"Christ look at you" Harry whispered to the baby laying in the incubator, covered in wires and tubes and barely bigger than his hand. He knew what babies at this stage looked like, but standing watching his own baby felt like everything he knew went out of the window. Everything had been perfect when he had left Nikki the night before, they were waiting for her to come home and the doctors had been pleased with her progress, less than twenty-four hours ago he had been drawing patterns on her belly in the hospital bed and both of them laughing when the baby had been reacting to the touch. Now his son was laying in an incubator, barely within the weeks of being able to survive being in the world. He wasn't even allowed to touch his baby yet, the baby too susceptible to germs. Harry turned when he heard the door click open, smiling when he saw Leo poke his head in.
"Hi"
"Hi, Leo" Harry whispered, motioning for the other man to come into the room properly when he saw that Leo was dressed in the proper gown that he too was wearing "How's Nikki?"
"Still asleep"
Harry swallowed the lump in his throat and nodded, giving Leo a lopsided smile though when he came and stood next to the incubator too, a soft sigh coming from the older man.
"I think he looks like Nikki"
That made Leo laugh softly, putting his hand on Harry's shoulder and squeezing it, rubbing his upper back as he kept his eyes on the baby instead.
"They said it's touch and go for him, will be for a long time if he...if he makes it" Harry continued after clearing his throat, sniffing and blinking away some tears "I told them to be honest with me, I don't want them beating around the bush and telling me things that they tell other parents. I want to know the truth"
"The curse of being a doctor sometimes" Leo nodded, his lips twitching up slightly when he looked at the baby again "You know I won't make any promises Harry, but this little one has two of the absolute most stubborn people I know as his parents"
Harry laughed tearfully, unable to stop the tears this time as he moved away from the incubator and wiped his eyes and cheeks, nodding and sniffing.
"God Leo, we were all ready to take her home. Niall and I have.." he closed his eyes and took a deep breath, he'd have to tell Niall what was happening "I haven't told Niall, he's at school. Nikki wouldn't want me to tell him while he's at school"
"I'll pick him up later and tell him, or Janet can pick him up and bring him here"
"You've both been too good for us already, it's fine, I'll do it"
"That's what family is for Harry, we're doing this because we love you all not out of duty" Leo told him, putting his hands on Harry's shoulders and giving him a smile "I couldn't have gone losing Theresa and Cassie without both of you, all of the stuff we've all been through together over the years"
Harry bit his lip and nodded, wiping his cheeks again and looking over to the incubator. Leo was a father to both him and Nikki, a far better father to them than either of theirs had been. He let out a laugh that bubbled with some tears, shaking his head and looking to Leo again.
"We were going to ask you to be the baby's grandparents, you and Janet. It started as a joke actually but..."
Leo felt his throat constrict at that, his chest feeling a bit tight as he felt his eyes burn a little bit.
"I don't know how old you think I am, Harry" he couldn't help but joke, glancing over at the incubator and then back at him "But I would love to be their granddad, although you can risk your life and tell Janet that she's going to be grandma"
Harry laughed again at that and nodded, sniffing and wiping his eyes, reaching over for a tissue from the box on the side to wipe his nose and eyes, Leo doing the same.
"Is Nikki not coming home today?" Niall asked Harry after he moved away from the hug that his foster dad had given him, glancing around at the adults and then back to Harry "What's happened? Is Nikki okay? Janet picked me up and said we were coming to see Nikki"
"Niall, there were some...complications" Harry told the teenager, trying to say it in a way that Niall wouldn't panic but not give too many details "Nikki is asleep, but they had to deliver the baby"
"But.." Niall frowned, looking at Leo and Janet who were talking together a little bit away, watching Leo put his hands on Janet's arms and kiss her forehead "I don't understand, is the baby okay? Is Nikki?"
"They're both very sick" Harry continued, clearing his throat and willing himself not to cry in the hallway in front of everyone yet again "Nikki is asleep right now so she can heal, and the baby is in intensive care but he is...very small"
"The size of a mango"
"What?"
