Archive of Our Own ^beta

He was being watched. Harry could feel the two pairs of eyes boring virtual holes into his face. Before he opened his own eyes to confirm his supposition, Harry made a bet with himself that the clock was going to read something with a six at the beginning.

Sure enough, when he blinked his eyes open, there were two small faces just inches from his. He didn't need the dim light coming through his bedroom window to know who those faces belonged to. He groaned and glanced at the clock on his bedside table. It read 6:03. At least he won the bet.

"Daddy, are you awake?" Lily whispered, her voice rife with hope.

"I shouldn't be," Harry whispered back.

"It's our birthday, Daddy," Sophie joined the conversation. "We're eight!" Like her twin, Sophie was trying to whisper, but her excitement betrayed her, and she was loud enough that he felt Louis shift behind him. Good. Harry shouldn't be the only one awake.

"Eight?" Harry parroted back. "That can't be true."

"It is," Sophie insisted.

"Eight year olds should know that any hour before seven is too early," Louis piped up from behind Harry.

"Do you girls want a birthday snuggle with Daddy and Papa?" Harry asked.

Lily and Sophie nodded immediately, and one at a time, they clambered onto the bed and settled themselves in between their fathers, Lily next to Louis and Sophie next to Harry.

Harry was almost asleep again when a cry emanated from the baby monitor sitting on his night table. He sighed. Izzy must want to join the party. "I'll get her," he announced to the room.

"Excellent," Louis murmured, his voice muffled by his pillow.

Harry pushed the duvet down, climbed out of bed, and shuffled down the hallway to Isabelle's room.

Looking as pitiful as she possibly could, one-and-a-half-year-old Izzy was stood in her crib, gripping the top with one hand and rubbing her eyes with the other. Her dark brown curls were sticking out every which way as she openly wailed. She stopped the instant Harry lifted her from the crib, fitting her head into the space between Harry's shoulder and neck.

"Little stinker," he told her. "You just didn't want the party to start without you, eh?"

"Dada," Izzy answered sleepily, cuddling even closer.

Harry grabbed Izzy's stuffed elephant--Linus, bequeathed to her by big sister Sophie--and headed back to their bedroom. He settled Izzy and Linus next to Sophie, then slid in next to their youngest. Thank goodness they had the biggest bed they could find.

When he looked down fondly at his and Louis' three girls, they were all asleep. He sighed with relief, and it wasn't long before he was asleep once more himself.

The next time Harry woke, it was a much more reasonable 7:30, and sunlight was streaming through the windows. When he looked over at his family, they were all still slumbering, so he slid out of bed with a mind to make a special birthday breakfast for the twins.

He was not upright five seconds, however, before his stomach turned, and he had to make a run for the bathroom, only making it to the toilet just in time to throw up violently into it. As he kneeled by the porcelain bowl waiting to see if his stomach was done, he thought back to what he'd eaten the night before. He'd made grilled chicken and mashed potatoes. He guessed it was possible the chicken hadn't been cooked through, but if that was the case, why was he the only one who was sick?

After another round of dry heaving, he was suddenly struck with the very vivid memory of throwing up into a bin behind a stage in Chicago. What he was feeling now was very similar, and that episode had been followed by a doctor announcing he was pregnant four days later. The results of that pregnancy were sleeping in a bed in the next room.

This was also not unlike how he'd felt just about two and a half years ago when he'd found out he was expecting Izzy. He'd spent plenty of time hunched over the toilet at the beginning of that pregnancy, too, regardless of what he'd eaten.

Harry rested his head on the cool toilet seat and sighed.

Eventually, he was able to get up, and his stomach felt a little calmer. Somewhat miraculously, he made it through creating a pancake breakfast for his now-eight-year-old girls. They appeared just as he was plating everything and getting it put on the table.

"Yay! Pancakes!" Lily and Sophie cheered as one, hustling into their seats and digging into their food without preamble.

Louis was right behind them, toting Izzy. "It smells amazing, love." As he moved closer, he peered into Harry's face. "You okay? You look a little pale."

"As soon as breakfast is over, I'm going to be giving Dr. Cantor's office a call," Harry told him, making sure to carry import in his tone.

Louis eyes widened, and he raised his eyebrows comically high. Finally, he redirected his gaze to Harry's middle. "Are you sure?"

Harry shrugged. "Remember backstage in Chicago? 2015?"

Louis nodded. "I do."

"This morning, before you all were up, I felt just like that," Harry reported ruefully. "Thought I might throw up a lung."

"You sure it isn't just a stomach flu?"

"Don't think so."

Izzy chose that moment to become fussy, stretching a hand out toward where her sisters were eating. "Cake!" she cried.

"Okay, okay, little miss," Louis crooned. "Let's get you into your high chair, then."

Harry tried hard to focus on the birthday girls while they scarfed down their pancakes. He nibbled on one dry pancake of his own, sipping at water, hoping that the nausea of earlier was it for the moment.

As soon as Louis took the older girls up to get dressed for school, Harry put Izzy in front of some toys and made a call to Dr. Cantor's office, scoring an appointment for the next morning. It helped to know he'd get some answers in just about twenty-four hours, so he tried to put his mind off what the doctor might have to say and get on with the business of the day.

They would be having a family party the following weekend, and they had already had a party with some of Lily and Sophie's school friends the previous weekend, so they'd told the girls that after school they would go out to dinner anywhere they wanted, then they could choose a movie to watch before bed.

Louis cancelled the one meeting he'd had scheduled so he and Harry could manage Izzy together. She was a very busy little girl, and she was tickled to get both Daddy and Papa to herself for a change. Louis being home also meant that Harry had time to bake a cake for Lily and Sophie.

The twins picked Pizza Express for dinner and their current favourite Frozen 2 for their movie, watched while eating birthday cake. It was a lovely family evening, and it wore everyone out. So much so that Harry didn't even spend the whole night thinking about his doctor's appointment.

He was thinking about it the next morning, however, when he was throwing up in the toilet yet again. He was pretty sure he knew what the doctor was going to say. He just hoped he and Louis were ready for it.

                                    *                                  *                                  *

"You're pregnant!" Dr. Cantor announced the minute she returned to the room from checking on Harry's test results.

While Harry was sat up on the exam table, Louis was sat on a nearby chair bouncing Izzy in his lap. Louis beamed up at Harry at the news. "You were right," he said happily.

"I can't believe we did this by accident a third time," Harry commented.

"You weren't trying?" Dr. Cantor inquired.

Harry and Louis both shook their heads. Harry added, "We had talked about having more, but we were definitely going to wait until Izzy was a little older."

"Well, it looks like fate had other ideas," the doctor pointed out. "Shall we take a look?"

Harry nodded and leaned back on the table, lifting his shirt to give the doctor access to his belly. Louis hefted Izzy in one arm, then moved to stand right beside Harry.

In no time at all, they were all checking out the monitor displaying what was going on underneath Dr. Cantor's ultrasound wand.

"There we go." The doctor pointed to the monitor. "One healthy baby."

Harry and Louis shared a relieved look. If this was happening, however unexpectedly, healthy was a good way to start. They were so lost in each other for a moment that they almost missed the doctor's next words.

"And another healthy baby."

Harry snapped his neck back around to stare at the monitor. "Excuse me? What?"

"Congratulations, gentlemen. It looks like you're having another set of twins."

Harry stared at the monitor, his eyes practically bugging out of his head. He'd had enough ultrasounds at this point to know that the two dark sacs inside the white space of his belly were indicative of twins, but he still felt the need to ask the doctor, "Are you sure?"

"Positive. Looks like you're about three weeks along," Dr. Cantor told him. "You're showing symptoms very early, but there's no denying what's going on."

After doing some quick mental calculations, Harry sighed and shifted his gaze to Louis. "It must have been that weekend a few weeks back when the girls stayed with your mum, and we went to Brighton."

It took Louis a moment to grasp what Harry was saying, but Harry knew Louis had when he blushed furiously and said, "Oh. Right." That had been a fun weekend. Apparently, it had also been a productive one.

"So, do you think you know the date you conceived?" the doctor inquired.

Louis pulled out his mobile and checked his calendar. "11^th or 12^th March." Weakly, he added, "We…um…made the most of being kid-free for a couple days."

"And we created more kids," Harry commented in a wry tone.

Louis beamed. "Go us!"

Dr. Cantor typed some information into her computer, then reported, "If you go full-term, your due date is the 17^th December."

"Happy early birthday to me!" Louis exclaimed.

Harry smiled at Louis' enthusiasm before posing another question to Dr. Cantor. "I know you can’t tell the genders yet, but are you able to tell if they're identical or not?"

The doctor studied the monitor closely. "Actually, it looks like they may be. They appear to have two amniotic sacs, but one placenta. If I'm reading this right, you're looking at two more girls or two boys. We'll know more at a later ultrasound."

Harry and Louis exchanged a look. They knew very well that two boys would be on everyone's wish list, though they would be perfectly happy with either boys or girls, so long as they were healthy.

"Everything looks really good, Harry," the doctor assured him. "You've been through this before, so you know what to do. Eat healthy, exercise, lower your stress as much as you can. Take care of yourself and you'll be celebrating Christmas with two new babies."

"Baby!" Izzy declared, her first contribution to the discussion.

"That's right, Iz. You won't be the baby for much longer," Louis said.

Izzy babbled happily as Louis readjusted her on his hip.

The next few minutes were spent with Harry getting cleaned up and upright and Louis collecting some ultrasound pictures for them to take with them.

Once Harry was set to go, he thanked Dr. Cantor. "Who knows? Maybe this time you'll be able to help me deliver."

The doctor chuckled. "I won't hold my breath. Your kids seem to have a flair for dramatic entrances."

"That's how you know they're Louis'," Harry joked.

Louis played at being offended, but the grin on his face gave him away.

"Give me a call if you have any questions or concerns," Dr. Cantor insisted. "Otherwise, I'll plan to see you here for your nine-week check-up and ultrasound."

"Absolutely," Harry confirmed before following Louis out the door, down the hall, and into the back lift they liked to use for privacy. Even if the band wasn't in full gear at the moment, One Direction's fans were still excited for any glimpse they could get, examining each one to death. No sense in giving them an exit from the obstetrician's office.

After strapping Izzy into her car seat, Louis slipped into the driver's seat and started the car. Harry buckled himself securely into the passenger side, then closed his eyes, leaned his head back on the rest, and sighed.

Louis immediately reached over to grab Harry's hand. "You okay there, Haz?"

Slowly, Harry opened his eyes and gazed over at his husband. "Twins, Lou. Twins again."

Louis squeezed Harry's hand in sympathy. "I know."

"I love our kids," Harry said quietly, glancing over his shoulder toward Izzy. "You know I do. And I wanted more. I did. I do. I just…."

"Wanted to be prepared," Louis finished his thought.

"Yeah." Harry covered his stomach with his free hand. "Guess these little ones had other ideas."

Louis let go of Harry's hand so he could place it over where Harry's other hand rested on his belly, then he looked into Harry's eyes. "You okay with this?"

Harry nodded. "I need a little time to get used to the idea, but I'll get there."

Louis leaned over the centre console to press a soft kiss to Harry's lips. "Love you."

"Baby!" Izzy piped up from the back seat, causing both her fathers to laugh.

As Louis straightened back up and put the car into reverse, he said, "Hopefully this pregnancy will go as smoothly as the previous two--"

"Minus the early labour and delivery," Harry interjected.

"Minus the early labour and delivery," Louis amended. He went on, "I do think there's one thing we should do differently."

"Oh?" Harry urged him to tell.

Louis pulled out onto the street from the garage. "I think we should not tell Lily and Sophie just quite yet. Not if we want to take our time getting used to the idea that our family will be two bigger by Christmas."

Harry vividly recalled walking in on Lily and Sophie breaking the news about baby Isabelle to their Nanny Anne way earlier than Harry and Louis had intended. "I think that's a solid plan."

"Baby!" Izzy yelled once again.

With a chuckle, Harry said, "Izzy may blow it for us if we don't get her onto a new subject."

"We haven't been to the zoo in a while," Louis noted. "Lions and tigers and lunch?"

"Another solid plan." Harry twisted around to look at Izzy. In the mirror, he could see her playing with a stuffed tiger given to her by her Aunt Gemma. "How about the zoo, Iz? Want to see the butterflies?"

"Fies! Fies!" Izzy agreed happily. They were her very favourite thing.

Harry grinned at her excitement and her change of topic. "Mission accomplished."

"Daddy and Papa for the win!" Louis cheered.

Harry laid his hand on his not-flat-for-much-longer tummy. "Daddy and Papa for the win."

                                    *                                  *                                  *

In what Louis declared was certainly a miracle they should be contacting the Vatican about, Harry managed to keep his daily morning sickness--and its root cause--a secret from Lily and Sophie. Even when the sickness wasn't confined to the morning. It helped that they split their Easter Break between Nanny Anne and Nanny Jay, loving being spoilt not just by their grandmothers, but also by their various aunts, uncles, and grandfathers. Since Izzy went, too, this gave Louis and Harry a much-needed break. By the time the girls came back, they managed to convince them that Harry just had a stomach virus he'd get over eventually.

At Harry's nine-week ultrasound, Dr. Cantor was able to confirm that he was, indeed, carrying twins, and, much to their fathers' delight, she was able to pick up the babies' heartbeats. By the end of his first trimester, at his Week Fourteen appointment, the doctor was positive the twins would be identical. In even happier news, she declared that both Harry and the babies appeared to be in perfect health.

It was time to share their secret.

Since it was the middle of June, Harry and Louis decided to invite their closest family and friends to a Welcome Summer party. The twins were beyond excited by the prospect of everyone being at their house to play games and eat picnic food. Izzy didn't really understand what was going on beyond that her grandmothers, grandfathers, and all her aunts (and uncle) were coming to visit, but she fed off her big sisters' energy.

The Sunday they picked dawned beautifully. The forecast predicted a bright, sunny day with very comfortable temperatures. Harry and Louis could not have ordered better weather for their outdoor soiree.

Harry had baked some desserts for the party, but had given in when Louis suggested catering the rest of the party food. This left Harry time to plan exactly how he wanted to make the big announcement. By the time the first guests--Anne and Robin--arrived, Harry was pretty sure he knew just what to say.

Lily and Sophie immediately dragged their Nanny and Pop through the house and into the back yard. Anne and Robin had to settle for waving to Louis and Harry as they were pulled past them by the two hyper eight year olds.

It wasn't long before they had a backyard full of people they loved. All of Louis' sisters and Ernest had come, Gemma had arrived with her fiancé, Michal, and Jay and Dan had been subject to the same greeting Anne and Robin had been, as had Des. Representing their friends were bandmates Liam, Niall, and Zayn and their assorted significant others and kids, as well as a few childhood friends and colleagues who had become like family.

They had set up horseshoes and croquet, as well as a bar, and they had promised the girls a piñata and some other fun games after they'd eaten.

While Gemma, Lottie, and Fizzy showed Lily and Sophie and the other older kids how to play croquet, Phoebe and Daisy entertained Izzy and several more little ones. This left Harry and Louis free to have a chat with their parents.

"So, how are things going, boys?" Des asked, taking a sip of beer.

"Good," Louis replied. "The twins are doing well in school, and we're hunting for a nursery for Izzy for September."

"Are you getting much writing done?" Jay inquired.

