#i wrote this super quickly so i apologise for any typos

[finerllines]

fussy [dad!au]

a/n: thank you for all the love on the previous dad blurb i didn't expect it to pop off like that. thank you for the reblogs and comments :'D i didn't intend immediately post another blurb from the same universe but i didn't manage to finish the chinese new year blurb in time so i wrote this quick lil blurb to check in on darcy and daniel.

summary: the twins are being fussy and harry is happy to help

wc: 1.2k+

tw: don't read if you are scared of the word 'breast' and 'nipple' lol

///

Harry quietly thanked his driver with one foot already out the door. He was eager to get to his hotel room.

Before the twins were born, he naively thought that having his babies on tour with him meant that he would get to watch them dance along to his music every night and shower them with kisses before and after each show. He failed to realise that the twins would be fed and put to bed before the show even started, and that y/n would have to spend most shows watching from the screen in the dressing room, ready to feed them almost hourly. Thankfully, he still got to rock them to sleep every night. That private quiet moment between him and his wife would become something so precious to him, exchanging jokes and stealing little kisses while they each rocked a twin to sleep.

But tonight wasn’t one of those nights. Darcy and Dylan were fussy the whole day, refusing to nap and feed for more than half an hour at a time. Their little lips remained in a pout, only stopping to wail murderously. Needless to say, y/n was frazzled and stressed. She knew that the twins were starting to annoy the staff and crew and every time Harry had to stop working to check in on her, the guilt of being a bad mum would build. Not wanting to seem unable to control her children in front of everyone, she told him it would be best to bring the twins back to the hotel room. y/n knew it was the right decision, but she couldn’t help but feel disappointed for taking them away from Harry, especially when his face fell when he realised that he wouldn’t get to put the twins to sleep.

A loud cry was audible the moment the lift opened at his floor. He broke out into a jog.

“Hey H, how was the show tonight?” she asked with a shaky smile before trying to discreetly wipe the tears welling in her eyes.

Harry barely heard her over the twins’ crying. As he got changed, he took in the scene in front of him: his wife sitting up against the headboard nursing Dylan, who looked like he was refusing to latch, whilst trying to pat Darcy, who was screaming bloody murder, back to sleep.

“Oh, mama. I’m sorry they haven’t been good for ya.” He picked Darcy up and tucked her face into his neck. “Shh, daddy’s got ya ok? Please go to sleep baby.”

He leaned down to press a long, gentle kiss on y/n’s forehead to hopefully comfort her too. Despite the dim lighting, Harry could tell that she was frustrated and on the verge of tears.

Eyes never leaving y/n, Harry bounced Darcy in his arms by the side of the bed, humming lowly in her ear. He tried to keep calm and slow his heartbeat so that his chest would rise and fall at a slow, soothing pace, to hopefully lull his daughter to sleep. It was a real mental exercise because every time Daniel unlatched and started to whimper, y/n would sigh, and her shoulders would slump lower and lower. She hadn’t released her lower lip from her teeth the entire time. All Harry wanted was to take her in his arms and remind her what a great mother she was, and how much he loved her – anything to make her feel better.

Over an hour later, both babies had finally gone back to sleep. Dylan was finally full and had fallen asleep against y/n’s bare chest. He let out a deep exhale, hoping that the worst of it was over. He gently moved Dylan from y/n’s arms to his cot and gently kissed each baby one last time before diverting his attention to his wife.

She was still sat upright with arms laid out in front of her where Dylan once was, brows still furrowed and lower lip still in an intense bite, except her eyes were now closed. Harry had never seen a sadder tableau.

“Can I touch you lovie?” he asked nervously. Her body had been through so much, he was scared to add to any discomfort.

Upon receiving the slightest nod, Harry gently cleaned the spit and breast milk with a warm damp cloth before applying nipple cream as lightly as possible. After lowering her shirt, he crawled in beside her and tucked her into his arms.

His cheek rested on her head, eyes closed, and held her tight. “Tell me how you feel, please lovie,” he whispered.

At first, there was nothing. And then, she started trembling.

“It’s ok, let it all out mama. You did so good today by yourself, handling two fussy babies. I’m sorry I couldn’t be here with you the whole time. You are incredible and we are so lucky to have you.”

She started crying harder. It only took a second for him to join her.

