Chapter Text
It's like this:
There's a nine year old girl standing at the door of his and Harry's apartment, which- isn't that odd, really. Even with all the added security, fans still manage to sneak up to see the boys, sometimes.
Except this girl has light brown hair, almost identical to Louis' colour, though it's slightly curly, and when flits into the apartment, ducking under Zayn's arms, and skipping past Liam, she says her name is Lily Anne Tomlinson. And when she's pushing Niall over to make room for herself on their couch, she tells them she's from the future and she traveled back in time- or, maybe she's saying she's traveled all this way, and needs to borrow a dime, Louis isn't exactly sure, as her mouth is full of jelly beans that she pinched out of Niall's lap.
But then-
"I'm your daughter," she concludes, smiling winningly at Louis. "Only I can't tell you my other last name, because you're not allowed to know who my other parent is, but it comes before 'Tomlinson,'" she explains.
"As if," Louis snorts, wondering how she managed to get past security (and themselves- though really, they're all suckers for children, so it's not that hard, lately). "When I get married, my name'd definitely come first, not the other way around."
Lily grins at him, and her lips are almost as pretty as Harry's and that's a horrible thought that Louis pushes out of his mind- it's quite easy, as he's been doing that a lot lately, when it comes to Harry- and then she just says, "Uncle Zayn says that you're very whipped Daddy, and that's why my other parent basically gets everything they want."
Harry laughs, and high fives the little girl, "That's true," he says, elbowing Louis in the stomach. "You've always been pretty easy to boss around." Louis glares at him, and then at the other three boys who are all laughing along.
"Okay, so that might be true," Louis admits, frowning. "But you are not my daughter from the fucking future!" he says.
"Louis, don't swear in front of her!" Harry reprimands, reaching to cover her ears, as though it's an instinct.
"It's okay, I'm used to it," she says, batting Harry's hands away even as she steals more of Niall's lollies; Niall doesn't protest in the slightest, which is, perhaps, the oddest part of this entire situation.
"Your future parents swear around you?" Liam questions, his eyebrow's furrowed as he glares at Louis.
"Only Daddy," she shrugs, with a pointed look at Louis. "My other parent usually gets angry at him when he does it though, so he's getting slightly better," she adds, with a shrug and a smile at Harry. "When they're around, anyway."
"Why would you swear around your daughter, Lou?" Niall asks, patting the girl on the head as he steals back the pink jelly beans. Louis' eye's bug and his mouth falls open.
"Yeah, you can talk," Lily says, interrupting Louis, with a roll of her eyes.
"Niall swears around you too?" Liam questions, looking absolutely scandalized.
"Yeah," Lily says, laughing. "And so does Stan, and Zayn, though you're getting a lot better too," she concedes, smiling at Zayn. "You're really the only adult who doesn't," she adds, turning to smile up at Liam.
"Well- at least she's not my daughter," Niall and Zayn protest simultaneously, both with pointed looks in Louis' direction.
"She's not my daughter!" he sputters, wondering if everyone around him has gone crazy- well, crazier.
"I dunno," Harry muses. "You did say you always wanted to name your daughter Lily."
"Because she was Harry Potter's mum," Lily says, smiling toothily up at Harry. "As well as your favourite flower."
"Well yeah, but that's- I- okay, let's pretend that this could be true," Louis says. "Who's your um- mother?"
"I can't tell you that." Lily says, with a shrug of her small shoulders.
"Why?" Zayn interjects.
"Because it might mess stuff in the future up," she explains.
"Wont you just being here mess things up?" Liam questions, a thoughtful look on his face.
"I don't think so. I was looking through a bunch of family stuff, a few weeks ago, as we're cleaning out the attic, and I found a photo of me with all of you guys- which is normal, of course. I have tones of photos with you all. Except you were all heaps younger in this particular one, and I knew I must have traveled back in time. Me being here is apparently crucial to my existence," she tells them.
"Crucial how?" Louis questions.
"We'll get back to that later, when you don't look like you're about to throw up," Lily deflects, patting his knee as he sits down next to her.
"Ugh- you can't be my daughter," Louis says again, running a hand through his hair. But the thing is, that she could be. Appearance wise, at least. She looks enough like him to be his sister or cousin or- child.
"But I am," she says, shrugging. She pulls a necklace out of her shirt, offering it to him. He opens it up, to find a picture of himself holding a baby, with a look of pure amazement on his face, and another picture of himself and Harry kissing Lily on the cheeks, and she looks about three years old, and-
"Lou," Harry murmurs. "That’s- that’s us."
