Chapter 14
“Louis, if you don’t sit down right now we’re going to sit upstairs all day. Put your bum on the chair, please,” Harry said, exasperated. The boy hadn’t listened to one thing Harry had said since he had woken up, and he was getting frustrated.
Gasping, Louis sat down quickly. He didn’t want to have to stay home, he wouldn’t be able to see the dolphins then! “Sorry daddy, sorry sorry sorry!” Louis sang. He sat down on the chair, feeling weird being sat at a table instead of in a highchair. He didn’t really like it, if he was being honest. His highchair made him feel secure, and it gave Lacy a place to sit down and watch him. He kept that to himself, though, he didn’t want to hurt his daddy’s feelings because he knew the man didn’t have a highchair for him.
They were staying at the Darling Hotel, one that they stayed at every time they went to Sydney. By this point in their career, the boys were quite familiar with the hotels they went to, as they stayed in the same ones every time. The hotels were always the nicest ones that the city offered, and had a professional staff that were used to celebrities. It made it easier to bring Louis downstairs to the hotel restaurant, because they knew that everything that happened there would be confidential. The only people in the restaurant were the boys, their crew, and the waiters, as they shut down the eatery for the boys.
“I’m hungry, daddy, hungry and thirsty.” Louis complained.
“I know, angel, the waiter is coming over right now.” Harry looked up at the waiter who was approaching the table he was sitting at with Louis, Liam, Niall, and Zayn.
“Hello, welcome to Sydney! I’m Eric, can I get you started with something to drink?”
“Water for me, please. Could you put some apple juice in here as well? Thanks,” Harry said, handing over a bottle. He’d give Louis his formula when they got back that night, but wanted the boy to have a big breakfast to prepare him for the long day.
“No problem, sir,” Eric said, grabbing the bottle. The rest of their boys ordered their drinks, and before the man could walk away Louis grabbed his attention.
“Mr. Eric, sir, can I have crayons, please?” Louis asked, flashing the man his best smile.
“Of course, Mr. Tomlinson. Coming right up!” The man said, walking away. Louis giggled at the way that the man called him Mr. Tomlinson, thinking it sounded silly.
He quickly brought back crayons and white paper for the boy, Louis clapping his hands together in excitement. He picked up a gray crayon and began to carefully draw. The other boys conversed, Liam telling them that Sophia surprised him by quitting her job. For many subs, that was a show of being serious about their dom. It showed their dom, and the world, for that matter, that they trusted their dom to take care of them and they were ready to settle down. Sophia would be landing in Sydney that night and joining them for the rest of tour.
“I’m happy for you, man, that’s awesome. Looks like we’ll be having a wedding soon,” Zayn said, smiling.
“Nick and Harry may be first, who knows,” Liam said, a playful smile on his face.
Before Harry could reply, Louis looked up, “Look! Look what I made.”
He held up a drawing of a dolphin in water and a stick figure on its back. The dolphin was swimming in light blue water, little fish drawn under the water. Like all of Louis’ artwork, it looked like it was drawn by a toddler. Harry wasn’t the only one endeared by it, the other boys giving him high praise.
“That’s gonna be you today, Lou! Can I post a picture of it online?” Niall asked.
Louis looked to his daddy who simply shrugged at him. It was up to the little whether or not he wanted to have pictures of himself online so soon. Harry wanted him to be comfortable and safe, and if Louis felt okay with someone posting pictures of him then all was well.
“Yeah! But I need to be in it so people can see I made it, not you!” Louis said.
Niall let out a chuckle, “Of course, Lou. I don’t think anyone would believe I'm that good of an artist anyways!”
Louis held the drawing up, smiling from ear to ear. Harry cooed at the way the boy’s eyes crinkled up in happiness.
“Perfect!” Niall said, going onto his Instagram app. He posted the photo with the caption: Our little artist is ready to become a pro dolphin rider !
“All right, here we go. Sorry for the delay, we needed to run out and grab apple juice.” Eric said, placing the drinks down in front of the men.
Louis began sucking on the bottle after saying thank you.
“Are you ready to order or would you like another minute?” Eric asked.
“We’re ready to go,” Liam said after receiving nods from the others.
Everyone ordered their food, Harry going last. “I’ll take the avocado sandwich and the yogurt parfait, please. And chocolate chip pancakes and scrambled eggs for the little one.”
“No problem, your food will be out shortly!”
“Is your juice good, love?” Harry asked Louis, looking at the boy who was vigorously drinking. He replied with a nod, continuing to drink.
The food was out quickly, a product of the massive amounts of money that the boys’ management paid the hotel to stay there. None of them were complaining.
Harry cut up Louis pancakes after letting the boy admire the whipped cream smiley face on the top of the food.
“Open up, angel,” Harry cooed, Louis immediately opening his mouth for a bite. He hummed at the chocolatey taste. Like usual, Harry alternated between eating his own food and feeding Louis. Everyone in the room watched on in what they thought was a secret manner, unable to quench their curiosity at what Harry and Louis’ relationship actually consisted of. Every pairing was different, and their crew wasn’t surprised at Harry and Louis’ actions. Harry was one of the kindest, if not the kindest, people they’d ever met, and Louis was one of the sweetest, most loving boys they’d ever known. To see Harry treat Louis like he was the most delicate, wonderful things on earth was not surprising. But regardless of that, it made them happy to watch Louis being treated like he deserved. No one knew anything besides the fact that his mum exposed him and everyone was in agreement that that was terrible. But the silver lining was Harry treating him so well; it overjoyed them.
“Full, daddy,” Louis said through a mouthful of food, rubbing his stomach. Harry nodded, pleased with the amount of food Louis had eaten.
“All right, pumpkin. Sit tight while we all finish up our food.”
Louis didn’t even have a chance to be bored, Niall dragging his chair to sit next to the boy.
“Look at all these comments, Lou,” Niall said, scrolling through his Instagram comments.
Knowing that Louis was having a difficult time reading Harry suggested that Niall read some comments out loud.
Agreeing, Niall read, “He’s such a good artist! I would buy that, but I have five cents to my name. I want to swim with Louis! He’s the cutest thing in the entire world. Louis, can I be your dom?”
The boys were all chuckling at the comments; Louis was smiling softly and blushing bright red at the praise of all of their fans. It made him so happy that they liked him and were being nice about his artwork. From the beginning of their time as a band Louis had been worried about the way that fans felt about him. He knew that he was definitely the shyest of the group, the other boys immediately showing the fans how funny and charismatic they were both on stage and in video diaries. To have it affirmed that fans were interested in him and didn’t think he had an awful personality made his heart soar.
“What nice people,” Louis said quietly, cheeks burning a light pink.
Niall cooed, “And you’re even nicer, Lou. Are you ready to swim with dolphins?”
“Yes yes yes!”
“Let’s head up and get changed then,” Liam said.
“Have fun today, lads. Make sure to send me pictures!” Zayn said sincerely. He had never quite gotten over his aversion to water, so he’d be sitting this one out.
“Daddy will send you and papa lots of pictures!” Louis promised, getting out of his seat to give Zayn a hug. Zayn was affectionate by no means, but he still made sure to return Louis' hug.
“Thanks Lou, I can’t wait to see them.”
“All right boys, lets head upstairs,” Harry said. Louis hooked elbows with his daddy, quickly pulling the man upstairs. He couldn’t believe it was finally time to go swim with dolphins.
Louis jumped on the freshly made bed once they were in their hotel room, waiting for his daddy to get his bathing suit out.
“Do you think the dolphins will like me, daddy?” Louis asked curiously.
Harry smiled, looking up to see his baby’s leg’s swinging against the side of the bed, feet not quite touching the floor.
“Oh, they’ll love you! You’re sweet as sugar, my angel; they’re not going to want to leave your side. Let’s get you dressed.” Harry stood up with their portable changing pad and Louis’ outfit for the day in hand. He laid the changing pad out on the bed, Louis automatically climbing onto it, plastic crinkling underneath him. The little missed his changing table, wishing that they could bring it on tour with them.
“Let’s get you out of this wet diaper and all changed,” Harry said. As he was untaping Louis’ diaper his phone started to ring from where it was sat next to Louis’ head. “It’s papa, pick it up and press the green button, babe.”