Tears silently streamed down his face as he cradled y/n’s face into his neck. Her muffled cries and harsh hiccups only broke Harry’s heart more.

When she started to catch her breath, she finally found her voice again, “I’m sorry I couldn’t do it.”

Harry lifted his head abruptly. “What?”

“I couldn’t take care of them.”

“What do you mean? You did take care of them, that’s why they’re happy and healthy in their cots right now.”

She let out a breathy whimper at the reminder of the night. “That was you.”

“Hey,” Harry cupped her cheek and angled her head so that he could look her in the eyes, “that wasn’t just me. I didn’t bleed and ache to feed the twins. It was us, yeah. It has been and always will be us.”

“I’m a bad –“

“- don’t even start with me,” he scolds. “It was the first time they have been so fussy, and you can’t possibly nurse a baby while rocking the other. You did your best and that will always be good enough yeah.”

“But it’s my job to take care of them,” she protested. “You shouldn’t have to work all day and then come back to screaming and crying. I have one job and I couldn’t do it.”

Harry leans to rest his forehead against hers. “We are a team,” he said, kissing her nose between each word. “Being a parent is not just your job. I’m not at my job 24/7, so why should you?

“And you don’t just take care of the babies, you also take care of me, every second of every day. You gave up so much to be a full-time mum so that I could see my family on tour, because I am selfish and want to be with my babies every day. You love this family so much and that will always be enough.”

When y/n’s bottom lip starts to tremble again, his eyes grow wide, and he immediately goes to comfort her. “Please don’t cry anymore lovie. I love you so much.”

“It’s sappy tears now. You are too good to me. I love you and I’m so happy it’s you.”

Just as she finished her sentence, Harry closed the inch between them and pressed his lips softly to hers. She places her hand on his chest and deepens the kiss a little, allowing herself to just focus on Harry.

They separate and just gaze at each other for a minute, exchanging tender smiles. When the exhaustion of the night finally catches up them, they curl up against each other, enjoying the safety of each other’s embrace.

“I’m so happy it’s you too.”

[elliesguitarstrings]

Ok ok ok so how about this! Reader is scared of horror movies and spiders! Like shit scared and Peter constantly teases her about it (her knowing about Spider-Man is up to you). So one day him, reader, mj, Ned are having a sleepover at peters and during the horror movie reader gets scared n screams..and Peter teases her again so she gets hurt and runs to his room. He goes after her to apologise but then tells her not to turn around or something and reader thinks he’s just teasing her again and wants to walk away but then peter just kisses her! Cause there was actually a spider behind her and Peter panicked cause he didn’t want reader to get scared again.

Cue Ned n mj being so happy cause they finally confessed and end up embarrassing Peter.