Songwriting was a love both boys had, and even when One Direction wasn't making music together, they loved creating songs for either another artist or a later date. "We've both gotten to go to the studio here and there," Harry reported. "Ed and I just had a session a couple weeks ago, in fact. It was brilliant."

Louis jumped in with his music-related news. "I'm putting the finishing touches on James Whitelaw's album." James was an artist Louis and Liam had discovered singing in a local pub. They'd both been impressed and had courted James, who'd agreed to sign on with Liam as a manager and Louis as his producer. Louis just knew James was going to hit it big.

"Can't wait to hear it," Anne noted with a smile.

Harry and Louis made sure to hear the latest on what their parents had been up to. Anne and Robin had just taken a holiday to Greece, while Jay and Dan were busy with all the things their nine-year-old twins were into. Des was finally considering retiring, though he still had mixed emotions about not having a job to go to every day.

Once everybody had had a sufficient amount of play time and catch-up time, it was time for lunch.

The caterers had provided a spread composed of favourite picnic foods, from sandwiches to fried chicken to salads of various sorts. It was hard for almost everyone to narrow it down to what their stomachs could hold and still leave room for Harry's sweet desserts. It was harder still to convince the kids that they didn't have to eat everything in sight.

Harry waited until their guests had eaten their fill and were sitting around their tables sipping drinks and letting their food settle to stand up and get their attention. He knew he wasn't going to find a better moment.

He clinked a fork against his glass of water, and it took a few seconds, but soon everyone's eyes were on him. He cleared his throat dramatically before beginning.

"Louis and I would like to thank all of you for coming to help us celebrate the beginning of what will hopefully be a lovely summer," he said brightly. "I know the girls are excited to have everyone here, and I'm just thrilled it didn't see fit to rain." More than a few of their family and friends chuckled.

He paused for just a moment before continuing. "Summer isn't the only thing we're celebrating today, though. Louis and I have news we wanted to share, and rather than parse it out to each of you individually, we decided to just share it all in one go."

Harry had to wait for a short while for the murmuring in the assembled group to die down. Taking bets, no doubt. He grabbed Louis' hand and hauled in a deep breath. "I know we're here to celebrate the start of summer, but I want to jump ahead a few months. Six months, to be specific. You see, come December, we'll be celebrating more than just Louis' birthday and Christmas."

"Yeah! My birthday!" Gemma interjected. "I accept cash and cheques!"

The crowd laughed. When their focus returned to Harry, he went on. "Well, Gemma, as it happens, from now on you two--you and Louis--will be sharing your birthday month with these two." He placed his free hand square in the middle of his stomach. There was a very tiny bump there, but Harry knew it wouldn't stay tiny for much longer.

It took a few seconds for everyone to catch on, but then a great cheer went up in the backyard.

Anne and Jay were the first ones to rise and grab up their sons in fierce hugs.

"You're having twins? Again?" Jay confirmed as she moved from Louis' side to Harry's, and Anne did the opposite.

Harry grinned and nodded. "Again."

"That is so exciting!" Anne proclaimed. "Do you know what they are yet? Are you going to find out this time?" She and many other of their family and friends had been put out that when Harry had been expecting Isabelle, they had refused to find out the gender, preferring to keep it a surprise.

Harry shook his head. "Not yet. We haven't really discussed it yet, but we know they're identical, so it will obviously either be two boys or two girls."

While Izzy was just bouncing in her high chair, unconcerned with the news that she wasn't going to be the baby of the family much longer, Sophie and Lily both sat with looks on their faces that neither Harry nor Louis could interpret.

Harry squatted down so he was on the girls' eye level, and when Louis spotted the move, he followed suit.

"Hey, girls, are you excited? You're going to be big sisters again!" Harry enthused.

"The babies are going to be twins?" Sophie asked carefully.

"They are," Harry confirmed. "Just like you two."

"They're going to be identical?" Lily checked.

"That's what the doctor thinks," Louis told them.

Sophie continued the interrogation. "Did you order them to be twins?"

Harry was aware that many of their family and friends were moving closer in order to offer congratulations, but he and Louis needed to make sure Lily and Sophie were okay before they could attend to anyone else.

"What do you mean?" Louis requested clarification.

"Did you want better ones?" Sophie rephrased her query.

"Better than you? Is that what you mean?" Harry inquired, a little horrified by the twins' reaction thus far.

Sophie nodded, frowning, her green eyes filling with tears. Lily didn't look much happier.

Harry was beginning to regret his and Louis' decision to let the girls find out with everyone else.

"Sophie. Lily," Louis began in his most serious tone. "You are the best twins ever. We absolutely aren't replacing you."

Lily and Sophie both visibly relaxed.

"In fact, we're going to be counting on you to help them learn how to be great twins, just like you are," Harry stated, his tone equally as serious as Louis'.

Lily and Sophie traded a look, then looked back at their fathers. "We can do that," Sophie assured them with a cheeky smile.

Harry and Louis both beamed, relieved that the girls appeared to be on board.

"But, Daddy," Lily went on, her tone echoing the seriousness that her dads' had, "can you make sure they're boys?"

Everyone in earshot burst out into laughter.

Predictably, Lily frowned, sure she was being mocked.

Harry couldn't help but chuckle, too, before schooling his features into a more understanding look. "I'm afraid I don't have any control over whether they're girls or boys, Lil."

Lily pouted ever so briefly, but recovered in record time. "Okay, Daddy."

"So, you girls in?" Louis asked hopefully. "Ready to be big sisters again?"

"Yes!" the twins cried happily.

"Yay!" Louis and Harry shouted, both incredibly relieved. Now they could accept the congratulations from all their very patient family members and friends.

"Baby, baby, baby!" Izzy chanted in the background. It was a good thing indeed that the cat was finally out of the bag.

                                    *                                  *                                  *

It was just as well that they had told everyone Harry was expecting, since by the time he hit his eighteenth week, there was no hiding his belly.

As they sat down to a simple breakfast of cereal and milk on the morning of Harry's Week Eighteen ultrasound appointment, Harry ran a hand over his stomach and sighed.

"Something wrong, babe?" Louis inquired, instantly concerned.

Harry shook his head. "Not really. I'm just pretty sure I'm even bigger this time than I was with Lily and Sophie at this point."

Louis smiled and reached a hand over to Harry's baby bump, caressing it gently. "You look amazing. Just like you did before."

Harry moved his hand to cover Louis'. "Thanks, Lou."

Louis gave his attention over to Izzy, but she seemed perfectly content with the cereal they'd placed on the tray of her high chair, picking up one piece at a time and getting most of them into her mouth.

"Daddy?" Lily piped up around a bite of cereal.

"Finish your bite, sweetie," Harry requested, picking up his own spoon.

With exaggerated irritation, Lily swallowed the food in her mouth, then tried again. "Daddy, will you be having the babies in the house like Izzy?"

"God, I hope not," Harry replied, slightly horrified by the thought. "That was an accident. She was meant to be born at the birthing centre. Do you remember visiting the centre?"

Lily and Sophie both nodded. Sophie added, "They had a pool in every room!"

Louis and Harry chuckled.

"They did," Harry concurred. "Those are for people who want to have their babies in water. That's actually what I hope to do this time. Assuming they cooperate."

Louis took a sip of tea, and as he put it back down, he said, "We have about two hours to make a decision, Haz."

Harry puffed out a breath. "I keep changing my mind." He took a bite of cereal before it all got soggy and he had to start over.

"What do you think, girls?" Louis asked. "Should we find out if the babies are girls or boys today or wait until they're born?"

"Today! Today! Today!" the twins declared simultaneously.

With a laugh, Harry said, "I could have told you what they wanted to do."

"One day, they'll have patience," Louis insisted, taking a bite of his breakfast. "Mmm. I love cereal mornings."

"I can arrange for that to be every morning," Harry told him, grinning widely.

"I love your fry-ups, too," Louis hastened to assure him.

"Thanks," Harry accepted the compliment.

For a few minutes, the Tomlinson-Styles family ate in almost silence. Only the sound of clinking spoons and Izzy's hands on her tray filled the room.

Harry finished up his breakfast before voicing the idea which had started to percolate in his head. "You know," he began, "if we decided to find out, we could do a gender reveal party."

Louis' eyes lit up. "Oooh."

Niall and his wife had hosted a gender reveal party the previous summer to reveal that they were having a baby boy. It had been a fun time, and Niall and Brie had been so excited to share the news with all their friends and family.

Harry lifted his eyebrows. "You like that idea?"

"I do." Louis regarded Lily and Sophie. "Girls? Do you remember the party Uncle Niall had last summer, when he and Aunt Brie found out they were having a boy?"

After nodding with her sister, Lily recalled, "They had a cake with blue inside."

"That's right," Louis said. "Would you like to have a party like that, to find out what the new babies will be?"

The twins responded with an enthusiastic, "Yes!"

"Do you think everyone will mind coming out for another party?" Harry wondered aloud.

Louis immediately shook his head. "They were all so mad we wouldn't find out last time. I think they'll be happy we're not keeping it a secret this time."

"That's true," Harry agreed. "So, shall we do it?"

Louis looked from Lily to Sophie, then over to Harry. "Let's go for it! Let's have another party!"

                                    *                                  *                                  *

At Harry's doctor's appointment, they had the doctor write down the babies' gender on a piece of paper that was then slipped into an envelope. Without giving the surprise away, Dr. Cantor told Harry and Louis the babies were doing really well. They were exactly the size they should be, and nothing seemed amiss. Harry did ask about the fact that he was pretty certain he was carrying heavier than he had with Lily and Sophie. The doctor assured him this was normal, and there was nothing to worry about.

On their way home, they stopped at a bakery not far from their house. It was Harry's favourite, and he was extremely friendly to and fond of the owner, a lovely woman called Flora. Flora was in her sixties, but she was as energetic as someone half her age. She adored Harry, and she oohed and ahhed over his expanding belly from the moment he and Louis walked into the shop, the little bell hanging over the door announcing their entry.

Flora readily agreed to bake a cake for their gender reveal party. They reverently put her in charge of the envelope Dr. Cantor had given them, telling her that she would be just the second person--after the doctor--to know if they were having twin boys or twin girls. She told them she was truly honoured.

Unfortunately, the day of their reveal party did not dawn as bright and sunny as the day of their last party. It was cloudy and rainy, and it was painfully clear that they would need to host the party indoors.

By breakfast time, it was also painfully clear that the clouds and rain had put both Lily and Sophie in bad moods. They sniped at each other through the entire meal, only just barely managing not to draw Izzy into their arguments. Harry and Louis hoped this turn of events was not indicative of how the rest of the day was going to go.

The girls continued to be contrary throughout the morning, though they shaped up a little when Louis threatened them with no party. By the time their first guest--Gemma--arrived, the twins were in a slightly better humour, and they readily took her up on her offer to braid their hair for this most special occasion.

The guest list was pretty much a carbon copy of the list for the party in June. In addition to Gemma, Anne, Robin, Jay, and Dan were coming, along with all of Louis' siblings. Liam, Zayn, and Niall were all coming with their significant others and kids, making for a very full house. Harry and Louis were grateful that they had indulged in a large enough house to fit everyone in.

As each person entered the house, they were invited to make a guess about whether the babies would be boys or girls. Earlier in the week, Lily and Sophie had helped to make a simple poster with two columns, one for girls, one for boys. The votes showed that boys were the clear favourite, especially for Lily and Sophie, whose names were first under the column under the written-in-blue "Boys." Harry and Louis abstained from voting, stating that they would be thrilled with either gender.

Since it had worked out so well the last time, they'd had lunch catered once again. Everyone congregated in little groups all throughout the first floor and the basement to share food from a wonderful buffet. Harry and Louis made sure to walk around and chat with each little group, thanking them for coming to share in finding out whether two boys or two girls would be joining them for the December holidays this year.

Once everyone's appetites had been sated, neither Harry nor Louis could stand the suspense any longer. They gathered everyone together in the lounge and set the beautiful cake Flora had made down in a spot of honor on their coffee table. The baker had outdone herself. The cake was decorated with delicate pink and blue stars under a raised yellow moon. The top read "How We Wonder What You Are." Lily, Sophie, and Izzy settled themselves right on the floor next to the cake, wanting a front row seat to the reveal.

Harry cleared his throat to get everyone's attention. "Louis and I want to thank all of you for coming. We are so, so excited about finding out whether the babies will be boys or girls."

"Boys!" shouted Lily and Sophie, making everyone laugh. The perturbed looks on the girls' faces hinted to their fathers that they were, perhaps, taking this way more seriously than they should be.

"Maybe we should end the suspense," Louis said with a grin. He picked up the cake knife and offered it to Harry.

Harry ran an unconscious hand over his swollen stomach and shook his head. "No, you do it."

"Let's do it together," Louis suggested. "Just like at the wedding."

"Works for me," Harry agreed.

It seemed like the entire room held their breath as Harry and Louis held the handle of the knife together, positioning the tip directly in the middle of the cake. After a dramatic pause, they nodded at each other and cut into the cake. When they pulled out a slice, a cascade of pink candies poured from the centre of the cake.

"It's girls!" Louis cried happily, sharing a big smile with Harry.

The couple's happiness was extremely short-lived. As one, Lily and Sophie used every ounce of breath they had to yell, "No!"

Their assembled family and friends had just been about to clap in appreciation for the revelation that they would have two new little girls to love, but they stopped as Lily and Sophie rose to their feet to once again shout, "No!"

Izzy decided that if her sisters were doing it, it must be the thing to do, so she, too, stood up to shout, "No!"

Harry was less able to squat down quickly, so it was left to Louis to immediately kneel down to their daughters' level. "Girls," he began. "I know you were hoping the babies would be boys, but--"

"We don't want girls!" Lily demanded, stomping her little foot.

"We want boys!" Sophie added insistently, her face turning red.

"Darlings," Louis tried again. "I know you wanted boys, but that's just not how it is."

Harry had managed to squat down by this time. "You guys love Isabelle. I know you'll love these little girls, too." He rubbed his belly meaningfully.

The twins were not the teeniest bit placated. "We don't want girls," Lily stated again, her tone fierce, just in case her fathers hadn't gotten her meaning. "Send them back."

Tears pooled in Harry's eyes at the girls' reaction. He had known they would be disappointed, but he hadn't been expecting this level of ire.

"We're not sending them back," Louis told them firmly.

"Well, we're not going to love them," Lily declared haughtily. And with that, she grabbed Sophie's hand, and together they charged through the crowd, presumably to head to their room. Izzy looked at the spot her sisters had vacated, confused, then abruptly began to cry.

Before either Louis or Harry could get to her, Gemma swept in to comfort her youngest niece.

Louis sighed and got to his feet, then helped Harry up. He turned sheepishly to their friends and family, all gazing at him and Harry with concern.

"If you'll just excuse us for long enough to go deal with the unhappy pair, we can resume the celebration," Louis requested.

"Go, go!" Jay encouraged them, moving to begin to create a space for Louis and Harry to get to the stairwell.

"I can't believe how upset they are," Harry whispered to Louis as they walked upstairs. His hand was once again splayed protectively on his stomach, as if trying to keep the babies from hearing just how upset Lily and Sophie were about their impending arrival.

"They'll be fine," Louis tried to assure him. "They just need time to get used to the idea that they're getting sisters."

