Chapter Text
The flour on his cheeks and in his hair made him itch. The kitchen was a complete mess, and just thinking about cleaning it already exhausted him. He didn’t even know how they had managed to leave it in such a terrible state over a cake.
He would already have a headache and be in a bad mood if it weren’t for the fact that it was a special day, plus the culprit behind his upside-down kitchen looked far too adorable for Louis to get mad at him, his little face covered in flour and chocolate.
“Mama, can we add more chocolate chips?”
“No sweetheart, there’s enough sugar already. Besides, we need to hurry or Elle will wake up too early.” Louis cleaned the mess off his son with a towel before wiping himself off as well. “Now go wake up daddy and tell him everything’s ready.”
Julian nodded excitedly and ran out of the kitchen, heading straight for his parents’ bedroom and climbing onto the bed to jump on top of his father’s body.
Louis cleaned up a little of the disaster in the kitchen, and when his husband appeared in pajamas with messy hair, holding Julian in one arm and the camcorder in the other, Louis couldn’t stop his heart from beating faster or the fond smile from spreading across his face.
He kissed his alpha on the cheek and brought his index finger to his lips, signaling for them to stay quiet. The three of them walked to Elle’s room, and the moment Louis opened the door, they started singing happy birthday to the little girl, who woke up with a huge smile and sparkling eyes.
After blowing out the candles and making her wish, she hugged her parents and her younger brother, who wouldn’t stop bragging about how he and mama had baked the cake together while daddy slept because he was lazy.
That was the beginning of a beautiful day with family. The laughter of his pups, his alpha’s lips against him, the scent of the four of them mixed together. The memory of all of it would stay with him for the rest of his life, he was sure of it.
Absolute happiness could never be forgotten.
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The house was full of joy, children’s voices and laughter echoing everywhere.
Giselle played with her friends in the backyard, smiling with the two dimples in her cheeks and her blue eyes squinting every time she laughed. Louis watched her with love and adoration; he lived off his little girl’s happiness, she was the reason he was still here.
He waited a few minutes before calling everyone to gather around the table for the children’s favorite part. He walked into the kitchen and picked up the birthday cake he had ordered from a bakery, but the moment he looked at it, he couldn’t stop the feeling that something was wrong.
It had been tradition that every year, whenever one of their children celebrated a birthday, Louis would wake up early to bake a cake with the help of their other child, then their father would join them and together they’d wake up the birthday kid with songs and kisses that turned the moment into something beautiful. And it didn’t matter if their oven creations weren’t perfect, to their family they were, because they came from their mother’s love.
Unfortunately, things changed. Now all those moments remained trapped in memories that hurt too much to pull out of the chest.
He let out a sigh heavy with sadness and blinked several times, forcing away the tears threatening to spill. He put on a fake smile and walked out of the kitchen with the cake in his hands, greeted by the excited voices of Elle’s friends.
As they sang happy birthday, Elle smiled, her eyes glowing in the light of the candles shaped into the number 11. Louis could feel the weight of a stare on him; in fact, he’d been feeling it all afternoon, fully aware of who it belonged to and choosing to ignore it.
When Elle closed her eyes to make a wish, Louis noticed that this time she seemed truly focused on whatever she was asking for, as if her wish meant a lot to her. When she opened her eyes and blew out the candles, her gaze shifted toward Louis and then toward her father standing on the opposite side. The little girl wore an expression dangerously close to sadness on her face. Louis felt awful because deep down he knew the reason behind her sadness, and there was nothing he could do about it.
The minutes flew by, and soon the house was empty, ruled by silence and loneliness even though people still lived inside it.
Louis was washing the last plate when he heard footsteps coming down the stairs and a raspy voice speaking to him.
“Uh, Louis,” Harry spoke softly, “Elle’s waiting for you. She says she wants to talk to both of us before I leave.”
Without saying anything, Louis dried his hands with the towel and forced himself to turn around and look at him.
“What does she want to talk about?”
Harry shrugged.
“No idea. Maybe she wants to thank us for her party.”
Louis thought he might be right. His little girl was grateful and sweet, very well-mannered. He was proud of the way they had raised her.
