Work Text:
The arrival
He heard the doorbell ring for the third time, sighed annoyed as they paid no attention to his two "I’m coming!" corresponding to each ringing, he left the wet dishes on the side of the sink and dried his hands with the towel that was just besides him. He approached the door, first looking out the window to the side. There was no one there.
He sighed and went back to the kitchen, he didn’t feel good about opening the door. In the morning news, they had announced robberies near the apartment where he lived and preferred to keep all his belongings and organs, but the bell rang again.
This time he approached the door quickly, looking out the window for the person who kept bothering him late at night, but this time, instead of meeting someone, he found something in front of the door. He opened up cautiously, looking sideways and perhaps holding an umbrella in his hands with the intention of defending himself, in front of the door stood a cardboard box the size of a microwave, and could not deny that thousands of disgusting ideas crossed his head, I wasn’t sure I’d open that box, until this one let out a whimper.
Was there anyone inside the box? Was it a new method of robbing or kidnapping people?
A sharp cry interrupted his thoughts, he quickly approached the box and opened it, revealing a small brown-haired child with light eyes inside. Louis could recognize him immediately, he was one of the children he cared for in his nursery, his name was Charlton, he was just two years old and he was the sweetest child in the place. He quickly pulled him out and put him in the house, the weather was cold and humid, and the little one was not warm enough to be outside.
Once inside the house, Louis left the little boy on the couch, trying to warm him up with soft blankets. He went back to the main entrance to look for some trace of the little boy’s mother, but there was nothing.
He looked inside the box again and saw that at the bottom was a paper envelope. He took it, left the box leaning against the side of the house, as if to make it clear to the boy's mother that Charlton was in good hands, and went back into the house.
Louis decided to cook something for the little boy, he wasn't sure of his condition even though he had been checking on him for almost 15 minutes. He went to the kitchen and took some soup out of his refrigerator, started to heat it up on the stove, after a few minutes he poured it into a bowl, and set about feeding the little boy. Louis wasn't going to lie, he loved children and loved taking care of them, his heart skipped a beat when the little boy smiled at him with food in his mouth, but that didn't mean he had the right to kidnap the little boy.
Once the child finished dinner and was cooing in his arms, Louis decided to read the letter.
- "I'm leaving town and I can't take the child with me" -he began to read, in his throat a lump formed and his eyes stung-, "at last I have found someone who loves me, but he will never love a child that is not his, I know you love this baby, I have seen you take care of him and I know there is no one who can take care of him better than you, please forgive me, but it's something I have to do."
Louis didn't notice when she started to cry, he wiped his salty tears with the back of his hand and settled back on the couch to continue reading.- "I hope you really have the chance and the heart to adopt him, he's a good boy and doesn't deserve to be suffering with a mother like me. Here is his birth certificate and a letter with my permission to keep the child, I am very sorry, Louis.".
Louis sighed, he was angry at how irresponsible this woman could be, but he couldn't blame her, taking care of a baby was complicated, it took a good economic level that he knew she didn't have, plus time, tolerance, patience and love.
The thought of keeping the little one crossed his mind for a while, Louis had always wanted to have children, but his partner had never wanted to have them. Maybe this was the time for the blue-eyed man to fulfill his fantasies, but he wasn't just going to keep the baby without telling the authorities, he was going to do things right.
The next morning, Louis dressed and fed the little one and then dropped him off at the nursery. He would be gone for the day so he could plan his next move well. Although he didn't want to do it, he knew it would be his only option, he knew it was best for Charlton and he knew it was best for him. He made his way to the law firm that his soon-to-be ex-husband ran, as he stood in front of the building he gulped.
He waved awkwardly to the people at the reception desk, who looked at him in disbelief of his visit, he went straight upstairs to Harry's office. It didn't take him more than 5 minutes to get there as he knew the place like the back of his hand, he perched in front of the office door and hesitated for a few seconds whether to knock or not. When he finally decided to do so, a low, husky voice startled him from behind.
-"Louis? What are you doing here?" -said Harry, as he approached the brown-haired man.
Louis cursed himself internally, prepared his smile even knowing that Harry would notice that it was fake and turned to look at him.
-"Harry! What a nice surprise to see you here!"
The curly-haired man rolled his eyes, an action that annoyed the blue-eyed man but he tried not to let it show. Harry walked over to the shorter one, who stood in front of the door, put his hand on the knob and let the blue-eyed man pass.
-"Okay, well, I..." -Louis said nervously, already inside the office.
-"What crazy thing did you do now, Lou?" -Harry sat back in his desk chair, his eyes not on Louis, which made the smaller man feel more at ease.
-"Let's just say... Someone abandoned a baby in my nursery."
The green-eyed boy wasn't expecting that, not at all. He turned to look at Louis in dismay and wide-eyed.
-"Have you told the police yet?" -Louis denied, he played with his fingers showing how nervous he was and this act made Harry expect the worst- "No, Louis, no."
Louis snorted, how was it possible that despite being more than 6 months apart the curly one was still reading his thoughts?
-"You don't even know him, he's a good boy and no one knows him better than me" -he said as he pulled a folded sheet of paper out of his back pocket-, "And his mother left me this."
Harry took the paper in his hands, read the words carefully and snorted looking at Louis again. He knew what his soon-to-be-ex-husband was getting at, he also knew he wouldn't be a part of this madness.
-"Sugar..." -he says but then regrets-, "sorry, Louis" -he corrects- "Just because she told you that you'd be wonderful taking care of him doesn't mean you have to." -Harry could see Louis crumbling at his words and he couldn't deny that it hurt to see him so helpless. He sighed, he clearly knew that he could never deny some whim of the younger one, it had been that way during their relationship and then in their marriage, until outside forces decided that the best thing for both of them was to separate.
-"A child is the only thing I want, please don't deny me that" -said the blue-eyed man, choking back tears of pride.
