Skirts and flirts (COMPLETED)

XXI

Louis zipped his jacket, as he placed his shoulder bag on his right arm. He was late for a class, as he run in the busy streets of London. He should have spent the night in his dorm room, instead of having a sleepover with Oli and he was definitely regretting it now. He bumped into people quite a few times, apologizing quickly. Shit.

At the side of the pavement, he saw a woman, holding a baby that was crying, a stroller next to her. She seemed close to a mental breakdown, as the baby did not calm down and she looked tired, rocking him back and fourth.

Fuck.

He knows how hard it is for a woman to calm a baby now. He had lived that with his mum for so long. He had to help somehow.

''Excuse me. Can I help you?'' he asked approaching her. She looked at him scared for a second, not knowing what to do. He was a stranger, after all.

''No, everything is fine.'' she mumbled, rocking the baby back and fourth. The baby's blanket fell from his hands, making him let out a scream. Louis bent down and picked it up, handing it back carefully.

''Are you sure?'' he said. The baby stopped crying and let out small whimpers.

''I need to change him, but I forgot his bag and I don't know where to change him exactly. We live afar from here and-'' she said in the verge of tears. She looked young. Younger than Louis, at least. A young mum. You could say Louis had a soft spot for young mothers. His mum was one. She had him when she was only nineteen. For years, he watched her suffering because of her love life, wanting to be loved, having kids again, getting dumped again. It always seemed like a vicious circle to Louis, who just lived with all those things. It was his reality and his life. His mother used to be his best friend, until he reached the age of sixteen and everything got too overwhelming for him. He really saw who his mother had become. All these desperate need for love, all these different men and dates, who by the way never hurt Louis, were getting in the way of Jay, his mum, fulfilling her maternity role. They stopped talking more than the necessary, both caught up in their own lives. His mum being on dates, at work or taking care of his sibling, while Louis socialized, took care of his sisters a few times and worked his ass off to get a scholarship to a good uni, as this one. He was proud of himself and his sibling, but not so proud of his mum. He was grateful for her, he never judged her, he even justified her choices, but still, she could have been such a better mother, if her ego wasn't getting in the way. His mum wanted to be love so badly, that she started becoming a stranger to Louis, like he was losing his mother every day. He wished there was a way to take at least, Lottie, who had just turned eighteen here, but he couldn't. Not now that he did not have a job or an apartment of his own. It wasn't that they weren't growing up well. His mum was a good mother. If she did not act that way she could have been the best in the world. He loved her very dearly. But maybe if he took care of one of the children, his mother could ease up a bit; relax and she could handle Fizzy and the twins better. Louis had empathize for young women, who were mothers, because of his own experience. He cut her off, before he could finish her explanation.

''There is a café close by, that has a bathroom specialized for babies. There are nappies, wipes; everything you might need. Here, let me help you with that.'' he said and took the stroller, sliding it, as she nodded following.

''Thank you. Sometimes, I just shut down. Like it gets so overwhelming and I am in the verge of a mental breakdown. I am single and young and I have no help and sometimes I just want to give Markus in an orphanage and just leave. I want to disappear- Sorry. That's not something normal mothers thing. I just lost the train of my thoughts and no, no, I love Markus. He is my baby; my everything. I must sound awful right now. I'm sorry.'' she started blabbering but stopped herself, realizing what she was doing and tried to explain herself.

''You do not have to apologize. My mum was a single mother too, had me when she was nineteen. It's hard and I cannot even imagine the time she has probably silently cursed me for being born when I was a kid. Kids never remember these stuff, though. You love him. I know that. He knows that. That's what matters at the end. That's what he will remember. You don't have to try hard. You can just let maternity come to you naturally. It gets easier. You learn. It's okay.'' Louis reassured her, as they walked down the street and she teared up a bit at his words.

''Thank you. You have no idea how much I need to hear these stuff once in a while. There are moments that I wish that I hadn't had him, but then everything is okay, you know? And I feel guilty for feeling like that and I love him so much. I just wish he could have come at a better time.'' she said and Louis nodded, understanding.

''The important thing that you love him, at the end of the day. And how couldn't you? Look at his cute nose.'' he said, smiling, looking at the baby in her arms, that had two fingers in his mouth, staring at Louis.

''He's the cutest, isn't he?'' the woman said, as Louis opened the café door for her to enter.

''Thank you so much.''

''No problem.'' he smiled, politely.

''Do you wanna have some coffee maybe? It's on me to say thank you for helping me.'' she said.

''Um...sure.'' he replied and gave her a small smile.

''We are going to go in the bathroom now.'' she said, mostly talking to the baby and Louis sat on a booth, not noticing the curly boy, sitting exactly behind him on the other booth, their hair almost touching.

Louis smelled the familiar scent of both the café and Harry, but he brushed it off, as he waited for the woman to return and then, he realized he didn't even know her name. A couple of minutes later, she came out of the bathroom, holding little Marcus, who seemed much better and at peace after that very much needed change.

''Look who is not grumpy anymore.'' Louis smiled, as the girl put the baby back in the stroller.

''Yeah. He is also pretty sleepy. Here, baby.'' she mumbled, handing the baby a bottle of water, that took large sips of and then she placed his pacifier in his mouth.

For the rest of the morning, the woman, whose name was Margie, talked to Louis about her whole life for hours and Louis did the same and it felt good to really talk to someone.

''Well, we have to go now. He just woke up and if he doesn't get fed, you're gonna have to deal with both mine and his' mental breakdowns.'' she joked, as Louis chuckled.

''Thank you for the coffee.''

''Thank you for being there.'' she smiled, as Louis waved at the baby smiling.

He opened his phone, choosing his mum's number at the contacts, pressing the dial button.

It went to voicemail.

''Mum, I was just calling to say that I...miss you and that I-uhm-...love you and that I understand why we kind of drifted apart over the years. We were both caught up in our own thing but I am grateful and lucky to have you as a mother, you know? And you are probably at work, right now, saving people's lives, like you always did. I am proud of you for that, and I understand, mum. It took me a while, but I understood why you are who you are and I love you. 'm proud of you. Bye.'' Louis said, his voice trembling at the end, before he hang up, letting out a heavy smile, feeling content.

Harry just listened to the whole voicemail, his eyes tearing up a little. All he heard after were Louis' typing on his laptop.

*

A/N A bit of Louis' backstory bc why not:)