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Louis awoke at the crack of dawn to a rustling noise. His chest felt a bit tight from the warm air of the house, and his throat was rather tickly. Upon opening his eyes, through the bars of his crib he saw a flash of blonde hair and a smiling face. Niall was out of his crib, and even more shockingly, in his hands was the baby monitor, the cord unplugged and swinging back and forth.
“Ni,” Louis sat up, pleased to discover that his diaper was dry for a change. He coughed a few times at the heavy feeling in his lungs. “What are you doing?”
They weren’t supposed to touch the baby monitor. It was there so that Daddy would know they were safe and sound at night, and not causing any trouble.
“Hi Lou!” Niall seemed very energized. “I want to make Daddy a surprise, a breakfast one! Since he’s the best daddy in the entire world and I love him!”
“I want to help!” Louis said, because Niall was right. Harry, their daddy, was the best daddy he could ever ask for.
“Okay, let’s go!” Niall started to head toward the door.
Niall slept in his crib with the side bar down, whereas Louis was caged in at night due to his tendency to roll around in his sleep. Obviously this proved to cause some trouble for Louis, because he couldn’t climb out on his own, as the bars were far too tall and slippery. It was always irksome to have to wait each morning for his daddy to come to the rescue.
“Niall!” He whined, gripping the bars. “You hafta let me out, it’s not fair!”
The diapered blonde stopped in his tracks and debated for a moment. “Okay Lou-Lou, hang on a sec.”
Cribs were actually quite complicated structures, which meant that Niall had no idea how to unlatch the side of Louis’ crib. He settled for the next best thing, which was taking one of the plastic chairs from their crafts table and dragging it over to the crib.
“Grab my hand Lou, I’ll pull you out!”
Louis complied with his brother, holding on tightly to his hand. It was a little scary, especially when Niall instructed him to lift his leg over the side. Niall gave one final tug and Louis found himself flying toward the carpet.
“Ooof!” He landed with a thud on his bottom, and it probably would have hurt a lot more if not for his diaper’s thick protection. Good thing he was dry, otherwise it would have been a lot more uncomfortable.
Niall winced. “Sorry Lou, are you okay?”
The other boy beamed as he righted himself, feeling a little short of breath. “Uh-huh! Let’s go make Daddy breakfast now!”
Holding hands, the two little ones scurried out of the nursery. Harry’s bedroom was two doors down, right after the bathroom, so they needed to be extra quiet while passing. The door was cracked partially, still very dark inside since their Daddy had thick curtains to block out the sunlight. Niall tried to peer in, but Louis yanked him forward to the stairs impatiently.
“Go slow!” Niall warned. Technically they weren’t supposed to take the stairs by themselves, but surely exceptions could be made. Each boy held tightly to the railing and took one step at a time. Luckily the carpeted steps made it easier and less slippery to navigate.
The kitchen was abnormally quiet and dark. Niall flicked on the light, revealing the spotless tables and pristine counters.
“Let’s make pancakes!” Louis hopped up and down excitedly. Niall felt the same way. He was just about to agree, when something dawned on him.
“We can’t use the stove though...that’s one of Daddy’s biggest rules.”
“Oh,” Louis grin faltered. “Um...waffles?”
“I don’t know how ‘ta use the waffle maker….”
Both Louis and Niall were silent as they contemplated a new plan. Harry was very strict about kitchen rules. Touching the stove was basically an invitation for a spanking (Louis had learned that the hard way), and that would ruin the day completely. But it also left few options for breakfast.
“Cheer-o’s,” Niall finally decided. He knew for a fact that their daddy liked Cheerios, as he ate them several times a week. Cereal was easy to make, and it was also very yummy and guaranteed to make their daddy happy.
Louis nodded rapidly in agreement. “With ‘nanas and frozen berries.”
“Perfect!” Niall said. “Let’s hurry, Daddy’s gonna wake up soon.”
They got to work. Niall dragged a kitchen chair over to the cabinet which contained cereal. It was rather high up, so he needed to stretch his arm to reach it. He managed to grasp the box of Cheerios, but not without knocking down the box of Bran Flakes beside it.
