Louis wakes up to Harry moving frantically around the room, muttering curse words. His head is still pounding, but he reluctantly opens his eyes and looks at him.

"Wassit?" He mumbles, rubbing his eyes. The bed feels colder without Harry next to him. He feels like he should be used to the feeling, but he's not.

"I slept too long, I'm late to get Gracie," Harry sighs, slipping on some shoes. He seems irritated, and Louis feels too shitty to deal with it, so he lays back down and puts his arm over his eyes.

"Should've set an alarm or somethin'," Louis mutters.

"Yeah, thank you," Harry replies, sarcastic. He sighs and grabs his phone off the bedside table. "I'll be back in a bit. Do you...do you need anything while I'm out."

"No. I'm okay."

Harry sighs again, stuffing his phone into the pocket of his joggers before leaving the bedroom, closing the door behind him. He's not mad at Louis. It's not his fault. He's mad at himself for indulging, for letting himself join Louis in pretending they're young again, pretending they're the only people in the world. It felt nice, but he can't do that. They're parents.

It doesn't take him too long to get to Gracie's school, thankfully. He walks in and sees Gracie standing there with her teacher. She looks up at him, and her whole face lights up. "Papa!" She exclaims, running over to him. Harry's heart melts. He lifts her up and kisses her cheek.

"I'm so sorry I'm late, babe," He laughs a little as she clings onto him. "I lost track of time."

"It's okay," Gracie chirps, ever so sweet. Harry thanks her teacher and sets Gracie down, holding her hand as they walk out to the car.

"How was your day, G?" Harry asks, helping her into the car and buckling her into her car seat.

"It was fun," Gracie grins up at him. "We played duck duck goose. I got to be the goose!"

"Sounds like a good day to me," Harry smiles back at her before closing the door. He climbs into the driver's seat and starts the car, taking his sunglasses off of the top of his head and putting them on.

"Papa?" Gracie squeaks from the backseat.

"Yes, pumpkin."

"Daddy's never late, you know."

Harry sighs. He knows she's right, though. For such a disorganised person, Louis' really good about dropping her off and picking her up on time everyday. "I know he isn't, G. Daddy's pretty great, huh?"

"Mhm," Gracie nods, looking out the window as Harry pulls out of the parking lot.

♛

"Louis," Harry says gently, watching as Louis grips the sterling wheel tightly. "She's right. You know she is."

Louis sighs through his nose, keeping his eyes on the road. "She didn't have to be like that, though," He mumbles. He's quiet for a moment. "I'm sorry I can't take care of you."

"What do you mean? You do," Harry furrows his eyebrows.

"Like, financially," Louis explains. "I wish I could've gone to uni, and I wish I could've gotten a better job. I'm sorry."

"Lou," Harry says softly. "No. Don't apologise for that."

"Whatever, it doesn't matter," Louis says gruffly. "My own mother doesn't want to help us, that's fine. We'll just have to fucking figure it out."

"We will," Harry assures, resting his hand over Louis' arm. Louis sighs again, but he doesn't say anything.

♛

"Daddyyy!" Gracie bursts into the bedroom before Harry can tell her to be quiet. Louis' not sleeping, thankfully, he's sitting up against some pillows watching the telly.

"Gracie Mae!" Louis exclaims, laughing as she jumps onto the bed and tackles him. He always sounds just as excited to see her. Harry really, genuinely loves that about him.

"How d'ya feel, Daddy?" Gracie asks, laying on Louis' chest. Louis grins, kissing the top of her head.

"I feel a little better," He looks up and meets Harry's eyes, smiling a little. "'S only because Papa's a real good nurse."

Harry can't help but smile. "What can I say? It's the years of experience," He shrugs. "Especially with such a difficult patient."

"Oi!" Louis laughs.

"Papa said I hafta' go to Nana's when you go to the doctor," Gracie mentions. "But who's gon' hold your hand if you get a shot?"

Louis laughs again, putting his hand on Gracie's back. "I'm sure Papa could manage, babe. Although, he could never beat your hand holding skills."

"It keeps me up at night," Harry shakes his head. "You ready to go, Louis?"

Louis sighs. "Yeah. Lemme just get my shoes on," He gets up from the bed, carrying Gracie towards the closet so he can slip on his Vans. "C'mon, G, lets get you to Nana Jay's."

