“We have an ultrasound today, Harry. The 12-week scan. You can’t miss this – Jeff can handle not seeing you for a few days. This is so important,” you sighed, running your fingers through your wet hair as water droplets trickled from the tips and ran down your bare shoulders. The towel tucked around your body tightly as you stood at the vanity in the bathroom, your voice carrying into the bedroom where Harry was shuffling around the room gathering his phone and his laptop that was tucked beneath the bed. “I know you’re needing to go to meetings for this record deal and stuff, but, right now I’m sure finding out our baby is healthy is more important. We finally get to see what the baby looks like and you’re going to miss that.”
For the past few weeks of confirmation to the baby growing in your belly, Harry had been non-stop going out of his way to make sure everything is going the way you feel most comfortable. He was there when you needed to go out shopping for some maternity clothes that you thought best to start looking for before you got too uncomfortable to walk around on swollen feet with a sore back. He was there when you went out for a mini night out to Gemma’s house a few blocks down from your home to make sure you weren’t surrounding yourself with the toxicity of smoking or the access to alcohol – and he knew you were capable of looking after yourself. He liked to have a sense of consciousness when it came to you being out in public, with worry coursing through his veins when you announced you were heading out for a while to gather some groceries, or to get some fresh air, or to go and see friends or your mother or even Gem for an afternoon.
It came to a shock to you that morning when he bumbled into the bathroom, his phone clutched tightly into his hand as he poked his head around the shower curtain and gave your nude body a quick scan before proceeding to explain the phone call he had recently endued with Jeff. A smile wide on his lips as you turned on your heels, the water running down your back as you stood with your eyes facing Harry, his green eyes sparkling with delight as he went on about the meeting he was about to have to sign for a new deal for management. Something he was looking forward too to keep him busy with song-writing, even if it wasn’t for his purposes only.
“Look, he told me it’s a quick meeting. Just to sign some papers and have a few chats about where we’re initially starting off. Who I want to work with and what type of music I’m thinking of producing,” Harry reasoned, standing in the doorway of the bathroom and watching as you reached for your toothbrush and toothpaste lodged in the holder at the corner of the sink. “I’ll try and get back for the doctor’s appointment. If I’m not back, then Gemma will take you there and I’ll meet you in the room,” Harry suggested, folding his arms across his chest and leaning against the doorframe.
“No, Harry. This is important. We’re finally seeing our baby in full with a heartbeat and it’s something we should do together. I feel there’s no point in me going if you can’t make it,” you murmured, squeezing some toothpaste onto the bristles of your brush. “Why don’t we just cancel?”
“No! No, we’re not cancelling because I have an important meeting near the time of the appointment. Babe, this is a 12-week scan. This is important for both you and the baby. To make sure you and our little one are both safe and healthy,” he smiled, standing behind you and snaking his hands around your waist as you hunched over the sink to brush your teeth, your hair hanging limply over your shoulders. “I promise; I’ll try my hardest to make it. I know this is something we need to do together, but this meeting is important as well because Jeff’s going back to LA again tomorrow and we won’t be able to do it unless I fly out to him and I can’t because I don’t want to leave you on your own,” Harry whispered, pressing his lips to your shoulder, letting them linger a little longer than normal.
A groan left your throat as you spat the frothing toothpaste out into the running water, your head coming up to look at your husband in the mirror hanging on the wall above the sink. His green eyes staring into yours as you let out a soft sigh and cupped on of his hands in your own.
“It’s a meeting that can be scheduled for later today. I don’t mind if you go out with him later tonight for a drink or two to speak over the contracts and papers. I can call up Louis and spend some time with him since it’s been a while,” you stated, watching as he shook his head. The tips of his curls tickling at your bare neck. “Harry, I’ll be fine for one night. For god sake, stop babying me. I’m just pregnant, not dying.”
“Pregnant with my child too. It’s not just you I’m looking out for, it’s our baby as well. You don’t let me in to help you and I’m starting to feel helpless in this situation. It takes two to make a baby so, it’s not just you,” he muttered sternly, pulling his arms from around you and rubbing his eyes with the heels of his hands. “Just let me in, for god sake. Let me take care of you. I want the best f-“
“I don’t need looking after! I’m a grown woman. I can handle life as it comes. God, Harry. Just stop suffocating me and let me breath. Let me go out with my friends. Let me go out and get groceries. Let me go out and have fun with my girl friends without my husband coming along. I need a break from you sometimes,” you hissed, bringing your fists down to the counter top and banging them lightly enough to make a sound around the bathroom. “I love you. I really do. But you need to give me a break.”
