Chapter 4-



Two weeks later



Louis walked into the doctor's office, Harry following closely behind. He walked over to the nurses' desk, pushing his fringe out of his face.



"Hi. I have an appointment with Dr. Burton at four-thirty." He tapped gently against the desk.



The woman searched her computer then looked up. "Louis Tomlinson?"



"Yes."



"Alright. Please fill out these forms while you wait, then just bring them back once you've finished."



Louis took the clipboard and a pen and walked over to where Harry was sitting. He crossed one leg over the other to support the board as he wrote and filled them out. He couldn't help but notice Harry shifting awkwardly out of the corner of his eye.



After about five minutes of this, Louis sighed.



"What's wrong," he asked.



"Just nervous. It's nothing, forget it."



"It's not nothing," Louis stated in a matter-of-fact tone as he filled out his birth date. "It's something."



"Don't people give us odd looks for being here? I mean...well, you know what I mean."



Louis straightened up and smiled at him. "Same sex couples come here for adoption and surrogate options. It's not uncommon; I've seen it before."



Harry sighed. "Wait-are you saying we're a couple?"



"In their eyes," he gestured. "Yes."



"Oh. I'm sorry, I'm paranoid."



Louis chuckled. "It's fine. We all have our moments."



He got up and returned the papers, sitting down next to Harry again.



He let out a shaky breath.



"What's wrong with you," Harry asked. "You nervous?"



"Yeah. What if something's wrong with the baby." he asked, placing a gentle hand on his belly.



Harry placed a hand on his knee reassuringly.



"If anything was, they'd detect something. I'm sure everything's fine. You haven't felt any pain, have you?"



Louis shook his head. "No. None."



"Then you're fine," Harry concluded. "You both are."



Louis nodded, trying to act calm with Harry's hand on his knee. For days, he had been wondering why he had been getting so utterly nervous around him. He and Harry were always close. Physically and emotionally, but not once had Louis been nervous, or shaky, or had he blushed at a compliment or gesture from Harry. Until now.



The smallest touch, the simplest words, and Louis' heart fluttered. After much thought, he concluded that it was the hormones and left it at that.



"Louis?"



He was snapped out of his thoughts when a nurse came into the waiting room holding a manila folder with-what Louis assumed to be-his forms he'd just filled out.



He stood up, Harry as well, and followed the nurse into an examining room. For the entire short walk to the room, Louis felt Harry's hand gently resting on his lower back. A way of guidance, perhaps.



"Dr. Burton will be right with you," the nurse smiled.



Louis thanked her before hopping onto the examining table.



"So...that's where we'll see the baby?"



Louis looked up. "Hm?"



"On that?" Harry's voice quavered a bit.



"Yeah. Are you sure you're alright, Haz?"



"Really nervous," he breathed. "What if...the baby, you know, doesn't like me?"



He sighed. "Are you seriously worrying about that now? It's six months until the baby gets here. It'll love you, believe me."



Harry smiled, dimples popping into his cheeks.



There was a soft knock at the door as it opened.



"Hello. How are you, Louis," Dr. Burton smiled in question, stepping inside.



"I'm good," he smiled. "Uh, this is Harry."



Harry stood and shook her hand.



"It's very nice to meet you, Harry. The baby's father, I presume?"



"Yes," he nodded, a grin on his face.



"Well, congratulations, Louis," she said after a few moments of looking over paperwork. "You've reached the three month mark. Morning sickness should decrease if it hasn't already."



"Not as often, luckily," Louis smiled.



"Good. And you've been taking your hormone injections?"



"Yes."



"Good," she repeated. "Now, this next month will be vital for you. Mood swings and cravings should start kicking in. You'll begin to notice that your stomach is expanding and starting to swell with your child."



Louis caught Harry smiling at those words, and he had to admit, he was anxious about that, too.



"And, I know this is nothing to look forward to, but your back will start to hurt. Walks at least once a day every day would be a smart thing to do. It'll help, and it's good for both you and the baby."



Louis nodded, cracking his thumb and taking mental notes.



"Well, now that all of that is out of the way and settled, I'll set up the ultrasound machine so we can begin."



After about two or so minutes of setting up, Louis lay back, pulling his shirt up a bit. He looked at back over at Harry who coulnd't take his eyes off of Louis' stomach.



Dr. Burton spread the cool gel over the exposed skin before placing the wand down gently.



"Just trying to get a good picture here...aha."



Looking at the screen, Louis smiled widely.



"There's your baby," Dr. Burton smiled. She tapped a button on the keyboard which froze the screen for a second.



"I've just sent that to the printer. I'll get it once we've finished up."



The soft thud of the baby's heartbeat seemed to echo throughout the room.



"And...the heartbeat. Your baby couldn't be healthier," she smiled. "I'll go get the pictures," she said, knowing they'd want to have a few minutes to themselves. She froze the screen again before leaving.



"See that, Haz? Our baby." Louis looked over at Harry to see him wiping his eyes and sniffing.



"I...wow," was all he could say.



"Amazing, right?"



He nodded. "Incredible."



