeting over the conversation he had with Harry today.

“Does mommy want ice pops? I know it’s your favourite.” Harry asked when Louis was walking bare-footed along the corridor of the house, taking in the fresh evening air. From all the years of working as a midwife, he learned that walking at least 30 minutes a day during the early phase of your second trimester can strengthen your muscles for a good development of the foetus. He never stops thinking of the condition of the baby from the moment he wakes up until he closes his eyes during the night. Hopefully they enjoy growing in his tummy. 

He could never say no to Mr. Bennett's ice pops. But he’d had a more important thing to address now that Harry had come back from the farm. “Why do you always call me mommy?”

The look on the alpha’s face was a confused one. He placed his dirty boots beside the rack instead of on the rack just because he was an alpha. Louis internally rolled his eyes but said nothing because, well, it’s Harry’s house.

“Because… you are carrying my child?”

“Yeah, but I’m not gonna be there to raise them. That doesn’t make me their true mom.”

Harry looked as if a bucket of cold water had been splashed on his face. “I’ve… actually never thought of that.” He raised his gaze from the ground and looked at Louis. “It just feels right to call you their mommy—”

“Yeah?” There was a small pond of goo forming underneath his breasts, the thought of Harry possibly deeming him as his child’s real mommy put a smile on his face.

“For now, yeah.” His smile faltered. He frowned when Harry approached him with a bright smile. “As for now, you are like their mommy. You nourish them with healthy food and love so technically you are their real mommy.”

“Technically.” His emotion turned sour and he stepped back a little when Harry was getting closer to him, still smiling like a stupid lonely balding dad. He could feel the impending force beneath his waterlines, threatening to expose some tears. He couldn’t focus on anything other than Harry literally implying that he’s only going to be there temporarily. Of course he was aware of it, but to be reminded by the alpha that might have or might have not started to build a small throne in his heart hurt. He wasn’t listening to Harry anymore, that was enough bitter truth for him for the day.

“Yes, technically. But I don’t mind if you—”

“I don’t want ice pops. Thanks.” He turned around and entered the house before he could let his hormones completely beat him into an emotional breakdown in front of the alpha.

And now his tongue is churning for ice pops. A lot of ice pops, particularly from Mr. Bennet’s little stall. 

But the thing is, he hasn’t talked to Harry since the evening. He refuses to come out of the room so he won’t have to face the alpha after the evening incident. He knows that the older man is probably confused as to why Louis is acting this way, especially when he’d ignored his knock on the door during dinner. Thankfully Harry is a man with common sense and he had left the dinner before the door, to which Louis had quickly grabbed before slamming the oak door without any care. 

He tries to will the craving away just like he’d done a few times before when he’s too exhausted to get up and sneak into Harry’s kitchen. He knows he was being too emotional, when his lease is up of course he’s going to get on with his own life and leave Harry and his child behind. That’s the only role of being a surrogate mother and he knows it. Even before he agreed to the arrangement, he was given a few weeks to think about the consequences and that was enough time for him to consider the payment and most importantly, his confidence to carry the baby for a total duration of nine months without getting emotionally attached to it. Of course, he’s permitted with his presence on any expected occasions like breastfeeding or mother-child skin contact sessions in the ensuing days after giving birth, but that’s it. And he knows it. 

“It was probably the hormones.” He disregards the prior event while unconsciously holding his growing bump in a protective manner. 

He blames the hormones again when the thought of strawberry ice pop melting on his tongue won’t leave him alone for the next fifteen minutes. 

He’s gonna need to try his luck to check if there’s any extra ice pops in the fridge from the day he’d asked Harry to buy a dozen of them just because ‘the baby really wants them!’.

With a dramatic sigh, he climbs down the bed and slips on the fluffy slippers to avoid getting frozen feet from the cold tiles. It is hard sneaking into the kitchen without making any noise because Harry’s house is packed with so many unnecessary things, like five torchlights lining up on the side table, a grandfather clock since there’s another small clock hanging on the wall, an exercise bike in the middle of the living room because no one really uses it since Harry’s at the farm during the days and Louis is, well… physically and mentally incapable to do so. The fact that his hips are getting wider throughout the pregnancy certainly does not help. But with a strong-will and his mind circulating around the image of a dripping ice pop, he manages to stand before the fridge now.

A splash of dimmed light from the fridge disperses throughout the dark kitchen when the sneaky pregnant omega practically shoves his head into the freezing cube, trying to find any signs of ice pops. He frowns as he stands straight, two hands resting on either side of his hips and lips pulled into an unsatisfied pout after realising there’s no ice pop in the fridge.

Huffing, he closes the door dejectedly.

“Another craving?” The sudden flicker of light and the hoarse voice makes him jump, hands immediately covering the front of his belly. He turns to see a sleepy Harry who attempts to smile at him. And maybe Louis craves more than just ice pops.

Gaining some self-dignity, Louis snaps out of his thoughts before looking away the moment the evening incident revisits the back of his mind. “No…”

“Oh, let me guess.” The alpha walks closer as he starts to squirm from the attention. “Baby is hungry?”

“Yes…”

Harry chuckles sleepily. “Okay, what does Baby want tonight?”

“They want Mr. Bennet’s ice pop. But there is no Mr. Bennet’s ice pop.”

“Really? I actually restocked the ice pops last week.”

“But they’re not in the fridge.”

“Let me look, they’re probably behind the milk.” Harry bends down to look for the ice pops, and Louis waits nervously because there needs to be an ice pop. “Oh.”

“What?” There’s an alarming tone in his voice.

“I just remember I actually finished the last ice pop two nights ago.” Harry turns to face him with an apologetic smile, and Louis just raises his ‘really? ’ eyebrows at the man. “ What, dads have cravings too sometimes. Both sides conceived, remember?”

“Not funny, I need the ice pop. You need to go and run to Mr. Bennet’s stall and get at least five for me now.”

“It’s 2:30 in the morning, sweet. There’s no Mr. Bennet’s stall at this hour.”

“But you have to, Harry. A stick only costs like 50 cents and while you could spend 70 bucks for a pair of socks for my cold feet, why can’t I have the cheap ice pop? Please, Harry…”

Now, Louis definitely knows how to have his way with the alpha. He grumbles and pleads, puppy eyes begging; he thinks his eyeballs almost pop out at how wide his eyelids become and finally, “Fine.”

“Yay, you’re the best dad—”

“Stop there.”

The omega throws away his confusion at that with a sweet grin, too excited about getting an ice pop to care, “Okay.” Now in a happy mood, he sends the alpha to the door, yelling out ‘ extra strawberry flavour! ’ without telling him about the backward shirt he’d put on in such a rush before walking into the living room, turning on the TV to do some Yoga at 3 in the morning.

And as he imitates the lady in the TV doing squats, he whispers happily to himself. “I love being pregnant.”

Almost half an hour later, Louis is struggling with spreading his legs for the next step of the Yoga, Ubaya Konasana. “Huh, this should be the easiest part for me. Weird.”

That’s when he hears the sound of the door being closed. Louis looks up with an excited grin when Harry steps into the living room.  “Louis? I thought you’d have gone to sleep by now. Why are you doing Yoga at this hour?”

“Why? Think you could get away from my ice pops craving so you don’t have to buy them anymore?” Louis teases, slowly pushing his body with one hand on the mat to stand up with his other hand protecting his bump. “I’m joking, you could never disappoint me, right?” With the sweetest smile he’s ever given to anyone, he approaches the alpha who is holding a black plastic bag.

“Actually…” Harry hesitates as Louis takes the plastic from his grip.

“What? No strawberry flavour? It’s fine, I don’t feel like eating strawberry ice pops anymore. I think I want grapes— uh, these are not…ice pops?” Louis falters, frowning at the pink ice cream tubes inside the bag. “Harry? Where are my ice pops?”

The omega slowly lifts his head up to find Harry scratching at the back of his head, spotting a conflicted look on his face. “Uh, Louis… before I start explaining I just want you to know that I would never, in a million years, upset you intentionally and hell, maybe even unintentionally, because you are such an amazing person inside and out and the best mommy ever. So, I will always try my best to give you everything that you want, sweet. But, as expected, Mr. Bennet’s stall wasn’t where it was supposed to be and I thought of your face and how happy you would be— and the baby’s craving too, of course, if I could give you as many ice pops as you had wanted. So, I went to Mr. Bennet’s house and knocked on his door to ask if he still had some ice pops left in his fridge but then with an irritated face he said, ‘ we don’t do business when the owls are awake, and no we don’t have any left! ’ before slamming the door in my face. But, in his defence, it was almost three in the morning.”

“Oh…”

“But Louis, don’t worry, because I ran to that one convenient store not far from here and I bought your favourite ice cream!” Harry gently pulls him to sit on one of the sofas before opening the Baskin Robbins’ tube for him. The alpha grabs the spoon given by the store before putting it in Louis’ smaller hand, curling it around the plastic material. “I know how much you like their strawberry cheese ice cream so I got you three tubes.”

Louis hesitates before scooping up the pink ice cream and licking it, not really knowing how to feel because it is his favourite ice cream and it is yummy but also, he really wants the ice pops. He’s confused. He’s a little upset, but also he really appreciates Harry for sacrificing his sleep for him. But again, ice pops are ice pops. So when he notices the salty tears that start to drip along his cheeks, his brain’s first instinct is to automatically switch to his negative mindset.

And what alphas still need to learn about taking care of a pregnant omega is that they can never mess up their craving requests. Or…

“Y-you hate me so much, I can’t believe it.” Louis sobs as he scoops the third spoon into his mouth. 

“Oh god…”

He turns his back towards Harry and sits cross-legged on the sofa, scooping up the fifth spoon. “I’m sorry for always asking too much, I swear I never mean to.”

“Louis, I didn’t expect it would upset you this much, but I tried, okay?”

