Louis snatches clothes off of hangers and out of dresser drawers only to shove them into a duffel Eleanor provided him. The black shirt he wears with 'World's Best Dad' printed on the back hangs off his shoulders and a pair of grey sweatpants dangle low on his hips. He can't remember the last time he washed his hair, but it doesn't really matter.

He spares one last glance around the room, already missing the shit colored paint and creaky mattress. One would think that as a millionaire, he could afford a nice mattress and decent paint color. Of course, he has both in every other room he owns in the mansion, but not in this room. This room is kept shitty on purpose. 

"Hey, Papa," A voice calls. Louis' head snaps up and he tugs on a half-hearted smile as he prepares to be greeted by one of his three children. The pitter-pat of the child's footsteps clues Louis in as to which one it is. The footsteps are too light to belong to his son but too heavy to belong to his youngest daughter who has taken to stomping everywhere she goes. 

"Angel," Louis smiles as his oldest daughter turns the corner into the room. He wishes he could hide the clothes that are thrown across the floor in Louis' attempt to 'pack', but it's too late for that. 

"What's with all the clothes? I thought you kept your stuff in your room," Addison asks. Louis' heart aches for her. 

She doesn't resemble Eleanor hardly at all and takes on Louis' features mostly. They both share their hooded eyes and thin lips. Naturally, of course, the lips could be a trait from Eleanor since the girl naturally has lips on the thinner side, but has taken to filling them since she has the disposable income now. The only feature on Addison that doesn't resemble him is the girl's brown eyes. 

"It's uh... extra. Most of my stuff is in my closet in my room. Your mum has taken up half my side anyway... you know how she is," Louis laughs. He tries his very best to sound light-hearted as to not clue his daughter in that he hasn't had clothes in his closet for years. What she doesn't know, won't hurt her. 

"Can you do me a favor and tell your mum that I'm almost done," Louis asks. She stands in the door for a second before slowing nodding and turning her back towards Louis. 

Of course, he's tried his very best to keep his children out of the family's drama. He doesn't want his children to know that their parents don't love each other. He doesn't want his children to know that he hasn't been sleeping in the same room as their mother for years. Mostly, he doesn't want his children to know that they only exist because a contract made them exist. That, if it were up to Louis, the three of them would've never been born. That they only breathe because Simon demanded that Eleanor and he have children, so they had children. 

Louis glances down at his heaping pile of fabrics and decides not to add more. He knows that the clothes there won't be enough for the tour. The pile doesn't even begin to challenge the piles he would bring when the band first started touring. He doesn't care. That's what credit cards are for. 

He shoulders his duffel, the strap pushing hard into his skin. The black shirt does nothing to help protect his shoulder from the weight of the bag at all. Sighing deeply, he exits his room and walks towards the kitchen where Eleanor and his children should be waiting. 

"Can I have a cookie? It's not fair that Jo gets a cookie and I don't. I think that's unconstitutional. I'm going to have to call up our representative to check if that's legal or not because I'm fairly certain that it is not!" Louis smiles as he hears his only son's booming voice from down the hall. They've been talking about bills and politics in their history class at school and now Parker's response to anything is that it's 'unconstitutional'. Louis thinks it's cute, but Eleanor merely finds it annoying. 

"It is completely fair, you know why? Because Jo finished all of her homework before I asked her to do it yesterday. You came straight home and jumped on your games without even looking at it. Good behaviors reap good rewards." Louis turns the corner and finds Taylor hunched over their son. Eleanor isn't in the room, surely off to touch up her makeup. 

Taylor straightens when Louis enters the room. She offers him a sad smile as he drops the duffel on one of the many bar stools in their massive kitchen. Eleanor was adamant when they were looking for houses that the one they bought had a large kitchen. At the time, Louis had no clue why it mattered; neither of them cooked anyway. He had come to find out, after having bought the house, that the kitchen was for Taylor. 

Louis' blue eyes flick over to his two youngest children sitting at the dining room table. Johannah, or Jo as she likes to be called, has a cookie in hand and sends a teasing look at her twin brother, Parker. They look nothing alike, which is an odd thing for twins, even fraternal. Sure, they look related, but not like siblings, Louis decides. 

Jo wears Eleanor's face. He swears that his youngest daughter looks more like his wife than Eleanor does. Her hair hangs low, nearly hitting her butt when she stands up. Louis' been dying to cut his daughter's hair after it expanded past the girl's elbow but she screamed when he even came close with a pair of scissors. 

Parker, on the other hand, looks more like Louis. Feathery brown hair sits tangled on top of his head and blue eyes glare angrily at his sister. The twelve-year-old rests his head in his arms and pouts as his sister slowly eats the cookie in front of him. 

"Jo if you don't finish that cookie in the next ten seconds then I'm going to finish it for you," Louis scolds. The girl rolls her eyes and finishes the cookie, no doubt in her mind that her dad was deadly serious. 

"Kids, give your dad a big hug, yeah? We need to hit the road," Eleanor calls. The tap-tap-tap of her heels entering makes Louis' stomach drop. Taylor ruffles Parker's hair as he jumps out of his chair and runs into his father's arms. 

As much as being a father reminded Louis of his limited freedom, he wouldn't do anything differently. He loves his children more than anything he's ever loved before. Four arms wrap themselves around Louis as he holds them close to his heart, knowing he won't be able to hug them for months because of the reunion tour. The last tour he'll ever have to do. 

He pulls away and catches the sight of Eleanor and Taylor exchanging a quick kiss. Louis makes sure the children aren't looking by pulling them to him again, one last time. They don't need to know. Not yet. Maybe one day. Words he's grown all too used to using. 

~_~_~

Hey guys! I got bored and decided to update. I hope you guys like Sam! I really want you guys to like him and I know that he's not Louis, but give him a chance yeah? Thanks so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed! ~B

QOTC: What do you think of Louis' life now?