This is so specific sorry but thank you🥺❤️

this is so cute!!! i wrote this really quickly so sorry if there are some typos :/

~~~~~~~~

“Okay guys, what should we watch?” Peter asks as he crawls out from the makeshift pillow fort in his living room.

You, Ned, MJ, and Peter were all spending the night at his house. Seeing as it’s already the middle of the night and you’re all extremely tired, you decided to watch a movie before you go to bed.

MJ smirks, “We should watch It!” This earns nods of approval from everyone... well everyone except for you.

“Absolutely not!” you deadpan, “I am not watching a scary movie before I go to seep. No way.”

Ned laughs, “Come on Y/N, it’s more funny than scary. Plus it’s not even that scary anyways, you’re such a baby.”

“Am not! I just don’t like scary movies!”

“Y/N, you made me turn off A Bug’s Life because you were too freaked out that the bugs were talking. You’re a baby.” Peter chuckles.

“I just don’t like bugs okay? Sue me!”

“Yeah I’m surprised she still lets you hang around since you’re Spiderman Peter. Hey Y/N did you know he can summon an army of spiders whenever he wants?” Ned jokes.

You’re eyes go wide, “What? Peter is that true? Please tell me that’s a joke.”

“Oh no it’s not a joke, I can control all spiders. Actually, why don’t I get some to come over here right now?”

You shriek, “Nononono! Peter don’t please don’t!”

Ned, Peter, and MJ all burst out laughing. “He can’t actually do that Y/N, he was just being stupid.” MJ giggles.

You breathe out a sigh of relief, though you’re extremely embarrassed. You did just kind of prove their point that you were scared of basically everything. You know that they’re just joking around, but it still hurts your feelings a little.

“You know what,” you announce, “let’s watch It, who cares if it’s scary.”

Peter raises his eyebrows, “Oh, are you sure? We really don’t have to watch it if you don’t want to.”

“No, it’s fine. I want to. Let’s do it.” You don’t actually want to watch it. But you do want to prove your friends wrong. So you’re just going to have to push through for this one.

“Well okay then, guess we’re watching It!” Peter grabs the remote and turns on the movie, crawling back to his spot next to you.

Already you’re hating this. Even the intro has creepy music that puts you on edge. The movie hasn’t even properly started yet and it’s still freaking you out. You snuggle deeper into your spot on the couch and hope that you are able to fall asleep before any of the really scary parts. You figure that nothing super scary will happen in the first ten minutes, so as long as you drift off before then you’re fine.

Unfortunately, you’re very wrong. Not even five minutes into the movie and there’s already a creepy clown pulling a kid into a sewer. You aren’t expecting it, and the jump scare makes you scream. You bury your head in the pillow, trying to get the terrifying image of Pennywise the clown out of your head.

Instead of comforting you or making sure you’re okay, your friends just laugh.

“Hey, guys, maybe we should turn this off I think it’s a little too much for baby Y/N here.” Peter chokes out in between laughs.

“Yeah, maybe we need to turn on a Disney movie instead.” Ned adds.

“I don’t know guys, the villains can be pretty scary, that might even be too much for her!” MJ giggles.

You’ve had enough. You don’t want to spend any more time with your friends tonight if all they’re going to do is make fun of you. You throw your blanket off and stand up from the couch carefully as not to knock the fort down. You quickly crawl out from under it and storm off to Peter’s room leaving your friends in silence. You slam the door shut, but question when you don’t hear it click. You spin around to see Peter holding the door open, staring at you.

“Peter, go away, I don’t want to hear you make fun of me anymore.”

He slips into the room and closes the door behind him. “I’m not here to make fun of you, I promise.” he pauses. “Y/N I’m sorry, we were just trying to poke fun, we weren’t trying to hurt your feelings. Well, at least I wasn’t, I cant speak for Ned and MJ but Im sure they weren’t either.”

“Well it wasn’t funny Peter. I get that you think of me as a baby because I’m scared of everything but I can’t help it. The least you could do is make sure I’m okay.”

“I know, and again I’m really sorry for not doing that. It was stupid of me to make fun of you and I should have just turned on another movie. I hate seeing you hurt and now I can’t even tell you how bad I feel.”

You can tell that he’s being genuine and that he truly feels bad, so you decide to forgive him. He is your best friend after all, he wouldn’t do anything to intentionally hurt you. “It’s okay Pete, that you for apologizing.” you smile.

“Oh thank god. I thought you were gonna be mad at me forever.” He rushes towards you and engulfs you in a big hug, nestling his face in your neck. “I swear it won’t happen again.”

You giggle, “Thank you Pete, but can we please go back out there and watch a different movie?”

He looks up at you, his arms still wrapped around your middle, “Oh, yeah sure.” He pulls away from you slowly and you start to turn around towards the door to head back out until his eyes widen. “DONT TURN AROUND!”