“I’m not doing anything. I’m just mak-“
“You’re not doing anything? You’re suffocating me. Let me breath. Stop worrying so much,” you grumbled, turning on your heels and wandering from the bathroom, stepping on the carpet of the bedroom and making your way over to the bed where your clothes for the day had been laid out prior to your shower that morning. “If you going to that meeting, go. I’m sure you can’t keep Jeff waiting since this is so important that you have to miss our ultrasound,” you mumbled, looking at your feet as you curled your toes against the carpet. An awkward silence lingering in the room as Harry proceeded to make his way out of the bathroom, flicking the light off and walking past you in a hastily manner to grab his boots from the wardrobe.
“Call Gemma. She can go with you,” Harry whispered, his voice cracking slightly as he sat up by his pillow to pull his boots over his socked feet. “She’s been excited about wanting to go to one ultrasound so, she’ll be the best option. And for the record, I’m just making sure you’re comfortable through the pregnancy. As your husband it’s my duty.”
“Sure, fine. I’ll ring her,” you mumbled, ignoring his final comment as you grabbed the lotion from the bedside table and uncapped the top. The smell of vanilla and cocoa butter filling the atmosphere around the bedroom. “See you later. I’ll be sure to tell you about the appointment if I see you later,” you mumbled, watching from the corner of your eyes as he stood up from the bed.
“I’m sorry.”
“Uh-huh. Okay,” you replied half-heartedly, sighing as he made his way past you. “Have fun with Jeff.”
“I will. I love you,” he smiled, standing beside you as you squeezed some lotion into your palms. His eyes were cast down to you, in hopes you’d look up with a smile and press your lips to his and the worries and the problems that had surpassed in the past few minutes. “I’ll say hi to Jeff for you,” he smiled, hurt coursing through his body as you rejected his want for a goodbye kiss to last him through the day.
“Okay,” you stated.
“I love you,” he whispered, wrapping an arm around you.
“Okay. I’ll see you later,” you hissed lowly, knocking his arm off your shoulder as you rubbed the lotion onto your arm, letting it moisturise your skin in the process.
“I’m sorry. I will try and make it. I’ll have Gemma keep me updated,” he smiled, pressing a kiss to your head with a squeeze to his chest.
* *
“So, he’s chosen a meeting over your first proper ultrasound? What the hell? That’s highly unlike my brother. It has to be a pretty important meeting for him to skip the most important ultrasound of this pregnancy,” Gemma sighed, sipping from her take-away mug as you took a walk through the smile park located by the hospital. A slight crowd of fans standing around and almost following on your tail to try and get photos of what they presumed correct. “Did he say what it was about?”
You groaned and rolled your head back against the ball of your neck, your eyes closing as you gripped the water bottle in your hand.
“He basically said that it was an important meeting that he had to go to at the said time because Jeff goes back to LA tomorrow. It’s about a deal for song writing for other people and stuff and we got into this massive argument about it and I just can’t deal with him right now,” you mumbled, bringing your head to level up and your eyes cast to the end of the pathway coming into view. “He just doesn’t understand that this is something we need to do together. We get to hear the heartbeat today and he might miss that and I’m just so angry with him,” you groaned, unscrewing the cap of your water and bringing the rim to your lips.
“He’s just excited about this and the new contract for song writing. He’s not sure what to do. I’m sure he’ll make it, but, I’ll still come with you. I don’t want you going through this feeling alone,” Gemma smiled, nudging her elbow against your upper arm. “I’m the closest thing to Harry right now,” she grinned, laughing softly as she cupped the warm mug in her hands. Her jumper and brown coat tucked around her body to keep her warm, a scarf wrapped around her neck with a beanie pulled over her hair. “I’ll give him a badgering when I next see him. I’m shocked at his actions.”
“He probably won’t turn up. I was pretty horrible to him this morning. I told him I needed some space from him and that I was okay on my own because I’m a grown woman,” you whispered, pressing a palm to your forehead. “I didn’t even say I love you to him this morning either, and I let him leave without a kiss. We never do that. We always give one another a kiss and a cuddle before we leave the house,” you added, looking at Gemma who had given you a sympathetic sigh.
Usually, when it came to Harry and his relationships, she had no interest in the lovey-dovey aspects to what happened between the two of them. She was usually there if he needed some help with a certain romantic gift or something to buy his girlfriend for a birthday or for Christmas or even for Valentines Day – because a female input was something he was always looking for. However, when it came to you and him being together, she had no issue. Maybe it was the tint of how in love the two of you were that was distinct from his other relationships. Or maybe it was the fact that Gemma had instantly clicked to you since the day he had brought you home to greet his family.
