Restore (Sequel to Purge: Larry au)

Chapter 34

A few days later

Louis wakes up in the morning to the small cries of a baby. Quickly, he climbs out of bed and picks up Morgan from her cot, not wanting her to wake his husband, who's still asleep beside him. He knows Harry hasn't been sleeping well ever since Morgan was born. 

"Shh," Louis hushes, bouncing Morgan in his arms. "You're okay. You're alright. Don't cry, darling."

Morgan doesn't start screaming, which is good, but she's still whimpering in Louis's arms, so he takes her downstairs and starts to prepare a bottle for her. As soon as he gives it to her, her whimpering stops and she begins to eat hungrily. 

"You were just hungry, huh?" Louis chuckles. He goes to the living room to sit down on the couch while he feeds his daughter. He watches the sun rise through the window, thinking the sky looks a little grey. Maybe they'll get snow this Christmas. 

"You excited for your first Christmas?" he asks the baby. 

Morgan does not respond. 

"It's gonna be great," Louis tells her. "Just me, you, your Papa, and your big sister. We're going to have so much fun decorating the house, making cookies, giving presents... I bet you'll get a lot of gifts. Everyone's obsessed with you."

Morgan stares back up at him with her big green eyes. She looks so much like Harry, it throws Louis off a bit. He's happy about it though. Darcy looks just like him, so it's good that Harry gets a mini clone as well.

When Morgan's finished with her bottle, Louis takes her back into the kitchen and places her down in the little baby rocker they have in the corner, strapping her in so he can make himself breakfast. He grabs a teabag and puts the kettle on, taking his morning meds while he's at it.

He smiles as he swallows the pill. It's been over a month since he's started taking the meds and he's finally starting to notice a difference. He's feeling happier every day, and he's gradually getting less nightmares when he sleeps. He's only had about one or two flashbacks since getting help, and on top of that, he's not waking up hungover every morning, so he feels better overall.

As he puts a piece of bread in the toaster, he thinks about Harry, and how grateful he is for his husband for essentially forcing him to fix himself. He's so glad Harry made him realize that he needs to go to therapy and get help, because things really have been getting better. Taylor even said that he was progressing better than a lot of other PTSD patients she's had. Louis told her it's because he has a good source of motivation: his family. 

He knows there's still a long road to healing, though, and he's far from done. Everyone has peaks and valleys, and as was proven by the flashback he had a few days ago, there will be setbacks and things that he'll still need to cope with. But Louis's sure he'll be able to get through it, especially when he has Harry's support. 

It's just as Louis's spreading butter on his toast that Harry himself walks into the room, looking exhausted. 

"Good morning, my love," Louis says, grinning at him.

"Morning," Harry mumbles sleepily, offering Louis a small smile that quickly drops when he turns away. 

"You tired?" Louis asks. 

"Yeah," Harry responds. 

"You should go back to sleep then, darling."

Harry looks over at Morgan, who's lying in her little bouncer, awake and staring at them with her wide green eyes. "I should feed Mo."

"I already did that, love," Louis tells him. "She woke up hungry a few minutes ago, so I gave her a bottle."

Harry stares at the baby, something sad flashing in his eyes. "Lou, it's my job to feed her."