You’re taken aback, staring at Peter with furrowed brows. “Huh?”

He looks at you sternly, “Don’t. Turn. Around.”

You sigh, “Peter come on, we just talked about this. I told you not to make fun of me like that anymore. You promised.”

“I’m not joking. Seriously don’t look behind you.”

“Oh my god Peter you’re too much.” You start to turn around to head back out when he grabs your arm harshly, pulling you towards him. Before you know it, his lips are on yours and his arms are back around your waist.

Holy shit. You’re best friend is kissing you. The boy you’ve liked for years is literally kissing you!

Before you get the chance to really kiss him back, he pulls away. “Oh my god oh my god oh my god I’m so sorry. I really didn’t mean to do that I just didn’t know how else to make you not turn around so I kissed you and I shouldn’t have done it and now I’ve messed everything up and-”

You cut him off by pressing your lips to his once again, this time truly getting to kiss him. You wrap you arms around his neck with his still snaked around your waist. He pulls you impossibly closer and your lips move in sync, as if they were made for each other. You finally pull away when you run out of breath, your forehead resting against Peter’s.

“Woah.” he whispers.

“Yeah.”

“So I take it that you like me back?” Peter asks.

You giggle, pressing another quick peck on his lips, “Yeah, I’d say so.”

“Awesome.” he pauses, looking behind you at the door. “There’s a spider behind you by the way.”

“What?” you freak out, jumping up and forcing Peter to catch you. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

Peter laughs, “I did! But you insisted that I was just joking. So I had to kiss you instead.”

“Oh. Well, sorry about that.”

“Don’t be sorry. I got to kiss you.” Peter smirks causing you to blush. “Can I put you down now so I can take are of this spider?”

“Oh, yeah, sure.”

He captures the spider and throws it out the window, not wanting to kill it. You both walk back to the living room hand in hand to see a giggling Ned and MJ.

“I was wondering how long that was gonna take for you to finally get together.” MJ smirks.

You blush, “How did you-”

“We heard everything, including you screaming about the spider.” Ned laughs.

“Shut up!” you giggle.

“Whatever, just please don’t be making out in our fort while Ned and I are trying to sleep. At least get a room.”

You and Peter blush, but MJ and Ned usher you over into the fort. Peter sits down and you snuggle in his lap, his arms wrapped around you to keep you warm. Much to your chagrin, MJ turns It back on, but Peter’s warmth lulls you to sleep quickly and you miss the majority of the movie, sleeping comfortably in his arms.

[i-loves-my-lemurs]

Hi, I was reading your writers commentary. I love it so much! Do you have any commentary on "Shadows and Terror"? Its my personal favorite. I'd also love to see some commentary on your lovely sugarbuns fic.

Ah, thank you! Sorry it took me so long to get to this, I'm still drowning in coursework and stuff, but I appreciate the ask!

This was my first oneshot I wrote for this fandom, Ted centric this time! I just wanted to see the characters acknowledge their trauma a bit more, so I wrote this for Ted and Pancho. Enjoy the commentary!

.............

*One jab after another at his skin with that sharp spear... water suddenly burst from every wall and flooded them and-*

Ted's nightmare was a mash up of his various scary experiences from Exiled, because of course I couldn't just pick one! He was scared while fighting the war, combined with the loneliness and terror of being cooped up in the submarine, thinking he was trapped alone with a monster. As well as the sub sinking, that couldn't have been fun for him.

This takes place some time after the victory party, but slightly before the first episode of season 5. Just enough time to put some distance between the adrenaline of the war and the partying, and allow the weight of the experience to truly catch up with Ted.

*his eyes wide in terror. He frantically looked this way and that, checking the shadows around the room*

The title of the fic is incooperated in this paragraph, but it actually took me a super long time to pick a title. I eventually re-read some sections and thought, yeah this sounds good. Shadows and Terror still sounds a little fancy for this work tbh.

*looked up to see Dorothy standing about him*

I decided not to being Ted and Dorothy's marital problems into this, so they're very sweet with each other and they both care a lot.

(Also instead of about it's meant to say above, argh, embarrassing typo!)

*She quickly released him, seeing how jumpy he was*

Dorothy doesn't quite know what's going on with Ted, but she's trying to be supportive the best way she can.

*it reminded him of those long nights in the submarine when Julien*

Ted's train of thought runs away with him here, he's still half caught up in the dream poor guy, and suddenly he's having a flashback to the sub.

*Pancho was whining about their whining*

I can see Pancho just getting very fed up with consistent negativity when he's trying to focus on driving the sub, even if he too is just concerned about the kingdom. I wrote this fic before I started shipping panchulien actually, the early days.

