Chapter 20
After a two hour long pro and con discussion with an extremely jetlagged Nick, it was decided that Louis could go out to dinner and painting with the girls. Perrie had flown into Miami to spend a few days with Zayn since they had two days off before the show. Sophia and Perrie begged Harry to let them take Louis out, which turned into Louis pleading as well. It’d be the first time Louis went out with anyone who wasn’t him or Nick for more than a few minutes, and they weren’t sure how he’d react. Zayn, Liam, and Niall all suggested that Harry take a night off; they could go out to dinner themselves and Harry could stop worrying about Louis every second of the day. Harry rolled his eyes at that notion; a father never stops worrying about their baby.
“What are you going to do if you go potty, angel?” Harry asked, pulling up Louis’ jean shorts over his freshly changed diaper. He was wearing his new Mushu shirt for the first time and he couldn’t wait for everyone else to see it.
“Tell Albs, and he’ll help me,” Louis said, giggling at the tickling sensation on the bottom of his feet as his daddy put his feet in slip on shoes.
“Good boy! You’re going to have lots of fun with the girls,” Harry said, helping Louis sit up.
“Love you, daddy!” Louis said with a smile, hugging the man tightly.
“Love you more, baby.”
There was a quick knock at the door before the sound of a key card activating was heard, Alberto walking into the room. Louis’ eyes lit up at the sight of the man as he ran over to give him a hug.
Alberto chuckled, “Ready to go, buddy?”
Louis nodded quickly. The girls really wanted to go out with him, and it made him feel special. He knew they’d let him get ice cream, and he couldn’t wait! Daddy and papa didn’t let him have sweets every night because it’d hurt his tummy, so he was always excited to have some.
“Remember to-“ Harry was cut off before he could even speak.
“I know I know, call you if he needs anything. I’ll hold his hand when he crosses the street, change him if need be, help him order dinner, keep fans away. This isn’t my first rodeo. Relax. Everything will be fine, okay? Enjoy your night off,” Alberto said, clapping Harry on the back.
Harry let out a defeated sigh. He didn’t like this feeling.
“Come give daddy a big kiss,” Harry said with a smile. Louis scurried over, pressing a happy kiss on his daddy’s lips.
“I love you, daddy! Bye bye,” Louis said before walking out of the room. It made Harry’s stomach sink watching him leave. His attention was quickly diverted when Niall walked in the room saying they were ready to leave. He hoped that his mind would be taken off of Louis, but he knew that wasn’t likely.
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“I’ll have a coke, and a bottle with water for the little cutie, please!” Perrie said with a smile. They were sat at a back booth in a crowded restaurant; Louis sat between Perrie and Sophia so he was the least visible of the three. Alberto, Leo, and Phil were in the booth next to him, Harry insisting that they have a few guards there just because of Louis and Perrie. It was at the point where Sophia often needed a guard, the fans becoming far too interested in each of their love lives. It made no sense, but none of them questioned it.
“Lou, are you excited to go swimming tomorrow?” Sophia asked with a smile.
“Swimming and playing with new toys!” Louis said, making eye contact with both women.
“That’s right! I’m excited too, Louis! Do you know what you want for dinner?” Perrie said.
“Chicken and fries! Lots of fries, please,” Louis said with a smile. He would eat as much yummy stuff as he could without his daddies around. He knew it was a little naughty, but he couldn’t help but be excited about it. His daddy only ever let him have a few fries, so he’d eat lots of them tonight.
After they ordered, Louis was sat between the women coloring happily on the activity page the nice waitress gave him. His stomach got a little tight when he realized he just went pee in his diaper; he’d never had anyone outside of his daddy, papa, or nana change his diaper, but he trusted Alberto.
Perrie and Sophia noticed the boy’s squirming, so Sophia took it upon herself to ask him what was wrong. She had an inkling of what it was, and didn’t want another opportunity to be yelled at. Once Harry and Nick had seen Louis’ diaper rash after she neglected to change his diaper in the chaos of what babysitting Louis became, she knew she’d never make the same mistake again.
“Went potty,” Louis said quietly.
“Thanks for telling us, Lou! Alberto will have you as good as new by the time your food is here,” Sophia said, sliding out of the booth. Louis grabbed the hand she offered him and slid out. She walked him the short distance to the booth where the guards were sat next to them.
“You good, bud?” Alberto asked, patting the spot next to him. Louis sat down closely to the man, whispering into his ear.
“I’m wet, need a change.”
“All right, buddy, let’s hop on up and we’ll get you all changed.” Alberto said. Phil jumped out of the booth behind them, all of the guards quite aware of the legions of drunken patrons of the restaurant.
Louis grabbed Alberto’s hand once he was stood up, the guard’s large hand dwarfing his own. They had to wait outside of the bathroom while a man finished up inside, Phil deeming the stalls all empty before Alberto and Louis went in, leaving the other guard to stand outside of it.
“Bud, there’s no changing table so I’m going to lay your mat on the ground.” Louis nodded at the man’s words, running his hands up and down the dark gray tiles of the bathroom wall. Alberto grimaced at that, knowing Harry would have his head if he saw Louis do that; he’d just make sure to wash his hands once he was changed.
Louis wasn’t embarrassed to be changed by Alberto; he trusted him. And more than that, his daddy and his papa trusted him. They knew everything, so if they let him change Louis, then he knew everything would be okay.
“All right, let’s get you all buttoned up,” Alberto said, offering Louis a hand to help him stand up. The man zipped and buttoned the little’s jean shorts before sending him to wash his hands. Once the pair had their hands washed, they headed out hand in hand.