The twins had gone into their room and closed the door. It took every ounce of self-control Louis had not to just barge in. Instead, he knocked. "Lily? Sophie? It's Papa and Daddy. Can we come in?"

It was Lily's voice that called out, "No!"

Louis sighed and opened the door anyway. At least they'd given the girls fair warning.

The twins had gotten out their tablet, and it looked like they were trying to pick out a game to play.

"Girls," Louis began, using as calm a tone as he could muster. "We need to talk."

Lily and Sophie studiously ignored him, continuing to focus their attention on the screen in Lily's lap.

Louis squatted down and gently plucked the tablet from Lily's grasp.

"Papa!" Lily protested.

"I said, we need to talk," Louis repeated, his firm growing much more firm.

Though they made it clear they were moving under duress, the girls stood up and followed their fathers to Sophie's bed. Since Harry's belly no longer allowed him to hold the kids comfortably on his lap, Louis took one on each knee, Harry sat right next to them.

"Girls, I know you're both very upset," Louis told them. "And that's okay. You're allowed to be disappointed."

"We want boys, Papa," Sophie reiterated her sister's earlier sentiment. "We already have three girls."

"I know," Louis said. "But there's not anything we can do about it. We can't change it, and we can't send them back. But, hey, you never know. If we decide to have more babies, maybe those will be boys." He looked up to meet Harry's gaze and was not surprised to see Harry look slightly horrified at the thought of being pregnant again after these twins were born. He mouthed, "Sorry."

Harry shook his head to let Louis know it was okay, then he redirected his attention to Lily and Sophie. "Just think about all the things you two are going to be able to teach these two." He caressed his bump. "You know all about how to be identical twin girls. You can show them all the tricks, all the ways to have fun with it. And they're going to love you both so, so much."

"Are you sure, Daddy?" Lily asked.

"I'm positive."

"Can we have boys next time?" Lily continued with her questions.

"I can't promise there will be a next time or that if there is it will be a boy--or boys," Harry stated honestly. "We need to take care of these babies first. Okay?"

Lily sighed, so beleaguered. "Okay, Daddy."

"Okay, Sophie?" Harry checked, looking upon his other little girl.

"Okay, Daddy," Sophie echoed her sister.

"Now, girls, we have all our favourite people here waiting to celebrate that you're going to have two new baby sisters. And there's a cake waiting to be eaten. Should we go back downstairs?" Louis suggested.

Lily and Sophie both nodded and hopped off Louis' lap. They raced, then, to lead the way back downstairs.

Louis offered Harry a hand up, which Harry accepted gratefully. Louis kept a hold of Harry's hand even after he'd steadied himself.

As they made their way out of the girls' room, Harry squeezed Louis' hand and said, "You were fantastic with them."

Louis smiled at the compliment, squeezing Harry's hand back. "You were, too."

"Think we might be getting the hang of this parenting thing?"

Louis chuckled. "We might just be." He stopped walking to put a hand on either side of Harry's swollen belly. "And just in time, too, since we have two more princesses on the way."

The soft look on Harry's face morphed into one that was a little more serious. "Are you okay with them being girls, Louis? I know you'd love a little boy to kick a football around with, have a little rough and tumble with."

"I would have loved that," Louis admitted. "But I am excited to have two more baby girls to spoil and love. And who knows? Maybe one of these will take to football. I have twice the chance again."

Harry rested a hand on each of Louis' cheeks and drew him in for kiss. Once they parted, he whispered, "I love you."

"Love you, too," Louis returned. "All three of you. And all three of them." He tilted his head toward the stairwell and their elder daughters.

Quirking his eyebrow, Harry queried, "So, shall we go celebrate?"

"Abso-fucking-lutely," Louis responded with a grin.

"Language, babe, language," Harry chided as Louis pulled him toward the stairs.

                                    *                                  *                                  *

Louis was in the music room upstairs when he heard the twins scream. He dropped the sheet music he'd been sifting through and ran for the stairs at a breakneck speed.

It became painfully obvious what had made the girls scream. Harry was sprawled at the bottom of the stairs, unmoving.

"Harry!" Louis yelled, racing down the stairs so quickly he almost fell himself.

He dropped to his knees at Harry's side and placed a hand on Harry's cheek. "Harry? Harry, can you hear me? Harry!"

Harry offered no response. He'd fallen flat on his back, his six-month belly pointing straight up. He was still in a way he almost never was, not even in his sleep, and Louis' panic filled his body like air in a balloon, taking up each and every corner and crevice it could find.

Louis pressed his ear to Harry's mouth and, thank goodness, he could hear Harry breathing. It was low and shallow, but he was breathing. When Louis went to smooth back Harry's hair, his hand met a sticky mass on the back of Harry's head. He must have knocked himself out when he hit the floor.

Reaching for his back pocket, Louis hauled out his mobile phone and rang 9-9-9. He gave his name, address, and told them they needed to come help his husband now, all the while resting a hand on Harry's stomach, aching to feel the babies kick, praying they hadn't been injured, too.

Once he'd confirmed they had an ambulance on the way, Louis became aware of the twins standing just behind him, weeping uncontrollably.

Though he was loath to let Harry go, he did, pulling the two girls into his arms. "Shh, shh," he urged them. "Shh."

"Is Daddy dead?" Lily cried into Louis' ear.

"No, baby, no," Louis assured her.

"Are the babies okay?" Sophie wanted to know through her tears.

"I hope so," Louis replied.

After about a minute of him holding them, the girls calmed down enough for Louis to let go. "Girls, what happened?"

"Daddy tripped on one of our dolls," Lily confessed, tears starting to course freely down her cheeks again.

"We're sorry, Papa," Sophie said, also starting to lose it once more.

"I know it was an accident," Louis told them. In a serious tone, he went on, "I need you to be brave now. The ambulance will be here any minute. Can you two go get Izzy from her room and bring her down?"

The twins nodded, then ran up the stairs, and Louis returned his attention to Harry, still unmoving. The panic which had subsided a tiny bit as he focused on Lily and Sophie returned in full force. He didn't know what he'd do if something happened to Harry. Harry was his love, his life, his everything.

A harsh knock on the front door was the best sound Louis had heard in a long time. He shot up from the floor to let the paramedics in.

There was a flurry of activity as one paramedic got basic information from Louis about what had happened while two more paramedics checked Harry's neck before placing a board beneath him and transferring him onto a stretcher. Louis made sure they knew that Harry was six months along.

Lily and Sophie appeared, Sophie balancing a very sleepy Izzy on her hip. Louis took Izzy from Sophie, then pushed the twins ahead of him as they all followed the paramedics who were carrying Harry to the ambulance.

"Can we come with him?" Louis asked the paramedic heading toward the driver's seat.

The paramedic paused only a second or two, then he answered, "Yes."

Louis wasted no time helping Lily and Sophie up into the ambulance, putting Izzy on Lily's lap so he could sit by Harry, grabbing his hand.

As the ambulance took off toward the hospital, siren wailing, Louis squeezed Harry's hand. "Come on, baby. Wake up. Please, Harry."

His plea was barely out when Louis had to give up Harry's hand to allow one of the paramedics to put in an IV.

Once that task was complete, Louis got a hold of Harry's forearm, holding on tight. "Harry, baby. I'm right here."

Miraculously, it was at this moment that Harry gasped, his eyes snapping open.

Louis immediately ran a hand over Harry's forehead, brushing his hair back. "Harry. Love."

"Louis," Harry rasped. "What happened?"

"You fell," Louis reported.

"I fell?" Harry seemed puzzled. His face relaxed, then. "On the stairs."

"Yes," Louis concurred.

Harry opened his mouth to say something else, but instead, his hand flew to his bump and he hissed in pain.

Louis' eyes widened, and the panic from earlier returned with a vengeance. "What is it? Harry, what's wrong?"

"Contraction," Harry ground out through his teeth. He began to cry, then. "It's too early, Louis. They can't come yet."

Louis had no idea what to say. Harry was right. It was way too early. He didn't know what they'd do if they lost these babies.

The back door of the ambulance opened just then. They'd arrived at the hospital.

A group of three doctors appeared to help usher Harry into A&E.

"He fell down some stairs. He has a head injury, and he's having contractions," one of the paramedics reported to the female doctor who asked for an update. "Six months' gestation."

"Help him, please," Louis begged the doctor.

"We'll do our very best," she told him, then she turned her attention to her colleagues, barking orders as they wheeled Harry inside the building.

Louis helped Lily, Sophie, and Izzy out of the ambulance and they followed the little group assigned to help his husband. No one blocked their way when Louis and the girls filed into the cubicle where the medical personnel were currently shifting Harry to a bed.

The girls stood back, understandably scared by everything going on. Louis, however, moved right to Harry's side, sure to stay out of the way of the doctors. Harry was still crying, and he reached for Louis' hand as one of the doctors checked out the bump on the back of his head and shone a light into his eyes to check for concussion.

"It's going to be okay, Harry," Louis assured him, even if he knew he might be lying.

Harry hissed as another contraction washed over him, making him cry even harder.

"Harry," the female doctor said in a firm, but soothing voice. "I'm Dr. Lucy Miller. I'm going to do everything I can to help you and your baby."

"Babies," Louis corrected. "It's twins."

Dr. Miller met his gaze very briefly before looking back at Harry. "You're six months along?"

Harry nodded, tears coursing down his cheeks.

"Well, I think your fall might have triggered pre-term labour," the doctor diagnosed. "I'm going to try some medication which we've had great success with in stopping early labour." She requested the nurse start a line of something called Terbutaline.

While the nurse stuck Harry with another needle and got another IV going, Dr. Miller pulled over a portable ultrasound machine and pushed up Harry's shirt. "Let's get a look at what's happening in there."

Louis held his breath as the doctor worked a wand over Harry's swollen belly. After a few seconds, she said, "Everything looks okay. Nothing's ruptured, and the babies appear to be doing well. I see strong heartbeats. They do look like they may be trying to get in a birthing position, but if we can get the contractions under control, that should stop. I want to do a quick pelvic exam to make sure you're not dilating."

A nurse covered Harry's knees with a sheet for privacy so the doctor could help lower Harry's jeans and perform her exam. "All good," she declared. "Not even a millimetre dilated."

Harry and Louis both sighed with relief as the doctor resituated Harry's jeans and the nurse removed the sheet.

"How long will it take for the medicine to go into effect?" Louis inquired.

"It shouldn't take long at all." She removed the wand from Harry's stomach and looked up at one of her colleagues, the young man who had checked Harry's head. "How's his head?"

"It may need a few stitches, but there appear to be no lasting effects other than a slight concussion," the male doctor informed her.

"I'll send someone in to handle the stitches and set up a foetal monitor," Dr. Miller told them. "I'll be back in just a bit to see if the Terbutaline is doing its job. Let someone know straight away if something doesn't seem right."

"We will," Louis promised.

The doctors filed out of the cubicle one by one, leaving the family all alone.

Harry rested a protective hand on his bump as another contraction hit him. Tears continued to slide down his face. "This can't be happening," he lamented.

"Papa?" Sophie piped up from behind Louis.

He'd almost forgotten the kids were there, but now he was reminded, he urged them forward, putting them between himself and the bed Harry lay on.

"Are you okay, Daddy?" Lily asked, her bottom lip trembling.

"I'm fine," Harry assured her.

"Are the babies okay, too?" Sophie wanted to know.

"I hope so," Harry replied. "I really hope so."

"The doctors are doing everything they can to help Daddy and the babies," Louis added his own reassurance.

Sophie began to sob. "We're sorry we left our dolls on the stairs."

Louis crouched down to wrap her in a hug. "Oh, baby, it's okay. Daddy and I know you didn't mean for anyone to be hurt."

Lily started to cry, too, as did Izzy, so Louis soon had an armful of girls to calm down. Fortunately, they were soothed fairly easily, and Louis was able to return to an upright position.

"I'm going to ring Gemma," Louis told Harry. "Maybe she can come take the girls."

"If that doesn't work, you can try Niall. He got back to London two days ago," Harry stated.

Louis stepped out of the cubicle long enough to try Gemma. She picked up on the first ring, and Louis gave her a quick rundown on what was happening. She said she'd be there in less than thirty minutes. He called Niall, too, for good measure, and he, too, told Louis he was on his way.

When Louis slipped back into the cubicle, a nurse was there putting stitches into Harry's head wound. The twins were clearly fascinated by the procedure, and the nurse was explaining every step she was doing.

"Is Gemma coming?" Harry questioned Louis immediately, his tone hopeful.

"Yes." Louis nodded. "Niall, too. How are the contractions?"

As if he'd summoned one just by mentioning them, Harry's face scrunched in pain, and the nurse working on his head froze.

Louis grabbed his hand to help Harry through.

When his breathing eased, Harry noted, "That one was actually less painful. Maybe they’re stopping."

Louis prayed Harry was correct.

The nurse finished up the stitches, then she fetched another nurse to help her set up the foetal monitor. Harry had been hooked up to one when he was in labour with Lily and Sophie, so he adjusted quickly to having it on.

They all waited quietly, trying to will Harry's body to calm down, although there were two more contractions before Gemma appeared, followed closely by Niall.

Louis filled them in on what had happened since they'd gotten to hospital, and he had just finished when Dr. Miller returned to check in on Harry.

Gemma and Niall offered to take Lily, Sophie, and Izzy to go get a drink so Louis and Harry could talk frankly to the doctor. Louis figured the girls had had enough trauma for the day, and though they wanted to stay with Louis and Harry, Louis encouraged them to go. Though they were incredibly reluctant, they finally agreed--Niall having stacked the deck with the promise of some ice cream.

Once the children were gone, Dr. Miller checked the foetal monitor. "This looks good," she stated. "The intensity of the contractions is lessening, and they're growing further apart. How are you feeling, Harry?"

"My head hurts quite a bit, but I can definitely tell that the contractions are slowing down," Harry catalogued his symptoms.

"Your head may hurt for a bit, but it looks like the medication is helping the pre-term labour just like it's supposed to," the doctor said.

"Thank God." Louis sighed with relief.

"I want to keep Harry overnight," Dr. Miller continued, addressing Louis in particular. "I want him here until these contractions stop, and I want an eye on that concussion. If everything checks out tomorrow--head, pre-term labour, and babies--then he can go home. I may suggest a little bed rest after that, just to be safe."

"If the medication works, will I be able to carry the babies to term?" Harry inquired.

The doctor returned her attention to Harry. "That's the goal. I have had many patients in your situation go on to carry to term with no lasting effects from having experienced pre-term labour."

It was Harry's turn to sigh with relief.

"Someone will be in shortly to take you to a room," Dr. Miller went on to say. "I'll check back with you in a bit to see how things are progressing. Don't hesitate to page a nurse if anything seems out of order."

"Thank you so much, Dr. Miller." Louis reached out a hand to shake hers. "Thank you for helping save our babies."

The doctor smiled warmly. "I'm happy I could help. I'll see you both a bit later."

Once Dr. Miller left the cubicle, Harry and Louis were alone for the first time since Louis heard the twins screaming at the bottom of the stairs what felt like eons ago.

Louis hooked his ankle around the leg of a nearby chair and pulled it over, sitting down and taking Harry's hand, lifting it to kiss the back. "How're you doing there, babe?"

Harry offered a wan smile. "I feel like shit, but I'm so relieved that these contractions are dying down. I was so scared the babies were going to try to come now."

