"Louisss!"

"Nooo," Louis whines. He's barely awake, and not ready for Taylor and her bounciness. Harry told her and Joe they could use their house to get ready for Niall's wedding rehearsal and dinner, and then the wedding the next day. Yet he's the one still sleeping, and Louis' the one that has to deal with them.

"Louis, I know you're in there, open the door."

"Goddamnit," Louis sets his tea down on the counter, shuffling to the lounge so he can open the front door. He opens it to see Taylor standing there, looking much more well-rested than he does. What happened to jet lag?

"I'm baaack," Taylor beams.

"Oh, joy," Louis deadpans.

"And I brought you coffee," Taylor hands him a styrofoam cup. That makes Louis perk up a little. "Styrofoam is terrible for the environment, but I forgot my reusable cups back home."

"Yeah, that's...fine," Louis assures, furrowing his eyebrows. "Where's Joe?"

"Couldn't get him out of bed," Taylor rolls her eyes.

"Well, the rehearsal isn't for another ten hours," Louis points out, swishing the coffee around before taking a sip. It's okay. Not as good as Harry makes. Taylor steps into the house, a tote bag on her shoulder as per usual.

"Harry wanted me to help get Gracie ready too," Taylor says, kicking off her shoes at the door. "And I offered to hang out with her while you're at your appointment, so he can rest up."

Taylor, seriously, is the best, even though she's also an annoying morning person. "Right. Well, nobody else is up yet," Louis says, leading her to the kitchen. Taylor plops down at the kitchen table while Louis sets his coffee down on the counter. "Uh. Do you want brekkie?"

"Not if you're making it," Taylor teases. Louis pouts. "Do you have avocados? I'll make toast."

Louis wrinkles his nose. "I hate avocados."

"Have you ever tried one?"

"What's your point?"

Taylor rolls her eyes. Louis sighs. "There's some near the toaster. Harry was craving them. I had to mash them up. It was gross."

"You are so dramatic," Taylor gets up out of her seat and walks over to the toaster, grabbing some bread. "It's good for you. You're a growing boy."

"Shut up," Louis scoffs, taking a sip of his coffee. As he does, Harry trudges into the kitchen, sleepy-eyed, wearing a pair of joggers and one of Louis' oversized jumpers. "Good morning, sleepyhead."

"'S too early," Harry mumbles, walking over to sit down at the kitchen table. He tries to lower himself into the chair, but he just can't, so he looks over to Louis. "Husband. Help."

Louis laughs, setting his coffee down to walk over and help Harry sit. Once Harry's sitting, he kisses the top of his head. "You feel okay?"

"Just sleepy," Harry mutters, rubbing his eyes. He wrinkles his nose. "I smell coffee. You're drinking coffee without me?"

"I brought you decaf, dude, relax," Taylor says, nodding towards a cup left on the table. Harry takes it and sips, pouting.

"It's not the same," He says disdainfully.

"You can have a little sip of mine," Louis offers, handing Harry his cup. Harry looks up at him, giving him a small smile.

"I love you so much," He says, taking a sip of Louis' coffee. Louis grins, kissing his forehead before taking his coffee back. "Thank you for the coffee, Taylor."

"I'm making avocado toast too," Taylor says.

"Can she live with us all the time?" Harry asks Louis, only half kidding.

"You should give the babies avocados when they come, I hear it's good for them," Taylor says, searching the drawers until she finds a knife. "Make the baby food yourself, though."

"Who has time for that?" Louis makes a face.

"There was, like, a huge recall on store bought baby food. It had arsenic and stuff in it," Taylor says casually. "Better safe than sorry."

Louis looks down to see Harry staring back up at him, wide-eyed. "Alright, let's stop freaking out my husband, please," Louis says, brushing a curl out of Harry's face. "We can figure that out later."

"We gave Gracie baby food," Harry says, panicked.

"Yeah, five years ago," Louis says, furrowing his eyebrows. "And she's fine."

"She's a little short. What if that's why?"

