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Chapter 37: Doctors Don't Get Sick

Notes:

So if you follow the twitter account, you know that just a few hours ago I was going to post this chapter but ao3 deleted my draft. Well I just rewrote this entire thing in an hour and a half so it may not be very good quality. But I tried really hard and I hope you enjoy it.

Love you all ♡

 

Warning- small amount of smut in the beginning.

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

Zayn rolls onto his stomach as he reaches his arm out and blindly searches for his phone. He turns the alarm off and groans into his pillow, tired from the shortened amount of sleep they got. "Li, " he hums, cuddling close to his husband.

"Mmm,  why does morning always come so quickly," Liam whines.

Zayn chuckles. "Suppose it's just mother nature's way of getting back at everyone. Karma is a bitch."

"Guess you're right," the  younger man sighs. "Sorry, don't mean to bitch. Just frustrated lately."

"Think the boys are awake yet," Zayn asks, kissing Liam's collarbone.

"I doubt it,  why?"

"Oh, no reason," he says promiscously. He continues kissing his husband, but his lips go lower and lower, trailing from his neck to his waistline. He tugs Liam's shirt up and reveals the toned abs Liam has worked so hard to achieve. "My strong man," Zayn moans.

He watches as slowly, a tent forms against his pajama bottoms.

"Babe, stop. You're getting me all riled up," Liam whines.

The older smirks. "Who says that's a bad thing?"

"Fuck," Liam groans.

Zayn hooks his fingers around the waistband of the pajama bottoms and slides them down, Liam helping him along the way. Once they are pooling around his feet, the black haired man yanks them off and tossing them to the ground. Liam, who never wears briefs when he sleeps, has his hand wrapped around himself. 

"Hey, no," Zayn says, batting his hand away. "Let me take care of you," he whispers, voice filled with lust.

Liam nods and throws his head back when he feels his cock being engulfed by that is moist heat of Zayn's mouth. Zayn goes straight for it and take him all in one go before pulling back and bobbing his head up and down. Liam tries to conceal his moans by biting down on his hand, but nothing can stop the whimpers every time Zayn hums, the vibrations making him impossibly even more aroused. Zayn pulls back and suck on the tip of his husband's cock while he uses his hand to jerk the rest. Soon enough Liam is cumming down his throat with a half-scream of Zayn's name. He pants as Zayn pulls away and lays next to him.

"Thanks," he says breathily.

"No worries. My husband was stressed and I'll always be there to ease your burdens," he says, pecking Liam on the lips.

Liam laughs a little. "I swear, sometimes you act like we're in some sort of movie or novel."

"Is that a bad thing?"

"No. Definitely not. But what about you? Do you need any help yourself," he says, hand traveling down Zayn's body.

"I'm fine, Babe."

"You sure?"

"Positive. Now come on, the boys are probably up now waiting for us."

Liam blushes, hoping that they are still sleeping so that they didn't hear anything.  Zayn and Liam finally will themselves off their bed and get dressed and wash their hands and face. They brush their teeth and do their hair, ending up with almost matching quiffs. 

Once they're done they make their bed and leave the room. They walk into the nursery to find Harry already laying awake. The youngest is talking to his teddy and doesn't notice his daddies' presence. Their attention is taken away from Harry as they hear loud snoring coming from a few feet away.

"Morning, Baby," Zayn says as he goes over to Harry.

"Papa," the boy says happily.

Liam walks over to Louis' crib and looks down at him. The boy normally never snores and his nose has snot dripping out of it. 'He must be conjestested,' Liam thinks.

"Louis," Liam says quietly. He puts a hand on the lads back and rubs his muscles. "Sweetie, it's time to wake up."

Louis opens one eye and peaks up at the man. Liam gives him a soft smile before lowering the front of the crib and picking the boy up.

Louis whines as his pjs are taken off and he's laid out on the cold changing table. He tries rolling off but Liam stops him. "Woah. Okay don't do that, Bud. Don't want you to get hurt."

