"H-How come she's bald?" Doris asks as she peers down at Beverly. Louis snorts while Harry just giggles. Jay shakes her head with a smile.

"She's going to grow hair as she gets older, baby," Jay says, running her fingers through Doris' hair. Harry looks up at Louis with a smile, Beverly cradled in his arms. Louis has never been so in love in his life, holy shit.

"She's got tiny toes," Ernest observes, reaching out and touching them gently. Louis sits down on the edge of the bed and pulls Ernest into his lap, making Ernest squeal.

"She does have tiny toes," Louis mumbles into Ernie's hair, watching as Doris slowly reaches forward and runs her fingers over the soft blanket Beverly wrapped up in. "I think you're going to be the coolest uncle ever, mate."

"What about me?" Doris huffs.

"Coolest aunt," Louis decides with a nod. "Don't tell the rest of the girls I said that, though." Doris giggles while Harry grins at Louis.

"Can Bebe Lee colour with me, Achoo?" Doris asks. Beverly hiccups, and Harry gasps and brushes her cheek with his knuckles.

"Excuse you, monkey," He coos softly. Louis is so mesmerised by how adorable he is, he almost forgets to answer Doris' question.

"Not yet, D," Louis answers, his arm still wrapped around Ernest. "She's too little. When she's older I'm sure she'd love to colour with you."

"I-I colour wi' you, Dory," Ernest assures, and Doris smiles.

"I think it's time for us to head home, babes," Jay mentions, but her eyes won't leave her new grandchild. "It's getting late, and you two have school tomorrow."

"No, Mumma!" Ernest huffs. "Wanna stay with Bebe Lee and 'Arry!"

"Hey, remember me?" Louis asks. "The forgotten one?"

"What's your name again?" Harry asks. Louis sticks his tongue out at him. Jay smiles and shakes her head before scooping Doris up off the bed, making her whine.

"C'mon, monster," Jay says, and Doris pouts. "Say bye-bye to the baby."

"Buh-byeeee," Doris says while Ernest climbs off the bed.

"Byeee babyyyy," Ernest says, holding Jay's hand when she reaches down for his. "Bye Achoo, Bye 'Arry."

"Goodbye, mate," Louis says, and Harry waves. Jay leans down and kisses the top of Louis' head.

"Call me if you two need anything," She says. Louis grins and leans his head back to look at her.

"We will," He assures. Jay gives Harry a smile before taking the twins out of the room, leaving Harry and Louis alone with the baby for the first time. Louis moves so he's sitting right next to Harry, grinning down at Beverly.

"Hi, pretty girl," He coos, resting his hand on her tummy. "You had a lot of company today, huh? Everybody wanted to visit you."

"But tomorrow you get to go home," Harry says while Louis pats her tummy. "And see the room Daddy painted for you. 'S not the right colour, but it looks nice anyways."

"Do we have to bring this up again?" Louis groans, resting his forehead on Harry's shoulder and sighing. Harry giggles, kissing the top of Louis' head.

"I'm just teasing you," Harry assures. "You wanna hold her for a bit? Papa's ready for a nap."

"Of course," Louis sits up straight, a huge smile on his face. Harry gently passes Beverly over to Louis before laying down into his pillow, sighing sleepily. "Hi, princess, are you sleepy? You should take a nap while Papa takes a nap, yeah?"

Beverly lets out a little squeak, and Louis sees Harry smile with his eyes closed. "That's right, bubba, Papa is pretty," Louis laughs, and Harry just nudges him with his elbow. "Sorry, we have to be quiet. You made Papa quite tired, since you took your sweet time getting here."

Harry snorts. "You're supposed to be sleeping," Louis whispers.

"Sorry," Harry whispers back.

"Anyways," Louis says softly. "Me and your Papa have been waiting for you for a long time. Everyone has, actually. You and your Papa are the best things that have ever happened to me." Harry presses a kiss to Louis' elbow. Louis smiles.

♛

"Okay, the last test is the car seat test," The nurse explains, slowly taking the baby out of Harry's arms. "If she passes this test, you can take her home. We're just going to place her in the car seat for ninety minutes to see if she'd be okay for long car rides."

"What if she starts crying?" Harry asks worriedly, eyeing Beverly protectively. Louis puts his hand on top of Harry's head, smoothing it over Harry's curls.

"You're going to have to just let her cry it out," The nurse says. Harry's face drops. "I know, it's not fun. But, it's mandatory. Your little one is very healthy, though, I'm sure she'll be just fine."

Harry exhales slowly. "Okay," He says reluctantly. Louis kisses the top of Harry's head, letting his boy reach up and grab his hand. The nurse smiles at the two of them, walking across the room and gently setting Beverly in a car seat.

"I know, baby," Louis says softly, Harry staring at Beverly intently. "She's okay. Maybe we should get something to eat while we're waiting for her to be done."

"There's a Nando's downstairs," The nurse says, hooking Beverly up to some sort of monitor.

"Hey, I can get you that Chicken Pita you like," Louis says. "Yeah?"

"Yeah," Harry grins up at Louis, squeezing his hand. "Thanks, L."