The omega’s shoulders are shaking by the time he’s had his tenth spoon, though he’s grateful for the gentle rub given by Harry from the back. He cries and he cries, still so confused about his haywired mind and his unaligned emotions as he keeps eating more ice cream. He keeps crying when he sees the tube is already half empty, and he intends on crying even harder when Harry starts to pull the tube away from him. “No…”

“That’s it, sweet. You’ll hurt your tummy if you keep eating so much ice cream. You can have some more tomorrow but for now, sleep, okay?”

He calms down as Harry wipes his tears away and leaves soft kisses on his forehead, murmuring gentle words like ‘you’ll feel better soon’ and ‘good omega’. “Okay.”

“Good, can you walk?”

He can, but he doesn’t want to. “Can you carry me?”

“Of course.” And he doesn’t feel guilty for making the alpha carry him bridal style when he’s capable of walking on his own because he’s carrying Harry’s baby, so technically it’s a win-win situation.

Louis thinks about how ridiculous he was being that night when they enter his temporary bedroom, and suddenly the shame and guilt creep into his heart the moment Harry puts him on the bed gently. The alpha says his goodnight after grazing Louis’ red cheek for a moment, and he’s about to leave the bedroom when Louis decides he’s done being bad. “Alpha.”

There’s a loud heartbeat that goes without Louis hearing, and there's also a fond grin on Harry’s face that goes without Louis noticing. “Yes?”

“I’m sorry.”

He hears Harry sigh, “Why are you sorry? You’ve done nothing.”

“I made you go out at almost three in the morning and I didn’t appreciate you enough. I was being ungrateful.”

“Baby,” Harry makes his way to sit at the edge of Louis’ bed before messaging Louis’ legs, “I didn’t mind all that. Honestly, pleasing you is something I find so much pleasure in doing. I enjoy every minute of you reminding me that you are in fact pregnant with my child. Please don’t ever feel bad for asking me for anything. I’ll always try my best to fulfil your needs.”

“I’m still sorry for earlier.”

“Apology accepted, sweet. Sleep well.” Harry bends down to leave another kiss on his cheek before walking towards the door.

“And Harry?”

“Hm?”

“Thank you for my favourite ice cream.”

♡

“Uh, are you sure about this, Helena?” Harry drove him to Helena’s after the omega told him he didn’t want to be alone for the day when the alpha went to the farm and that he also wanted to pick up some more dresses from the lady, and of course, he had missed talking to her. Well, he’s second guessing the latter part. 

“Of course I am. You have no right to judge my food when I’m sure you’ve been having ridiculous cravings.” The older omega bends down to sweep the dry leaves beneath the floating patio Louis is sitting on. Warm crisps of air shyly hit his exposed arm and silky hair as he examines the bowl filled with smashed pomegranate and dates prepared by Helena. 

“You said it’s good for the baby?”

“It is.” Louis sighs as he watches Helena, who’s putting the bags of the dry leaves against a stump. He smiles down at the baby bump underneath the mint blouse he’d put on earlier, anything good for Baby . And if it's an odd looking bowl of fruit mix he’s never had before, then so be it. “It’s not that bad, right?” 

“Um, well. It’s sweet and tastes better than I had expected but I need some time to get used to this taste in my mouth. I hope Baby likes it.”

“Have you two discussed the baby’s name? You know it’s good to call the baby by name while you’re still pregnant.”

“Uh, it’s up to Harry, I guess. I don’t think I have a say in this matter. Also, we still have a week for another appointment to find out the baby’s gender but even then, it’s still up to Harry.” 

“But Louis, you are the mother. You have the right to name the child too.”

“I’m only gonna be the ‘mother’ for not more than five months more, Helena. Can you imagine when the kid grew up and Harry would be getting blamed for giving them the name Lewbert when it was all me and the kid would have no idea about that?”

“First of all, you are not naming the poor child Lewbert. Secondly, I refuse to believe that you and Mr. Styles aren’t going to settle down sooner or later. You don’t just be a mother for a few months and then pack up and leave. Once you’re a mother, you’re a mother forever.”

“But what if Harry already has another plan and sets his eyes on some omega that he would like to court someday, mate them, and make them the baby’s stepmother?”

“Oh, darling, I wish I had sent you to the university so maybe you would be smarter than this.” Helena rolls her eyes when Louis sends her a glare, that’s a sensitive topic for omegas. Though it was ingrained in his mind ever since he was in his early teenagehood that he would want to be a full-time housewife after getting mated so he could take care of his alpha and pups. “Haven’t you seen the way he looks at you?”

“Here we go again. Your husband Danny has been letting you watch too many rom-coms on the new television he got you, hasn’t he?”

“And he’s a perfect husband for that. But seriously Louis, mark my words, Harry is already on his way to make you his child’s forever mother and no stepmother is gonna be in the picture. This is coming from someone who watches a lot of rom-coms.”

“There is no correlation but whatever floats your boat.” Louis waves her away with the stained spoon he uses to eat the smashed pomegranates and dates.

“And believe it or not, you don’t have to worry about him courting some other omega. He’s already courting you.”

And, well, he can’t stop thinking about Helena’s words for the next two days. It’s been bouncing on and off his mind from the moment Harry had picked him up from her house with a bouquet of flowers, to last night’s dinner where the alpha had made him steaming spaghetti and homemade chocolate ice cream and didn’t even bat an eyelash when Louis had mixed both foods on his plate, and it also doesn’t stop now, as he’s currently stressing out about choosing an outfit for the little escapade with Harry, something that expecting parents need to do once in while, firmly stated by Harry. He wants to look pretty and he also wants to feel comfortable. But none of the pretty dresses fit him perfectly anymore. 

Every single thing that he does is like an augury to what will follow next, and the consequences always settle in him like a raft surfing through a silent river. He never knows what to expect from Harry, if he should get prepared for a sudden storm or save his energy from fretting over things that aren’t going to happen. The alpha never stops from spoiling him with materials and cares, and while that could be counted as an act of courting, he never receives any verbal statement from Harry about the arrangement. He’s not sure if he should relax and indulge in the princess-like treatment he’s receiving or be prepared to get hurt if he’s reading all the signs wrong. He should’ve never gone to Helena’s house the other day.

Sighing in front of the mirror, he pulls down the silky blouse to cover the exposed part of his baby bump, feeling 50/50 about the lilac top. It’s one of his favourites to pair with the white palazzo he’s wearing now, but when you’re pregnant, you have to sacrifice some of the things you love. And Louis refuses to sacrifice it just yet. He’s only halfway through his pregnancy and he still can make some exceptions, including this, right?

He turns to inspect his side for the final check; he thinks he kind of looks cute with the baby bump. Honestly, being able to look at himself in the mirror while carrying a child in him is one of the things he was looking forward to when he was still in his early 20s. It’s the image of an expecting mother cradling the bottom of their bump, shielding the protective globe of their pup from any danger, and the idea of it has always been enticing to him. 

“Maybe I’m quite pretty.” He shrugs to the mirror with two hands on top of his bump before exiting the bedroom upon hearing the roar of Harry’s engine. 

“Hey, you look beautiful,” Harry greets him with an awed expression on his face as he guides the omega to the car, making his cheeks tint with a strawberry flush. He hopes the lack of light during the night is enough for the colour to be invisible to Harry’s eyes. The alpha keeps staring at him as he adjusts his seat after helping Louis in, only blinking when Louis shyly clears his throat. “Um, I’m sorry for running a little late, was making a few arrangements before I rushed home.”

Home. He always calls the house Louis is currently staying with him ‘home’ when talking to him. The realisation makes his mind spin. 

Trying to keep his cool, he bites the bottom of his lips. “I know, thanks. And don’t worry, I was taking my time inside.”

“Yeah, I can see it.” The alpha winks, making it hard for Louis to not go completely red in his seat, especially when Harry’s body practically shields him when he’s putting on his seat belt for him. “Is this okay? Do you feel comfortable?” He swears he feels his tummy flutter a little, not sure if it’s from the baby or from the touch when the alpha gently inspects his bump. But Baby has yet to debut the first kick.

“Yeah, this is perfect. Thank you, Harry.”

Harry drives them through the peaceful silence of the night along the old pathway that leads to the westside of the village. And when Louis asks where they are heading to, the alpha just settles with ‘we’re going to get a little crazy’ that has him roll his eyes playfully at the man.

30 minutes of baby talks in the car pass with ease and Louis can’t help forgetting the fact that he and Harry aren't an actual mated couple who are going for one of their usual date nights, and that’s partly the older man’s fault for acting like a perfect husband he’s always dreamed of having. 

“And here goes us.” Harry exits the car before running to the passenger side and opens the door for him. As usual, the alpha holds his hand and cradles his waist with his unoccupied hand to help him get down from the car.

Salt air and flute of waves greet him with a veneer of glowing sands embracing the lustre from the moon, defeating the silence of the dark. First look gives him the serenity to lay down and never move a muscle, looking twice sends him giddy and makes him want to traverse the enticing ocean. “You brought us to the beach?”

He forgot to add the part where he wants to explore the wet land with the owner of the longing gaze directed at him, running in his hold— protected but free. Harry smiles like a crisp December wind, Louis is a bush of dry leaves and he’s…flying. “And I’m bringing you over the ocean.” Oh. “Come here.”

He lets himself be guided by the genuine join of their fingers, following Harry’s lead towards a small jetty absentmindedly. They stop in front of a red gondola decorated with fairy lights that go around the gunwale and the hooks occupied by a conductor. “Oh, Harry…” And for a moment, he thinks he doesn’t have any more air left in his lungs. “T-this is beautiful. So beautiful.”

“I’m glad that you like it because we’re going inside it.” 

“We are?”

“We are, sweet. Here, let me help.” Harry makes sure to circle his arms around Louis’ much tinier body and, of course, his baby bump, when he transfers him inside the gondola over the hull. The process is a little tricky as the gondola sways over the waves, but Harry is a man of patience. “Be careful,” he says, making sure Louis is seated properly before stepping into the gondola.

“When you said we were going to get a little crazy I didn’t expect this.” Louis smiles up at the alpha, heart beating as his gaze lingers on his lips.

“That’s a sign for you to expect higher of me,” Harry returns with a smirk as he nods to the conductor to get on with the ride. 