The boy groans and when Liam turns away from him to grab the wipes Louis sits up on the table. Liam turns around puts his hands on the boy's waist to stop him. "Louis, if you don't stay still and lay down I'm gonna have to use the holders."

"Nooooo, " the boy whines.

"Everything okay over there," Zayn asks from where he's dressing Harry.

"Just a cranky, tired boy who doesn't want to lay still," Liam says as he guides Louis down and this time reaches for the supplies he needs with one hand while the other stays pinned to the boy's tummy to prevent him from leaving. He sets everything down by Louis' feet and gives the boy a forehead kiss to calm him down. "Sweetie, please cooperate for me."

Louis stops fidgeting and goes slack against the pillow. The first thing the man does is wipe around Louis' nose with a tissue. Once the kleenex is disposed of, Liam untapes his nappy and pulls it down. He notices how dark the boy's urine is and remembers from med school the charts they had to study and determines Louis is just a tad bit dehydrated. He wipes up everything the best that he can.

"Nooooo," Louis cries as the cold wipes touch his bum and bits.

"Shhhhh, you're okay," Liam tells him. "Can you hold your legs up for me?"

Louis shakes head crosses his arms over his head so he can't see anything. "Nuh-uh."

"That's okay. No need to get upset."

"Need some help," Zayn asks.

"Yeah, uh could you hold his legs up?"

Zayn nods even though he knows he can't see him. He looks down at Harry who is hugging Zayn's hips. "Harry, why don't you go in the closet and pick out a onesie for your brother to wear."

The boy looks up excitedly. "I can do that!"

He watches Harry skip over to the closet and walks over to his fussy little one  and his husband. "You okay, Lou," he says as he raises the boys legs to his chest.

Louis just whines and says nothing. Zayn massages the boy's scalp while Liam finishes changing him.

Liam tapes the diaper up and Zayn helps the boy off the table. Louis hangs onto his arms meekly as he is walked into the center of the room. Harry comes out of the closet carrying a fuzzy, pink onesie with a giant grin on his face.

"I picked this one! 'Cause when I weared it last time I got lotsa cuddles!"

The daddies chuckle at Harry's enthusiasm.

"Dove, is this alright," Zayn asks.

Louis nods,  not actually seeing whatever it was that selected.

Liam takes the onesie from Harry and thanks him with a kiss. He unzips the back and with great effort he and Zayn manage to dress the boy. Louis offers no help as he clings to Zayn's shirt and whines every time a new body part is pulled on. When the back is done up, he looks down and grimaces at the ugly outfit but remains quiet. He wonders why anyone in their right mind would buy such an atrocious getup.

"I'd say it's breakfast time," Zayn says, picking Louis up.  Liam grabs Harry and they exit the nursery and go downstairs to the kitchen. The boys are placed in their highchairs. Louis immediately hunches forward and rests his face against the table tray, relishing in the cool surface against his burning cheek. He flips his face over and lets out a satisfied puff of breath as that cheek chills.

Liam walks over to him with a bowl of cereal and a sippy cup of juice. The man chuckles. "Wakey, wakey," he sings. "Can't have you sleeping in here like that."

Louis groans and pulls his body up into a normal sitting position. The food is set in front of him and he gags looking at the little hoop shaped cereal drowning in watery milk. When nobody is looking, Louis pushes the bowl a few inches away from him and closer to the edge. Liam returns with his own bowl and sits in front of him. He frowns, knowing he didn't leave the bowl that far from Louis. He pushes it back over to the boy and sets his own bowl in it's place and a mug of tea. Louis looks over in his dazed state to see Zayn already making airplane noises while directing Harry's breakfast into his mouth. Watching the boy sloppily eat makes his stomach gurgle in disgust.

"What's wrong, Baby," Liam asks.

Louis shakes his head and tucks his chin into his chest.

Liam grabs the boy's spoon and scoops up a bite of cereal. "Open up," he encourages. Louis turns his face away from the food. "Come on, Honey. You gotta eat."

"Noooo, Daddy," he complains.

"Lou, you need to. It's not good to skip meals."

"Noooo," he refuses once again.

"What about drinking your juice," Zayn suggests.

