flannel shirts [l.s mpreg]

ten.

louis had begun to dread his birthdays after he hit twenty. granted, twenty-nine was not considered "old", but to louis, twenty-nine was the year that people lost their youth. obviously, louis wanted to have kids and a husband and a house and a job and all those perks of being apart of the "thirties". however, he wasn't sure he was ready to hand his youth over quite yet. 

harry was very much aware of this. louis had told him countless times how he was going to be evergreen, forever young, everlasting. and harry had told louis countless time that his beauty was timeless, that no amount of time could age the lad.

(that of course is when louis whacks harry with whatever is closest and curses him for being so cheesy).

nevertheless, louis was most certainly not excited to be turning twenty-nine that weekend.

the boys had already planned a small get together on the 23rd, the night before lou's birthday, and harry and louis were leaving the following day, the 24th, to spend the holidays split between their two families. that left the 22nd for harry and louis to celebrate together, which is exactly what they did. 

louis was pressed against harry on the couch, his body heat enough for the both of them. harry mindlessly played with louis' fringe because he loved when louis wore his hair like that. "so what did you get me?" louis asks, smiling because he hated birthdays but loved gifts.

harry chuckles because he's got a tendency for getting people remarkable gifts. this year was no exception, he had proudly outdone himself. (except for the year that he had proposed on louis' birthday).

the curly-haired lad gets up from the couch, leaving louis to pout slightly at the absence. he retrieves lou's gift from their bedroom and comes back to hand an envelope to his husband, a grin never leaving his face. 

louis does as he's told, hushing harry in the process. he slides his finger under the envelope and pulls out two tickets. harry bounces on the balls of his feet while he waits for louis to make the connection. louis' sea green eyes scan over the white slips, until suddenly they light up and he stands from the couch (he would have jumped if not for his slightly protruding stomach). his small arms wrap around harry's frame, "are you serious?"

harry nods and exclaims, "we're going to mexico, baby."

"is that a good idea?" louis says suddenly, looking worried. "isn't flying bad for the baby? what if i get skin cancer or something? what if i get food poisoning? what if-"

"hush," harry says. "i've read up on it and it's perfectly safe for you to travel. you won't get skin cancer, but you'll get pretty and tan and we can lay on the beach and i can stroke your tummy and we can go on the water and i'll swim while you read your new books on the beach. plus, we'll have tons of sex," he adds as a side note.

louis giggles and looks up at harry through his eyelashes. "i love you," he whispers. he leans his head against harry's chest. 

"i love you," harry replies, resting his chin on louis' head.

----

the following day, the boys all piled into harry and louis' apartment. the usual pizza boxes accompanied them and niall and zayn sat unusually close to one another. 

(liam noticed). 

liam told the boys about a guy he had met, but he didn't fool anyone. it was still obvious he was still head over heels in love with niall, but at least zayn was seeming to get over liam. it seemed like everyone in the room was in love with niall, but that wasn't anything new. he had always been the star of everyone's life. not because he needed attention, just because he was happy. happy to be there. happy to be alive. everyone seemed to like that about niall. (plus he had a cute accent and cute little chest hairs and a goofy smile and a loud laugh and really cute blonde hair). 

"here you go, lou," zayn says as he hands louis a big box. "from niall and i."

everyone turns and looks at the two, the same look on all of their faces. harry said what they were all thinking, "i wasn't aware there was a 'niall and i'."

niall and zayn both blush and liam rolls his eyes. "just open it, lou."

louis laughs and tears the wrapping paper off. he gasps at what he finds in the box and immediately tears up. zayn and niall start to panic and niall shouts, "it was zayn's idea, i'm sorry lou!" zayn hits him and louis giggles again, shaking his head.

"no, no, they're lovely!" he pulls out a pair of new white vans (complete with smiley faces on the toes, just how louis likes them) and a matching pair, only much smaller. 

"those are so cute!" harry says, taking the little ones in his hands.

"for the baby," zayn explains. 

"just to be clear, it was actually my idea," niall adds and zayn doesn't argue.

"okay, my turn!" liam hands louis his gift and lou doesn't hesitate to tear it open.

"holy shit, no way!" louis admires the jersey in front of him. it's a rovers jersey, complete with "TOMLINSON" on the back and an autograph on the front.

liam grins, obviously pleased with himself.

"liam, this is fucking awesome," louis says at the same time that harry whines, "no cursing!" 

"glad you like it," liam says.

"thank you so much, boys! we've got christmas gifts for you as well, of course." 

the five boys exchange gifts quickly and unwrap them one by one, then they end up watching a christmas movie after.

niall's got a football from liam, the newest fifa game from zayn, a puppy sweater from louis (not his favorite gift), and the running shoes he's been wanting from harry.

zayn ended up with a leather-bound sketch book from niall, aftershave from louis (who grinned when he received a weird look from zayn), tickets to a concert later in the month from liam, and art supplies from harry (who had coordinated with niall).

liam receives a dictionary and a "how to text for dummies" book from louis, a gift card to his favorite store from niall, a burberry scarf from harry, and a collection of beanies from zayn.

and then harry gets a blue and green flannel from louis, a gray and black flannel from niall, a pink and red flannel from liam, and a red and blue flannel from zayn.