Archive of Our Own ^beta

Louis got back home from a long day at work, and all he wanted to do was fall into the waiting embrace of his mate, who was pregnant with their first pup. But as life was cruel, that didn't happen. 

He entered their home, calling out for Harry, but the green-eyed omega was nowhere to be found. Louis took off his shoes, kicking them under the shoe rack, out of the way, and went to search for his mate. He checked first the places where Harry was staying most likely, and his frown grew after the living room was empty - the blankets usually covering the sofa were missing, Harry probably decided to wash them- and the kitchen wasn't the omega's hiding place either. The delicious smelling food was stored in the oven, ready to be reheated, and the table was set, but the curly-haired man was not there, and not even his scent was lingering in the air.

Louis stomped up the stairs, calling his mate's name in vain. He checked the bathroom first, but it was empty. The only thing amiss was the used towels, which were tossed in the bathtub for some inexplicable reason. They were a bit damp because the faucet had been dripping for some time now, and Harry kept on reminding him to have a look at it, but Louis always forgot. He made a mental note to fix it, and he quickly set a reminder on his phone to buy rubber gaskets tomorrow.

Next, he checked their bedroom, but it was intact, so he stopped at the other rooms. When he couldn't find his mate on the upper level either, he started to become worried, so he ran down and stepped out into their garden.

He went to Harry's beloved rose bushes, then to the winter garden. The alpha was already imagining the worst-case scenarios. What if Harry had stumbled on a rock and fell? What if he had hit his head? Was he laying out in the cold, unconscious?

But the garden bore no trace of the pregnant submissive.

By that time, Louis was really panicking about his husband's whereabouts and decided to call his mobile. He rushed inside when he heard the familiar ringtone of the omega's phone. It rang on the kitchen island untouched. He called their closest friends to see if someone had heard from Harry, but unfortunately, everyone had the same reply: today they hadn’t talked with the man yet. 

Louis nervously ran his fingers through his hair and was about to run to the car and drive through the neighbourhood in search of his mate when he heard footsteps on the stairs. And suddenly, Harry appeared by the kitchen door, looking a bit dazed but otherwise fine.

Louis leapt towards him, and much to the omega’s surprise, picked him up and spun him around before kissing him deeply.

" Oh, love! Where were you? I was searching for you!" Louis looked at him with a fond expression, holding his face in his hands, examining if he was really okay.

" I was cleaning upstairs," Harry sleepily blinked at him from behind his dark lashes.

" I couldn't find you," Louis said with a slight frown. " How are you feeling?"

" Tired," came the simple reply.

Louis kneeled down in front of his mate and gently tugged the shirt Harry was wearing, upwards to reveal his stomach. 

" And how are you, little bean?" He lovingly nuzzled the soft skin. 

The baby bump was barely noticeable yet, but the slight stretch of the skin there always made Louis smile. He placed gentle kisses on Harry's belly, nudging it with his bearded chin, making the omega giggle as goosebumps raised on the skin. He even sneaked his arms up, tickling his mate with his cold fingers. Harry yelped at the feeling and pushed him away, leaning against the doorframe chuckling, as Louis was looking at him with adoration.

" Little bean decided to show her love for me by making me throw up twice today," Harry said as he adjusted his shirt and placed his hands protectively on his abdomen.

" Are you okay? Should we consult a doctor?" Louis worriedly bit his lower lip.

" Morning sickness is a bitch, but nothing I can't handle," the omega turned to switch on the oven with a shrug. " I hope you are hungry because I cooked roast for dinner."

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Louis was a deep sleeper, especially when he was tired. As he took more hours at work - so he would be let on a longer leave when the baby arrived - he was even more exhausted on a daily basis. He probably should have woken up when his mate slipped out of bed, but he hadn’t even noticed it. He scrunched his nose in his sleep as it had got very cold all of a sudden in their bedroom; but continued with his sleep without getting up to turn up the heat or take one more blanket.

When the alpha's alarm on his phone rang in the morning, Louis groggily sat up and realised that his mate was gone, again. Not only was Harry missing, but the bed covers and the pillows were as well. He grumpily got out of bed and went down to the kitchen after relieving himself in the bathroom and brushing his teeth. 

Harry was buzzing at the stove, preparing breakfast, so Louis stepped behind him and kissed his cheek in greeting.