Harry really didn't want to give in, he was sick of giving in all the time, but his heart squeezed when he saw the red eyes of the opposite- "What do I have to do, what do you expect from me?" -Louis let out a squeal of happiness, he started to say that he would need two important things: firstly, that Harry and Louis' divorce would be postponed for a few months, he knew very well that getting to adopt a baby being a gay couple was difficult, but it was even more difficult to adopt a baby being divorced. Secondly, Louis needed all the legal advice necessary for Charlton's adoption and he knew that Harry, being a lawyer and owner of a firm, would be able to help him with that.
Harry agreed putting as the only condition that he would not be responsible for the child at any time, Harry did not like children at all, they were clingy, noisy and smelly. Louis agreed to the request with a smile and couldn't help but hug the curly one. He left the office calm, knowing that the person he trusts the most is going to help him at a time like this.
Harry stood in his office with a good taste in his mouth, if supporting a little boy gave him the opportunity to spend time with Louis, then he was going to take advantage of it.
The hope
Harry had told Louis that he was going to send a competent lawyer to accompany him to social services and the police department, so the brown-haired man was more than calm inside his car waiting for a call from a lawyer to tell him that he was in the right place.
He took the little boy's documents and began to put them in a yellow folder on the seat. He looked to his back seat and saw the little clothes and blankets decorating the place, Louis smiled happily at the image and could not help but get excited at the thought that this was just the beginning of his beautiful adventure with his future son.
The image of Harry Styles himself knocking on the window with his knuckles brought Louis out of his trance. He turned to look at him in confusion, then turned to look at the steering wheel, he silently cursed himself taking the papers from the little boy. Harry was a great lawyer, there was no doubt about that and it's not like Louis didn't dislike the curly one either, but him being there, with his unruly curls, flirty dimples and quirky eyes make Louis' legs shake and his stomach ache.
They walked into the building together, Harry felt at ease being enveloped by Louis' lavender scent again and the bluish-eyed couldn't say the same for Harry.
When they started talking to the proper authorities Harry wasn't surprised to notice that Louis knew absolutely everything about the boy, from his date of birth, his parents' information, and what he is allergic to.
-"Could I take care of him while they go through the whole adoption process?" -Louis asked innocently, Harry rolled his eyes.
-"No, Mr. Styles, I'm sorry" -replied the woman who was in charge of arriving the records-, "We have people in charge of taking care of the little ones, but your adoption application is in process."
Louis didn't hide his grimace of displeasure, which made Harry annoyed, the brown-haired one always had to be sincere and that had always made him go through annoying situations or chaotic problems.
-"The way I see things, you would be the most suitable couple for the little one, but we can't skip protocol on mere assumptions. We will need both of you to take some workshops for the preparation of parents to adopted children, after you pass this stage you will undergo a trial period, to see how the child adapts to you and your family dynamics" -a noticeable whine was heard from the curly-haired man, Louis may or may not have hit him and the woman may or may not have noticed.
The rest of the hour was spent listening to reports and signing papers. Louis couldn't have been more excited and Harry couldn't stop thinking that Louis' eyes sparkled beautifully.
When they finished the tasks assigned by the woman, they both left the place and waved goodbye. Louis headed to the nursery, he had to pick up Charlton and then pack a bag for him so he could drop him off at child services. It broke his heart to have to leave him in that place without knowing exactly when he would see him again, but he knew he had to do things right to have the chance to have him as his son.
Harry, for his part, went back to his office and started going through the boy's papers. Harry called a few of his colleagues so he could ask questions about the whole adoption process and once he had the little boy's papers, his own and his husband's in order, he went home.
Harry's house was big, it had modern details without forgetting how cozy it was, when Louis lived there it was always noisy, it felt like a real home. In the mornings he could hear Louis humming some song while making breakfast, in the afternoons he could hear Louis ranting into the phone with his friend Liam, laughing out loud with his friend Niall or chatting with his friend Zayn, and in the evenings he could occasionally hear their skins colliding and slight moans from both of them.
Harry missed that, Harry missed Louis, but they had both made an agreement, they had both made the decision because it was the best thing for both of them because they could no longer be together without hurting each other.
Louis got his things out of his car next to little Charlton, he walked to the entrance of the social service building where a kind woman was already waiting for him. She took the baby from his arms and he burst into a high-pitched cry. There was no way to stop it. He cried and cried trying to get back into the blue-eyed man's arms. The woman asked Louis to leave, and he, with a big lump in his throat and a broken heart, left the place.
He went to his apartment and could not help crying. It was a bitter and terrible feeling to have left Charlton there. After crying for a while, he decided to make himself a light supper, trying to distract himself making himself useful. As he was cooking, the doorbell rang and he prayed it wasn't another child outside his door. He quickly walked over to the entrance and looked out the window. On the other side stood Harry with a black briefcase in his hands. The blue-eyed boy let him in with a curious look on his face.
-"What are you doing here, Hazz?" -Harry had butterflies in his stomach, it felt just like it did when they first met in college.
He cleared his throat before speaking- "I.... Hum, I got to researching adoption paperwork and stuff" -he explained- "I think it would be good if I explained to you about everything that's going to happen in this time frame".
Louis nodded, offered Harry some dinner and he gladly accepted, Louis' food had always been his great weakness, just like the bluish eyes, his soft little hands and his tender, melodious voice.
Louis took Harry's hand and led him into the kitchen. When Louis and Harry decided to separate, the blue-eyed was the one who decided to leave the house they shared, with Harry's help he had bought the apartment in which he currently lived, but the curly one had never gone beyond the foyer.
Once Harry settled into a chair in the dinner room and Louis continued with the dinner preparations, the taller one began to speak.
-"The whole adoption process is divided into 3 important parts," Harry mentioned, "First of all, they have to do a thorough study of the couple that wants to adopt."
-"What do you mean by exhaustive?" -he asked while cutting the vegetables.
