i just saw that the boys who were caught inflicting the violence/bullying upon semarion humphrey were expelled and semarion is currently receiving psychiatric help. this case involves minors and due to privacy reasons a lot of the details can't be released because of their age, but it seems as though the family has gotten proper help & the boys have been thoroughly punished xx

"You're my favourite people ever, have I told you that?"

"No, but we knew," Niall says, and Barbara grins. Gracie's already sat herself in front of their telly, changing it from golf to Spongebob. They've only been there two minutes. "Why'd you have to bring her here again?"

"Because Harry is very close to killing one of us," Louis says. Niall and Barbara laugh. Louis wants to tell them he was not joking. "And I'd rather it be me."

"Grumpy?" Barbara asks, sitting down at a stool in front of the kitchen counter. Louis raises his eyebrows, twisting his mouth.

"Um, that might be an understatement," He admits. Niall smiles at him sympathetically. "He's off bed rest in three days, so he'll probably be okay then. But for now, he hates me, and he hates his doctor, and he hates Rory from Gilmore Girls."

"He must be bored," Barbara coos, her tone oozing with empathy. Louis thinks she'd be a lot less understanding if she were around him. "What has he been doing?"

"Well, in the past nine days, he's watched six seasons of Gilmore Girls," Louis says. "Folded all of the babies' clothes, refolded all of the babies' clothes when he found out how Marie Kondo does it, and has crafted three different budget plans we can follow in the next four years."

"Productive," Niall comments.

"Most people would love an excuse to lay in bed and do nothing for two weeks," Louis shakes his head. "Such a weirdo."

Louis leaves Gracie to hang out with Niall and Barbara and goes back home to Harry. He kind of wishes he could stay and watch Spongebob on Niall's couch too, but he has a very pregnant, very grumpy husband to take care of.

When he gets home and goes back upstairs to the bedroom, Harry is sitting up against a bunch of pillows, arms crossed over his chest, pouting. Louis gives him a small, cautious smile. "What did Rory do?"

"No, it's Luke," Harry says, exasperated.

"I thought we liked Luke?" Louis furrows his eyebrows. "You said if you didn't marry me you'd marry Luke." Louis' not entirely sure Harry wouldn't just take him out of the equation to be with Luke.

"He hid his daughter from Lorelei for two months!" Harry says, truly and seriously angry at this American television series from the early 2000s. Louis could not be more in love with him.

"So? I thought he was married to that other girl," Louis furrows his eyebrows.

"That was three seasons ago, Lorelei and Luke are engaged," Harry makes a face at him, as if he was supposed to know that.

"Right," Louis nods slowly. "Got it. Sorry."

Harry's eyes flick back to the telly, but then he sighs softly. "Will you come sit with me?" He asks quietly. Louis smiles, fond, and kicks his shoes off. He plops down on the bed, scooting back and sitting next to Harry. Harry drops his head to Louis' shoulder. "'M sorry 've been grumpy."

Louis kisses the top of his head. "I hadn't noticed," Harry looks up and gives Louis a cut-the-bullshit look, and Louis can't fight back a smile. "Okay. I kinda noticed."

Harry wrinkles his nose until Louis leans down and kisses the tip of it. That leaves him with a grin. "I wanna get out of bed," He mumbles, pressing his cheek further into Louis' shoulder and closing his eyes. "I wanna lay on my stomach and drink wine and eat sushi forever."

"You don't have that much time left," Louis reminds. "They could come tomorrow," He can feel Harry tense against him, and he wraps an arm around his shoulders. "But probably not."

"I have too many things to do," Harry says, the anxiety evident in his tone. "Too many things that could be done in the next three days. But, no. I have to just sit here and be useless for three days and hope your kids decide not to come out."

"How about you make me a list?" Louis suggests. "And I'll try to get some of it done tomorrow."

Harry's eyes soften as he looks up at Louis. "Really?"

"Yeah, sure," Louis shrugs. "'S not like I had any big plans."

Harry bites his bottom lip, his eyes already becoming shiny. Louis isn't even surprised. He just sighs, smiling fondly, and kisses Harry's forehead. "You're so nice to me," Harry sniffles. "'N 've been so mean to you. I'm so sorry!"

"Hazza," Louis sighs, laughing a little. "Bub, it's okay."

"I love you so much," Harry weeps, blinking tears out of his eyes as he looks back up at Louis.

"I love you too," Louis smiles. "'S okay, 's just a few errands." Harry hiccups, pressing his forehead against Louis' shoulder, and Louis shakes his head, giving Harry a squeeze. "Goodness. What're we going to do with you?"