Ocean of stars cover them like the knights ahead of the thrones and at the moment, Louis realises how small he is now that he is on the surface of the deep. Funnily enough, he doesn’t feel any sort of inferiority in him, he doesn’t feel intimidated with the way Harry pulls him closer to his side, thumb grazing his much smaller one as they rest their intertwined hands on the alpha’s thigh.

Harry’s incessant kisses drop like the alpha is building a map of wonderland on top of his head, and Louis just wishes the path leads to the treasure that is his lips.

The omega finds himself enjoying the warm breeze and the inviting smell of cocoa dripping from the alpha’s body heat. He fails to notice the passing time when the gondola’s hook hits the edge of the jetty, signalling the end of their ride. 

After getting out of the gondola with some help from the conductor, Louis whispers into Harry’s ear, trying his best to be discreet. “He was really silent.”

“I paid for him to shut up during the whole ride so…” The both of them fall into a fit of giggles that is masked by the sound of the sea breeze. Louis fails to notice when Harry lowers his blouse that rides up and exposes a flash of his golden tummy skin the moment another couple walks past them. “Wanna walk some more?”

“Yes, please. Don’t want the night to end just yet,” he answers timidly, blushing when Harry bends down to press his nose behind the omega’s ear, his favourite thing to do to be able to breathe in Louis’ ‘sweet pregnancy scent’ as he always says.

“Let’s go, beautiful.”

The windy night walk along the dark beach is filled with uncontrollable laughter from Louis due to Harry’s charming jokes and lingering touches and smiles. The alpha carries their shoes as they indulge in the feeling of crystal sand warming their soles, another hand never leaving the widening curve that belongs to Louis. Ticking time is long forgotten as the moon in the sky crawls higher and the stars’ blinking gets heavier. 

It’s only when they reach the end of the beach that they realise they have gone too far with no one else lurking around. Louis is about to pout when Harry makes a turn to go back where they were three hours ago when he gets an idea. When he said he didn’t want the night to end just yet, he really meant it.

“Can we play in the water for a bit?”

Harry turns back to stare at him with a gaping mouth, “You mean in the sea?”

“Yes.” Louis softly grabs the alpha’s hand, stroking the visible veins to add his secret effect. He tilts his head up for Harry, who literally towers over everyone in their village, while pulling his calloused hand to place it on the top of his bump, covering it with his smaller one. “Please.”

“Wouldn’t it be cold?”

“Harry! The night sea is much warmer than the day,” he giggles.

“Okay fine, but—”

“Please…” 

“Alright,” Harry gives in, as he always does. “Moms always win.”

Lost in his excitement, Louis pulls the alpha towards the tide after Harry has pulled off his sweater and threw it on the beach berm. It has always been hard for Louis to ignore the strong flutter on his breasts every time the toned torso gets paraded for his eyes, and tonight is no different from the other days. He knows Harry knows what he is doing to him when the small quirk on his lips doesn’t go unnoticed by him, this man is sick.

The initial steps into the water are shy and behaving, their eyes run back and forth, synchronising with the flow of the tidal waves that dutifully paint the sand with a darker shade. And, well, ‘playing in the water for a bit’ eventually brings a growing thrill inside the omega’s head and he sinks further into the water, Harry protectively attaching himself to the omega’s back as he follows wherever he goes. 

Louis almost doesn’t notice something hard poking the dimples of his back as his mind becomes distracted with his overwhelming joy. Almost . 

At first he thinks it’s a floating coral, so his hand confidently searches for the hard object to move it out of his way. And when he touches the ‘coral’, it disappears way too quickly. But what actually confuses him is Harry’s loud hiss.

“Harry, what’s wrong?” He turns around and searches for any damage on the alpha’s body, hands running over his hard body frantically. 

“N-nothing— Louis, wait. I—” Harry groans loudly when Louis’ hands accidentally swipes over his groin area and oh . “Nothing’s wrong with me, um.” Harry clears his throat as he grips Louis’ wrists between them, safely distanced from his prominent boner. 

“Alpha, your knot is hard.” The last thing Louis hears before his mouth is gripped by Harry is a deep ‘god’. Louis pouts confusedly, as best as he can with his mouth forming an ‘o’ when Harry doesn’t let go.

“Call me that again.” The grip is loosened, but Harry’s piercing stare only seems to harden.

“A-alpha?” The shivering omega is forced to let out a gasp the second Harry attaches his forehead against his, his dark gaze never ceasing. He can practically swallow the ragged breath that comes out of Harry’s mouth and the rising heat between their bodies almost makes him roll his eyes, but a whimper kind of saves him from doing so, though it’s more likely sending his face crimson red. “You’re alright?” Louis flickers his gaze towards the bulge in Harry’s damp pants before hesitantly asking, “D-do you need me to help you with it?”

And at that, the stormy pool of green flares within a single beat before Harry’s pupils return to their normal state, eyelids blinking with guilt. “Uh…”

“Can I help you with it?”

As if he’s just gotten an epiphany, Harry gapes a few times before looking down to check himself. He covers his boner with his hand as fast as the instant flash in his eyes some moments ago. “Louis, I’m so sorry. I-I didn’t mean to…get hard.”

“Oh.” Louis bites his lip shamefully, the alpha never answers him. He must feel bad to say no and chooses to ignore his question. “It’s fine, things happen.”

He lets himself be tugged gently by Harry as they silently decide there is no way they can continue being in the water for a few more seconds without the hot reminder of what just happened lingering around them. As they reach the land, a cold breeze that contradicts the temperature of the night sea immediately hits Louis’ exposed skin, especially when his damp blouse can no longer do his body heat justice. 

He must’ve been shivering strongly because Harry rushes to grab his discarded sweater and returns to slip the thick material over him. It’s still cold, the damp blouse is sticking to his skin and keeps his follicles wet but the sweater is able to comfort him in a way where Louis doesn’t have to try hard to be grateful. And the smogs of cocoa scent from the sweater that guard him as Harry wraps him with his surprisingly warm body wash away every disturbance from that night.

♡

“Love it when you’re in my room, you should come more often.”

Today is the day—the day of both Louis and Harry finding out the gender of their baby—and the nerve hasn’t stopped kicking him ever since yesterday. The omega couldn’t even get a proper sleep because slipping within the edging tension was the eager buzz to finally learn more and more things about his baby. It’s like he isn’t able to keep his hand off his 22 weeks baby bump that grows along with the amount of fondness and care in him, always wanting to show Baby the extent of protection he would give them. 

For the past few days, Louis learns how easy it is to get rid of his favourite clothes as he finds greater comfort in wearing Harry’s thick tops, his obsession with pairing the cocoa scented jumpers with every maxi skirt that he owns doesn’t seem to leave him any sooner. Pregnancy teaches him to evolve his fashion creatively and he can’t even complain about the abandoned pretty blouses in the closet. 

Just like every other day throughout the week, Harry finds Louis in his bedroom, processing his closet to experiment with the combination of coloured jumpers with his caramel skirt today. At first he jumped and tried to hide his face in the bunch of hanging clothes once he heard Harry’s low hum from behind, but now the amused chuckle doesn’t faze him anymore. 

“Why? And I saw you wearing the white jumper with a stitched brown rose the other day, where is it?” his whine sounds muffled as he keeps searching for the specific top. 

“I love the way this room always smells like you,” Harry’s voice starts with a whisper loud enough for the both of them to hear before it gets to the normal tone after a clearing in the throat. “I put it on the upper shelf, let me get it for you.”

Louis steps back to make way for Harry with strawberry kissed cheeks. Alphas directly confessing about them finding pleasure in breathing in an omega’s scent is one of their ways to step up their game when courting, and Harry’s done so many more to reach the upper tiers in said game. 

As he lets himself drown in the pink thoughts, he’s slowly grabbed by a gripping hand on his shoulder and turned to face Harry. “Lift your arms,” the alpha instructs gently before slipping the white jumper over Louis’ half naked body, staring at him up and down with a hungry gaze. “My beautiful baby mama.” Before Louis can even adjust his outfit, he’s being engulfed by Harry who immediately scents him, making the both of them smell like a steaming cup of cocoa on a dry evening. “The jumper smells like a laundry room and I don’t want the doctor to think your alpha has been making you do the housewife jobs while you’re pregnant.”

“M-my alpha?”

“Have been your alpha all these months, haven’t I?” Harry winks before leading him out of the room, picking up the car keys but dropping kisses on Louis’ cloudy head.

When the familiar private clinic, where this amazing journey Louis is riding started, comes into their view, the tickling nerves from the night before revisit him. It’s just a normal check up like any other month, but this time he’ll be finding out the gender of Baby, but that doesn’t matter as long as they’re in perfect condition. Every day is filled with Louis prioritising the baby in everything that he does, every crawling moment is just him trying to think of good thoughts. He doesn’t just want the baby to be able to listen to his heartbeat or the rich baritone hum of Tim McGraw in Louis’ favourite evening playlist; he also wants Baby to grow perfectly in a positive environment despite still being in their mom’s body. Baby is like a diamond sent from heaven and has to transit in his womb before jumping into the world full of malices and lies. So, Louis is nervous. 

“You ready?”

“I’m scared.” He places his hand on Harry’s awaiting hold, smiling a little when the man rubs his skin soothingly. 

“Baby will be alright. You’ll be alright. We will be alright.” Harry pulls him to his side, their position a little awkward due to the car partition, but Louis doesn’t care. He needs to be held. “You’ve been a beautiful mother inside and out, I’m sure Baby is enjoying their time growing in your womb,” Harry continues as if he knows what Louis is thinking about, and he just wants to cry.

“I trust you, Harry.”

“Thank you for trusting me, angel. Now, we get inside the clinic and meet your favourite doctor and then say hi to our perfect little Baby, and after that we’ll go shop for some baby stuff, what do you say?”

Louis smiles wider, “Okay.”

Doctor Swift greets them with a bright smile as soon as they enter the ultrasound room, signalling her nurses to help Louis onto the bed and pull a chair for Harry to sit next to the laying omega.