“Whoops!” The Bran Flakes box broke open and its contents spilled onto the counter. Oh well, he would worry about that later.
Louis, meanwhile, was exploring the fridge. The milk carton was full and unopened, so it wasn’t very easy to pick up. He ignored it for the time being and searched the rest of the fridge, continuing to look for the berries.
“Niall, I can’t find the berries!” Louis said, coughing as he searched around wildly.
“That’s okay, we have ‘nanas on the counter,” Niall said. “Daddy likes those better than berries anyway. Bring the milk over!”
Louis tried, he really did, but the milk was very heavy! He made it about halfway to the counter before the milk slipped from his hands, crashing to the floor. The thing about milk cartons is that they are quite fragile. As soon as it hit the floor, the bottom of the milk split open, and the dairy liquid spread all over the tiled floor.
“Niall, Louis!”
This was not good. Standing in the doorway was their daddy, dressed in only his boxers and bathrobe. His face was a cross mix between surprise, bewilderment, and anger.
Louis had no idea what to do, so he looked down at the floor, clenching his hands together, and pretended to be invisible.
Niall apparently knew exactly what to do.
“Hi Daddy!” He greeted him excitedly. “We’re making breakfast for you!”
Louis, catching on, followed Niall’s lead. “Cheero’s and ‘nanas!”
For a few silent seconds, Harry just blinked as he observed the scene some more. Then he sighed, but a small amused smile adorned his lips.
“Thank you my loves, but making breakfast is a job for daddies. You know you’re not supposed to leave the nursery or use the stairs without me. Lou, how did you get out of your crib?”
Harry said this as he moved about the kitchen, lifting Niall from the counter and moving Louis away from the milk mess.
“I helped him!” Niall took credit.
“That’s a no-no Niall, Louis could have gotten hurt.” Harry said, but he spoke lightly rather than in anger. “Why did you want to make breakfast so badly?”
“We wanted to surprise you!” Niall clapped. “That’s why I took’ed out the monitor Daddy, I promise, I wasn’t trying to be bad!”
Harry kissed both their heads. “That’s alright, but you mustn't do it again. Understand?”
Wow, Louis thought to himself. Niall could really get them out of any sort of situation.
Harry got them both into their highchairs. When he bucked Louis in, he smoothed down his hair and kissed his temple. “How are you feeling Lou? Does your chest feel yucky?”
Well, his chest didn’t feel too nice, but it wasn’t horrible. Louis chewed his thumb and shook his head ‘no’. Harry didn’t look too convinced, but he didn’t push it.
Making their daddy breakfast didn’t exactly go as planned. Harry ended up giving them pop tarts and juice, since there was no milk left to make pancakes or cereal. Their daddy didn’t even end up eating the pop tarts with them, instead he had a cubed fruit.
Once breakfast was done and over with, Harry brought Louis and Niall back to the nursery to get them changed and dressed. Louis was glad for that, because he had wet himself in the middle of eating, and his diaper was starting to grow cold.
After Louis was put into a new diaper, Harry began to dress him for the day.
When Louis saw the legless pastel pink onesie with a bunny on the front, he pouted. “Daddy, I want blue!”
“You can wear blue tomorrow, Darling,” Harry said as he focused on dressing him. “This is brand new, Daddy bought it because he thought you’d look very lovely, and it has a cute bunny on the front.”
Louis did like bunnies, and he also remembered that this was supposed to be Daddy’s special day, so he didn’t argue further. Harry kissed his nose and let him down from the changing table, and then moved on to Niall. Harry put Niall in a matching purple onesie, except there was a kitty on the front instead of a bunny.
The day seemed to pass slowly. It was what they called a ‘homey day’, because they weren’t leaving the house to go shopping or visit people or run errands. Instead, they were confined to the house to play.
It was darker than usual outside, Louis thought to himself as he peered out the window. He admired the pretty yellow flowers that had popped up all over the ground overnight. Louis always thought they were magical flowers, because every time the yard keeper cut them down, they would appear the very next day.