"Of course," Louis kisses the top of his head again, smiling at the nurse before making his way out of the room. He walks down the corridor, hands in the pockets of his joggers. He can't help but smile as he makes his way towards the stairs. He's a dad.

Louis gets to Nando's, giving the cashier a huge grin. "New dad?" The cashier asks. Louis raises his eyebrows.

"How'd you know?" Louis asks, running his fingers through his hair. It must be a mess.

"I smiled like that for weeks after my son was born," The cashier explains, his lips quirking up into a smile. "What can I get you?"

"Um, a Chicken Breast Pita," Louis says, licking his lips. "And an order of B-B-Q wings."

"You got it mate," The cashier says, punching some buttons into the register. It's that moment Louis realises he has spit up on his shirt. On both shoulders. Oh well, it's a little late for that.

Louis gets his food, giving the nice cashier a heavy tip before bringing the food back to the hospital room. Harry is just sitting in the bed, staring at where Beverly is resting in the little car seat across the room. He only peels his eyes away from Beverly to look up at Louis, smiling fondly at him.

"Hi," Harry greets, fixing the headband keeping his hair out of his face.

"Hey, love," Louis sets the Nando's bag on the table next to the bed. He sits down on the bed next to Harry, looking at Beverly with him. "Is it just me, or does she look extra bald from over here?"

"Hey," Harry gently elbows Louis' side. "Leave her alone. She hasn't even been here twenty-four hours and you're already teasing her."

"I'm not teasing her!" Louis huffs. He's about to continue defending himself when the monitor Beverly's hooked up to starts beeping.

"Louis," Harry says, grabbing onto Louis' arm. Louis springs up from the bed, running to the other side of the room and taking Beverly out of the car seat. Two nurses rush into the room, one of them taking Beverly from Louis and the other looking at the monitor.

"Her oxygen levels have dropped way down," The nurse at the monitor says. "We're going to have to check her out down at the NICU."

"Woah woah woah, the NICU?" Louis asks.

"It doesn't mean anything, love," The nurse holding Beverly assures. "It's just to give her a quick checkup, see what's going on."

"I'll call Doctor Thirlwall," The other nurse says. They both smile at Louis, maybe a little too kindly, before leaving the room with Beverly. Louis just blinks before looking over to Harry, whose eyes are shiny.

"Hey, she's okay," Louis says gently, his own heart pounding. He walks over to the bed, sitting down next to Harry and wrapping him up in his arms. "You heard the nurse, just a quick checkup."

"I want my baby," Harry sniffles.

"I'm right here!" Louis exclaims, trying to lighten the mood. Harry doesn't react. Louis leans back from Harry and takes his face in both of his hands. "Hey, she's just getting a checkup, H. I'm not going to let anything happen to our girl."

"Louis," Harry whimpers.

"Deep breaths," Louis says softly. Harry obliges, closing his eyes and inhaling. "That's it, love."

"Tell me our baby's gonna be okay," Harry's bottom lip is trembling as he puts his hands over Louis'.

"Our baby is going to be okay," Louis whispers, kissing the tip of Harry's nose. "She's perfect, and beautiful, and even though she's bald," Harry rolls his eyes. "She's going to be okay."

♛

It's all happening so fast.

"We think it's pulmonary hypertension," Doctor Thirlwall says, a sympathetic expression on her face. Harry is sitting in a wheelchair next to the tiny glass cot Beverly is in, Louis standing next to him. "It's a type of high blood pressure that affects the arteries in your lungs and the right side of your heart."

"What does that mean?" Louis asks, voice shaking.

"It means the tiny arteries and capillaries in her lungs are becoming blocked, or destroyed," Doctor Thirlwall explains. "It's making it very hard for blood to flow to her lungs."

"Is she going to be okay?" Harry asks, voice breaking.

"Yes," Louis says.

"I don't know," Doctor Thirlwall admits. "Cases can vary, especially in newborns. They can be cured, or they can be fatal. For now we're giving her oxygen therapy, but if nothing improves in the next twenty-four hours we'll have to discuss medication."

"Oh," Louis whispers.

"Fatal," Harry mutters shakily.

"I'm so sorry, boys," Doctor Thirlwall says quietly. Louis puts his hand on Harry's shoulder. Harry stares at Beverly. "If you have any questions, please call me."

"Thank you," There's a lump on Louis' throat as he says it. Doctor Thirlwall walks away, and Harry slumps forward, shoulders shaking as he cries. Louis can't even say anything, for once he doesn't even have anything slightly comforting to say. He just rubs Harry's back, blinking back tears.

Louis puts his hand inside of the glass cot, rubbing Beverly's little tummy gently. "Let me hold her," Harry weeps. Louis gently takes Beverly out of the cot, careful of the little oxygen mask on her face. He hands her to Harry, who cradles her and sniffles.

"Hi, Princess," Louis says softly. She grabs his index finger with her whole hand when he offers it to her, making him smile weakly. "Such a pretty girl, yeah? Strong little baby."

"You're going to be just fine, pumpkin," Harry says softly, sniffling and kissing Beverly's forehead. "Daddy and I will make sure of it."

"Of course," Louis nods, and Harry smiles weakly through his tears. "I love you, Bev, please get better."

"Please," Harry whispers.