Louis eyes the sippy cup. He knows the cold liquid would feel amazing against his sore throat, but sugar doesn't sound appetizing at all. He shrugs and picks the cup up by its handle and brings it to his lips. He takes a sip and lets the cooling effect sink in. His stuffy nose doesn't allow him to taste very much, but he can still tell it's sour. It feels okay, until the juice reaches his stomach and he feels the acidic. He frowns and pushes the cup as far away from him as he can manage.

Liam and Zayn share a concerned look. "Are you not feeling well, Dove," the older man asks.

Louis shakes his head and keeps his eyes glued to the floor.

"Okay. You can have a bottle instead," Liam says and quickly eats the last bit of his breakfast before he clears the highchair's table. He removes Louis' bib but keeps the boy in the chair while he makes the bottle. Zayn tries talking to him, but Louis simply lowers his head back onto the tray and miserably waits for when he is allowed to go back to sleep.

"Is Loulou okay," Harry asks Zayn.

The man nods. "He's just not feeling well. It's best if you let him rest today, okay?"

"But when I don't feel good you cuddle me. I wanna cuddle wiff him," Harry tells him.

"Baby, you know your rules. Louis needs to rest so he can feel better," Liam says as he twists the cap on the bottle. The truth is, Harry has a weak immune system and gets colds almost every time he's near someone who is ill. Harry frowns and finishes up his juice.

The tray is lifted from the highchair and placed to the side. Liam carefully takes Louis from his spot and lifts him onto his hip. He grabs the bottle from where he left it. He added a scoop of formula to the mixture to make sure Louis gets proper vitamins and minerals he needs, as well as a little bit of cocoa powder for sweetness to mask the formulas taste.

They sit down on the couch in the living room. Liam adjusts Louis so he is half laying on his lap with his resting on the man's shoulder and his back curved into the crook of Liam's arm. "Do you want a movie on," Liam asks.

Louis nods so Liam picks up the remote on the side table and flicks the telly on. He brings up the Netflix 'Kids and Family' category. Deciding he wants Louis to be stress free and even littler while he is sick, Liam scrolls through the ages 2-4 category. He settles on the Winnie the Pooh movie. Louis ignores the first few minutes, since he's grown accustomed to cartoons now and the opening sequence is live action.

Liam brings the bottle up to Louis' lips now that it's had plenty of time to cool down. Hesitantly, Louis latches his lips around the nipple and sucks in some of the sweet milk. When Christopher Robin and Pooh meet, his eyes never leave the screen. He continues drinking his milk at a slow pace. Liam watches the boy's face in fascination. To him, the cute little noises coming from his mouth, the dribbling milk on the side of his lips, and the focus in his eyes could all be named the eighth wonder to the world.

Louis takes in some of the milk a little too quickly a sputters it out, coughing. Liam immediately pulls the milk away and sits the boy up, rubbing his back until the coughing fit finishes. Louis whines into his neck and Liam kisses the crown of his head till the boy is content.

"Daddy," Louis whines.

"I know, Baby, I know."

"Feel icky."

"I know, Honey. We're gonna get you all better as soon as possible, okay," Liam says.

The boy nods and turns his body so he's laying again. Liam pecks his warm forehead. "Baba," Louis asks, dropping his jaw.

"Course, Little One."

The nipple of the bottle is slipped into his mouth again. Louis focuses on sucking for a few seconds before his attention is taken away by the bouncing Tigger on the screen. The boy's eyes light up and he claps his hands a few times when the orange creature sings his song about being wonderful.

Zayn enters the room carrying Harry bridal style. Harry's hands are traveling up Zayn's face, fingers tangling in the black hair, ruining all neatness that was there before. Zayn smiles fondly at their youngest, though.

"How's our little patient feeling," Zayn asks.

Louis is too distracted by the movie to even pick up on the question. "He's a little warm. Think you could grab the thermometer? "

"Yeah, sure thing," Zayn says.

He takes Harry with him back into the kitchen. He sets the boy on the counter in front of him and opens the drawer that they keep the baby thermometer in. He finds it and checks the batteries.