“All good?” Phil asked with a smile.
“Yeah! Time to eat,” Louis said excitedly.
Alberto and Phil both tensed as a large, stumbling man moved towards where they were walking back into the main dining area.
“Two on one? Savage, dudes, absolutely savage,” the man slurred as he stared at the trio.
“Excuse me?” Alberto asked, trying not to tighten his grip on Louis’ small hand in his angry state.
“The twink, dude. Is he yours? I’d pay a pretty penny for a piece of that,” the man continued, licking his lips as he moved a bit closer to the group.
“Lou, go back to the table with Phil,” Alberto said with a tight smile. Louis didn’t seem to even notice anything was off, happily grabbing Phil’s hand and letting the man guide him back to the table.
Sophia and Perrie both had poorly disguised looks of worry on their face, having seen the interaction with the man. Phil gave a slight shake of his head, as if to say not to mention it. It was truly a tribute to how deep in his headspace Louis had become, the fact that he didn’t even listen to what the man was saying, simply pleased to stay in his own head.
“Look, I think that’s our food, Lou!” Phil said, giving the girls a second to school their expressions as the boy turned to look over his shoulder at their waiter who was indeed carrying over their food.
“Yum!” Louis said, sliding back into the middle of the booth.
The booth next to theirs was empty, all three guards taking initiative in dragging the drunken man up to the front while they waited for the police to show up. Harassing a little was a crime similar to one of harassing a true child. They were not up to the competency levels of doms and other subs, and to degrade them and attempt to trick them into doing your bidding was a jailable offense.
Although the scene went unnoticed by Louis, it was being tweeted out by multiple people around the restaurant who’d connected the famous little they saw being led back to his booth by a hulking man and the same guard, joined by two others, dragging a large, drunken man up front. Then the flashing blue and red lights joined the party, and there was no question as to whether or not something had happened.
It was a miracle that they finished up dinner without incident, Louis being strapped back into his car seat as they headed to Sophia and Perrie’s surprise for him.
“Is it fun?” he questioned as they drove off, craning his neck as if staring outside would make it evident where they were headed.
“So much fun! You’ll love it, Lou,” Perrie promised with a dazzling smile.
Soon enough, they pulled up to a strip mall, Alberto carrying Louis inside of a colorful store.
Before Louis could confirm what he believed the place was, Perrie shouted out, “We’re painting!”
Louis smiled, releasing his hold on Alberto’s shoulder so he could clap.
“Welcome to Color Me Mine! I’m Janet,” an older woman said, shaking hands with the two subs and the bodyguards. “Will all six of you be painting?”
Before the bodyguards could opt out, Sophia stated that they would all be painting. Alberto’s quiet groan drew a giggle out of Louis.
“Paint! Paint!” Louis cheered, wriggling so that Alberto would put him down.
“That’s right! My coworker Alexis and myself will be helping you out today, so if you need anything just holler. The canvases are already set up, and Alexis is ready to help at our color station. When you know what you’d like to paint, just head over there!”
Louis was the first to go over to the color station, the little staring in awe at the sheer number of paint bottles there were.
“Lots of choices, huh? If you don’t see the colors you want, I can help you mix some!” the teenager behind the counter said.
“Do you have glitter?” Louis asked.
“Do I have glitter?” she said with a playful laugh before bending down and grabbing a huge plastic container with tubes of every color of glitter Louis could ever imagine.
Soon the group was situated once again, Louis sat in a fun rolling chair from Janet’s desk because they were concerned about him sitting on the stool. Louis was secretly happy to have the fun chair, though. The little concentrated on painting, not engaging in conversation like everyone around him. He couldn’t help but hear what was being said, though.
“I mean, I just don’t think we’re going to be the first wedding. Have you seen Nick and Harry?” Sophia said with a laugh.
“You really think they’ll be first?” Perrie asked, genuinely curious.
“Without a doubt. Then we’ll never see them again because they have so many places they want to go on their honeymoon. And they’ll never leave their bedroom, but that’s a given.”
Both women laughed at that, switching conversation topics and leaving Louis extremely curious. Oh well. He could talk to his daddy when he got home. He turned back to his canvas, continuing to paint his masterpiece. He couldn’t wait for it to be hung up at home!
“How is it going, Louis? That looks amazing!” Janet said with a smile.
Louis blushed, “Thank you. Could you please help me with the glitter, Miss. Janet?”
“Of course! What nice manners.” Janet said.
With the kind woman’s help, Louis was soon done with his painting. It was perfect. The girls were sipping on a glass of wine taking their time with painting, and Louis was barely awake at that point.
Alberto made the executive decision to head home with Louis and sending a car back for the girls and Leo who’d be staying with them at the shop. The guard gently picked Louis up, shushing him when he let out a disgruntled whimper. Phil carefully grabbed Louis’ painting, Leo promising he’d take all three of the guards’ paintings back to the hotel. They were nothing to write home about, that’s for sure.
Soon they were pulling up to the front gate of the hotel. This was why Miami was the best, he thought. The Ritz was gated, and fans couldn’t get inside without reservations. It made his life so much easier.
Zayn, Niall, Liam, and Harry weren’t back yet, not that Alberto expected them to be. It was barely 8:30. Alberto carried Louis into the room the little was sharing with Harry, quickly changing his diaper and changing him into pajamas.
Louis cracked his eyes open at the movement, whimpering a sleepy, “daddy?”
