The One-night Stand

3

At six he received an e-mail that confirmed that Louis was Lee's father. It wasn't as if he didn't already knew that but seeing it on paper made him relieved anyway.

Louis called at nine and he took the call in his room.
"I have a son." Louis said. He sounded emotional.

"Yes." Harry said.

"I've fucking sobbed when I read the result. I told me family, they took it well. Then I told me girlfriend." Louis chuckled to take the edge off.

"How did she take it?" Harry asked.

"She's in shock. She'll come around." Louis said.

Harry hoped so. The thought about an unknown woman around his baby made him... Something. He didn't like it.
"I want to see him. Tomorrow?" Louis wondered.

Harry freaked out. This was happening so quickly. His brain hadn't even processed it yet. He had to share his child. If Louis wanted custody he wouldn't see Lee for days. The thought broke him.
"I think you and I should meet up first. Talk this through." He said.

"Alright. I can drive to Holmes Chapel tomorrow. When and where?" Louis wondered.

Harry gave him the name of the local cafe. It was neutral ground. They agreed to see each other at noon before they hung up. Harry received a text a minute later.

Could you send me a picture of Leander?

Harry sent him five pictures and received a thank you.

Harry hardly slept that night. He had put Lee to sleep in his room and watched him sleep next to him for most of the night.

He left the toddler with his mum and headed to the cafe in time. Louis was already waiting for him outside. They greeted each other and headed inside and found a table. They ordered some coffee.
"So what do you wanna talk about?" Louis asked.

"Well, first of all, what do you want?" Harry asked.

"I want to see me son." Louis replied as if it was obvious.

"And after that? I'm thinking of Lee here. I don't want to introduce someone who might not be around." Harry said quietly.

Louis just stared at him for a second.
"Do you for a second think I would abandon him? Fuck no. I'm his dad too and I'm here to stay. I want joint custody."

Harry's heart sank.
"Right. I'm glad for Lee's sake that he will get to know you but I don't know you yet and you have to understand that I have to think about how this will affect him. I want to handle this carefully."

"I have to prove myself?" Louis snorted.

"Well... Yes." Harry said.

"Are you going to make this difficult? I will take you to court if I have to. I don't want to threaten you but I want to be able to be a dad to our son. Will you please let me? With time? I'm all for taking it slow. I want you to feel that he's safe with me and I want to get to know the little lad. We can work out the practical stuff." Louis answered.

Harry's mouth was a thin line.
"I don't appreciate the fucking badly concealed threat."

"I'm sorry. I'm afraid you won't let me see him." Louis sighed.

"I'm here, aren't I? I told you about him, didn't I?" Harry spitted out.

"Yeah, thank you, Harry. Really. I couldn't put me phone down last night I looked at the pictures you sent me. He's beautiful. Perfect. He has me eyes, hasn't he?" Louis said and smiled.

"He does." Harry agreed.

Louis just beamed and Harry made a decision.
"We can go see him now, if you want to?"

"Really? Of course!" Louis immediately said.

"Louis? Can we wait to bring your girlfriend along just for a little while? I want Lee to feel safe and comfortable around you first. Give you two some time to bond. I understand that she is a big part of your life and that she will be in Lee's life too. It's just... This is difficult for me too. I know it's totally selfish of me but I had him to myself so far and now I'm gonna share him. I haven't been away from him at all since the minute he was born and now I have to get used to the idea that I won't be with him all the time in the future. I just need a little bit of time to adjust. If you want to be a part of his life I'm not getting in the way of that. I just hope that we can have a straightforward discussion about it and that we make the best of it, putting Lee first. Okay?" Harry said.

"I understand and I want to make this right. Eleanor needs some time to digest this, to be honest, so she won't be seeing him in the near future." Louis informed him.

"Are you engaged to Eleanor?" Harry asked.

Louis looked baffled.
"No! No. No."

"One no had been enough." Harry chuckled.

"Yeah, ehm..." Louis said.

"How long have you been together?" Harry asked.

"Ehm, geez, putting me on the spot here. A year or so." Louis answered and scratched the side of his head.

"Alright. We should get going." Harry said and got up.

He had walked to the cafe so they took Louis' car back to the house. Louis seemed nervous but so was Harry.

They entered the house and Harry introduced Louis to his mother. She welcomed him and informed them that Lee was taking a nap. Harry took Louis to the nursery. Louis looked down into the crib and his eyes teared up. Harry stayed behind giving him this moment.

Five minutes later Lee woke up and Harry picked him up. Lee nuzzled his sweater as he always did when he had just woken up. Harry walked over to his bedroom and took a seat on the bed. Louis sat next to him. He couldn't take his eyes off Lee.
"Can I hold him?" He asked quietly.

"Sure." Harry replied and handed Lee to Louis.

He held him so carefully and Harry watched his facial expression. Louis was so emotional.
"Hi, Lee. I'm your papa."

"That might confuse him. He calls me Papa." Harry said.

"He does? Oh. Dad?" Louis suggested.

"Yeah." Harry agreed.

He observed them. Louis made silly faces and Lee just watched him curiously. A part of him had hoped that Lee would start to cry in an instant and reach for him, his papa, but he knew that was unfair.

Louis stayed for an hour and asked if he could come back the next day.
"You don't have to work?" Harry asked.

"I took a week's vacation. This is more important than anything else." Louis replied.

Harry was glad he felt that way, but also a little jealous. What if Lee liked Louis better than him?