Harry met Louis outside Mr Isaacs office the following morning at eight fifty, excitedly telling him what had happened the following evening after he'd left.
"And guess what, last night, he didn't do 'it'!" He whispered so no one else heard. Louis knew what 'it' was so said nothing in detail.
"You're kidding?"
"No, look." He said, lifting his sleeves and showing no bruises of any sort. The secretary called them in and they said nothing more to each other but a nervous glance. Mr Isaacs, the one who had recruited Harry at the restaurant, and according to Louis, had gotten him when he'd dropped his bag while shopping and his designs had fallen out, was sitting at his table. He gave them both warm smiles.
"Ah, yes, sit please! I expect you can't stand very long at the moment in your 'conditions'." He beckoned them to the chairs and Harry took his offer, smiling back, knowing it wasn't hard to miss the 'condition' anyway and not taking offence to it. "I'm sure you both wondering why I've called you here. Well it seems your ranges, 'Euphoria'" he looked to Louis.
"And 'Ciao Jaime.' " Then to Harry. "And the popularity ratings. Well, let's just say they're making very much for the board, who've acknowledged this and wished for me to make an offer…"
He went on to talk about them each opening their own stores and a feeling like his insides were placed under a hover charm. But that was quickly stopped by a kick from either child, one on his ribs, the other his side. How could he take think of taking this offer? His children came first and with Sirius working more and more hours, how would he make time for both a job and his family?
He snapped back to reality and Louis was happily accepting.
"Well Harry, what about you?"
"I don't think I can, sir." He said and Louis stopped bouncing in his seat, looking to him like he was insane. "My husband wasn't happy with me taking this in the first place and even if I could cope with a full time job and all three of them. I already struggle with just one at the moment. I'm sorry." He said and Mr Isaacs nodded solemnly.
"I understand, but just think about it. We can arrange something. It would be a sad thing to let a young talent like yourself go." Harry thanked him and once they left, they got Quillan and Crosby and went out to celebrate for Louis.
"I still don't know why you just don't take it, you can manage." Louis said, skimming through a rack of robes.
"It's easy for you to say, you only have two of them, and Quillan doesn't have the genes of two troublemakers running through his blood." Harry replied darkly.
"Still, you could try, besides, I'm going to have to do it alone now. How are these?" He said holding up an expensive looking robe.
"Somehow I doubt it's going to fit you," Harry laughed, looking at the much-too-small-to-be-maternity robe.
"Oh ha ha, I meant for after it's born, it can't be very, oh god!" He dropped the robe and keeled over, clutching his stomach.
"Lou! Are you ok?" Harry said, hurrying over and helping him up.
"Told you it wouldn't be long, I give it a couple of hours at most." He said in a pained voice. Harry called for assistance, who quickly called Felix as Harry gave them the address. Harry sat him down on one of the chairs, holding his hand and talking to him to distract him, talking of how to dismember Felix. It took about ten minutes, but Felix came rushing through the doors of the shop and into the staff room where they had been moved to wait without all the customers staring.
"Lou, love, are you ok?" He asked and Lou shook his head, biting his lip. "We'd better get you to the healer, come on, he took his arm, helping him to walk towards the fire. He took one last look to Harry before they went.
"Look after Quillan please, we'll call you when it's born." He said and Harry nodded. "And Harry, thanks."
Sirius got home that evening to find Harry in the lounge giving a bottle a toddler. When he approached, it was to his surprise to see that it was not Crosby, who was already drinking from one and playing with his toys, but Quillan.
"Why's Quillan here? What happened?" He asked.
"You didn't hear? Louis went into labour this morning, Felix asked me to keep him till it's born." He said with a small smile.
"Felix left early, but they never said why." The phone next to Harry rang and as soon as he answered, a smile appeared on his face.
"Already? Congratulations…Yeah, I'm sure we could come…Yeah, Quillan's ok…no, he's been a little angel. Ok, see you in a few." He put down the phone and grinned at Sirius.
"A little boy."
"He's beautiful," Harry said, thinking of Thicke as they sat in the company car Sirius had gotten from work on the way home. He already had his mother's dark blonde hair with his father's soft features and had dark grey eyes, which Louis said came from his father. "But they talk about what we name our kids," Sirius snorted. "Thicke Kirton, poor child." He said shaking his head.
"Yeah, but ours will be better." Sirius replied, "And they wont suffer puns for their names." Now it was Harry's turn to laugh. "Why didn't you tell me about the offer?"
"What?" Sirius pulled over to the side of the road, which was grassland, covered by trees and overlooking a river.
"Felix told me. Said Louis said you both got offered some sort of store for your designs. Why didn't you tell me? Did it just slip your mind in everything that happened today?" Harry looked straight ahead. "Well?"
"I remembered it."
"And you didn't tell me why?"
"Because I didn't think it's important." He said turning away.
"It'll affect our whole lives, of course it's important!" Sirius put a hand on his shoulder and turned him towards his face.
"It won't affect us because I'm not taking it!" Harry said quietly. "I have the children and you to take care of, whether I have to make a few sacrifices or not, it's more important to me than some job." Sirius didn't tell Harry this, but those words meant so much to him, he'd never be able to explain it. "Stupid, I know, but…" He added in a mumble.
"It's not stupid," Sirius whispered and kissed him slowly and softly.
They lay in the backseat naked, Sirius leaning over Harry, running his hands over the sides of the extended abdomen in front of him. He planted kisses on it, making Harry shiver.
"I love you so much." He whispered, moving up and kissing Harry's lips again. Harry didn't respond and Sirius leaned on his elbows and looked into his eyes.
"Then why'd you leave?"
"Please Har, let's not get into that now." Sirius responded.
"Just tell me and I'll drop it, forget it ever happened," He paused and touched Sirius's cheek, "Go back to how we were before Christmas."
"I-I was scared." He said. "It just all sunk in what was happening and I panicked." To his surprise, Harry didn't question him, but instead took his hand, brought it to his face and kissed it.
"I love you too." He said simply and they shared in a long passionate kiss. It was interrupted by a bright light shining on the car and a loud voice. Sirius sat up and looked out the window.
"Oh shit," He picked up the first robe he got hold of off the floor and put it on. He didn't care that it only went to his shins or that the waist was too loose. Before getting out, he gave Harry a blanket from under the seat to cover himself with.
He closed the door behind him, his hand clutching his wand at his side. The light was shone in his face then moved away when he swore. He cast lumos from his own wand and saw it was two people on broomsticks. Oh shit, the only people who would be patrolling on brooms at this time of night would be the aurors, and if the shifts hadn't changed, and it was Wednesday night, it would be…
A quick update in celebration of the start of my holidays (I skived off school today anyway :P), the finishing of the 'Still the one' writing yesterday and the chapter six of my Fqf challenge done in twenty-four hours.
