Harry Styles: A Collection of One Shots

Midnight Drive (dad!Harry)

Word Count: 2.1k

Harry was at his wit's end. He was certain that he would be able to take care of his own child for three days whilst his wife enjoyed a weekend away with her closest friends at the beach. Like, absolutely positive. He'd gotten the whole dad thing down pat. All he lacked was the ability to produce breast milk, which Y/N had gladly pumped extra of and stored in the refrigerator before she left. Harry knew exactly when they ate, exactly how much to give them and how long he needed to burp them for so that their tummies wouldn't be upset later on in the day. Absolutely nothing had been different about the baby's routine besides the fact that their mother was not here. There was nothing she possessed that was not accessible to the baby while she was gone, yet, for some reason, everything was going wrong.

The baby had quite literally been screaming all day. Harry had unnecessarily changed their diaper about 800 times just in case the material was irritating their skin and he had tried just about everything in the book to soothe them. A cold wash rag for them to chew on in case they were uncomfortable due to incoming teeth, a warm bath in the kitchen sink case they were cold, a million different pacifiers that they only repeatedly spit out. The most peace Harry could get was about an hour when they exhausted their tiny body from wailing and dozed off for a bit, but as soon as they came to, the waterworks started again and Harry was back to nearly pulling his hair out.

It broke his heart seeing his baby so upset. He was at the point where he felt like a failure of a father. It hadn't even been a full day since Y/N had left and it felt like everything was falling apart without her. They didn't have a dirty diaper, didn't have a fever, didn't have an empty belly, yet they refused to stop wailing at the top of their lungs like Harry was hurting them just by being around them. He was almost ready to throw in the towel and call Y/N to beg her to come home early until he remembered he had one more lifeline before ruining Y/N's weekend trip.

//

"Do wha'?" Harry mumbled tiredly yet dumbfoundedly into the sleek, black cell phone he held to his ear.

It was nearly two in the morning. He wasn't expecting her to pick up the phone, but he sure was glad that she did. He'd hoped she could give him some advice, to tell him what to do or even offer to come over and help. But this was the last thing he'd ever expected his mother to say.

"I'm serious, love. You loved it too when you were being a fussy baby. Something about the sounds of the engine. Put ya right to sleep every time."

"Tha's ridiculous. It's two in the morning."

"You asked, Har. Just try it. Drive around the block and see if it calms them down a bit. Call me back if that doesn't work and I guess I can come 'round."

Harry was never sure how she always managed to sound so calm. Maybe it was the fact that she'd raised him and his sister at the same time, so anything after that was a piece of cake. Even the sound of her voice was comforting to him and enough to ease some of his nerves. But maybe that was just because she was his mother.

"Alright. I'll let ye' know how it turns out. Thanks f' pickin' up so late."

"Love you, Harry."

"Love ya too, mum."

Harry ended the call and tossed his cell onto the unmade bed he shared with Y/N. It looked awfully empty without Y/N in it and part of him wondered if part of the reason why he'd contemplated calling her to come home early was that he missed her warm presence in the house and everything felt cold and wrong without her. He wonders if this is how she feels when he leaves for tour, but doesn't have much time to dwell on it due to the piercing cries coming from the nursery where the baby had been lying down in an attempt to sleep.