"Daddy?"

Louis swears when he became a dad, he was programmed to wake up to his children's voices.  He sits up immediately, rubbing his eyes and waiting for his eyes to adjust so he can see which one it is. It's Angelina, standing over him and sniffling.

"Hey, baby, what's the matter?" He asks, a sleepy rasp in his voice as he picks up his phone and checks the time. 5:07. Wonderful.

"I got sick," Angelina hiccups. When Louis leans over and turns on his bedside lamp, he sees it all over her pyjamas, and sits up straighter.

"Oh," He swings his legs over the side of the bed, looking back and making sure Frankie is still sleeping in her cot across the room. Angelina sniffles again, looking up at him through the teary eyes of her mother, and he softens. "Hey, it's okay. Let's get you cleaned up."

"Are my jammies ruined?" Angelina weeps, wiping her own eyes. Louis gives her a soft, sympathetic smile as he stands up and kisses the top of her head.

"Nah, a good wash and they'll be alright," He assures, his hand on her back as he leads her out of the bedroom and to the washroom. He flicks the light on, getting a glimpse of his bedhead in the mirror.

"Your hair looks silly," Angelina giggles through her tears, nose running as she wipes her eyes. Louis grins, squatting down and grabbing some toilet paper off the roll so he can wipe her nose.

"Y'think so?" Louis asks, starting to get her out of her pyjamas. "I was–arms up, Bug–thinking of wearing it like this when I drop you off at school."

"I'll walk," Angelina says, and Louis genuinely laughs. He gets her out of her pyjamas and runs the bath, making sure it's not too hot as Angelina hiccups.

"I'm sleepy, Daddy," She sniffles.

"I know, baby," Louis says gently, grabbing her little hand and kissing it. "Just wanna get you cleaned up before we go back to bed." The tub fills up enough for Louis to lift her from under her arms, setting her in it. "'M gonna go put your pyjamas in the wash, alright? Yell for me if you think you'll be sick again."

"M'kay," Angelina grabs a rubber duck off the side of the tub, resting it against the surface of the water. Louis grins wearily, kissing the top of her head before scooping her dirty pyjamas off the floor and bringing them downstairs.

He throws them in the washing machine and starts it up, grabbing the plastic rubbish bin from the downstairs washroom, just in case she gets sick again.

"Daddy!" He hears her just as he starts back towards the stairs. He picks up the pace, running upstairs with the bin in hand, getting it in front of her face just as she gets sick.

Louis sighs softly, dropping down to the floor. He keeps the bin in front of her face, putting his hand on her back. "'S okay, Ang," He says gently, trying not to think about how prominent the raises of her spine are under his hand. "Let it out."

Angelina coughs, getting sick again, tears running down her cheeks. "I don' wanna do it anymore," She weeps, pushing the bin away. Louis sets it down near the toilet, keeping his other hand on her back.

"I know, baby, I'm sorry," He says gently, rubbing little circles on her back. "You're gonna start feelin' better soon."

"You've been sayin' that for so long!" Angelina cries, pushing Louis' hand away when he goes to wipe her tears. "It's not fair! I don' want chemo anymore!"

"Ang," Louis says quietly. Angelina just sobs, throwing the rubber duck out of the water frustratedly. "Hey, darlin', I know. I'm sorry. You're right. 'S taking a little longer than it was supposed to, and it's not fair."

"I want Mummy!" Angelina hiccups, putting her hands over her face. Louis scoops her out of the tub, holding her close to him, the water soaking through his pyjamas. He cradles her head to his chest, kissing the top of it.

"'M so sorry," He mumbles against her skin, holding her tight as she cries into his shirt. "You don't deserve it, Ang, I'm so sorry."

Frankie starts to cry from the bedroom, and Louis leans his head back and sighs. "Fuck."

Angelina gets quieter, leaning back a little from him. "You said a bad word," She says in shock, teary eyes wide. Whoops. Louis freezes, blinking down at her before grinning.

"Yeah, I did," He says. "D'you wanna say one too?"

"Huh?" Angelina sniffles.

"This is your one chance," Louis says. "You can say whatever bad word you want. I'm letting you,"

"Really?" Angelina asks, beginning to smile mischievously.

"Yup," The devilish little grin on her face was worth it, Louis thinks. "Go for it. What d'you want to say?"

Angelina thinks for a moment, Frankie still crying from the bedroom. Louis is both too delirious and too interested in what Angelina will say to care. "...Boobs."

He barks out a laugh, leaning his head back as Angelina giggles, cheeks still covered in tears. "Boobs? That's the best you've got?" He asks, shaking his head. "C'mon, give me something good."

"A-Arse!" Angelina laughs, and it makes Louis laugh too, giddy just from seeing the joy on her little face.

"Yeah, there we go!" Louis smiles, kissing her forehead. "Arse!"

"Arse! Arse!" Angelina giggles again, letting Louis lift her up and place her back in the tub. "Arse!"

"'Atta girl," Louis stands up off the floor, dumping the sick bin into the toilet. He flushes it before setting it back near the tub. "I'll be right back, okay? Just gotta go grab your sister."

"M'kay," Angelina says, still grinning. Louis walks out of the washroom and to his bedroom to find Frankie sitting in her cot, calming down as soon as she sees him.

"Sorry, munchkin," He coos, lifting her up and holding her on his hip. "Didn't mean to abandon you like that."

Frankie leans her head on his shoulder, sucking on her thumb. Louis really needs to change out of these wet clothes. He brings her to the washroom, holding her in his lap as he sits back down on the floor.

"At least one of the Tomlinson girls is getting some sleep," He mumbles, grabbing the bar of soap and starting to give Angelina her bath while Frankie sits in his lap. He'd like to think this would've been much easier if Mara were still around, but honestly, she would probably still be sleeping right now.

He gets Angelina clean and into some fresh pyjamas, soothes Frankie back to sleep, and is able to change himself into some dry joggers and a t-shirt. By then it's a little after six. His alarm will be going off in thirty minutes anyways.

"D'you want to go sit downstairs and watch some Bluey?" He asks Angelina, lifting her up and carrying her out of the bedroom.

"But I gotta go to sleep," Angelina mumbles into his shoulder. "So I can get up for school."

"I don't know if I should be sending you to school if you're feeling this sick, love," Louis says, stopping in the washroom to grab the bin just in case. "C'mon, we can watch some telly until 's time to get Clara up."

"But you gotta sleep too, Daddy," Angelina points out. She's too sweet. Louis grins, kissing the top of her head and bringing her downstairs.

"I'll be alright, Ang," He assures, bringing her to the sofa. "You think I'd ever want to miss out on some Bluey with my girl?"

Angelina giggles. Louis sets the bin down near the sofa before sitting them down, holding Angelina in his lap and reaching for the remote. They're only about fifteen minutes in before Angelina is reaching for the bin, Louis grabbing it quickly and holding it in front of her.

"You're okay, Ang, 's alright," He mutters, his free hand wrapped around her to keep her on his lap as she coughs.

When she's done, she doesn't get upset, too tired to even feel anything this time. She just leans against Louis' chest, shutting her eyes as Louis holds her close. There's always a heaviness in the pit of his stomach when he thinks about it, how sick she is, and he can feel it get even heavier as she drifts off to sleep in his arms.