"Me, too," Louis confessed. "You freaked me out, too, there, being unconscious."

"Sorry," Harry said needlessly.

Louis shook his head. "Not your fault. I'm just glad you're okay. I can't do this without you."

"Nor I you," Harry returned.

Some nurses arrived just then to ferry Harry up to a private room for the night. Louis went to find Gemma, Niall, and the girls, telling Harry they'd meet him in just a bit, when he was settled into his temporary accommodations.

"Don't take too long," Harry requested.

"Enjoy any brief alone time you're about to get," Louis suggested. "You won't have any more for quite a while."

Harry wouldn't have it any other way.

                                    *                                  *                                  *

Harry quickly learned that bed rest was not for him. He was used to being active, playing with the girls, doing most of the cooking, and just generally getting out and about. Louis was a strict caregiver, however, and Harry was allowed to the bathroom and back to bed, nothing else, for the entire two weeks Dr. Miller prescribed.

Fortunately, Lily and Sophie took to being Harry's nurses like ducks to water. They loved helping Louis cook meals and bringing them to Harry, and they spent every day trying to one-up each other in thinking of the best toys to bring into Harry and Louis' room to play with Harry. Izzy tried to get in on the action, too, though her obsession with her action figures (a combination of Barbie dolls, old One Direction dolls, and army figures) meant that the kind of play she suggested was pretty limited.

In the middle of Harry's second week of bed rest, Harry begged Louis to let him get up and move to a different part of the house. At first, Louis gave an unequivocal no, but after Harry batted sparkly green eyes at him, Louis relented and helped Harry down to the sofa in the lounge.

Harry was thrilled to be somewhere other than his room. As all three of their girls surrounded him, Lily and Sophie playing with their toys right in front of the sofa and Izzy napping at his side, he realised something.

"You know what we never did?" he asked the room at large.

From his spot in the easy chair, Louis responded, "What?"

"Made a public announcement that we're expecting again." Harry raised his eyebrows pointedly.

"We didn't?" Louis was surprised. They hadn't forgotten the first two times.

Harry shook his head. "We didn't. And now seems like as good a time as any to let everyone know."

"You're sure? Even after the…scare?" Louis checked, just a little anxious.

Harry nodded now. "I'm sure." He looked down at Lily and Sophie. "What do you say, girls? Want to help announce to the world that you're having more baby sisters?"

Lily and Sophie didn't hesitate to agree with two enthusiastic yeses. As usual, Izzy agreed with whatever her big sisters said.

"Can we be in a video, Daddy?" Sophie begged.

"Please, Daddy?" Lily joined in.

Harry looked over at Louis and shrugged by way of asking if he thought doing a video was a good idea.

Louis nodded.

"Sure," Harry told the girls, who cheered wildly.

Louis grabbed his phone from the coffee table. "Why don't we start with each of you girls introducing yourselves and how old you are?"

Lily jumped up, shaking her curls from side to side. She threw a big grin in the direction of Louis' mobile. "I'm Lily, and I'm eight."

"Good job, sweetie." Louis turned to Lily's twin. "Now you."

Sophie sidled past Lily to say, "I'm Sophie, and I'm eight."

"And you, Iz," Louis went on, pointing the camera at the current baby of the family.

Izzy twirled, her tutu twirling right with her. When she stopped spinning, she was dazed for a second.

Harry and Louis both stifled giggles.

Louis sobered and looked Izzy in the eye while keeping the phone trained on her. "What's your name, sweetheart?"

"I Izzy," she recited.

"How old are you?"

Izzy held up two fingers.

"Close enough," Harry declared.

Louis pointed to Harry's belly. "Who's that?"

"Baby!" Izzy yelled.

"Sophie? Lily?" Louis prompted, tilted his chin in Harry's direction.

Lily beamed at the camera in Louis' mobile. "Those are our baby sisters!"

"Sisters?" Harry joined in.

"We're having twins," Sophie announced.

Harry cleared his throat and Louis turned the camera toward Harry. "Technically, I'm the one having twins. Again." He smiled widely.

Louis found his kids with the camera once more. "When are they coming, girls?" Louis asked for the benefit of the eventual social media audience.

"Christmas!" Lily, Sophie, and Izzy yelled happily.

Louis focused in on Harry when he said, "Hopefully a week before. Christmas would be late. A week late. They'll be a week old on Christmas."

After a laugh at Harry's expense, Louis switched the camera for a selfie view. "So, who's excited about becoming a family of seven?"

"We are!" everyone shouted as Louis turned the camera back on his family.

Izzy walked over to Harry and put both her hands on his bump. "Babies!" she declared.

Louis didn't need any more evidence. This video was going to be perfect.

                                    *                                  *                                  *

Week Twenty-Eight of Harry's pregnancy coincided with Isabelle's second birthday. He was seven months pregnant and still carrying way heavier with this set of twins than he had with Lily and Sophie. He was wildly uncomfortable, but he still wanted to make sure Isabelle's party was the best it could be.

To that end, he asked Gemma to help him make a plan, then requested that she execute it, if she wouldn't mind. Gemma agreed readily, never one to turn down a good party.

They did try to keep things simple. Just immediate family and a princess theme. Gemma solicited Flora to make a sparkly pink cake, and she planned out a few games to entertain the children. Izzy was only turning two, so they decided nice and lowkey would be just the ticket--for everyone's sake.

Fortunately, just as they had for the party where they announced the baby twins were coming, they got lucky with the weather. Late September could be quite tempestuous, but the day they'd chosen for Izzy's party dawned sunny. The air was cool, but still pleasant to be out in.

Louis ordered Harry to take it easy. Harry could be social with all their guests, and Louis would manage the food and the kids. Harry was, after all, only freshly recovered from his fall. Louis wasn't taking any chances with either Harry's health or the babies'.

Lily and Sophie were in their element, of course, with so many adults to shower attention and love on them, including Gemma and Lottie, their very favourite aunts. Izzy seemed to recognise that this party was all about her, while at the same time being confused by why so many people were over. She enjoyed all the games, though, and had a great time when they brought the cake out.

Harry got a little weepy when Gemma was helping Izzy make a wish and blow out her two candles. He told himself it was just hormones and not the fact that Izzy was getting older.

After the guests all trickled out toward the end of the afternoon, Harry and Louis settled Sophie, Lily, and Izzy in front of a movie. Not one of the three of them made it through more than five minutes of the film, passing out cuddled next to each other.

Louis threw a blanket over the girls to keep them warm, then he looked up at where Harry stood in the arch which separated the lounge from the kitchen. "We can clean up later. Tea now?"

"Tea sounds amazing," Harry replied, already turning around.

When Harry reached for the kettle, Louis reached around to take it from him. "Nope. You sit."

Harry opened his mouth to protest, then relented, rubbing a hand on the side of his belly. "Fine." He moved to take a seat at the kitchen table.

Five minutes later, they were sitting side by side at the table with steaming cups of tea. Louis took a careful sip before saying, "I think that went well."

"Izzy certainly seemed happy," Harry agreed. "And she made out like a bandit. I don't even know where we're going to put all her new toys."

"I think we need to make her get rid of some of her older toys," Louis commented. "We can donate them to the hospital."

"That's a good idea." Harry sipped at his herbal tea. "We should get Lily and Sophie to donate some of theirs, too."

"It's a plan," Louis announced.

They sat sipping their drinks and enjoying the silence after the noisy day.

Louis broke the silence with a question. "So, how are you feeling?"

Harry reached down to caress his stomach again. "I'm okay. Exhausted. But okay. It was a fun day." Suddenly, he stopped caressing on a spot near the bottom of his bump and reached for Louis' hand with his free one, planting it on his bump, too. "They are clearly not ready for the party to be over."

Louis grinned as he felt the powerful kicks underneath his hand. "Maybe these two really will be my footie players. I don't remember the other girls kicking this hard."

"Oh, they did," Harry corrected. "Though maybe not quite this often. These two are most definitely party animals."

"I choose to continue to believe they may want to play football," Louis stated firmly.

"You never know." Harry took another sip of tea. "I love football, too. Surely sooner or later one of these kids will get the gene."

"Just six more kids and we can just force them all to play, since we'll have enough for a team," Louis joked.

"Six!?" Harry sounded equal parts amused and horrified.

"You've had five with just three pregnancies. Three more sets of twins, and we're golden. Or we could go for two sets of triplets. You'd only have to be pregnant twice more." Louis grinned at the look on Harry's face.

"None of that is going to happen," Harry assured him, though he did crack a smile at the absurdity of Louis' imagination.

"Are you saying five is enough?" Louis wondered aloud.

"I'm saying let's get these two here safely and give me a little time to recover, then we can talk," Harry responded.

"Okay." Louis smirked. "I guess I can do that."

"We should check on the girls," Harry noted next, already moving to lever himself up. "And if they're still out, I may join them. I could use a nap."

"Why don't you go do that no matter what?" Louis countered, also rising from his seat. "I'll check on the girls, and if they wake up, I can keep 'em occupied. We have a whole backyard to clean up."

"I'm just tired enough to not even pretend to argue," Harry told him, grabbing his mug, now halfway filled with tea. "I'll head upstairs right now."

Louis pressed a kiss to Harry's cheek. "See you in a bit."

When Louis checked on the girls, they were still passed out. He resituated the blanket around them, then tip-toed upstairs to check on Harry.

Harry was passed out, too. He hadn't even had enough energy to take off his shoes. Louis smiled fondly at his husband as he gently pulled off his shoes and covered him with the throw blanket at the end of their bed.

He kissed Harry's forehead and his belly. "Sleep well, my loves."

                                    *                                  *                                  *

Birthdays and Christmas were the girls' favourite holidays. Right behind those was Halloween. Lily and Sophie began to plan their costumes the week after Izzy's birthday party. And while Izzy had not really known what was going on the year before, Lily and Sophie had her super hyped this year. She was definitely on board for dressing up and getting loads of sweets.

Lily tended to like superhero costumes, while Sophie was drawn to costumes that were more traditionally girly. Harry and Louis were happy to let them be whatever their hearts desired--as long as it was age-appropriate. No dominatrix costumes allowed.

As it happened, Harry and Louis had introduced the twins to Star Wars--all three trilogies--during the summer, having deemed them old enough to handle it. They had loved it. So, it was to be a Star Wars-themed Halloween in the Tomlinson-Styles household. Lily wanted to be Rey, Sophie wanted to be Leia, and the twins decided Izzy should be an Ewok--all pretty doable, especially with the internet providing them with most of the pieces they needed to make the costumes happen.

Harry spent the weeks leading up to the big day putting together the girls' costumes. Despite the help of the internet, it wasn't easy. The further along he got with his pregnancy, the more exhausting it was. He couldn't even imagine how he had done a tour at this point in his pregnancy with Lily and Sophie. He must have been insane.

31 October dawned cloudy, but although there was rain in the morning, the afternoon cleared up nicely. Louis picked the kids up from school and brought them home, where Harry was waiting with their costumes.

Lily and Sophie jumped around the lounge eating their snack of grapes and sliced apple.

"Papa!" Lily cried. "Will we get as many sweets this year as we got last year?"

"You never even finished all the sweets you got last year," Louis pointed out. "Now, finish your snack so we can get your costume on and do your hair."

Lily dutifully ate the last of the fruit Harry had put on her plate.

"Daddy? Will you be coming with us trick or treating?" Sophie wanted to know.

"I hope so." He had found a shirt online that would turn his huge belly into the Death Star, in keeping with the Star Wars theme. Louis would be Darth Vader.

"Yay!" Sophie cheered, as if he had answered yes.

"Papa, are you coming, too?" Lily wondered aloud, dancing around Louis in a circle.

"Definitely," Louis responded. "I'll be going no matter what. Now, eat!"

When Lily and Sophie were done eating, Louis took charge of Lily to transform her into Rey, and Harry took charge of making Sophie the spitting image of Princess Leia.

When the twins were made up with space-age hairstyles and costumes that reflected their character, Harry and Louis gave them some screen time while they worked together to wrangle Izzy into the tiny Ewok costume Harry had found on eBay. Soon enough, the toddler was wielding a tiny, plastic bat, and Harry and Louis could take turns getting in their outfits.

Lily and Sophie were chasing Izzy with their treat bags as Louis reappeared in his Darth Vader gear. Harry sat wearily on the sofa, watching them. "Time to go?" Louis asked, already nodding his head.

"It is definitely time to go," Harry replied, starting to begin the process of lifting himself off the sofa.

Louis watched for a second before inquiring, "You going to make it?"

Harry held one hand to his belly, then held out his other hand to Louis. "Help?"

Gladly, Louis offered an assist.

They coaxed the older girls into light jackets and it was off they went.

As they walked from door to door, they developed a routine. Lily and Sophie held hands and walked together, while Louis held onto Izzy right behind the twins. Harry would wait at the end of the drive so as not to exhaust himself too much.

They'd finished one side of the street and were starting on the other when Louis asked Harry, "You ready to do this with five?"

Harry shuddered at the question. "We're crazy, aren't we? Five kids. That's…a lot."

"Well, I guess they stack up when you do them two at a time," Louis pointed out. "We still won't have as many as Angelina and Brad, though. Gotta do this at least once more to match."

"Bite your tongue," Harry quipped. "You keep mentioning having more, forgetting I'm the one who has to carry them."

They stopped by the next house with a light on outside, Izzy pulling at Louis to go with her big sisters to ring the bell.

"I don't forget," Louis told Harry, holding Izzy back for a moment. "You're amazing doing this for us." He stepped in to kiss Harry soundly.

Harry smiled. "Thanks. Now, you'd best go before Izzy takes your arm off."

Louis grinned and walked Izzy up to get some sweets from their neighbour. When he returned, he said to Harry, "So we should table the discussion about number six?"

"Yes," Harry answered firmly. "I don't want to hear the number six for a while." He caressed his swollen stomach. "Not for a long, long while."

                                    *                                  *                                  *

The babies' due date was just about five weeks away when Harry and Louis decided it was time to broach the subject of some room switching with Lily, Sophie, and Izzy.

The house they had made their home had four bedrooms, one for Louis and Harry, and one for each of the girls. They would need to do some rearranging in order to have a space for the baby twins to sleep.

They had done separate bedrooms for the girls when they turned five, each of them wanting a little space from each other. Isabelle had gotten the room which had been the twins' (Zayn had even come by to paint Izzy onto the castle wall), and Harry and Louis had got the twins to help decorate the other two rooms to their liking.

"So, girls," Louis opened the conversation. "We need a room for the new babies."

"They can't have mine!" Lily immediately declared, crossing her little arms over her chest.

"They can't have mine either," Sophie echoed her twin, down to the small crossed arms.

"Babies no in Izzy's bed," Isabelle chimed in, though her dads didn't think she clearly understood what was happening.

Harry and Louis sighed as one.

"Girls," Louis used his firmest voice, "I know it's hard to think about changing things, but something does need to change."

"Can't the babies share your room?" Lily asked.

"Well, they probably will for the first couple weeks, just like you did," Harry replied. "But then they'll need their own room, just like you did."

"You know, girls, I used to share my room with your Aunt Lottie," Louis told them.

"Really?" Sophie and Lily chorused, genuinely surprised.

"But you're a boy and she's a girl," Lily pointed out.

"That's true," Louis said. "It didn't matter, though. When Aunt Fizzy was born, Aunt Lottie's room needed to become the nursery, so Aunt Lottie moved in with me."

