Tough Love (On Hold)

Chapter 5

"Can we bring him home tonight"?, Karen asked. She and Jimmy had already bought almost everything they needed for a new baby besides clothes and shoes, and they wanted to bring Harry home as soon as possible. 

They had transformed their guest bedroom into a room suitable for Harry, and they had everything ready for him to come home. "I suppose you could, do you have everything you need"?, Leah asked.

 "Yes, besides clothes and shoes", Jimmy said. "The day after we bring him home we're going to go on a shopping trip, we didn't want to get a bunch of clothes that aren't the right size and don't fit", Karen said. "Ah, I see", Mrs Thomas said.

"Jimmy actually took a picture of the room, in case you wanted to see it", Karen said and looked at her husband expectantly. Jimmy handed his phone to Leah as he pulled up a picture of a large light blue room with a crib against the wall in the corner. There was a changing table across the room against another wall, and there was a purple and green box labeled Diapers next to it.

There was a small pile of stuffed animals next to a bookshelf near the crib, and there was also a small closet attached to the wall near the door. "Jimmy did it all himself, he's so sweet", Karen praised her husband and took his hand under the table.

"Now now, you did an amazing job when you picked everything out, I just built the table and the crib", Jimmy said and kissed his wife's head. Karen rolled her eyes but didn't protest.  "The room looks wonderful, I love it", Leah said.

"I do too", Mrs Thomas said as she looked over Leah's shoulder. "Just sign here and you can bring him home with you tonight", Mrs Thomas said and handed over another form. After Karen and Jimmy had signed the papers, Jimmy stood up.

"It was wonderful meeting you, and we will absolutely keep in touch. But right now, we have to head home. Liam and Louis still have homework to do, and we want to give Harry some time to settle in", Jimmy said.

"He's right, I promise I'll call or email before the week ends", Karen said and stood up, careful not to wake Harry. "Yes, it is a school night and Harry probably does need some time to settle in", Leah said and walked over to Karen.

Karen handed Harry to her, giving her a sympethatic look. Leah gently kissed the top of his head, biting her lip to keep the tears from falling. "Goodbye buddy, we love you", she said quietly before handing him back to Karen.

"Thanks again", Karen said when Mrs Thomas handed her Harry's coat. "Our pleasure, we're happy we found you guys", Mrs Thomas said with a smile even though Leah could see some sadness in her eyes.

"Bye", Liam said as Jimmy ushered him and Louis out to the car. Karen gave one last wave before putting her own coat on and cradling Harry, walking out the door. As Leah saw the Tomlinson's car leave, she sniffled and rubbed her eyes.

"I'm gonna miss him", she said sadly as Mrs Thomas walked over and goes up on her tiptoes to put her arm around Leah's shoulders. "I know, I am too", she said and let her own tears fall. They always got sappy whenever a baby left, and this time was no exception.

After a few minutes, Mrs Thomas pulled herself together and wiped her eyes as she looked at Leah."Let's look on the bright side, he found a loving family and they promised to keep in touch. Some people don't even do that, we won't lose him forever", Mrs Thomas said and rubbed Leah's back.

"That's true, I suppose you're right", Leah said and rubbed her eyes. "I know I am. Now you should go home and get some rest, I'll see you tomorrow", Mrs Thomas said. Leah nodded and disappeared into her office, looking at the picture of her holding Harry on her phone and smiling sadly.

Mrs Thomas decided to close early, seen how it was now almost 7:45 and nobody usually came around this time. When Leah came out of her office with her bag and her coat, Mrs Thomas pulled her own coat on and shut off all the lights.

"Lock up when you're done", she told the lady at the reception. She nodded, and Mrs Thomas ran to catch up with Leah after she locked up her office. "That was very brave of you with the Tomlinsons earlier", Mrs Thomas said as they walked to their cars.

"Thanks", Leah said. ¨I'll see you then¨, Mrs Thomas said as they stopped to go to different sides of the parking lot. "See you", Leah said before climbing into her car, planning on sitting on the couch and cuddling with Bear while watching movies.

Meanwhile, in the Tomlinson's car, Louis was mad because Jimmy had taken his phone and Liam had fallen asleep. Karen was still holding Harry, and she was surprised he hadn't woken up because of Louis and Jimmy's bickering.

"No phone until you get that math homework done mister", Jimmy said firmly and turned onto their street. "What? You can't do that"!, Louis protested. "I hate math, and anyways I was about to beat my high score"!, he said and tried to grab his phone.

"If you don't stop arguing with me, I'm going to ground you for a week, and that includes no phone or TV"!, Jimmy said angrily and turned to look at Louis in the backseat. "Am I making myself clear"?, Jimmy asked.

Liam had woken up, and he was now staring at his father and older brother nervously. "Whatever", Louis said and opened the car door, slamming it and storming up to the house. Liam sniffed, and Jimmy turned to see his younger son staring at him with wide eyes.

"Oh I'm sorry LiLi, did I scare you"?, Jimmy asked. Liam nodded and rubbed at his eyes, edging away slightly when Jimmy reached back and put his hand on his leg. "I'm not mad at you, your brother is just getting on my nerves right now, okay"?, Jimmy asked.

Karen turned around in her seat and gave Liam a sympethatic look. "Your father is just stressed, and Louis isn't helping much. He thinks he can just lay around and be on his phone all the time and not have to do any homework, and that's not true", Karen said.

"I think the biggest mistake I made was getting him that phone", Jimmy muttered as he climbed out of the car and came around to Liam's side and unbuckled him out of his booster seat. Jimmy lifted him out of the car and pointed at the door that Louis had left open.

"Go inside, we'll be in in a few minutes", Jimmy said. "But don't leave the door wide open like Louis"! Karen exclaimed as Liam started to walk up the steps. Liam nodded, and closed the door almost all the way shut before completely disappearing into the house.

Jimmy opened the door for Karen and took Harry out of her arms while she climbed out, handing him back to her as he shut the door. "We are going to have such a great time with him", Karen said as she carried him into the house.

"Yes we are", Jimmy said before he locked the door behind them.

Hope you guys enjoyed it, I know an update was overdue and I needed to post it. Starting on Chapter 6 soon, update again as soon as possible :)