"Hazza. Breathe."

Harry does, closing his eyes and leaning his head into Louis' side. Taylor gives Louis a weird look, and Louis just rolls his eyes and shakes his head. Harry's trademark pregnancy symptom is freaking out over things that aren't worth freaking out about.

"Here, you get two pieces because you're special," Taylor says to Harry, handing him a plate with two pieces of avocado toast. Harry's mood changes immediately, and he takes the plate with a grin.

"Thank youuu," He says.

"Would you like one, Lou?" Taylor asks.

"Not at all," Louis shakes his head. Harry holds out a piece of toast to him. Louis makes a face. "I don't like it."

"You've never tried it," Harry points out. Louis sighs, but he leans forward and takes a very small bite from the toast in Harry's hand.

"Okay, it's kinda good," He admits after a moment. Harry giggles. "But I'm not eating any more. It doesn't deserve the hype, and it looks gross. I'm protesting."

"You're ridiculous," Harry shakes his head.

"The baby food made Gracie short," Louis mocks in a fake-crying voice, earning a glare from Harry. Taylor stifles her laughter, walking back to the counter where the toast and avocados are.

"Will Gracie eat some if I give it to her?" She asks.

"Only with copious amounts of pepper," Harry says. Taylor raises an eyebrow, nodding slowly.

"Got it," She says. As if on cue, Gracie shuffles into the kitchen, still in little cupcake pyjamas.

"Taylor!" She gasps, running over to her and attacking her legs in a hug. Taylor laughs, putting her hand on top of Gracie's bedhead.

"Gracie, I missed you!" She grins. "I made you some avocado toast, you hungry?"

"Yes!" Gracie exclaims, still attached to Taylor's legs. "I want peppa' on it though."

"Already got the memo about the pepper," Taylor laughs, leaning down and tickling under Gracie's armpits. Gracie squeals, falling back onto the floor in a fit of giggles. "Do you want something to drink?"

"Chocolate milk, pleeease!" Gracie replies.

"I can get it, Taylor," Louis assures. Taylor just waves him off.

"Taylor, Taylor, wanna see my dress for dinna'?" Gracie squeaks, clasping her little hands together. "It's not as pretty as my pink one, though."

"Because the pink one's for the actual wedding," Louis reminds. "This is just a practice, bug, you're saving the prettier dress for when everyone sees you."

"I would love to see it, Gracie," Taylor smiles, getting the chocolate milk out of the fridge. "And you think about what you want me to do with your hair today and tomorrow, okay?"

"Okay!" Gracie chirps, running out of the kitchen to get her dress.

"I wish I was in the wedding," Harry pouts. Louis smiles sympathetically, leaning down and kissing the tip of his nose.

"It's too much standing, love," He reminds gently, running his fingers through Harry's hair. Harry scowls up at him. "You get to just sit there and look pretty."

"That's all I ever do," Harry whines, only half-kidding. Louis laughs, fond, and leans down to kiss his nose again.

♛

Louis' therapist reminds him of his Nan. She's older, and has a strong Northern accent. Her office is covered in pictures of kids, presumably her grandkids, and there are plants everywhere. It calms Louis' nerves a bit.

She's staring at him though. Like, really staring. Inspecting him. Louis just looks back at her, hands folded in his lap as he waits for her to say something. She looks him up and down before nodding, as if she confirming something to herself. "You're the boy Miriam sent."

"Um, yes," Louis confirms. "That's me."

"You're too young to need a marriage counsellor," The therapist, Betty, tsks. She's honestly right. Louis smiles sheepishly. "Well. Whatever's going on, we're going to fix it, yeah?"

"Hopefully," Louis nods again. Betty hums. There's a pair of glasses attached to a chain around her neck, and she picks them up and slips them on.

"What is going on, then?" Betty asks, pursing her lips. Louis blows out a puff of air, trying to think of where to begin. What to say.

