~Walking in the wind~

FLASHBACK TO SEPTEMBER 20TH

Harry is sitting in a chair designed to make someone's back hurt. It's not ergonomic, that's for sure. He's in Louis' hospital room, bouncing his leg up and down and wishing that he would wake up. Wake up so that he wouldn't be alone here. Everyone was still in town, of course, still staying at Simon's until their friend was out of the danger zone and they were sure that he wouldn't die. Eleanor was taking care of the baby while figuring out business details with Gemma over what to do with the crime aspect of Nicholas' life, as that was now ineffective.

Liam walks in with a smile on his face, trying to be upbeat for Harry. "I brought you hot chocolate. Whipped cream and sprinkles." In his own hand he held his snickerdoodle latte, and there were no other members of One Direction with him.

"Thanks, Li," Harry mumbles, taking it and letting it scald his tongue. He wants to feel the pain, wants to take Louis' pain away from him so that he'll be okay. For now, this will have to be enough.

Liam takes the seat on the opposite side of the room. That is Lottie's designated chair, but she has been forced to go home and get some rest since she had been there with him most of the time like Harry had too. "The money just got added to our bank accounts. There's emails from our accountants too on instructions, etcetera."

He grabs his phone off of the bedside table and opens the banking app. Harry gasps as he sees the three million dollars in his checking account. Just like Simon promised. "I don't understand. There's no way that what we stole adds up to three million on its own, much less that for everyone. We stole watches and credit cards for god's sake, Liam."

Liam shrugs, not wanting to dive into it. He did the job and now he was rich - that was all that he needed to know. But Harry's brain wasn't going to rest until he had answers, so he dials up Gemma.

"Harry! Is Louis alright?"

"He's fine, Gem. Still out. But I know that you know why we have three million dollars."

Instead of closing down, Gemma laughs. "Simon didn't tell you guys the rest of the plan?"

"What do you mean the rest of the plan?" He stands and begins pacing the top of the room to the door. "He asked us to rob the wedding, and we did."

"That was the smallest part of the plan, Harry."

FLASHBACK TO AUGUST 19TH

Gemma had just returned from her weekend at Simon's house, where she spent the weekend consoling her brother and prepping the other sides team for the job. She had needed to catch up on work when she arrived back, and has just spent the entire night working.

There was no way to know what time it was, but she knew that it was an hour in which Nicholas wasn't going to look at what she handed him. Just sign it as he always did, and then even then she'd get three million dollars too. Simon had let her look over the math, and look at some legal documents and requirements, and she had given her unprofessional opinion that all of this was going to work.

She knocked on the door and let herself in. "Gemma!" His voice was light, and she, like the rest of SImon's team, had no idea that he was going to die soon. "What do you need?"

"Just need some signatures." It wasn't out of the ordinary for her to barge in and need his name on something - after all, he was the CEO of a thousand companies, and she was the person who did everything for him. Thrusting the papers too him, she piped up. "Not just a scribble. Need a clear and formal one."

Her heart was beating out of her chest with anxiety. She thought he would hear it. Thought he would glance at the heading of the document and give everything away. Soon, however, he was berating her for not doing some work he had asked. Moments later, Gemma strode out into the hallway and collapsed with relief.

When she returned to her office, she scanned the documents and sent them in a self-destructing email to Simon with a message that it was done. She'd fax the files to the lawyers when the office opened, and Simon's guy would take care of everything else.

Nicholas had no idea he'd just changed his will to give his brother all of his assets.

BACK TO SEPTEMBER 20TH

Harry relays the story to Liam, who began to laugh uncontrollably. Moments later, Harry was joining him. It was ridiculous, and didn't sound like it should have made them all rich. But there was the money in their bank accounts. "Simon said three million, and he meant it, huh? We'll be rich for the rest of our lives."

"It was never about the money," Harry notes. "We did this job for Simon, and now we're even. Well, he'll probably do anything we ask for now." He continues speaking when Liam doesn't respond.

Both of them sip their drinks. "One Direction will never be what we were. Bank robber criminal extraordinaires. Now..." Neither of them knew what the future held. That they'd all end up perfectly okay. "Now we're just family."

Harry's eyes were glistening. He's a sucker for sentimental messages, and he's already been emotional from being at Louis' bedside for weeks on end. After a beat of silence, Liam opens his phone and starts swiping on Instagram.

"Haz?"

He looks over at the bed, seeing Louis with one eye open, looking bewildered. The air rushes out of Harry's lungs in a gasp. "Baby! Babe, you're awake. Oh my god, I love you, I love you so much. Liam, get the doctor."

Not caring about what pain he felt, Harry moves to kiss Louis' lips. He responds with a whine when he tries to move his arms up, but his own lips moved gently upwards. They'd be okay. They'd be okay.

