Maybe we can (L.S.)

14

Half an hour later Harry sat on a bench at the bus stop, waiting for it to arrive.

He had calmed down a bit after Louis had given him his number to call him if he had any questions and reassured him that he was doing an amazing job and taking good care of both children.
He had also given him some great blister plasters, so he could put his prosthesis back on to get home and advised him to take it off once he arrived and to rest it for a couple days so they could heal.

Niall was supposed to pick them up to go back home but he had just called to tell him that his car had broken down while coming back from work so he wouldn't be able to get them. Harry had assured him that they would be alright taking the bus but it seemed that there weren't many busses so, here he was, alone with his thoughts again, waiting with Sam fast asleep in his baby bag on his chest an Emma in his trolley, playing with some dinosaurs.

"Hey!" A voice said from behind him.

Harry turned around and saw a man around his age, maybe a little older, walking to him with a child in his arms.

"Hi" Harry answered awkwardly.

"Hi, I'm Liam"

"Harry" He said shaking the hand that was being offered.

"Em, I saw you in the ECAC and you seemed like you could use someone to talk to. Are you waiting for the bus?"

"The what?" Harry asked confused.

"Oh! Right! You must be new here. The Early Care and Assessment Center, the ECAC. There are not many busses here, you know? If you are going South we could take you home if you want" Liam offered.

"It's okay. We can wait. Thank you, though" He smiled.

But just then Sam started crying. He must be hungry already.

"It's nearly lunch time, Harry. Come on, we'll drop you off. Mikey here would love to make new friends" Liam said with a kind smile, jumping a little to make the boy in his arms laugh.

Harry looked at the child in Liam's arms, noticing his big smile and slanted eyes. He thought for a while but it was getting late and Liam seemed like the kind of person you could trust so he finally agreed. "Alright, that would be awesome"

"Perfect then, let's go! My car is parked just there" He pointed a big black car down the road.

Harry hesitated for a second before he took a deep breath and sat in the car. He could still remember that day when everything went wrong but he was doing better.

"So, who do we have here with us Mikey?" Liam asked looking at Emma once they were all settled in the car.

Mikey tilted his head to the side, looking at Emma and Sam with curiosity, and rised his hands in a questioning motion, his tongue poking out a little.

" 'mEmma. He bwother Sam" Emma said pointing proudly so her chest and then at Sam.

"Yes you are, Monkey. And how old are you?" Harry asked her.

"Too" She said showing two fingers.

"Wow! You're a big girl then! Mikey is two too, nearly three. He doesn't talk much yet but I'm sure you can both have lots of fun" Liam said with a smile.

And so they left, Emma and Mikey already playing with her dinosaurs and his car.

"So, it's alright if you don't want to tell me, I know it's hard to talk sometimes but it helped me a lot, so. Why where you at the ECAC?" Liam asked after a while.

"Umm... I- Sam. He was worrying me a little so I took him there so they could check him. Don't really know what's wrong yet. It was his first appointment" Harry explained, surprising himself that he could talk so easily with someone he just met.

"Mhm... I guess it's scary not knowing. We knew from before he was born. I guess we were more prepared... Or I was..."

"Yeah... Maybe. Why were you there? Sorry, sorry, I'm being nosey"

"It's fine. He's got Down Syndrome, but all I care is that he is healthy and happy. He just started walking by himself a couple weeks ago" Liam said with a bright smile.

"That's great! So you are a big boy, too. Aren't you?" Harry said smiling at Mikey who tilted his head to the side and smiled with his tongue poking out.

"Well. Here we are! Did you know that we are neighbors?" Liam exclaimed when the car stopped in front of Harry's house.

"What?! Really? Do you have any plans for today?" Harry asked.

"Yeah! What a coincidence! He are just having a lazy day. I took the day off. Why?" Liam answered.

"Come have lunch with us. Let's prepare something fast and then the kids can hang out. They seem to get by well enough" Harry proposed.

"You sure?"

" 'course. You took us home, and we are neighbors, we should get to know each other"

"Okay" Liam nodded.

"Right. Let's go get lunch ready" Harry said as they walked through the door.