*Ted had just quietly sat down in the corner of the room,*

Poor Ted, I imagine he definitely wasn't complaining as much as the others, he had been alone on the sub for longer than them and just needed a hug.

*All he could hear now was his own breathing, short and panting, and Dorothy, oh heck, she was talking*

Ted zones back to reality, the fic is written from his POV so you can read along his thought process. As he comes back to reality, realising Dorothy is talking completely throws him off guard.

*I just... I guess I'm still jumpy from the whole mountain lemur, submarine fiasco."*

Ted sort of dances around the issue, he doesn't even want to directly mention the word 'war'. He only hints at the things that are scaring him to try and keep Dorothy's worry to a minimum, and because talking about it will make it even more real.

*rubbed the fur on his head, something which he often found soothing*

These lemurs need to groom each other more!!! I get the feeling Ted and Dorothy might like physical contact if one of them is upset (not if they're upset because of each other obviously), but grooming would be a comfort to many of the lemurs, especially physically affectionate Ted.

*tried to force himself to relax*

Poor leem, he just wants the scary stuff to be over so he can be alright and be sunny old Ted again, but unfortunately for him, things aren"t that simple.

*his tail stiffening like it did under imposed threat. He even heard a low growl being forced from his throat*

I'm not sure if I actually researched if lemurs do this, or if I made it up on the spot, but it seems like something they might do when threatened (any experts want to weigh in?).

*She could tell Ted was still tense from the way he was clutching his tail. "Look, maybe you should see Doctor S?"*

As much as Ted tries to hide it, Dorothy can tell something is wrong. Despite their problems, it's obvious that she cares very deeply for him and she just wants to see him be himself again.

*Yep!" Ted tried to sound as merry as he wanted to feel.*

Ted is definitley the sort to try and put on a facade of everything being okay, especially when Dorothy is involved. Secretly he knows it can't be like this forever, but he wants to pretend for as long as he can. Kind of like his marriage. That's also why he wants to be away from Dorothy. He knows she can see right through his little facade and he's not ready to face the truth yet.

*"At this time of night?"*

This takes place at around two in the morning, late enough for Ted, Dorothy and most of the kingdom's subjects to be asleep, but still early enough for Pancho Horst and Willie to still be partying.

*Ted couldn't help but clutch at his tail as he walked....bit his lip as he tuned into the sounds of the jungle all around him.*

Ted would totally hold his tail like a snuggie to comfort himself. And since he's already jumping at shadows, being alone in a place where the war was just fought would terrify him. Even though he's lived in the jungle all his life, the war has left him so wary of danger that everything feels very scary and unfamiliar.

*Snoring lemurs who weren't paralysed in fear by nightmares and memories.*

Ted feels a little left out and jealous as the rest of the kingdom is able to sleep and move on from the war. It makes him feel isolated, which is why finding solace with Pancho is important for him later in the fic.

*Sweet mango juice, what was he thinking*

I tried to copy Ted's exclamative speaking style here, but it doesn't quite match up to how it sounds in the show. Oop.

*sign that read 'MANGO TANGO'*

Fun fact, I tried to get the bar's title to be in italics, but a03 glitches on me and turned the entire text into italics, and because coding is a nightmare and I just decided to have it in caps instead.

*Ted recognised Horst, Willie and Pancho.*

These guys are drinking buddies. CANNON!

*"The stinking drink's in your hand, you buffoon!" Pancho said grumpily*

I'm not 100% happy with the way Pancho is written here, but it is pretty good for a first attempt. It kind of makes sense though, Pancho was having a good time with his pals and is a little annoyed that their night has to end. Also he's annoyed at himself for letting Horst get into this state.

*Pancho winked at him*

Small hint at panched in there, it was my first ship for this show and I still think it's neat.

*which he promptly collapsed onto seconds later.*

Poor Willie, he's just very done now, and needs sleep. Pancho just didn't want their partying to end, so he unwittingly wore his homies down on their night out.

*"You wanna come back to the Mango Tango with me?"*

Pancho is still very desperate to keep the night going, even if it isn't with his drinking buddies. He just needs company.

*Pancho released Ted almost immediately. "Sorry, I just, don't want to be alone." Pancho muttered, looking embarrassed.

Ted was a little surprised by his outburst, but deep down, he knew he might have done the same thing.*

Ah, poor babies. I thrive off the angst.

*exited Willie's hut and shut the door behind them.*

Courtesy.

*Together, they climbed*

Ted and Pancho sort of have a kindred spirit vibe going here. They're both going through similar experiences and avoiding them by being out at night. They need each other, even if they don't know it.