"Let me get out of bed," Harry sighs, sniffling again. Louis rolls his eyes. "'M craving Nando's 'n you won't even let me get it."

"I can get you Nando's," Louis assures, already going to stand up. Harry pouts, and Louis twists his mouth. He sighs in defeat. "Alright, I suppose going for a little drive wouldn't hurt." Harry's eyes light up. "But you're staying in the car. 'N we're only going to Nando's and back."

"Okay!" Harry grins. It's kind of sad how excited he is to go on a ten minute drive. Louis sighs, shaking his head before going to get Harry some shoes.

♛

"This is making me very anxious," Louis admits, one hand holding Harry's and the other gripping the wheel. Harry rolls his eyes.

"I'm fine," He assures. Louis squeezes his hand, taking a deep breath. "Fresh air is good."

"So is resting," Louis sighs, but he can't help but smile when Harry makes a face at him. "Don't know why you're so adamant on leaving. 'M afraid as soon as the doctor clears you you'll be running off to the Bahamas or summat."

"I'll bring at least one of the babies," Harry shrugs, grinning at him. "So you won't have to deal with both of them."

"Such a considerate husband I have," Louis hums.

They get to the Nando's drive thru, Louis rolling his window down, fingers still entwined with Harry's. "Hi, welcome to Nando's, how can I help you?"

"Hi, um, can I get the chicken and chips, please?" Louis says towards the speaker.

"Anything else?"

"And the wings," Harry says.

"And the wings," Louis repeats.

"Oh, and the avocado and roasted pepper bowl," Harry says. Louis sighs a little, but he nods.

"And the avocado and roasted pepper bowl," He says.

"Do they still have garlic sticks?" Harry asks.

"Christ," Louis mutters before clearing his throat. "Um, do you guys still have garlic sticks?"

"Yes, sir."

"Okay, an order of those," Louis says.

"...Will that be all, sir?"

Louis looks over to Harry. "Yeah," Harry nods. "Wait, no, I want a brownie."

Louis should've seen that coming. "Throw a brownie in there, and we're all set," Louis says.

"Alright, pull on up."

"Thank you," Louis says before leaning back in the car seat and sighing. "Geez, Hazza, you expecting company or summat?"

"Why don't you just straight-up call me fat?" Harry shoots back, glaring at Louis. Louis should've seen that coming as well. Harry takes his hand out of Louis' and crosses his arms.

"No, babe, I was just joshing with you," Louis says, sighing. He pulls up to the window, with the poor kid who had to take his huge order there greeting him with a polite smile.

"Forty-six eighty-five," The boy says.

"Oh, my God," Louis mumbles, but he pulls his card out and hands it to him. The boy swipes it and hands it back.

"Your food will be out in a mo'," He says.

"Thank you so much," Louis says. "I'm so sorry."

The kid looks passed Louis to his very pregnant, very grumpy husband, pouting with his arms crossed, and gives Louis a sympathetic smile. "Don't worry about it, mate."

"Thank you so much," Louis says again. The kid goes to get some of the food, and Louis sticks a few pounds in the tip jar. He looks back to Harry. "Babe. I'm sorry."

"No you're not," Harry grumbles. And we're back to wanting to kill Louis. At least the grumpiness dissipated for a little while.

"Yes I am," Louis insists. "You're not fat, and even if you were I wouldn't care. You're beautiful no matter what you look like."

Harry gives Louis a dull look. Louis sighs. "Here you go," The boy in the window says, handing Louis two big bags of food. Louis takes them with a weak smile.

"Thank you so, so much," He says. He hands the bags of foods to Harry and pulls away from the drive-thru, sighing softly. Harry holds the bags of food, looking over at Louis and frowning slightly.

"Hey," Harry says quietly. Louis glances over at him. "I love you. Thank you."

Where the fuck did that come from? Louis smiles at him cautiously. "I love you too."

"'M sorry I'm so hormonal," Harry twists his mouth. Louis knows he genuinely feels bad, and can't help his mood-swings.

"Hazza, you're fine," He assures. Harry sighs quietly, clearly not believing him. "You're lucky I'm whipped."

"You are a little whipped," Harry giggles. "Can't believe I got you to let me go out."

"I'm still nervous," Louis glances at Harry wearily. "Just try 'n hold 'em in for seven more minutes?"

"I'll try," Harry says, reaching into one of the paper bags for his brownie. It's only a moment before he puts a hand on his stomach, squeezing his eyes shot and hollering out an "ah!"

Louis' heart drops. "Harry, holy shit, I knew this was a bad idea, we need to get the bags from our house, holy shi-" Louis' interrupted by Harry throwing his head back and laughing.