Louis squealed excitedly, grabbing his daddy’s phone and pressing the green button. He was shocked when his papa’s face filled the screen, never having seen FaceTime before. It would be unbelievable for a majority of people that a member of the biggest band in the world was as sheltered as Louis was, but it was a product of his classification and the way he was raised.
“Papa! It’s me, Louis! I can see your face!”
Chuckling, Nick answered, “I can only see your pretty eyeball, baby. Hold the phone a bit farther from your face!”
Louis moved the phone away from his face, seeing all of it in the tiny square in the corner of the phone. “There I am!”
“Look at that!” Nick exclaimed.
“Papa, I’m going swimming with dolphins!”
“I know you are, baby. I can’t wait to see pictures! Where’s daddy?”
Louis turned the phone around to face his daddy, giving Nick an eyeful of his private bits instead of Harry. A professional at multi-tasking while changing a diaper, Harry quickly raised the camera and gave Nick a huge smile.
“Hey love, just getting Lou ready to go swimming. Are you getting ready to go to bed?”
“Not quite yet, it’s about 10 here. Just wanted to see what my favorite boys were doing.”
“One sec, babe, I’m gonna put the phone on the bed. Lou, lift your bum up so I can slide your diaper up. There you go, good boy.”
“Why am I wearing a pull up, daddy?” Louis asked, feeling anxious. He’d grown very comfortable with wearing diapers, and didn’t understand why he had a pull up on.
“It’s not a pull up, angel. It’s a swim diaper, that’s just how they’re made.”
“It slides like a pull up so that it’s easier for daddy to take it on and off, babe,” Nick assured.
“Okay,” Louis said uncertainly.
“Let’s get your bathing suit on, I know you’re going to love it!” Harry said. Nick smiled, excited to hear and see Louis’ reaction to the suit. Harry slide it up around the boy’s waist, picking up the phone and aiming the camera at Louis.
The little looked down to see what was decorating his bathing suit, gasping when he saw Gil from Bubble Guppies swimming. The suit was an ocean blue, Gil smiling on one side, the other exclaiming “Surf’s Gup!”.
“This is the coolest bathing suit ever! Thank you thank you thank you!”
Nick was grinning looking at Louis’ smile, unable to help himself from screenshotting the image. The daddies would never get over Louis’ shows of innocent excitement. The boy was one of the richest people in the world, but regardless of that fact Louis was always grateful and surprised when Harry and Nick got him gifts. It just reaffirmed the fact that they had the most perfect boy in the world.
“Of course, little cub. I wish I could be there to see you swim with the dolphins in your cool suit!” Nick said.
“We’ve gotta head out, babe. I’ll send you lots of pictures. Louis, tell papa goodbye.”
Louis walked over, and held his hands out for the phone. He pressed a kiss to the camera, leaving a line of saliva on the screen. “I love you papa! Just gave you a kiss.”
“I know you did, love, thank you for that!” Nick said, holding back his laughter at the sight of the spit that was marring Harry’s camera.
“Love you, babe. Goodnight,” Harry said with one final smile.
After hanging up, Harry walked over to grab the sunscreen that YSL told him was made especially for littles. It had a high SPF and was meant for sensitive skin, and he knew it’d be perfect for long days spent in the sun.
“All right, Loulou, let’s get some sunscreen on. Hold your arms out!”
“I don’t want to wear sunscreen, daddy!” Louis pouted.
“If you don’t wear sunscreen you’re not going, it’s as simple as that. You’re going to be outside in the sun all day, you need to put some on, Lou.”
Groaning, Louis conceded. He held his arms out for what seemed like forever, Harry making sure to cover every part of him from his face to the bottom of his feet with sunscreen. After letting the lotion soak in, Harry dressed Louis in a white v-neck, not wanting him to go shirtless.
“There we go love! Ready to go swim with the dolphins?” Harry pressed a kiss to Louis’ forehead. He grabbed Louis’ diaper bag that he’d filled with towels, a pacifier, a bottle, snacks, swim and regular diapers, and a change of clothes. He was nothing if not prepared.
Opening the hotel room door, Alberto was standing there, hand readying itself to knock.
“Perfect timing! Are you excited, Lou?” Alberto asked with a smile.
“Yes, yes, yes! I can’t wait!” Louis said, skipping out into the hall where Liam, Niall, Phil, Paddy, and Dale were standing.
“We have three cars waiting downstairs, the first is a decoy, the second is for Louis and Harry, and the third for Liam and Niall. They’re pulled into the underground parking garage, so there should be no fans in there. But the problem is that the fans have been following, so if we have the decoy go first then it should be smooth sailing,” Phil explained.
“I appreciate how much you’ve thought this through, I think we all do,” Liam said, smiling at Phil.
“Just trying to keep you boys safe as best as I can.”
“Dolphins?” Louis asked Harry in his attempt at a quiet voice that echoed loudly in the now quiet hallway.
Everyone chuckled, Phil answering that yes, it was time for the dolphins. They got into the cars without problem, Louis sucking on his pacifier as he was strapped into his car seat. It was about a thirty-minute drive, so Harry wanted to give Louis time to relax before he went out into the sun for a few hours. With the lunch traffic the drive ended up being about an hour, and thankfully Louis slept through all of it. Once they’d arrived Phil pulled their escalade up next to the front gate of Dolphin Island and parked. Harry shook Louis awake gently, the boy coming to quite quickly as he realized where they must be. The daddy took the pacifier from the boy’s mouth, drawing a sad noise from Louis.
Light entered the dark car as Alberto opened Louis door, quickly unbuckling his harness. “Time to go, little one!” The guard was excited for the boy; he couldn’t wait to see the smile on his face when he swam with the dolphins. Phil had gone ahead to greet the security guard that was stationed in a booth on the inside of the gate. Dolphin Island was a high-class research facility that celebrities headed to when they wanted to swim with dolphins in Sydney. The facility made exceptions for those with the wealth to pay to swim with dolphins, knowing that they’d be on their best behavior. The public was unpredictable, and they didn’t want any harm to come to the dolphins. Harry was normally quite against animals being held in captivity, but they were treated very well here and given massive pools to swim in when they weren’t interacting with non-workers.
The second car pulled up as the gate to the facility was opening, the others quickly hopping out. Louis was holding his daddy’s hand as he promised he would do, but couldn’t stop bouncing around. They headed up a sand covered path to a two story white building, heading inside as Phil held the door open. Standing right inside the doorway was a crew donned in light blue polos and white linen shorts.
“Welcome to Dolphin Island!” A woman with white blonde hair said, smiling dazzlingly.
“Thank you,” Harry said, smiling.
“We’re swimming with dolphins!” Louis exclaimed, smiling at the strangers.
If the little put them off then no one could tell. Harry knew that places that catered to celebrities and the public in general had to have understanding workers, as all classifications were different and you never knew what you’d get.
“Yes you are, little dude! They’re all excited to meet you,” A twenty-something year old man with brown hair answered, smiling down at Louis.
“Sorry, sorry, forgot my sunscreen in the car,” Liam said, walking in as Phil shut the door behind him.
“No worries, are we all here now?” The woman who had spoken before asked. At the sign of their nods she continued. “Well, welcome! I’m Natalie.”
“I’m Carter,” said the man who had answered Louis.
“I’m Britt,” said a girl with caramel colored skin.
“And I’m Rob,” the last man said in a gruff voice.
“We’ll be your crew for the day,” Natalie explained, “We’ll be introducing you to our most important friends shortly. We’re going to go over the rules once we head outside so that everyone knows exactly what’s going on. If you have any questions feel free to ask any of us. Carter and Britt will be in the water with you, and there will always be one of us around. Ready to head out?”
Louis was in awe as they walked out onto the property, looking at the huge pools of water. He gasped as he saw a dolphin pop its head out of the water, a thousand watt smile growing on his face. “Daddy! Daddy! Look!”
“That’s Rosie, she’s my favorite little pal,” Rob said as they walked by.
“How many dolphins do you have at the facility?” Harry asked.
“We have 17 right now, but the number fluctuates. We take in a lot of injured dolphins and rehabilitate them so they can head back out into the wild, but we also have ones that we’ve rescued from zoos and aquariums that we keep for research and safety purposes.”
“Do they like swimmin’ with people?” Niall questioned.