“No, bud, daddy isn’t home yet. You can go back to sleep, I’ll be right here,” Alberto said as softly as he could manage. The only reply that the man got from Louis was a soft sound in the back of his throat and the sight of his eyelids. Perfect. Turning on the TV, Alberto made himself comfortable in the living room area of the suite. It wasn’t until almost four hours later that the door opened, Alberto immediately standing up from where he was lounging.
Harry quickly walked in, eyes wide as he moved towards Alberto.
“How was he? Niall took my bloody phone, I couldn’t even call,” Harry whispered, looking far too stressed for a man who was supposed to be having a fun night out.
“H, he’s fine. Relax! We had a great night… besides a little mishap at the restaurant. There was a dick there making comments to Louis, but he didn’t even notice anything was wrong. The man is going to be locked up for verbal assault of a little, serves him right.”
Any verbal or physical assault on a little warranted at least three months of jail time; to try and take advantage of or hurt someone who couldn’t defend themselves was blasphemous. The man would face no mercy in court, especially since there were doms around for the incident.
“My poor baby, God. I can’t wait for this tour to be over, I never want to let him out of the house,” Harry said, voice cracking with emotion. Alberto placed a soothing hand on his back, patting the man in understanding.
“Just a few more shows, then we’re done,” Alberto said with a smile. He was ready to be done, too. Spending this much time with Louis cemented in his mind that he was ready to try and find a sub. The band going on hiatus gave him the perfect opportunity to start looking, too. He had more than enough money to start a family at this point, so what was stopping him? Although he’d never voice it, Louis’ warming up to him quicker than anyone else, including his daddies, gave him the confidence to know he could be a good dom. He was ready to find love after all of these years.
“Thanks, man. And thank you for watching Lou for me. Have a good night,” Harry said with a smile as he shut the door behind the man. Harry let out a sigh as he looked at Louis, sleeping and curled up in the big bed, pacifier bobbing between his lips. He couldn’t believe that this sweet, beautiful boy was his baby. How did he get so lucky? Once he was ready for bed he cautiously climbed under the covers, not wanting to wake Louis up. He couldn’t help but press a kiss to Louis’ forehead before snuggling up behind him and drifting off to sleep.
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“What are the rules, baby?” Harry asked as he rubbed sunscreen into Louis’ baby soft skin.
“Stay with daddy,” Louis said, rolling up onto the balls of his feet excitedly. It was time to go to the beach! Niall showed up to their room that morning with a huge bucket of beach toys for Louis, whispering his apologies to Harry about taking his phone last night. Harry considered them even after seeing how much Niall had bought, and seeing how Louis’ face lit up.
“And the most important rule?” Harry questioned as he check Louis’ skin out to make sure that sunscreen was evenly applied from his nose down to his toes.
“Tell daddy if I go potty?” Louis questioned, unsure of what the correct answer was. He was getting impatient; he just wanted to swim!
“That, and have fun!” Harry said excitedly, bending down to press kisses into Louis’ hair, conscientious of the sunscreen that was soaking into the boy’s skin.
“Silly daddy,” Louis giggled, “we go now?”
“Yeah, baby, we can head down now.”
Louis skipped ahead into the hallway, Harry hearing Alberto’s gruff voice echo through the area before he could yell to Louis not to go on without him. The dom tried to juggle Louis’ diaper bag, the large bucket of swim toys, and the special soft beach towel he had for Louis. He looked up at the sound of a chuckle, seeing Dale standing there shaking his head and taking a photo.
“Glad this is amusing to someone,” Harry mumbled. Dale let out a louder laugh, moving to grab the plastic menagerie of toys.
They headed out to the hallway, Louis standing with Alberto, Liam, Paddy, Phil, Leo, and Niall, everyone dressed in their swim wear.
“-yeah, they’re unicorn whales! They swim in the ocean, but they have a unicorn horn!” Niall exclaimed, everyone besides Louis, who was wide eyed and hanging on his every word, rolling their eyes and shaking their heads.
“Here? Where I swim?” Louis asked, awe evident in his voice.
Niall nodded quickly, “Yep! Right here, we’ll probably see them today! I saw it on TV, they swim in the ocean.”
“All here? Let’s head out,” Phil said once everyone was accounted for.
Niall and Louis continued to talk about the possibility of swimming with narwhals, Niall now giving the little advice on how to act if one swam up to him.
“Is someone going to tell him that narwhals swim in arctic waters? He’s getting my baby’s hopes up, and his own I think,” Harry said to Liam with a frown.
“It’s pretty clear he didn’t pay any attention to whatever documentary he was watching,” Liam said with a laugh.
The beach was right behind the hotel, the group simply having to head outside and head down a short sand beach before they got to the ocean. Despite the sun being high in the sky and the fact that it was almost noon, the beach was nearly empty. It made the guards’ jobs a lot easier. Even though it was a private hotel beach, there was no guessing what the clientele of the day would be. Unfortunately, anyone could gather a few hundred dollars to stay at the same hotel as the group for a night. They’d realized that on too many separate occasions over the years.
“Swim, daddy?” Louis said as he walked over to the man, grabbing his hand.
“Of course, baby. Let’s get everything all settled down first,” Harry said with a smile. He looked down at Louis, smitten with the pair of Bubble Guppies swim shorts he was wearing, swim diaper peeking out of the bathing suit’s elastic waistband. He was the cutest little thing in the world, Harry couldn’t say it or think it enough.
There was an area curtained off for the group, a few large umbrellas set up with beach chairs and tables. The guards, Niall, and Liam joined an already sunbathing Sophia and Perrie under there.