*tall tree that had many different people's huts in it*

Baobab tree? Is that what you were going for, past me?

*Pancho chuckled as he continued to stare out across the jungle. "I'm not sure if I ever went to lemur school." He said eventually.*

Now that they're up above the village and everything, Pancho's beginning to slow down and their conversations become more meaningful. He's put some distance between his late night drinking and now he just wants some solidarity in his pain and meaningful company, which, thankfully, Ted can give.

*he really didn't know much about Pancho's side of things.*

I have to wonder what the POV of people who weren't directly involved in Panchurian would be. I think Ted would probably be quite confused about what happened to Pancho, and why he suddenly has a house now and everything. But hes too polite to ask, so it's only now he finds out.

*Ted sighed and glanced up at Pancho*

Ted sort of looks up to Pancho after seeing how brave and badass he was in Exiled, and he's always veiwed Pancho as this macho, confident swagger guy, and hopes that he might be a source of consolation that could help Ted feel 'normal' again.

*"but even when that something's over and you know it's never going to hurt you again you just can't help being terrified"*

All this would definitley resonate with Pancho and the first thing he does is to encourage Ted to do what's best for him because he cares. He doesn't want Ted to end up like him because of trauma.

*"Don't apologise." He said. Ted glanced back at him. "It's, uh, it's alright to get scared by that stuff"*

Pancho shows Ted that it's okay to be scared, because if Ted continues to bottle up his feelings then he won't be Ted anymore.

*"You know I got brainwashed, right?"*

Poor Panchy just wants to open up to someone. He's been shoving his feelings down, but now it's all coming to the surface because of how he relates to Ted right now. He needs some more chances to talk about the things that haunt him.

*"Soft!" Ted exclaimed, hands on his hips.*

Ted was a little hung up on being a 'tough guy' after Exiled, so that shows through here.

*"And I'm assistant captain of the ringtail guard!"*

This little rant feels very in character for Ted. I enjoyed writing it.

*"but I just can't bring myself to pay them a wedding visit!"*

A wedding visit was a custom in the olden days of England, and I can absolutely see Ted doing it and bringing the newly weds gifts.

*leaned back against the branch they were sitting on.*

At the beginning of this scene, Pancho was clutching the tree trunk, now he's relaxed. He's feeling more comfortable with Ted.

*"Why don't you talk to your wife, she'll help."*

Helps to establish a functioning support system. Pancho knows Ted has people he can turn to, so encourages him to do so.

I am completely all for this friendship. Ted would help Pancho with his issues without hesitation, and obviously I wrote this with the idea that nobody would be completely okay after Exiled. I just wanted to explore their issues further, and for my first fic in this fandom, I think it's pretty good.

...............

And that's it! Thanks again for the ask :)

[thomaslefteyebrow]

i’m going to the doctor to fix this baby fever i got going now

fussy [dad!au]

a/n: thank you for all the love on the previous dad blurb i didn't expect it to pop off like that. thank you for the reblogs and comments :'D i didn't intend immediately post another blurb from the same universe but i didn't manage to finish the chinese new year blurb in time so i wrote this quick lil blurb to check in on darcy and daniel.

summary: the twins are being fussy and harry is happy to help

wc: 1.2k+

tw: don't read if you are scared of the word 'breast' and 'nipple' lol

///

Harry quietly thanked his driver with one foot already out the door. He was eager to get to his hotel room.

Before the twins were born, he naively thought that having his babies on tour with him meant that he would get to watch them dance along to his music every night and shower them with kisses before and after each show. He failed to realise that the twins would be fed and put to bed before the show even started, and that y/n would have to spend most shows watching from the screen in the dressing room, ready to feed them almost hourly. Thankfully, he still got to rock them to sleep every night. That private quiet moment between him and his wife would become something so precious to him, exchanging jokes and stealing little kisses while they each rocked a twin to sleep.

But tonight wasn’t one of those nights. Darcy and Dylan were fussy the whole day, refusing to nap and feed for more than half an hour at a time. Their little lips remained in a pout, only stopping to wail murderously. Needless to say, y/n was frazzled and stressed. She knew that the twins were starting to annoy the staff and crew and every time Harry had to stop working to check in on her, the guilt of being a bad mum would build. Not wanting to seem unable to control her children in front of everyone, she told him it would be best to bring the twins back to the hotel room. y/n knew it was the right decision, but she couldn’t help but feel disappointed for taking them away from Harry, especially when his face fell when he realised that he wouldn’t get to put the twins to sleep.