"Did you hate having to share a room with her?" Sophie inquired, side-eyeing Lily. Louis and Harry knew that Sophie could be the first to fold--if they played their cards right.

"I was a little mad at first," Louis admitted, "but then I grew to love it. We used to hide under the covers with a flashlight and I'd read to her, and when she got a little older, I loved to play with her and make her laugh."

"That sounds fun," Lily admitted.

"And when Aunt Daisy and Aunt Phoebe were born, we got to get bunk beds so Aunt Fizzy could be in with us, and it was even more fun," Louis concluded his tale.

"You two used to share a room," Harry interjected. "I know you remember that you liked being together."

Lily and Sophie shared a "twin look," as Harry and Louis liked to think of it. They both held their breath to see what the girls would decide. Izzy would do whatever her big sisters did.

"I wouldn't mind sharing a room with Lily," Sophie ventured, folding just as her fathers had hoped she would.

"What do you think, Lily?" Louis questioned.

Lily took another moment to resign herself to her fate, then she answered with a question of her own. "Can Sophie share with me?"

Louis shared a look of relief with Harry. "If that's okay with Sophie, it's okay with us," Louis told her.

Sophie impulsively hugged Lily, and Louis was immeasurably proud of her, as he knew Harry was, too.

"You two can share Lily's room, and Izzy can move into Sophie's, then the babies can share Izzy's room, since it's still decorated as a nursery," Harry stated. This was the plan they'd discussed, so it was good they would be able to enact it without too much fuss.

"Can we get bunk beds, Papa?" Lily wanted to know. "Like Auntie Lottie and Auntie Fizzy?"

Louis laughed and exchanged a look with his also-laughing husband. "I think we can arrange that."

"Let's get online and see what we can find right now," Harry suggested.

Lily and Sophie ran to find Harry's tablet, while Izzy--bored with the proceedings-- went to the corner bin of toys to pull some out.

"We've got pretty great kids," Louis proclaimed, reaching over to grab and squeeze Harry's hand.

Harry rubbed his belly with his free hand. "These two have a lot to live up to."

"That's for sure."

When Sophie and Lily ran back with Harry's tablet, they already had the Amazon app open. The search for the perfect bunk beds was on.

                                    *                                  *                                  *

Lily and Sophie had memorably shown up well in advance of their due date, as had Isabelle. Therefore, when the middle of November arrived, a month before the new twins' due date, Harry began to prepare for what he assumed would be another early entrance.

Though he had not made it there last time, Harry had decided to try to deliver the twins at the birthing centre at which he had meant to have Isabelle. He packed a bag and set it by the front door, and they arranged for Gemma to be on call to come mind the girls at the centre when Harry went into labour.

The start of December brought blustery freezing weather, but no sign of new baby twins. They seemed quite content to stay right where they were, keeping Harry up much of the night with exuberant kicking.

The second week of December featured some Braxton Hicks contractions, one set of which took them to the birthing centre for about two hours, but the babies continued to stay put.

The Monday of the third week of December was the babies' due date. To Harry's consternation, the day came and went with no downward movement from the twins. Harry went to bed feeling wildly heavy and incredibly uncomfortable, not to mention crazy annoyed.

On Tuesday morning, Harry and Louis dropped the girls off at Gemma's for a day of Girl Fun, then they went home to call Dr. Cantor to ask her if they should be concerned. When they got the doctor on the line, Harry put the phone on speaker.

"Hi, gentlemen," Dr. Cantor's voice came through the tiny phone speaker.

"Hi, Dr. Cantor," they greeted her simultaneously.

"Let me guess," the doctor continued. "You're calling because yesterday was your due date, and you don't have babies yet."

"That's correct," Harry confirmed, so over having these babies in his belly.

"I know it's frustrating, but you really don't need to worry," Dr. Cantor assured them. "When you were here a week ago, everything looked just fine. Like I told you then, each pregnancy is different, and apparently these little girls want to take their time."

"How late can they be before we do need to worry?" Louis asked.

"I'd say give it another week. If they aren't here by then, we can talk about inducing," she answered. "It's possible you conceived a bit later than we thought, and they still need more time."

Harry sighed, placing one hand on each side of his sizeable bump. "Is there anything we can do to…you know…hurry this along?"

Dr. Cantor chuckled. "There are plenty of suggestions out there for bringing on labour. Google it. See what you find. If you're nervous about the safety of anything, don't hesitate to call."

"Okay," Louis and Harry agreed together.

"If there's no movement by the weekend, give me a call Monday morning, and we'll go over some options," the doctor told them.

"That's Christmas Eve," Harry noted.

"That's my birthday," Louis corrected, eyebrows raised.

"Then they'll be nice birthday gifts," Dr. Cantor returned, a smile in her voice.

"All right, then," Louis said.

"With any luck, they'll come on their own before then," the doctor went on. "Keep me posted, and, seriously, don't hesitate to call with any questions or concerns. And remember, I forgive you for going to the birthing centre to deliver."

Harry smiled at her teasing. "Thanks. We're glad you understand." It had been a difficult decision, going with a midwife at the centre over Dr. Cantor at the hospital, but that's what Harry had ultimately decided, even though he'd continued to stay under Dr. Cantor's medical care.

"Of course," she said firmly.

"Thanks again," Louis told her.

Harry hit End to finish the call.

Louis immediately pulled out his phone to do as the doctor suggested--Google how they could jumpstart Harry's labour. Harry sipped at his tea and tried to make himself comfortable on the couch.

After scrolling through the results, Louis announced, "There are lots of things we can try. You'll like this first one. Eat spicy food."

Harry perked up a bit at that. "Ooh. Maybe we can get some Indian food for lunch." The girls were not fans of anything spicy, so he couldn't remember the last time they had gotten to eat Indian cuisine.

"And maybe some Mexican for dinner." Mexican fell in the same category as Indian for the girls, though they enjoyed Harry's homemade tacos on occasion, since he added nothing hot to the beef he served the kids.

"Sounds good to me," Harry said. "I'm going to take a nap. You pick us an Indian place to try." Without waiting for Louis' response, Harry worked on turning himself around and getting into a decent napping position.

While Harry slept, Louis followed orders and found a perfect place for them to have a nice, spicy lunch. It was just a quick drive away, and the website promised authentic Indian dishes. It would fit the bill nicely.

Louis watched a movie on the telly until Harry awoke from his nap, then they headed out to see if they could get those babies coming.

At the restaurant, Harry asked their waiter for the spiciest dish on the menu. Louis opted for something a little milder. He wasn't the one trying to kick out some babies; there was no need for his mouth to be on fire.

On the way home, Harry held his hands to his swollen stomach and spoke to the little ones inside. "Okay, little peanuts. It's time to come out now. We are all very anxious to meet you."

Louis grinned. "Can you hear them answering?"

"Well, the food has definitely inspired them to some more kicking, but other than that, no."

"Well, we did just finish, so I guess we should give them a little time," Louis said.

"We'll hit 'em with some nice Mexican later, for the double whammy," Harry reminded Louis of their two-pronged plan.

"With any luck, by this time tomorrow, we'll be at the birthing centre," Louis wished fervently.

They were not. They were still at home, back to square one.

                                    *                                  *                                  *

"Okay, it says on this site that exercise can get labour underway," Louis read off his mobile.

Harry sighed heavily. "Seriously? What kind of exercise?"

They were both lying in bed. Outside the window, the sky was only just beginning to brighten. It wasn't quite time to get the kids ready for the day, and in a stroke of luck, none of those kids were actually up yet. Perhaps they could score a little more time together by staying put and chatting in soft voices.

"They suggest walking vigorously," Louis recited.

"Ugh." Harry looked down at his protruding bump. "What is keeping you, little ones?"

"It's not supposed to be too bad out today," Louis noted. "We could take the girls for a walk in the park."

Harry nodded. "Okay. I'm willing to try anything."

Izzy was awake first, then Lily and Sophie followed not long after. They were excited by the prospect of a trip to the park, so after Louis prepared a fine breakfast of cereal, the whole family bundled up and began the walk to the girls' favourite park. It would be a great start to their Christmas break.

Harry was finding it difficult to move too quickly, carrying as much baby as he was, but the girls were speedy, which forced him to move quickly anyway.

They had to walk clear across the park to get to the playground. Once there, Lily and Sophie took Izzy to the merry-go-round and spun her around until she was dizzy with laughter. Harry and Louis sat on a bench to monitor the action.

"Any movement from the tiny ones? Louis asked.

Harry shook his head. "They were kicking all night, but they seem to be resting now, when I'm not trying to sleep."

"Of course." Louis rubbed his gloved hands together against the cold. "Well, we still have the walk back. We'll wake them up and coax them out."

"I sure hope so."

They allowed the kids to play for a while, then, when Izzy's eyes began to droop, they began the long walk home.

On the way home, Harry felt the beginnings of what he thought might be labour contractions. He opened his coat and took off his gloves to feel his bump. It was not becoming harder, as it should when true contractions began, but he told himself it was early.

"Feel something?" Louis asked hopefully, watching his husband's forehead crinkle in concentration.

"Maybe," Harry responded. "Not sure yet."

Harry was still having contractions when they arrived home, but their speed and strength had not begun to increase at all. He was not incredibly optimistic that this was the moment they'd been waiting for, though he knew he shouldn't give up easily.

Louis encouraged Harry to rest in the lounge and see if the contractions would become stronger. In order to give Harry a little peace and quiet, he took the girls into the kitchen to help prepare lunch.

By the time Louis and the girls had made egg salad sandwiches for lunch and carried plates into the lounge for a winter picnic, Harry was despondent. He accepted a plate and a sandwich from Sophie and a bottle of water from Lily, but he was only able to motivate himself to nibble at the crust.

"No change in the contractions at all?" Louis shot Harry a sympathetic glance even as he helped Izzy with her sandwich.

Harry shook his head. "No. Not even a little. These are more Braxton Hicks. I'd bet money on it."

Louis sighed. "Well, they haven't stopped, have they?"

Harry shook his head again. "No, but they feel exactly like every round of Braxton Hicks I've ever had."

"Maybe this is going to be just like that first time, with a really, really long labour, and the contractions won't change for a few more hours," Louis said, his tone hopeful.

"I'm praying with every fibre of my being that you're right." Harry's tone projected considerably less hope than his husband's.

After finishing lunch, Louis took the girls out to the backyard to play, leaving Harry to lie on the sofa and channel surf, waiting for the contractions to either get worse or go away.

To Harry's immense consternation, the contractions had not done either an hour later when Louis brought the kids back in. Lily and Sophie squeezed next to him on the couch, while Louis went to put Izzy down for a nap.

"Nothing?" Louis asked as he walked back into the lounge.

"I'm ninety-nine percent sure these are Braxton Hicks," Harry replied, sighing heavily.

Louis frowned.

"I think I'm ready to see if I can get them to stop," Harry went on. He hissed as another contraction hit, then looked down at first Sophie, then Lily. "You girls up for some yoga and meditation?"

"Yay!" the girls answered with a cheer, already jumping off the sofa to race each other for the entry closet, where the yoga mats were stored.

"Need help getting up?" Louis held out his hands to Harry, who took them gratefully, using the leverage to rise.

Lily and Sophie reappeared with three yoga mats. "We're ready, Daddy," Sophie informed Harry.

Harry met Louis' gaze. "We'll be in the playroom."

"I'll be out here watching whatever footie I can find," Louis said, picking up the remote control.

Harry led the way to the room they had converted into a playroom for the girls as soon as they'd moved into the house. The girls helped lay out the mats, then they all got into their traditional starting pose.

Having now been through three pregnancies, Harry had experienced Braxton Hicks more times than he could count. Through much trial and error, he had discovered that more than walks, more than warm baths, and more than hot herbal tea, yoga helped to alleviate these "practice" contractions.

Lily and Sophie had taken an interest in learning yoga when Harry was pregnant with Izzy. They had proven to be quite facile at the art, and they loved being able to calm down with their father.

After a half an hour of poses, Harry felt the contractions begin to subside. Just like it always did, yoga worked like a charm.

The babies were clearly going to come in their own time. And not a minute before.

                                    *                                  *                                  *

On Thursday, Louis went out and got Harry some dates to eat, having read online that they could speed up labour. Harry ate a whole container, but nothing happened. On Friday, Louis had to visit several tea sellers to find red raspberry leaf tea for Harry to sip. Harry tried three cups throughout the day. Still nothing.

They took Saturday off from trying anything, preferring to spend the day celebrating an early Christmas with Niall and Liam before they left to spend the actual holiday with their families. Of course, Niall and Liam spoiled Lily, Sophie, and Izzy with fabulous gifts, and the girls were excited to have the attention on them and not on late-to-arrive babies.

Sunday morning, Harry slept late, having been up tossing and turning all night trying--and failing--to get comfortable. Louis got up and got the kids sorted out with breakfast and games in the playroom before returning to Harry, Googling more things they might try to hurry the babies along. It was 23 December. It was way past time.

"So. What are we going to try today?" Harry's groggy voice startled Louis from the game he'd taken up after finishing his research.

Louis placed his mobile on the bedside table, then turned back to Harry with a smile. "Sex."

"Excuse me?" Harry's voice cracked this time.

"Every site I looked at suggested sex," Louis explained. "There's just about nothing left to try."

Harry struggled to prop himself up on his elbows. "I am as big as a house."

Louis smirked. "Doesn't mean I don't still want you." He placed a hand on Harry's sizeable bump. "You know I love the big belly."

With a sigh, Harry relented. "Okay. Let's try it. Are the girls settled?"

"I'll go put a video on for them," Louis offered. "They should be all set, then."

While Louis went back downstairs to tell the kids they were allowed to watch a movie, Harry worked on getting himself undressed; since he was only in boxers and a t-shirt, it did not take long.

Louis put Moana on for the girls, then returned to the bedroom. "They won't be bothering us for a while," he commented as he, too, stripped naked.

"So, how should we do this?" Harry asked when Louis joined him once again on the bed.

"I looked at a lot of message boards, and the positions mentioned over and over were spooning, me behind you, or you on top of me," Louis reported. "What sounds more comfortable to you?"

Harry gave it some thought, then answered, "I think I'd like to try being on top." They'd tried the other positions before with Harry pregnant; it would be fun to try something new.

"Then that's what we'll do," Louis concluded with a smile. "But first, onto your side." He wiggled his fingers to make it clear what he had in mind.

Harry grinned and followed Louis' orders, settling onto his side, his pregnancy pillow under his stomach, his bum exposed for Louis' ministrations.

Louis began with one gentle finger coated in lube, then he added a second, and finally a third. It had been a while since they'd last had sex, so Louis took his time, making sure Harry was well-prepped.

When Harry was shuddering and whimpering, begging Louis for more, Louis knew he was ready. "Come on, let's get you up."

It took a little manoeuvring, but before too long, Harry was poised to go down on Louis' cock, already hard, definitely ready. Harry checked with Louis anyway. "You good to go?"

"Go for it."

With Louis offering a guiding hand, Harry gingerly lowered himself onto Louis. Louis moaned at the sensation. In no time, Harry had taken in Louis' entire length. He looked down at Louis, whose eyes were closed, taking in everything he was feeling. "You okay?"

Louis opened his eyes, grunted, and nodded. "I won't be if you don't move, though."