"It could have been photo shopped," Louis says, shrugging. Hey, it's happened before. Well- not exactly like this, but last time Stan went on Tumblr, he found plenty of photo shopped photos of Louis with the other boys in very compromising positions, and didn't speak to him for a week.
"Lou," Harry says again, squeezing him arm tightly as his eyes widen. "That necklace- it's been in my family for ages. The first born daughter always gets it. Gemma got it when she turned 21, only she's never liked it, and doesn't even want kids, really, so she gave it to me, saying-"
He breaks off, and after a moment, Zayn nudges him. "Saying what, H?"
"To give it to my daughter," Harry whispers, staring at Lily, eyes wide with shock.
"Auntie Gemma didn't end up having any kids, so she gave it to you," Lily says, shrugging slowly. "And you um- well you gave it to Daddy, when I was born, I suppose."
Louis nods slowly. "Okay," he says clearly, and then promptly faints.
*
He's woken up with water being splashed in his face, and there's a small girly voice saying is he always this much of a drama queen? and the answering yes coming from all the other boys is enough for him to open his eyes and say, "So that wasn't a dream then, huh?"
"'Fraid not Lou," Harry says, grinning at him. "But hey, you can go back to sleep and pretend it was, while we figure out what to do with your daughter, if you like." Louis frowns and sits up, staring at Lily.
"I- I think I need more- more proof," Louis says slowly. "That you really are my daughter and not just a crazed fan or something."
Lily rolls her eyes, "What, the photos and necklace weren't proof enough?"
"No," Louis says simply.
"Fine," Lily agrees, clearly having expected this. "Well, for one, I'm the spitting image of you."
"'S true Lou," Liam murmurs. "She's got your hair, and your eyes, and-"
"So?" Louis interrupts. "That’s- not enough to make me believe she's my daughter! Plus, my hair is straight and that's not my smile or my-"
"Louis, she's only half of you," Zayn interrupts, rolling his eyes. "She's probably got half her mum's genes too, right?" he says, staring at Lily, who nods.
"Yeah. I got my smile and curls from my other parent," she says, smiling, and Louis nods, because he can't disagree with that smile (he's never been able to say no to beautiful smiles. It's half the reason Harry wins every argument they have).
"Okay, but- maybe you're just like- a lost long cousin?" he says, grasping onto straws. Lily rolls her eyes again and huffs in annoyance.
"God, you're so annoying," she says with a loud sigh. "Would it help if I told you everything I know about you? And trust me, I know a lot about you," she says. This time, Harry snorts, and Lily's head whips to stare at him so fast her brown hair hits Louis in the face.
"Sorry, but- all our fans basically know more about us then even we do, so that one isn't really proof," he says, shrugging.
"Yeah, but only I know that Daddy hates milk, unless it's flavored, he cried the night you guys didn't win X Factor, but only because he was so scared of losing you all, he swears on his life he can always tell Aunt Phoebe and Auntie Daisy apart, but he can't, really, and Aunt Lottie always has to help him. He cries in The Notebook, but Titanic puts him to sleep, he can't cook, but he tries to make me a cake every birthday anyway, even though we always end up with our kitchen on fire, he loves bananas, but refuses to let me eat them, for reasons I don't want to think about, thank you very much, " she says, shuddering, much to Niall's amusement (and Liam's shock).
Harry’s mouth opens like he’s about to say something, but Lily beats him to it.
"I know that you're the best husband, and my- my other parent loves you so much that it seems to actually hurt you both to be away from each other," she continues, turning to look directly into Louis' eyes. "I know that you fight with Uncle Zayn about his smoking all the time, but when you get super stressed, you sneak a cigarette too- even though me and Uncle Niall keep hiding them from you, and flushing them down the toilet," Niall leans over to affectionately rub her hair, earning a smile. "I know that your favourite song when you were sixteen was The Best Of Both Worlds by Miley Cyrus and you had a huge crush on Selena Gomez when you were- well, now I guess," she says, her eyebrows furrowing. "I know that you fight with Uncle Liam the most out of everybody, but that's only because he's sensible and you're so- not. And I know that you're the best dad a girl could want, even though you drive me mad and didn't let me go to Pink's concert last year- which, still mad about, by the way- but I love you anyway because you sing me to sleep and you're my partner in crime and please daddy, please just believe me," she says, a tear falling down her cheek.
"Hey, hey- don't cry," Louis says, reaching to wipe the tear away. "I believe you," he says suddenly, shocking even himself. "I- God, you're my daughter," he tells her. Her face lights up in a smile, and she nods.