“So, how are you feeling, Miss Tomlinson?” The blonde alpha adjusts the medical records on the clipboard before scribbling something after Louis answers her question. “I hope you two remember what we’re going to find out today.”

“Yeah. Excited,” Louis answers way too quickly with a high-pitched voice, blushing when both alphas and the beta nurses chuckle at him.

“Adorable.” 

“Watch it, Doctor Swift,” Harry raises his eyebrow, half-serious but still looking threatening. 

“I’d watch my omega if they would need some help with lifting their jumper for the ultrasound if I was you, Mr. Styles.” The doctor returns with a smile as she types in some codes in the ultrasound machine. 

It’s normal for Harry and Doctor Swift to bicker like that ever since Louis’ first appointment when the blonde alpha had winked at Louis and made the omega’s cheeks flush in front of the older man. It’s obvious that the doctor loves to charm all of her patients, and Louis doesn’t mind watching Harry go all hot and borderline possessive over him since Doctor Swift knows how to maintain her professionalism. She makes him feel comfortable during all check-ups and always gives them detailed feedback regarding Baby, and deep down he knows Harry is grateful that the blonde alpha will be the one delivering the baby. And as long as Louis is happy with the arrangement, Harry doesn’t mind. 

Harry immediately turns to assist Louis afterwards, making the omega grin when he folds up the jumper over his bump and leaves a little kiss on the stretching tummy. “Hello daddy’s angel, we meet again.” Louis closes his eyes at the soft whisper against his skin.

“As usual, this is gonna get a little cold so prepare yourself.”

“Okay, thanks for reminding me.” 

“Sure thing, love,” she playfully winks at the omega, earning another glare from Harry. Louis’ giggle is cut off by the drop of cool gel on his exposed bump, pulling a little wince from him. “Whoops, thought I reminded you.”

“It’s alright, I enjoy the surprise every time.” Louis returns the fond smile directed by Harry with a shy grin as he reasons. He bites his lip as the blonde alpha swirls the ultrasound probe around his glistening skin, squinting her eyes into the displayed image on the screen. “Is Baby okay?”

“Baby’s completely fine, looking very healthy and in the perfect size of 22 weeks. Good job mommy and daddy! Here, look at your pup.” Doctor Swift turns the monitor towards both expecting parents with a satisfied smile. 

“Oh my…” His eyes are already cloudy even before he can process what he is looking at. A month ago the same black screen showed them a globe with forming organs that had yet to fully develop, but today is different. What he is seeing feels like an unfathomable miracle happening in front of him. Baby is a growing, perfect little human, humble head still hiding between the developed limbs. 

“Our child, our Baby.” Harry’s gaze flits between the monitor and Louis’ red face, fingers grasping the omega’s hands while his lips litter kisses all over his knuckles. 

All the realistic thoughts he’d have had he not been feeling this proud and grateful are drowned at the back of his mind, everything is going in the right path and feels just right. He pulls Harry’s hand close to his lips and returns the incessant kisses on the rough palm, nodding along as their gazes meet in the middle of a windy garden where all the happy butterflies and flowers dance along to the happy news. “Our baby.”

“And…it’s a girl!”

–

“Don’t let go of my arm, sweet.” They walk along the aisle sandwiched by bright yellow shelves where all the baby nappies are hung, all in cute designs that make Louis want to keep getting pregnant again and again so he can buy all of them. After having the baby check-up, they went to grab lunch before heading to a famous babyland store around the area to buy some baby stuff.

“Which one would you like to get?”

“You have the best judgement between us, you choose. Or we can just get one of every design.”

Louis rolls his eyes playfully, rich daddy. “I don’t mind actually, they’re all cute. But I’ll look and choose the ones with the softest materials. Don’t want Baby to get irritated.” He inspects the nappies with two fingers, judging the quality of the clothes.

“Mhm, love it when you’re in your mommy mode.” He blushes when the alpha wraps his arms around his shoulder from behind, whole body able to cover him from the passing people. Harry moves his hand to cradle Louis’ bump, rubbing the bottom part where he knows Louis loves to be rubbed as it lessens the tension of the weight he’s carrying. “Baby is gonna be the luckiest child.”

“Thank you,” is all he settles with, not wanting to risk crying in public if he speaks more. They spend hours in the babyland, three trolleys full of equipment for Baby are ready at the counter and Harry is pushing the last one into the clothes section. This is the part that Louis has been waiting for; dressing up little pups with cute clothes has always been his mastery ever since he worked as a nanny at such a young age before getting the midwife job offer. “Harry, help, I’m gonna faint. These are so pretty.” 

The alpha chuckles as he picks up a pair of pink pyjamas with a minnie mouse printed on it. Each step along the section takes a five minute stop so they can choose and pick up clothes for the baby.  When they’re done, almost half of the trolley is filled with just tiny pyjamas, shirts, and stockings. 

“Hm, not enough pink for a baby girl,” Harry hums.

“Actually…I think it’s better to get outfits in all colours equally because I have a feeling that Doctor Swift is not entirely right.”

Harry frowns, slowly putting down the little suspenders on its rack. “What do you mean? Did Doctor Swift do something wrong? Do I need to sue her or something?”

The alpha’s face grows confused when Louis just laughs. “Harry, no. Doctor Swift is perfectly fine, she never does anything wrong. It’s just…” Louis blushes, biting his lip shyly. “My instinct is saying that Baby is a boy. Of course, if you wanna get a lot of pink clothes for him then go on. It doesn’t matter, but before you get more pink clothes just because she said Baby is a girl, I just thought you should know about my instinct, because, you’re the father, obviously. Eh, it’s pretty dumb I kn—”

“Hey, hey, none of that, okay. It’s not dumb,” Harry smiles, pulling him by the shoulders. “It’s fascinating to see you talk like that, it’s sweet. I get it, now tell me why you think Baby is a boy, hm?”

“When my late mother was pregnant with me, the midwife said I was going to be a girl but of course her predictions couldn’t always be correct so my mother was surprised when I came out. Her love for me didn’t change though.” Louis grows fond every time he remembers the story. 

“Oh, wow, I didn’t know that. That’s a beautiful story, thank you for sharing it with me. You always come as beautiful surprises, hm?”

“Always so charming, alpha.”

“Born to charm you and you always, omega.” 

They leave the store with a car packed with baby stuff, sore feet and growing elements such as a little pup and may or may not, feeling. 

That night when Louis is resting on his bed while Harry loads all the things they had bought today from the car to arrange them in the baby’s soon-to-be decorated nursery, he tries not to smile so hard at the previous events throughout the day. 

♡

August marks the seventh month of Louis’ pregnancy, bringing him into a more interesting phase with profound feelings hitting him from left and right. His mind rewinds the bits of sweet and painful memories that occurred before his eyes throughout the decades he has lived, growing from a happy little pup in a tiny cottage full of mother’s love and fervent whispers to a timid ingenue, senses always on their peak around the lingering stares and goading wisers that moulded him into a genteel omega. He learns that the cycle of life shouldn’t always be a cycle, the paths that lead people to the same ending come in patterns, and while he’s grateful for the life he’s had, he wants the pup in his womb to have an easier one. 

Young days were rough, he’s sure he was dressed in the same five repeated clothes throughout the week because mother could hardly make ends meet, but he never intended to hold any grudges against her. She was the most ideal light that brightened the dark path and dimmed it when it was too blinding, and he will forever be thankful to be her only pup. But for Baby, he wants to give him his best. 

He woke up that morning feeling a little more hazy than usual; there’s been a tingling sensation around his nipples that doesn’t seem to go away even when he presses his palms over his breasts to stop the pain. Giving up and letting the new addition to the pregnancy symptoms bother his body all morning, he ate the homemade breakfast Harry prepared before he went to the farm and immediately entered the halfway decorated nursery. The alpha will only start taking his days off two weeks prior to his due date, which will be around October, and for the time being, Louis has to endure the lonely days as he’s too big to spend time at Helena’s. 

“I hope you like spending time with me, darling.” He’s been in the nursery unfolding and folding the baby clothes from five different baskets, smoothing out the comforter inside the crib and just simply seeking comfort from the pure space for hours. He’s sure he’s approaching that moment that comes once every six months, but he’s too far gone to care as he’s resting his eyes while lazing on the rocking chair with a hand never leaving his fluttering bump. 

Baby finally debuted his first kick a few days ago, and it had sent him drenching Harry’s shirt as he silently cried to the alpha telling Baby ‘not to hurt mommy and to kick him patiently whenever he felt like talking to daddy’ as they laid on Harry’s bed for a movie night in his room. It was one of the happiest moments of his life and his love and pride towards the pup has grown too much to the point of no turning back. 

He’s soaring through the yellowish blue sky, cottons of clouds parting to make a way for him and his pregnant belly as singing angels welcome them to a beautiful motherhood. There he can see pairs of mothers and their children, some laying on sheer clothes with babies in diapers cradled close to their chest, some burping the small creatures on their shoulders and some throwing their heads back as the children gurgle at the fluttering butterflies. It’s a community, a hanging garden, heaven— he doesn’t know. But what he knows is that he belongs here. 

Walking feels like floating, no swollen feet or back pain accompanying him on this little trip, he shall name it. Mothers are minding their own children, love flying around the atmosphere and he thinks he has never felt this warm before. His skin flutters, as if Baby is telling him he likes it here. Louis smiles down at his bump before he keeps venturing around the space. 

He meets a person whose back is facing him, and while the rest are radiating with joy and pride with children in their hold, this person keeps their head down. And it’s bothering the omega how familiar their caramel hair is, how similar their features are. The person almost looks the same as…

“Louis?” He turns around, searching for the voice to no avail. And when he’s facing his previous view just now, there’s a woman with a similar voice that just called his name talking to the mysterious person. “It will be alright.”

“No, it won’t.” His eyes widen, their voice is just a copy of his voice. He watches as his possible doppelganger ducks their head down to kiss the bundle of nappies layering a sleeping baby before passing the pure soul to the pitiful woman. “Take care of Baby for me.”

