the switch up

48

September 29, 2017 (36 weeks)

"Come here," Harry coaxes me as we lay in the darkness of his bedroom. I lay on my side and can't help but think about tomorrow. Since Scout didn't move on her own Louis scheduled me to come in for the EVC. I guess I was afraid because I didn't know what to expect. I was afraid of the unknown and unfamiliarity.

"I can't sleep..." I whisper to Harry as I move into his chest where he caresses my hair. My thoughts were my enemy and constantly fired different scenarios in which things wouldn't turn out. I could thank my anxiety for this, whenever it took control it took the driver's seat to my entire mind.

"Are you nervous about tomorrow?" Harry asks me with a tired raspy voice. The constant motion of Harry combing fingers through my hair helped to put me at ease slightly as I closed my eyes.

"Yeah, I just want everything to go well. I can't handle losing Scout." I say to him as I nuzzle my face into his chest where I then trace over his swallow tattoo.

"We aren't going to lose Scout, you just need to get some rest. Look at the bright side, this will probably be the best sleep we get for awhile." Harry tells me slowing down his hair combing. I catch onto the word "we", "we get for awhile". My heart warms as I listen to the soft heartbeat in Harry's chest I am up against. His breathing became softer and fingers through my hair stop as we both lay in dark of the night wrapped up in the covers to keep our sore bones warm.

+

"Alright Madeline all I need you to do is just relax, there's going to be some pressure but try your best to focus on your breathing," Louis tells me with a nurse standing by as he hands her the probe to the ultrasound machine.

"Okay," I breathe look over at Harry who stands at the foot of the bed. I had been a nervous wreck all morning long constantly thinking up all the things that could go wrong. Don't you just love anxiety?

Louis lathers my stomach in gel and vocalizes that he is about to begin. I blow out a breath and stare at his hands as he begins to put an unbelievable amount of pressure on my abdomen. I see Scout's body under my skin but immediately moan out in pain as Louis twists and pulls at my skin.

"Oh god..." I squeeze my eyes shut and clench my fists around the scratchy hospital sheets. The pain is something I can't even begin to explain as I moan out.

"You are doing great Mads," Louis reminds me while I have the nurse to my side encouraging me to breathe. I peek out of my scrunched eyes and see Harry staring at my stomach where Louis' hands were pressing on.

"There she is Mads!" Harry tells me as I focus a little more on my bump. I curl my toes as I feel her head scrape against the walls of my uterus.

"We are almost there! You are doing amazing Madeline." I get encouragement from Louis as I groan out at the breathtaking pain against my abdomen. I press my head firmly against the pillow and screw my eyes shut and try to concentrate on the impossible task of breathing.

"AHHHH! Damn it's like worse than stepping on a Lego!" I cry out when the pain comes to a peak. I want to tell him to stop but I know that all the pain I had endured so far would have been for nothing.

"She is so close Mads," Harry tells me since he is the one observing and watching Louis. I can't bring myself to open my eyes, I somehow helped with the pain if I kept my eyes closed.

"She's a stubborn little girl, I wonder who she gets it from?" Louis asks and I can feel her wanting to go back into her original position. I can feel her fighting Louis and it's causing more pain than necessary.

"Harry!" I automatically say but know he is going to protest against my allegations. I knew I was the more stubborn one but I didn't want to admit that, who willingly says they are stubborn?

"I'm pretty sure you have a good idea," Harry laughs along with Louis while I am put into another moment of breathtaking pain. My nails dig into the sheets as I feel the pressure escalate once again leaving me with a loss of breath.

"We got it!" Louis says taking his hands off me to check Scout with the ultrasound machine to make sure everything was in the correct position.

"Oh thank god! You almost caught me crying," I say to Louis as all our heads turn to the monitor to see little Scout soundly sitting the correct position with her thumb in her mouth.

"You were perfect! You've got a little fighter on your hands!" Louis tells us while I look at Harry with a bright smile. The stress melts away as I see Scout in the fetal position, she was finally where she was supposed to be.

Now all there was to worry about was the actual delivery that and finding out who my baby daddy was. The answers would come with time but for now, I was just happy to see Scout was healthy and ready for delivery.

I wipe the sweat from my brow and yawn feeling and overwhelming tiredness cloak over my senses. Fatigue like the plague washes over me as I wait for Louis to finish up his exam.

"You look like you are going to pass out," Harry noticed as I yawn for the seventy-fifth time. It was as if a ton of bricks was lifted off my shoulders and I was able to finally rest. I felt light and fatigued as I blinked trying to keep myself awake enough to leave the clinic.

"I didn't sleep much last night because I was so nervous," I tell Harry even though this isn't surprising news to him. He already knew how anxiety ridden I was.

"Well once we are done here we can head home and you can take a long nap," Harry says and I get excited about taking a much-needed nap. I was going to have to savor the sleep I was able to revive since it was going to be minimal once Scout was born.

I wanted Harry and me to take shifts but with us both living in different places that was going to be a little tough. I did have a few things stocked at Harry's like a bassinet and other essentials but it was no nursery by any means. I had the means to stay over at Harry's and we had talked about me doing so after Scout was born but I still wished it didn't feel like I was just sleeping over.

I wanted his home to be my home. I wanted to be able to come home to him after the long hours at work. I wanted to be a real family and maybe I wasn't too far off to think that this could be a reality. Anything was possible at this point.

N. Hey guys! If you haven't checked out my updates book it has new information on the sequel to this book! I'm sorry I didn't update yesterday I am still super sick but powered through to finish this for you all! What do you think?