"Well, uh," He sighs softly. "My husband, um. He made me call you after I...hit someone. A guy. Outside my daughter's school." Betty's eyebrows shoot up towards her hairline. "Alright, he was egging me on. He called me a fuckin' fairy, and fruit, and he called Harry my wife, I-" Louis feels himself getting worked up. He exhales slowly, closing his eyes for a second.

"So it sounds to me like it was justified," Betty says. Louis was fully expecting for her to tell him off for being violent, and reacting that way.

"Yeah?" He furrows his eyebrows.

"Doesn't mean you should've done it," Betty points out. Louis nods slowly, leaning back into the plush, pink loveseat.

"Maybe it wasn't entirely about that," He says quietly. "I mean, on a normal day I probably could've just walked away. I don't know why I couldn't."

"Is anything stressing you out?" Betty asks, furrowing her eyebrows. "If you're bottling everything up, that might be why."

"Well, uh," Louis swallows thickly. He has no idea how to start, or verbalise his thoughts in a coherent way. He sighs. "I'm not...really good at this. Talking about...my feelings."

"Well, you're gonna get good at it," Betty says. Fair enough. Louis' eyes widen slightly, but he nods. "What's bothering you, then? Has to be something."

"It's everything," Louis admits. "It's...it's not being good enough for my husband, and worrying about money, and stupid fucking kids at my job breaking super expensive windows. There's too much happening for me to process it all at once."

"Oh, dear," Betty mutters. "Alright, let's start with that first one. What makes you think you're not good enough for your husband?"

"I feel like all I do is fuck things up," Louis says quietly, staring down at his lap. "Make his life harder. I wanted to pick up our kid for him because he didn't feel good, and he ended up having to come get me at the police station. He deserves someone better."

"What, so you make a few mistakes and suddenly you're not good enough for him?" Betty asks. Hearing it back, Louis realises how ridiculous he sounds. "Did he say he was mad?"

"No," Louis says after a moment. "No, he just said he was worried about me."

"He sounds lovely," Betty says, and Louis smiles shyly. He bites his bottom lip, looking down at the wedding band on his finger.

"You know, I try so hard to make things easier for him," He says softly. "We're, um, we're having twins, and I know he's anxious and tired and he feels shitty a lot of the time, but no matter how much I try I never feel like it's enough."

"Trust me, love, he appreciates it," Betty says. Louis gives her a small smile, twisting his wedding ring around his finger. "In all honesty, you're better than most of the plonkers that come in and think getting their partners a Tesco card for Valentine's is enough."

Louis laughs a little, and Betty gives him a warm smile. "He really is lovely," Louis says quietly. "Way out of my league, seriously. He's smart, and is always putting others before himself, and he calls me sun. It's so fuckin' cute. I really want this to work, I want to get better for him."

"You should want to get better for yourself, too," Betty says. Louis nods.

"I know," He says. "And I do. I want to get better for myself, and him, and our kids."

"Good," Betty nods, folding her hands over her crossed legs. Her nails are painted bright red. "In the note Miriam sent me she said you're on Lexapro. Has that been working for you?"

"Yeah," Louis shrugs. "She gave it to me for my insomnia, and I've been sleeping pretty much every night."

"What about during the day?" Betty raises an eyebrow. "Are you anxious during the day?"

"Yeah," Louis says again, no hesitation. "A lot of the time. But, like, just the normal amount."

Betty blinks at him. Louis senses he said something wrong. "The...normal amount of anxious is not at all," Betty says. Oh. Louis winces. "It's okay. We can work on managing that."

"O-Okay," Louis nods, pressing his lips together.

"Now, what do you do for work?" Betty asks.

"I, uh, do construction work," Louis says, looking down at his lap. "But I'm going to uni in the fall. I mean, hopefully. I haven't been accepted anywhere yet."

"That's wonderful!" Betty says, and Louis can't help but smile. "And your husband, he's been supportive of you?"

"Yeah. He's the one who really pushed me to do it," Louis admits, feeling himself smile wider. "You know he's the only person who's ever called me smart? Besides, like, my mother."