“Daddy, swim?” Louis asked again as the man put down Louis’ bags and towel under the shaded area.
“One second, angel, be patient,” Harry said, leaning to grab Louis’ floatie device from where it was tucked in with the beach toys. “Let’s get this on you, then we can go out into the water!”
Thankfully, the waves at the beach were minimal, so Harry had no fear in taking Louis out into the water. Louis was a little nervous going out into the water, but he knew that his daddy would keep him safe. He gripped his daddy’s hand once he was all suited up, and headed towards where the waves met the shoreline.
“All good, little duck?” Harry asked, looking down at Louis. The little boy nodded, letting out a squeal as the water rushed up and over his feet.
“Waves!” Louis exclaimed as a small wave crashed down over their feet.
“That’s right! Do you want to go a little farther or stay right here?” Harry asked, wanting to take it as slowly as Louis needed. He knew that the boy didn’t have a lot of confidence in the water, so he’d take it at Louis’ pace.
“More water,” Louis said before squeezing a tighter grip on Harry’s hand. The pair moved a few feet further in until the water was up to Louis’ knees, the boy telling Harry that they were far enough in. Just like Harry had watched little ones do at the beach for years, every time a wave would come Louis would squeal and run back to the shore, never letting go of his tight grip on Harry’s hand. They continued playing like that for a while before Louis said he wanted a drink.
Thankfully, a waitress was waiting under their umbrella taking orders from the rest of the group when they got back. Harry handed the woman a bottle and asked for juice for Louis and a beer for himself. He’d had a long conversation with Nick about it, and realized that he couldn’t let who he was pre-Louis go completely. He could have a drink every once in a while; it wouldn’t inhibit himself or his abilities as a dad. He’d be fine. Maybe he wasn’t ready to go out for benders just yet, or ever, but baby steps were just fine.
“Play?” Louis asked from where he was wrapped up in his blanket on the chair, bright blue eyes piercing Harry’s gaze.
“Let’s have some juice first, then we can go play, love.”
“Lou! I have your painting in my room, I’m not sure how we got it,” Sophia said from where her and Perrie were laying on towels in the sun. Louis never understood how people could just lay in the sun all day. Didn’t they get bored? Louis was never too good at doing something for a really long time, especially something that made him really hot and sweaty.
“Is it pretty?” Louis asked, hoping the answer would be yes. He didn’t quite understand that the answer would never be anything but yes; no one could dare break his little heart.
“Of course! It’s perfect and so so glittery,” Perrie chimed in, lifting her head from the towel.
Talking to the girls sparked something in Louis’ mind.
“Daddy?” Louis asked.
Harry turned from where he was talking to Niall. “What’s up, love?”
“Are you and papa getting married?”
Niall let out a bark of laughter as Harry sputtered. “We are, but not quite yet. Why?” The topic of marriage had never come up, and Harry wasn’t quite sure what brought this on.
“Sophia and Perrie said you and papa won’t leave your bed after you get married. Can I stay in bed with you and papa? Love cuddles,” Louis said, eyes wide and as innocent as ever.
There was poorly hidden laughter heard around the table from the guards, Niall, and Liam, the girls hiding their faces in their towels. They had not meant for Louis to hear their conversation.
Harry was going to kill them. He didn’t want his baby exposed to the not so innocent aspects of the world, but he couldn’t quite help it when it was other people doing it. All he could do was damage control at this point.
“Baby, papa and I love cuddling with you! C’mere and give me some love,” Harry said in his special voice that he reserved for Louis, opening his arms up for the boy. Louis let out a happy sound, caring more about snuggling with his daddy than getting an answer for the question. Crisis averted. Louis hopped up into Harry’s lap, making himself comfortable and wrapping his towel around him like a blanket. The woman was soon back with drinks, Harry talking to the others while Louis sucked on his bottle, head pressed to his daddy’s shoulder.
“Daddy, I wanna play with sand,” Louis said, starting to wriggle in the man’s lap.
“All right, baby, let’s get your toys,” Harry said as Louis hopped out of his lap. Harry moved his chair out to where Niall’s was, resting closer to the shore so that he could watch Louis play. The little boy set up shop on an open expanse of beach and began to make a drippy castle of wet sand. There was a small smile on his face that didn’t leave, and it melted Harry’s heart to see him so happy.
“You’re so whipped, mate,” Niall said, laughing.
“Just wait until you have a kid, then you’ll stop laughing,” Harry retorted jokingly.
“Hopefully that won’t be for a while, need to get myself a lady first.”
“It’ll happen when it happens, I’m not too worried about your love life,” Harry said.
“Neither am I, can’t be worried when I’m living a life like this, can I? Incoming,” Niall said, jerking his head towards Louis. A pretty girl who looked around their age was headed towards where Louis was playing, her own bucket in hand. Her bathing suit was bright pink and one piece, decorated with a picture of Anna from Frozen on the front.
“Hi lads, hope you don’t mind if my little girl plays with your friend? I’m John,” a man who had come up to Niall’s left said, extending a hand. He was just as attractive as the girl he was speaking of, his smile easy and bright.
“Of course not, I’m sure he’ll be happy to have a friend. I’m Harry, this is Niall,” he extended his hand for a handshake, looking over to see Louis staring at him with wide eyes. Harry stood up, walking over to the pair and bending down a bit.
“Hey love, you’re okay. What’s your friend’s name?” Harry asked lightly, wanting this to be a positive reaction. Louis had never spent time with a little before, and Harry knew how anxious the boy was most of the time. He wanted him to be able to make friends, so he’d show Louis that it was okay to meet new people.