-"I mean they check everything, absolutely everything. Where you work at, how much you make, criminal record, expense breakdown, everything," -Harry says as he pulls papers out of his briefcase-, "In fact, tomorrow we have to go in and turn in a copy of our tax deduction, proof of address and also a copy of the transfer you got the last time you were paid at daycare".
Louis pulls out a frying pan from one of his bottom drawers in his kitchen as he listens intently to Harry. He begins sautéing vegetables and preparing a tomato sauce.
-"Do we have to provide proof of address?" -he asks a bit incredulously.
The curly one nods even though he knows Louis couldn't see it, but the shorter one takes the silence as affirmation.
The two stopped talking for a few minutes, the only thing that could be heard in the kitchen was the pan sautéing the vegetables and the water from the sauce being evaporated by the heat.
-"That's a problem" -Louis deigned to break the silence.
-"That's right" -Harry said with a sigh.
They fall silent again. Louis pulls two ceramic plates from a shelf, places them on the counter and with the spatula begins to pour the food onto them. He garnishes the plate with the tomato sauce he made, lifts them and walks over to Harry, leaving one plate in front of him and the second at the other end of the table.
The moment he sat down across from Harry, Louis let a few tears fall. Why did everything have to be so complicated? Why couldn't Charlton come into Louis' life when he was still a happy couple with Harry?
Harry stood up from his spot, walked over to Louis and crouched down to be at the same height as Louis- "No, Lou, no" -he denied as he took his hands taking them away from his face- "I have a plan, just trust me".
Harry explained to Louis that Harry's current house was still in both of their names, and that they could use that one for the adoption paperwork, since it is bigger and located in a better district with better schools. Louis' current house could be categorized as his studio, a place to work.
-"Hazz, but aren't they supposed to do surprise visits and such in these proceedings?
Harry let out a groan, but replied- "That's what I was getting at, love. I think, for as long as we're in the middle of this process, it's best if you go back to the house". -Louis decided to ignore that Harry had said "love" to him for the first time in 6 months, and decided to focus on the other thing the curly-haired man had said.
-"I... You think that's what's best?" -the green-haired man nodded in response, and Louis narrowed his eyes to think about his answer- "Well, if that's what I need to do to have my baby, that's what we'll do".
The change
Louis and Harry were moving all of Louis' things back into their house, Louis couldn't stop thinking about how strange the situation had become, he would live with Harry again, at least for a couple of months, they would sleep under the same roof, they would see each other every morning, and every night when they both came home from work. Would they have dinner together, would Louis ever hear the little snores Harry made at night again, what would happen if Harry brought someone to the house on a hot night?
-"Lou" -said Harry trying to snap Louis out of his thoughts-, "Is that all?"
-"Ah, yes, thank you" -answered Louis a little embarrassed-, "Hey, Hazz, it was just occurring to me until just now, I know this is a very big change, and you're helping me do something very heavy, I hadn't thought I was completely breaking into our dealings and our current lives. I mean, I think everyone already-", -Harry's laughter interrupted him, the dark-haired man let out a very loud laugh and couldn't stop laughing- "Hazz, I'm serious, I don't know, maybe you're dating someone now and suddenly there's your ex-husband and an infant in your house."
Harry inhaled very hard and let out a heavy sigh- "Oh, Lou, it's too late to start thinking about that....".
On the way Harry told Louis that he wasn't dating anyone at the moment, they weren't divorced yet and he was uncomfortable with the idea of dating even though he was married, including the fact that there was no one to catch his eye but ignoring the fact that he hadn't really started dating anyone because he was still in love with the bluish-eyed guy.
They arrived at the house, and quickly began to unpack and arrange things. They had agreed that Louis would stay in the guest room, but all of his things would stay in the master bedroom, in case they had an unexpected visitor. Likewise, they would prepare a room for Charlton, nothing too elaborate, but it would be ready for the boy's return.
-"It looks a little sad in there" -Louis says-, "I don't know, I remembered it with a little more color, less white".
-"You were the one who put the color in it. You took all the paintings, and the curtains..... You know, it was a little uncomfortable to live without curtains for a week".
-"My mom made those curtains for me, obviously I wasn't going to let you have them".
-"Ow, but I love your mom".
The atmosphere felt less tense, they could joke, and talk calmly. Even Louis began to think that he missed Harry's warmth a little, he missed hearing his voice all the time, seeing his smile and smelling his soft vanilla fragrance.
And so they began their new life, waiting for news from Charlton, sleeping in different beds, but under the same roof. Eating breakfast, lunch and dinner together, even Harry thought they spent more time together at that moment than in the last year they lived together.
Louis showered in the master bedroom bathroom since he didn't like the guest bathroom because it didn't have a bathtub, so every night and every morning Harry could see the beautiful image of Louis freshly showered, water droplets falling from his hair, and his whole room was infused with the scent of Louis' lavender shampoo. Louis, on the other hand, only used the bathtub as an excuse to intrude into Harry's room, having the opportunity to impregnate his own body with the curly-haired man's sweet scent. It was a bizarre case with both of them, because they were separated, a few months away from getting divorced, and now they were there, enjoying every little interaction and crossover they had with each other.
Harry and Louis had decided to separate as they both wanted different things in their lives. Louis wanted to start a family, with kids, a pet and a house in the suburbs, Harry, on the other hand, wanted to focus on his job, he wanted to make enough money for him and Louis to have a comfortable life, and spend the rest of their lives together, he thought that having kids would be an impediment to their happy ending, and instead of enjoying Louis on the beach in the sun, he would have to change diapers and pay for college. And they finally decided, they wanted different things, their lives were going on different paths, and their relationship was bringing them sadness and worry rather than happiness. Neither was willing to give in, and that made them both unhappy.
After almost a month, Louis received a call from the adoption center, telling him that the submission was being processed, and that it would be appropriate for the couple to take care of the little one while the process continued from the following week. Louis informed Harry, and they both decided it was a cause for celebration, so Harry bought a nice bottle of wine, and Louis prepared a fancy dinner. Louis drank a little too much, and Harry wasn't far behind.