"Sounds like you're very lucky to have that boy," Betty points out. Louis' face softens, and he looks down at his hands before nodding.

"Yeah, I am," He says after a moment.

♛

When Louis gets home, Taylor is sitting on the sofa, Gracie between her legs. She's wearing a long, black dress, braiding Gracie's hair. "Daddy!" Gracie cheers as he walks through the door.

"Gracie!" Louis cheers back, laughing a little. "You look beautiful, love."

"Well, thank you," Taylor smiles smugly. Louis makes a face at her. "Joe has taken over your bathroom to do his hair. Just warning you."

"Great," Louis deadpans.

"I'm gettin' my hair done like Taylor's," Gracie says, referring to the two low, braided buns Taylor often wears.

"Oh, no, we don't need another Taylor," Louis teases. Taylor sticks when tongue out at him, and he chuckles. "'Ve gotta change. Where's your Papa, Gracie Girl?"

"Upstairs," Gracie chirps. Louis makes his way towards the stairs, walking into his bedroom to see Harry sitting on the bed, attempting to put his own shoes on. He's wearing a loose, sheer lavender button-up, with black trousers that taper at the ankle.

"Isn't it a rule that you're not supposed to look better than the bride?" Louis asks. Harry looks up at him and rolls his eyes, but he smiles.

"How was it?" He asks.

"It was fine," Louis says, walking over and taking Harry's face in his hands. He leans down and kisses him, feeling Harry smile against his lips. "You look wonderful."

"Well, thank you," Harry giggles, holding his foot out. "Shoes, please?"

Louis just obeys, taking Harry's shoes from him and kneeling down to help him. "You really do look beautiful," He says after a moment, tying Harry's dress shoes that Louis knows he'll slip off under the dinner table. Harry's cheeks turn darker as he grins, shaking his head.

"What's up with you today?" He asks.

"I don't know," Louis admits, laughing a little. "Weddings make me sappy."

"The wedding's tomorrow."

Louis makes a face at him before standing up off the floor. "I can't just say my husband looks nice?" He asks, walking over to the wardrobe where his shirt is hung up.

"Three times in two minutes is a bit suspicious," Harry points out.

"Fine, you look average," Louis shrugs, and Harry laughs. "Meh. Whatever. I totally don't want to bend you over the bed right now."

"Louis," Harry hisses, cheeks flushing, sending Louis into a fit of laughter. "Just shut up and get dressed."

"Yeah, yeah," Louis waves him off, stripping his jumper off and tossing it in the hamper. "Do you think I can get away with not wearing my suit jacket?"

"Maybe to the rehearsal dinner, yeah, but not tomorrow," Harry shakes his head.

"But you're not wearing one tomorrow," Louis whines, slipping his button up shirt on.

"Because there are none that fit me," Harry pouts. "Besides, I'm almost six and a half months pregnant with twins. Which is, like, nine months pregnant normally, so. I can wear whatever I want. Barbara told me so."

"Okay, but like, in a way, I'm pregnant t-" Louis begins, but the death stare Harry gives him causes him to stop. He holds his hands up. "Okay. Fine. Guess I'm wearing the suit jacket."

"That's what I thought," Harry smirks. "You look handsome in the jacket, anyways."

Louis grins at him, buttoning up his dress shirt. He glances up at himself in the full length mirror, fixing the collar. "You ready to see me fend off anyone who tries to touch you tonight?"

"You don't have to," Harry laughs weakly. "I just wish they'd ask first."

"I don't get why people think just because you're pregnant they can walk up to you and touch you without your permission," Louis rants, eyes going wide as he unbuttons his trousers to change into his dressier ones. "Don't you think they'd realise you're uncomfortable enough a lot of the time without them walking up and touching you all the time?"

Harry's smiling, fond, as Louis shakes his head, sighing. "You're cute," He says. Louis' aggravated expression melts into a softer one as he smiles back at him.

♛

"Okay, Gracie, now throw the petals."

"But there's no petals in here."