Not being his usual lithe self, it took some extra effort, but Harry soon set a rhythm which might not have been punishing, but was plenty to send shockwaves up and down Harry's spine. When Louis reached up to grab Harry's cock, the moment coincided with the moment Louis' cock connected with Harry's prostate.

Harry instantly came all over Louis' stomach, and Louis followed soon after, shooting his seed deep inside Harry.

Louis fetched a flannel to clean them up, then they spooned together, Louis the big spoon to Harry's little.

"So, anything?" Louis caressed Harry's belly, rubbing soft circles where one of the babies' feet was pushed into Harry's side.

"Not yet," Harry answered, his voice rough and low. "Doesn't matter if it doesn't work, though. That was amazing. A truly brilliant idea. Brilliant beyond brilliant, actually."

Louis smiled widely. "Why, thank you."

A little voice from someone who had been trained not to just burst into her fathers' room sounded through the door. "Papa? Daddy?"

Louis sighed and whispered, "That movie cannot be over yet." More loudly, he called back, "Sophie? What is it, peanut?"

"We want snacks," Sophie entreated in a plaintive tone. "Please," she added for good measure.

"I'll be right there," Louis assured her, then listened as her footsteps ran back down the hall. He kissed the back of Harry's head. "You relax. I'll go sort them out, then I'll be right back."

"For Round Two?" Harry asked hopefully.

"I'm game if you are," Louis replied, adding another kiss to Harry's head before sliding out of bed.

The girls begged for popcorn, so even though it was morning, Louis microwaved a bag, pouring the popped kernels into a big bowl. He gave the kids bottles of water and a small bag of Hershey Kisses, then left them to finish the movie, only halfway done at this point.

He was gearing himself up for the second round of sex he'd promised Harry as he re-entered their bedroom. Instead of finding Harry lying there awaiting his return, however, he found Harry sitting up in bed, one hand on each side of his bump, a giant grin on his face.

Louis stopped in his tracks, meeting Harry's gaze and raising his eyebrows in question.

Harry's grin grew bigger. "I think it worked."

                                    *                                  *                                  *

The birthing centre told them to wait until the contractions were about five minutes apart or Harry's water broke--whichever came first--to come check in for delivery. They would have a room ready. Harry was a little nervous about waiting that long, since Isabelle had come so fast. The centre employee Harry spoke to told him if he started to get too anxious, he could come on over and get admitted early.

Louis helped Harry downstairs and got him to drink some herbal tea and eat a piece of dry toast. Once the movie the kids had been watching was done, Harry got them to join him for some calming yoga. Louis used that time to let their families know that the babies seemed to be on the way.

Anne and Robin were already with Gemma. With the babies coming so close to the holidays, they had decided on Christmas in London. Anne and Gemma would head over to the birthing centre when Louis texted them the go-ahead, while Robin and Michal would hold down the fort at home.

Louis' mum had been planning on traveling that evening to join the family for Louis' birthday and Christmas. She said she would bump up her departure time and she, too, would meet them at the birthing centre. Lottie would likely accompany her.

Finally, Louis and Harry sat the girls down on the sofa to tell them what was going on.

"Girls, something very exciting is happening today," Louis opened from his spot on the coffee table, facing three eager little faces.

Lily's gaze shifted from Louis to Harry, clearly sussing them out. "Are the babies coming?" she guessed, her tone excited.

Louis was so grateful that the twins had gotten over their initial unhappiness over the arrival of their baby sisters. "They seem to be," he confirmed. "Just in time for Christmas."

"Are they coming here? Like Izzy did?" Sophie inquired, always the worrier.

Harry shook his head firmly, sat right next to Louis. "They are not. We're going to go to the birthing centre in just a little while. They'll be born there."

"You remember the birthing centre, right?" Louis checked. They had gone over in early November to reacquaint Lily and Sophie and introduce Izzy to the place where Harry planned to deliver the babies--if all went according to plan.

All three of the kids nodded.

"Granny Anne, Gemma, Granny Jay, and Lottie will meet us there," Louis went on. "And remember, we talked about what would happen. I'll be with Daddy in his room, and you guys can stay with us or go to the playroom, and you can go back and forth as often as you like."

"We can be there when the babies are born, right?" Lily questioned, recalling their conversations back in November.

"If you want to," Louis said. "You'll have to remember what we talked about. Daddy will be working hard to push the babies out, and I'll be helping him. If you want to be there, you'll need to mind what we tell you to do, okay?"

Lily and Sophie nodded. Izzy nodded, too, but Louis and Harry both knew she didn't really understand what was happening. Their plan was to play things by ear with Izzy. If she seemed okay with being in the room while Harry was delivering, that would be fine, but Gemma and Lottie would be prepared to take her down to the playroom, if she needed some space.

"When are we leaving?" Lily wanted to know.

"When Daddy and the babies are ready," Louis answered. He looked to Harry for help with this one.

"I'm having contractions now," Harry explained. "Those are what will help me get the babies out. They're about ten minutes apart now. When they get just a little closer, we'll go over to the centre."

"Do they hurt?" Sophie asked, her eyes narrowing, daring him to lie to her.

"A little," he told her honestly. "They'll hurt more later, but I'm fine. I've done this before, remember?" Harry winked at her and smiled.

The girls nodded solemnly.

"Why don't we get your backpacks and pack some toys and books for you to bring?" Louis suggested.

Lily and Sophie immediately jumped up to go find their backpacks, while Louis stood to pick up Izzy to go get hers.

"You going to be okay here?" Louis asked, looking back at Harry.

Harry nodded. "Make sure my bag's still by the front door?"

"Absolutely." Louis grinned from ear to ear. "Our new little ones are almost here."

"Just some fun labour and delivery to get through," Harry said, smirking.

"Easy peasy," Louis joked.

Harry groaned and moved from his seat on the table to the sofa. "Easy peasy for you to say."

"That's just how you make it look," Louis batted back.

"Flatterer." Harry wiggled to make himself comfortable. "Now, go help the girls. There's no telling how long we have."

"Your wish is my command, my love."

                                    *                                  *                                  *

They spent the morning just watching telly and trying to relax. The girls were at peak excitement, though, and Izzy refused to go down for more than a quick thirty-minute nap.

Louis made turkey and cheese sandwiches for lunch, although Harry was not up for too much food. He nibbled at the corner of the sandwich Louis presented him with, but he did sip at some more herbal tea, finding it very soothing.

Harry was timing the contractions on his mobile, and shortly after lunch--when the kids had retreated to the playroom again--Harry showed the timer to Louis. "They're seven minutes apart. I think we should get ready to go."

"It could still be hours," Louis reminded him. "You sure you want to go there now?"

"I just keep thinking of what happened with Izzy. She came so fast." Harry shuddered remembering exactly how fast.

"She did," Louis agreed. "But remember how long you were in labour with Lily and Sophie."

"Oh, I remember. Twenty very long hours." Harry shuddered at that, too.

"We'll do whatever you want," Louis went on. "I just wanted to make sure you were weighing all the options. This is your call. You're the boss."

After pausing for a moment, Harry decided, "I think I want to go. Better safe than sorry."

Louis stood up and immediately offered his hands to Harry help him up. Once Harry was also upright, Louis said, "I'll go get the girls."

"I'll wait by the door." Harry began waddling in that direction. "While I'm waiting, I'll call the centre and tell them we're on the way."

In fifteen minutes' time, all three girls were bundled up and settled in the car, and three backpacks and a duffle bag were in the boot. Louis took the wheel, and once they were en route, Harry took on the job of texting his mum and Louis' mum to let them know they were headed to the centre. They both texted back to say they would meet them at the centre shortly.

The centre wasn't all that far away--by Harry and Louis' design--and Harry was shown to a room straight away. Just as they'd requested in the birth plan they'd filed with the centre, Harry was installed in a room with a bed, a birthing pool, and a variety of tools meant to help one get through labour.

A pair of nurses helped Harry to get settled on the bed, while Louis took the girls on a walk to reacquaint them with where the kids' room was. By the time they returned to Harry's room, the midwife they'd met with a few weeks ago, Rebecca, was in the process of examining Harry's progress. Louis was so happy to see her. This would be the first time the person they'd planned to deliver their babies was there to do so.

Louis got the kids situated on the sofa in the corner to watch a cartoon on their shared iPad, then joined Harry to hear what the midwife had to say.

"Harry, you're about three centimetres dilated," Rebecca reported. "And you said your waters haven't broken yet?"

Harry shook his head. "Not yet. Is that okay?"

"Just fine," Rebecca assured him. "If they don't break before you're fully dilated, we can break them for you. I suspect they'll will break soon, though."

"Everything's looking okay, then?" Louis double-checked.

"I'd like to get an ultrasound in here to check the babies' positions, but everything else I've seen looks great," the midwife said. Looking at Harry again, she went on, "Now, are you still thinking you want to try a water birth?"

"Absolutely," Harry told her. "Is that still okay, with the babies so late?"

"As long as Baby A is in a good position, it should be just fine." Rebecca stood and stripped off her plastic gloves. "I'm going to go arrange for an ultrasound. You just relax and let nature take its course."

Rebecca was back with a nurse and an ultrasound machine in less than five minutes, and Harry uncovered his stomach to allow Rebecca to check on the babies. He and Louis peered at the monitor to follow what she was finding with her wand.

"Baby A is in a perfect birthing position. She's head first, and she appears to be in the process of dropping." Rebecca pointed to where Baby A's head was. She moved her finger a bit north. "Now, Baby B is breech at the moment. Feet first."

Harry's eyes widened in horror, and Louis asked what they were both thinking, "Is that going to be a problem?"

"It could be, but I've seen this before, and there are a few things that can be done," Rebecca assured them. "If she doesn't flip around herself--which she may well do once she has enough room--I can try to flip her. If that doesn't work, I can hopefully deliver her feet first. Baby A looks like she's a little bigger, so that works in your favour. We'll alert our on-call obstetrician that there may be an issue, but I don't want you to stress about it. By the time you're delivering, there will be plenty of people around to help out, and I have faith in our ability to help you deliver both of these girls safely."

"You're confident?" Louis questioned her, shooting her his most serious look.

"I am," Rebecca stated firmly.

Louis turned to his husband. "Harry, you're okay with this?"

Harry appeared soothed by Rebecca's short speech. "I think so."

A contraction hit at that moment, giving Rebecca an opportunity to measure its length and strength. When it passed, she said, "You're doing great, Harry. Everything's moving along just as it should."

Harry was breathing deeply, and it took him a moment to recover from the contraction. When he did, he said, "Well, they're definitely getting stronger."

"Perfectly normal," Rebecca returned. "Now, I'll leave you for now. Just relax. Use anything in the room you need, and press the red button on the wall if you need me."

"Thanks," Harry and Louis responded simultaneously.

Not two minutes after Rebecca left Harry to his labour, Anne and Gemma arrived to lend their support.

"How's it going here?" Anne inquired, setting her bag down on the table against the wall before moving to the side of the bed to give Harry a kiss, Gemma following suit.

"It's going okay," Harry replied. "I'm three centimetres, and the contractions are about seven minutes apart. Everything's fine, except Baby B is breech."

"Isn't that feet first?" Gemma checked from where she'd stationed herself at the end of the bed, her brow furrowed.

"Yep," Harry said. "But the midwife didn't seem too worried. She said there's things she can do."

"They have a doctor on call, though, right?" Anne wanted to know, ever the concerned mum.

"They do." Harry wiggled to get more comfortable on the bed.

Lily, Sophie, and Izzy escaped their iPad haze to realise that their grandmother and aunt had arrived. There was a flurry of hugs and kisses, all of which were repeated when Jay and Lottie arrived just a short while later.

They were just about to explain Harry's progress when Rebecca came to check in again. Anne, Gemma, Jay, and Lottie had the girls show them the playroom while Rebecca examined Harry.

She declared he was closing in on four centimetres dilated, and as far as she was concerned, his labour was coming along nicely, if slowly.

"You should prepare yourself for what seems to be shaping up to be a long labour," Rebecca warned Harry.

Harry sighed. "That seems to be my lot with twins."

"How long was your labour with your older twins?" the midwife asked.

"Twenty hours," Harry told her. "So, you think this will be like that?"

Rebecca nodded. "I think it could be."

Sighing again, Harry nodded, too. "Okay. It is what it is."

"I'll be back in a while to check in," she went on. "Same drill, call for me if you have any problems or concerns."

"Thanks," Harry said, offering her a smile.

Once she was gone, Louis grabbed Harry's hand. "You up for this, love?"

"Do I have a choice?" Harry countered, though he smiled as he did so.

"It is what it is?" Louis echoed Harry's earlier words. "Besides, you've done this before, and you were amazing. I've never seen anything like it."

"I can do this," Harry insisted, not just trying to convince Louis, but also himself.

"I haven't a single doubt." Louis leaned forward to kiss Harry soundly.

When they parted, Harry added, "Next time we go away for a weekend without the girls, though, we are definitely going to have to be a little more careful."

Louis couldn't help but chuckle.

                                    *                                  *                                  *

For the next couple hours, Harry's contractions slowly--but steadily--got stronger, and he progressed to five centimetres dilated. There was still a long way to go, however, so he was working hard to pace himself.

The women in their lives were taking turns chatting with Louis and Harry and hanging out with the girls in Harry and Louis' lives. Harry was grateful for the distraction, and Louis was grateful for the help.

The girls came back to Harry's for a visit and a late afternoon snack. When they were done eating, they asked if they could go back to the playroom. There were two other kids close to the twins' age there waiting for their dad to deliver a baby, and they were having a great time together.

This time, Harry wanted to walk with them back to the playroom. "I want to see if getting up and moving around speeds this up any," he explained. "It helped with Lily and Sophie."

"I'll go with you," Gemma offered.

While Louis helped Harry off the bed, Lily, Sophie, and Izzy waved goodbye to their collected family. Harry slipped on a bathrobe, then he, his daughters, and his sister began the trek down to the kids' play area.

"Daddy, they have hundreds of toy cars," Lily enthused.

Not to be outdone, Sophie added, "And a whole bookshelf with puzzles."

"And you've made friends?" Harry questioned them.

"Wendy and Bram," Lily confirmed. "Their daddy is having a baby, too. Just one, though."

"That's how they usually come," Harry pointed out, his tone dry. "One at a time."

"Not in our family," Lily countered with a wide grin.

"Up," Izzy said, stopping and holding her arms up toward Harry.

"Gemma, can you…?"

Just as Gemma was lifting Izzy into her arms, Harry had to stop moving himself as a contraction gripped his midsection. At the height of his pain, he felt a gush of liquid escape him.

Lily and Sophie immediately began giggling.

"Daddy, you weed," Lily announced.

"We could have stopped at the bathroom," Sophie told him.

Once the pain of the contraction had passed, Harry clarified, "That was not me weeing. That was my waters breaking."

Off the quizzical looks on the older girls' faces, Harry expounded upon his clarification. "It means the babies are getting closer to being born. This was water the babies needed to be in my tummy, but now they're going to be born, they don't need it anymore."

"Oh," the girls chorused, satisfied with this answer. They didn't start moving toward the playroom again, however, clearly waiting to see what Harry wanted to do.

"You okay there, little brother?" Gemma checked, propping Izzy up more securely on her hip.

He nodded and pulled in a deep, cleansing breath. "I'm fine." Looking ruefully at the floor, he stated, "I guess we should let the nurses know a clean-up is needed."