Looking at those flowers gave Louis a great idea. What would make a more perfect present for his daddy than those pretty yellow flowers? Nothing of course! He simply had to go get some, and then his daddy would feel happy and probably put them into a vase.
Louis gave a slight tug on Harry’s pant leg. “Daddy, can I play outside?”
Harry looked up from his book. “It’s a bit cold and rainy outside, love. I think you’d be better off playing inside today. You’ve been coughing more than usual as well.”
Now that just wouldn’t do.
“Daddy,” Louis tugged his pant leg a little harder. “I hafta go outside. It’s very ‘portant, please can’t I?”
“Louis, I just said no. Go play with Niall please.”
Louis frowned. It didn’t even look very cold or wet outside, just a little bit. He rested his head against Harry’s knee. His Daddy didn’t understand how important it was, and that it was all for him. Louis was going to pick nice pretty flowers, just like he knew his daddy loved!
“I need to, Daddy!”
Finally Harry put his book down, but for the wrong reason. “Louis, you have two choices. You can go play cars with Niall, or you can sit down in the thinking chair until lunchtime.”
Niall was watching curiously from the road-play mat, wondering why on earth Louis wanted to go outside so badly. It looked damp and dreary out, so the swing set would probably be all wet, and it would be too slippery to play football.
Louis was devastated, plopping down on his tummy and banging a fist on the floor. “I don’t want to play cars, I wanna go outside! P-Please Daddy, I’m using my manners!”
Harry ran a hand through his little boy’s soft hair and spoke to him gently. “And you’re a good boy for using your manners, but you’re still not listening to Daddy.”
“We can do paints, Lou!” Niall suggested helpfully.
Louis only whimpered, rolling onto his back. He was just about to let both his daddy and brother know how displeased he was, but before he could make anymore noise, his mouth was assaulted by a foreign object. Harry had grabbed a stray pacifier sitting on the couch and jammed it into Louis’ mouth.
“Looks like we have an overtired baby today, don’t we?” Harry commented, staring down from his seat. “Let’s go sit in our thinking chair for a few minutes while Daddy makes lunch.”
Louis’ eyes filled with tears while he sucked rhythmically on his pacifier. Nothing was going right today. He’d messed up breakfast, and now he couldn’t pick pretty flowers for his daddy, and worst of all Daddy thought he was overtired.
Harry set Louis down on the thinking chair, which was really just the naughty chair. It faced the kitchen wall and there was nothing to do except think about what you did wrong. But Louis hadn’t done anything wrong, so he could only think about sad things, like how much more his daddy loved Niall compared to him.
It was true, Niall was the perfect baby boy for Harry. He ate all of his food and drank all of his bottles without complaint. He always cleaned up his toys before bed, and he never fought against bathtime. Louis always fought against vegetables, he resisted his bottles unless they were flavored, he never cleaned up his toys unless Harry made him, and he fought tooth and nail against bathtime.
Of course Louis didn’t resent Niall, if anything he viewed his brother as a role model, striving to be more like him so he could earn his daddy’s affection. After all, Niall had been Harry’s baby for a whole year before Louis, so he still had something to prove.
Louis whined pitifully, scrubbing at his cheeks and fidgeting in the chair. Harry completely ignored him as he put together lunch, whistling cheerfully under his breath. Finally Harry went to get Niall from the other room, carrying him to his high chair and securing him into it. Next was Louis’ turn.
“We’ll have some yummy green beans, tater tots, and applesauce, and then a nice nap!”
Wiping at his eye with one fist, Louis sniffled as he was set down in his own high chair. He looked down at his sectioned bowl full of food for a few minutes, and then used his fingers to pick up a tater tot, plopping it into his mouth.
By the time lunch ended, Louis had calmed down immensely. His tantrum from earlier left him feeling quite drowsy, so he stayed still and calm, watching through half lidded eyes as Harry scrubbed applesauce from Niall’s face and hands with a wet cloth.