"Do me! Do me," Harry begs.

"Okay, but there's no need to scream," Zayn says.

"Sorry, Papa," Harry says.

Zayn turns the thermometer on and holds it up to Harry's forehead. He pushes back the curls and rolls the device above his device. Harry giggles at the tickling feeling. The device beeps and Zayn examines it, sighing in relief that Harry's only slightly above normal by a few ticks above 37°. He's still has a good feeling the youngest is going to get sick too, considering his history of getting sick.

He flips the thermometer around and shows Harry. "All good, see?"

Harry smiles and wraps his arms around Zayn's neck. The man carries him back to the living room. He hands Liam the thermometer. "I'm gonna take this little jumping bean upstairs. Call me if you need anything," he tells his husband. "You too, Lou. Tell me if Daddy isn't spoiling you enough," he says, patting Louis' head.

Liam shakes his head, laughing at what Zayn said. The now empty bottle is pulled away from Louis' lips and set to the side. He switches the thermometer on and brings it to Louis' temple, rolling it in circles. It isn't long before the beeping starts. He checks it and frowns, his fever being a little worse than he thought it would be at 38.1°.

"Poor little baby," he coos and massages Louis' tummy. The boy groans and tries moving away from the hand. "Aw, what's wrong?"

"Tumtum huwts," Louis pouts.

"Okay, Honey, " Liam says and adjusts Louis' body so he is pressed tummy to tummy with Liam. The man rubs his back a little before he starts patting him, encouraging any burping that might get the painful air out of his stomach.

Louis emits a small burp but that only makes him feel worse. Liam continues patting his back. The boy takes a deep breath in and he thinks he's about to burp, but instead bile raises from throat and he vomits up almost the entire bottle of milk onto Liam's shoulder, the front of the onesie, and the brand new white couch.

Louis shrieks out a cry. "I'm sowwy," he sobs.

"Hey," Liam says, standing them both up. He wants to gag at the smell of the vomit but doesn't because that would only make the boy feel worse. "Louis, it's okay. This can all be cleaned, yeah?"

Louis cries louder and Liam takes them up the stairs, cringing because of the vomit making his shirt stick to his back. They walk into the bathroom and Liam sets Louis down on the counter. He removes his own shirt and then he helps the crying little out of the pink suit. He takes a wash cloth from the towel cabinet and wets it with warm water, cleaning off Louis' mouth and neck.

"Let's brush your teeth," Liam says and holds out the toothpaste covered brush. Louis only stares at it. Liam sighs and tells him to open his mouth. He brushes for the boy before giving him a tiny bit of water to help him swish and spit. He cleans the brush off and puts it back in the holder. "Good boy."

He picks Louis up and takes him first to the laundry room to add the dirty clothes to the washer, then to the nursery for a nappy change. Once the boy is changed and has a new set of pajamas on, Liam takes him to the guest bedroom and tucks him into the big bed. Louis doesn't like the big bed. He feels tiny, like it's going to swallow him whole. He holds Sally and hides his face in the stuffie's soft belly.

"Daddy," he says, reaching his arms to Liam.

"I'm here, Baby," Liam assures the boy. He climbs on the bed and lays ontop of the blanket next to the boy, holding him and kissing his head. "Want Daddy to sing you to sleep?"

Louis nods.

Fly me to the moon
Let me play among the stars
Let me see what spring is like
On a-Jupiter and Mars
In other words, hold my hand
In other words, baby, kiss me

Fill my heart with song
And let me sing for ever more
You are all I long for
All I worship and adore
In other words, please be true
In other words, I love you

Fill my heart with song
Let me sing for ever more
You are all I long for
All I worship and adore
In other words, please be true
In other words, in other words
I love you

He watches the boy's eyes close slowly, eyelashes fluttering, casting shadows on his cheekbones. He slowly gets up from the bed, not wanting to wake him.

Liam leaves Louis with just the light of the window. He walks down the hallway to his bedroom where Zayn and Harry are cuddling on the bed. Zayn has a storybook in his hand and Harry is fascinated and pointing at all of the painted characters. They look up when Liam comes in.