" Next time you fall into your cleaning frenzy for the arrival of our baby, who, let me remind you, is still long months away, please, for the love of God, wait until I get out of bed. If I had got a running nose from not being covered while sleeping, I would be really cranky now, and you’d have to take care of me," he muttered.

" Sorry, Lou," Harry said, but his tone didn’t show any genuine regret. 

Louis stared at his mate with narrowed eyes during the whole breakfast.

He left for work after asking Harry about his favourite hoodie, but the omega said he hadn’t seen it recently. It was strange. Many of his clothes went missing lately, but he just shrugged, drawing the conclusion he must have left them at work. A few pieces might have even been kicked under the bed after a particularly long day. Who knows?

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As Louis was driving home later from work, he had a weird feeling tingling in his mind. A kind of sense of impending doom. He nervously drummed on the steering wheel while he waited for the traffic lights to turn green. He reluctantly remembered that he had to do the grocery shopping, yet staying away from home even for a few more minutes felt wrong. However, he feared Harry might pluck his hair out if he didn't stock up on milk and Harry's favourite fruit, so he pulled up at the store.

After buying everything, even the rubber gasket for the faucet, he hurried home, and he was sure he blew through a few stop signs on the route back. But that odd feeling wasn't leaving his mind, and he wanted to be at home as soon as possible.

After parking haphazardly on their driveway, he gathered the purchased items in his arms and went to open the front door. A can of beans almost fell on his toes when a sudden itchy feeling came over his left forearm, and he dropped most of the things on the doorstep to scratch it. He just cursed at that and reached for his keys. 

As the bad feeling grew inside of him, making him almost physically sick, he left the items on the floor and ran inside the house after unlocking the door. Unlike yesterday, he felt a pull toward his mate, and he was aware that Harry had to be around the kitchen. 

The kitchen was empty, but a strange smell was filling the air. Louis looked up and saw that smoke was curling towards the ceiling. With wide eyes, he started to look for the source of the smoke and saw white smoke rolling out from the pantry. Right before he opened the door, he heard Harry's whine.

" No, no, no!" Harry pleaded.

Louis flung the door open without wasting any more time and cried out in shock. Harry was crouching on the floor, trying to put out the fire, but the dishtowel he was fighting the fire with had ignited and curled around his left hand. Somehow he managed to free himself from the burning rag with a pained cry, but it was too late. His skin was definitely burnt. 

The alpha pulled Harry out of the pantry, grabbing him under his armpits, and left him on the kitchen tiles, curled up crying as he went for the fire extinguisher they stored under the sink. He never imagined he would need to use it because they had bought it only as a joke after Louis had managed to burn some basic food on the stove. He pulled the pin out from the handle, aimed at the fire and squeezed the lever. The foamy substance was quick to suppress the flames, and after making sure nothing was ablaze anymore, and the smoke stopped rising, Louis dropped the extinguisher on the floor and got down on his knees to check on Harry, who was clutching his hand. 

" Hey," Louis tried to sound calm, he really did, but his heart was still in his throat, beating dangerously fast. " Let me see that," he reached for Harry's left arm and winced when he saw the skin was red and covered in blisters where the rag had been wrapped around. 

He pulled the omega up and placed a steadying hand around him when he felt how wobbly Harry's legs were. He moved the taller man to the sink and held his arm under the icy water. Harry struggled in his hold, crying, and Louis' heart almost broke at that, but he knew it was important to rinse the burned area, so he just held the boy closer and whispered calming words in his ear. 

When Louis deemed the cooling rinse enough, he let it air dry while he inspected and shook his head sadly.  

" I think it'd be better if a doctor had checked the scar, love," he stated, and the omega didn't disagree.

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It turned out the burn was thankfully only second-degree. After the doctor had applied antibiotic ointment to the burn and wrapped it in a bandage, they were released with prescriptions for painkillers and some healing salve. Louis made sure to buy the medication before leaving the hospital.

The drive back home was a silent one. Harry curled up against his seat, and he gazed out on the window with tearful eyes. When they arrived home, and Louis parked the car, Harry reached to open his door, but Louis locked it before turning towards his mate.

" Love, what happened?" He asked worriedly. " How did the fire start? Why were you in the pantry?" He inquired, and when no answer came,  he continued talking. " Babe, I have to know, so I can prevent it from happening again."

" It was nothing," Harry sniffed and refused to look in the alpha's eyes.