“Oh, they absolutely love it,” Britt cut in. “They are people pleasers, they love nothing more than when people get into the water with them.”
Everyone was astounded by how huge the facility was as they walked, eventually stopping in front of the smallest pool they’d seen. It wasn’t small by any means, but compared to the large bodies of water they passed it was average sized.
“All right! Here we are. There are chairs behind you for you to sit in to watch or place your belongings on. Can I have a raise of hands of who’s swimming?” Natalie asked.
Liam, Louis, Niall, and Harry raised their hands.
“Per our policy, all littles must have someone in the water with them. Have you decided who that’d be yet?”
Harry immediately raised his hand, “That’ll be me!”
“Perfect, all right, let’s get going.”
Britt and Carter hopped in the water after changing into wet suits, Louis gasping as four dolphins swam over to the staff members.
“These are our friends for the day! I’d like to introduce you to Malcolm, Sierra, Candy, and Maxine.”
At the sound of their names the dolphins let out happy noises, drawing delighted gasps from everyone who as there, Louis’ the loudest.
After getting changed and having the rules explained, it was time for them to get in the water.
“Who wants to go first?” Natalie jokingly asked, a smile on her face.
“Me! Me! Me! I’ve been listening very well!” Louis said, looking around at the others to make sure they didn’t want to go first.
“Let’s have it then, Lou!” Niall said, throwing himself into a lounge chair.
“All right, angel, let’s get your floaties on,” Harry said, leaning down to grab the item. Louis had nervously admitted that he had only been swimming a few times and was a bit scared. Harry found him a life jacket that went around his upper chest that had floaties connected. It was modeled after a safety mechanism for true children, but it worked all the same. Harry took his own shirt off as well as Louis’, then strapped the item around Louis’ chest and pulled it up his arms.
“You can hop in the water whenever you’re ready!” Rob said.
Louis had to be the cutest little thing any of them had ever seen. The back of his swim diaper was poking out of his swimsuit, and his smile was out of this world. Niall took on the role of photographer, snapping pictures as the boy held Harry’s hand and headed into the water.
Louis was a bit nervous about the water. He gripped his daddy’s hand tightly, not wanting to let go. Water was a bit scary, he never had the chance to get used to pools growing up as he only went swimming twice before joining One Direction.
Britt and Carter were professionals and quite used to nervous swimmers. They encouraged Louis as he got into the water, singing him high praises. The bodyguards watched with a smile, Dale thinking about how they’d lose their street cred if any of the boys’ fans were to see them right now.
“All right! Good job, Louis, you’re doing so well. Now I’m going to call Candy over so you can meet her,” Britt said.
Harry was standing behind Louis rubbing his thumb up and down the boy’s shoulder blades.
The dolphin swam over, making little noises as she poked her head out of the water.
"Can I please pet her?” Louis asked, already raising his hand out of the water. After receiving a nod from both staff members, he cautiously put his hand on her head. He marveled at the way her skin felt, never having touched something that felt like it before.
“Would you like to hop on her back and take a ride?” Natalie asked from where she was sat at the edge of the pool.
Louis looked to his daddy to see if the man was okay with it, receiving a smile and nod before nodding at the woman. “Oh, yes! Pretty please!”
Riding on the dolphin’s back was the most fun Louis had ever had. He felt like he was flying, he couldn’t believe that Candy could move so fast while still holding him up! Candy carried him all around the pool, and he loved it. He wanted to buy himself a dolphin for his birthday next month! Distracted by the thoughts of having his very own dolphin, Louis’ grip slipped and he fell off the dolphin. He was in the middle of the big pool at that point, and started to panic, splashing around violently. Britt started quickly swimming to where he was to grab him, Carter telling Harry that she had it under control. Before the woman could even make it to Louis, he saw a dolphins come up on either side of him, nudging his arms and wedging their heads in between Louis’ side and his arm. He was floating on the dolphins, feeling much calmer knowing he wasn’t going to drown. Candy swam up in front of him and pressed kisses all over his face, drawing loud giggles out of the boy. Back in the shallow end of the pool Harry let out a sigh of relief, happy that his boy was smiling again.
“All good, Louis?” Britt asked when she neared the boy.
“Yeah, I was scared, but my friends came to help me!” Louis said, nodding down at the dolphins that were holding him afloat.
Britt smiled. The dolphins were trained to be sympathetic and loving towards young children, just as they’d be to their own calves. She could see why they’d immediately flock to Louis as if he was a little one, as his personality reminded her a lot of a young true child.
“They’re pretty sweet, huh? Would you like to go back to the shallow water so we can take some photos?”
“Can I ride my friends, please?” Louis asked, not quite ready to let go of the dolphins.”
“Of course! Hold onto Maxine, she’s the one under your left arm,” Britt said. She started signaling to the dolphins, the one who was under his right arm let go, moving in front of him directly next to Candy.
“All right, Louis, we’re going to let go of Maxine for just a second and hook on to Malcolm and Candy’s fins. Whenever you’re ready, bud,” she said, paddling in front of the dolphins. The boy let go of Maxine slowly, the dolphin remaining right next to him as he hooked on to the fins. “Perfect! Let me just adjust your hands, and then on my signal they’re going to start moving you back!”
Louis thought that riding one dolphin was the most fun he’s ever had, but two? That was even better! “Daddy look! Daddy look!” The little shouted in excitement.
Harry was taking photos on his phone, having equipped it with a waterproof case. “I can see, angel! You’re doing great.”
Once back in the shallow end, Louis had a special photoshoot with the dolphins. He took pictures on their backs, floating in the water with them, and Harry’s personal favorite, all of the dolphins kissing the little boy’s face as he scrunched his eyes and nose up in laughter.
“Baby, now it’s time for Liam and Niall to swim with the dolphins, okay? They’ve been waiting very patiently for you to finish. Give Britt and Carter big hugs then say goodbye to the dolphins.”
Harry knew that Louis was getting tired by the way he was sniffling and tearing up as he said goodbye to the dolphins. The animals gave him lots of kisses before he got out of the water, Harry having to coerce the boy to get out.
“There are showers in the main building if you’d like to head up there,” Rob said, watching as Harry took Louis’ safety device up and bundled him up in a towel.
“Perfect, thanks, we’ll definitely head up there,” Harry said.
“Daddy, up,” Louis said, nestling into the man’s side.
“Baby, give me a minute, I’m trying to get everything together.”
“How was it, Lou?” Alberto asked, trying to take the boy’s attention off of his daddy so the man could get their stuff together in peace. Louis moved over to where Alberto was sat, climbing on his lap without regard for the fact that Alberto was dry and he was wet.
“The funnest day ever! Did you see all of my friends kissing me? They were so sweet!”
“I know they were, bud, I saw! Look at this picture I took; can I post it on Instagram?” The man showed Louis the picture he took of him when he first rode the dolphin, only the side of his face showing as he rode off. You could clearly see his swim diaper at the top of his bathing suit, but Louis didn’t care anymore. It was a big boy thing to worry about, and his daddies promised him that he didn’t need to be a big boy anymore because they’d take care of him. If they didn’t worry about diapers, then why should he?
“Yeah! I love that picture!” Louis said, smiling and blushing. He was happy that people wanted to post pictures of him on Instagram, it made him feel special. Alberto posted the photo with the caption: my bud with his new friends. The guard gained tons of followers after posting the picture, fans realizing for the first time that he even had an Instagram. It was a peculiar thing, the way that fans didn't care who you were, but if you knew a member of 1D you were revered.
“All right, angel, let’s get ready to go.” Harry said, towel around his waist and diaper bag thrown over his shoulder. Louis stood up, Alberto gently steadying him as he hopped off. The guard stood up right behind him, ready to go to the front of the property.
“Would you like assistance heading up front? One of our managers, Emily, is up there to assist with anything you may need.”
“I think we’re good, thanks though,” Alberto said. The little group headed off, Liam and Niall splashing around in the water. Louis wished that he was still in the water, unsure of how the time had flown by so quickly. The boy had played for almost two hours, but to him it felt like fifteen minutes, tops.
Once arrived back at the main building, they were greeted by an older woman with a kind looking face. “Hello! I’m Emily, how are you all doing today? Did you enjoy swimming with the dolphins?”