PRESENT DAY, CHRISTMAS EVE

"Dinner is served!" Harry stands in the doorway to the kitchen, arms above his head. The kids ran in, jumping to sit at the kids table and chat. The adults sauntered in behind him, Louis grabbing Harry's hip tightly as he sits down next to him. "Merry Christmas Eve, everyone!"

The Christmas spirit was felt around the table, with the fantastic spread of food all made by Mr. Tomlinson. Everyone was joking lightly, making fun of Zayn as he had a plate only full of vegetables. But as the meal came to an end, and Louis finishes off the wine bottom.

Harry dashes to the kitchen and Olivia gets up to help him light the candles. The two giggle to themselves as wax drips on the frosting and he carries it into the next room. "Happy birthday to you."

Everyone joins in, even Grant with his little kid voice. "Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday, dear Louis. Happy birthday to you!"

Infinity jumps up and wraps her arms around his neck as the cake is placed in front of him. "Happy birthday, daddy!" The candles whoosh out, and everyone claps and cheer.

"All of this love, what did I do to deserve it?" Louis' eyes shine as he smiles to look up his husband, who brings out a knife and paper plates for the dessert. "And Fin, did you know that when I was little, smaller than you even, I used to think that all of the Christmas lights were for my birthday?"

"It's called being a narcissist, darling," Niall smiles at the two of them.

Everyone got a slice of cake. Everyone except for Zayn, who was on a no carb diet, and Olivia, who got a horde of gluten-free cupcakes. Harry's meal was inclusive for everyone's diets. He could still remember when Lottie would flip flop between vegan, vegetarian, and a keto diet every three weeks and he could never keep up.

Liam stands up, clapping his hands to get all of the kids attention. "It's present time, gang!"

---

After all the presents had been opened, everyone is relaxing on the couch. Harry sits with a blanket covering him and Zayn's lap, while Grant sleeps between them. There is silence as they all watch a movie. Lou and Lux had gone home hours earlier, along with Lottie and Eleanor too. Olivia and Niall had taken Carmen back to their England home when she'd puked after eating too many cupcakes. But he said that he was coming back, and they were all awaiting the moment when that would happen.

Liam is laying sideways on the couch, and Infinity is in the playroom making a ruckus with all of her new gifts. And there are still a bunch for her under the tree to open in the morning. "Why the hell did he do that?" Louis groans at the protagonists choice, and Harry smiles against his shoulder.

The door opening startles all of them. "I brought coffee," Niall whispers, and everyone seems to perk up immediately. He hands the drinks out. "All these years and we still order the same things. Hot chocolate with whipped cream. Didn't have any sprinkles, I am so sorry. A grasshopper mocha for the birthday boy. Liam gets the snickerdoodle latte, iced coffee for me, and Zayn gets ice water."

"I told you you could get me coffee," He pouts, looking up at Niall.

"And I did," He hands over the vanilla latte with a smile.

There is a calm energy that spreads through them all again as everything gets silent again. Louis sips his drink. "Perfect." He mutters to himself. "I love you guys. Always and forever."

"To Infinity and beyond, right?" Liam smiles.

Zayn notes how happy he is. "One Direction forever, right?" What a Feeling.

Infinity stumbles down the stairs and calls out to her dad. Harry is the one who turns and smiles at her. "Ready for bed, love?"

She rubs her eyes like she's a young child again. "I need you to brush my hair. I can't do it and I won't be able to sleep until it's all smooth."

Harry smiles at her, untangling himself from his husband. He grabs his daughter's hand as she leads him up the stairs. The two enter the bathroom and he begins brushing her hair as he always had before bed, getting the tangles out. "This is really tangled? What were you doing, Walking in the Wind or something?"

She yawns in response and only begins to whine when he starts pulling too hard. Then he picks her up and begins to carry her down the hall to her bedroom. "I'm a big girl," She tells him.

"But you'll always be my baby, Fin."

Harry pulls the covers back and drops her lightly into them. He turns on her white noise machine and puts the nightlight on, filling the room with a soft blue glow. "See you in the morning for Christmas, huh?"

"I can wake you up at seven?" She asks, seeming to wake up a bit at remembering the holiday.

Harry kneels next to her bed, having always been too tall to simply tower over her. "Yes, and no peeking downstairs before. You can just climb into our bed when you wake up." He always liked to tell her that, but him and Louis were always the ones waking her up. She got her sleeping in late from her dad.

He begins to gently run his hand over her hair, singing to her softly. From the open door, he could hear everyone laughing downstairs. And as always, he sings a little part of a song he once wrote. "Won't you stay till the A.M, ye-e-ah."