Louis’ heart beats louder than the call of doomsday, he waits until the person turns around and, oh.

It’s him.

A ping from his phone snaps him out of the cruel daydream and he finds a hard time breathing in the gulp of air as he wipes the flowing tears on his cheek. He reads the text from Harry saying he’ll be coming home a little later than usual because of an audit at the farm with glassy vision.

Still drowning in fear of someone taking his happiness away from him, he cradles his bump momentarily, making sure his surroundings are okay, Baby is okay before grabbing a bag of baby’s clothes and heading towards Harry’s bedroom, where he knows the cocoa scent lingers the most. Upon entering the room, he’s hit with exactly what he needs at the moment and god, he never wants to be anywhere else. 

There’s an intense need to build barriers around him and his pup in him, mind inclining towards keeping the both of them confined in a safe haven made from piles of clothes that he believes can protect them from any harm. Harry’s bed is looking way too bare for him and their pup and that irritates him so much, the previous thoughts coming back to trigger his fight or flight. 

Protect, protect, protect.

Feet scrambling to where his eyes darted and he’s swimming against the current when the closet containing Harry’s clothes seems so far away from his reach. His eyelids are getting heavier, the tenderness on his breasts is somewhat worsening, and his skin is burning as if he’s walking closer towards a bonfire, a far cry from the comfort he’s seeking. The closet is practically ripped apart before his awake senses start to pick the softest materials from the many partitions there are. Countless knitted sweaters, cotton tank tops, unwashed coats, and some other clothes he couldn’t possibly name even if he was in a vivid state are thrown onto the bed before he deems the closet is too empty for him to declutter further. Carefully, his limbs bring him over the bed and his hands start to skilfully intertwine Harry’s and Baby’s clothes in a braiding manner that forms a circle at the end. Extra clothes are piled up in the middle of the space, almost completing the small fort. 

Scent, scent, scent.

His head drops first before his body follows, fitting in the nest perfectly, humming as the hint of peach from his scent gland mixes with the lingering rich cocoa smell from the fort. Satisfaction threads along his senses and finally, Baby is safe with them .

After years and years of surviving heats without the presence of a strong alpha’s scent, his body practically trembles in the overwhelming serenity. Going into heat alone in the comfort of his own house has never felt quite like this. Sure, he managed to fight the urges to jump out of his window like a feral omega once the unconsciousness had taken its toll on him just so he could risk his safety and kneel before some random alphas around the village, but the heats have always felt like the calls of duty. The pressure outnumbered the pleasure, and his heats welcomed him with draining thoughts. 

Now, as he’s all safe and sound in the new but no stranger comfort of his upgraded nest, the side of his lips quirks with no draining thoughts giving him signs of their presence. With hands secured on his bump, he’s looking forward to being pulled into the hazy state, no more alone. It feels so easy to just slip into yet another sleep, this time with no cruel daydream. 

♡

His forehead is burning and letting him know about the rise in the temperature the third time he wakes up that day to the sound of footsteps from the living room. He’s already a foot in for his impending heat, not really sure if he would be experiencing a different kind of heat this time now that he’s pregnant with a pup. Some say you will be less aroused but clingier, so your pup’s father’s touch is really essential throughout the phase. And it’s true, he thinks. His body is aching to be wrapped up by Harry’s perfect alpha build; he longs to feel the generous kisses not only on his head, but he wants them to be messily littered on his stretching bump. 

The desire jumps on his skin the second time he hears another footstep from outside, and faintly, he is able to smell the cocoa scent the moment he starts approaching the door, feeling more than ready to be engulfed in Harry’s body heat. A frown makes its way on his face when the scent soon is hindered by an unfamiliar smell of… omega. 

Danger, danger, danger.

His heart drops the same time as his hand falls around his bump; there is another person that is not him or Harry near their pup, and he’s not letting it happen. 

Hushed voices meet their halt, a moment of silence beats once after Louis cracks Harry’s bedroom door open. An optimistic glare stays on his face when he peeks his head first to see Harry along with a young redhead standing in the middle of the living room, hands attached to the one file that connects them suspiciously. 

“Hi beautiful, oh— you smell good, baby. Sorry I was a little late, the audit in the farm went beyond the working hours, didn’t expect the auditors to be so detailed. This is Melissa, one of my workers. She's here to pick up this file because it’s her turn to be audited tomorrow.”

The beautiful omega waves a friendly hi to him, but there’s something about her smile that makes his skin itch, the gulp of saliva down his throat goes unnoticed as his thoughts are clouded by insecurity. Is she the omega Harry’s going to court? They work at the same place, obviously the chance of them falling for each other is high and Louis has been in the dark all this time. He tightens the grip around his bump, head alert with the next incoming thought. Is she going to be Baby’s stepmother?

The realisation pushes his panic to a soaring mode. He blinks back his tears. Today has not been easy for him, all he wants is for Harry to pull him close after coming back from work and spoil him with kisses and talk to their pup through his skin that Harry’s developed an obsession of touching for the past few weeks in their safe little nest Louis has created. But obviously that’s not happening because this stinky omega is coming to destroy his pitiful dream.

And Harry’s not doing anything to stop it. Dads are always the dumb ones.  

“You’ve eaten, baby?” Harry asks with a sickeningly sweet smile.

He ignores him as his gaze pierces on the smiling omega. “Are you two gonna mate?”

“Wha—”

Oh, now they’re even speaking at the same time like they’re soulmates or something. He wants to cry.

“A-aren’t you two together? You are carrying his child…” the dumbfounded omega stammers.

“Yeah, you are carrying my child.” Harry looks as confused as Melissa, approaching Louis with open arms. “Why did you say that, baby?”

So, they’re not going to mate. Thank god. But what Melissa has asked slaps him back into reality, why would she say that? Harry and him are not together and the fact that a stranger has a false fact about their relationship upsets him, he feels embarrassed. He only wishes her assumption was correct. The pain on his breasts just adds to the weight on his spinning head, and he can’t contain standing here with a stranger omega stinking up a place that’s supposed to be the safe haven for their pup.

“Never mind.” 

“Baby—” He practically slams the door of Harry’s room before the alpha could even finish his sentence. Soreness, fatigue, and shame all pile together on his draining body as he drags himself to the nest on the bed. He feels so hot and sensitive and everything irritates him more than a cold cup of tea in the morning. 

A breathless moment later, he is tossing around his nest with cloth no longer covering his sweating skin. The door opens revealing Harry, who’s also naked from chest to waist, eyes respectfully inspecting the writhing omega on his bed. “Uh, sorry I had to pull off my clothes in the living room—” Louis’ eyes widen as he listens to Harry’s speech, “—after Melissa left! Because I wanted to comfort you but my clothes smelled like the farm and I couldn’t get into this room just yet, so, I hope you don’t mind. Uh, are you in heat, beautiful?”

Louis’ eyes relax at the comforting voice and scent that is starting to envelop the area of the room. He just nods slowly, eyes drooping at the sight in front of him. He needs Harry close to him, needs the alpha to shield him and their pup from any danger, but he’s too weak to talk it out, and he’s still embarrassed from the previous incident. 

But an alpha Harry is, ever so attentive and empathetic, he smiles down at him as he slowly sits at the edge of the bed, careful not to touch Louis’ nest. “You created such a pretty nest, sweet. Looking so sturdy yet comfortable, keeping our pup safe, hm? Such an amazing mother, my good omega.”

“Harry…” he whines at the praise, hand scrounging enough energy to make a grabbing sign for the alpha. 

“Do you want me to enter your beautiful nest?”

“Yes…”

“Thank you, thank you, my angel. So kind and so beautiful.” Harry carefully crawls into the nest, making Louis sigh gratefully at the fill of the gap in his nest. He lets his tears fall down his cheeks the moment Harry wraps his arms around him, strong hand cradling his bump— protecting their pup —with a generous amount of gentleness. 

“Don’t cry, my angel. Tell me what’s wrong?” Harry peppers his warm kisses at the back of Louis’ neck, grip around his smaller body tightening as he spoons him from the back. Their blending scents are stronger now that the alpha is here, and Louis feels absolutely happy.

“P-please don’t take Baby away from me.” His eyes are closed, mind slipping back to what he can recall as the usual subspace he’s been in as the final call before the real heat. 

He feels Harry’s breath getting hotter in his ear, and the man drops another wet kiss on his back. “Angel, Baby is ours. He’s yours just as much as he’s mine, he's not going anywhere, he’ll forever be with us. Our pup loves you.”

Forever. 

The fore is dark, and he’s gripping onto nothing as he falls right into the depth, but the soft whispers cushion all the surfaces. 

“I love you.”

And maybe that’s when his head hits somewhere in the darkness, but there’s no such thing as concrete here.

♡

Gone is the lax draping over his body when he wakes up again; it’s taking up the majority of today’s routine as he has lost count on how many times he’s jolted awake in the past hours. Lingering on the air is the high temperature that goes beyond the pale, there’s no way the Earth can be this hot. Louis wishes he had the energy to toss around to spare some breathable pores on his skin, but he can’t even try to scrounge up any spirit with the pain on his nipples. Without even looking, he just knows the two buds on the peak of his small, round boobs are burning in the shades of the red spider—angry and piercing. He would’ve settled with acknowledging it as a nasty bite from the bedbug if it wasn’t for the sticky trail along the crest of his breasts, rich scent of thick vanilla enveloping his nose, and somehow he’s able to spot a tease of his own peach scent in the midst of it all. 

Hissing, he runs the tip of his finger to catch the bit of the trail before licking the taste on his tongue. Honey is the first recognized by his taste buds before the rich cream resembling strawberry yoghurt makes its presence known. 

His breast milk.

That explains the continuous pain on his nubs and the enlarging tits for the past few weeks, eeriness disappears in the blink of an eye now that something has registered in his mind. He’s able to feed his pup.

He would be squealing with joy at the realisation if his body wasn’t heating up like he’s transforming into a succubus and his breasts weren’t as full. It kinda pulls him into a momentary awestruck however, when he can literally feel the flow of milk pumping in his chest, but his smile is cut off by the sudden pinch on his tits again. 

