Chapter Text
"Daddy! Daddy!" Max cheered, running into the bakery, Niall jogging behind. Harry turned his head to see his son running up to the counter. Harry wiped his hands on a towel after putting another batch of muffins in the oven and walked out to the front of the counter. He picked up his son and held him against his hip. "Hey, bud! How was your day?" harry asked, smiling at his boy, moving pieces of brown hair from his face. "Good. We draw planets and eat macaroni today." Max responded, trying to get down from harry's arms, which harry complied to. he ran to niall, who was looking at some cupcakes, and took his backpack and walked to a table near the counter where he always sat.
niall walked to harry and gave him a quick 'hello' hug. "thanks, niall. i'll grab you a cupcake in a sec." harry smiled after niall let go of him. "it's no problem, h. he's very energetic today." niall replied, turning to look at max. "when isn't he?" harry chuckled. max had his homework folder out and seemed to be tracing letters. harry walked behind the counter and grabbed one of niall's favorite cupcakes, and a biscuit for max. he handed both treats to niall and as niall said goodbye and left, he gave max the biscuit and snuck him a mini snickers bar. max giggled and contently ate his food while both boys returned to work
~
the bakery was closing up with max watching something on harry's phone and harry putting everything away and cleaning up, when louis walked in, looking happy to finally see his two favorite boys. "papa!" max squealed as louis took a seat next to him. "hey, max!" louis grinned, ruffling his son's hair. harry quickly went over to his busband and pecked his lips over his shoulder. "nice to see you, too." louis blushed. harry giggled and took the last chair at the table. "so, how was your day?" harry asked, leaning onto louis' shoulder."good. not as busy with meetings and stuff. tomorrow, though, there's gonna be meetings about publicizing one of the bands on the label and just other tiring stuff. louis had been working non-stop for the last 5 years on 'TommoRecords', even while pregnant with max. of course, he took it a little easier on his break, but meetings over phone and emails on MacBooks were constant. If it kept the family living and happy, he wouldn’t change a thing. “my poor lou. Always working.” Harry sighed. “Yea, but how about my boys’ work today?” Louis slightly smiled. “I write number and letters. I draw too, see!” max answered, holding a picture he drew of harry, Louis, and himself. “good job, max! you’re growing up to be such a big boy!” Louis told max, taking the picture and holding it between him and harry. “hey, max, why does papa have a circle tummy and we have lines?” harry asked, noticing the difference between the three. “because I want papa to have a baby! Big brother max!” max announced.
Harry and Louis looked at each other. Louis’ pregnancy with max was probably the toughest thing the pair had been through. Louis absolutely hated the morning sickness and having a huge tummy. Plus, the stress of work and being tired and feeling weak constantly was a con. Harry hated seeing Louis in the state he was in, but they got their beautiful 5 year-old son, Maxwell, which was obviously a pro. It was silent as the two registered what their son had just said. “max, the fact you want to be a big brother and have a little sister or brother is lovely-“ harry quickly interjected into louis’ sentence. “but it’s a lot of work to have a baby. Too much stress and me and papa have work to take care of.” Louis could only blink at harry. Did he not want to have another baby with him? “so is that a yes?” max asked, eyes wide. “I don’t know…wait, lou!” Louis got up and quickly headed towards the door. “it’s fine, harry. Everything’s fine. I’ll just wait in the car” louis’ voice was shaky as he left the bakery and went into the car. “why papa mad?” max asked. “pack up your stuff, max. it’s time to go.” Harry replied, ignoring max’s question. The car ride home and dinner was silent that night
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Max dragged his little feet down the stairs as he raced to find harry. He found harry in the bathroom, brushing his teeth. “daddy! Papa crying! I hear him from the door!” max panted, tugging on harry’s sweatpants. Harry quickly got rid of the toothpaste from his mouth and wiped his mouth with a towel. “what do you mean?” harry asked, picking up his son and heading out to the bathroom. “I was going to bathroom and papa door closed. I hear him go like this.” Max demonstrated sniffling. “maybe it’s just papa’s nose. Come on, get to sleep. Daddy will see what’s wrong.” Harry told max, even though he knew louis’ nose was fine and he was most likely crying. Harry took his son upstairs and into his room and tucked him in. he went across the hall. He made sure to knock before coming in, because he’s a gentleman. “go away, Harold.” Louis’ hoarse voice answered. Yup, he was crying. Harry ignored this, of course, and went inside their room, closing the door behind him. He saw Louis curled up into a ball, back turned to him. Harry carefully went over to their bed and sat on the edge. He sat there quietly, louis’ sniffles filling the air.
“you don’t want another baby with me.” Louis bluntly stated. He didn’t like looking like a mess, but he couldn’t help this thought he had. “why would you ever think that, lou?” harry asked, shocked. ”because of what you said in the bakery. It sounded like you don’t want to deal with me at all when I’m pregnant.” Louis explained, sitting up. “that our jobs matter more than our family.” Louis finished. “lou, that’s not it at all. I hate seeing you weak and sick and I don’t ever want you to feel that way.” Harry said, grabbing louis’ hand. “but it’s all worth it in the end.” Louis added. “I know. And I’m sorry I didn’t realize that. If you want another baby, we’ll have another baby.” Harry smiled. Louis looked up at him. “really?” Louis felt like he didn’t hear right. “really. Another baby Tomlinson. And we’ll get through the pain together. You, me and max.” harry wrapped his arms around Louis, smaller body. “I love you, harry.” Louis whispered. “I love you, too, Louis.” Harry whispered back.
“another baby Tomlinson.”
•~