meet me halfway | l.s

7. what we've been waiting for

louis

"Great job, Tomlinson," the photographer for my shoot says.
"Thanks, man," I say back. "Oh damn, I've got to get going, I'll catch you next time," I reply, heading into my dressing room.
"Hey babe, yeah, I'm leaving now," I say to Harry over the phone.
I meet Harry at the doctor's office. A radiologist pulls us into an examination room and gives Harry privacy to get changed into a gown.
"You're showing," I tell him.
"Really?" He asks.
"Yeah, already so soon," I chuckle sitting down in the chair next to him. When the doctor comes indoors, she introduces herself.
"Hi, I'm Dr. Rebecca Wright, how is everyone doing today!" She says very vibrantly.
"We're good," Harry says, taking my hand into his.
"So this is your first checkup, by looking at your records you've already had a baby so I know you probably know the routine," she tells us. "And I'm assuming this is dad," she says to me.
"Yeah," I chuckle.
"Great! Now that we're all here let's figure out your due date!" She says to Harry, feeling around his stomach.
"So you found out recently?" She asks.
"Yeah, last week," Harry tells her. "I'm thinking it's about a month, I haven't really noticed any symptoms, and that's when we were mostly sexually active," he adds.
"Well actually you are measuring closer to five months," the doctor says to us. Harry and I look at each other, nervously, and shocked.
"Close to five?" Harry asks, making sure we heard right.
"Yes, I can give you a definite answer after your scan, would you like some privacy first?" She asks. We both nod.
"Five months, that's so long, I knew within the first month with William, and when did we-"
"William's surgery," I interrupt. "But I thought the implant was in place, you didn't get it removed until right after that," I add.
"I knew it had expired the day I got it removed, at first I was concerned but I never noticed any symptoms or discomfort, so I didn't think about it," he explains. "How could I have not have known?" He asks, as the doctor knocks.
"Okay, before I do your scan do you guys have any questions?"
"How could I have not known?"
"It's normal to miss symptoms sometimes, you wrote that your occupation is nursing so I wouldn't put it past you. Did you notice any fatigue, feet swelling, knee pain?"
"Not really, I'm kind of used to dealing with it," Harry says to her.
"That's what I figured," she says, applying the cold jelly to Harry's stomach.
"Then what about food cravings and morning sickness, with my last pregnancy? It seemed I was either hugging the fridge or the nearest trash can."
"Well, each pregnancy is different, some people have had the worst complications from everything from morning sickness to preeclampsia and then the next pregnancy is easy going."
"Can you tell us if the baby's doing okay?" I ask, putting my hand on his inner thigh.
"Well, speaking of, here's the heartbeat," she says, and I hold back tears in my eyes, and I look over to Harry who is sobbing.
"Your baby is strong, healthy, it's the perfect size, and the way you're measuring you're about 21 weeks."
"21 weeks, that's far, but you're sure the baby is doing okay?" Harry asks.
"Yes, would you like to know the sex?"
I say, "yes," and Harry says, "no."
"I'll let you two discuss this while I finish printing your scans," she says, walking out.
"What do you mean you don't want to know?" I ask. "You were practically begging the doctors to tell you William was a boy."
"I know, but this time I thought it would be fun if we waited, and if we didn't know, that way we could be surprised!"
"Do you think you can wait that long? It's going to be hard," I ask.
"Considering we have to wait four more months to have this baby instead of eight like I had expected, I think it will be a lot easier. But if you really want to know, you can ask the doctor when I'm not around."
"No, no, it'll be a pleasant surprise either way," I assure him.
"I'm just happy this baby is healthy in every aspect," Harry says. "At the end of the day, that's all that matters."
"Yeah, yeah, so how are we planning on telling William?"
"We can take him out for ice cream after we pick him up at my mom's house?"
—-

"Hey mom, so good news, the baby is fine," Harry says over the phone while I drive to his mothers house.
They exchange bits of conversation and then hangs up.
"Harry, I want to ask you something, and don't get defensive. But I think you and William should move in," I tell him.
"Why can't you move in with me?" Harry asks.
"Because I have a house with four bedrooms, two of which are being occupied. You only have two," I say.
"You're right, but why do you need four bedrooms in the first place? I've always wondered."
"I've been turning it into something," I vaguely tell him. "Plus it's close to the hospital, the studio and William's school."
"Like a home gym? I'm going to be so fat by the time this over," he jokes. "I feel like a cow."
"I think you look just as amazing as the day I met you," I assure him.
"I love you, and I can't wait to have this baby with you by my side," he tells me.