“I love them! I got to play with them and get kisses and have rides on their backs! Britt said that they would love to play with me again sometime!”
Smiling at the little, Emily said, “Britt is absolutely right! I’m sure they loved you, dear, I can’t wait to see pictures!”
“Albs, show her the picture! The cool one!” The guard pulled out his phone, chuckling. He opened it to his Instagram which had gained almost 60,000 likes by that point. It was crazy how quick the boys’ fans worked.
“You’re right, that is a very cool picture! Maybe you can be a dolphin trainer one day.”
Louis reacted in the way that any child would to being told they could become an astronaut, the president, a cowboy, or even a dolphin trainer, by smiling hugely and gasping. He was blushing red, happy that the nice woman thought he could do such a cool job.
“If my daddy and papa can come then I will!”
Laughing loudly, Harry said, “Well, we’ve got a small little tour to get through first, baby.”
Everyone laughed at that besides Louis, the boy still stuck on the idea of becoming a dolphin trainer.
“The bathroom is equipped with showers, and for you, sir, there is a comfy couch stationed right outside. There is everything you’d need to shower with including towels, so feel free to head on back!” Emily said with a smile.
Harry quickly showered both himself and Louis, the little complaining the whole time about how he wanted a bath. It was the first time that Louis had ever seen Harry naked while the man was his daddy, but he didn’t feel the slightest bit weird about it. He was a little boy and Harry was his daddy, the man had seen him naked a million times, so why would this be any different?
Louis was half asleep by the time that he was diapered and dressed in a pair of athletic shorts and a new v-neck that Caroline had bought him.
“All right, baby, let’s get you all comfy in the car,” Harry said, heading out. Alberto, Phil, and Dale were all stationed on the couch by the time that they walked out.
“Ready to head out, boys?” Dale asked, standing up and putting his backpack on his shoulders.
“Yeah, just one sec. Albs, will you carry him out? I want to go get his bottle made before we leave.”
“No problem, c’mere buddy,” Alberto said, gently grabbing the sleepy boy from Harry’s arms. The little rested his head on Alberto’s shoulder, letting out a yawn. The guard walked the boy to the gate, the security guard from up front walking over to them with wide, nervous eyes.
“A few people started showing up, they wouldn’t leave. We can wait and call the police if you’d like to have them cleared out before you go.
Sighing, Phil shook his head. “Thank you, but we’ve got it. There’s another man coming right after us, so just make sure he can get through. We’ll be in the car.”
Dale and Phil walked on either side of Alberto, making sure that no fans would run up to where he was holding Louis. Once outside the gate they saw that there were about 20 fans there, all of them being rather calm. Phil held his index finger up to his mouth indicating that the fans remain quiet for the little.
“If you stay quiet then Harry will take photos with all of you,” Phil promised. He knew that Harry wouldn’t mind and probably really wanted to meet fans anyways. Dale rushed to the other side of the car, turning it on and turning the AC up all the way. Alberto stood holding Louis, gently bouncing the sleeping boy in his arms while he waited for the car to cool down enough to put him in it. The fans cooed and took pictures, overjoyed at their luck of seeing one of their favorite people up close. Once the car was deemed of having a safe temperature, Alberto opened the door and carefully placed Louis down. He shushed the boy as he did up his straps, Louis waking up slightly. Harry was outside by this point and quickly ran around to where Louis was being strapped in, placing the teat of the juice filled bottle in Louis’ mouth. The boy started drinking quickly, Harry rubbing his thumb up and down his cheek.
“Good boy, my sweet angel. Daddy will be right back, he’s going to take some pictures. Drink your baba and go to bed, okay?” Louis nodded lethargically at the words.
Harry took pictures with all of the fans, thanking them for being so respectful around Louis.
“Does he have a p-dom yet? Will you give him my number?” Asked a very pretty girl who had to be around Harry’s age.
“I’ll give him your twitter if you’d like to write it down,” Harry said, chuckling with a tight smile. He didn’t want to be rude to the girl, but he was close to snarling at her. Louis was absolutely, positively his, and the fact that fans wanted to be his mommy and daddy made him sick.
He left after a few minutes, the girl’s twitter in hand. When he entered the car Louis was completely asleep, bottle hanging out of his hand. Harry grabbed the pacifier that was in the pocket of his diaper bag and popped it in the boy’s mouth. He grabbed his phone, logging out of his Instagram and Twitter so he could log into Louis’. The boy told him that he wanted to post pictures of himself today, effectively ending the radio silence that began when he started to stay with Harry and Nick. Sure, management had been posting tweets and promo, but it wasn’t anything Louis wanted to post. Harry told him he’d take over his social media, and that made the boy happy. Louis had always gotten yelled at by Jackie in the past for being so awful on the internet, never posting, tweeting, replying, or following people. Social media truly just confused Louis and was overwhelming for him, especially when he was scared that people would be tweeting mean things about him. Harry and Nick were both happy to help, knowing it would make it so that there was less of a chance for Louis to see hate.
Once the pictures of Louis were posted the fans went wild. They were on a Louis overload after viewing the pictures that Alberto, Niall, and Louis had posted along with those that fans took of the boy sleeping in Alberto’s arms. Harry couldn’t help but save pictures of Louis sleeping in the man’s arms, overwhelmed with how adorable he looked. Nick had been texting him about how much he loved all the pictures Harry was sending him, wishing he could be there.
Louis slept for a few hours, allowing Harry the chance to tweet some fans and answer emails. He called Nick while sitting on the balcony, smiling at his love’s voice. Nick could honestly talk about trigonometry for three hours and Harry would listen intently, just so long as he got to hear the man’s voice.
Harry stopped replying to an email at the sound of Louis’ crying, quickly making his way over to the bed to soothe him.
“It’s all right, angel, daddy’s right here,” Harry said, sitting down and rubbing the boy’s back. The second that Harry looked into Louis’ eyes he could tell that the boy had regressed quite a lot while he slept, something that had become quite normal. Sleep relaxed the boy to the point where he felt okay regressing to the infantile state his mind wanted him to.
Harry cooed at the boy, wiping the tears off of his face with his thumb. He lifted the duvet up enough to slip a finger into the side of Louis’ diaper, confirming that the boy had wet in his sleep.
“Daddy will be right back, then we’ll get you all cleaned up!” Louis simply stared at Harry, eyes curious.
The boy didn’t know how to describe the way he felt when he regressed to a very little mindset; he just wanted love, comfort, and kisses. It was his favorite place to be, knowing that he didn’t have to worry about anything at all. He remembered being a bit panicked when he first began to regress that young, afraid of what would happen. He could barely do anything by himself and it was a terrifying concept until he realized his daddy and papa would help him. So he just let it happen. He knew he could trust them.
Harry hurried back, peeling back the duvet and placing the changing pad down.
“C’mere angel,” Harry said softly, patting the plastic changing mat. Louis moved slowly, crawling over and laying himself on the mat. “Good boy,” Harry praised, Louis letting out a happy sound in reply before putting his fingers in his mouth. The daddy sighed, knowing that the little would throw a tantrum if he tried to take his fingers out and put a pacifier in. Louis loved to suck on things, and his fingers were by and large his favorite object to shove in his mouth.
Harry quickly unsnapped the boy’s onesie, untaping his diaper. He smiled at the little noises that Louis was making, a bit of saliva slowly making its way down the boy’s chin.
“Do I have a happy little boy?” Harry cooed, tickling the boy with his left hand. Louis gurgled happily at the sound of Harry’s voice, always loving how his daddy sounded.
“Dada,” Louis said, voice muffled due to the fingers in his mouth.
“That’s right, pumpkin! Dada’s right here. We’re all clean! There we go.” Harry snapped Louis’ onesie back together, looking at the clock and realizing they had about forty minutes until their dinner reservations downstairs. Harry would skip it, but it’s the last time that they would be getting together to eat out before their show tomorrow. It’d be the first time the boys, or anyone for that matter, saw Louis very regressed, but he knew it had to happen sooner or later.
“G-goo pee,” Louis struggled to say, eyes wide as he looked up at Harry.
Harry grew up having no idea how it was possible that parents understood their kids’ garbled speech, but here he was. “Does someone want to watch the guppies?”