A loud cry was audible the moment the lift opened at his floor. He broke out into a jog.

“Hey H, how was the show tonight?” she asked with a shaky smile before trying to discreetly wipe the tears welling in her eyes.

Harry barely heard her over the twins’ crying. As he got changed, he took in the scene in front of him: his wife sitting up against the headboard nursing Dylan, who looked like he was refusing to latch, whilst trying to pat Darcy, who was screaming bloody murder, back to sleep.

“Oh, mama. I’m sorry they haven’t been good for ya.” He picked Darcy up and tucked her face into his neck. “Shh, daddy’s got ya ok? Please go to sleep baby.”

He leaned down to press a long, gentle kiss on y/n’s forehead to hopefully comfort her too. Despite the dim lighting, Harry could tell that she was frustrated and on the verge of tears.

Eyes never leaving y/n, Harry bounced Darcy in his arms by the side of the bed, humming lowly in her ear. He tried to keep calm and slow his heartbeat so that his chest would rise and fall at a slow, soothing pace, to hopefully lull his daughter to sleep. It was a real mental exercise because every time Daniel unlatched and started to whimper, y/n would sigh, and her shoulders would slump lower and lower. She hadn’t released her lower lip from her teeth the entire time. All Harry wanted was to take her in his arms and remind her what a great mother she was, and how much he loved her – anything to make her feel better.

Over an hour later, both babies had finally gone back to sleep. Dylan was finally full and had fallen asleep against y/n’s bare chest. He let out a deep exhale, hoping that the worst of it was over. He gently moved Dylan from y/n’s arms to his cot and gently kissed each baby one last time before diverting his attention to his wife.

She was still sat upright with arms laid out in front of her where Dylan once was, brows still furrowed and lower lip still in an intense bite, except her eyes were now closed. Harry had never seen a sadder tableau.

“Can I touch you lovie?” he asked nervously. Her body had been through so much, he was scared to add to any discomfort.

Upon receiving the slightest nod, Harry gently cleaned the spit and breast milk with a warm damp cloth before applying nipple cream as lightly as possible. After lowering her shirt, he crawled in beside her and tucked her into his arms.

His cheek rested on her head, eyes closed, and held her tight. “Tell me how you feel, please lovie,” he whispered.

At first, there was nothing. And then, she started trembling.

“It’s ok, let it all out mama. You did so good today by yourself, handling two fussy babies. I’m sorry I couldn’t be here with you the whole time. You are incredible and we are so lucky to have you.”

She started crying harder. It only took a second for him to join her.

Tears silently streamed down his face as he cradled y/n’s face into his neck. Her muffled cries and harsh hiccups only broke Harry’s heart more.

When she started to catch her breath, she finally found her voice again, “I’m sorry I couldn’t do it.”

Harry lifted his head abruptly. “What?”

“I couldn’t take care of them.”

“What do you mean? You did take care of them, that’s why they’re happy and healthy in their cots right now.”

She let out a breathy whimper at the reminder of the night. “That was you.”

“Hey,” Harry cupped her cheek and angled her head so that he could look her in the eyes, “that wasn’t just me. I didn’t bleed and ache to feed the twins. It was us, yeah. It has been and always will be us.”

“I’m a bad –“

“- don’t even start with me,” he scolds. “It was the first time they have been so fussy, and you can’t possibly nurse a baby while rocking the other. You did your best and that will always be good enough yeah.”

“But it’s my job to take care of them,” she protested. “You shouldn’t have to work all day and then come back to screaming and crying. I have one job and I couldn’t do it.”

Harry leans to rest his forehead against hers. “We are a team,” he said, kissing her nose between each word. “Being a parent is not just your job. I’m not at my job 24/7, so why should you?

“And you don’t just take care of the babies, you also take care of me, every second of every day. You gave up so much to be a full-time mum so that I could see my family on tour, because I am selfish and want to be with my babies every day. You love this family so much and that will always be enough.”

When y/n’s bottom lip starts to tremble again, his eyes grow wide, and he immediately goes to comfort her. “Please don’t cry anymore lovie. I love you so much.”

“It’s sappy tears now. You are too good to me. I love you and I’m so happy it’s you.”

Just as she finished her sentence, Harry closed the inch between them and pressed his lips softly to hers. She places her hand on his chest and deepens the kiss a little, allowing herself to just focus on Harry.

They separate and just gaze at each other for a minute, exchanging tender smiles. When the exhaustion of the night finally catches up them, they curl up against each other, enjoying the safety of each other’s embrace.

“I’m so happy it’s you too.”