Feeling all sticky and far from comfortable on his chest is one thing, and the dampening panties attached to his bum and probably wetting his nest definitely makes him feel helpless. There's a river of slick trickling down his walls, doing absolutely nothing to tone down the pressure on his lower half. And despite being full from his breast to his bump, the need to be filled somewhere else is seemingly getting more intense.

“Ouch…” a whine escapes his lips as he twists a little to wake Harry, who’s half-legged inside their nest. “A-alpha…wake up, please.” He starts sobbing when the alpha keeps snoring as if there’s no tomorrow, and Louis just hopes his water won’t break in the middle of the night when Harry is literally an abandoned log. “Alpha…” Frowning, he pinches Harry’s big nose, probably a little bit too hard because the alpha immediately jolts up, curls flying around like a madman.

“Baby, omega. What’s wron—” Harry’s nose flares a few moments after he’s frowning at Louis’ distressing state. “Oh.”

“Please, my nipples hurt.” The pain seems to lessen a little as Harry reaches over his shoulder and rubs off some warmth upon his skin, but Louis just feels the need to seek more and more sympathy from the alpha as he pouts, loving how trembling in front of him affects the man. Harry has so much attention and care to give, and he wants him to give him all of them, and possibly more. Greed has nurtured his pregnancy, but Harry is the one to blame.

“You’re milking,” Harry states, eyes pinning on the shiny pink buds where drips of creamy liquid are flowing generously.

“I know…but it hurts. I-it’s too much.” Holding both of his full breasts with two hands, he attempts to massage them so maybe if he’s lucky enough, he can assuage the swollen tense. But unlucky for him, the act only causes his body to produce even more milk, his nipples are too sensitive from the lack of a baby drinking the overwhelmingly flowing liquid. The shooting pain pulls a longer whine from him this time and god, he can’t take it anymore. “Need you to drink my milk now.”

He shudders when there’s a sudden grip on his shoulder—a very secure touch, he feels like he’s been pinned on the nest. “You want me to collect your milk in a cup and drink it?”

Pain aside, Louis thinks that today is just a day where the universe decides to have him crying the entire time, he can’t believe his baby daddy is so thick in the head. Struggling to keep his mouth from screaming from the piercing pain, he speaks with gritted teeth. “No, Harry, I want you to drink it straight from my nipples. I can’t possibly squeeze my milk out into a freaking cup right now.”

“Are you serious…”

“Do I look like I’m joking?” he weakly snaps at the alpha, already feeling like ripping his hair out.

“Okay, sorry, sorry. On it, angel, on it. You’ll be fine.” Through another coursing pain around his nipples, he squeezes his eyes shut as Harry adjusts his position, hands bracketing Louis’ small body as their faces are inches apart. 

A gulp travels down Louis’ throat at the prominent bits of Harry’s face, his green eyes are fully blown as his nose flares as another wave of slick drips down the omega’s bum. It’s getting hard to suppress the desperate moan as he sees the way Harry’s Adam’s apple bobs down along with the trail of his gaze down Louis’ sweaty body. “Oh.” 

“Beautiful,” Harry whispers with eyes closed, like it was meant to be his own little secret, but Louis has no time to blush when the man sniffs down his neck, tongue licking his soft skin before it goes down to the crest of his breasts where the previous milk is sticking. It’s when the alpha tastes the residue; his behaviour is starting to get out of control as he starts lapping on the skin, Louis’ eyes roll back. “Hm, sweetest milk ever.”

The warm tongue soon travels closer to the swollen nipple on his right breast, ragged breath falling from Harry’s mouth as he envelopes the pink nub. “Oh— alpha…” While he’s treating Louis’ right nipple from the pressure, he makes sure that the left nipple isn’t left unoccupied. His big thumb gently circulates around the skin, putting in all his effort to soothe it. As much as he wants to fall asleep from the pleasure he’s receiving, Louis is on high alert once he notices how sweet it is that Harry is still so attentive towards his needs no matter in what circumstances they are. An accidental moan escapes the omega’s lips as the alpha starts sucking out the full milk from his breast like his life absolutely depends on it, pearly liquid dripping at the corner of his mouth and just from the blurry sight of it has another storm of slick triggered out of Louis. 

It’s a euphoric feeling, in a burning room, hearing Harry’s deep rumbles as his tongue never stops drinking down his golden liquid, hand went from just a thumb to fondling his second breast and eyes opening to pin him to a squirmy state. There’s just something about the way the alpha dutifully helps him to ease out the pressure of the milk flow from his body, and at the moment Louis feels how full of love his body is, and if Harry is drinking from him, does that make him nourish his love to the man? That probably explains the thumping beat of his heart whenever their eyes meet. He can’t focus on anything other than the trail of saliva dropping from Harry’s lips mixing with his creamy milk as the man moves to his other breast. This man looks like a beast, and Louis is his inviting prey. 

He whines again as Harry flicks his tongue to catch the last sip of milk around his tit, hand painting intimacy all over his body before it stops just below his bump. 

Now, Harry is the man of the village, owning stables and wealth, and just a linger of his stare can cause a heart palpitation on anyone. He is a man with power, physically and mentally, that when he carries the three sacks of scratch on his right shoulder and instructs his workers with just an eye signal, no one would dare to object. Everyone in the village knows how dominating he is, hence the amount of respect around him. But what they don’t know is to where the extent of his power leads; well, unless they were Louis. And the omega can confirm that if his thighs spread first before his brain can function, then Harry is definitely a top tier alpha. 

This time his heat hits him differently, he’s leaking like his body is left with no composure. Through the glistening eyes and raunchy desires, his mind is still alerting him with consciousness of reality. He’s aware of the fluttering emotion and love for his pup, and his mind is steadily standing on its ground. And he’s definitely getting wise to the rising blush on his cheeks when Harry deeply growls at his prominent arousal. 

“Harry…”

“Yes, my sweetest angel?”

The lovely nickname makes him preen with want. He should feel embarrassed with how easy he feels around the man, but instead he finds himself losing it. Like he could be asking for anything and Harry would just make him ask more. 

“Want you to knot me, alpha.” Heat during pregnancy is just something else, he’s asking for something his heart wants, not just his body like before. There’s a part of him that is questioning if it is just his heat talking, but the larger part of him knows that he wants Harry to mark him on the neck, make him his omega.

There’s a short silence from Harry’s side, before he drops a kiss on his forehead. “Baby, I can’t knot you when you’re in heat.”

“But I want it, I want it. It’s not just my heat.” A sharp intake of breath sends Harry’s eyes closing in a slow motion, like he’s indulging in Louis’ words. The omega is at the verge of tears again, all the cares for saving his self-dignity have been thrown out through the opened window of Harry’s room, flapping curtains preventing them from getting back in. It just feels so right to let the alpha know what he really wants.

“What if I make you feel good? Do you want that?” Harry says calmly, with fingers gripping Louis’ thigh, and oh, getting marked by the bruises from the alpha’s hand can probably make up for the lack of mark on his neck, he thinks in a daze. 

“Your knot will make me feel good.” Louis pouts when the deep chuckle is the alpha’s response.

“I can only give you something close to good for now, we’ll have the knotting talk after you’re free from heat, doll.” He leans down to drop another kiss on the corner of his lips. “What do you say?”

“Do you not… want me—” 

“Don’t you ever say that, beautiful.” More and more slicks keep coming out of him when Harry silences him with his thumb, caressing the cherry petals under the command of his eyes. “I want nothing more than to have you properly, to make you all mine. Are you mine, omega ?”

“Yes…”

“Good, good omega. You are mine, definitely mine. You are made to be taken care of by me, hm? All mine so I can touch you, right where you want me to, perhaps your lips?” Louis whines again when Harry presses his thumb on the skin, eyes glinting with lust. “Or maybe your beautiful, delicious tits, milk so sweet and creamy for our little pup?” He moves down to lick the sensitive nipples before trailing his finger down to Louis’ wet opening underneath his damp panties, rubbing against his walls. “Or your tight little pussy?” Louis silently cries as parts of his body are being prodded by this tantalising man, secretly finding himself loving all the risqué comments coming out of his mouth. “ Oh , I think you’d love it if I just touch them all,” he says as his middle finger digs into the omega’s slick hole.

“O-oh, alpha, please.” 

“You like that, hm? So tight for someone who’s full of a pup, my pup.” Harry keeps dragging his finger in and out before entering his second finger, pulling a small gasp from the writhing omega. “Always knew you were fertile, your hips, god the way you would walk around the village with these birthing hips around, you don’t know what I would’ve done to those alphas. And it’s why I chose you, you were made to carry my baby all this time.” Louis chants out a string of ‘alpha, alpha, alpha’ as Harry surges to kiss the bondspot on his neck. “Always such a perfect little omega for me. That day when I first saw you visiting my farm in that pretty little dress, I just knew I wanted you to be my omega. But we didn't know each other at that time, and I was too desperate to make you mine.”

“Want to be your omega too,” Louis moans weakly.

“You do? Wanna be my pretty little housewife and let me breed you with a tribe of pups? Want me to bite you here?” The way Harry grazes his teeth around on the skin makes Louis want this man to have all his ways with him. 

“Y-yes, yes, yes. Want all of that so bad. Make me yours, alpha.” Just one, one passionate kiss on his lips is all he wants, but his bondspot is being granted with it instead, but Louis will take anything he can get for now.

“Soon, baby. I will mate you very, very soon.”

♡

Heat slips like the drag of the silk throw down his smooth legs, taking its delicate time to go. While Louis just wants to stay coddled in the nest where the blending scent of cocoa and peach lingers the strongest, he’s also seeking to regain freedom from such a messy state. 

It is a well known fact that once a pregnant omega goes into their heat, the after-effects will partially remain in their system towards the end of the pregnancy. Though he’s in a much clearer state now, the sense to protect and the want to be protected are very much heightened compared to before, and all Louis wants is for things to just go his way. 

