Animal

49

"You can't do that!" Louis exclaimed, outraged and glaring at Harry across their short coffee table.

"And why not?" Harry raises an eyebrow, stealing more from the loot blatantly.

"Because-" Louis took the orange paper back and pulled his black tray onto his lap. "-I'm the bank and I say you have too much money."

Harry's chuckle fills the quiet living room as he fidgets with the token in his hand. It's early in the afternoon and Olivia was asleep upstairs with a baby monitor stationed at Louis' side. Their pets seemed to find their owners' boardgame interesting and all gathered on the thick carpet to observe.

"I'm so sure you're not allowed to do that." Harry took his fake money back and leaned back against the front of their sofa, one knee bent in the air.

Harry is a Monopoly genius and Louis quite despises himself for asking the man to play with him. He bought half the board and Louis couldn't get anywhere without paying half a million in fake money. It was disgraceful and he was pushed to be sly in order to win.

"Haz." Louis made his way over to Harry and deposited himself on Harry's lap, legs crossed behind the man's back.

"Yes, darling?" Harry, bemused as he was, set everything down and held onto Louis' thighs.

"I'm hungry." Louis sets his arms on Harry's shoulders, elbows bent so his hands can be in Harry's shoulder-length hair. "Your hair's long."

"Too long?"

Louis wraps his fingers around some of the locks and tugs so Harry's neck bends backwards, their faces inches apart. "Nope."

Harry's chuckle is cut short by Louis' lips landing on his, and eventually light giggles come from the boy because of Harry flipping them over. Louis' smile is pressed to Harry's fervent mouth, his back arching over the boardgame and the thin fleece he had being thrown aside.

"We are not doing this on the board." Louis rights himself, or tries to futilely.

Chest rumbling and mouth smirking, Harry buries his face in Louis' soft tummy. He's become quite acquainted with that part of the boy's delicious body.

"How long ago did we order that pizza?" Louis plays with Harry's hair, combing through the soft locks and twirling it between his fingers.

"Six minutes." Harry now understands fully why his daughter likes to hide in Louis' torso when she's upset.

Louis' pout goes unseen. "Can I braid your hair?"

"Will you marry me?"

"No."

"Then no."

"You're unfair."

Harry comes up to Louis' level and overshadows the world around them, slotting their lips together from the moment he gets close enough and slipping his tongue past the parted barrier. He smirks when Louis makes a soft sound and locks his arms around his neck.

The doorbell rings and the first signs of life in Olivia's nursery kick up at the same time. Harry pulls Louis to his feet and sends him off to bring their baby girl downstairs with a pat to his bum.

"Hey, baby Bean." Louis enters her nursery quietly and hears her little noises like sniffles and whimpers. "What's wrong, love?"

Olivia is clenching and unclenching her baby fists with no strength, wriggling on her back in her bassinet. Louis cooes and picks her up carefully, setting her against his chest in a cradle of his arms. He touches her lips with his pointer finger and she sticks her baby pink tongue out just as he retracts it. She starts to wail.