Gemma had no problems when it came to a dry spell in your intimate time beneath the sheets, because it lead to her getting possible nieces and nephews. She was used to you ringing her up or appearing on her doorstep in need of help of what to buy for him for birthdays or what to buy for him as a little gift to thank him for something he had done that had brought happiness to yourself. Even with Harry himself. She wasn’t afraid to intrude in his life because he had always confided in her with trust and comfort and she was just like an older brother than sister.
“I’m sure this is just a little tough times. I know that pregnancy makes you hormonal and everything and he’s just the first one there to take the brunt of anything or your outbursts. What doesn’t help is the fact that Harry doesn’t understand,” Gemma reasoned, throwing her empty coffee cup in the park bin as you exited the park through the iron gates and made your way towards the traffic lights on the corner. “He’ll be here. I’m sure of it. Jeff should understand that this is an important day, so maybe he’ll cut the meeting short,” Gemma added, pressing the button for the traffic lights.
“I guess. I’m just so upset that he didn’t schedule it for another day or move it later to this evening. I have no problem with him going out for a couple of drinks tonight. It gives me time to catch up with Louis since I’ve not seen him in a while,” you smiled, watching as the cars and buses drove past you both. The smell of petrol and gas coming from the exhausts of the cars passing you filling your nose before they came to a stop either side of the lights to let you and other passers-by cross the road. “I feel bad I yelled.”
“Don’t feel bad, love. You had your reasons. I’d do the same to my boyfriend if he did the same to me,” she laughed, walking alongside you as you crossed the road towards the hospital where your doctor’s appointment was taking place. “I know you want him here. I want him here too. For your sake, anyway.
“I might ring him,” you concluded.
“No, don’t. He might be busy. Don’t bother him, okay? No interruptions leads to a quicker meeting and he’ll be here as soon as possible. It’s been about forty-five minutes. I’m sure they’re bringing it to an end now.”
* *
The office room was brightly lit, a table set at the back end with a clear view of the London city centre from the window. Air conditioning was high and Harry felt goose bumps rise on the skin of his forearms, a shiver running up his spine as he adjusted himself in the seat in front of Jeff’s desk. He crossed a leg over his other, tapping the toe of his boot against the leg of the table, his eyes casting down to the city below as he thought of where you were pondering around right now; whether you’d gone to the appointment alone or whether Gemma had accompanied you. Guilt ran through his veins as he zoned from what Jeff was explaining,
“… and you’ll be working with loads of different artists on the upcoming albums and they can spread tips and pointers about their songs and you can experience different ways of writi- Harry, mate. You listening to me?” Jeff asked, leaning forward on the desk to be closer to Harry as he kept his face turned out the window. “Harry?”
With a click of his fingers and Harry was back in the zone, turning back to where Jeff was leaned over. His forearms resting on the table covered with paperwork that Harry had just previously signed with his fingers clasped together.
“I am listening, sorry. M’just a bit tired, is all,” Harry murmured, rubbing at his eyes as he took the pen from the desk. “What am I signing now?”
A laugh left Jeff’s lips as he shook his head.
“You’ve signed everything, mate. I was just explaining how you’ll be working with loads of different artists on their upcoming albums. And you get to travel to LA to come for meetings as well and we’ll work it out against your personal life as I know you’re going to need a lot of time off at the moment,” Jeff smiled, watching as Harry’s lips curved into a grin. “Congratulations, by the way. I never said. How is the missus coping?”
How were you coping? At the moment, he’d been too into making sure you were comfortable that he hadn’t been too up to date with how you were coping. He knew it was treacherous and you were having some slight problems with morning sickness but he was unsure of the other issues you were going through. Aches and pains? Did you have trouble sleeping? The hormone changes – and in that moment he knew why you had an outburst that morning.
“Jeff, can we cut this short and continue it later? I have somewhere I need to be,” he started, curling his hands around the arms of the chair he was sat in. “I’ll text you later and meet you at the pub on the corner of the street your hotel is on. I just really need to be somewhere.
“Where do you need to be?”
“Me and my missus have an ultrasound. 12 weeks. It’s a pretty important one and I’m not going to miss it. That’s so important to me and to her and in this whole pregnancy. I’m sorry, Jeff,” Harry stated, standing up from his seat and reaching for his leather shoulder bag packed with a jumper, a bottle of water and some pens in case of there being a problem with the others. “I’ll give you a text later.”
“Alright, H. Give my love to the missus won’t you?” Jeff called out as Harry proceeded to the door of the office.