Sighing into the softness of his heavily scented nest, he closes his eyes as he indulges in the sound of Harry moving around the room, picking up the dirty clothes that Louis managed to leak his milk on during the vagueness of his three days' heat and freshening up the cloudy room. A smile creeps upon his lips as he thinks of how intimate the situation is, the both of them are still bare from clothes and the chain of the post-heat has yet to break, and the alpha is there to take care of him. Maybe he can blame it on his past loneliness, but he never knew he needed an alpha in his life this bad before. 

“Sweet omega…” 

Louis lets the gentle touch cradle his face for a moment before cracking his eyes open. “Hm?”

“Can I take you for a bath, baby?” The hand soon spreads warmth along his exposed curve and as he sleepily looks up to the kind-faced alpha, his attempt to suppress his shivering comes to no avail when Harry’s eyes follow the map of his own hand that goes down to the omega’s thigh. “Such a beauty, a very pregnant beauty.”  

Rays of respectful lights shine through the slit of the curtain and fall upon their naked bodies, and Louis just wants the picture to be captured so he can keep this moment safely in his beating heart. “Please, alpha.”

He preens when Harry leans down to whisper a ‘good omega’ into his ear right before leaving a flimsy kiss on the part where Louis’ baby hair is tickling. As the alpha bathes him with the running water, Louis indulges in the feeling of depending on someone who he trusts the most for a while now, and it is easy to let the man handle him however he wants to—lifting his arms to wash his body, kissing his eyelids close as he pours a squeeze of shampoo on his hair and pays close attention when he scrubs the omega’s bump. Harry is so perfect for him and it’s like his heart only wants to bloom for an entirety of life. 

The man dries him thoroughly, making sure there’s no dripping water on his face before guiding him out of the bathroom. What welcomes him when he enters Harry’s room again is a spotless view of the carpeted floor and bed with new sheets where his post-heat nest is laying openly on top of it. Harry had tidied up the room when he was still in his half-wake state and he’s never been so grateful in all his life. Post-heat can be the most fragile phase in any omega’s menstrual cycle, and nothing could be further from the truth if they say they already have the energy to clean up after their mess by themselves. This is where alphas play their part to help the omegas after their heat, and that leaves unmated omegas irritated with the obvious fate of having to calm down in a haywired nest for a few hours. But Harry plays his part well; the nest, while looking a little wrecked from the previous occurrence, still manages to lure Louis in so they can continue to mark their territory on Harry’s bed together.

“Sit down, omega.” Sitting on the fresh bed feels like dumping a full basket, the remaining tenses in his veins immediately disappear once he lets the towel wrapping around him slip off his chest, exposing his supple breasts that are seemingly taking their break from lactating. The omega’s smile is pliant as Harry lets out an appreciative hum, leaning down to breathe in the scent of his wide cleavage, where the blending smell of vanilla and peach is the strongest. “Smells so good. My perfect omega doll.” Shivers run down through Louis’ body as the alpha drags his nose against his skin, climbing up to his neck, leaving a small kiss and then another when he further moves towards his jaw. 

“Alpha, cold…”

“Apologies, baby. Let’s get you some warm clothes.” He tries not to whine at the loss of skin-on-skin contact between him and Harry, but fails when the older man chuckles and settles on one of his Umbro jerseys and… Louis’ panties?

It’s one of Louis’ favourite pairs that he loves to wear during his ‘pretty days’ because they make him feel pretty and comfortable. He failed to notice their disappearance before since his panties collection is quite generous, he never remembers which shade he hasn’t tried before.

“Where did you get them?”

The smile drains from Harry’s face before a guilty expression starts to mask his handsome features. “Uh, I-I’ll explain later. Come, let me dress you up.”

Harry starts by slipping the white jersey where blue stripes line up along the side from his head before guiding his feet into the holes of the cotton panties, dragging the silky material along his smooth thighs. He leaves a kiss on the omega’s inner thigh, and Louis is too weak to contain his blush at the gentle treatment. 

“Thank you, alpha.”

“My pleasure, sweet. Your hair is getting longer, huh? Want a trim?”

“Mm.” Louis immediately whines and pushes his face into Harry’s hard tummy, wanting to be close to the man. He frowns when a hand ruffles his messy hair, and he remembers he has yet to answer Harry’s question. “No…don’t wanna.”

“But it’s getting in your face, angel.”

With a muffled voice, he replies in a lazy tone as Harry rubs the back of his ear, making him purr softly, “Don’t care.”

“Whatever makes you happy, baby flower.” The alpha slowly moves Louis’ legs onto the bed, subtle rubs on his flawless feet makes the omega hum happily. Many people haven’t been modest enough with their lingering stares on Louis; wherever he goes there would be at least one alpha, mated or unmated, who would send him a wink or flirty smile that Louis would find himself blushing to before Harry. But the way the older alpha is looking at him now is like a drop of red tint on a white rose, it sends the rush of passion spreading all over his body without any hesitation, and Louis’ heart is beyond the shade of delicate blush. It’s red with infatuation and it’s burning with butterflies in flames. “So, about my love confession…”

Louis blinks. “Your what?”

“Uh, my love confession. I said I love you when you were still in heat. You don’t remember?”

“I thought— I thought that never happened.” His shallow breath reminds him of his first kiss from his highschool sweetheart, everything is sweet and the future holds promise. 

Harry takes his hand and brings it close to his stubbled cheek. The alpha closes his eyes like a drag of wet cloth on the sand, slowly and indulging. Louis’ hand fits perfectly in the hold of Harry’s, soft complementing callus, small complementing huge. A tiny smile forms on his lips as the alpha breathes in each of his fingers as if he’s scrounging for Louis’ hidden scent in between the digits. The rough hair on Harry’s face tickles his skin, making him giggle softly. “Hm, pretty sound from a pretty omega.”

He flushes underneath the sweet attention. “Thank you, alpha.”

“I love you, Louis.” Harry drops a kiss on his wrist bone, and Louis bites his lip. “I love you, Louis.” Another kiss on his arm, and Louis bites his lip harder. “I love you, Louis.” And by the time Harry lays him down inside the nest and presses the last kiss on his bare shoulder, Louis is sure his lip is more swollen than his pregnant feet. 

“Alpha…”

“I’ve been in love with you ever since the first day we met. I have, baby angel.” Harry is on top of him, careful not to jostle the baby bump. His eyes are staring deep into his soul, and Louis feels squirmy. “Do you think choosing a mother for my child was an easy thing to do? You were the perfect one, my one and only omega who should carry our pups. I was the happiest man when you agreed to do this for me.” The gasp he lets out when Harry protectively cradles his bump is a loud one.

“I-I think you are perfect for me too, alpha.” He only realises the flowing tears at the corner of his eyes when Harry thumbs away the salty liquid, shushing him with a comforting whisper.

“You make me want to be perfect for you and our pup, omega.” The press of his forehead on Louis’ is him sending a signal to make the omega his own. “May I kiss your pretty lips, beautiful?”

“Please.” And there is a blooming peony that is Louis’ petal pink lips, and there’s also a strong honey dripping on the surface that is Harry’s balmy lips, and their passion soars like the flying bee. Harry’s kiss envelopes him as a whole, and upon the sudden protection, Louis falls completely lax in the hold of the alpha. “Wanna love you. Halfway in love with you.”

“And I shall wait for you like I always do.”

♡

Mating talk is something that can cut everyone’s confidence to the core, but Harry makes sure to let Louis know that he can fully express his opinions without worrying about objections. Already having so much faith and trust in the alpha, Louis finds their conversation so meaningful as he doesn’t feel guarded upon telling Harry everything that is nestling in his heart. It’s like the alpha has set his mind in the same path as his, all of their curiosities are solved in a matching smile and the final decision is sealed with a fervent kiss on the couch with Harry’s hand on the side of his bloated tummy, both chuckling as the unborn baby announces his presence with a tiny kick. 

Louis has never imagined this is what his mating journey would be like. From when he blasted Amy Winehouse’s “Our Day Will Come” with his highschool best friend, feeling all warm on the cheeks right after a boy from another class left a crush confession note and a flower on his table, to when he started to care less about love after so many heartbreak tears falling onto his pillows, he never thought that getting pregnant would bring him the alpha who seems, feels so right for him.

Staring at the alpha from where he’s sitting on the small bench pushed against the barn, he feels as if the universe is finally granting him a chance to have a life he’d always wanted. He wasn’t looking for it, but that doesn’t mean he can argue with the realm. It’s when everything is falling into pieces he realises how harsh he was being on himself. All the grouses about how an omega’s happiness means a liability for an alpha from the alphas he’s dated in the early days have moulded his mind into thinking making the right choice for himself is complicated, and that he's always going to win some and lose some. His perception was always alluding to bad outcomes, and those days were wasted like all his potentials. 

But he also never thought that one brave choice he’d made out of his poor self control and kind eyes could potentially change not only his life, but the way he thinks of things too. Choosing to have a baby of some rando leads to branches of options, ones that he will never pass up. It was easy to choose and be comfortable under the care of Harry, and it was an easy decision to make when his heart kept considering to open up little by little the longer the alpha was by his side. It doesn’t take too much effort to let himself get addicted to the handsome smile and gentle touches, and falling for Harry is a wonderful journey he’s in thanks to his own choice of wanting to be the man’s omega that he made without a second thought.

Like a baby’s chubby skin a few seconds after getting pinched, his cheeks slowly turn pink when Harry walks to him with an intense stare and a fond smile reserved just for him, a little duckling on his head. “Hi, my love.”

And maybe Louis forgot to mention that he never thought a beefy alpha farmer would be his weakness. Harry checks all the attributes in Louis’ wet dream list, and extra points for him for making Louis carry his baby. The man stops to lift his chin slowly, hand almost covering Louis’ face when he cradles his cheek. A whine is threatening to escape the omega’s mouth as he lets his head lull into the strong hold with a pout. “Duckling?”

“Yes. For you.” Making Harry chuckle has been a part of the things he would die to do to please the alpha, and he preens when he does it effortlessly. But what makes the lower pit of his stomach tingle is the context behind the duckling gift. “Another gift from me to you, my lovely omega. I hope you like it.”