"There's a button in the playroom," Gemma said. "We can call when we get there."

"Are the babies coming right now, Daddy?" Sophie inquired.

Harry shook his head. "No. This isn't like what happened with Izzy. It's going to be a while longer. When you two were born, it was almost a whole day after my waters broke when you arrived."

"So, can we go to the playroom still?" Lily wanted to know.

"Absolutely," Harry allowed, steadying himself before continuing on down the hall.

"Yay!" the twins shouted, this time running ahead of their adults.

Gemma paced her walking to match Harry's "You sure you're all right?"

"I've been waiting for that all day," he said. "I'm definitely all right."

Lily had stopped at the door to the playroom. "Daddy! Auntie Gemma! Come on!"

Harry chuckled. "Duty calls."

"Is that what we're calling pushy twins these days?" Gemma joked.

Harry smiled. "Absolutely."

                                    *                                  *                                  *

Harry was about six centimetres dilated by dinner time. The girls were getting cranky--particularly Little Miss I-Won't-Take-a-Nap Isabelle--so their grandmothers and aunts suggested a Girls' Dinner, which perked them up. They promised to bring back food for Louis and Harry.

Laying in bed had become irksome, so Harry had moved to sit atop a birth ball, finding the rocking motion to be extremely helpful during his contractions--now coming just about every five minutes.

"How're you feeling?" Louis asked once they were alone.

"Much better now I'm sitting here instead of lying there," Harry replied. "This is actually kind of amazing. My back feels so much better."

"That's excellent news." Louis stood and stretched. "Do you need anything?"

"Some water?" Harry smiled beatifically. "Please."

Louis walked over to the mini-fridge in the corner and pulled out two bottles of water. He handed one to Harry and kept one for himself, sitting down before taking a sip.

Harry took a couple big swigs of the cool water, then set the bottle on a nearby chair. "I think Iz's going to pass out as soon as they get back from eating. She's been fighting sleep all day."

"She doesn't want to miss any of the action," Louis guessed.

"Well, I think she's going to," Harry said, resting a hand on the upper part of his bump. "These little ones aren't coming any time soon. They're being just as stubborn as Lily and Sophie were."

"That reminds me…." Louis began. "We haven't talked about names in a while. Even if they're not born for a few more hours, we will need to give them names sooner rather than later."

"I've actually been thinking about that today," Harry admitted.

Just as they had done before, they had each made a list of the names they liked, with an aim to compare them and see if they had any names in common. This had worked well with both of Harry's previous pregnancies, even if they had both been early enough they hadn't quite honed in on a decision at the time the babies had arrived.

"Any revelations?"

"Are you still in agreement that their middle names should be after our sisters?" Harry checked.

Louis nodded. "I think they'll be chuffed."

"I had a whole list of names on my phone," Harry went on. "But then I thought of two that hadn't occurred to me until now, and I really like them."

"Hit me with 'em," Louis directed, making a "bring it on" gesture with his hands.

"I was thinking Baby A could be Brighton, since that's where they were conceived, and Baby B could be Lucy, after the doctor who helped keep them from being born prematurely," Harry shared his ideas. "I like the way they sound together, too. Brighton and Lucy."

Louis didn't say anything right away, taking a moment to mull the names over. Harry worried his bottom lip with his top teeth while Louis considered Harry's proposition. When he couldn't stand the suspense anymore, he inquired, "What do you think?"

A slow smile bloomed on Louis' face. "I think those are both perfect."

"There's nothing on your list you liked more?" Harry ensured, eyebrows raised, daring Louis to be untruthful.

"Not one," Louis assured him. "All we have to do is decide which twin gets which middle name."

"We can decide that when they get here. If they ever get here." Harry sighed.

"They will. I promise."

"If you say so," Harry allowed, though the long day had made him sceptical. After a beat and a couple deep breaths, he had a request. "Can we not share the names until the babies are actually here? Is that okay?"

"Absolutely fine with me," Louis agreed easily.

A contraction seized Harry just then, and all thoughts of names fled his brain as he focused on riding through the pain. Louis got up to rub Harry's shoulders through the contraction, doing his best to be supportive.

When the contraction had passed, Harry hauled in some deep breaths. "These two can come any time now."

"Over the contractions?" Louis joked.

"I was never under them."

                                    *                                  *                                  *

Just as Harry had predicted, when the girls got back from their cafeteria dinner with their grandmothers and aunts, Izzy crawled onto the sofa and fell asleep. Lily and Sophie were very obviously tired, too, but they were just as obviously not interested in potentially missing the birth of their new baby sisters.

Louis found Frozen 2 on the iPad--always a good choice as far as Lily and Sophie were concerned--and sat the twins on the opposite side of the sofa from Izzy to watch while the adults chatted to keep Harry--installed once more on the bed--distracted from the increasing strength and frequency of his contractions.

Midway through the movie, Rebecca came to check in, announcing that Harry was almost at seven centimetres, getting ever so slowly closer to being ready to deliver, but she told them that based on Harry's progress throughout the day, it would probably be several hours yet for Harry to reach the desired ten centimetres.

She did another ultrasound at this point, as well. "Baby B is still breech." Before either Louis or Harry could utter a concern, she added, "I'm still confident that she can be flipped. Remember that even if she doesn't, we'll get her out safely. I promise."

"Okay," Harry said, working hard to keep his breathing calm and even. "I trust you."

Louis looked at his mobile as the midwife was cleaning up after her examination. "It's half-nine now. Maybe they're waiting to be born on my birthday…."

Harry sighed, ever beleaguered. "That would be just like your kids, to time themselves exactly as they want. All three of the others did."

"Well, that would be fun, if they shared your birthday," Jay commented with a smile. "Three Christmas Eve babies in the family."

"The twins we already have came on Easter, so I guess holidays are a thing with our multiples," Louis theorised.

"I would be more than happy to have their birthday be the day before yours and just have them out," Harry declared, quickly adding, "Not that I have any say."

Rebecca chuckled. "Babies certainly have their own way of doing things. Hang in there. And don't forget to call me if anything changes."

Harry pulled his joggers back on, then got up to return to the birth ball, this time kneeling on the floor and resting his arms on top of the ball, rocking back and forth to try to counter some of the pain from the ever-strengthening contractions. Louis hovered nearby, just in case his assistance was required.

As soon as the movie ended, Lily and Sophie ran to stand right before where Harry now sat on the ball.

"When are the babies coming, Daddy?" Lily asked, her tone filled with frustration. "It's been a whole day, and they're still not here."

"Tell me about it," Harry said dryly, wincing as another contraction hit.

Louis stepped in at this juncture. "Girls, the babies are going to be a few more hours. Why don't you both lay down for a bit? I'll wake you up right before they get here."

"You promise?" Sophie requested.

Offering up his right little finger, Louis said, "I pinky swear."

He locked pinkies with both girls, then walked them to the sofa, where they lay side by side so their feet met Izzy's. Louis grabbed one of the nearby blankets the nurses had provided and covered the twins, giving each of them a kiss on the forehead. "Sweet dreams."

"Don't forget to wake us up, Papa," Lily reminded him.

"I won't."

They were asleep within minutes.

Harry sincerely hoped their nap would be short. Really short.

                                    *                                  *                                  *

Finally, at around eleven p.m., Rebecca examined Harry and found he had achieved eight centimetres. "Not long now," she predicted. "If you want to go ahead and get in the pool, I think that would be fine."

Harry had been going back and forth from the ball to the bed, but he was more than happy to add the pool into the rotation. He hadn't really been feeling like trying the water when the ball was working so well, but now that the contractions were both stronger and more frequent, water was beginning to sound very appealing. And it was, after all, where he wanted to deliver when it was finally time.

With a little help from a nurse called Molly, Louis had spent some time in the last half-hour getting the tub filled with water at just the right temperature for when Harry was ready for it. He had also changed into swim trunks so he could join Harry--if he wanted Louis' company.

Louis helped Harry strip, then Louis--following Harry in--and Molly--standing on the outside--guided Harry into the pool.

Harry got settled onto the seat at the far end of the tub. As soon as he was submerged to the top of his bump, he sighed happily. "I should have gotten in here hours ago."

"Feels good?" Louis surmised.

"Feels amazing," Harry corrected, closing his eyes and relaxing.

Louis ended up sitting just outside the pool, close enough to continue to give support, while Anne, Jay, Gemma, and Lottie pulled chairs a little closer so they could all keep distracting Harry with chatter.

The water proved to make the contractions a little more manageable, though they were coming fast and furious as midnight arrived.

Lottie was the first to notice the time, big and bright on her mobile screen, which she held up for everyone to see. "Hey, Lou. Happy birthday."

Louis grinned as everyone else offered him birthday wishes. "Thanks," he said in return.

"Thank God," Harry stated in between cleansing breaths. "Now it's your birthday, they can go ahead and come out."

As if the babies could, indeed, tell time, when Rebecca arrived at five minutes past midnight, she proclaimed that Harry had finally reached the magic ten centimetres; he could begin pushing at any time. Louis moved to wake Lily, Sophie, and Izzy, so they wouldn't miss anything.

Unused to being awake at such a late hour, it took the girls a minute to catch up with what was going on. They walked up near to where Harry was in the birthing pool, but hung back with their grandmothers to take everything in.

Rebecca was situating herself on her knees in a curve along the edge of the pool where she would be able to assist Harry throughout the birth.

"Would you prefer I be in with you or out here?" Louis questioned Harry, prepared for whatever would help his husband the most.

"Out there for now, if that's okay," Harry replied. With a smirk, he added, "Unless you want to get in and deliver this baby like you did the last one."

Louis laughed. "I'll leave that to the professionals this time. If it's okay with you for me to stay out here, it's okay with me." Louis moved so he was close enough to where Harry sat to give verbal and tactile support when it was needed. Conveniently, this also put him directly across from their daughters, so he could keep an eye on their reactions to this unfamiliar event.

"All right, Harry." Rebecca slipped on some plastic gloves. "When the next contraction comes, you can go ahead and push. Don't forget to push all the way through."

It was mere seconds later that a contraction hit. Harry hauled in a deep breath, spread his legs, and pushed from the top of the contraction all the way to the end.

"You're doing great, love," Louis praised him.

"You are," Rebecca agreed. "Louis, why don't you hold one of Harry's knees on the next contraction. I'll get the other. This should give you a little more leverage, Harry."

Harry nodded, steeling himself for the next push. When it came, Louis and Rebecca gently held his knees. Harry braced his hands on the seat beneath him and pushed as hard as he could, groaning a bit with the effort.

This was the point at which Izzy made a beeline for Louis, clinging to his leg since he wasn't in a position to pick her up. "Papa, Papa. Daddy is hurt."

As soon as the contraction was over and Harry relaxed ever so briefly, Louis was able to lift Izzy onto his knee. "Remember that your baby sisters are here." He reached over to touch Harry's swollen belly. "Daddy has to push them out. It hurts, but he'll be okay."

"Daddy no go to hospital?" Izzy concluded.

Louis shook his head. "Nope. The babies will be born right here."

When Harry was beset by the next contraction, Louis put Izzy down. "Go stand with Auntie Gemma and Auntie Lottie, Iz."

Her worry assuaged, Izzy ran back to her aunts. Lily and Sophie sat on Nanny Jay's and Nanny Anne's laps, respectively, just watching the goings-on with great interest.

After a couple more contractions and some more intense pushing with no sign of Baby A yet, Harry announced that he wanted to try a different position.

"Whatever you're comfortable with," Rebecca told him. "Go for it."

"I want to try being on my knees," Harry explained. "Get in and help me, Lou?"

Louis immediately climbed over the edge of the pool and then helped guide Harry onto his knees, the bench he'd been sitting on directly behind him. Harry used Louis' shoulders as support, and when the next contraction came, Louis was able to hold on to Harry's underarms and keep him steady as he pushed.

"I can feel her," Harry stated, trying to pull in a deep breath, though only really managing some shallower ones.

"You're doing so well," Louis said, continuing to keep a grip under Harry's arms.

For the next push, Harry scrabbled to his feet, squatting and wrapping his arms around Louis' neck and resting his forehead against Louis' shoulder. He focused all of his energy on pushing, pushing, pushing.

Rebecca had moved along the edge of the pool as Harry had moved so she was in the right place to help deliver Baby A whenever she decided to come out. Rebecca reached out a hand to check on Harry's progress. "She's trying to crown. Keep pushing, Harry."

Motivated by hearing that Baby A was close, Harry threw all his effort into pushing as hard as he could. He screamed as the baby began to stretch him to make her entrance.

Looking in a mirror one of the nurses positioned behind Harry, Louis had a pretty good view of where the baby's head was trying to emerge. He shifted his gaze to Lily and Sophie. "Come look, girls. Your first baby sister is almost here."

Anne and Jay walked over with Lily and Sophie--Izzy didn't move, preferring to stay with Gemma and Lottie--and stood in just the right spot so they would be able to watch as their sister came into the world. They were uncharacteristically quiet, no doubt overwhelmed by what they were experiencing.

"Okay, Harry, keep it up," Rebecca encouraged him. "Her head's working its way out."

With Rebecca's hands ready to guide the baby's head, Harry bore down as hard as he could and screamed a giant scream, and the baby's head popped out.

"Great work, Harry." Rebecca gently cradled the baby's head, checking to make sure there was no cord wrapped around her neck. "On the next contraction, I want you to push hard for her shoulders."

Harry bounced around just a little to stabilise himself, then, when the next contraction overcame him, he pushed as hard as he could, but no shoulders appeared. With weary eyes, Harry met Louis' gaze. "Five is a really, really good number."

Louis smirked. "So, you're saying you don't want to do this again?"

"Not any time soon," Harry confirmed. He grunted as another contraction hit, and he pushed as hard as he could. Still no baby. Tears began to course down his cheeks.

"Don't give up, my love," Louis encouraged him, placing a kiss on Harry's head. "You can do this."

Harry pulled in a deep breath, then blew it out slowly. With a determined nod, he waited for the next contraction, then bore down with every ounce of energy he could muster. The baby's shoulders finally popped out, then the rest of her slipped out of Harry and into the warm water of the pool.

"It's a beautiful baby girl!" Rebecca proclaimed. With Harry sat back on the bench, the midwife lifted the baby out of the water and into Harry's waiting arms. She started mewling the instant her body met the cooler air outside of the water, but she nestled right in the crook of Harry's arms.

Louis wrapped one arm behind Harry's back so he could cradle Harry and the baby. "She's beautiful. Harry, you did such an amazing job."

Harry smiled down at their newborn baby girl. "Hey there, sweetheart. We're so glad you're finally here."

The nurses worked around them to clear out the baby's mouth and wipe a soft cloth over her body.

Louis looked up, then, and saw Sophie and Lily watching their fathers with the new baby, amazement in their eyes. Louis gestured to them with his hands. "Come on over, girls. Meet your new sister."

Anne and Jay walked the twins over so they could get a good look at the baby. At the same time, Gemma carried Izzy over, Lottie joining them, so they could all get a good look at the newest member of the family.

"She's beautiful, boys," Anne commented. "So gorgeous."

"She really is," Jay concurred.

"She's even tinier than Izzy was," Lily noted, reaching a hesitant finger out to touch the baby.

"You can touch her," Harry assured her.

Thus given permission, Lily gently touched the baby's head. "Hi…." She paused and sought her dads' attention. "What's her name?"

