Maybe we can (L.S.)

47

The following day, when the alarm woke Louis up he couldn't help the smile that formed on his still sleepy face at the memory of yesterday's events. He wasn't sure if it had all been a dream or if it was real. Could it be? Had Harry really kissed him? It was just an innocent cheek kiss but it had made his brain go fuzzy. That was, after all, the first time someone other than his family had kissed him with some kind of feeling...

"Lou! You'll be late!" Lottie's voice sounded trough the door, followed by three loud knocks.

"I'm up!" He shouted back before rolling out his bed and reaching for his phone when a notification pinged.

From Harry: Morning Lou! I hope you had a good night sleep. I just wanted to to tell you I had a great time yesterday. I hope we can repeat soon if you feel like it 😘

"Yes!" He exclaimed while prancing with a silly dance around his bedroom as he realised everything had been real.

To Harry: Hey! I had a great time too 🤫. Can't wait for it!

He replied faster than he would like to admit but he was far too excited to care.

At the other end of the line, Harry smiled at the reply, glad that what he had been feeling hadn't been one-sided and that, apparently, he hadn't scared Louis away.

He sighed and started to get everything the kids ready to walk Emma to daycare. Maybe he would start looking for a job today.

And so, the rest of the day went by. Both of them texting back and forth when they had a spare minute.

Thankfully it wasn't long before they saw each other again as it was soon time for Sam's second appointment of the week.

"Hey, Harry. You can come in now" Louis said with a shy smile, waving the man inside the room. "Sorry about the delay. The last kid was set on staying here it seems" He apologized.

"It's fine. Sam was asleep anyway. He's just starting to wake up" Harry smiled back, caressing the baby's cheeck and unstrapping the baby carrier from his chest to take him out.

"Oh. Okay, let's give him some time to come back to the world then. I wanted us to start setting some goals for Sam anyway" Louis replied, sitting on the floor with Harry.

"Um... Okay. But I don't think I know anything to be able to set goals for him" Harry said, scrunching his nose.

"Don't worry. I'll help you" Louis assured. "Now. I want you to think about something that you think he could achieve with help and that would make your day to day easier. First thing that comes to your head" he asked.

"Sitting" Harry replied quickly.

"Okay, that's a good one. But why?"

"Well. It's difficult to feed him sometimes because if I'm not holding him he can't keep his balance. And I think it would be easier for him to play with his hands too" Harry explained after thinking for a minute.

"Okay. Perfect. We'll definitely start working on that one but he'll need some support to do it alone so I was thinking maybe we could make a plaster cast seat to help him keep the position. So, his goal could be: 'To maintain his seating position during feeding with the help of a plaster cast seat'. What do you think?" Louis nodded, scribbling something down.

"Um... Yeah, that's fine I guess" Harry agreed.

"Something else that worries you?" Louis asked, tickling Sam's tummy.

"I guess his left hand. He doesn't use it must" Harry thought.

"Alright. I'd like to see him a little bit longer before I decide how to approach that but we could say... 'To open and use both hands while playing' maybe? For now we can try putting his toys on his left side and encourage him to use it more." Louis spoke while holding a rattle ball near his left hand.

"Yeah, okay" Harry sighed, smiling when he saw Sam trying to reach it.

And so, by the time the 45 minutes were up, they had agreed on a couple more goals. For Sam to hold his head up when propped on his elbows as he looked up to look at something, and for him to start rolling with help.

"Oh wow! Sorry Harry but it's time already" Louis exclaimed as he looked up to the clock.

"Oh! That was fast" Harry chuckled.

"Yeah... I guess I'll see you next week... But call me if you need anything at all, okay?" Louis pleaded, a bit disappointed that they had to go.

"I was hoping maybe I could see you sooner" Harry grinned innocently as he positioned Sam in the carrier on his chest.

"Oh! Yeah... I did too..." Louis gulped.

"Alright. I'll text you. Bye Lou!" Harry nodded, sending him a wink as he turned to the door.

"Bye" Louis blushed.

And maybe, just maybe, he watched Harry walk away until he could no longer see him.

"Shit" He cursed to himself, knowing that he was far too gone for the green eyed curly haired man.