Louis wiped off the gel, examining the screen as he did so. He pulled his shirt down and squeezed Harry's hand. By the looks of it, and by the view on the screen, the baby was a bit bigger, and you could easily see the outline of a human form. All that had to happen now, was for the baby to get bigger before it came into the world.



"Did you know that you're glowing, Lou?"



Louis' heart fluttered. "I...what?"



"You're glowing. You look...really good."



He smiled, muttering a shy 'thanks' as he tried to hide the blush creeping onto his face.



Dr. Burton returned with two copies of the sonogram, handing one to each boy, both smiling widely.



Louis slammed the sonogram onto the lunch table and slid it across to the boys, Liam catching it.



"New sonogram," Niall asked, examining the paper.



"Yep," Harry answered proudly.



It was the following day and Louis practically sprinted to lunch, besides the fact that Harry was hanging onto his bag. When he got home after the appointment, Louis showed Jay the sonogram.



"My god! The baby's getting so big," she exclaimed with a gasp. She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.



"So, what did the doctor say, Lou," Zayn asked.



"That a lot will happen starting this month. Backaches, mood swings, cravings...-"



"Oh god..."



"Stomach starts to swell...shit, I may be dead by the end of this month."



"Or we will," Niall laughed. "Depends on your mood swings."



"Oy, don't make then start now," Louis pointed in warning.



They all just laughed.



Not long after, Louis headed to his last few classes, not happy to see Alex in a few of them.



"Have you gotten fatter, Tomlinson," he whispered to him with a laugh, his friends joining him.



Louis turned away, ignoring them.



"You should really do something about that before that gut of yours hangs over your waistline."



He rolled his eyes and continued his work, ignoring Alex's snickering.



You're pregnant, not fat, Louis kept reminding himself, for some reason in Harry's voice.



"Did you hear any of that, Tomlinson? Better start starving yourself now."



He slammed his pencil down on the desk. "Do you really enjoy insulting others that much? Are you actually that rude? So I've gained a bit of weight. It's none of your business. It's mine. So fuck off."



Alex just snorted and returned to his work; which really just happened to be mindlessly running his pencil over his paper.



"Alex Williams is such a dick," Louis complained to Harry. They were on their way to Harry's, this being their walk for the day. (Louis and Harry had agreed to take walks together so Louis wasn't bored and, in Harry's words, had someone to complain to.)



"Yeah, Lou. We all know that," he smirked.



"I'm just stating the facts here, Styles," Louis said with a shrug.



They arrived at Harry's, immediately heading up to his room, Anne not being home as of yet. As soon as he entered the room, Louis collapsed on the bed. He was feeling himself grow more and more tired recently. Tossing his arms above his head, Louis sighed contently.



"Comfy, Boo?"



He nodded. "Very. Is there any possible way I can adopt your mattress?"



"Uh, no. Because then I'd only have my bed frame and that would be uncomfortable to sleep on."



"So I'll steal it, then."



Harry laughed. "Yeah, try sneaking this out of here without being seen."



"I'll try," Louis joked wide-eyed.



Harry just rolled his eyes before staring at Louis, deep in thought.



"What's wrong?" Louis examined his expression.



"I think..." He got on the bed next to him and moved all the way down so his head was level on the mattress with Louis' belly.



"I think you're showing," he finished with a smile.



He blinked. "Really?"



Nodding, Harry pushed Louis' shirt up, studying the forming bump.



He looked up at Louis with a smile.



"You're showing," he beamed.



Louis smiled and rested a hand carefully on his stomach, rubbing his thumb back and forth. Harry leaned over and kissed his belly, his chocolate curls tickling the exposed skin, which caused Louis' stomach to jerk a bit.



"You're gonna be a beautiful baby," Harry whispered, pressing his nose into the bump.



"You're too cute, Haz," Louis chuckled.



"Why thank you."



Louis was about to retort when his phone started ringing.



"You've just got lucky. I had a very good come back."



Harry giggled and poked at Louis' tummy.



"Hello," Louis answered.



"Hi, Louis," Jay's voice sounded through the line, a little nervous.



"Hi, Mum. What's up?"



"I need you to come home."



Louis knew it was urgent for him to get home when-as stupid as it sounded-when Jay said "Hi, Louis" instead of "Hi, Boo."



"What? Why?" He sat up, Harry eyeing him worriedly.



"I-you just need to hurry home. You'll see."



"Alright. I'll be home soon, then. Love you, Mum."



"Love you, too, sweetie."



"I have to go," Louis said to Harry, getting up.



"Why? What's wrong?"



"I'm honestly not sure. Mum just said to get home."



"Do you want me to drive you?"



Louis shook his head. "No, it's fine. I'll see you tomorrow."



"Call me later? Just so I now that everything alright."



"I will," he promised. "Bye, Haz."



Louis rushed off towards his house, not jogging and being careful of the baby. He walked up the path in his front garden up to his house.



"Mum! I'm home," Louis called, walking into the house after eyeing an unfamiliar car in the driveway.



Jay walked out of the kitchen, a worried look on her face. Louis opened his mouth to speak, when a worried man followed into the foyer.



"Hello, Louis," the man said.



"Er...hi. Who's this, Mum?"



"This," Jay sighed. "is your father."







(Read end notes, please!)