Louis clapped, letting out a happy noise. Harry moved to put the changing supplies away and wash his hands before heading back into the bedroom to turn Louis’ favorite show on. It was one that Harry felt comfortable letting the boy watch regardless of his headspace because it was targeted for very little kids.
“All right, there we go! Showtime… Guppies are ready to roll!” Harry popped a pacifier into the boy’s mouth, piling pillows behind him so that he was able to sit up properly.
Harry got back to answering the never-ending emails that he and Louis had. It was frustrating to be emailed constantly when they were on tour, why the hell couldn’t they just come talk to him in person? He heard a knock at the door, getting up from the table to answer it.
“Hey H, I’m bored out of my mind,” Niall said, walking into the room like it was his own. Louis didn’t even spare the boy a glance, too entranced in his beloved TV show.
“Uh, what’s he watching?” Niall asked, stopping and staring at the boy.
“It’s called Bubble Guppies, it’s his favorite show in the world. Comparable to you and your Derby football thing.”
“Must be good, do ya care if I sit and watch?”
“If you heed my warning of how awful it is, then yes. He’s pretty little right now, so be gentle, please.” Niall gave Harry a smile at that, clapping him on the back before walking over to the bed.
“Hi Loulou, Harry was just telling me about your TV show! Can I sit with ya?”
Louis finally looked over at the boy, eyes curious while his pacifier bobbed between his lips. He hooked one finger in the plastic ring of the soother before taking it out of his mouth. Pointing to the television, Louis said, “My goop-pees.”
Niall couldn’t help the huge grin that spread across his face at the boy’s regressed speech. He took a seat on the bed, sliding over close to where the little was laying.
“Tell me all about your guppies, bud! They seem pretty cool!” Niall exclaimed, looking over to the boy to see a pout on his face. Louis held a finger to his lips and shushed him, a dribble of spit landing on his chin. Niall laughed quietly miming to zip his lips before wiping the bit of saliva off of Louis’ mouth with the edge of his own jumper. He was surprised at his own actions, unsure of what it was about the boy that made him want to act maturely as well as paternally. Yet… here he was, watching a show about kid mermaids.
Louis made sure to point out all of the characters to Niall, the Irish gad appreciating the boy’s effort at saying the names when he was clearly having a hard time speaking. It made him feel all warm inside, truth be told.
@NiallOfficial: Sat here with Lou watching his fav show ever, Bubble Guppies. Nvr seen it, but he loves it!
@NiallOfficial: 2 episodes in… think were gonna have ta add the theme song to our setlist, Lou sings it better than they do!
The fans were going crazy at Niall’s tweets, sending him pictures that they’d photoshopped of the boy’s with the bodies of the characters on the shows. They were nothing if not dedicated. He tweeted a picture of Louis smiling with his thumbs up at a fan who had quickly, and brilliantly, drawn him as a guppy.
“All right, are we ready for dinner, boys?” Harry asked.
Niall cheered, grabbing Louis’ arms and waving them around as if he was moving them himself which drew a big giggle out of the little.
“I take that as a yes! Let’s get some shorts on,” Harry said, walking over to Louis and pulling shorts on over his onesie. He didn’t want to go through the hassle of changing the boy into a different outfit and knew that their crew wouldn’t care what he was wearing. He was working to try and get himself out of the mindset of thinking that people actually cared what Louis was wearing or doing. He was a little; it was his biology, and that was that.
Alberto met them in the hallway, the man giving the boy who was sat on Harry’s hip a huge smile. Louis returned it shyly, nuzzling his head into his daddy’s neck. He was too cute for words.
Once downstairs in the hotel restaurant, Harry asked the manager for a highchair which she quickly brought out. Harry knew that Louis liked highchairs more than normal chairs at this point and figured it’d be best with Louis’ current state to have him placed in one.
“There we go, angel! All set. We’re going to have a yummy baba for dinner, sound good?”
Louis nodded vigorously. He loved his formula. The idea of drinking formula was scary at first, but it made his tummy feel full and tasted like cinnamon.
When the waitress came over she placed a piece of paper and crayons on Louis’ tray, gaining a big smile from the adorable little. She took the drink orders and was more than happy to take Louis’ bottle that was filled with dry formula from Harry, promising to bring it back when she brought everyone’s meals. Dinner was a quiet affair, Liam and Paddy were off picking Sophia up and Zayn was off doing whatever Zayn does. Louis concentrated on drawing, following his usual routine of not listening to the boring conversations that happened during dinner.
“Is he ready for tomorrow?” Niall asked honestly. They were sat at a table with Lou, Alberto, Dale, and Gemma who was the organizer of their fan events. She had just come on board last tour and was a sweetheart; Harry thought she was the perfect person for the job, both personable and strict. None of the boys were under the false impression that their fans were always angels, especially when it came to meeting them.
“Yeah, he is. He’s excited; a bit nervous for the meet and greet, but we’ll all be there so I’m not too worried.”
“All of the fans who’re coming paid a good 8,000 pounds to meet you lot, so I don’t think there’s much to worry about,” Gemma said. Harry shook his head in amazement at that, wondering what about him or any of the other lads was worth 8,000 pounds for a 30 second interaction.
The food came shortly after, the waitress, Alex, bringing Harry Louis’ bottle. The boy banged his fists on the plastic tray.
“Dada, babababa,” he sang, pouting at the man. Everyone sat at the table tried to stifle their giggles, Louis’ “mean” expression was too cute.
“Right here, pumpkin,” Harry cooed, handing his baby the bottle.
“Dada,” Louis said, smiling and rubbing his free hand through the man’s hair. As Harry expected, Louis was falling asleep as he finished his bottle. Harry ate quickly, wanting to be able to get the boy upstairs before he got too cranky. A tired baby in a crowded, loud place was a recipe for disaster, and Harry didn’t want to take his chances. He politely turned down Leo’s offer to take the boy upstairs. Harry’d always seen those commercials making jokes about parents who wouldn’t let their kid out of their sight and left mile long lists for their babysitters, but he never thought it’d be him… yet here he was. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Leo, but he just couldn’t trust many people with his baby, especially when he wasn’t with them. He knew he could trust Alberto with the boy’s life, knowing bitterly that the guard had been there for Louis much longer than he himself had.
Harry carefully picked Louis up when he was done eating his food, the boy sleepily sucking the last remnants of his bottle.
“Here we go, it’s bedtime for my little boy!” Harry said while waiting for the elevator, bouncing the half-awake boy on his hip.
“Wet,” Louis murmured, slightly yanking on Harry’s long hair. Louis didn’t know why he was so fascinated by his daddy’s hair, but he absolutely loved it. It was the softest hair he’d ever felt, and it always bounced back into curls! It was so fun to watch.
Stepping into the elevator, Harry assured the boy he would change him as soon as they were upstairs.
“Here we go, let’s get this yucky diaper off,” Harry said, yanking the boy’s shorts down and unbuttoning his onesie.
“Papa,” Louis said suddenly, eyes filling with tears.
“We can call papa as soon as you’re all ready for bed!” Harry promised. Once the boy was dressed in his fuzziest footie pajamas, Harry tucked him into bed and facetimed Nick. He knew the man was at work, so he would have about five minutes at best.
Nick picked up on the second ring. “Give me a min, love.” Harry heard a muffled, “And here is a little mix I made for you lovely people with this week’s top requested songs!”
“Hey love, sorry,” Nick’s smiling face filled the screen.
“No worries, sorry to call you at work. Louis’ just heading to bed and has been pretty little all night. He just wants his papa right now.”
Nick cooed, “Give him here then, I’ll talk to him.”
Harry walked the phone over to where Louis was blinking sleepily, sucking on the fingers of his right hand. He sat on the bed, holding the phone so that he knew Nick could see Louis and vice versa.
“Hi little cub!” Nick exclaimed, smiling at the way his little boy’s tired expression lit up when he saw him.
“Papa,” Louis said, gurgling around his fingers.
“How was your day, love? Did you like the dolphins?”
Louis took his fingers out of his mouth, casually wiping them on his daddy’s shirt like it was a paper towel. “Candy k-kiss,” Louis said, unable to put his thoughts into words.
Harry translated, “That’s right! His favorite dolphin’s name was Candy and she gave him lots of kisses!”
