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Harry hummed to himself as he moved around the house, fussing with the Halloween decorations and grinning as he spotted his reflection in the full length mirror on the wall. He hadn’t had the chance to go all out this year like he normally would have, but he thought his off-the-cuff attempt at a Dracula costume was pretty on point, if he said so himself. Thank you Amazon Prime, he thought as he ran his tongue over the tip of a fang.
It was just before the schools let out, so he was expecting their first visitors within the next 45 minutes or so - once the kids had managed to get home and changed into their own costumes. He couldn’t wait for the following year, when he’d be able to dress their baby - and Louis - up in an outfit that would match his. A family Halloween.
Louis was settled on the sofa, his feet up on the footrest in front, a bowl of popcorn on the table next to him, alongside the remotes for Netflix and the TV. He was more than happy to leave Harry to deal with the trick-or-treaters while he and baby relaxed with a good long binge of Gilmore Girls. He rubbed his bump gently as he felt the babe wriggling and trying to stretch within him.
“I know, babs, it’s getting a bit tight in there, huh?” he murmured, smiling when the baby settled a little. “Not much longer though. You’ll be out here soon, then you’ll be desperate to be back inside me tum again.” He chuckled as a foot hit his palm a little hard. “Trust me, I’m your Papa, I know what I’m talking about.”
An hour later, and Harry reluctantly walked into the lounge and flopped dejectedly onto the sofa next to Louis.
“What’s up, love?” Louis asked, slightly concerned.
“There’s a big storm just starting,” Harry pouted.
“But you love storms,” Louis looked confused.
“I do,” Harry conceded. “But not when they stop the little monsters trick-or-treating! Do you realise how many sweets we’ve got?”
“I did tell you to just get them from Tesco, and not to bother with the wholesaler,” Louis carefully pointed out.
“Yes, I know that, Lewis,” muttered Harry. “But ‘I told you so’s are not helpful right now.”
The lights in the room flickered as the storm began to build up. The wind outside was audible above the sound of another of the Gilmores’ passive aggressive dinners. Harry sighed a few moments later as the TV switched off and the lights went out, plunging them into near darkness.
“Great, it’s going to be one of those Halloweens,” he grumbled.
Louis let out a soft hiss and held onto his bump protectively, attracting Harry’s attention.
“You okay, babe?” Harry asked worriedly.
“Uh, well…” Louis murmured. “I may have been having twinges for most of the day? But I thought it was just Braxton Hicks again.” He looked up at Harry with a hesitant smile. “Maybe we should go to the hospital?” he suggested, before his face creased up in pain.
“Oh shit!” Harry leapt to his feet. “Why didn’t you tell me before? Why did you let me decorate and dress up? Oh my god, we don’t have time for me to get rid of all of this.” He stopped suddenly and looked at Louis in a brief stunned silence, before he wailed, “I can’t meet our baby for the first time looking like fucking Dracula! I’ll scare them!”
Louis stared back at him incredulously, before he burst out into loud cackles, literally rolling onto his side as he laughed uncontrollably, only stopping when another contraction ripped through his stomach and back.
“Oh fuck!” he cursed, curling in on himself and struggling to breathe again. “Okay, enough laughing over nonsensical stuff. Get me to the fucking hospital before I have this kid on the fucking sofa.” He looked at his mate, spotting the signs of impending panic. “Bag is ready in the cupboard by the front door. The midwife’s number is stored in your phone. The hospital is less than fifteen minutes away. The mums are on call too. Call Anne and let it ring twice, then hang up. She’ll call my mum and they’ll both be on their way.” Louis let out a slow breath. “Now, Haz. Please, stop freaking out, and help me.”
Harry gazed at him blankly for a few more seconds, before he shook himself and slipped his arm around Louis’ waist, helping him to his feet and guiding him out to the front door.
“We got this, Boo,” he murmured, pressing a soft kiss to Louis’ temple. “I love you. And I can’t wait to meet our pup.”
~~~~~
Amery Anne Tomlinson-Styles was born at 11:59pm on October 31st, 2013.
~~~~~
Amery was a docile baby, quiet and content, perfectly happy to sleep on her Daddy’s chest on the sofa, or snuggled up with Papa after her three in the morning feed. With a head full of white blonde curls, and big blue eyes, she was a perfect blend of the two parents, and had both of them wrapped around her tiny little fingers as soon as they clapped eyes on her that stormy night.
Taking her home was one of the scariest things that either Harry or Louis had ever done, and while both made every attempt at keeping their cool, neither were particularly successful, finding themselves squabbling - quietly, because the baby was asleep - over how the baby seat clipped into the car (Harry won; he’d done the training with the salesperson), and whether or not she should be covered by a blanket (Louis won; it was November for heaven’s sake, Harry - she needs to be insulated by more than just the heater in the car!). Soon enough they were letting themselves into their home, breathing a sigh of relief as the door closed behind them, shutting the pouring rain out and allowing the heat of the central heating to warm them through.
The mated couple wanted to settle in with their new baby before they even thought of sharing her with the world, so all of their groceries and sundries were delivered. After a particularly inventive and intrusive pap managed to get a shot of Harry in his loose joggers and old Rolling Stones tee answering the door to their delivery driver, a swift restriction order that covered their whole property was drawn up and filed by the local courts, with agreement that charges could be filed should the premises be breached by even the merest unauthorised toe.
When Amery was just shy of three weeks old, Louis sat down next to Harry and took his hand gently.
“I think it’s time to show her off,” he said seriously. “But we do it our way, on our terms. No selling the photograph to whoever places the highest bid. We’ll just… put it up on Instagram.”
“You’re sure?” Harry asked, looking slightly uncertain. “You’re not going to freak out once it’s up and ask me to get it down again? Because you know that it’ll be out there, for good. We’ll have shared her with the world, and we won’t be able to get that back.”
“We will get that back,” Louis retorted, sounding a little indignant. “I thought we could post the one picture, and that be it. Until we decide when and where and how she next appears. If she appears in public at all.”
Harry watched Louis, taking in the way he was holding himself, the stubborn way his jaw had set, and the defiant look in his eyes, and knew that there was no way of ever changing his mind. He sighed softly.
“It sounds like a brilliant idea, babe,” he relented. “When do you want to do it?”
“Whenever you’re ready!” Louis replied enthusiastically, a bright grin appearing instantly on his face. “I just…” he sighed contently. “I just want people to see that we made an amazing thing. Our love… it made something so perfect and beautiful and awe-inspiring - for us, anyway - and it’s not wrong or shameful and it deserves to be allowed to just… be.” He gazed into Harry’s eyes. “I’m fed up with trying to defend our relationship at every turn.”
“What have you seen, Lou?” Harry frowned worriedly.
“It doesn’t matter,” Louis dismissed. “I just want people to leave us alone.”
“I’ll get my phone,” Harry conceded easily. “You get Ams ready for her first photoshoot.”
~~~~~
They posted the photo, of Amery’s tiny hands clinging to each of their fingers, to both of their Instagram accounts, as well as that of the official band. Within less than an hour, the picture, first shared onto Louis’ account, had over 10 million likes, and had been retweeted on Twitter just under four million times.
Phone calls had immediately started rolling in to their agents, asking when Amery would be available for modeling sessions and endorsement deals. All offers were promptly refused, and it was made known that all future requests would be denied without consideration.
~~~~~
They settled into their lives together as a family, with Harry and Louis not returning to work until eight months after Amery was born.
When they attended the BRIT Awards, just over six months after that, finally as an out and proud couple, the only question anyone wanted the answer to was:
“So, Louis… when are you and Harry going to start trying for another kid?”