"Hi Daddy," she trills, and her voice is musical and familiar and she's basically perfect.
"I- can you call me Louis, for awhile? It's just- hard. To get used to being called that," he says, awkwardly. Lily bites her lip, but sighs and nods.
"Sure Louis," she agrees, smiling at him. Louis smiles tentatively back, running a hand through his hair.
"So, what now?" Zayn questions, scratching his head.
"Now we get some dinner, because it's almost six and I'm hungry, and I'm sure the kids are too," Harry says, looking pointedly at Niall and Lily, who both grin.
"Nandos?" they ask, at the same time.
"That’s- are you sure you aren't Niall's kid?" Harry questions, grinning.
"Don't be stupid," Lilly says, her voice a perfect imitation of Louis'. "If I was his kid, do you really think I'd be as perfect as I am now?"
"Yep, definitely Lou's kid," Zayn, Niall, Liam and Harry say in union, ignoring Louis' weak protests.
"Come on squirt, let's go get some food," Harry says, lifting Lily off Louis and swinging her around onto his back.
"Don't call me squirt!" Lily protests, as Harry lets out a bark of laughter and leads them all out of the door.
"Wait, what are we gonna tell people?" Louis questions.
"Um. That she's your long lost cousin?" Zayn offers, shrugging.
"Well, the fans will believe that, sure, but what about my family?" Louis questions.
"Just tell Jay that you can't talk about it," Harry says, shrugging.
"I'll be gone in two months anyway," Lily says, biting her lip.
"I- what, why?" Louis questions, suddenly terrified at the idea of her leaving.
"I came here through a time-portal," Lily started off, after Harry had put her down. "In the future, scientists have discovered several 'time-portals' scattered across the world. It acts as- like a door into the past- literally. They found one in London a week ago, and I sweet talked Liam into helping me get into it, after I found the picture," she said, shrugging. Louis shot a glare at his band mate.
"You helped my nine year old daughter travel back in time? Are you insane?" he questioned, angrily, ignoring Lily’s smug smile.
Liam looks horrified. "Hey, don't give me that, I haven't done it yet!" he protests.
"I don't care, you-"
"Calm down Lou," Harry says, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Go on," he says gently to Lily.
"Anyway, I only have roughly two months before I get pulled back into my own time," Lily repeats. “I’m just here to make sure I’m still born.”
"Well- tell me what I have to do then, to make sure you're still born," Louis begs.
"I can't really say anything," Lilly tells him.
"But, I- am I supposed to break up with El, is that it? Or is she your mum?"
"Dad!" she yells. "I can't say anything!"
"Then how is you being here supposed to help?" Louis questions.
"I'm only here to guide you," Lily says, running a hand through her hair. "You have to figure everything out yourself. I'm just here to- to point you in the right direction.”
“Right,” Louis says, frowning. “I- let’s just go get some food, yeah?” Lily nods her head, and slips her hand into Louis’, who winces and instantly wants to jerk away, but-
“Thank you daddy,” Lily murmurs. “For believing me.”
Louis nods, and with Harry’s hand holding onto his other one, feels that he can actually do this.
*
“Wow, you really were famous,” Lily murmurs, upon seeing the screaming girls outside their apartment building. Harry furrows his eyebrows as he leans down to pick Lily up, to make it easier to get through the crowds.
“Are we not famous in the future?” he questions, and Louis frowns because how can Harry be so calm about this?
“No- you are, and we still get people recognizing you all the time, but it’s just- different,” Lily says, biting her lip.
“Are we still a band?” Niall asks, his voice soft and his eyes worried.
“I can’t tell you anything,” Lily murmurs. “It’d mess up the future, remember?” Niall nods, and Lily frowns and bites her lips. “But you haven’t actually broken up the band. I mean- its okay. I promise,” she adds, smiling toothily up at Niall.
“Thanks Lily,” Niall says, breathing out a sigh of relief.
“So um- tell us about yourself,” Liam says awkwardly, as they get into Liam's car, as it's the only one with enough seats for all of them, and after waving at their fans, Zayn starts Liam's car up and drives off.
“Well, my full name is Lily Anne S-something Tomlinson, and I’m nine years old,” Lily starts off.
“Anne?” Harry questions, staring right at Louis, who gulps.
“Yeah, after g- your mum,” Lily says, blushing.
“You gave your daughter my mum’s middle name?” Harry asked Louis, who shrugs.
“I guess so,” he says, blushing. “Is that um. Alright?”
“Yeah, yeah of course Lou,” Harry says, beaming at him.