“I bet they did, it looked like so much fun!” Nick said happily, stomach feeling a bit uneasy as he thought about how much he wanted to be there with his boys. It was hard masking his emotions, but he knew that he and Harry needed to put on a façade of complete happiness for Louis’ sake.
“I want dolphin,” Louis said, tacking on a, “please” for good measure.
Nick and Harry both laughed, Nick saying, “We’ll see what we can do lovely, but I don’t think they’d like London very much!”
“Where papa?” Louis asked, wondering why the man wasn’t there.
“Back in London, baby. I’ll see you very soon!” Nick said with a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. Of course, only Harry noticed the man’s slightly upset expression, Louis having the comprehensive abilities of a toddler.
“Papa,” Louis said again, yawning and closing his eyes.
“I love you, baby. Sweet dreams,” Nick said, blowing kisses at the camera.
Louis blew a sleepy kiss, not bothering to open his eyes. Harry stuck a pacifier in the boy’s mouth before getting up and walking out to the balcony. They both knew that Louis wouldn’t fall asleep if someone was in the room with him, he was too curious about what they were doing to actually fall asleep. He talked to Nick for a bit before the mix was finishing up, promising that he’d call him tomorrow.
-----------------
Louis was panicking. A lot. They were leaving the hotel for the stadium in an hour, and he didn’t know if he could do it. He’d always been a very nervous person and performer, but this was levels above anything he’d ever felt before. He’d been relaxed all day, waking up and drinking his bottle and then getting a bubble bath. But Niall had burst into their room while he was getting dressed, dancing around the room and talking about how the 45,000 capacity stadium had been sold out and he couldn’t wait to perform. Harry noticed the way that Louis went ghostly pale, wanting to throw a shoe at Niall so he’d just leave. Thankfully he left a few minutes later, Louis’ breathing getting more and more labored.
“Daddy,” Louis whimpered, clinging to the man whose lap he was in.
“It’s okay, you’re going to be okay. I was on twitter this morning and the fans were trending We Love Louis! They can’t wait to see you; everyone is so excited to see you on stage tonight.”
“Really?” Louis asked, voice muffled from where his face was pressed into Harry’s neck.
“I promise. Tonight is going to be so fun. Daddy, Liam, Niall, and Zayn will all be there right beside you. You get to sing all of your songs, aren’t you excited?” Harry knew how proud Louis was of the songs that he and Liam had written, and if anything were to get him in an excited mindset it would be reminding him of them.
“Yeah, very excited! Just nervous, daddy.”
“Want to know a secret?” Harry continued at Louis’ nodding, “I’m nervous too, baby. I always get nervous! It’s scary to go on stage, but once you’re out there it’s all fun.”
Louis looked up at that, eyes wide. “But daddy, you’re the best singer ever! How can you get nervous?”
Harry smiled, pressing a kiss to Louis’ forehead. “Because everyone gets a bit scared sometime, love. Just know that we’ll be right there with you the whole time.”
“Okay, daddy. Will you stand next to me when we meet people?”
“Of course I will, anything you need.”
“Love you,” Louis said, pressing a kiss to Harry’s cheek, blushing a bit. He didn’t get how he was lucky enough to have such an amazing daddy.
Once inside the Allianz Stadium, the boys headed for soundcheck. There were there about 9 hours before they’d actually go on stage, Helene wanting them to have as much time as necessary to practice. This was their second time performing in the stadium, but it was still hard not to be shocked at how insane it was to think that they’d sold such a large place out. Soundcheck took about two hours, Liam stating that the thought they were good to go. He’d always been the one who was most critical, and for him to say that they sounded fantastic was always a compliment.
Harry felt a tugging on his shirt, looking down to see Louis rubbing his eyes with one hand.
“’m tired, daddy,” Louis said, a perfectly timed yawn exiting his lips.
“We can put you down for a nap in the dressing room, baby, let me find Alberto.”
It took just a few steps into the hallway of the stadium to find the man in question.
“Hey Alberto,” Harry called, the man quickly exiting his conversation and walking over to him.
“What’s up, H? How are you doing, bud?” He asked, rubbing a big hand through Louis’ hair.
“Where is the dressing room we’re going to be using? Tim said we’d have a separate one that’d have a couch in it.”
“It’s a bit farther back, I’ll take you there,” Alberto said, waving the two forward. Harry asked that he and Louis have a private dressing room so that the boy could get dressed without their crew and whoever might be around barging in. And more than that, it would allow for Louis to have a place to nap. Since the tour was so short, they weren’t having tour buses drive them around, making it difficult for the boy to have somewhere to nap.
“Thanks, do you think we could have someone sit outside of it while he naps? I’ve gotta go do some phone interviews with Liam.”
“Of course, I’ll set up a rotation.”
“Thanks, man, I appreciate it. I’ll give you the baby monitor so you can know when he’s waking up. HE should be down for two or so hours.”
Louis whined, pushing himself into Harry’s side. He was wet and tired and hot. He just wanted to lay down for a bit with Lacy.
“Almost there, bud,” Alberto consoled. He opened the door to the room, a big leather couch dominating the middle of the room. There was a dressing mirror with a big comfy chair sitting in front of it, a small kitchenette in the corner. It looked like it had been used as both a kitchen and a dressing room, something that was a standard room for the boys to use to get ready for the show. Louis breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Lacy sitting on the couch, Harry being similarly relieved, but his relief was due to the powder blue diaper bag being on the furniture.
“You can grab that chair and take it out to sit, Alberto. Let me grab the monitor and turn it on,” Harry said, walking over to the couch. He grabbed the monitor, turning it on before handing it to the guard.
“I’ll have my phone, let me know if you need anything,” Alberto said, exiting the room.
“Let’s get you changed and ready for a nice nap,” Harry said, placing the plastic changing mat on the floor.
“How do you always know when I need a change, daddy?” Louis asked, eyes filled with wonder.
“It’s a magic power that some super special daddies have!”
“Wow,” Louis breathed. Harry smiled down at the boy, tickling his now bare belly, shirt rucked up around his chest. The dom was happy to see Louis have a bit of fat forming on his tummy, a sight far different than the skeleton that Louis was when he was on his own.
“There we are, angel,” Harry said, helping the boy stand up after he quickly washed his hands and threw the diaper out. The boy was only in a shirt and his diaper, Harry knowing that he didn’t like wearing many clothes while he napped.
“Baba, please,” Louis said, laying down on the couch and wrapping the blanket his daddy brought around himself. Harry brought a bottle of water over to him, the boy quickly beginning to suck on it. Like clockwork, he was out in a few minutes, Harry making sure the baby monitor was on before pressing a kiss to the boy’s head and walking out.
Alberto was sat outside scrolling through his phone. He saluted the p-dom as he walked down the hall, Harry giving him a smile.
Louis woke up around two hours later, crying a bit. He was disoriented, waking up in random room alone. Alberto texted Harry before walking into the room, receiving a quick reply that the man was walking back now.
“Hey bud, how was your nap?” Alberto asked, walking into the room.
“Want daddy,” Louis said, hair messy and a pout present on his lips.
“He’ll be back in just a minute, buddy. Guess what we’re having for dessert?” Alberto questioned, knowing that dessert was the best way to get Louis’ mind off of his daddy.
“What? Chocolate cake?” Louis asked, hopeful.
“That’s right! Sarah made her chocolate cake… with chocolate ice cream!”
Louis let out a happy squeal, overjoyed to hear that their magical chef was starting out the tour with his favorite dessert. Harry walked into the room, the first thing he saw being his baby’s happy face.
“What’s so exciting, angel?” The man asked, walking over to sit next to Louis.
“Sarah made chocolate cake! And ice cream!”
“Your favorite! We’ll have dinner after we meet some fans. Lou’s waiting for us right now, so we’re going to head down and get ready. Say thank you to Alberto!”
Louis gave the man a wave as he exited the room.
“Let’s get you in a new diaper then we’ll head down to get dressed,” Harry said.
Lou and Caroline were waiting for them in their dressing room, big smiles on their faces as Harry carried Louis in.