"Where's Louis...and your shirt," Zayn asks.

"He threw up while I was burping him. I put him in the guest room. Do you think you could clean the couch before it stains? I would but I have vomit on my back and in my hair I think. I really need a shower."

"Yeah, don't worry about It," Zayn tells him.

"Thanks, Babe."

Zayn reads Harry the last few pages of the book before taking him to the playroom. "Harry, I'm gonna go downstairs now and clean the couch. Daddy will be out of the shower soon. Will you stay here and be a good boy," Zayn asks.

The brunette nods. "Yes, Papa."

Zayn ruffles his curls. "My sweet boy."

Harry blushes and plops his bum down on the ground in front of his toy cars. Zayn watches him for a few moments before he decides it's okay to go downstairs. Harry picks up the police car and runs it up and down the sides of the toy chest making siren noises. He takes another car, a red one, and drives it faster than the police car.

"Oh no! A bad guy," he says, pretending to be a cop. "Gotta catch him!"

"You can't get me," Harry says in a low voice, turning the red car and swiping it underneath the art table.

"Will too," the cop protests.

The boy has managed to have the high speed car chase hit almost every point in the room before the "bad guy" reaches the open closet door. He makes a sharp left turn into the room with the cop trailing behind. Harry excellerates the car forward a few feet and spins the cop car, flipping it into it's side.

"Oh no," he squeals and rights the car again. "The bad guy got away!"

Harry looks around his surroundings. The closet is dark, the only light coming through from the playroom. He sees the different costumes hanging up and one in particular catches his eyes. It's the white lab coat the daddies bought for him last year when he wanted to play doctor with Niall. He gets up from his spot on the floor and reaches for the coat, shrugging it on over his shoulders. He looks down at how it covers his pajamas down to his knees.

He scrambles out of the closet and over to his toy box. He throws the lid open and digs through the box. Dolls and stuffies are thrown about as the little rips through looking for what he wants. He pulls out the small white bag with the little red cross printed on it and grins.

Harry stands up straight and walks over to the doorway. He peaks down the hall to make sure Papa is still downstairs. To his right, Harry hears his Daddy singing loudly and the sound of the shower going. He quietly walks down the hall and towards the guestroom, tip toeing over to the side of the bed. He peers down at his sleeping brother. Louis has never looked so weak and vulnerable and all Harry wants to do his help him get better.

Harry jumps on the bed and Louis is jostled awake. The boy lets out a groan and opens his eyes to see Harry hovering over him. Harry hikes his shirt up so that it is pooling above his stomach.

"Hazza? What're you doing," Louis slurs.

The youngest leans down and presses a kiss to Louis' tummy. "Making you feel better," he says simply and kisses right above his belly button. "Kisses make booboos better."

"Hazza! You're gonna get sick," he says in a concerned tone.

The curly haired boy reaches across the bed for the little bag. He unzips it and pulls out a plastic stethoscope. He puts the plugs in his ears and presses the round part to Louis' tummy, nodding like he's seen the nurses do when he goes to the doctor. "Sounds good," Harry says, kissing his tummy again.

"Harry, can't be in here," Louis says firmly.

The boy ignores Louis and crawls closer to his head. Louis tries sitting up and stopping the boy, but he's weak and Harry gently pushes him down against the pillow again. Harry leans over and presses a big kiss to Louis' temple,  and then again to his cheek.

"Please, listen to me. I don't want my brother getting sick."

Harry smiles, "Silly, Loulou. Doctors don't get sick," he tells him as if it's a matter of fact.

"You're not a doctor," Louis tells him, extremely exhausted.

"Am too. Gonna make you feel better."

He opens the bag again and pulls out a small box and the a plastic toy syringe. The box is set to the side.  He rolls Louis' sleeve up despite the boy trying to push his arm away. "Hold Sally's hand," Harry says and hands the boy his stuffie. "This won't hurt," Harry says, presses the toy to Louis' arm, pushing down the plunger.