"Nikki and I we were looking through the internet yesterday and...and it said that the baby is the size of a mango at twenty-three weeks" Niall whispered, biting his lip and closing his eyes as Harry pulled him close, rubbing his back "Nikki joked that mangoes come in all sizes, called him a baby lemon at one point too"
Harry let out a tearful laugh when he heard that, wrapping both is arms around his son's back and moving one to the back of his head, letting Niall cling to him for as long as he wanted to.
"I thought they were coming home"
"They were, but Nikki's body decided differently"
"Can I see her?"
Harry shook his head, keeping his hand on the back of Niall's and giving him a tearful smile.
"I've not even been allowed to see her, but she's still with the doctors and nurses who have been looking after her all week, so she is in good hands"
"They're nice, they'll look after her until she's awake and telling them what to do" Niall nodded his agreement, sniffing and wiping his eyes "Can I see the baby?"
"You can change your mind if you like" Harry told Niall as they got dressed up to go into the room and see the baby, they had explained to the teenager that the baby was tiny, didn't look like the pictures of babies he was used to seeing, but Niall assured them that he wanted to see the baby and he was okay.
"No, I want to see him. I want to make sure he's okay, for Nikki"
Harry smiled and nodded, following the nurse into the room and keeping the door open for Niall. The teenager followed him, hanging around by the door and craning his neck to look at the incubator, seeing nothing in there but wires.
"Take your time" the nurse told the teenager with a smile, walking over to do the hourly checks on the baby in the incubator "Remember that he can hear you too, babies do very well when they're spoken to, especially by people who love them"
Niall nodded, staying where he was for a little bit longer, watching Harry looking into the incubator with a soft smile on his face, but the teenager could see the sadness on his face too. They had banners up at home and everything for Nikki's return, they had her favourite movies and snacks ready too in case she wanted to sit and do that too after a long week in hospital. He hadn't expected this when he had left school and Janet was there to pick him up.
"Niall?"
He looked at Harry and slowly walked over to the incubator, looking through the plastic dome and feeling his heart speed up when he saw the baby laying in the middle of it, surrounded by tubes and other things keeping him alive. Niall sniffed, feeling Harry's arm instantly going around his shoulders to pull him close, a kiss pressed to his head.
"It's okay" Harry whispered, kissing Niall's head again as his foster son reached up to press his hands to his eyes "It's okay to cry, let it out"
"Can we not touch him?"
"Not yet" Harry shook his head at the question, Niall having spent a good five minutes crying onto his shoulder, which had just started him off too and they had stood and cried together for a bit.
"Does he know we're here?"
"I think he does" he nodded, smiling across the top of the incubator at the teenager, so proud of how far he had come in the time that he had been with him and Nikki "I think he's going to be sick of our voices by the time we take him home"
Niall laughed at that and nodded, looking at his phone when he felt it buzz, seeing messages from his friends on there asking if he wanted to go out for a bit later.
"Messages from the boys"
"And what do the boys want?" Harry asked him teasingly to lighten the mood a little bit, remembering being Niall's age and spending most of his time out with his friends, how he survived school and university he really didn't know.
"Want to know if I want to go out later" he shrugged "I don't feel like it"
"I'm sorry we've not been there a lot in the past week Niall, that's not how we wanted it when we took you in"
"It's not like you're leaving me alone for no reason, Harry" Niall told him with a frown and a shrug, rolling his eyes at the taller man opposite him "You were just shot at a week ago and Nikki has spent a whole week in hospital, now the baby is here. You didn't leave me home alone for fun, I know you're going to have to do it a lot more now too, it's okay"
Harry nodded quickly, reaching over the top of the incubator to grasp at Niall's hand that was laying on the top, he was such a wonderful young man, and he was going to make sure that he knew it and that he would give Niall some time to just think about himself soon.
"Leo is going to stay with you tonight"
"I can stay on my own"
"And have you invite the boys round and drink all my alcohol, I was young once you know" Harry pointed at him and joked, his lips twitching into a smirk.
"I didn't think they had invented alcohol when you were my age" Niall shot back quickly with a grin, making Harry laugh properly for the first time in what seemed like an age.