“All right, put the boy down so I can fix up his hair,” Lou said, grabbing a comb. Louis had always liked getting done up by Lou, it made him feel loved and fawned over. Harry walked over to where Caroline was, looking at the few outfit choices she had put out for Louis. Knowing it was going to be fairly warm out, he picked out one of the new pairs of black jeans she had gotten him and a scoop neck maroon shirt. Louis got dressed quickly, Harry bending down to slip his feet into his vans. Caroline made sure that his shirt was pulled over his diaper, both Lou and Caroline deeming him good to go.
He was waiting patiently for Harry to finish up when a woman he’d never seen before walked into the room. His first reaction was to look up to his daddy, and he relaxed when he saw the man waving with a smile on his face. She looked down at him, quickly sitting down on the ground next to him.
She had long brown hair and very pretty green eyes. “Hi Louis, I’m Hannah! It’s nice to meet you.”
“Hi,” Louis said shyly, cheeks a light pink. It was always hard for him to meet new people, he never quite knew how to act. He’d always wished he was more like Harry, the man could charm the grouchiest person on earth in a minute.
“I just wanted to introduce myself; I work with Jackie’s company, and I’m going to be here on tour with you guys. I’m just here in case you all need anything at all regarding social media, meet and greets, or fan situations. I’ll be working a lot with Gemma who runs your fan events.”
Louis nodded his head, not replying to the woman. He didn’t really have anything to say, he knew his daddy would take care of anything that needed to be taken care of.
“We have fans ready to come in for the meet and greet in about an hour and a half, so you guys can go catch dinner before that. We have 25 people today, so it shouldn’t take that long. Any questions?”
“Will Alberto be there in case anyone isn’t nice?” Louis asked, eyes wide. He couldn’t stop fretting over the way that people would treat him. Regardless of how kind everyone he knew, besides Jesy, had been to him, he still couldn’t help but think of his mom. He knew that other people like her existed, and he hoped none of them would be meeting him.
“Alberto definitely will be there, dear. We have all 12 members of your security team ready to be in the room. Alberto can be stationed closest to you, if that makes you feel comfortable.” Louis nodded vigorously at her words. “Perfect, I’ll go talk to Phil about that right now.”
Louis felt the uneasiness in his tummy start to disappear, feeling a lot better now that he knew Alberto would be near him in case anything went wrong.
The little was overjoyed that Harry let him sit on his lap at dinner, loving when he could be that close to his daddy or papa. He grumbled a bit when Harry insisted in putting a bib on, but was silenced when he saw it was the one that made him look like he had the body of a Guppy.
Zayn and Niall couldn’t stop laughing at the mess of chocolate that decorated Louis face when he was done with dessert, not listening to Harry’s request to get a wet wipe.
“Oi, what’s so funny?” Liam said from behind them.
Louis gasped when he turned around, seeing Sophia with Liam. “Sophia!” The boy said, springing out of Harry’s lap and running over to the girl.
“Hi lovie! How are you?” She asked, hugging him even though he had chocolate all over his face. Harry grimaced as his face made contact with her shoulder.
“I’m good! Just had chocolate cake! It was so yummy.”
“I couldn’t even tell!” She said, drawing laughter out of everyone who heard. Harry chose that moment to return with a wet wipe, Louis scrunching his face up in annoyance as his daddy cleaned it.
“Almost done, don’t look so grumpy!” Harry teased, wiping all traces of chocolate off of Louis’ face.
“Boys, time to go!” Phil said loudly, all of the boys standing up to walk over to him. Louis felt his stomach clench up, nervous to talk to the fans that were in the next room.
Once in the empty hallway, Liam pulled the boys into a huddle.
“Lou, I just want to let you know that we’re all proud of you. We love you so much, and we’re here for you. If you need anything at all, just let us know. Okay?”
“Agreed,” Zayn said with a smile.
“What he said,” Niall said, pressing a kiss to Louis’ hair.
“Love you guys,” Louis said, a smile on his face.
They headed into the room where they were going to do the meet and greet, walking in front of the background that they used for it.
“All right, so we’ve got 25 people ready to meet you guys. Louis’ going to be on the far left, then Niall, then Harry, Liam, and Zayn. Sound good?” He continued at the boys’ nods. “Alberto will be standing directly off camera right next to Louis. Dale and Preston will be at the door, I’ll be by Cal where he’s taking pictures. Paddy will be at the gift table making sure everyone leaves them there. Everyone else will be around the room, just shout out if you need anything.”
The boys gave him a thumbs up, Harry planting a kiss on Louis forehead. The boy gave his daddy one final squeeze before being pulled into a conversation with Niall about some mini golf thing he wanted to do in New Jersey when they were there in a few weeks.
“Oh my gosh,” a distinctly female voice said, the boys all looking up to see the first few fans enter the room. They all took pictures one at a time, the others lining up against the wall.
A teenaged girl walked up to them, immediately walking up to Liam and hugging him tightly. She clearly had Liam as her favorite. It had gotten easy to see when fans had a favorite member as they devoted all of their time to that person. It made it easier for Louis to breathe. Cal told the girl to turn around, the boys all smiling for a picture. She went down the line hugging the rest of them quickly before she scampered off. That went well. One down, 24 to go.
The other girls were much the same, asking Louis how he was and telling him they loved him. All of them were quite well behaved, no crying or screaming, much to Louis’ relief.
“Hey, this one’s good to bring what she has with her up,” Paddy said from the present table. It had become difficult to juggle everything the fans gave them, so a presents table was needed. They usually went through what fans gifted them, taking shirts and washing them before wearing them.
The girl looked to be about 20, long brown hair flying behind her as she walked right up to Louis, hands behind her back.
“Hi Louis, I have something for you. I saw Niall’s tweet last night and just had to get this for you.” She handed Louis a football that was decorated with the Bubble Guppies in the hexagons of the ball. The boy gasped, taking it from her hands. It was the coolest thing he’d ever seen!
He handed the ball to Niall before pulling the girl into a tight hug.
“Thank you so much! That was very nice of you,” Louis said, smiling brightly at her. The girl flushed a bright red, not expecting such a reaction from the boy. His bandmates smiled at the interaction, always astonished by how authentic and polite Louis was.
“O-of course! It was nothing, I’m so happy you like it.”
“I love it so much! I can’t wait to play with it,” Louis said, already thinking about playing footie with Liam and Niall
“Make sure you post some pictures of it! Could you maybe move to the middle so I can stand with you for the picture? If the others are okay with it?”
“Of course, I don’t blame ya, I’d want to stand next to Louis too!” Niall said, making everyone laugh. Louis smiled his best smile in the girl’s picture, not knowing until later when the girl posted her picture that Niall and Harry were pretending to be playing football with his new ball.
“Thank you again!” Louis said as she walked away, giving her a final wave. Her friend stopped recording at that point, putting her phone away before she walked up.
“Hi guys!” The girl said, sounding very comfortable talking to them.
“Hiya love, how are you?” Zayn asked, returning the girl’s hug.
“I’m good, just excited to be here.” When she got to Louis she gave him a tight hug.
“I just wanted to say that I think you’re really brave, and I was asked by about a million fans on twitter to say that we all love you when I meet you. So… we all love you, and I hope you know.” She said, looking into Louis’ eyes.
Louis was rendered speechless, his mind trying to process the girl’s overly kind remarks.
Sensing that Louis was a bit overwhelmed, Harry replied. “We absolutely agree. We love our Louis too.”
“Thanks guys,” Louis said quietly, smiling.
“No problem, Louis, I’m just happy I had the chance to tell you that in person.” The girl said, looking a bit starstruck. Cal called for the girl to turn around for the picture. She hugged Louis in it, the boy turning his head to give me the camera a big smile.
“Thanks for coming, I hope you enjoy the show,” Louis said, waving goodbye to the girl shyly.
The rest of the fans were kind, and the meet and greet went off without a hitch, and before they knew it the last fan had left the room.
Once back in their dressing room, Louis let out a sigh of relief. It was hard not treating Harry like his daddy, way harder than he thought it would be. Every time a fan would talk to him he wanted to look at his daddy and see what his reaction was, but he knew he couldn’t.
Harry walked over to the couch, Louis quickly hopping onto his lap. The little pressed kisses to his daddy’s neck and face, overjoyed to finally be close to the man.
“Thank you for all the love, sweetheart,” Harry cooed, patting the boy’s diapered bum.
“Missed you, daddy. I don’t like that people don’t know that I have a daddy and papa,” Louis said quietly.