♛

"How do you feel?" Harry asks, getting back in the car after bringing Gracie into Jay's house. Louis closes his eyes and sighs softly.

"Fine," He mumbles. "My head doesn't hurt anymore. 'S just my throat."

"That's good," Harry reaches up and runs his fingers through Louis' hair. Louis smiles a little, eyes still closed. "Um...I'm sorry I got mad at you earlier. I wasn't actually angry at you, I was just irritated. It wasn't your fault."

"It's okay," Louis mutters. "Thank you for apologising."

"We really need to normalise that, huh?" Harry pinches Louis' cheek lightly. Louis opens his eyes, looking up at Harry and grinning.

"I love you, H," He says quietly. Harry's face softens.

"I love you too," He replies. "C'mon, we gotta go see what's wrong with ya."

Louis makes a whining noise, rubbing his face with his hand. "They're gonna make me get a strep test. I always gag."

"That's why I take care of the blowies," Harry quips, and Louis laughs before whining.

"Don't make me laugh," He huffs, putting his hand on his throat. Harry smirks mischievously, putting the car in drive.

♛

"Do you not want this baby?"

Louis looks up from where he's figuring out how the fuck they're gonna pay their bills to see Harry standing there, arms crossed. "Huh? What're you on about?"

"Do you not want it?" Harry repeats. "I know you're stressed, but. You haven't even looked at me all day."

"Harry," Louis sighs.

"What is it?" Harry asks. "Did I say something? Did something happen? Do you actually not want the baby?"

"No," Louis says, raising his voice a little. "No. I don't. Not right now. We're clearly not ready for this, Harry."

"Louis," Harry says softly. He looks like a puppy when he's upset, Louis can't stand to look at it, so he looks down. "Are you...being serious?"

Louis drops his pen and puts his face in his hands. "No," He sighs. "I'm just scared. I'm so attached to a baby I can't even take care of. I just...wish we could've waited a few more years."

He closes his eyes and sighs again. He feels the couch dip next to him, and Harry's hand slipping into his own. "It's going to be okay," He says softly. "We'll be okay."

"I don't know how you can keep saying that," Louis chuckles humourlessly.

"Because I know it's true," Harry leans into Louis, resting his chin on his shoulder. Louis shakes his head. Harry picks up the bill Louis was looking at, reading it. He hums softly. "Okay, so, we stop eating out for a while. And...I'll stop going and getting my hair cut."

Louis can't even describe how much he loves Harry. He wraps him up in his arms, kissing the top of his head. "I love you, H."

♛

Louis doesn't have strep. The doctor asks him if he's been stressed out lately, and if he's been sleeping enough. Yes, and no. The doctor tells him to take it easy for the next day and start sleeping better. Harry looks aggravated at that answer, and Louis feels aggravated–if he were able to sleep better, he would.

On their way back home, Louis gets a text from Jay. "G wants to know if she can sleepover there tonight," He reads. Harry sighs, twisting his mouth.

"I guess," He shrugs.

"'S her last day of school tomorrow," Louis reminds. "I'm gonna try to see if I can get a few days off every week to hang out with Gracie over the summer. Only if we don't have too much going on, though. We don't have any new projects to start for a while."

"Maybe I'll do the same," Harry says. Louis whips his head towards Harry, eyebrows raised. "Probably only one day a week every few weeks, I'm still really busy."

"No, that'd be good," Louis assures, voice soft. "G would really like that."

Harry smiles weakly. "I'm trying Lou," He says, voice quiet.

"I know," Louis replies. "'N that's all I could ever ask you to do." Harry's smile grows. "So, we have all night to ourselves."

"We do," Harry nods, glancing at Louis. "You probably don't feel well enough to do anything but rest, right?"

"I mean," Louis shrugs. "Depends what you had in mind."

Harry laughs. "Sounds like you have something in mind, Lou," He points out. Louis chuckles, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Maybe," He shrugs. "Only if you're up for it."

"I'm up for it," Harry assures. "Do we have condoms?"

"I don't know," Louis admits. "But y've got the pill. I'm sure it will be fine."

Harry doesn't look so sure, but he sighs softly. "Yeah, okay," He nods. Louis is ignoring the voice in his head telling him this could be a bad idea, and they might be back to telling at each other tomorrow.