" Harry," he warningly growled, earning a wail from his mate. " I love you. But when I ask you a question, I expect you to answer me to the best of your ability. Do you understand?" Harry nodded. " With your words, beautiful."

" I understand, alpha."

" What happened? I'm not mad at you. But if it's something preventable, I have to know," Louis reasoned.

" The wall of the pantry was mouldy, so I cleaned it with some anti-mould agent. But it had such a sickening chlorine smell..." Harry scrunched his nose in disgust. " I wanted to get rid of it, so I decided to light one of my scented candles. When I was rearranging the shelves, I must have knocked it over, and I guess it started a fire," Harry said, looking guiltily at his lap.

" That's everything you have to tell me?" Louis asked with a frown. 

He saw there were newspapers and rags on the floor. Those were luckily the only things that had burned. The alpha wondered why the omega had put them on the floor in the first place, but he assumed those had been placed there for the cleaning when he logically thought about it.

" I think I need to be punished," Harry murmured.

" Yes, baby. That's right. We don't want this to happen again," Louis agreed and gently pulled Harry's uninjured hand in his lap, caressing it with his thumb. " Being careless can cause huge problems. You have to focus on what you are doing all the time," Louis hummed. " I don't think the fumes of these harsh cleaning agents are healthy for you or the baby, so don't use them. If something needs a deep cleaning, we will call a specialist."

" Yes, alpha."

" As for your punishment. You are not allowed to use your candles when you are alone," Louis ordered.

" But those are my..." Harry tried to argue, but the alpha shut him down.

" Uh-uh. I'm not changing this rule. End of discussion."

" Yes, alpha." Harry nodded. " But I think I need more punishment. I feel really bad," he complained.

" Okay, lovely. Thank you for telling me," Louis thought about how to punish his mate. " Why don't you go in, drink some water, and if you are hungry, eat something? Then you can go and clean yourself up. When you are finished, wait in my workroom. I will put away the groceries I bought and come to you, and we will talk about your punishment afterwards." 

" Yes, alpha," Harry finally looked at him with a thankful expression. 

" I love you," Louis leaned toward his omega and kissed him on the lips before unlocking the car.

Louis watched with knitted brows as the curly-haired lad went inside. He had a hunch that something was still not okay. He used to be so good at reading Harry's body language and physiological cues. Now it was almost as if the boy was a closed book. And it was probably due to all the overtime work Louis did, which made it almost impossible for him to spend enough time with his mate. But he wanted them to be financially stable by the time their child was born. 

He could tell that Harry was lying, or at least withholding the full truth, but it was due to the fact the omega was a generally awful liar. Still, the dominant couldn't actually put his finger on what was making his mate nervous. Louis was really afraid of what shady things the omega was doing because currently, the alpha was facing an unknown enemy. He needed to protect his mate at all costs. But what if he had to protect Harry from the omega himself?

The green-eyed boy was dangerous to himself the best of the times, and now that he was pregnant, the danger was brought to new extents. Yet, stumbling on air and possibly falling is not measurable to almost burning down their house.

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Louis was slow to enter his workroom but proudly smiled when he saw Harry standing in the middle with a bowed head. He gave the omega enough time to think about his actions and their consequences. He silently walked to the man and put his hand on the omega's hips, earning a flinch from his mate.

" Hey, lovely! How are you?"

" I'm fine," when Harry felt exceptionally guilty like he did right now, he was always barely audible.

" How's your arm?"

" I took some painkillers, so it doesn’t hurt now," he drawled.

" That's good," the alpha hummed. " Did you think about what kind of punishment you want?" Louis saw as Harry looked down at the alpha's hands before biting his lips. " I won't spank you while you are pregnant," he added, catching up with what the omega was thinking.

" Oh," Harry looked lost. " I don't know. Sorry, alpha."

" That's okay. Don't worry."

Louis waited a beat of silence.

" I think you've been in more than enough pain today. All I ask from you is to think before you act. I'm sure you are aware of how stupid this whole thing was. I expect you to be better than this. You are so clever, Hazz. Are you sure there is nothing bothering you?" Harry shook his head. " Okay. I have to finish a few things on my computer. As a punishment, I want you to kneel in the middle of this room and think about how you can avoid doing something silly like this next time. I will get you a pillow you can kneel on. After that, I expect you to remain still and silent. You are only allowed to stand if you are feeling ill. If something else is wrong, you may call out to me. When I'm done, we will go downstairs and cuddle in front of the tv. Does this sound okay?" 