Harry set Louis down in his crib, handing him a bottle of cold water incase he got thirsty, and gently pushing a pacifier through his lips.
“Have a good nap Baby Boy,” Harry whispered, before going over to get Niall settled for his own nap.
Louis felt much better when he woke up from his nap. He also had another full diaper, which was usually the case whenever he awoke from naps and bedtime. Sitting up and rubbing at his bleary eyes, Louis peered across the room to see Niall’s crib empty. He whined and rattled the bars of his crib.
Harry came in straight away.
“There’s my boy!” He unlatched the side of the crib, lifting Louis into his arms with ease. “Did you have a nice nap darling?”
“Yeah,” Louis answered, resting his head on Harry’s shoulder.
Harry carried him over to the changing table.
“Niall’s doing Playdough in the kitchen,” Harry informs him as he untaps Louis’ diaper and wipes him clean. Louis has grown used to diaper changes now, but he remembers in the beginning when he couldn’t even bring himself to look at Harry while they happened.
Upon hearing this news, Louis clapped his hands and squirmed excitedly, because Playdough was simply one of the best things to do.
Harry rested a big hand on his tummy. “Stay still Lou, I’m not finished yet.”
Finally, after what seemed like a million seconds later, Harry buttoned the crotch of Louis’ onesie and picked him up, bringing him downstairs and into the kitchen. Niall was on the white tiled floor surrounded by containers of Playdough, both opened and unopened. Louis wriggled, eager to escape Harry’s arms so that he could join the fun.
“Whatcha making Ni-Ni?” Louis asked curiously as he crawled over, watching his brother pat a green lump of Playdough in his hands.
“I’m making a pie!” Niall told him, and then leaned a little closer to whisper, “It’s for Daddy.”
Louis grinned. “I wanna make something for Daddy too!”
Harry was at the kitchen table on his phone, but Louis was still careful to keep his back turned to him as he grabbed a handful of blue playdough and thought about what he could make.
In the end, Harry gobbled up Niall’s entire pie and six of Louis blueberry cookies. Well, he didn’t really eat them, Louis understood that Playdough tasted yucky (from personal experience). That was okay though, because Daddy was very good at playing pretend.
Playdough lasted a very long time, but soon it switched to coloring, and then to stickers. The day seemed to be flowing by way too fast, because pretty soon Harry announced that it was time for a bath.
Louis tried extra hard to be on his best behavior during bath time, but that proved to be hard when Harry tried washing his ears.
“No!” Louis hit the water hard with his palm, causing it to splash and cover his Daddy’s shirt.
“Louis, stay still, we’re almost done.”
The soapy washcloth went back to his ears, and Louis gave a high pitched shriek, thrashing in the big bubbly tub. A big wave of water sloshed over the side and spilled to the floor.
As soon as Harry finished with Louis’ ears, he wrenched him from the tub and gave him a single hard smack on his wet bum. Louis burst into tears, because even though getting scolded was a regular occurrence during his baths, Harry rarely spanked him.
He had to sit downstairs by himself, still wrapped in a towel on the thinking chair while Niall got his bath. Louis could faintly hear Niall talking sweetly to Harry, playing with the bath toys and singing silly songs. Louis sniffled and bowed his head, squeezing his eyes tightly shut.
Louis wasn’t cut out for being a good baby. He had no idea why Harry had chosen to take him on as a second baby boy from the adoption center. Still, even if he had no idea why, Louis was still eternally grateful to have been blessed with the best daddy in existence. He would prove himself eventually.
Harry brought Niall to the nursery, where he took his time diapering and dressing him in pajamas. In the middle of this activity, Louis held back a whimper as he felt his bladder unexpectedly let go, wetting the bottom of the towel and dripping onto the floor.
He sat perfectly still when he heard them coming back downstairs, wanting to redeem himself for being naughty and peeing on the floor. It was just so hard to control nowadays, especially with all the bottles of juice and milk he got.
Unfortunately Louis’ chest was growing tight again, almost painfully so, and he was unable to stop himself from coughing.