-"Harry, I really am so grateful that you helped me with this, really, it's something I could never repay you for" -Harry smiled and shook his head.
-"Your happiness is more than enough for me" -he said, a goofy grin on his face-, "but, if you ever want to do me a favor, my bedroom door is always open".
A wink was the signal that made Louis burst out laughing. He adored Harry, adored him so much, his silly jokes, his goofy grin, his stupid dimples.
-"I think... I think it's time we go to bed" -Louis said and winked at him, which made the curly-haired man let out an equally loud laugh.
They walked together to Harry's room, Louis taking him by the arm, and Harry resting his hand on the other's hip. They both felt their skin burn. In the frame of the room they stopped, both hesitant of what they were about to do, but Louis encouraged himself to leave a loud, short kiss on Harry's lips. Harry smiled at the feel of his husband's lips on his, and hold him firmly by the waist.
With awkward steps they walked to the bed, followed by kisses, and a sad attempt on Harry's part to remove Louis' clothes. He left Louis' torso uncovered, and began to kiss him, remembering the sweet sensation of their love in the past. Louis managed to remove the green-eyed man's shirt, and was in an attempt to remove his pants, when he stopped him.
-"Lou, I think we should save this for when we're both sober".
-"Hazz, I... I-"
-"We don't have to talk about this right now, I missed being with you, I missed this, but I'm afraid we'll do something impulsive today and regret it tomorrow".
Harry was lying on the bed, the moonlight was illuminating the room a little, and Louis could see Harry's bright eyes through the reflection of the light. Louis was on top of Harry, half naked and with an erection, but, despite the alcohol in his system, he knew Harry was right.
-"Just kiss me, Hazz. Hold me and kiss me, let's just do that" -Louis said and lay down next to him. Harry wrapped his arms around his waist, and left little kisses all over his face, on his cheeks, on his forehead and on his lips. They both fell asleep after a while.
The stepback
The next morning, when Harry woke up, Louis was no longer by his side, and for a moment he really doubted if it had all been a dream, but he found Louis' shirt on the floor, and confirmed that it had been a reality. He left the room to look for him, they needed to talk about what had happened, but all he found was a plate with Harry's breakfast and a note saying that Louis had left for work and would be back in the evening.
Harry tried to focus on his work for the rest of the day, but he found it very difficult to do so as every time he closed his eyes he only saw the half-naked Louis on top of him illuminated by the moon. And by the time he finally finished his work schedule, and returned home, Louis still hadn't arrived. He wasn't going to lie, Harry was a little worried, he thought maybe Louis had run off to avoid a confrontation of the situation, but he was relieved to know that he couldn't go anywhere because of the Charlton situation.
He decided to make dinner for both of them, Harry would cook too, but he preferred Louis' food a thousand times over. And he waited for Louis to return. By 10 o'clock, he heard the door open. Harry rushed over with a worried look, to see the blue-eyed man blushing up to his ears.
-"I... I forgot I was here now, and after work I went to the apartment, that's why I was late" -said Louis, a little embarrassed. Harry responded with a laugh, he took him by the hand leading him to the dining room to start eating dinner together. They eated in awkward silence, and by the end of dinner, Harry was able to muster the strength to speak first.
-"Louis, I've been thinking and-"
-"Harry, all this, the reason we're here now is because of Charlton. A boy, Harry, a baby. And, god, it's the reason we decided to split up, because you didn't want this, because we both wanted different things. We can't now get confused and hurt each other again".
Harry lowered his head, Louis was right. Everything was fine with both of them now, they missed each other and wanted each other, but would it change when Charlton arrived? Would Harry give in again and completely change his life again for Louis?
Louis got up and began to pick up the dishes and then wash them in silence. Harry wordlessly went to his room, and understood that Louis was not something that could happen again, not now, not ever.
After a while, Harry just heard the door to Louis' room close, and tried to hold back his tears. Minutes passed that felt like hours, and after a while, he made his way to Louis' door. He didn't know what he wanted from him, comforting words? To be able to discuss the situation one more time? He didn't know. He knocked on the door, but received no answer, and after a few seconds of waiting, he thought about leaving, but Louis opened the door, as wonderful as ever, his blue eyes sparkling, and his cute lips pouting. And neither of them could control themselves anymore.
Louis wrapped his arms around the taller one's neck, and stood on his tiptoes so he could reach up to kiss him, Harry grabbed him by the thighs and lifted him up to carry him to the bed, where they quickly shed all their clothes. Harry wandered his kisses over Louis' lips, his neck, and his chest, and Louis' voice echoed throughout the room.
Harry knew by heart every spot Louis liked, knew every little nook and cranny of his body, and knew what made him feel good, and Harry, as always, just wanted to make him feel good. Kisses, bites and hickeys now adorned Louis' body that was feeling hotter and hotter. Louis removed his hands from Harry's back with the purpose of touching himself, of getting ready so Harry could be inside him, but the curly guy stopped him. He asked Louis to open his mouth and inserted two fingers, after they were well wet with his saliva, he proceeded to insert one by one into Louis' rear end.
-"Harry" -said the blue-eyed man with a sigh.
-"Am I hurting you, love? I'm sorry, I'll just be a minute".
-"No, no, I'm... You're doing everything, I want to touch you too".
Harry felt heat fill his face, he was embarrassed, but so happy that Louis wanted to touch him too. Louis lowered his hands to Harry's crotch, and began to feel him, he was wet and big. Louis passed saliva and began to masturbate him, Harry let out a moan, and rested his forehead on Louis' shoulder, and as Louis increased the speed, he left little bites on his shoulder.
After a while, Harry decided that Louis was ready, but before he put him inside, he looked at Louis with a goofy grin.
-"I... I don't have any condoms" -he said, and Louis let out a laugh.
Louis took Harry's face between his hands, he was hot and a little sweaty, he kissed the corners of his lips and then his lips for a couple of seconds.