"You're so easy!" He giggles.

"Harry," Louis' heart is still pounding, sighing exasperatedly. "Oh my God. I could kill you right now."

"But you won't," Harry grins. "Because you're whiiipped. And, that was pretty funny."

Louis' shoulders slump, letting out a long exhale. "Okay, it was kinda funny. But please don't do it again. Especially while I'm driving."

"We'll see," Harry grins cheekily, breaking off a piece of his brownie and holding it near Louis' mouth. Louis leans over and eats it out of his hand, and Harry laughs. "I'll share my wings with you too, if you're nice to me."

"You just gave me a literal heart attack," Louis points out, mouth full of brownie. "You owe me five baskets of wings."

"I've gestated three of your kids."

"Okay. We're even then, I guess."

♛

Louis is woken up in the middle of the night by Harry shaking him gently. "Lou?" He hears Harry ask quietly.

"Yes, dear?" Louis mumbles into his pillow, not even irritated at being woken up. He's so used to it by now.

"Do heart abnormalities run in your family?"

"Harry," Louis says sternly, not even opening his eyes. "Get off of WebMD and go to sleep."

"But there's an increased risk with twins," Harry says. Louis sighs, rubbing his eyes and sitting up slowly. Sure enough, Harry's laptop is open and sitting on top of his belly.

"Love," Louis says wearily. "Put it away."

"Do they?" Harry presses, bottom lip stuck out, pouting.

"No, H, they don't," Louis assures gently, taking Harry's laptop and closing it. "Sleep."

"Maybe you should call your mum to confirm that," Harry says, grabbing Louis' arm.

"Babe," Louis says, putting his hands on Harry's cheeks. "It is arse 'o clock in the morning. My mother is sleeping. We should be sleeping. Our babies are fine."

"Lou," Harry whines.

"C'mon," Louis lays back down on his back, holding his arms out to Harry. Harry sighs softly, but he lays down, resting his cheek against Louis' chest. Louis kisses the top of his head. "Get some sleep, okay? I definitely need some to tick off that to-do list you're giving me."

Harry presses his cheek further into Louis' chest, closing his eyes. "Three kids is a lot," He says softly.

"We could always give Gracie away to Taylor," Louis suggests. Harry giggles sleepily. "Or Niall. Give him a taste of what it's like before he and Barbara have one."

"Barbara's pregnant," Harry mumbles casually.

"What?!" Louis furrows his eyebrows, lifting his head. "When did she tell you?" How could they tell you and not me?"

"They didn't," Harry grins. "But I can sense it. And she posted a picture of her and her friends at a bar, and everyone had cocktails except her. She had a water."

"You have way too much time on your hands," Louis mutters. Harry makes a face at him. "She could've just wanted a water."

"She's pregnant," Harry shakes his head. "No one honeymoons in Paris to do anything except have sex."

"That's an image I did not need in my head," Louis wrinkles his nose.

"Just wait," Harry says. "In the next four weeks, they're gonna announce it, and I'm going to say I told you so."

"Can't wait," Louis rolls his eyes, but his smile is fond. He kisses the top of Harry's head again. "Now, get some sleep. We can talk about heart abnormalities and our friends' sex lives tomorrow."

"Oh, God, the heart abnormalities," Harry lifts his head up. Louis grabs it and gently pushes it back down, forcing Harry to lay against his chest again.

"Sleep. Now. Goodnight," He says. Harry pouts, but he closes his eyes, wrapping his arm around Louis' torso.

♛

"What're you doin', Papa?" Gracie peers over the bed, seeing Harry write something down in a notebook. Harry stops to run his fingers through her hair, grinning at her.

"I'm making Daddy a to-do list," He says. "For stuff that needs to get done before the babies come."

"Oh," Gracie makes a face. Harry takes his hand away from her hair, but Gracie grabs his arm and holds his hand up to her cheek, making him smile wider. "Can I make him one?"

"A to-do list?" Harry furrows his eyebrows. Gracie nods. "Sure." He shrugs, flipping the page of his notebook and ripping a blank one out. He hands Gracie his pen. "Daddy's going to be busy today, huh?"

"Mhm," Gracie sits down on the floor, starting to write on the piece of paper. Harry shakes his head. He can't even imagine what's going to be on that list.

Louis walks into the room, wearing a t-shirt and some black shorts. Harry wants to kiss him all over. But he also doesn't want anyone to touch him. Hormones are so weird.

"Alright, G, you ready to be my special helper again?" Louis asks, putting his hands on his hips.