He walked past Harry and headed upstairs toward the bedroom with a decorative G in the middle of the door, greeted by a head peeking out from under the blankets, smiling brightly at him.
“I thought you were about to fall asleep already.” He caressed her cheek as he sat beside her while Harry took a seat at the edge of the bed.
“You were gonna let me sleep without giving me a goodnight kiss?” she replied with fake indignation.
“You know I wouldn’t, and even if you did fall asleep, I’d still come give you one.” He stroked her cheek. “I always have.”
“I know, mama.”
Louis smiled, his eyes landing on Harry, who watched the scene closely with something shining in the green of his irises.
“Well then…” Louis looked away. “What did you want to talk about?”
“My birthday gift. I know what I want now.”
“Something tells me you’re about to ask for something big, huh?” Harry accused. “That’s why you called a meeting.”
From the expression on Elle’s face, Louis knew Harry was right. Now it made sense why she had asked for time to think about her present. A thousand possibilities crossed his mind: an expensive phone, makeup, a trip to Disneyland, a pet. Anything a girl her age would want.
However, he never imagined what she actually wanted.
“I want a vacation…” Elle said, a little nervous to continue, “with both of you.”
Louis opened his mouth to speak, but Harry beat him to it.
“A vacation? Where to?”
“To the beach. I wanna go to that island you and daddy used to talk about all the time.”
This had to be a joke.
He didn’t know what to say. He looked at Harry, only to find Harry already looking back at him, searching for an answer he didn’t have either. The atmosphere turned uncomfortable.
“Elle, I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“But you said I could ask for anything, that’s why I behaved all year and worked hard at school.” Elle pouted, tears beginning to form in her eyes.
“Louis, it’s not that serious…” Harry said, only to be ignored once again.
“My love,” Louis spoke to his daughter, “ask for something else, we can do something different.”
“I don’t want something different. I want to go to that island with you.”
“It’s just a trip, Louis.”
Yeah right, just a trip.
“Please, mama. My classmates go on trips with their parents and I wanna know what that feels like.”
“We’ve gone on trips before.”
“When I was little. I barely remember them now.”
Louis let out a resigned sigh.
“Okay.”
“Yes! Thank you mama, you’re the best in the world. I love you.” His pup hugged him tightly and covered his face in kisses. Just for that moment, he believed he had made the right decision, even if he wasn’t convinced.
“I love you too, so much.” Louis kissed her cheek and rubbed her back. “Now it’s time for you to sleep.”
After both parents said goodbye to their daughter, they walked out of the room with tense silence hanging between them.
“Well, I guess we’re going to the beach together after all these years.” The alpha tried to make conversation, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly when Louis didn’t respond. “Don’t worry about the trip, I’ll handle the flights and the hotel, I’ll look into everything so that—”
“Harry,” Louis interrupted him. “Why did you agree with her?”
“Because she’s right. A year ago we promised her that on her birthday she could ask for anything if she improved at school. You know how badly she was doing, and she improved a lot. She worked hard.”
“But tell me, do you really wanna go back to that place?”
“I don’t see what’s so bad about it. We had a great time back then.” He shrugged. “It’s just a trip.”
If Louis heard Harry say it’s just a trip one more time, he was going to hit him, because no, it wasn’t just a fucking trip. It was having to walk through those streets where he once walked hand in hand with Harry, passing by the places where they used to hide just to steal kisses, reliving one of the best times of his life only to remember that none of it existed anymore.
And the fact that Harry seemed to have already moved on was admirable and painful at the same time, because Louis simply couldn’t, and he didn’t think he ever would. He would always be the weak one.
He swallowed hard and nodded.
“You’re right. It’s just a trip.”
“We’re doing it for our little girl.” Louis looked at him with saddened eyes. Harry gave him a small sideways smile. “Goodnight.”
The alpha spared him one last glance before turning around and heading downstairs.
Only after hearing the sound of the door closing did Louis finally move, walking to his room to begin his nightly routine: putting on his pajamas, brushing his teeth, and lying down in the coldness of his bed, hugging the pillow that every night absorbed the omega’s tears, quiet enough that the little girl sleeping in the room next door would never hear her mother’s sobs.