-"It's not like we used condoms when we were together" -Louis replied-, "I can promise you I haven't been with anyone else since we broke up, but I understand if you wanted to stop now".
Harry denied, and kissed him again- "Me neither, I haven't been with anyone either"-
Louis smiled and they kissed as Harry embraced him.
The settlement
After that night, there were a couple more nights, and a few similar mornings, but when they were informed that they could now go for Charlton to Social Services, everything went cold. Louis wasn't going to deny that he was disappointed, Harry would ogle him, and every now and then Harry would get so close to him that his legs would tremble, but every time Charlton was in the room, everything went back to normal.
Everyone was minding their own business, Louis juggled between his work and taking proper care of Charlton, and while he could use the help, he wasn't doing badly. Harry, for his part, was refraining as much as possible from spending time with Louis, he wanted to be firm with his decision, and not be fobbed off by his beautiful blue eyes or his pretty smile.
-"My mom? That can't be possible, where is it? I'll be right there" -Louis had received a call from the hospital saying that his mother had had a small accident and they would need to do a minor operation on her, but they needed someone to come and take care of her for the days of recovery. Louis panicked, he didn't know what to do about Charlton, and he didn't want Social Services to find out.
-"Lou, it's three days, I can take care of him, don't worry about it".
-"But, Hazz, I promised you I wouldn't bother you with something like that... Niall said he could take a few days off to look after him".
-"Lou, trust me, okay? It's not that hard, I just look after him in the mornings and evenings, and the rest of the time he'll be at daycare".
After some more discussion, Louis agreed to let Harry watch Charlton for the three days he would be gone, since, after all, Harry knew the boy's schedule, had already memorized his allergies, and could tell if a cry meant hunger or a dirty diaper. So Louis left Harry and Charlton alone for three days. Harry wasn't going to lie, he had originally agreed to babysit him because he thought he could score some brownie points with Louis, but once he was alone with Charlton, he realized how complicated everything would be for the next three days.
Louis left on Tuesday morning, after dropping Charlton off bathed, breakfasted and ready for daycare, Harry would only be responsible for dropping him off, and picking him up at 6, once he had left work. Harry thought that the first day wasn't even going to count as a day taking care of him, he left his office at 5:30 and picked Charlton up at 5:50, they arrived at the house and Harry thought it would be best to change his clothes. He had been wearing the same thing all day, and like anyone else, when he got home he should get comfortable.
He went to Charlton's room and took some clothes out of his pajama drawer, put Charlton on the changing table and carefully took off his clothes, he started to put on his onesie from the arms, but soon realized that that way he couldn't put the bottom part on him as the garment couldn't stretch that much. So he took it off and started from the beginning, well, he succeeded, now Charlton was wearing a nice yellow onesie with white flowers.
It was 6:30, perhaps a suitable time to feed him dinner, so he left him playing in his playpen, and went to the kitchen in search for food. Louis had left dinner ready for Harry and Charlton, Harry only needed to heat it on the stove and serve it to Charlton. He sat him down at the table with the help of a periwinkle, put a bowl of soup, and a small spoon in front of him; Harry sat down beside him, and began to eat, but Charlton would not eat, rather he took the spoon and now he was playing with it, he almost put his eye out, and Harry remembered that perhaps two-year-olds could not eat properly with cutlery, so he took it upon himself to feed the little boy.
After dinner, Harry spent some time working on his computer, while Charlton played in his playpen. To his surprise Charlton was not a noisy boy, he played quietly with his toys, and occasionally let out a giggle. Even when he was hungry, sleepy, or in a bad mood, he wasn't much of a complainer. Once it was 8 o'clock, Harry took Charlton to bed, after changing his diaper, and tucking him in properly, he left him with a small light on and the door half open.
He went to his room with the purpose of going to sleep, but just as he was putting on his pajamas, he heard Charlton crying over the monitor, he quickly went to Charlton's room and the little boy was pouting for Harry to hold him. Harry hesitated a little, but picked him up and began to rock him, gradually the little one fell asleep again, and Harry tried to settle him back in his crib, but as soon as Charlton stopped feeling Harry's warmth he began to cry again.
-"Harry? Is everything all right?" -Harry had relented, and dialed Louis to ask how to get Charlton to sleep.
-"Lou... I can't get Charlton to sleep, every time I put him down in his crib he starts crying, what do I do?" -he said a little frustrated as he rocked the little boy in his arms.
Louis laughed on the other end of the phone-, "Hazz, you're going to kill me...".
-"He sleeps with you in your bed, doesn't he?"
Louis let out a laugh, and told Harry that he felt guilty leaving him sleeping alone in such a big and cold room, so after Harry went to sleep, Louis would take Charlton to his room and sleep with him, so Charlton had probably gotten used to sleeping with someone next to him.
Harry snorted and grumbled, scolded Louis for causing the boy to have such a strong attachment to him, and Louis couldn't stop laughing. Since Charlton had arrived at the house, things between Harry and Louis had cooled down a bit, and Harry hadn't had a chance to make Louis laugh again. It made him very happy to hear his laughter.
Harry took Charlton to his room, and made a cradle out of his pillows, thus preventing him from rolling and falling out of bed at night. Then Harry set about finishing his nightly routine and lay down next to the little boy. He felt a little nervous, he wasn't just any kid, he's Louis' son. He had to take proper care of him. He tried to sleep for a while, but after 5 minutes, he would wake up to check that Charlton was still sleeping peacefully. And by the time it was finally dawn, Harry had barely gotten a couple of hours of sleep.
Harry got up and took the quickest shower of his life, by the time he had finished getting dressed, Charlton was waking up. He bathed him, fed him a hard boiled egg and fruit for breakfast, and then took him to the nursery. By the time he got to work he looked distinctly unkempt, his suit was wrinkled, and he had some stains that Charlton had made on him without him noticing. He hadn't been able to fix his hair as he was worried Charlton would wake up while he was bathing.