"I'm makin' you a list too, hush!" Gracie squeaks from the floor.

"Gracie, don't tell people to hush," Harry sighs.

"Very demanding bunch I have today," Louis smiles amusedly, shaking his head and looking up at Harry. "You done with your list, then?"

"Yup," Harry rips the paper out, handing it over to him. Louis looks it over, raising his eyebrows.

"It's...long," He observes. Gracie stands up off the floor, handing him her own list. Louis takes it and looks down at hers, smiling.

Cudle with Gracie
Drink beer
Wach tely with Gracie
Play with Gracie
Eat mac n cheez with Gracie
Sit down
Footy with Gracie
Nap
Mak cookys with Gracie

"I like this list," Louis nods, laughing a little. "'M afraid we'll probably have to get through Papa's first, though."

"Why?" Gracie pouts.

"Because, save the best for last," Louis says like it's obvious. "Worst for first. Duh."

"Oh," Gracie nods. Louis is a little too good at understanding six-year old logic. "Okay."

"Alright, we can hit Tesco first," Louis says, looking down at Harry's list. "And then Asda, and then the baby store."

"Starbucks?" Gracie asks, grinning up at Louis. She likes getting smoothies or hot chocolate and pretending she's drinking coffee like Daddy.

"If you behave," Louis says, folding up both lists and stuffing them in his pocket. "Say bye to Papa."

"Bye-bye, Papa!" Gracie leans up to hug Harry. Harry kisses the top of her head before she pats his tummy gently. "Bye, babiesss!"

"Let's roll, Gracie Girl," Louis nods towards the door, but not before approaching Harry and leaning down to kiss him. "We'll be back."

"Don't leave me for too long," Harry pouts, blinking up at Louis with his long eyelashes. Louis' face melts into a smile, and he leans down and kisses him again.

"Would miss you too much, babe," He shakes his head. "We won't be too long. Behave yourself."

"Or what?" Harry raises an eyebrow at him, grinning cheekily. Louis rolls his eyes, pinching Harry's cheek gently.

"Just be good," He says. He pats Harry's tummy like Gracie had, echoing her and saying "Bye, babiesss!"

♛

"What're we doin'?"

"Getting nappies," Louis says, holding Gracie's hand as they walk down the aisle of some baby store.

"Why?"

"Uh," Louis furrows his eyebrows. "So they don't poop all over the place?"

Gracie is beside herself, laughing hysterically, because Daddy said poop. Louis stands in front of a row of them, trying to decide if the babies will be small enough for them to buy preemie nappies.

"Have I ever told you about the time I was changing Ernie's nappy when he was a baby?" Louis asks. "And he decided to wee all over me?"

He expects Gracie to laugh again, but she shoots him a confused look. "How'd he wee up?" She asks.

Louis is not really looking to give an anatomy lesson in the middle of this store, so he grabs two packs of nappies in different sizes and says, "Okay, all set here, lets go pay."

"I carry one!" Gracie insists, grabbing one of the packages from Louis' arms. It's about half the size of her. Louis grins fondly, shaking his head and leading her out of the aisle. It's only a few seconds later he hears Gracie shout "Barbara!"

Louis looks over and sees Barbara standing there. Her eyes are a little wide, but she gives Gracie a smile. "Gracie, hello!" She looks up at Louis. The basket in her hands is full of pre-natal stuff. "Um, hi."

"Hi," Louis grins, glancing at her basket. "...Doing some shopping?"

"Oh, um, yeah," Barbara says quickly. "You know, I was going to...pick up some gifts for your twins."

"Ah," Louis nods. He can tell Barbara knows he knows, and she looks a little upset. "Well. You know I won't tell anyone that you were buying...stuff for the twins."

Barbara's face relaxes a little in relief. "Thank you," She sighs softly. Louis smiles back at her.

"Congratulations," He nods at her. "On the shopping, I mean."

"Of course," Barbara laughs a little. Almost as soon as they go their separate ways, Louis is texting Harry.

Louis: You were right

Harry: I know

Harry: Right about what, though?

Louis: Barbara!!!!!!!

Harry: Of course I was, I can sense it now. Like Spider-Man.

Louis: You're not cool enough to be Spider-Man

Harry: :(

Louis: ...and you're too cute to have a costume with a mask that goes over your face!!!

Harry: :)

"What're you textin' Papa about, Daddy?"

"Hm?" Louis looks up from his phone. It's kind of funny she automatically knows he's texting Harry. "Oh, nothing, peanut. C'mon, let's go home and get started on that list of yours."

can't wait to GIVE BIRTH to the next chapter. wink wink. nudge nudge.