" Yes, alpha."

" What do you say then?"

" Thank you for the punishment."

Louis left the room in search of a pillow and had a relatively hard time locating one. When he finally found one, he placed it in front of his mate, but before allowing him to kneel, he put his hand on Harry's stomach to check if everything was alright with their little nugget.

As Louis sat at his desk, he wondered for a minute if this counts as quality time spent together, but when the alpha saw Harry's relieved but still slightly guilty look, he knew he made the right decision. Normally he closes his door when he works from home, simply because his mate can be very distracting. One look at Harry's curls, or dimples, or lips, and he couldn't finish what he was working on.

Louis had a difficult time focusing on his job now as well. Harry was so pretty. And it was a bonus he was obediently kneeling. Not to mention the glow his pregnancy gave to his skin! He was positively radiating. The alpha could barely turn back his gaze to his computer. He had an hour long job. Thanks to Harry's beauty, it lasted much longer than anticipated. After two and a half-hour, he stood up from his computer and went to check on his mate.

" How are you feeling, kitten?"

" My knees hurt a bit, but besides that, I'm feeling great. Thank you, alpha!" Harry nuzzled in the alpha's hand that was cupping his face.

" I'm glad to hear that. I want you to stay here. I will go and quickly fix that dripping faucet in the bathroom. When I'm finished, we will go and cuddle."

Louis was working as fast as he could, but he might have overestimated his handiness skills. It took much longer to fix that damned thing than he had expected. And by the time he had finished, he heard Harry's sad whines calling out for him because he missed his alpha.

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The originally planned cuddling session on the sofa soon took a different direction. Louis' knot tied them together as Harry sat on his lap, curling around his body, purring adorably in bliss. Since the original role of a knot was to keep semen in the omega long enough for impregnation to happen, Louis' knot went down quickly, given the fact that his mate was already knocked up. 

Harry soon asked for another knot, and who was Louis to say no to his heavily pregnant, very pretty mate, when the omega asked for being knotted until he couldn't walk. The pregnancy did wonders to Harry's sexual drive, which was very healthy, to begin with, even before he had gotten pregnant. 

It was so enjoyable having his mate, who was pregnant with Louis' first child, bounce on his knot that the alpha was enthusiastic about thrusting his hips just the right way so he could hear Harry's screams in pleasure. And it was totally worth the aftercare the thick skin around the alpha's knot required after they finished their cuddling on the sofa. Louis had to dab some salve on his knot after it was chaffed from spending too much time shoved up Harry's needy hole before joining the omega in their bed, spooning him close to Louis' chest. But that was a small price he was willing to pay, just to keep his mate happy.

Sleep came easy that night for both of them.

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The day after the fire accident, Louis was banished from their walk-in closet, and probably he should have asked why when Harry handed him some clothes, but he was already too late for work to have the time to be inquisitive, after the omega woke him with a mind-blowing blow job. Not to mention the second round, when Louis fucked his mate against the shower wall for a good hour.

But Louis wasn't born yesterday. He sent their friends to keep his husband company during the day. The blue-eyed alpha also consulted with his best friend, Liam, about the whole ordeal. The puppy looking dominant promised him to put in a few good words about Louis to their boss so he might get a home office job for the rest of the year.

This time when he got home, he knew not to expect his mate to be around, as their fake blond omega friend, Niall, took him to the local bakery to have a little O on O time. Louis could not fathom what the submissives gossiped about during these outings, but that was probably for the best.

After eating his dinner, prepared with love and care by Harry, the alpha decided to watch some footie on TV. He took out a beer from the fridge and slumped down on his favourite seat on their sofa.

However, there was a problem with the sofa. The cushion from the seat, where the pair  had sex the previous day, was missing. Louis looked at it with round eyes, needing a few moments to put two and two together. This was not the first of their shared things that went missing. And Louis could have assumed Harry probably wanted to wash out the bodily fluids from the cushion, but he somehow had the feeling that wasn't the case.

The alpha was completely lost about what to do because Harry would always lie in his face when he directly asked him. As a last attempt, he called his mother-in-law for help.

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After that, Louis went on the next day working like nothing had happened and pretended not to notice the changes in the house. They spent the weekend loved up, mostly in their bedroom. The alpha decided to launch his plan on Monday.