-"Mr. Styles... Are you alright today?" -asked his assistant, besides his clothes and hair, his face also looked terrible. He had huge dark circles under his eyes from not having slept all night. Harry just greeted her with a smile, and locked himself in his office for the rest of the day. The previous day had barely been the first day of the three that he had to stay with Charlton alone, Louis would be back tomorrow night, but he probably would be too tired to take care of Charlton on his own.
He left the office and went through the same routine as the day before, but this time it was 10:30 pm and Charlton couldn't fall asleep, even if he was in Harry's arms. He wanted to keep playing, and every time Harry put him to bed, Charlton found a way to get out of the blanket prison and down on the floor.
-"Love? What's wrong? Is everything all right?" -answered a sleepy Louis, he was half asleep, and it was obvious that Harry's call had woken him up.
Harry cleared his throat, he decided to ignore the way Louis called him and explained that, despite his attempts, Charlton couldn't sleep.
-"Mmmm, maybe he ate sugar in the nursery" -he said, cleared his throat and continued-, "when Charlton got restless in the nursery, he usually calmed down when I sang to him, you could try that".
Harry pondered a bit, he had his guitar stored in the closet, it was a beautiful Epiphone AJ-100CE, he hadn't played it since they decided to separate as it had been a gift from his husband, for their anniversary. Harry still remembered those nights when he would find Louis playing the piano, and Harry would decide to accompany him with his guitar. Their melodious voices crossing and forming a beautiful melody.
-"What song do you usually sing to him?"
-"You know the one, Hazz".
They ended the call, and Harry was a little embarrassed. Louis singing the song Harry wrote for him? On their first anniversary Harry made Louis a romantic dinner, and they ended the night with Harry and a guitar singing to him, it became a habit that whenever Louis was sad, Harry would comfort him with that song, until it was no longer enough to make him happy.
Harry cleared his throat, and pulled the guitar out of the closet, tucked Charlton into bed and Harry sat on the edge of it with the guitar in his arms. He tuned it before he began to sing, and the simple sound of the strings already seemed to calm Charlton's energy, who was now looking at Harry intently. After a few minutes Charlton fell fast asleep, he looked so calm and serene. Harry barely making a little noise, settled down next to him, and fell asleep.
-"Hazza, Hazz, wake up" -a melodious voice woke Harry from his deep sleep, it was Louis, sitting on the edge of the bed with Charlton slung in his arms-. "Wake up at once, love".
-"Louis? What? When did you get here?" -the dark-haired man sat up in bed, his eyes were puffy from sleep, and his hair was completely disheveled.
-"They discharged my mom last night, I took her home and came back this morning. Congratulations, you survived!"
Louis stood up with Charlton in his arms, and gave him a kiss on the cheek. He looked at Harry with a smile and left the room. Harry lay back down for a moment, it seemed like a dream to wake up and see Louis next to him, happy, content.
After showering and getting ready, he left the room, only to see Louis and Charlton having breakfast together in the dining room. Charlton was babbling and Louis was watching him intently. Harry smiled at the scene, walked over to them and saw his plate served next to Louis. The three of them finished breakfast, and finished getting ready to go to their respective jobs. Harry had offered Louis to drop them both off at the nursery, since Charlton's seat was still installed in Harry's car and there wouldn't be time to change it, according to Harry, but he really just wanted them to spend time together.
-"Thank you so much, Harry, you really have been very helpful, not just this week, but always, thank you so much for everything", -said Louis once Harry parked in the nursery parking lot.
Harry smiled in response- "All for making you happy, Lou" -replied Harry and out of inertia he moved closer to Louis and planted a kiss on his lips. Surprisingly, Louis reciprocated, and after a few seconds they broke apart. Both of them were blushing a little after separating, Louis nervously started to grab his and Charlton's things and got out of the car. Harry helped Charlton out of the car, and escorted him to the front desk of the nursery, where they both said goodbye with a smile.
The evolution
Charlton was an ordinary two year old boy, he walked well although he preferred to be carried, he could also follow instructions without problems, and he even recognized a number or two. The only problem Charlton had was in speaking, he did not speak well, it was almost impossible for a person to understand him, with the exception of Louis, who understood the boy's intonations a little better, and with that he could differentiate a little what he asked for from time to time.
But Harry understood absolutely nothing of what Charlton was saying, last week, Charlton was alone with Harry in the kitchen, and he was desperately asking for water, but Harry didn't understand if it was sleep, hunger, a dirty diaper or what the heck he wanted. After about 5 minutes of tantruming, Louis finally came in from the store and gave Charlton water.
They had been living like this for a couple of months now, and Louis thought that Harry should get used to Charlton's little things, but the dark-haired boy, no matter how hard he tried, couldn't understand what the infant was saying.
It was a quiet morning, Louis, Harry and Charlton had finished breakfast, and while Louis prepared Charlton's diaper bag in his room, Harry took care of him in the dining room. It had been a few days since Charlton had started a small fever, so he had been more attached to Louis, and now Charlton was looking sideways for the blue-eyed boy, but he couldn't find him anywhere, so he started to ask Harry to take him with him, but Harry didn't understand what he was saying.
-"What does that mean, potty? P-O-T-T-Y?" -Harry asked Charlton as he held up a glass of water and pointed to it with his other hand. Charlton denied, and kept making the sound Harry couldn't decipher, "What is it, what is it, paddie, baddy, baggy?".
Charlton denied sharply again-"Nanny, laddie, caddy". -no, it wasn't that, it wasn't anything Harry was saying and Charlton was slowly beginning to freak out, he pointed his hand at Louis' room.
- "Bed! Do you want to sleep?" -seconds before Charlton began to cry, Louis appeared through the door frame.
-"Harry! He's saying daddy!" -said Louis pulling Charlton into his arms to carry and hug him-, "why are you calling him daddy? He doesn't even understand what you're saying! I'm daddy!".
-"What!!! What do you mean 'that one'? And he wasn't saying daddy, he was pointing to your room".
