That night at dinner, it's just the boys and Louis, his mum and James still out together at dinner.

"So, what do cows eat?" Louis asks as the chef is putting dinner on the table.

"Well, they like hay, corn, oats and barley and they graze on grass" Harry tells him as he plates up.

"So, do you feed Misty all of that?" Louis asks.

"She will get that in the stables yes, when they are out in the fields they graze, and we are out their making sure they have regular food and water, but they do live off the land" Drew tells Louis.

Louis nods

"Can I help feed Misty?" Louis asks shyly, he really doesn't want to be in the way, but he really loves Misty and wants to help out as much as he can.

"Of course, you can" Harry tells him.

A few minutes later Louis looks up from his dinner.

"Wait a minute" he says, and the boys stop and look over with a questioning look.

"Will you guys eat Misty?" Louis asks. 

The boys all stop, look to each other and don't respond, speechless.

"ummm" Harry says.

"Oh, I think I'm a vegetarian now" Louis says as he puts his fork down.

"We don't just raise our cattle to eat, and we don't murder them inhumanely, we are very thankful for what they provide for us, but the female cattle.....we don't.....eat them, as you say" Scott says with a smile of fond.

"So, if Misty's Calf is a male, you're going to eat him?" Louis asks horrified.

The boys again are speechless.

"Not anymore He's yours" Drew announces suddenly.

"Really?" Louis asks happily.

"Of course," The boys all follow along, making note not to let Louis get attached to any animals that might end up in similar situations.

Louis smiles in response, he is so happy the boys are so nice to him.

Halfway through dinner, Jay and James walk into the dining room, they are smiling and laughing as they hold each other close.

The boys all look towards them and instantly know somethings changed.

"You two look happy" Edward say smiling.

Jay blushes and James smiles.

"Well, we um, have some news" James tells them.

"Oh yeah?" Scott says as they all eagerly await the news.

"We're engaged" Jay smiled widely as she holds up her ring finger.

The boys aren't shocked at all, expected it to be honest and they are up instantly congratulating both Jay and James with hugs and kisses and happiness.

Louis is left shocked, he did not expect this, this is the first time he's really meeting James and the boys, he's happy for his mum but he's a little overwhelmed at the news.

They all look back at Louis who is still at the table.

"Lou?" Jay asks carefully.

Louis gets up and walks over to his mum and

James.

"I'm really happy for you mum" Louis says and Jay brings him into her arms and hugs him tightly.

When they pull back James is smiling at Louis.

"I promise to take care of your mum Lou, and you, you're going to be apart of this family too and I promise, the boys and I will protect you both and welcome you with open arms" James tells him sincerely.

Louis smiles shyly.

"We have a-lot to talk about but just know, I will do everything to make you and your mum happy." James tells him.

James then brings Louis into his arms and they hug tightly, Louis in this moment although shocked. Is so thankful for James and trusts him to look after his mum completely.

...

The next morning the house is a buzz of excitement, Louis wakes earlier than usual to find the boys all out and James and Jay sitting at the table with event planners and other staff around, obviously planning the wedding, Louis thought they would at least have time, a long engagement.....

"Morning hun" Jay says brightly as Louis walks in, already dressed in his jeans and t-shirt.

"Morning" he says a little overwhelmed.

"Would you like me to make you some breakfast" James asks as he sees Louis is a little uncomfortable.

"Oh, no Thank you, I'm not hungry" Louis says.

"We're nearly done here, we were going to head into town, would you like to come?" Jay asks kindly.

"No thanks, are you doing wedding stuff?" Louis asks.

"We are, just getting some things locked in" James says.

Louis nods

"I'm going to go see Misty, is that okay?" Louis asks.

"Of course bud, the boys aren't at the ranch at the moment, they are in town working. But feel free to explore and don't hesitate to ask for anything you need" James tells him sincerely.

"Thanks.....umm, can I maybe bring her some food?" Louis asks shyly.

Jay and James smile wide.

"Absolutely" James says as chef comes over and hands Louis a bucket full of food. He looks to James confused.

"Harry organised it for you, he thought you might like to give it to her" James says.

Louis can't ignore the butterfly's he feels in his stomach, Harry is really something else.

Louis blushes slightly and nods, he then says goodbye and leaves the house.

He makes his way down to the stables and when he heads in he comes face to face with three cowboys he doesn't know.

"Hi there" one of them says, he's about 30 with big brown eyes and a muscly physique

"Hi, sorry, I just wanted to see Misty" Louis says shyly.

"You must be Louis" one of the others says, he's young, about 22 with bright blonde hair and blue eyes

"Yeah" Louis says.

"I'm Noah" the blonde starts "this is Max" he says pointing to the guy who's about 30 "and this is "Jax" Noah finishes, pointing to the third guy who hasn't spoken. He's about mid 30's and looks a bit rough.