Louis sighs, already aggravated. Why do they even need to rehearse a fucking wedding? You walk down the aisle, you stand there while the couple cries and reads their sappy vows, and then you go drink booze. Not much to rehearse.

"Because we're saving the real ones for the actual wedding, darlin'," Niall reminds for the third time. He's unbelievably patient. Louis used to be like that. Then he had a kid. "Just pretend to throw them and walk towards me, okay?"

Louis is standing on the opposite end of the aisle next to Barbara's roommate from uni, who won't stop staring at him. He was really hoping out of all the bridesmaids, he'd at least get to walk with Taylor.

But no. They stuck him with Ashley, who, by the way she's looking at him, either thinks he's attractive or wants to murder him. When he glances over at Harry, sitting in one of the church pews, he looks like he wants to murder her. Louis gulps.

Gracie looks unbelievably annoyed that she doesn't have any real flower petals to throw, but she obliges, reaching her hand into the empty basket as she walks down the aisle. Theo, Niall's nephew, is already standing at the front.

"'Atta girl, G," Niall nods, grinning at her. Once Gracie gets to the front, she stands next to Theo. Liam goes next, his arm linked with Barbara's maid of honour, her sister. Liam is Niall's best man, and Niall was Louis', so Louis is going to be Liam's. Someday.

"Alright, Lou, Ashley, you're next," Barbara says from behind them. Ashley wastes no time linking their arms together. Louis is trying to look as disinterested as he feels so there's no chance he has to sleep on the sofa tonight.

They walk down the aisle together before Louis gets to go stand next to Liam. He looks over to Harry, who's pouting, and blows him a kiss. Joe, who's sitting next to him (he was appointed Harry duty) wrinkles his nose as the gesture.

"Did you see me, Daddy?" Gracie asks, beaming up at him. Louis nods, holding his finger up to his mouth. The last thing he needs is her blurting something out during the actual wedding.

The rest of the groomsmen and bridesmaids walk down the aisle until Barbara does with her dad. Niall looks so happy, it melts Louis' heart a little.

Once they're done with the rehearsal, they go to some hotel down the road to eat in the ballroom. Harry still seems a little grumpy about Ashley.

"Baby, I barely looked at her," Louis sighs, resting his hand on Harry's thigh as they pull out of the church parking lot. Harry sits there, arms crossed over his tummy, pouting. "Trust me, if I had it my way, I would be walking with Taylor."

Somehow, Harry doesn't look impressed by that. Louis sighs. "Actually, if I had it my way, I'd be walking with you," He corrects, squeezing Harry's thigh gently. "Because you're my husband, and ten times prettier than Ashley."

"Oh, so now you're on a first name basis?" Harry grumbles. Christ.

"Barb introduced us," Louis explains, almost desperate. "I don't want anything to do with her, Hazza, the whole time I was standing there with her I wished I was standing there with you."

That seems to tone down the hormones a bit. Harry sighs softly, but he entwines his fingers with Louis'. Louis smiles to himself, lifting Harry's hand up and kissing the back of it tenderly.

They get to the hotel, Louis practically jogging around the car to help Harry and Gracie out. They get there just as everyone else does as well, so Louis just leads them in with the rest of the people, arriving to a big ballroom with tables set up everywhere.

"Gracie Mae, please stop lifting your dress up like that," Louis requests, shaking his head.

"Why?" Gracie asks.

"Because you're flashing the entire wedding party," Louis sighs, leaning down to push the skirt of her dress down himself. He helps Harry sit down at their assigned seat, across from Taylor, Joe, and Liam, and before he can even sit down himself, Ashley is standing in front of him.

"Just thought I should introduce myself, since we'll be walking together tomorrow," She says, smiling in a way she must think is seductive, holding her hand out to him to shake. "I'm Ashley."

"Um, Louis," Louis smiles as politely as he can manage, shaking her hand. He then rests his hand on Harry's shoulder, who already looks pissed. "Have you met my husband?"

