We’re waiting at the entrance of the hospital for Jonah. Niall will drop him of here. Right now, Mandy is asleep while the nurses are running some tests. If everything goes well, we can take Noa home with us tomorrow. It makes my heartbeat speed up, thinking about it.
I see Niall’s car approaching and then Jonah is opening the door, jumping out of the car and running towards us. “Hi”, he pants and jumps up and down, “’m so excited.”
I smile and pick him up, kissing his cheek. “Baby, how was it? Had an okay night?”
Niall waves at us with a smile before he’s leaving with the car again. I’ll need to thank him properly later, but for now, I have to concentrate on my kids.
He nods. “We watched Nemo. Then I slept. How’s she called?”
“Noa”, I say, “That’s a good name, isn’t it?”
He nods happily and I place him down on the floor again.
“Hi, baby”, Louis says and takes J’s hand as we walk in again, “Wanna go and visit your sister?”
Jonah nods excitedly and jumps up and down while walking. I can’t stop smiling. It feels as if my heart is burning with love. All of this has felt right ever since Louis’ accident on, but right now, I feel like it’s more perfect than it’s ever been before. Having them here with me, all four.
We’re led to a room to wash and sanitize our hands before we’re all allowed in. Mandy is asleep in a different room, but we can go and see Noa.
“Quiet, okay, honey? She’s still very sensitive. You have to treat her like Theo when he was a baby but even more carefully.”
Jonah nods and takes a deep before pushing the handle down. One of the nurses is just placing her in one of those little beds for new-borns and she looks so adorable like this.
“Is that her?”, Jonah asks, still waiting in the doorframe.
“Yeah, that’s Noa. Go ahead, honey. You can go and look at her.”
He nods and carefully walks up to the bed. He tiptoes so he can properly look in and just stares at her for some time. I see his eyes get big and the corners of his mouth lift slightly the longer he stares at her. “She’s so tiny”, he whispers, “So little.”
“Do you want to hold her?”, the nurse asks Jonah and he nods carefully.
“Sit down on the big bed”, I say and point to the bed next to the door, “Then she can lay down on your lap.”
Suddenly, there’s a tear running down Jonah’s cheek and me and Louis both kneel down besides the bed immediately, my hand taking his while Louis brushes through his hair.
“Hey, what’s wrong, baby? Overwhelmed?”
He nods and shakes his head at the same time before shrugging. “She’s so tiny. I’m scared I’m gonna hurt her. She looks like she could break. What if I accidentally drop her?”
I smile. “That’s what I thought too, J. Us two gotta learn a lot about babies. Daddy is gonna teach us all about it, hopefully. The nurse is here with you and us two are too. You won’t drop her, we’re right here to watch and help.”
Jonah nods carefully. “Can I?”, the nurse asks and Jonah nods again. I watch as she puts Noa down in her brother's lap carefully. Louis adjusts his hands softly, so his hand is supporting her head and then he’s staring at her with a big smile.
“I’m gonna love her”, he whispers, another tear falling down on the blue clothe she’s wrapped in, “I’m gonna love her so much.”
I try not to start crying again, but it’s very hard, because those two small humans, even though one is all grown up now, actually belong to me and they’re the most perfect people to exist.
We sit there in silence for a bit, all trying to take in the fact that she’s here now, after all this time of waiting, that she’s been missing and we didn’t even notice.
“You can talk to her”, Louis suggests, “Introduce yourself, you know. She doesn’t quite understand what you’re saying yet but maybe she’ll get the point.”
Jonah nods. Stares at her for some more. Then he’s leaning down to press a short kiss to the hat she’s wearing.
“Hi, Noa. I’m Jonah. I’m your bother now. I’ll always be your brother. I hope you’ll like cats, maybe. We have a cat at home. He’s called Theo. I bet you’ll get along well, Theo is nice. Sometimes when he’s angry he scratches. I bet he won’t scratch you. If he does, I’ll protect you from him. I can always protect you if you want. Or Daddy and Papa can do it. We’ve got two dads; in case you didn’t know. We’re happy to have you, Noa. You’re very cute.”
“You’re the best big brother”, Louis mumbles, “The best. I bet she loves you so much already, J.”
Jonah smiles up at us. “I do love her lots already. “
“Me too”, I say, “Think she’s perfect for us. The most perfect girl we could’ve wished for, isn’t she?”
Jonah nods. “Yes. Just a little tiny. Still scared I’ll break her.”
Louis chuckles quickly and kisses Jonah’s cheek. “You won’t. You’ll do a great job; I just know it already. You’ll be the best big brother just like you’re the best son.”
“I love you”, Jonah mumbles. “I love you all three. And I can’t wait to get home and show her the cat I bought. I don’t know what to name it yet. Maybe she can choose, but it’ll take so long until she talks.”
“We’ll choose together once we’re home, alright?”, I ask.
Jonah nods and carefully caresses her tummy with his thumb. “Remember when I called my cat you gave me for Christmas Haz?”
I nod. “I felt very appreciated. Of course, I remember.”
He grins. “Good thing I call you Papa now. Otherwise, I’d confuse you with my cat all the time.”
I laugh and nod. “Very good thing you call me Papa now, yes baby.”
He stares down at Noa again. “I can’t wait to show her stuff when she’s a bit older. In a year she can already start to walk and talk and then we’ll explore everything together. I can even take her to the playground. Hear me, Noa? We’re gonna do all the cool stuff together. Sometimes our dads are a bit lazy and slow and then I can go with you. We can even slide down the cool slides when you’re just a baby. Then, when you’re as old as I am now, you’ll be the bravest girl in the whole world. And I’m even gonna share my Theo with me. Promise, I’m gonna share lots of things with you, Noa. Also my dads. Maybe it won’t be so easy all the time because siblings fight sometimes, but I’ll still love you, even if sometimes I might be angry at you.”
~~~
<3
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three hearts in one home (l.s.)
FanfictionLouis is a single dad having problems raising his son, Jonah all by himself. Harry is a student at university. His part-time job is to teach children how to swim. What if a rather unpleasing incident forces them closer together than Harry ever coul...
