Life Changes

16. Darling, Stay With Me

"Truth is, you know, sometimes it works better with one person doing everything, you know? No charts, no arguments. I know it's not ideal, but since when do parents get the ideal, right?"

Eleanor nodded, pointing a finger to Harry to convey her agreement. It was Harry's last meeting with CPS before Eleanor decided if he was a good fit for Isabella or not. If he wasn't, then they would take Isabella away to a family that wanted her. However, Harry had a good feeling about how the meeting was going.

Harry hunched over and poked Isabella's cheek, murmuring, "Right? Right, pretty girl?"

Isabella blew bubbles of spit out of her gurgling mouth. Her eyes shone in awe as she pointed to something above Harry's head. Harry followed her finger, craning up his neck and his eyes landing on a familiar picture frame. It was a picture of Louis and Harry at Isabella's first birthday party. Their smiles looked genuine and it wasn't until now that Harry realized Louis had his arm looped around him. They looked like a real family. A happy family.

The realization settled beneath Harry's watering eyes.

"I'm sorry. I can't do this. This..." Harry breathed out slowly, taking a moment to process his running thoughts. "This isn't right."

Harry knew what he was about to do was a risk and would jeopardize his CPS meeting with Eleanor, yet he didn't care. He picked up Isabella and hugged her close to his chest.

"Is there a problem?" Eleanor asked, taken aback by Harry's sudden response to leave.

"Uh, yeah," Harry said, rushing to gather his things and tuck Isabella's shoes on her feet. "I'm an idiot. I gotta reschedule." He ran towards the front door, waving at Eleanor and pasting on a hasty smile. He apologized, "I'm sorry, I need to get to the airport," as he closed the door behind himself.

"What?" Eleanor was left fish-mouthing, her lips pursed in astonishment.

Eleanor quickly followed Harry to the Honda, watching helplessly as Harry buckled Isabella into her car seat. She sat in the passenger's seat in spite of Harry's many protests. Harry drove onto the highway effortlessly despite being distracted by his phone.

Harry dialed Louis' number and desperately murmured, "C'mon, pick up, pick up, pick up."

"Hey, this is Tommo. Leave me something dirty."

Harry groaned, catching Eleanor looking at him from his peripheral vision. He felt slightly uncomfortable having Eleanor in the SUV. He never imagined Eleanor would be the one sitting next to him on his mission to declare his profound love to Louis at the airport. He was not about to let a shitty ending ruin their epic romance.

"You know, I could've come back for you," Harry suggested.

"Well, this is our last meeting. I'm booked up for the next month. One way or another, we're finishing it."

Yeah, they're definitely finishing this.

"Okay."

"If you wanna get there quickly, you might wanna drive faster than the other cars," Eleanor advised.

Harry frowned, looking at Eleanor from the corner of his eye and bewilderedly saying, "But you're observing me."

"I'm observing you miss the flight so move it!" Eleanor shouted.

"Okay!"

Harry pressed his foot on the gas pedal and zipped past the other cars on the highway, passing the terminal airport exit sign. He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel, praying that Louis was still seated on the waiting chairs. As he imagined, Louis was.