“I’m Julianne, but daddy and my friends call me Joey,” the girl said with a smile. She seemed to be a bit older than Louis in her headspace, around four or five.
"Hi Joey, it's so nice to meet you. This is Louis; Lou, will you say hi? It looks like Joey has some fun beach toys. You guys can play together and share your toys, hm?"
Louis took a deep breath, scrunching his eyes closed before looking up at Harry who was staring at him with an encouraging smile. The little nodded his head.
"Let's play! I have a cool thing that makes tall, pointy castles with sand!" Joey said with a smile, quickly taking the reins. Harry was pleased that the girl seemed to understand that Louis was quite a bit littler than her and shy.
"Okay," Louis said quietly, eyes curious as he looked to see what she was talking about. The little was quickly entranced in the girl's chatter, and didn't even notice when Harry went back to sit with John and Niall.
"Looks like Louis has his first friend," Niall said with a happy grin.
"She seems to be great with him," Harry mused as he watched the pair play.
"She's the best, I'm telling you. Back in London she's in a playgroup and she gets all of the little ones out of their shells," John said fondly. It was clear that he cared about the girl quite deeply.
"London, eh? We might have to hop in on that playgroup when we're back. My boyfriend's worried that Lou won't be able to make many friends because of his job," Harry shared.
"We'd be more than happy to have you. It's a private group, lots of confidentiality agreements to go around. I can't tell you who's in it because of that, but some big name people you'd know, I'm sure."
"That makes me feel a bit better. It's been stressful trying to figure out how he's going to make friends, especially when he's this shy."
"From experience, I'd have to say that littles don't quite care what his job is as long as he wants to play and brings cool toys. That's all they care about, it's like how we were in nursery school, but a permanent mindset."
"That's a great way to put it, man. Not sure if this is taboo, but are you two married?" Niall asked. Harry took in a concerned breath, unsure of whether or not the man would take offense to such a personal question. John seemed pretty easy going, though, so he figured he wouldn't care.
"Not taboo, as you will learn I'm a pretty open guy. Nothing to hide here," the man chuckled, "but yes, we are married. Joey is in a headspace about half of the time, the other half she's just my wife. It's a bit hard to explain, but every one is different in their headspace and their classification. It all depends on them."
"Wait, so why is Louis so little then? And little all of the time?" Niall asked, brow furrowed.
John answered, "Well, like I said, everyone's different. Some littles have a headspace that overtakes their rational adult mind. They never really grow out of being little, and they simply continue to exist as they were when they were younger. And many times, being in a safe, comfortable space allows them to emerge fully into their headspace. It all just depends on them. Joey and I met in uni; didn't even know she was a little at first, honestly. But once she was comfortable around me she went into her headspace one night. She just isn't always in it. And that's just how she is. Our education system never really does teach us that everyone is different, does it?"
Harry and Niall were both a bit in awe of how well spoken and knowledgable the man was.
"Man, you should like... be a teacher or something," Niall said.
"Actually, I wanted to be a teacher, but knew it wouldn't make enough to live the life I wanted to. By some stroke of luck, I inherited a bloody fortune from my late uncle and never have to work a day in my life. I'm working as a classification counselor in London, working with some pretty powerful people. It's a good life, I'd have to say."
"I'll say! I'm glad we met you, you've given me some ease of mind about a lot of things," Harry said truthfully.
“Any time, man! That’s what friends are for, right?” John said easily.
Harry couldn’t help but smile at watching Louis interact with the other little; he seemed so happy to have a friend to play with.
“Do you mind if I send a picture to my boyfriend?” Harry asked, not wanting to take a picture of the little without asking first.
“Of course not, snap away,” John said with a sweeping hand motion. Harry smiled as he took a picture of the two bent over a huge sand castle. The three talked about London for quite a while, John and Niall bonding over their love of football. About a half an hour later they were interrupted by Louis’ loud cries, Harry letting out a sigh. He was hoping the boy would laugh when the tide came in and knocked over their castle, but… looked like that wasn’t going to happen.
Harry got up and walked over to where Louis was crying over his broken castle, Joey sitting there trying to calm him.
“Oh, angel, it’s okay! Your castle was so cool,” Harry cooed, leaning down to pick Louis up and place him on his hip.
“G-gone,” Louis sobbed out, rubbing his wet sand covered hands all over Harry’s back.
“It’s all right, love. We’re gonna go wash up and nap, my little boy is so tired, hm?” Harry soothed, bouncing Louis up and down as he and Joey walked towards Niall and John. Harry couldn’t help but smile when Louis nodded his head in agreement against his neck.
“Naptime?” John asked softly.
“Yeah, we’re off to bed. Grab my number from Niall and shoot me a text. We’ll be back in London for a show in two weeks or so, I’d love for you guys to come. Can you say bye to Joey, love?”
Louis looked up, eyes red and tears still falling down his face from his sadness over his work of art.
“Bye bye Joey. Thanks for being my friend,” Louis said, voice small.
“I love you, Louis! You’re the best friend ever!” Joey said, throwing her arms around Harry and squeezing the two of them. Her long, dark brown hair was blowing in the wind, her freckles prominent on her light skin. She had a genuine smile plastered on, light brown eyes scrunched up as she smiled and waved goodbye.
“Goodbye guys, it was great meeting you! We’ll see you soon,” Harry said with another wave, walking back to grab Louis’ diaper bag from under the umbrella. Alberto was already standing up and grabbing the bag. What would they do without him?