-"Mmmmm, I'm pretty sure he was saying daddy. What were you saying, love? Daddy or bed? Do you want to sleep?".
Charlton denied, took Louis' face in his hands and repeated the word he was saying, making it clear to them that he was trying to say "daddy".
Louis got a little teary-eyed from happiness, yes, he had been drilling the word into Charlton's head for a couple of weeks now, but it was the first time he had said it without Louis explaining how to do it, he gave him a kiss on the cheek and continued to converse with him. Harry moved closer to both of them, close enough for Charlton to equally grab him by the face and say another strange word.
-"Lou? What's that mean? Lala, tapa, napa?"
Louis blushed a little and whispered something to Charlton. The little boy nodded in response, and Louis smiled at Harry.
-"I think I'd better not tell you, Hazz".
Days went by that turned into weeks, Charlton kept calling Louis "daddy", and it was getting clearer and clearer, while Harry kept calling him the strange word, and Louis refused to tell him its meaning, until one day, that Harry had to pick Charlton up before his departure time, as he had to go do some tests with social services, that he finally understood what he was referring to.
-"Mr. Styles, nice to see you today" -said the receptionist at the daycare center-, "You came to pick up Charlton?"
-"Yes, that's right, Louis told me that he had already spoken to you, so I could take him out early without any problems" -answered the curly-haired boy.
-"Yeah, sure, they'll bring him over in a minute".
Harry waited a couple of minutes, when Louis and Charlton walked out holding hands. "Dada!" -shouted Charlton when he saw Harry, he broke away from Louis and went running to where the green-eyed man was. Louis and Harry remained static, he had never pronounced a word so clearly, and Louis cursed that it was that one right at that moment.
Harry ignored him, and waved to Charlton and Louis. He carried him with one arm, and grabbed his things in his diaper bag with the other. Louis came over to kiss Charlton goodbye with a kiss on the cheek, and Harry took advantage of the boy's closeness to kiss him goodbye with a peck on the lips. As they parted, Harry smiled mischievously at him, and prepared to leave the nursery.
Now that he was in the car with only Charlton, he pondered what had just happened. Charlton had called him "Dada," clearly, no doubt about that. He felt guilty for a moment, but turned to look at Charlton and his heart softened a little.
Maybe it wasn't such a bad idea to have a family like that.
The beginning
The adoption process could be simple, it was based on handing in paperwork, going to a few weekly workshops, taking Charlton to check-ups with doctors and child psychologists, nothing out of Harry and Louis' reach. The hard part was having to wait for all the paperwork to be completed internally, for the judge in charge of Charlton's case to take the time to review that paperwork, for the psychologists, workshop attendees and doctors to give the family a clean bill of health.
Harry, Charlton and Louis had already been involved in this process for three and a half months, and every day they spent together made Harry doubt his ideals, dreams and feelings more and more.
He loved being with Louis, living under the same roof, seeing him every morning when he woke up, and seeing him every night before bed. He loved receiving and giving him those little surprise kisses, loved the noise he made and the color he brought to the house, making it warm again. He had loved Louis for the 10 years they had known each other, the 7 years they had been married and even now, he still loved him.
Charlton, meanwhile, he didn't hate him, or anything like that, he even liked the boy, he found it funny when he tried to talk to Harry, and he didn't understand anything, and he also thought it was cute when he called him "dada". But did he love him like a son? Did he want to raise him, and take care of him? Or was he just convincing himself that he thinks that way because he wants to be with Louis? He didn't know, he couldn't come to a conclusion, he didn't know what to do.
-"Hazz, are you free on Saturday?" -Louis asked him, snapping him out of his thoughts. Harry was sitting in the living room, and Louis had left Charlton asleep in the crib, as he fell asleep on the way from the nursery to the house-, "if so, would you like to go for a walk with us?"
Louis intended to take Charlton out for a walk, they were always at home or in the nursery, and he was worried that he wouldn't go out to be distracted and have fun like any other child.
-"Mmmmm, is that a date?" -replied Harry, Louis let out a laugh as he approached the dark-haired boy. When he reached his side, Harry took his hand, and invited him to sit on his legs, to which Louis agreed without much trouble.
-"You... You want to make it a date?"-Louis was sitting on his husband's legs, rested his arms on Harry's shoulders and moved close enough for their breaths to mingle.
Without wasting much time, Harry joined his lips with Louis', engaging in a heated kiss. Harry ran his hand all over Louis' lower back, sending shivers down his spine, and Louis just pressed his body closer and closer to Harry's.
Harry carefully got up, carrying Louis by his thighs, and carried him to his room at a slow pace, while Louis left kisses and small marks on his neck and face. Upon reaching the bedroom, Harry threw Louis onto the bed, where they continued kissing for a while longer, just as Harry was starting to peel off Louis' clothes, a scream was heard coming from Charlton's room. Louis immediately pulled Harry off him and ran to Charlton's room, who had just woken up from his nap.
-"Look who's awake now" -said Louis entering Harry's room with Charlton in his arms as he walked over to the bed and deposited a kiss on the curly boy's lips. Harry let out a laugh.
Saturday came, Louis was making lunch and putting it away in pots to take to the park with them. They were going to take Charlton to a nearby park, and they were going to have breakfast right there. Harry, meanwhile, was getting Charlton ready, putting on his clothes and getting his diaper bag ready. Once they were done, they were ready to leave.
They arrived at the park, there were a few children with their families, but it wasn't quite full. The three of them sat down at a table near the games and set about eating, Charlton had gotten better at using the cutlery, and Harry was particularly proud of that, because he was the one who was teaching him how to use it.
Once they finished breakfast, they both took Charlton to the games. Harry and Louis sat on a bench, and Charlton went to play.
-"Hazz... I wanted to thank you again for everything you're doing for me" -Louis told him as they sat down-, "You really don't know how happy I feel, with Charlton, with you".
-"It's a new feeling, the three of us being together, but I think I like it".