"Hi," Ashley says towards Harry, not even looking at him. It irks Louis a little bit, yeah, but he tries not to make a face. "So, usually the groomsmen gives the bridesmaid a ride to the wedding, yeah? What time should I be ready?"

"Oh, uh," This is so awkward. Louis wants the ground to swallow him up. "I mean, I've got Harry, and my kid and her car seat, I don't know if we have room. But I'm sure I could find someone to give you a lift, um-"

"Daddy, is this the girl you said Papa was prettier than? And that you didn't wanna stand with?"

Holy. Fucking. Shit. Louis freezes, thoroughly mortified, as Ashley just stares at him. Joe bursts out into laughter, being elbowed by Taylor. Liam takes a sip of his water, looking away. After a moment, Ashley gives Louis the worst death stare he's ever received, storming away from him.

"Gracie Mae," Louis hisses. Joe is still cracking up, head down on the table as his shoulders shake. Harry looks satisfied.

Louis sits down, running his hand over his face. He'll be hearing about this from Barbara for sure. "There, you happy now?" He mutters to Harry.

"Very," Harry grins.

They order their food, getting into a discussion about how which of them one of the new babies should be named after. Louis has his arm around the back of Harry's chair, keeping him close as he argues why Joe is a weird name for a baby.

"Is it hot in here?" Harry asks him softly, leaning into him a little. Louis furrows his eyebrows.

"I feel fine," He shakes his head. "Why, are you okay?"

"I'm fine, just a little warm," Harry assures. His cheeks are pink.

"Here, wanna go get some air?" Louis starts to stand up, holding his hand out to help Harry up. Harry let's him, and Louis turns to Taylor. "Hey, T, can you watch Gracie for a mo'?"

"Yeah, sure," Taylor says, sipping a margarita. Maybe he should have asked Liam. At least she has Joe supervising her. Louis needs to buy him a trophy or something for dealing with his pregnant husband and Taylor while she's drinking.

"Alright, c'mon, love," Louis rests his hand on the small of Harry's back, leading him out of the room and to the parking lot. There's a lake outside, with a bench to the side of the parking lot overlooking it, so Louis sits Harry down there. "Better?"

"Much," Harry exhales, tucking his hair behind his ear. Louis sits next to him, stuffing his hands in the pockets of his trousers. The air is cool, but it feels nice, the moonlight shining on the lake and on Harry's face. He looks beautiful.

"Hey," Louis says softly. Harry turns to look at him. "I love you."

Harry smiles, leaning forward to peck Louis' lips. "Weddings do make you sappy," He hums. Louis scowls, and Harry giggles. "I love you too. Where'd that come from?"

"I just felt like saying it," Louis smiles back at him.

"You've been extra soft today," Harry observes. "Anything to do with your appointment?"

Louis sighs softly, putting his arm around Harry's shoulders. "I was telling her about you," He admits quietly. Harry's smile becomes a little fonder. "And she told me I was very lucky to have you. Which, I already knew. But I've been thinking about it all day, how lucky I am."

"I'm luckier," Harry says.

"No way," Louis scoffs. Harry leans his head on Louis' shoulder, and Louis kisses the top of his head. "I'm the luckiest. 'Ve got you, and three kids. Including our big-mouth of a daughter."

"Okay, that was so funny," Harry laughs, looking up at Louis. Louis shakes his head. "She deserved that. She was..."

"She was what? Looking at me?" Louis raises an eyebrow.

"She was looking at you in a way I didn't like," Harry pouts. Louis shakes his head again, but he can't help but grin at how cute he is.

"You're jealous," Louis points out.

"Shut up," Harry huffs.

"Peanut butter and jealousss," Louis says in a sing-song voice, laughing when Harry elbows him. He kisses the top of his head again. "You're the only one for me, Hazza, nobody could ever replace you."

"I know," Harry says, cocky. Louis just smiles, squeezing Harry's shoulders as he turns his attention to the moonlit lake in front of him.

long chapter love u besties xoxo

also thank u for 100k reads u guys are crazyyyyy i love uuu