“I could use a nap right about now, man. The sun takes it out of me,” Alberto said as they walked back into the hotel, Harry deciding to clean off the sand once they were in their room instead of dealing with the cold outdoor shower the hotel offered.
“Lou, babe, you gotta stay awake until we take a bath and get all clean,” Harry said, slightly jostling the boy in his arms so he wouldn’t fall asleep. Louis let out a disgruntled sound at that, wanting to go to bed.
Louis was tired, but he couldn’t help but think about the events that’d transpired that morning. He made his first friend by himself… basically the first friend he’d ever made in his entire life. The boys didn’t count because they were forced to be his friends since they were in the same band. But Joey? She wanted to be his friend. She was fun and didn’t mind that he was a bit shy. He really liked her. Her stories about Disney were so cool! She’d met all the princesses; Louis was jealous, but he hoped his daddies would take him soon. He’d have to work up the courage to ask them, which was something he wasn’t very good at. But he had a friend now. He was so happy.
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The next morning, Louis woke up early. Really really early. Still dark out early. He wanted to groan when he saw his daddy was still asleep, but he knew he was probably tired so he’d let him sleep. His daddy would thank him for that; his papa always told him to let daddy sleep, so that’s what he’d do. Speaking of his papa… he missed him. He got up out of bed and took his daddy’s phone, opening it so he could find his papa’s name. There were three numbers under “Nick”, so Louis picked a random one and pressed the little call after lying down on the couch.
“Speak of the devil, my beautiful listeners. Harry, what do you have to say about being on the Late Late Show tonight? Excited?” Nick asked in a voice that Louis only heard him use on the radio.
“Papa, it’s me! I woke up and didn’t wake daddy up, just like you said to do,” Louis said, extremely proud of himself.
Nick let out a small, shocked laugh. “Hi baby, how’d you find this number? This is the number for papa’s work!”
“I clicked a number on daddy’s phone! Can all of the people hear me?” Louis asked, curiously. He’d only been on Nick’s show a few times, Harry always choosing to do the Breakfast Show interview slot for obvious reasons.
“All of England can hear you, baby. Will you tell them hi? How about telling them what you did yesterday in Miami?” Nick knew that asking Louis questions about the band was a silly idea, and that people would much rather hear about what the boy did for fun.
“Hi England! I played at the beach with my new friend Joey. Then I watched Frozen with daddy. I miss you, papa! Daddy said we see you soon,” Louis said, going from sad to excited in an instant.
“That sounds like so much fun, love. I’ll see you very soon, and all of our listeners can watch you tonight on the Late Late Show with the UK’s very own, James Corden.”
“Angel, who are you talking to?” Harry asked groggily as he walked into the room. Louis was laying on the couch with his phone in hand, further confusing Harry.
“I’m talkin’ to papa and all of England!” Louis said, excitement lighting up his eyes.
Harry let out a laugh at that, sure that all of the people on the way to work wanted to hear Nick’s conversation with their little boy.
“Can I see the phone? Thanks, baby. Hi Nick, hi Breakfast Show listeners. Make sure you tune into the Late Late Show tonight, it’ll be a good time,” Harry said jokingly.
“What he said! And that’s all for today’s segment of the Grimshaw family phone conversations, tune in next week for more,” Nick said as he hung up the phone, a smile on his face.
“What am I going to do with you, my goofy little boy?” Harry asked, pressing kisses all over Louis’ face. Louis shrugged his shoulders as he laughed loudly.
------------
Harry felt like he was walking on the sunshine. One show left. They performed at the Rose Bowl in Los Angeles that night. But before that, they had to get through their first television appearance with Louis’ classification being a household fact. One more jam packed day and he’d be back with Nick. That’s it.
“Loulou, angel. You’ve got to wake up,” Harry said as he gently rubbed the boy’s back. He’d put him down for a nap a little under two hours ago, and now it was time to leave for the Late Late Show. James had texted Harry and promised that Louis would love what they were doing on the show. That made him extremely nervous; James was well known for his eccentric ideas. He just hoped that Louis wouldn’t be doing anything too crazy.
They were at the studio a while after, James meeting the band with open arms.
“Boys!” James exclaimed in a happy voice, “LOUIS! Love, how are you?”
The man ran over to Louis, picking him up around the waist and spinning him around in a circle. Louis giggled loudly, curling into the man’s hug easily once he put him down.
“Oi, James, playing favorites?” Niall said, drawing a laugh out of the group.
“How could any of you even compare to this lovely boy?” James asked incredulously.
“We don’t, mate,” Zayn said with a small smile. He loved watching Louis get more comfortable with attention. Their shyness was something that they’d bonded over initially, and to see both himself and Louis come out of his shell more made him so happy.
“Who’s ready to start taping? We’re going to do our interview first, then our fun little surprise,” James said.
“Surprise? That’s never good coming from you,” Liam muttered, drawing nods from Niall and Zayn.
Once they were changed and sat on the couch in the studio, James asked if they were ready to begin, focusing on Louis’ reaction. Louis was told he wouldn’t have to answer questions unless he wanted to; James would look for his reactions and gauge whether or not to ask him things off of that. They all trusted that he would do his job, and do it well.
“Hello and welcome to the Late Late Show everyone. Tonight is a jam packed night! If you’re looking for drama, we’ve got it! If you’re looking for comedy, we’ve got it! If you’re looking for the cutest, most wonderful boy on earth, Louis Tomlinson is right here!” James started with, the audience going wild at his last remark. Louis blushed, digging his smiling face into Harry’s side, prompting the man to press a kiss to his head.