-"You... Haven't you thought about whether we should stay this way?" -Louis put his hand on top of Harry's which was resting on the bench-, "haven't you thought about whether we can try to be together this way?"
-"Louis, I..." -before he could answer, there was a shout that alerted them both. Someone had pushed Charlton off a set, and he had fallen to the floor. They both ran to where the little boy lay, he had hit his head and there was blood, lots of blood.
Louis at the sight of the blood froze. Charlton, his little boy, was hurt, and he couldn't move a muscle. Harry instead, walked over to the little boy and picked him up carefully. Harry said a few words to Louis that he couldn't understand, and seeing that there was no response from the blue-eyed man, he called an ambulance on his own. The noise, the people, the lights, everything was making Louis unable to breathe.
-"Louis, Louis, I need you to breathe" -Harry told him, his voice bringing him back to reality.
-"Harry, what do I do, what do I...?"
-"Louis, it's all right, I've got both of you, okay? Just breathe, okay?"
The ambulance arrived and took the three of them to the hospital, Charlton had had a very bad blow to the head, when they arrived at the hospital, they took Charlton away and didn't let Louis or Harry accompany him, they both stayed outside, and while they waited for news. Harry called child services to report the situation, and was told that an officer would be there immediately.
-"Louis, child services is going to be here soon, so I need you to be here, okay?" -said Harry taking Louis by the shoulders, but Louis couldn't hear anything, he could barely see, as his eyes were blurred by his tears. Harry didn't know what to do, he had never seen Louis so scared, so gone. He took Louis in a hug and tried to calm his breathing. A while later, Louis had stopped crying, he just felt a little dizzy.
-"Harry, I'm not going to be able to do this alone" -Louis told him-, "I reacted this way when Charlton was in danger, I couldn't do anything, I couldn't move".
-"Lou, you don't have to do this alone, okay? I'm with you, I'm always going to be with you" -Harry took Louis by the cheeks and planted a kiss on his lips, the blue-eyed boy closed his eyes when he felt the contact, and let himself be wrapped in Harry's warmth. If Harry was there with him, everything would be okay.
The deal
By the time Children's Services arrived, Louis was feeling better. They were both holding hands in the waiting room, as the doctor had not yet come out to give an update. Harry explained everything to the children's services agent, and asked her if the incident was going to have any repercussions on his adoption process, to which the agent replied that she couldn't be sure of that, and had to know about the child's condition first.
A few minutes later, the doctor came out and spoke with the three of them, and although Charlton would not need any surgery, they were to put some stitches to close the wound and keep him under observation for at least that night. They let them both come in to see the boy after the stitches were put in, Louis fell asleep next to Charlton, while Harry went about filling out all the hospital paperwork.
The night passed without any problems or complications, Charlton was stable, the head is just a part of the body that bleeds a lot, and thanks to the pressure Harry put on the wound, it didn't escalate. Children's Services had also contacted Harry, notifying him that they had reviewed the park's security footage and corroborated what had happened, advising them that there would be no problem or delay with his adoption proceedings.
By the time they returned home, all three were exhausted, so they indulged in a full day's sleep. By dinnertime, Louis got up to do something simple, and after a while, he had everything ready in the dining room. He carried Charlton carefully into the dining room, and fed him in his mouth, a few minutes later Harry was perched on the door frame, looking at the two of them and thinking how it wouldn't be so bad to live like this.
All weekend he had been thinking the same thing, that he liked this kind of life if it was next to Louis. That even when Louis wasn't around and Charlton was 100% his responsibility, he didn't dislike it either.
Could it be a whim on his part to not just be encouraged to start a family with the one he loved? Could it be that he just wanted to be right for once in the relationship and that's why he hadn't deigned to give in until now? Louis had always won the arguments, Louis was always the one who was right, Louis always got done what Louis wanted, and for a moment, Harry was sick of always losing.
After dinner, Charlton started to feel drowsy, so Louis went to put him to bed, and he fell asleep without any difficulty. Louis returned to the living room after leaving Charlton well settled, where Harry was lying down.
-"How are you, love?" -Louis asked him.
-"Mhmmm, fine" -he said getting up, and allowing Louis a space to sit next to him-, "I was thinking a bit".
-"What were you thinking about?"
They were silent for a few seconds, Harry mediating what he was going to say, and Louis nervous for his answer.
-"Louis, I hated that you were always right, that you always won the fights, that what you wanted was always done, and now, that we're in this situation, I hate that you're right again".
-"Harry? What do you mean?"
Harry sighed heavily, turned to look at Louis, with his bright blue eyes, and realized that Louis was crying- "No, love, don't cry, I don't mean it wrong, I mean that-".
And Louis kissed him. Harry was delighted by the sweet taste of his lips. Pulling away, Harry looked up at him with a smile.
-"Louis, I mean that you knew since before, that living this way could make me happy, and I didn't listen to you, and I caused us to suffer so much, because of me we broke up, when you always wanted to be a family with me".
-"No, no, Hazz, don't say that," he said as he wiped Harry's tears from his face-, "we were at different times in our lives, we wanted different things, and I wasn't patient with you".
-"Louis, I- I don't want this to be over when the adoption process is done and you get Charlton and you leave, I want us to stay together, the three of us".
Louis shared a smile, and kissed his lips- "Yes, Hazz, let's be a family, the three of us".
The closure
After a couple of weeks, the adoption process was finally over. Harry and Louis were given full custody, and now the three of them were living comfortably together, happily.
It wasn't completely easy, Harry still needed to adjust to the change, but every time he saw Louis and Charlton laughing together, everything seemed right.
Louis felt a little nervous, he had never really thought about that during his relationship with Harry, he had never given in to what Harry wanted, and every time they have a fight or argument now, he tries to listen and understand Harry's perspective, and he certainly wasn't winning every argument now.
It was a new beginning, with new experiences and expectations for all three of them, it was a little scary, but as long as they were together, they would be happy.
The end