“I will. See you later,” Harry smiled, pulling the door open and rushing out of the room into the corridor and down towards the lift at the end. His fingers slid his phone from his jean pocket, his eyes scanning the ultrasound photo from your first scan set as the background on his phone screen, his thumb swiping along the bottom to unlock it. “Gemma. Please don’t be in the appointment yet,” he whispered, as the lift dinged and the doors opened.
Are you in the appointment yet? H.
As the doors closed behind him, he pressed the down level and waited patiently as the lift took him down.
Waiting in the waiting room. Are you on your way? Do you want me to tell (Y/N)?
No. No. I’ll text her when I’m at the hospital. Is she okay?
She’s fine. A bit pissed off with you, but she’s fine. I took her for a walk and now we’re just waiting for the midwife.
She knows I’m sorry, right? As soon as I sat down in Jeff’s chair, I regretted choosing the meeting over our first proper ultrasound appointment – I’m an idiot, I know.
As the lift reached the ground floor of the office building, he adjusted the strap of his shoulder bag on his shoulder. The base of the back knocking against his thigh as he rushed from the lift towards the doors of the building, the automatic glass doors sliding open as he walked through them. His free hand dug around on the pocket of his jeans to find his car keys to the range rover he’d opted on taking that morning. The cool air of London caught up in his hair as he rushed to the car parked on the street side, his fingers curling around the handle of driver’s car door to pull it open.
As he sat in the seat behind the wheel, he looked down at his phone.
Don’t tell me that, Bub. Tell your wife. x
Might want to hurry up though. She said the appointment’s in 5 minutes and you’re the other end of London – hurry up and we’ll have a smooth scan appointment. ;) ;)
* *
“How are we today then, (Y/N)? 12 weeks. It’s been a good few weeks since I’ve seen you last. How is the pregnancy going?” Sophie questioned as she walked from the door of the hospital room towards the bed you were sitting up on. Your legs swinging out in front of you with your hands clasped together in your lap. “Hello, Gemma. It’s lovely to meet you. I’m Sophie, the midwife for your brother and (Y/N).”
As Gemma shook her hand, she gave her a warm smile and took a seat in the chair set up beside the bed.
“Speaking of Harry, where is he?”
“Oh, don’t go there. We’re a little bit annoyed with him today,” Gemma groaned, rubbing her eyes as Sophie laughed. “He chose to go to a meeting with someone about a new contract in song writing for other artists,” she added, looking up at you as you frowned down at your lap and puffed out a heavy breath.
Part of you had hoped he’d be here by now; with the knowing that guilt would be coursing through his body. Yet, part you hoped he wouldn’t arrive because you wanted to give him a taste of his own medicine. Sort of like a bit of karma, you’d thought, as he’d miss the most important part of the pregnancy due to choosing a meeting over you and your baby.
But you wanted him there.
You didn’t want him to miss the heartbeat. You didn’t want him to miss that. You wanted to be together for that, and throughout the time you’d know about your pregnancy, he had been so excited about the heartbeat scan and the gender reveal and even the ultrasound when you could fully see a full human form of a baby inside of your belly.
“He’ll be here,” Gemma cooed, rubbing your arm softly.
“I hope so. I don’t want him to miss this, Gem. This is so important. Maybe we should call him so he can be here like that,” you suggested, as Gemma sighed and shook her head. “Gemma, this is his baby too. I need to make sure he’s able to listen. This is his baby.”
“It’s his own fau-“
“I’m sorry to rush, but, we need to get this ultrasound started. If he’s not here, we can get you a recording of the heartbeat as well as a sonogram for your husband. We’re on a tight schedule today, so, I’m so sorry,” Sophie’s assistant smiled, as she helped you lay back against the bed, your ankles crossing as you lifted up the hem of your jumper. Letting it tuck underneath the bone of your bra. “Now, I’m just going to squeeze some of this gel onto your belly which helps up to see through the skin and into your womb where the transducer can get a clear picture,” she smiled, looking over her shoulder as Sophie walking over with a pile of paper towels in her hands.
The silence in the room was comforting enough which contradicted against the feeling that was running through you, sending thoughts to your mind that had made you feel nervous and worried and almost slightly alone in your state – maybe you needed Harry next to you. At there was no issue with your sister in law being beside you because she was the closest thing to Harry you could get at that moment in time, you just wanted his comfort beside you as you went through something that was meant for the new parents.
“So, what I’m going to be doing right now, is look for the baby most importantly as well as the heartbeat of our little baby Styles. How have you been feeling over the past 6 weeks? We’ve had no phone ins so I’m presuming everything has been okay?” Sophie started as her assistant turned down the light of the room to let the screen of the ultrasound machine illuminate the room.