Their courting has been going on for almost two weeks, and so far he’s gotten a pregnancy pillow that really understands his sleeping struggle, the free will to have Harry’s whole closet to upgrade their nest, a thin necklace with a blue moon pendant hanging loyally across his neck, and so many more. But his favourite gift from Harry up until now is the tiny garden behind their house where he’s been spending his time growing vegetables so he could provide his future little family with fresh and healthy food. Of course, Harry’s been doing most of the gardening jobs considering his current state, and the alpha would flip if he ever saw Louis lifting even the smallest spade, but soon after Baby is born, he will be ready to take over the small land. 

“So cute…” Louis says with a silent gasp as Harry puts the polite little duckling on his hand. “I love it, thank you alpha. I love you.”

Harry smiles at the last sentence. “Welcome, my love. I love you more, always.” His purrs get louder when Harry gently brushes his hair, combing his fringe with his fingers before he pulls something out of his back pocket. “Hair prevents me from seeing your beautiful face, angel.” He reasons as he secures the fluffy long hair with Louis’ favourite sunflower clips.

Another thing about having the luxury of staying in his nest wrapped up in Harry’s scent for a limitless time is that it tends to make him feel too comfortable with the current set up, which includes his pregnant self. The heavier the baby gets, the more he enjoys the phase. The last trimester comes with more tears and whines of course, but also, the pain brings giggles and purrs the second Harry spoils him with kisses and rubs. The alpha also lets him keep his long hair instead of trimming it because Louis claims his long hair is a part of this beautiful journey and he’s not ready to let it go just yet. Thus, Harry seems to find satisfaction in tying the omega’s hair into a messy ponytail or pinning it with numerous clips Louis would ask him to buy everytime they go out for more baby shopping. And that one time when he didn’t even need any of those hair accessories to tie Louis’ hair as their now shared room got a little too heated after the omega had finished showering, that was when Harry looked satisfied the most.

The yellow duckling makes a squeaky sound, head peeking through Louis’ breast, eliciting a coo from the two humans. 

“She is only 5 days old. Baby is probably coming next week, so she’s gonna be a little older than our pup.” And just like any other time when any of them brings up the topic, the smile on their faces seems like it could never be fazed. “How do you feel?”

That’s a question he can never fit all the words he wants to say into an answer. He feels a lot of things, but he wants to think that everything will go just well. From all the baby check-ups they have done, not once has Dr. Swift ever given negative feedback about his health or their pup. As the one who carries the pup, the mother’s instinct in Louis keeps signalling to him how amazing his pup is doing, and that everything is fine and perfect. But he also can’t help but feel like there’s time where he should be on pins and needles, that he needs to take into consideration the possibilities he never dares say out loud. 

“I hope he is okay.” Louis finds himself calming at the soft fur of the little duckling beneath his hand, the sweet creature is an excellent comfort, and maybe she is his new favourite courting gift from Harry. 

As if he’s transmitting protection from Louis’ cheek to his belly in the form of gentle touch, Harry brings his hand down to where their pup is kept safe. The alpha leans down to whisper something to their pup, one that Louis fails to hear but is happy to let it be a secret between the father and the son. A trip of crisp wind messes Harry’s curls and he finds it hard to restrain himself from cascading his fingers through the luscious locks. Knowing the heavy sigh that comes out of the farmer’s mouth is due to him, he preens silently. 

“Baby told me he is okay, it’s supposed to be a secret between us, but surely you can be on my team and not snitch on me, right?” Louis giggles at the wink thrown his way. 

“Not sure about that, gotta be on Baby’s side too because I’m sure he’s a mama’s boy, so I need to play fair.”

“Am I not mama’s boy too?”

Louis blushes, “You’re mama’s man.”

“Hm, I can work with that.”

“You s— oh.” 

“Omega?” Harry jumps into action, gripping Louis’ shoulders as the omega keeps wincing. “Hey, tell me, what’s wrong?”

“H-harry, oh— why does it hurt right here?” He brings the alpha’s hand on the side of his belly, seeking for the comfort that he always gets from his touch. Right now however, even both of Harry’s hands offer nothing to kill the pain. The man attempts to soothe the pain when his eyes search for something, stopping his gaze as if he notices something beneath the dress Louis is wearing.

“Angel…I think your water broke.”

♡

If he was told that one choice he made could change the fate of his life four years ago, it would be quite hard for him to believe. 

If someone told him that his life was going to be filled with continuous happiness when he laid in that hospital bed with a little pup feeding from his chest as the alpha he’s grown to love and devote himself to holding his hand three years ago, well, he would believe them, but he might’ve been sceptical. 

If someone told him that the sweet teary moment when their pup made his first step would drag the pride in his chest to today two years ago, he would be nodding along silently to their statement with glistening eyes, wrapped up in his alpha’s arms. 

And if someone told him he would be feeling utterly complete without any more worries even after their little pup had cried from being pushed by the mean cow at his daddy’s farm and ruining his little pants with dirt last year, he just wished they would keep talking because everything that they said was true. 

Four years of being a mother, three years of being a mated omega, two years of succeeding in balancing his attention between both his pup and his alpha, and all those years have taught him that choosing love is the answer to everything. 

Love made him see the things he should be getting, not something that he’s been missing.

Love is the fluid that can cure the piling thirst he had from the long-time drought, one that he failed to notice he was in.

Love is what surrounds him anywhere he goes now, and it’s all he’s been feeling.

And love is… theirs.

“Love, keep it down, pup. You’re gonna hurt yourself.”

“Mama!” The caramel haired boy runs toward him where he’s sitting on Helena’s patio, waiting for his little family for tea time with the older omega as the two spend their time flying a kite. “Missed you.”

Louis coos when his pup instantly hugs him, nose scenting all over his mother’s neck breathlessly. Giggling, Louis messes up Love’s hair, “You’re the sweetest boy, thank you for scenting me, baby. I’ve missed you too.”

A few seconds later, Harry appears with the red kite in his hand and a sweaty face. “I swear to god, he’s always fully charged. Always wanna run away from me with the kite.”

“Kite falls down when I don’t run, mama,” Love pouts to Louis, defending himself.

“That’s not how it works, boy.”

“Harry!” Louis rolls his eyes playfully at the alpha before looking down to his cute son, “You’re so smart for figuring out how to fly the kite, baby. You see, when you fly a kite, you need the wind, and that’s why you ran.” A smile forms on his lips when his pup giggles after being booped on the nose. “But running non-stop must be tiring for you and your pretty little feet, so next time we fly a kite we’ll make sure there’s some wind around, okay?”

“Okay, mama!”

“Good boy!” He throws his hand to high five Love. “Wanna sit next to me?” 

The little boy puts his finger under his chin, thinking for a while. “Can me and daddy sit next to you, please?”

“Of course, darling.”

Harry lets himself get pulled by Love before sitting next to his omega, lifting up his pup on his lap before turning to kiss Louis. He signals Love to kiss Louis too, and chuckles when he does.

Helena comes a few minutes later when the two are laughing at Love, who asked why he hasn’t pooped out the mango popsicle he ate yesterday, hands occupied with a tray of tea and cakes. “Oh, you happy little family.”

The younger omega quickly stands up to help her arrange the food and the drinks on the patio, smiling hard at her comment.

“Nana, looks yummy!” 

“They are yummy, sweet boy. I made them.”

“Nana is so good at baking, pup,” Harry comments, holding his son’s hip to prevent him from getting near the edge of the patio.

They eat in a comfortable silence and soon enough, the dry leaves from the oak tree above them fall down on their heads like they are welcoming themselves to the sweet little tea time. 

“Mama, wind! Daddy, kite can fly now?” And he’s right, their hair dances like it’s rocking in the flow of the wind, and the branches gracefully wave from the opposite of the road. 

Harry’s eyes meet Louis’, and just like any other agreement they’ve made without involving any verbal clues, they slowly nod.

“Yes, it can, baby. Do you wanna fly it with me again?”

“Yes, please.”

“Let’s go then.” Love squeals when his father crouches down in front of him, signalling him to climb on his back for a piggyback ride. They send a kiss to Louis and goodbye for Helena before leaving the two for more father-son time.

“Told you, my dreams always come true.” Sipping his tea, Louis looks at the older omega with a raised eyebrow. “That very noble alpha in this village is actually my son-in-law.”

“God.” And no matter how much he tries to hide his happiness, the poor eye roll brings his attempt to no avail. “Keep talking, then.”

“Oh, I will.”

Helena has been a great friend and mother figure to him, and he is so glad that she can be a part of Love’s life. The boy deserves a grandmother who would spoil him with sweets, gang up with him when Louis and Harry disagree with him over something crazy teenage Love would pull out, and secretly give him extra pocket money to school someday. When he gave birth to him, Helena was the happiest other than them two, she even cried and pulled Louis into a motherly hug after seeing the red newborn for the first time. She is family.

That very evening he feels the most thankful for whatever universe up there that has blessed him with such a great life, and he also pats himself on the back for doing an amazing job to be the omega he’d always wanted to be. 

And that very night, after he and Harry have put Love into his bed, he turns to face the love of his life. They’re laying naked in their wrecked nest with hands still attached to each other’s skin.

“Thank you for choosing me, alpha.”

It’s unimaginable to think what would happen if Harry hadn’t reached out to him and randomly asked him if he could carry his baby, and he doesn’t think he wants to think about it. It’s crazy, how many changes have happened in his life within the years but also, he wouldn’t have it any other way. He loves his alpha and their son, and they are always finding ways to show how he’s loved by them too. This gaze, this touch, and this scent are the things he wants to bring with him when he enters the pearly gate, where Harry and Love would be walking in with him. 

Harry cups Louis’ face like he’s holding a fragile glass, their breaths meet in the middle like a full blown fire, hot and leaves them suffocated. 

“And thank you for trusting me, omega.” With a rough thumb running against his bottom lip, kind green eyes are Louis’ final view before he drives into a sweet dream that could never beat the perfect life he has. 

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The End