Just Hold On // L.T. ✓

14

~Oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh oh, if it all goes wrong,

Darling, just hold on~

"Girlies, wake up." Louis said, trying to control his emotions. "Don't worry about getting dressed, just get in the car." Phoebe and Daisy both grumbled and sat up at the same time. "Phoebe, go help Lottie get Doris, will you? Daisy, will you make sure than their diaper bag is packed?"

The two of them followed his instructions without saying a word.

It was four in the morning.

There was a call from the hospital.

Mum was dying.

Five minutes later, Louis was driving the van, Dad was in the passenger seat, Lottie sat in between the car seats, and the other three were in the back. There were a lot of sniffles.

"Is Dan going to be there?" Fizz asked.

"Yes." Dad answered simply.

"Will you please tell us what's going on?" Phoebe asked, letting out a sob.

Dad explains it to them, and then everyone except the babies was crying.

---

Jay had Doris under her left arm, and Ernest under her right arm. They were both asleep, but Jay wasn't.

Dad and Dan sat in the chairs in the corner, talking to each other.

The rest of the kids were planning out a short play to keep themselves busy. Louis had a pad of paper and was writing down their ideas. "Here, Fizz. You make a paper mustache." Lottie laughed.

Fizz got to work doing that, and Phoebe made herself a little paper sailboat hat. She balanced on one leg and said "argh, matey.", making everyone giggle. Jay simply smiled at their antics, since she didn't have the breath to laugh.

Once they were all ready, Louis began the plan, with his position begin the narrator. Phoebe was a pirate, Fizz was a bank robber, Lottie was a cowgirl, and Daisy was a narcoleptic princess.

The parents watched on as the play went on, with the narcoleptic princess being the last one alive at the end, when the others found her asleep in the safe of the bank that Fizz robbed.

Dad and Dan clapped, and Jay couldn't clap because of the babies, but she patted the bed symbolically. The cast bowed, and then Jay simply nodded at Mark and Dan. Dan woke the babies up, and Lottie clung to Louis, terrified. "What's going on?" She asked.

"It's time to say goodbye, girls." Dad told them.

"What? No." Fizz said, starting to cry.

"Bye, Doris. Bye, Ernest." Jay said to her babies, kissing them on the forehead. Doris put her hand on Jay's face, and Ernest started to cry. Dan kissed Jay's forehead and took the babies, putting them back in their carseats out in the hall. "Come here, twinnies."

Phoebe and Daisy ran to their mum, one of them on either side of her. "Mummy, I don't want you to go." Phoebe cried.

"Saying goodbye is so hard." Daisy sobbed.

"Please be good girls for daddy, and to Dan." Jay said to them, a little out of breath. "Try not to sleep too much, Daisy."

Lottie was sobbing heavily into Louis' side. Louis felt like he was going to pass out.

"Keep up on your schoolwork, Phoebe." Jay scolded the other twin, and she chuckled a little bit.

"We all love you so much, mummy." Daisy said then, cupping her mom's cheeks. "Don't be scared, okay? We'll be fine."

Jay kissed them, and gave them last hugs, and then they went out into the hallway. Fizz ran up, next in line, and Lottie didn't want to watch anymore, fully burying her face in Louis' jacket. "I love you so much." Fizz told her. "And I'll miss you every day."

"Maybe most days, but not every day." Jay kissed Fizz's cheek. "I love you, darling. Don't ever forget that. Watch after the twinnies now, okay?" Fizz nodded, and then it was Lottie's turn.

Lottie was the most emotional. Louis went over and gave his dad a hug while he watched Lottie stumble out everything that she wanted to say. "I'll make you proud, mummy. And I'll watch over Fizz and the twinnies and the babies, and I'll watch over Louis the most, since he's always been the one to do stupid things."

"Hey." Louis warned, trying not to have a complete emotional breakdown.

A minute later, Lottie ran to her dad, who walked her out to the bench, and Louis went to give his mum a hug. "I'll watch over Dad, yes. And all of the kids. Lottie especially."

"Just please, do what makes you happy, Boo Bear." She said, fixing his fringe with her last bit of strength. "Find someone who loves you with their entire heart, and love them with your entire heart too."

"I will, mummy." Louis said, smiling at her. "I love you. We all do. And I'll make sure that the babies know who you are, okay? They won't grow up not knowing you are."

"Thank you, Boo Bear. And I love you too." She said goodbye to him, and Louis went out into the hallway, not looking back. He didn't want to see her in her dying moments.

"Come on. Let's go to the car." He said. Phoebe grabbed Doris' car seat, while Fizz grabbed Ernest's. Lottie and Daisy clung to each other, and Louis led them away from the room.

In the elevator, they were full of sniffles and sobs.

"Should I pick up pizza on the way home?"

"Please." Fizz sobbed. "And I want garlic bread, and wings, and nine different types of pizza."

"Should we wait for dad?" Phoebe asked, getting the kids buckled.

"He'll need to stay for a bit with Dan." Louis said. "Okay. So, we'll pick up pizza, and then I'll run into the store, grab some ice cream. Whipped cream."

"I want chocolate." Phoebe said. There were a million different ice cream and pizza orders, and Louis just let them talk. He just tried to keep his emotions under control so that he could drive.

But in all reality, he probably should've called an Uber.

---

"Hey, dad." Louis said, from under the pile of all of the children. The babies were in their cribs, and Lottie was asleep on Louis' lap, Fizz had her head on his shoulder, and the twins were asleep in the chair.

Dan followed Mark inside of the house, and the two of them got some pizza. "Thanks for watching them, Louis." His dad told him.

"No problem." He smiled.

"There's a lot of stuff to think about." Dan said with a sniffle. "Do you want to get together this weekend and talk about funeral plans?"

Mark nodded. "Yeah. Do you want to take the babies with you until then?"

"Yeah. You've got the other four to deal with." Dan smiled. "I'll just eat and take them."

"Stay as long as you want, Dan. Don't want you driving home all emotional. We're family."

"I think that I'll stay tonight, dad." Louis announced.

"Can we put all of the mattresses in the living room and have a slumber party?" Fizz asks, rubbing her eyes and looking over at her dad.

Louis smiled and rubbed her head. "Of course. Go wake up the twins and start getting the mattresses in here." Louis looked over at his dad, who simply nodded.

Anything to make the kids happy, for now.