“I’ve had a lot of morning sickness recently and I’ve been needing a wee a lot more. Harry’s been finding it funny how I have to get up in the middle of the night when I really comfy under the covers,” you giggled lightly, watching as Sophie took hold of the transducer. Your stomach filled with butterflies and a soft giggle and a groan left your lips as the cool gel was spread around your warm skin, the soft silhouette of your baby coming onto the screen. “There’s our little baby we’ve been looking for. They’re looking healthy and happy and you should be able to feel them flutter around soon,” she grinned, as you looked across to Gemma who had a large grin on her lips.
“Would it be inconsiderate to take a photo right now for Instagram?” Gemma wondered, sliding up the camera app on her phone as Sophie laughed and gave her a nod. “Oh god, mum is going to love this,” she murmured as she concentrated on taking a photo of the screen with your tiny and growing baby in sight.
“I guess you’ve both got doting mothers who are just as excited, eh?” Sophie smiled, a hint of amusement in her voice as you gave her a laugh and nodded.
Anne was just as excited as your own mother, and in joint together, they seemed even more excited than you and Harry were together. Anne had been on the phone to Harry every other day, catching up on the milestones that had happened in the day leading up to her call and she was forever tweeting about how she was so excited to become a grandmother – liking tweets to do with baby Styles, retweeting tweets that were consisting of love and support for the two of you, and she was always mentioning you and Harry in tweets that had baby clothes or little quotes about becoming new parents. Your mother was forever getting in with the details of how you were feeling, making sure that you were taking care of yourself and making sure Harry was looking after you in your time of need. She was always giving you a small text just to make sure you were okay, giving you small tips and pointers for how to survive a pregnancy – and you were sure that due to her only baby having a baby, she growing sentimental and reminiscent over her time of pregnancy with you, as whenever you and Harry would pop by to see her and your father, she would crack out the baby book of photos from your childhood and she was forever telling stories of what you were like; with Harry’s personal favourites being the ones when you were cheeky and covered in muck because it was no different to how you were when you were doing something with him.
“Both mothers are so excited. It’s the first baby being brought into both sides of the family, so, they’re all really excited,” Gemma smiled widely, as Sophie cooed softly.
“That’s so adorable. First babies are always exciting to have in the family,” she grinned, as she scanned the screen in front of her. “Now, are we ready to try and find the heartbeat? I know this is the one you’ve been most excited for,” she laughed, and toyed with a few buttons on the ultrasound machine. As she moved the transducer across your belly, worry filled your body as you waited patiently for the sound of the whoosh and the boom boom of the heartbeat that would indicate your baby to be healthy and growing and well underway at becoming a little replica of you and Harry. “Just a couple more minutes. It takes time to get the rid place for the heartbeat to be loud enough to pass through the transducer.”
You gave her a soft nod as Gemma reached for your hand, her other thumb tapping away at her screen as she posted her photo on Instagram. From outside the room, you could hear chatter and the running of footsteps and it gave you a sense of calmness as you listened to something other than the tapping of Gemma’s thumb and the constant beep of the ultrasound machine that was let off every so often. As a deep voice came from outside the door, a feminine voice soon being heard shortly after, the sound of the baby’s heartbeat was erupted around the room. The sudden whoosh of the heartbeat making Gemma’s head snap up, and the door to the room open in haste.
“Sir, you can’t g- Mr Styles!”
Your teary eyes switched from the screen to where you husband was standing, a hand clasped over his mouth as he let out a startled cry. His shoulder bag falling off his shoulder and falling to the floor beside his feet as he bumbled over to where you were laying and pulled you as comfortably as he could into his arms, being careful to not get any of his clothing or your clothing into the gel rubbed across your belly.
“I’m so sorry. I’m so, so, so sorry I never came with you,” he whispered, pressing his lips to yours, pecking softly at your flesh. “I love you. Don’t ever think you’re alone. I love you so much. That’s our baby, oh my god. Our baby,” he cried, his teary eyes dribbling with tears. His cheeks glistening.
“Harry, I love you. I’m so glad you’re here. I was so nervous that things were going to go wrong and you wouldn’t be here to go through it with me and, I’m just so happy you’re here now,” you smiled widely, wiping at your eyes as he pressed his cheek to your head. His eyes looking at the screen at the end of the bed. “That’s our baby, Harry. It’s a human. We’ve got a healthy little baby and that’s from us,” you whispered, and took a hold of his hand in your own, giving it a hearty squeeze.
“We’re having a baby, (Y/N). A baby.”

Notes

Here we have the next instalment to the Pregnancy Series - the 12 week scan. This one includes the one where they have an argument due to the missus’ hormones.