Restore (Sequel to Purge: Larry au)

Chapter 28

Five days later

Harry wakes up to a cramping pain in his stomach. His eyes fly open as he presses his hands against his bump, trying alleviate some of the pain.

It's as the cramp goes away that Harry thinks maybe this is the real thing. He's been having Braxton Hicks for a few days, but this cramp was stronger than those. 

That thought alone is enough to scare him into waking Louis up. 

"Lou," Harry whispers, shaking his husband's shoulder. "Lou, get up."

Louis groans and rolls over, blue eyes fluttering open. He looks up at Harry. 

"What's wrong, my love?" he asks. 

"I think I just had a contraction," Harry says, rubbing his belly. 

Louis sits up, eyes wide. He places his hands on Harry's massive baby bump, staring at Harry. 

"You had a contraction?" He repeats. "That means the baby's coming, right? Do we have to go to the hospital now?"

Harry laughs a little. "We don't have to go until my water breaks, or until the contractions are less than ten minutes apart. But yes, I think the baby's coming."

"Wow," Louis breaths, staring at Harry's tummy. "That's... wow."

"You knew this was going to happen," Harry chuckles. "That was the whole point of getting me pregnant, remember? Having a baby?"

"I know that," Louis rolls his eyes. "It's just... she's been in there so long it's weird to think that soon we'll be able to meet her and hold her and stuff."

"Well, 'soon' might be longer than you think," Harry says. "So far, she's taking longer than Darcy. I only had like, one minute breaks between contractions with her."

"Baby's just not as eager to leave your warm belly," Louis coos, nuzzling his nose against Harry's bump. "She's clearly very comfy in there."

"Yeah, well, I'm five days overdue, so she better leave soon," Harry complains. "I'm done with being pregnant."

Louis opens his mouth to say something else, but that's when Harry inhales sharply, his belly hardening and he grabs Louis's hand. 

"Ow," he mutters. 

"Contraction?" Louis asks softly, stroking Harry's hair with his free hand.

"Yeah," Harry groans, squeezing his fingers tightly. "Ow, ow, ow."

"Shh, just breathe baby," Louis murmurs, pulling Harry closer to him. 

Harry finally relaxes, breathing heavily. He slumps against Louis's shoulder, panting. "That contraction was less than ten minutes from the first one," he says quietly, rubbing his belly.

"Yeah?" Louis asks. 

Harry nods. "I think we need to go to the hospital. Baby girl might end up coming fast, just like Darcy."

"It's that good?" Louis smirks, climbing out of bed to pull on a shirt and some joggers. 

Harry shrugs. "I'm in pain for less time, but it's stressful, and more intense during the actual labor I think."

Louis finishes getting dressed and brings some clothes over to Harry. "Well either way, soon we'll get to meet our baby girl, and that's worth it, right?"

Harry nods. "Yeah, it is."

He lets Louis pull a t-shirt over his head, then accepts his help to stand. Louis lets Harry balance with his hands on his shoulders while he helps get his joggers on as well. Then he helps Harry slip into his crocs (a pregnancy gift from Ella because none of his other shoes fit his swollen feet anymore), and grabs their hospital bag.