I Get To Love You || l.s

chapter 7

“Alright, alright,” Harry muttered to himself as he heard Louis honk the horn for the second time outside his flat. He triple-checked his reflection in the mirror before he headed out of the flat, a water bottle in his hand, coat pulled tightly around him. Now his bump was so big, it didn't fit properly and the tip of his belly poked out, and he realised he was going to have to buy a new coat to get him through the winter. He carefully descended the stairs, taking care not to slip, and he smiled when he saw Louis had parked right outside his building, hazard lights on. Upon seeing Harry, Louis got out of the car, breath coming out in puffs of steam as he supported Harry getting into the car. “Thank you, what a gent.”

“You’re very welcome. Sorry about beeping the horn twice, wasn’t sure if you heard the first one or not.”

“I did. I just don’t move as quickly as I used to,” Harry joked, tucking the seatbelt under his bump. “I didn't manage to drink all the water they told me too, either, but I’ve brought it with me. You know where we’re going?”

“Yeah- hang on a tick, shit, this road is busy,” Louis mumbled, indicating and waiting for a free space in the traffic until he could pull out. “Alright, sorry. Yes, I do know where we’re going, I looked it up last night when you text me the address. Hadn’t heard of it before, how did you hear of it?”

“Liam found it for me,” Harry answered easily, taking another swig of water.  He already needed to wee, and he wasn’t quite sure how he was going to last another hour or so before he was allowed to go. “Apparently, they have a lot of high profile clients and are well known for their discretion, so yeah, it seemed the right place to go at the time, especially since my pregnancy wasn’t public. How was your day?”

“Shitty, actually,” Louis muttered, glancing over at the sat nav in the middle of the dashboard. “We had a kid come in with suspected meningitis. They looked awful, the poor parents were heartbroken. As much as I love my job, days like this make me just want to give it all up and go and work in Tesco or something.”

“I’m really sorry to hear that,” Harry said, his heart aching at the news. He always admired Louis’ job, and he wasn’t sure he held it together when the children and babies he worked with were desperately sick, or worse. He was an emotional wreck just hearing Louis tell him about it, let alone experiencing it. “Hopefully today will cheer you up a bit.”

“How could it not? First time I’m going to properly see my bubba,” Louis grinned, his blue eyes now shining in excitement. “I can’t believe you’re over twenty weeks now. It’s going so bloody quickly.”

They made small talk about Harry’s pregnancy until they arrived at the Paternity clinic, Louis impressing Harry with his parking skills as he skillfully maneuvered the car into the space behind them. They walked slowly across the car park, thankful it wasn’t raining, until they walked in, greeting the receptionist with a smile. Harry checked himself in and then the pair took a seat over in the corner of the waiting room, the only ones in there at the moment.

“Very posh. You don’t get nice bunches of gerberas in the waiting room at my doctors,” Louis joked, catching sight of the blooms on the desk. “And magazines that are actually up to date? Blimey, Harold, how well-to-do!”

Harry couldn’t help himself giggling at Louis’ sense of humour, ridiculously happy to have Louis by his side this time around. He’d loved his mum supporting him last time, but it felt so nice that he was bringing the father of his baby along with him this time. Anne had wanted to come to this scan too, but had totally understood when Harry had quietly told her Louis was going, and that they’d like it to just be the two of them. He kept sipping on his water as they waited, the clock ticking slower than ever the closer their appointment time came.