“Happy to be here, James,” Niall said with a smile, waving to the audience.
“All right, where to begin. Tour. You’re finishing up your US tour tonight, right boys? How has it been?”
“It’s been great, the crowds are always loud, I think it’s hard for us to wrap our heads around still,” Liam answered, giving his usual reply to that question.
“And you’re off to the homeland next?”
“Off to Europe, then a show in me homeland, Ireland, and then our last show’s in London,” Niall said with a smile, getting screams from the crowd when he mentioned Ireland. For whatever reason, the fans loved Niall’s hometown pride, so they just rolled with it.
Louis sat up as they talked more, still leaning into his daddy’s side, but feeling comfortable enough not to hide.
“And you’ve still got your gorgeous subs, right boys? Niall, still alone?” James joked, drawing a laugh from the boys and the crowd.
“True and true, livin’ the single life as always,” Niall said with a happy smile.
James took a quick over to Harry, getting a quick nod from him before asking his next question.
“And Harry, I can’t say I’m surprised that you and Nick are still together. Right soulmates, you are. But I was a bit shocked when you added a lovely little addition to your family?”
“That’s right,” Harry started, pride evident in his voice. “Louis has joined our little family and made us whole.”
The audience awed at Harry’s words and the way that Louis blushed and hid his face in Harry’s shoulder.
James softened his voice before speaking again, “How’s that going, Louis? Are they treating you well? Buying you everything you want?”
Louis took a little breath in before speaking, shifting even closer to his daddy and tangling their fingers together. He nodded, “They’re the best daddies in the world! They bought me cool guppies shoes, do you wanna see?” He was wearing his light up Bubble Guppies tennis shoes as always.
“Of course I want to see! We all do!” James said enthusiastically, the audience yelling in accordance with his words. Louis stood up and stomped his feet a bit, Harry feeling like he was going to die from a cuteness overload.
“I told Lou I’m gonna steal those shoes from him, I want a pair!” Niall said as they watched the mermaid children move in the clear water around the edge of the shoes, lights blinking every time he jumped up and down. He sat down after making them light up a few times.
“Surely you have the best daddies ever if they buy you shoes as cool as those! And Harry, how is fatherhood suiting you?” James asked.
“I could love nothing more, James. I’m sure you know how I feel. I have the best little boy and best boyfriend in the world, life couldn’t get better.”
“That’s so sweet, you’re melting my heart, Harry!” James said, pretending to faint and making Louis giggle. “Have you boys babysat yet?”
“Nah, but the girls have. Harry trusts ‘em a bit more than us,” Liam said sheepishly.
“Rightfully so, I’m sure. Louis, question for you, sir: does your daddy read you books at night?”
Louis nodded, “Sometimes. Lots of times I’m sleepy and just have my baba before bed.”
Everyone awed at his answer and the way that he answered the question so seriously.
“Well, our first task of the day is having your daddy and bandmates read us a storybook. We want to test out how good their story reading abilities are. It’ll help make it easier for you to decide who you want to babysit!”
“It’ll clearly be me,” Niall said, cracking his knuckles as if he was about to fight someone.
“We’ll be the judges of that. Louis, c’mere love, you’re gonna sit on Uncle James’ lap,” James said, patting his lap. Louis giggled with the rest of the audience, not allowing himself to feel nervous as he went to sit on the man’s lap. The fans thought it was a good idea, so he’d do it. He carefully sat on James’ lap, perched on his legs.
“All right, so the book we’re going to read is a classic tale: The Three Little Kittens. Zayn, are you ready to start?”
Zayn let out a sigh; sometimes he couldn’t remember why he did this. Then he looked up to see his bandmates’ faces and remembered. “Yep, ready to go. All right. Three little kittens,
They lost their mittens,
And they began to cry,
"Oh, mother dear,
We sadly fear
Our mittens we have lost."
"What! Lost your mittens,
You naughty kittens!
Then you shall have no pie."
"Mee-ow, mee-ow, mee-ow, mee-ow.
We shall have no pie!"”
“Wait, wait!” James shouted, “Louis, you missed your part!”
“You didn’t tell me!” Louis said, nose scrunched up adorably.
“Oops! Well, whenever the kittens meow, that’s your job! And my job. We’re going to be the little kittens, we’ll pretend we have a third friend with us.”
“We have a friend! My friend. Alberto can be a kitten,” Louis said with a bright smile. Liam, Zayn, Niall, and Harry let out loud cackles at that.
“Come on, Alberto, you’ve been summoned,” Harry yelled out to the backstage area. A good natured Alberto headed out to the loud screams of fans.
“Oh, perfect! You’ve just the little kitten look we were going for here,” James said.
“Thanks, I’ve been working on it for a while,” Alberto muttered.
“You know what you’re to do?” James questioned. Alberto nodded. “All right, start this thing over, Zayn!”
“Three little kittens,
They lost their mittens,
And they began to cry,
"Oh, mother dear,
We sadly fear
Our mittens we have lost."
"What! Lost your mittens,
You naughty kittens!
Then you shall have no pie."
"Mee-ow, mee-ow, mee-ow, mee-ow.
We shall have no pie!"”
When Zayn read the meowing part, the three began to meow loudly, Alberto unable to not play the part when Louis was looking at him with bright, happy eyes. He never wanted the boy to lose his spark again.