Harry and Louis exchanged a look, after which, Harry nodded to Louis. "You choose the middle."

With a smile, Louis announced, "Her name is Brighton Gemma. Brighton for where she was conceived, Gemma for her aunt."

Gemma squealed at the news. "Oh my God, thank you."

"I hate to interrupt," Rebecca said, doing just that anyway, "but we have one more baby to deliver."

A contraction gripped Harry's middle just then, proving her point. He hissed as it ebbed, then flowed.

The midwife shifted her gaze to Harry's husband. "Louis, would you like to cut the cord here?"

"Absolutely." Louis took a proffered pair of scissors and cut between the two clamps the midwife had attached while they were admiring Brighton.

"Now can you let the nurses take your new little one for just a moment?" Rebecca went on to ask.

Reluctantly, Harry passed the baby to Louis, who took a moment to soak her in before passing her to one of the nurses. As the nurse carried Brighton off for some cleaning and examining, Louis returned his attention to Harry.

"I'm just going to reach inside to see if the baby has turned," Rebecca said. "It may be a little uncomfortable."

"Not the first time I've heard that in between babies," Harry said dryly. He steeled himself for the intrusion, while Anne, Jay, Gemma, and Lottie pulled Lily, Sophie, and Izzy back to give Harry some privacy for the invasive action.

As slowly and gently as she could, Rebecca felt to see if the baby was head first or feet first. "She's still breech," she announced.

"What now?" Louis wanted to know.

"Well, first, I'm going to see if it's possible to flip her." She gestured for one of the nurses to come over. "I'm going to push up on her feet to see if I can get her to turn. I won't lie, Harry, it's going to hurt."

Harry nodded, then visibly steeled himself for what would happen next.

Rebecca had the nurse who came over keep a hand on Harry's belly, ready to follow the midwife's directions. Next, Rebecca reached back up inside Harry to try to push Baby B back up and then into a better birthing position. Harry arched his back and bit back screams as best he could while she worked on flipping the baby.

At one point, she had the nurse push on the bottom of Harry's belly to try to force the baby back up and away from the birth canal. Louis could tell it was seriously painful to Harry, so he held on tight to his husband's hand, and only winced a little when Harry squeezed tight.

She tried to adjust the baby for quite a few minutes, but finally Rebecca withdrew her hand. "She doesn't want to budge."

When she could see both Harry and Louis tense at this news, she went on, "Remember, I said I could handle this. It makes delivery a little more tricky, but I can help you get her out safely."

Harry nodded. "Okay."

"Do you want me to stay here or get out again?" Louis asked Harry.

"Stay," Harry decided without a second thought.

"Now, I know you're exhausted, Harry, but you can do this, okay?" Rebecca told him. "Just a little more work, and you'll have your second baby."

"That sounds good." Harry closed his eyes for a moment and drew in a deep breath to ready himself for the work his midwife had just mentioned. Louis likewise used a deep breath to get himself into the zone.

"You're in a great position for me to guide the baby out," Rebecca said. "On the next contraction, I want you to give a gentle, firm push, all right?"

Harry nodded again, making sure he was steady on the bench. While waiting for the next contraction, he continued to centre himself with deep, calming breaths.

It wasn't long at all before another contraction overcame him. With Louis supporting his back, Harry tried to push exactly as Rebecca had directed, gentle and firm. The pain was still fierce, but he powered through the best he could.

"Excellent," Rebecca commended him. "That's great. Just like that on the next one."

For the next two contractions, there was not much progress. Then, just when Harry was beginning to despair that Brighton's twin was ever going to join them, an intense contraction hit and Rebecca exclaimed, "I have a foot!"

Louis leaned over to see the teeny tiny foot the midwife had in her hand. "Keep going, love. She's coming."

The next time Harry bore down, Rebecca narrated, "Both of her feet are out. On the next one, I want you to push as hard as you can so we can get her whole bottom half out."

Harry nodded, and when the contraction came, he tucked his chin into his chest and pushed with as much energy as he could. He could feel it when more of the baby exited his body.

Louis was keeping one eye on Harry and the other on where Baby B was being guided out by the midwife. "I can see her belly, Harry. She's almost here. I know you're exhausted, but just a little more pushing, and we'll have our baby girl."

"Actually, I want you to stop pushing for a moment," Rebecca requested. "I'm going to get her arms out."

Under Louis' watchful eye, the midwife gently eased out first one small arm, then another to the accompaniment of Harry's stifled screams at the pain of being stretched to the limit.

As Rebecca cradled the baby's body, turning it just a little so she would have a good grasp of it, she said, "Everything's out but her head. On the next contraction, I want you to push more gently. I'm going to guide her head out slow and steady."

"You can do this, H," Louis whispered.

Harry tensed, closed his eyes, and focused his entire attention on pushing not too hard, not too soft. Louis shifted his gaze from Harry to where the midwife was working to extricate the baby's head.

It took a few moments, but Rebecca was finally able to free Baby B's head. "There we go. It's another beautiful girl." She checked the tiny baby over quickly before handing her up to Harry. "Congratulations."

Just like Brighton, her sister was crying as Harry took her into his arms. "Shh, shh, peanut. That was rough, but we've got you."

Louis reached out to cradle the back of the baby's head. "Hey there, sweetheart. You made it."

This time, it was Harry who spoke to their older girls. "Lily, Sophie, Izzy, come meet Lucy."

Having stood silently the entire time Harry was giving birth to their second baby twin sister, the girls moved slowly to get a good look at the newest new addition to their family.

"You're calling her Lucy?" Jay asked, walking up behind her granddaughters to get a better view of the baby.

"Lucy Charlotte, to be exact," Harry clarified.

Lottie clapped a hand over her mouth in joy. After a few seconds, she removed her hand to say, "Thank you."

"She's just as beautiful as her sister," Anne noted, grinning from ear to ear. Looking around the room, she amended her statement. "As all her sisters."

Rebecca cleared her throat. "Just two more pieces of business, then you can get to know these new babies. Louis, can you cut this cord?"

Taking the scissors once again, Louis cut the cord tethering Lucy to Harry.

"Now I can help you deliver the placenta, and you'll be good to go," the midwife declared.

It only took a couple pushes--and a little tugging from Rebecca--and Harry was through with the final part of labour and delivery. Just as that was done, one of the nurses brought Brighton back over, handing her to Louis.

Louis gazed from Brighton in his arms to Lucy in Harry's, then over where Lily, Sophie, and Izzy stood at the edge of the pool, awed by the new arrivals. He smiled. "And then there were five."

                                    *                                  *                                  *

@Louis_Tomlinson Harry, Lily, Sophie, Isabelle, and I welcomed Brighton Gemma and Lucy Charlotte Tomlinson-Styles at 12:39 a.m. and 1:17 a.m. on 24 December 2023.  Happy birthday to me! All are happy and healthy! #BlessedTimesFive #Five!

By three a.m., Harry and Louis' mothers and sisters had taken their exhausted daughters home for some rest. They promised to come back in the later part of the morning. Harry and the new baby twins would hopefully be ready to check out by that afternoon.

Harry had returned to the bed after the extended delivery in the pool. The nurses had brought in bassinets for Brighton and Lucy, but Louis and Harry hadn't been willing to put them down yet. Louis had moved a chair right next to the bed, and Harry cuddled Lucy while Louis cradled Brighton in his arms.

The baby twins had been cleaned up and weighed, given their first bottles and nappies, and were now wrapped snugly in blankets. Brighton wore a little yellow hat, while Lucy sported a green one. They each wore wrist bands with their name, Harry's name, and their date and time of birth. There would be no mixing them up.

"This one's asleep," Louis noted, tilting his chin in Brighton's direction.

"Little Miss Troublemaker's fading, too," Harry returned.

"That was really rough, wasn't it?" Louis inquired softly. "This delivery? Especially Lucy."

"It was not the most fun I've ever had," Harry admitted. He smiled down at the bundle in his arms. "She was worth it, though."

"You're amazing, you know," Louis said with great affection. "What you went through to bring us these gorgeous angels…. Simply amazing."

They were both silent for a few moments, lost in the immense love they fell into the moment their newest little ones were born.

It was Harry who broke the silence. "So, do you really not mind sharing your birthday?"

"Mind?" Louis scoffed. "I'm so excited they were born on my birthday. Think of the incredible parties we're going to have."

"Epic parties," Harry agreed, yawning immediately after.

Louis shook his head. "You must be knackered. You worked really, really hard today…and yesterday."

"I am exhausted," Harry confessed. "You look pretty exhausted, too."

Harry's observation was proven true when Louis yawned widely, then made his own confession. "Just a little."

"We should probably take their lead and get some sleep," Harry said, though he was most reluctant to let Lucy go.

"I guess you're right." Louis stood to carefully deposit Brighton into one of the bassinets. When she was settled, he collected Lucy from Harry so he could place her in the other bassinet. Neither of the babies were roused by the movement. He went back to Harry's side to give him a kiss. "I'll be over on the sofa if you need me."

"Love you," Harry murmured, already closing his eyes.

Louis ran a hand through Harry's hair and kissed his temple. "Love you, too. So much."

Harry was asleep by the time Louis made it to the sofa, and Louis barely made it through taking off his shoes before he passed out. His last thought was about how this was the best birthday he'd ever, ever had. Ever.

                                    *                                  *                                  *

Christmas morning dawned cloudy and snowy. Harry and Louis had not been asleep long after a twin feed when Lily and Sophie burst into the room to jointly announce, "It's a white Christmas!"

One of the older twins had gotten Izzy out of her crib, and she was not to be outdone. Jumping in front of Lily, she called out, "It's Kiss-mas!"

The clock on Harry's side of the bed read 5:49 a.m. and, as if cued, the baby twins began to cry at their sisters' loud voices. It was the tail end of their first night at home, and the rude awakening was not to their liking. Nevertheless, it was something they would need to get used to, what with three very loud elder sisters in the house.

Harry hurried out of bed, and Louis followed him. Harry picked Lucy up from her bassinet, and Louis fetched Brighton from hers. They carried the little ones back to bed, then invited Sophie, Lily, and Izzy in between them.

"Okay, you three," Louis whispered. "We need to be quiet so these babies can get back to sleep for just a little while. Do you think you can do that?"

Lily, Sophie, and Izzy all nodded and, miraculously, fell silent.

It took a few moments, but Brighton and Lucy calmed down once they were in their fathers' arms. Lucy dropped off first, then Brighton followed. The men waited a couple minutes more, then returned the babies to their bassinets.

Sliding back under the duvet on their bed, Harry regarded Lily, Sophie, and Izzy seriously. He pitched his voice soft and low. "Okay, girls, the babies need to sleep for one more hour. Nanny Anne, Nanny Jay, and your aunties would also like to sleep for one more hour."

"Papa and Daddy, too," Louis whispered for good measure.

"Papa and Daddy especially," Harry concurred. "So, do you think you could try to lay here and be quiet for another hour, until, say, seven a.m.?" Their other relatives would be arriving around noon for a huge Christmas lunch. They had plenty of time.

"Then we can get up and open presents?" Lily checked.

"Then we can get up and open presents," Harry confirmed. "Deal?"

Lily threw herself down dramatically on the bed. Sophie and Izzy followed suit.

Harry and Louis smiled at each other over their daughters' bodies. Then they wasted no time in laying back down to catch a few more winks. It wasn't long before everyone in the room was asleep again.

When Lily woke Louis again--this time with a shake--the clock on Harry's night table read 6:54 a.m. Close enough. He opened one eye to appraise his daughter. She had a huge smile on her face, along with wide, excited eyes, a combination he found hard to say no to.

In an exaggerated whisper, she made an inquiry. "Can we open presents now, Papa?"

Yep. No way to say no. "Okay. Why don't you go check on your grandmothers, Poppa Robin, and your aunts? I'll take care of Daddy, Sophie, Iz, and the babies."

Lily raced off the bed and into the hallway. Louis sent up a quick prayer that Jay, Anne, Robin, Lottie, and Gemma were either awake or okay with being awoken.

"Is she gone?" Harry whispered from the other side of the bed.

Louis chuckled and whispered back, "Yes."

"We're going to have to go downstairs now, aren't we?" Harry was already exhausted. Given that the babies were just a little over twenty-four hours old, that made sense.

"All you have to do is sit and watch," Louis vowed. He was acutely aware that Harry had only given birth just about 30 hours earlier. The birthing centre had offered to have Harry and the babies stay until Christmas Day, but Harry wanted Christmas at home. The babies weighed 6 pounds, 4 ounces (Brighton) and 5 pounds 5 ounces (Lucy), so they were good to go. So, Christmas at home it was.

"Sitting and watching I can do," Harry said, already pushing himself into an upright position.

Sophie and Izzy woke up as Harry and Louis were collecting the still sleeping baby twins. Sophie ran off to help Lily fetch their grandmothers and aunts. Izzy needed a minute to properly wake up, but she soon joined the programme.

It wasn't too much later that everyone was convened in the lounge. The adults were scattered in the comfy chairs in the room, and the older girls had gathered their stockings and sat on the floor in front of the tree. Lottie and Gemma had carried down the bassinets, so the babies were sleeping in those for the moment.

Once Louis and Harry gave the go ahead, the girls tore into their stockings. Louis and Harry were as surprised as the girls were at some of the small gifts, as Anne and Jay had done a lot of the stocking shopping, given that their sons were a little busy expecting some new twins. Most of the big gift shopping had been achieved courtesy of Amazon.

When the girls had oohed and ahhed over the tiny dolls, games, and candy in their stockings, they asked if they could open presents. Harry and Louis told them that as long as they played Santa and made sure the adults got gifts to open, too, they could go ahead and open gifts.

Less than an hour later, the lounge looked like Christmas had exploded all over. Everyone was thrilled with their gifts. Lottie and Gemma even gave Louis and Harry more than just material gifts. They took care of giving the babies fresh nappies and a warm bottle when they awoke during the gift-giving. Clean and sated, Brighton and Lucy were turned over to their dads for some cuddling.

Lily and Sophie helped Izzy to make a pile of her gifts, then the girls moved to sit in between Harry and Louis on the sofa.

"Can I hold Brighton, Papa?" Lily asked.

"Sure. Don't forget to be gentle." Louis carefully passed Brighton into Lily's arms. He then pulled Izzy into his lap. She rested her sleepy head on his chest

Not unexpectedly, Sophie piped up seconds later. "Can I hold Lucy, Daddy?"

"Absolutely. Like Papa said, gentle, gentle." Harry placed Lucy in Sophie's arms.

Just like Harry had reminded her, Sophie was very gentle with the baby, whispering, "Hi Lulu. Happy Christmas."

Lily looked up first at Louis, then at Harry. "Thank you for all the presents. We loved them."

Harry smiled, pleased his lessons in being polite were paying off. "You're very welcome. We're glad you loved them."

"We got the best present yesterday, though," Sophie told them.

"Oh?" Harry raised his eyebrows with interest.

"The babies!" Sophie and Lily chorused.

Harry grinned. "They're our favourite present, too."

Louis was smiling, too. "You're not still mad they're girls?"

Lily and Sophie shook their heads vigorously. "Nope." Lily popped her 'p' just like her Papa did.

"They're perfect," Sophie stated with no equivocation whatsoever.

Their parents agreed completely.

(4 July 2018)