three hearts in one home (l.s.)

four weeks later

“No, this one”, I say and take the remote out of Louis’ hand to switch the channel.

He shakes his head slightly. “Babe, we’re not going to watch a documentary about alligators.”

I pout and he chuckles lowly, cupping my jaw with his hands to kiss me softly. “Don’t look at me like this, H, cause I know I’m going to give in and spend the whole evening watching bullshit.”

He climbs onto my lap and pecks my mouth a second time, leaning his head against my chest before taking the remote out of my hand again.

“Okay, I am going to turn on the thriller again and you are not going to make those puppy eyes, hear me?”

I roll my eyes. “It scares me”, I whine and pretend to cover my eyes, peeking through my finger because we’re just about to find out who the murderer is.

“I know you’re looking”, Louis says without facing me and it makes me laugh a little.
“I hate you sometimes.”

He hums. “I love you.”

I wrap my arms around his waist and pull him closer so his back presses against my chest in a comforting manner. I press a short kiss to the top of his hair and hand him his phone when I hear it ring once.
“Someone's calling.”

He nods and checks it. Since the baby’s predicted birthdate, he turned the signal tone on, just so we’d be informed immediately once it arrives.

It’s already five days late now, and I try not to think about it too much, but truth is, it makes me extremely nervous and it’s all I think about.

With Jonah’s birthday last month, visiting a few houses we could consider buying and finishing the final preparations, the last weeks have been extremely busy. It’s the first evening in a week on which we both find the time to actually sit down and spend time with each other.

“Haz”, he whispers, “It’s from the hospital. Mandy is in labour, just arrived in the hospital.”

I try not to jump of the couch and run to the door but take the phone from Louis to read the message. “Ask them if she’s okay and that we’ll be there soon. I’ll call Niall and tell him to come over. I’ll let Jonah sleep, right? Or should we tell him we’re leaving?”

Louis nods and talks for a bit longer before hanging up and starting to type a message on his phone and shrugs. “Um, wake him please. Don’t want him worried when he wakes up and we’re not here. I’ll call Niall in a second.”

I nod and take a few deep breaths, kissing Louis’ cheek before getting up from the couch and walking to Jonah’s bedroom.

I kneel down next to the bed and brush a few strand of hair out of his face. I smile softly and press a kiss to his forehead before carefully stroking his cheek.

“Hi baby”, I whisper, trying to get him awake. “Louis and me need to leave for the hospital. Mandy is in labour.”

Jonah blinks twice, trying to get his eyes used to the light coming from the hallway
“Papa? Everything okay? It’s not morning already, is it?”

I smile and shake my head. “No, baby Everything is okay, no worries. Mary is in labour now. You know what that means, right?”

He nods and sits up a little, rubbing his eyes. “You can continue sleeping, baby. Louis and me will leave for the hospital once Niall arrives here, and when the baby is here, Niall will drive you there. How’s that sound?”

He nods and takes Haz from the side of his bed, hugging the cat tightly. “Can I stay awake for a bit? 'm a bit nervous.”

I sit down on the bed next to him and brush through his hair, his head leaning against my chest. “You surely can. It’s only Friday. Can stay awake for as long as you want to. And we’ll call you right away so you can meet your sibling. Just nervous or happy too?”

“Happy too, of course. Want to meet it so badly. Can I watch a bit of TV with Ni?”

I nod. “Sure. Give me a goodbye kiss?”

He nods, smiling a bit nervously and presses a kiss to my cheek. “I love you baby, we’ll keep you updated over Nialler's phone, alright? Now Daddy is gonna say goodbye to you and once Niall is here we’ll leave.”

He nods and hugs me again before Louis comes into the room. “My two boys. Hi. Just texted with Mandy. It’ll probably still take a few hours. If you can, try to sleep for a bit later, J. Births usually take a few hours.”

The bell rings so I walk to the door, opening it for Niall. “Hi, mate”, he says and hugs me, “Gonna become a dad, huh? That’s so fucking weird. Good luck. I’ll stay here until I hear anything from you.”

“Thank you. Means a lot, really.”

He just nods and walked to Jonah’s room. “J, buddy, hiiii”, he calls and Jonah hugs him once. “Hi, Ni. Papa allowed me to watch a movie, you got any good recs?”

“For sure. My movie taste is the best. Come to the living room with me, we’re gonna choose a good one.”

“Bye honey”, I call and Jonah turns back one more time, waving, before they disappear in the living room, discussing about some movie they watched last time.

“Nervous?”, Louis asks me, poking my cheek I’m chewing on.

“Yeah, sorry”, I say, “So scared something is going to go wrong.”

“Don’t apologize, baby. Me too.” He opens his arms, offering a hug and I step a bit closer so he can hug my tightly.

“I’m so sure everything is going to go well.”, he whispers and kisses the spot below my ear, “Ready?”

I nod slightly and we stay embraced for a little longer before getting dressed and leaving, hands interlaced.

Once we’re in the car, I really can’t stop checking Louis’ phone to see if we got any further updates, but we didn’t.

I’m not sure whether to feel nervous, happy or relieved. It was a lot we had going on. Meeting the social worker, getting to know Mandy, looking for houses because we will need to move soon. I know we’ve  gotten over the process very quickly, luckily, but it still felt exhausting.

Louis puts his hand on my thigh and circles his thumb on the fabric of my sweatpants, smiling over at me. “Don’t worry too much, baby. Hate seeing you overthink so much.”

I nod and take his hand, placing out hands in the middle between us. “Yeah. I know. How much longer?”

“Five minutes or so.”

I stare out the front window again, seeing all the houses pass, getting closer and closer to our destination realizing how close we are to meeting our baby for the first time.

~~~

soooonnnn:)