Harry spoke carefully, “If you want people to know then we can figure out a way to tell them. It’s all up to you, baby. We can talk to papa about it if you want to tell people. You have all the time in the world.”
“Okay, I don’t know yet. I just… want people to know, I think.”
Harry hummed in reply, holding Louis close to him in silence. He wanted his boy to be relaxed before they went on stage, and he knew this was the perfect way. They sat there, Harry knowing that they had only a few minutes left once McBusted stopped playing.
A knock on the door shook Harry and Louis from their reverie, effectively popping the bubble of silence that they’d been in. Alberto walked in with Dale, the men ready to take them up for show time.
“Ready to go lads? Stay close, there’s a lot of people out in the hallways,” Dale said.
“Do you need a change before we go, love?” Harry asked, nodding as Louis blushed a bit.
“We’ll be outside,” Alberto said, shutting the door behind them.
Once Louis was changed and given one final tight hug to his daddy, the two went outside to meet their bodyguards.
Louis stayed close behind Alberto in the crowded halls, random venue workers wandering around. They headed back behind the stage where their lift was, Niall and Liam already standing on it. Someone put Louis’ in-ears in before moving to put Harry’s in, Zayn running in from the back hallway, late as always.
“I’ll be on your left with Paddy the whole time, Preston and Dale will be on your right. Leo will be backstage, just let us know if you need anything, okay?” Alberto said.
“I will, thank you,” Louis said, hugging the man tightly.
“Love you bud, I’m so proud of you.” Alberto said, patting the boy’s back lightly. Preston took the liberty of snapping a picture of the moment, because why wouldn’t he?
“Five minutes,” their stage manager, Ben, said. The security quickly walked to the little opening on the stage that lead to the stadium’s floor, taking their positions. At the sight of the security, the fans on the floor started up a chant of “One Direction”, knowing that the security being out meant that the boys would be there soon.
Louis felt amped up when the intro video started, the fans’ screams igniting a fire inside of him.
Liam pulled the boys into their usual huddle.
“Let’s fuckin’ do this!” Niall screamed, Harry hitting his side at the use of the expletive. “I mean… let’s go! Sorry dad!”
The boys all laughed, Louis smiling softly.
The intro video was soon over, the platform lifting them onto the stage, the beginning music of Cloud starting to play. Soon enough the boys were on stage, the sight of thousands and thousands of screaming fans in Louis’ line of vision. Gosh, he didn’t think he could ever get used to this.
Clouds was over just like that, the fans screams never ending.
“Good evening, Sydney!” Liam yelled, the fans yelling even louder than before.
“How are we doing tonight, gorgeous people?” Niall asked.
Steal my girl began to play, Louis feeling nervous knowing that at the end of the song they’d begin to move down the catwalk. Being on the main stage was a bit comforting, there were only so many fans that were close to him. But the catwalk, that was a different story.
Niall came up to him and threw his arm around his shoulder, giving him a big smile before they headed down the catwalk. Louis realized that he probably looked like a deer in headlights, and needed to get it together. He dared to look at the fans as he walked by them, seeing smiling faces just as usual.
Shouts of his name made his stomach fill with warmth, he couldn’t help but smile and wave back, feeling at ease. Once they were on the bstage, Harry walked over to him, leaning to whisper in his ear.
The fans screamed louder than ever, not having seen them act in such a way since the Xfactor.
“There’s a sign straight in front of your mic that reads ‘Harry equals Louis’ real daddy.” Harry whisper-shouted, wanting to make sure the boy knew what it said, regardless of his difficult time with reading these days. Louis let out a peal of giggles, the audience snapping picture after picture.
Louis walked over to his mic as the beginning of Little Black Dress began to play, taking a second before looking for the sign. He recognized his name on it, the girl being sat in the front row of the bstage. He looked at her, giving her a huge smile and wave. What can he say, he was feeling a bit daring.
The show was going great, the fans were loud, the boys were on fire. It was perfect. They were on the main stage about to sing 18, one of Louis’ favorite songs when every fan in the stadium held a piece of paper up. Zayn nudged his arm, pointing to the crowd. Louis squinted, trying to get a good look at what they said. He finally was able to read them when the lights went bright for the chorus, immediately starting to cry.
Every fan in the audience was holding up a sign that read, “Louis you're our hero! We’ll love you forever.”
The little turned away from his microphone, facing the band at the back of the stage. He couldn’t help but cry, overwhelmed with the show of love that he was being showed. It was one thing to have a fan or two come up to him and tell him they supposed him, but for the entire stadium to do it? That was the kindest thing that the fans had ever done for him. He tried to slow his breathing, knowing that his solo was coming up after the second chorus. Letting the fans down was the last thing he wanted to do. He felt an arm around his shoulder, looking up to see Harry standing next to him, giving him a small smile. Zayn threw his arm around his other side, also grinning wildly. Louis ducked his head down, getting himself together before the second chorus. He looked up with a smile, singing the chorus. The fans were still holding their signs up. Louis took a deep breath before starting to sing his part. Screams were loud, fans jumping up with their signs in hand. The little couldn’t help but tear up, happy as could be.
Once the song finished, the fans started chanting Louis’ name. Coincidentally, it was time for his speech. “Hi guys,” Louis said into the mic, the crowd going wild. He looked down, blushing. “I hope you’re having a good time tonight. I just want to say thank you for all you’ve done for us over the past five years, and thank you for being so kind to me over the past couple of months. It’s safe to say you’re the best fans in the world, we love you so much!”
The boys were rushed out of the stadium the second that the show ended, Alberto grabbing Louis’ hand as he headed outside in a rush of people. Louis breathed a sigh of relief when he was strapped in his car seat, ecstatic to see Harry was already seated in the vehicle.
“Daddy!” Louis exclaimed, reaching grabby hands out to the man.
“Hi angel, I’m so proud of you! You did so well tonight,” Harry praised, scooting over to the middle seat so he could press a kiss to Louis’ lips.
“I had so much fun, I can’t wait to do it again tomorrow!” Louis had an adrenaline rush. He couldn’t believe that he was ever scared to go on stage; he felt guilty for not having faith in their fans. He now knew that he had nothing to be worried about.
The partition rolled down, Alberto sneaking his head through. “We’ll be at the airport in fifteen, then it’s about an hour flight.”
“Sounds good,” Harry said with a smile.
Once the partition was shut, Harry looked at Louis to see the boy struggling with the button on his jeans.
“What are you doing, Louis?” Harry asked.
“Don’t want these on anymore, they’re sweaty,” Louis said, letting out a huff when he couldn’t get his jeans off.
“You’ve to keep them on until we board the plane, I don’t have anything else for you to wear. You can change into comfy clothes soon, just be patient please baby.”
Louis groaned, kicking his feet against the seat in front of him that Alberto was in.
“Louis!” Harry scolded.
“Sorry, daddy,” Louis said, looking down and letting out a sad sniffle.
“It’s okay, angel. I bet you’re very tired, I know it’s past your bedtime. We’ll be on the plane very soon, just hang on a bit.”
Louis never thought that he’d be happy to be on board a plane, but here he was. He let out a sigh of relief when he was finally in the big bathroom on the front of the plane, his daddy placing him on the changing table and taking his jeans off. Once he was changed into an overnight diaper and footie pajamas, Louis was ready to go back to his seat and sleep until they’d arrived in Melbourne.
Louis was out like a light in minutes, Harry sitting beside him and sending out a text to Nick with a picture of the sleeping boy and an assurance that the show went well. Like he usually did, he went on twitter to send out a thank you tweet. He scrolled through his timeline, clicking on a tweet that had a video of Louis. It was from the meet and greet, it was taken from a side angle, Harry realizing that it was the girl in line while her friend gifted Louis the football. The boy was noticeably surprised and bashful in the video, and the fans were eating it up. Harry watched the video a good five times, loving the way that Louis reacted so genuinely. He couldn’t help but hope that every night would be as good as this one was.
@Harry_Styles: Sydney, thank you for tonight. You were wonderful. We love you.
He looked at his tweet, dissatisfied with the message. Then he tweeted again.
@Harry_Styles: We often praise you for being the best fans in the world, but now I’m here to say… you are some of the best people on earth. Such lovely people.