On that day, he left at the usual time, went into the office for a bit. And as agreed with his boss, he set home to work from there at least till the end of the month. Harry obviously didn't know this and definitely did not expect it. So Louis finally had a chance to figure out what the hell his omega was doing while he was away working.

But before going home, he stopped at a café to get Harry's all time favourite kale smoothie. Even the colour and smell of the concoction was repulsive for Louis, but since his mate loved it, he was willing to fight back gagging for the rest of the drive home, just to make Harry smile.

The alpha parked his car on the other street because he didn't want to give away his presence yet, and jogged to their house with the smoothie and his briefcase in his hands. 

He silently entered the house, slipping through the front door, kicked his shoes off and went right to the kitchen, which was empty. He put down his things on the kitchen island. He could see that the house was already cleaned, the floor was vacuumed, and the stain on the floor tiles where he spilt some of his morning tea was mopped up. As it was only 11 a.m., Harry seemingly hadn’t started cooking dinner yet.

Louis was calm now and didn't feel that weird thing in his mind like the day he found Harry in the flames, so he decided to approach the situation of his missing mate carefully.

He focused on their bond and sighed in relief as his soul called out for his mate. Like a rope was bound around them, he felt a pull in his heart, leading him upwards the stairs to their bedroom. Louis stepped into the room silently, but it was empty. He was about to leave when he felt another pull guiding him to the closet. He hesitated a moment, thinking about how Harry had banned him from there but knowing that his omega's health and wellbeing came first, he decided to enter.

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One glance at his mate was enough for the puzzle pieces to fit together in Louis' brain. The mystery was solved. And Louis wanted to laugh out loud. The only thing preventing him from that was Harry, who was curled up on the floor, serenely smiling and humming a song, one the alpha didn't recognise. The blue-eyed man didn't want to interrupt him, or worse, scare him with a barking laugh.

Harry still looked up at him with a dopey smiley at the sound of his snickers and sat up straighter in alarm when he saw his husband standing in the door.

" Lou? How come are you home so early?" Harry asked in wariness.

Louis couldn't answer him immediately because he was too busy with how his heart was swelling with pride and joy. This gorgeous creature in front of him, his mate, created the cosiest, warmest, most perfect nest in the world. Harry was wearing Louis' long lost hoodie, blinking up at him with round eyes, sitting on various, carefully selected items.

At a first glance, it would have been easy to mistake the meticulously placed things as a simple pile of mess on the floor, but Louis realised what it actually was. It was a homey looking nest, and the alpha wanted to join his mate in the heap of soft materials.

" Hazz, my love, my precious," Louis murmured, crouching down to be eye level with the omega. " Can I join you in your wonderful nest?" He asked because before entering someone's nest, it was polite to ask for permission. 

Harry bashfully smiled at the compliment and nodded with a needy whine, stretching his hands towards his mate, pulling him in his nest because right until now, the only thing that was missing from there was his Louis.

The alpha fell into the arms of his lover with a laugh, and when he managed to arrange themselves how he wanted, him laying in the soft nest, having Harry on top of his chest, he scented his curly-haired mate. They snuggled close, and Harry happily purred as the dominant was caressing him with tender, affectionate touches.

Laying in the nest with his mate felt amazing, and Louis relished the moment a bit longer before addressing the elephant in the room.

" So, this was what you were hiding all this time?" He looked down at Harry's blushed face.

" I was missing you so much, ever since you started working overtime, it physically pained me to be apart from you. I didn't want to worry you or make you think I'm a whiny little omega. I knew how important providing for us is to you." 

Harry was looking genuinely upset about his behaviour, even though there was nothing wrong with an omega missing his or her alpha. Hell! Even alphas spent most of their time alone pondering how much better it would be to hold their chosen one close all day. Louis caressed his mate's warm face, urging him to continue.

" It started innocently. Whenever I was missing you, I clung to something that held your scent faintly. Soon, I started to feel this urge to nest and make a safe place for myself and our pup until you got home and could protect us. I didn't want to make you worry, so I tried to find a secluded place."

" Oh, Hazz," Louis murmured.