Zayn passed the book to Liam. “Three little kittens,
They found their mittens,
And they began to cry,
"Oh, mother dear,
See here, see here,
Our mittens we have found."
"What! Found your mittens,
You darling kittens!
Then you shall have some pie."
"Mee-ow, mee-ow, mee-ow, mee-ow.
We shall have some pie"”
Niall read next, “Three little kittens,
Put on their mittens,
And soon ate up the pie;
"Oh, mother dear,
We greatly fear
Our mittens we have soiled."
"What! Soiled your mittens,
You naughty kittens!"
They began to sigh,
"Mee-ow, mee-ow, mee-ow, mee-ow."
Our mittens we have soiled."”
Louis was giggling wildly at the way that Niall read, the gad exaggerating every word that came out of his mouth.
Harry took a deep breath before he began to read, knowing it was crunch time. “Three little kittens,
They washed their mittens,
And hung them out to dry;
"Oh mother dear,
Look here, look here,
Our mittens we have washed."
"What! Washed your mittens,
You're such good kittens.
I smell a rat close by!"
"Mee-ow, mee-ow, mee-ow, mee-ow."
We smell a rat close by!"”
Louis clapped loudly as his daddy finished reading, jumping off James’ lap to sit on his daddy’s back on the couch.
“Daddy wins!” Louis exclaimed, unable to be shy when he was so proud of his daddy. He really did have the best daddy in the world, he couldn’t believe it.
“Speaking of winning, we’re onto our next event. So, we all know the Olympics are taking place in Brazil this summer, right?” A chorus of assent was heard through the audience. “Well, we’re going to have ourselves a little 1D Olympics.”
A short while later, the group was at a training facility. Louis was dressed in a black and white striped referee shirt with a whistle around his neck, the same as James.
“On your mark, get set, go!” James yelled into a megaphone, and the boys were off through the track course that James had made. The first was a section of hurdles, and then they came to a large, blow up waterslide that they had to climb and go down before reaching a rope that they had to climb before ringing a bell. They were definitely getting their workout in for the day.
Liam was off the quickest, having been a runner in school. Harry was right on his tail, being the workout fanatic that he was. Zayn was moving at his own pace, just as he usually did. Niall was going surprisingly quickly, running at a speeder faster than anyone thought him capable of. Until his leg got caught on a hurdle and he went down into the track face first.
Louis was shrieking with laughter, the little and James fell on the floor with how hard they were laughing, cameras panning in tightly on their faces.
“I’m all right, thanks for asking!” Niall yelled from where he was on the ground.
Liam won the first event, and Harry won the second silly swim stroke contest. They were locked in a dead tie, and the last event was speed skating. They were at an ice rink, Harry making sure Louis was bundled up in a coat from where he was standing outside of the rink.
“Well, this is it. This is the last chance for you to win glory for your country. Are you ready, Liam?” James asked.
“LET’S DO THIS!” Liam shouted, clapping and moving back and forth on his ice skates.
“Are you ready, Harry?”
“I can only hope so. Eternal glory’s at stake here, James,” Harry said solemnly.
“Do the honors, my trusted assistant,” James said, handing over the megaphone to Louis.
“Ready, set, go go go!” Louis shouted into the microphone. The goal of the race was to go around the rink two times, and the first person to kiss Niall on the cheek was a winner. Liam was off like a flash, clearly very at home on ice skates. No one understood how, as they’d never seen him skate before. Harry caught up quickly, though, and it looked like he was going to win until he toppled to the ground, legs getting tangled together.
Louis immediately burst into tears when he saw Harry fall to the ground, James immediately yelling for the cameras to stop shooting. A team of medics rushed out to where Harry was to make sure he was okay.
“Lou, come here, bud,” Alberto said soothingly, bending down to pick the sobbing little up.
“D-daddy,” Louis sobbed, terrified for his daddy’s safety.
“I know, Lou. Let’s call papa and see what he’s up to!” Alberto said, trying to distract the boy. He didn’t know if Harry was bleeding, and wanted to keep Louis away from that as to not further traumatize him. Alberto dialed up Nick on FaceTime, the man picking up on the second ring.
“Hel- baby, what’s wrong?” Nick asked as soon as he saw his baby’s crying.
“Daddy fell,” Louis choked out.
Alberto cut in, “They were filming a scene for the Late Late Show and Harry fell ice skating. He’s with some doctors right now.”
Nick took a deep breath before answering. Freaking out would do nothing but make Louis even more scared. “Oh, angel, daddy’s okay! The nice doctors are just double-checking that he’s okay. Are you having a good day?”
Before Louis could answer, a very alive and uninjured Harry was walking over to them. “Baby, daddy’s okay, look! All good.”
Louis let out a relieved sob, wrapping his arms around the man from where he was sat in Alberto’s lap.
“I told you, baby,” Nick said, breathing his own sigh of relief.
“Hey babe, we’re all good over here. Love you so much,” Harry said, blowing the man a kiss.
“We ready to film Harry waving his white flag?” James said half-jokingly.
“Definitely; Liam can win this one, I’d rather have both of my legs than eternal glory,” Harry said seriously.”
------------
It wasn’t until they were on the flight to Milan later that night that Harry took time to truly think about the American tour. The tour was much the same as always; full stadiums, screaming fans that knew every word to their songs. It was his life that had changed. His heart was full. He had the baby that he had always wanted, the most perfect little boy in the entire world. And Louis was happy, he was genuinely happy. And they’d be home soon, no longer having to worry about the pressures of a tour schedule, only relaxation in their house with Nick. It was everything he could have ever asked for in life.