Harry was in the kitchen within seconds, and he immediately rushed to Louis’ side.
“Oh Lou!” Harry snatched him up, leaving the dirty towel behind. “Shh, it’s okay baby. I shouldn’t have left you undiapered, it’s not your fault. Take deep breaths, Darling.”
When he was back on the changing table, legs and bum being thoroughly wiped down, Louis sucked on two fingers and looked up at Harry.
“...M’Sorry for splashin’ Daddy,” He said quietly.
Harry lifted Louis’ legs and slid a diaper under his bum. “It’s alright baby, you’re all forgiven.”
“Can I have no jammies, Daddy? Just have night-night in my nappy?”
Harry removed Louis’ fingers from his mouth and replaced them with a paci. “Okay Lou, we can do that. It is pretty warm inside.”
Louis smiled, lifting his arms to be picked up from the changing table. He was brought back downstairs, where there would be an hour of quiet play time in the living room before bed.
Louis and Niall were in the middle of playing with dinosaurs when Harry turned the television on. He was also carrying a small machine that was very familiar to Louis. He pretended not to notice, turning back to play with his t-rex.
“Louis, come here. It’s time for your medicine.”
Louis pretended not to hear him, making his t-rex roar very loud.
“Lou,” Harry tried again.
Niall had stopped to look at Harry, but Louis just reached for another dino, the one with spikes on its back. He was just about to make it battle with the t-rex when he was suddenly lifted off the ground by his armpits. He squeaked in surprise, and then panicked as he was taken over to the couch.
“I know you don’t like the nebulizer honey, but the medicine will make you feel better and sleep easier. You’ve been coughing all day.”
“I don’t want it, Daddy!” Louis’ eyes welled with tears as Harry sat down, keeping Louis still in his lap.
“Look baby boy, Pinocchio is on. Be a good baby and watch the movie, and it’ll be over really fast.” Harry kissed his temple and inserted the mouthpiece, flicking the machine on. Warm steam flooded into his mouth, and Louis coughed a few times in resistance.
“Shh,” Harry held Louis close and rubbed circles into his back, pressing soft lips to his temple.
Louis listened and relaxed, because it actually felt nice being held, and his tight chest began to feel looser as he breathed in the mist. He knew that after this it would be time for bed, so he thought about how the day had went.
This was supposed to be a special day for Daddy, but Louis wasn’t sure that had ended up being the case. He’d ruined breakfast, he wasn’t able to get flowers, he’d gotten a bum slap, and he’d had to sit in the thinking chair twice that day. The only good thing had been the Playdough, but that was no surprise, because Playdough was always fun no matter what.
Unable to speak because of his medicine, Louis clenched his fist around the hem of Harry’s soft silk shirt, hoping to get the message across that he really did appreciate his daddy.
Harry smiled down at him.
“There’s my good, sweet, tired boy,” He cooed. “Such a tough day, huh? With lots of yucky coughs and wheezes. In a few minutes we’ll have a nice story and then go night-night, hows that my lovely boy?”
Louis loved listening to Harry talk. He listened to these sweet gentle murmurs until his medicine was all done.
A few minutes later, Louis and Niall were cuddled up on the big bed with Harry while he read them a story. Tonight’s book was called The Napping House, and it kept Louis enthralled the entire time. He and Niall held hands as they rested their arms across Harry’s belly, each soothed by the sound of their Daddy’s soft gravelly voice.
Niall had fallen asleep by the ending of the story. Harry carried him to his crib first, and then he did the same for Louis, who was struggling to keep his eyes open.
Harry tucked Louis’ fuzzy yellow blankie around him and turned on the mobile. “There we go, all nice and comfy. Night-Night Honey.”
Louis was too sleepy to reply, but he registered Harry turning on the night light and quietly leaving the room.
Before he completely succumbed to sleep, Louis’ last thought was that he would make sure tomorrow went much better than today had. He would show Harry how much he loved him, because he really was the best daddy ever.
Check out some Day by Day, Night by Night facts/snippets here if you enjoy the series!