" I tried to make a nest in the bathtub several times, but it was annoying that I had to take it apart every day before you got home. Not to mention how damp it was from the dripping faucet," Louis chuckled at that. " I built one in the pantry. It was safe because you wouldn't go in there normally. But I was worried about the mould on the walls, so I cleaned it off. But that mould remover had an awful smell. I lit my candle, and I think I fell asleep.  That's when the fire started. I'm sorry I wasn't telling you the truth." he whined.

" Hey, calm down," Louis patted his back. " I suspected you weren't telling the full truth, and I kind of understand why you didn't. But in the future, please tell me everything, don't feel embarrassed about this."

" I promise. It just felt so silly, you know," the omega laid his head on Louis' chest, playing with the strings of the hoodie he was wearing.

" I should have realised what was going on sooner. I noticed that a few things went missing, but I didn't pay enough attention to them. I'm sorry, I clearly wasn't spending enough time with you, and you felt neglected," Harry mewled at that, nuzzling the alpha's neck. " But that will change now. I will stay home for a bit, work from here. We can spend most of our time together."

" Really?" Harry sat up with a beaming smile on his face, even his dimples made an appearance.

" Yes. I agreed with my boss to work from home for now. I still can do overtime work, but at least I can stay within an arm's reach, so I will be there for you if you need a cuddle."

" That's amazing! I love you so much, Lou," Harry wrapped his arms around Louis' neck, giggling gleefully while he kissed his alpha.

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Staying true to his words, Louis spent most of his time in the company of his pregnant mate and even helped with the house chores, except for cooking, as the pregnancy progressed, and Harry's belly got bigger. 

Even when he was home, Harry spent a lot of his time in the nest, where he usually invited the alpha as well, and Louis read a few articles on the subject. It turned out being surrounded by walls in a tight space, and with their mate's scent surrounding them, omegas felt safer, even when they were embraced by their alphas. Most omegas nested only during pregnancy and shortly after childbirth, but some of them continued nesting for the rest of their lives.

As Louis spent quite a lot of his time in the nest, he grew fond of their little hiding place and secretly hoped Harry would keep the nest once their pup arrived. Actually, he spent so much time there, Harry sometimes nipped his neck crustily after he had to rearrange the nest when the blue-eyed man moved something out of place. Those times he scented the nest before leaving Harry to calm down, as the curly-haired lad became temperamental.

Other times when Louis tried to initiate some naughty time while staying in the nest, he was kicked out of the closet. He soon had to learn Harry knew no mercy when it came to his rules: no food or sex in the nest. Louis begrudgingly accepted his fate after his pleas and later sly attempts didn't work. 

On days Louis started work in his office room, he found himself wandering back to their closet soon, sitting next to his mate, working on his laptop while Harry napped, or played on his phone, or tried his hand at knitting. It was hard to focus on his job being so close to his omega, but he managed to do well enough to get a raise from his boss.

While they weren't in the nest, Louis tried not to be too overbearing, but since his mate was in danger walking on two marvellous, long legs, he always watched out for him, steadying him if necessary so he didn't fell or took the knife away from the omega's hands when he burst out crying for seemingly no reason so he couldn't cut himself and Louis chopped the vegetables or meat, making them uneven in size.

Those months were blissful for both of them for being close to each other.

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But nothing compared to the moment when Louis could finally hold their tiny little bundle of joy, sitting next to his mate on Harry's hospital bed. Their daughter peacefully slept in his arms, and Louis looked at his omega with crinkling eyes, Harry tiredly smiling back at him. And Louis had to hold back the tears because Harry had never looked so lovely before, with his dishevelled hair matted to his sweaty forehead, he looked absolutely exhausted from the exertion of childbirth but appeared to be so joyful, fighting his own happy tears.

They could leave the hospital after two days, during that time all their families and friends visited them. Once released they first went to their nest to nap a bit in the cosy pile of blankets, clothes and pillows.

The nest itself went through some changes from its original state. Louis and Harry bickered a lot about whether they should place a mattress under the nest or not, the alpha argued that it would be good for Harry's aching back, and their baby wouldn't get cold in the nest if they were to place it a bit above the ground. Eventually, Louis won, and they purchased an unbelievably comfortable mattress, and Harry carefully rebuilt the nest. 

Now, Louis took in the serene scene in front of him with a smile. In the semi darkness of their closet, he laid in the middle of their nest, with Harry on his lap, holding their daughter close to his chest. And Louis understood at that moment what feeling accomplished and truly happy really meant.