“I like reading and I’m very smart for my age,” Lily interrupts. “I am only meant to be in grade four, but I’m in grade five,” she continues, smiling proudly. “I play football, and I sing, and-”
“You sing?” Louis interrupts. “Are you like- good?”
“Well, my other parent certainly thinks so. They say I have your voice, and that’s partially the reason they fell in love with you, so they’re glad that I didn’t get their voice,” Lily explains.
“Your other parent can’t sing?” Louis asks. “Is it Eleanor then? Because she’s crap at singing.”
“No it’s- I mean, dad! I can’t tell you that!” Lily answers, flustered.
“You just said no though,” Zayn says, from the driver’s seat. “So, it’s not El then?”
“Ugh, fine, it’s not Eleanor,” Lily says, crinkling her nose.
“What, don’t you like Eleanor?” Niall asks from behind Louis.
“You don’t like Eleanor?” Louis interrupts, staring between them. “How’d you pick up on that Niall?”
“The nose thing she did, it’s the exact same as when H-”
“No, I don’t really like Eleanor,” Lily interrupts loudly. “We don’t see her much anyway, just at events sometimes, but- yeah. I just don’t for- for reasons.”
“Okay then,” Harry says easily. “So, Louis, looks like you ought to break up with her then,” he comments. Louis shoots him a glare, before frowning.
“Why? I mean- Lily just said that El wasn’t her mum. That doesn’t mean I have to dump her,” he says, before staring at Lily. “Right? I don’t dump her now?”
“I can’t tell you anything!” Lily explodes. “It’d-”
“- ruin the future, we know,” Harry finishes for the little girl. “But like- could you just give us a vague timeline on how long Lou has to date Eleanor-" and Harry shudders slightly as he says her name- "before he can break up with her?” Lily laughs, and her laugh is perfect and Louis’ eyes water and he ignores Harry’s obvious dislike of his girlfriend, because this is his daughter and she is his child and his flesh and blood and that’s just- un-fucking-real.
“Let me just say that come 2013 you are no longer with her,” Lily says, before frowning. “Now that’s all! No more questions, okay?” The boys all mumble agreements, and Louis looks down at his hand, still intertwined with Lily’s, who’s practically sitting in Harry’s lap, she's so close to him.
“Just- one more,” Louis asks, and Lily must see the desperation in his eyes, because she bites her lip, but nods in agreement.
“Okay then, one more Daddy.”
“Are we- are we all still friends?” Louis asks, frowning. “Like- you said that the band never exactly broke up, right? But what happened to our friendships?” Lily’s smile is practically blinding as Harry runs his fingers through her long hair.
“You’re all still best friends,” Lily answers, pausing while the boys all let out a collective sigh of relief. “You see each other practically every weekend, and you talk all the time. And- you and Harry are especially close, like always,” she adds.
“Then why don’t you call him ‘Uncle Harry,’ like the rest of us?” Liam questions from the passenger seat, his eyebrow furrowing. “And what about other people? Like Stan, and Josh and Andy and- shit- what about Danielle?” he asks, his facial expression growing more worried by the second.
“Because um- Harry is my- we’re closer, than me and you guys. I see him every day and he’s um- more than my Uncle?” Lily explains, and Louis frowns, because the little girl is suddenly bright red. “And we still see Uncle Stan when we go on visits to Doncaster, and you’re still close with him,” she continues, smiling at Louis. “Josh was still your drummer for ages after I was born- the whole band was still there, really, and Uncle Liam, you’re still friends with Andy, though I only see him when he comes to London to visit you, and we’re not close,” she says, frowning.
“Why not?” Harry asks, curiously.
“He- has some problems, with my other parent,” Lily responds, her frown deepening. “But let’s not get into that.” Harry nods, and Liam frowns.
“But what about Danielle?” he repeats.
“She’s happy,” Lily says simply, and Liam visibly relaxes.
“Is she still with me?” he whispers.
“I- she- she’s happy,” Lily repeats. “Sorry Uncle Li, but that’s all I can tell you.”
Liam nods, frowning, but smiling at the same time, Danielle's happiness clearly more important than their relationship, to him. They fall silent again, and minutes later the car pulls into a Nando’s car park and they’re all tumbling out, Harry never once letting go of Lily. There are a few girls there, who look amazed when they walk in, and Niall murmurs something about damn, I’m hungry and Liam leads them all up to order.
“What do you want Lils?” Harry questions, smiling at the little girl who’s still still attached to his hand, and Louis thinks that he should be the one holding her hand considering she’s his daughter, but Harry looks so right with her, and she looks so happy on his arms, that Louis doesn’t have the heart to separate them.