"Nice to meet you" Louis says.

"You too, Misty is in the last stall" Noah says smiling at him.

"Thanks" Louis says and he heads towards Misty's stall.

When he opens the door, he sees Misty lying on the ground comfortable. She Moo's when she sees Louis.

"Hi girl, how are you" he says as he kneels down beside her and rubs her head, Misty snuggles into him.

"I brought you some food" Louis says and he begins to feed her, Misty accepting happily. Louis giggles when she licks his hand.

"She likes you" Noah says as he comes up to the stall.

"I like her" Louis says back smiling.

"We have to muck out the stalls and then we will do Misty's"

"What does that mean?" Louis asks.

The three boys laugh at Louis cuteness

"Means we have to clean them and give them new hay" Noah says.

"Can I help?" Louis asks.

"Sure kid, gets a bit messy though" Max tells him.

"That's okay, I wanna help" Louis smiles.

"Come on then" Jax says and they lead Louis to get supplies.

Louis is exhausted by the time they finish the stalls.

"You did good kid" Max tells him, Louis smiles bright in response.

"Thanks" Louis says, he skipped lunch and they worked through to the early afternoon. Louis doesn't know how they do this everyday, he's so tired.

"I'm going to go sit with Misty" Louis says

"Thanks for helping, we will see you soon" Max tells him,

Louis nods and heads back towards Misty's stall, his body aches but in the best way, like he's had a full days work. Louis doesn't realise he falls asleep curled up to Misty, but he's so tired he can't keep his eyes open.

Harry and the boys arrive home around 6pm, the sun just having set. They walk inside to dinner on the table, Jay and James both sitting at the table. They greet each other but the boys notice Jay is a little distracted on her phone.

"Where Lou?" Harry asks.

"We haven't seen him all day, he isn't answering me when I call either" Jay says slight concern in her voice as she looks to her phone again.

The boys look to each other slightly worried.

"He went to see Misty this morning, he didn't come in for lunch but I just assumed he was having fun and didn't realise the time" chef tells them.

"Let's go to the stalls, he might still be there" Scott says.

The boys all nod and they all head out to the stalls, James and Jay as well. When they enter they see Noah and Max standing at Misty's stall, they look towards the boys and smile.

"We were just about to come up and let you know your newest cowboy has fallen asleep" Noah smiles as he nods his head towards the stall.

Everyone gathers around and sees Louis curled up with Misty, everyone holding in their awws at the adorable sight.

"He helped us muck out the stalls today, he must be exhausted" Max says.

"He helped you?" Jay asks bewildered.

"Yeah, he was really great at it too, he loved it" Noah tells her.

The boys all smile and Jay smiles back at them, they new Louis would love it at the ranch.

"Well we need to move him to bed, it's to cold for him in the stables overnight" James says.

They all agree and Harry moves towards Louis and picks him up bridal style. Louis doesn't stir at all, and as much as they would like to wake Louis to eat and shower, he's fast asleep in Harry's arms and they don't want to wake him, he looks so peaceful.

Louis doesn't wake when Harry lays him in bed and he doesn't stir the whole night, he sleeps peacefully and wakes so well rested the following morning.

"Hi there cowboy" Scott smiles as Louis enters their lounge room upstairs, he sees all the boys sitting around watching tv. Louis is freshly showered wearing his navy tracksuit.

"Morning" Louis says with a slight blush.

"How did you sleep?" Harry asks.

"Really good" Louis says smiling.

The boys smile at Louis in response.

"Are you not working today?" Louis asks as he moves to sit on the sofa next to Harry.

"We usually have Fridays off to spend together. It's raining outside as well so we thought we would stay in today" Drew says.

"Oh okay" Louis says.

The boys smile at Louis and go back to playing their PlayStation.

Harry looks over towards Louis and notices him looking out the big window to the cloudy sky.

"Come on cowboy, I'll take you to see her" Harry smiles.

Louis smiles wide at Harry and gets up to get his shoes.

The boys smirk to each other as they watch Harry take Louis downstairs and to see Misty.

As they pass the kitchen and dining area, they see again, a buzz of noise and everyone around planning the wedding. Louis sees his mums smiling face and sees how happy she is, sees how happy James is and he hates that he feels a niggle of resentment, he loves his mum to death and would do anything to see her happy, he just feels upset that he wasn't included, that he wasn't asked too. Harry sees Louis sigh at his mum as they head out, Harry passing Louis a poncho and gumboots from the mudroom for the rain.

"You don't seem happy about the news" Harry says as they walk.

Louis looks to him.

"No, I am, I'm happy for them" Louis says.

"Happy for them, but you're not happy" Harry says the last part like as a question. Louis sighs.