Though Louis can barely keep his eyes open and he's worried for Harry's health and well being,  the older boy can't help but feel a sense of warmth and love as Harry takes care of him. The younger boy is so innocent and truly believes that kisses heal, and Louis doesn't know if anyone else is this adorable on the planet.

Harry picks up the box and pulls out a handful of neon bandaids. He unwraps them and begins placing them all over Louis' tummy and arms. Louis tries stopping him but Harry insists this is how to not be sick. He swipes the wrappers off the bed and they fly onto the floor. He takes out the last bandaid in the box, a bright pink one, and peels the paper from the back. He applies it right above Louis' eye brow and when Louis least expects it, the boy kisses over the bandaid, his lower lip also covering his eyelid. Louis blushes and looks into Harry's warm, beautiful, green eyes and gets lost.

"Do you feel better now," Harry asks.

Louis lifts his feeble arm and rests his hand on Harry's chest, right over his heart. "Yes, I do. Thank you so much, Doctor Harry. You're the best little brother anyone could ask for."

Harry's face breaks out into a smile. He was told most of his life that he was worthless by his own blood - brother.  But Louis just told him differently. All he's ever wanted since he first found out about the blue eyed boy beneath was acceptance and to make him happy, and he really feels like he succeeded in that.

"I love you, Lou," Harry whispers, tossing the little bag onto the ground. He pulls the white lab coat off and leaves it on the edge of the bed. He crawls over Louis and gets underneath the blanket to lay beside him. He cuddles in close to Louis and searches for his hand, squeezing tightly when finds it. "Bestest thing to feel better is cuddles."

The boys enjoy each other's body heat and rest their foreheads against each other. They watch eyelashes flutter against cheeks and listen to soft breaths. Harry plays with Louis' fingers,  twisting them and learning how each spot of skin feels. The older boy feels an overwhelming amount of sadness every time he Harry holds his hands. He's happy to know that he has the boy's affection, but just knowing all that he went through and how those incidents caused each little twitch and tremor breaks his heart.

"Harry," the boys flinch when they hear the surprised voice from the foot of the bed. "What are you doing in here?"

Harry pulls away from Louis and sits up, criss crossing his legs and resting his hands in his lap. He looks up at Zayn and Liam with innocent,  big doe eyes. "Making Loulou feel better."

"But you promised us you would give him space to get better," Zayn points out.

Harry shakes his head and points to the white coat. "I was a doctor! I helped him feel better. He told me so! Right, Louwee," he says, a bit panicky.

"Much better," Louis soothes.

"Harry, we don't want you getting sick," Liam says, going over to the boy and picking him up from the bed.

"Doctors don't get sick! You told me so," Harry tells Liam.

"Aw, Bugaboo," Liam coos. "There's no need to get yourself all wound up."

"Just wanted to help," Harry mumbles.

"I know,  Sweetheart. But Louis needs lots of sleep to feel good," he explains.

Liam takes Harry out of the guestroom, giving his husband an exasperated look. Zayn walks over to Louis and sits beside him on the bed. He chuckles. "You should see yourself right now, all covered up in plasters."

Zayn carefully peels the sticky plasters from his skin, trying his best not to tug on any tiny hairs. Louis is pliant and allows him to do so, mainly because he has no choice. His head is spinning and he wants to vomit again. The man lifts his fingers to the one above Louis' eye but the boy stops him, wrapping his fingers around the man's wrist.

"No, don't. This one's special," Louis mumbles.

"Okay, Dove. I won't."

Zayn swipes Louis' hair back from his sweaty forehead. The boy's eyes are opening slower and slower as time goes on. Eventually his stops blinking all together and his snores begin. He stands up from the bed and turns on the little vaporizing machine, allowing it to softly blow towards his little baby's face.

Liam walks in and joins him, watching Louis sleep. "Harry insisted that if he couldn't be in here, Roger would have to watch over his big brother." He makes the bear dance around a little before laying it down next to Louis. Subconsciously, the sleeping boy grabs the bear and tucks it under his chin, lightly smiling.

Notes:

Yeah, there is quite a lot of kisses in this story! But who said that's a bad thing?

 

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