“Um. The chicken burger, only with no lettuce or tomato,” she says, studying the menu board. “And a coke, please,” Harry nods, and tells the cashier lady, who blushes and fumbles but eventually manages to take all of their orders, without screaming or fainting or something. After Niall pays, the boys find a table large enough to seat all of them and they all shuffle into the booths, Lily sandwiched between Louis and Harry.
“Um, daddy?” Lily whispers, pulling on his shirt. “I need to go to the bathroom,” she tells him, quietly.
“I’ll take her,” Harry offers, slipping his hand into her tiny one, and sliding out of the booth, pulling her after him. “Come on Lily, the toilets right this way.”
“Thank you,” she trills, beaming up at him, as they walk away, telling him about how her soccer team won last week, and how she scored two of the three goals. Louis just smiles, and shuffles closer to Liam, who frowns at him.
“That’s your daughter,” he says, quietly. “You have a kid Lou.”
“Don't remind me,” Louis groans, running a hand through his hair.
“Do you have any idea who her mum is?” Zayn questions, frowning.
“Not one,” Louis whines. “I mean- it’s not like I thought El was exactly forever, you know? She’s a great girl, and I love her, but- I can’t imagine being with anyone for that long right now- I’m only twenty.”
“Really?” Liam questions, his mouth turned down in a frown.
“Yeah,” Louis says with a shrug. “Is that- wrong?”
“No, not at all,” Liam says, blushing. “It’s just that- I see myself with Dani, like. Forever, I think. I can definitely see us getting married, and having kids, and just- she’s my soul mate, I’m pretty sure.”
Louis nods, and pales a bit. “Guys, guys- I have a fucking kid, in the future. With a girl that isn’t my current girlfriend, and like- holy fucking shit.”
“I think that, maybe, and this- is just a suggestion, but like. You should break up with Eleanor,” Niall says. “You never thought she was the one before, and this just proves that she’s definitely not, so-”
“Yeah,” Louis says, slumping down dejectedly in his seat. “I’ll just dump my girlfriend of a year for a girl who I only met like, thirty minutes ago, sure.”
“Louis- don’t be a dick about this, okay? Because that little girl clearly idolizes you, and loves you to death and if you break her heart, I swear I will kill you,” Zayn says, and it's obvious that Lily reminds him of his sisters.
“Zayn- that’s my kid. Of course I’m not gonna be a dick to her, I’m not a horrible person,” Louis protests.
“I know that Louis, but you do have a tendency to lash out when you- when you feel like you’re boxed in, or something,” Zayn explains, and Liam and Niall nod in agreement. “Hurting her will only hurt yourself.”
“Right,” Louis murmurs, just as he hears Lily trill ‘we’re back and I’m hungry, so where’s my food?’
“Right here sweetie,” a pretty blonde girl says, holding two trays of food, and smiling sweetly at Lily, who’s still clutching Harry’s hand.
“Yay!” Lily squeals, sitting down in the booth next to Louis. The girl grins, and places the two trays of food on the table, and then stares at Harry.
“Um. Excuse me, but could I get a picture, please?” she asks, her voice quiet. Harry nods, and she pulls a phone out of her pocket, takes the picture and then disappears, with another awed look in Harry’s direction. Lily glares at her back as Harry squeezes in next to her.
“Stupid girls, always all over you,” she mumbles around a mouthful of burger. Harry blushes, and the other boys laugh.
“Is Curly here still the favourite in the future?” Louis asks, with a teasing grin in Harry’s direction.
Lily frowns at him. “Yes, unfortunately. And I’m only nine, but girls still hate me, just for knowing him. It’s horrible,” she complains, and Harry sighs.
“Sorry pet,” he says, patting her head. Lily beams as his hand runs through her hair, and across the table, as Lily launches into a story of how a fan actually asked for Lily’s autograph the other day- or, like, years into the future, apparently- Liam nudges Niall and whispers, ‘so, do you think she’s got a bit of a crush on Harry then?’
Niall’s loud laughter interrupts Lily’s story, and Liam blushes, again, before telling Lily it was an adult joke, sorry sweetie, continue with your story.
“So that’s a no then?” Liam hisses, and Niall laughs again, quieter this time.
“Dude- Harry’s clearly like another dad to her, there’s no way her feelings go deeper than that,” Niall reassures him, mentally shaking his head at how fucking oblivious his four friends are being- except, maybe Harry, because he surely can’t have missed the way Lily smiles at him- like a very proud, very loving, daughter.