"It's not that I'm unhappy, it's just.....this is the first time I've met you guys and the first time I've even been here, I....want her happy but she didn't even ask me or even talk about it, I love James don't get me wrong he's the best but....I know it's selfish and I'm sorry" Louis says shaking his head.

"It's not selfish Lou, I understand, it's life changing, I get it" Harry says.

"You guys are really nice and stuff and I'm so thankful that you're showing me things and seem to want me around but, if this becomes permanent and we move here, I'll just be in the way, you won't want me around all the time and I'm just in the way" Louis says.

Harry stops Louis walking and sits him down on the bench under the shelter of the barn, they are both wet and Louis hair is sticking to his forehead. Harry thinks he looks so beautiful.

"Louis, we love having you around and that is not going to change. We love showing you things and if you decide you don't want anything to do with ranch life then that's okay too. You will be welcomed into this family and never in the way" Harry tells him sternly.

"What about school and stuff, I have a year left. I will never be as successful as you guys are and you're loaded and the town loves you all. I'm just a ring in. I've never had brothers and you're now lumped with me. I just feel like....useless and like I've let you all down, an embarrassment and I've only been here a few days" Louis says.

"You are not useless, at all, we don't think that either. The boys have always wanted another little brother, we love having you around and you've only been here a few days. We love it and we want you to feel like this is your home too. We will do everything we can to make sure you're happy and loved and looked after" Harry tells him.

Louis holds back his tears, he's never had anyone in his life other than his mum to look after him, to care, it's a foreign feeling but it's such a nice one.

"Why are you being so nice" Louis asks

"Is it so hard for you to believe that we actually like you and want to spend time with you, plus your mum makes our dad so happy, he hasn't been this happy in years and it's so nice to see" Harry says

Louis smiles and wipes a tear away.

"He makes her happy to and I love him for that" Louis says

Harry smiles and reaches out to wipe a tear off Louis cheek.

"Come on, let's go see how Miss Misty is doing" Harry says

"Thanks Harry" Louis says and Harry kisses the side of his head and leads him into Misty's stall.

.....

It's late that night when the boys sneak into Louis room to wake him up.

They walk in and see Louis curled up cutely

"Hey kiddo" Drew says as he gently shakes Louis.

He stirs before falling back to sleep, the boys holding in their fond.

"Lou, hey, bud" Edward whispers as he shakes Louis again.

Louis wakes slowly and rubs his eyes before he sits up.

"What's wrong?" He asks slightly scared.

"Nothing darling, Misty is in Labour" Harry says smiling.

"She is?" Louis says excitedly as he pulls the covers straight off.

The boys chuckle.

Louis hops out of bed.

"Scott is down there already, we thought you might like to be with her too" Harry says

"I do, I really do" Louis says excitedly.

"Grab a jumper it's pretty cold out and your gumboots on the way out" Drew tells him

Louis nods and grabs one of his jumpers and pulls it on, he's so happy and excited.

He follows the boys down to the stable and when they enter they see James and Scott in the stall with Misty.

James and Scott smile towards Louis as the boys all make it inside.

"Is she okay?" Louis asks.

"She's doing really well" Scott tells him reassuringly.

Misty locks eyes with Louis and he doesn't hesitate before he's inside the stall at her head. He picks up her head gently and lays it in his lap. He proceeds to stroke her head reassuringly

"You're a natural Lou" James tells him.

Louis looks up towards him and smiles

Louis is amazed and in awe as he watches Scott and James deliver a healthy baby bull calf.

"It's a boy" Scott tells them all and Louis didn't realise he had tears in his eyes.

"Wow, you did so good girl, you have a baby, you're a mumma" Louis tells her and she moos in response.

They watch on as the calf has its first drink and they begin to bond together

"Is she okay and the baby?" Louis asks Scott.

"They are both perfect Lou" Scott tells him.

"Will they be too cold out here?" Louis asks worried the calf will be cold.

"They will be fine, we can put some more hay in the stall for them, Misty will keep her baby warm" Scott tells him.

Louis smiles. The boys head back inside but Louis stays with Harry and Scott in the barn for a little while longer.

"Come on kiddo, let's head back to bed" Harry tries when Louis yawns for the tenth time.

"But I wanna stay" Louis says pleadingly.

"How about, you go back to bed and in the morning, you can be the one to name him" Scott says

"Seriously?" Louis asks excitedly

"Seriously" Scott says chuckling

Louis smiles, he says goodnight to Misty and Harry leads him back up to bed.

"Thanks for waking me" Louis tells him.

"Of course, glad you got to witness something so amazing" Harry says

Louis smiles

"Sweet dreams Lou" Harry tells him

"Night Harry" Louis smiles in response.

Harry heads back to bed with a smile on his face, Louis is really capturing his heart in so many ways and he really hopes Louis might be feeling the same way too.