Fists and Knives (A Harry Styles Fanfiction)

Chapter 35

"Focus, Harry.  Focus." 

Louis stood in the doorway of the gym snacking on a bowl of Lucky Charms and looking at his phone.  He didn't look like he was paying attention, but any time Harry slowed down his punches on the bag or stopped to breathe for a millisecond, Louis was on his case. 

"You can't stop to take a break during a fight," he said to Harry, glancing back at me as I moved a cardboard box out from the library across the hall.  All day, I had been packing up the useless books from the room that were dusty and molded and putting them into boxes.  We were trying to clear out the room, having determined that it would be the best place for the baby to go.  At about four months pregnant, my belly had finally really begun to show.  It seemed to pop up overnight. Harry nearly passed out when he woke up and saw it.  

Harry punched the bag angrily and slapped his fists against his thighs. "I can't fucking focus on my boxing when Kennedy is doing all that work over there by herself.  She's gonna lift another box and that baby is going to come popping out of her butt." 

Louis frowned.  "Umm... babies don't come out of a woman's butt." 

"Well how the fuck would you know?" Harry blurted.

I could tell he was flustered, scatterbrained, and simply concerned for me, but I couldn't hold back my laughter.  As I was about to drop the box of books I was balancing on my knee, Harry rushed past Louis and caught the cardboard, taking it out of my hands with ease and slamming it down on the floor. 

"Now you look here, Missy," Harry started, putting his hands on his hips and huffing hard.  "I don't want you to do anything like this until after the baby is out!" 

I furrowed my brow and mimicked him by putting my hands on my hips. "You can't just expect me to sit around all day and do nothing!" 

"You don't do nothing!! You've been coming to my fights!" Harry said, pulling his boxing gloves off of his hands.  For the last couple of months, Louis had been picking up fights for Harry within the League.  Jenna, who decided she would rather move to New York than be back in Ireland without Niall, went to fights with me and indulged in whatever odd foods I would crave at random times because of the baby.  Liam and Zayn would almost act as bodyguards when I went to fights without Jenna.  We hadn't seen any of Marcus or Arnold, thank God, and all of the publicity for my pregnancy had been really positive and uplifting.  As far as my culinary career... I guess we could say I was on an extended maternity leave for the time being. 

"Bear, you only have like, three fights a week.  In all of those other days I do nothing because you literally won't let me do anything!" 

Harry pouted though he knew I was right.  "I just want to protect you."

I grinned.  "I can protect myself, thank you!"  I took a swing at Harry and missed his nose by an inch.  Harry gawked at me as I bounced around in front of him and held my fists up playfully. 

"That was an awful swing," Harry criticized.  I threw the same swing and hit him in the chest.  "HEEEEY,"  Harry called, chasing after me as I started to run.  Behind us, I could hear Louis shouting about how Harry was supposed to be training, but neither of us listened.  I started to jump onto the couch but stopped myself, remembering that there was a child in my stomach.  I seemed to forget that a lot, actually, despite my big belly.

Harry grabbed me gently and dropped onto the couch with me on his lap.  "THAT BABY is going to come popping out of you if you don't stop it, Kennedy!" Harry said seriously.  I began to laugh, just forcing Harry to frown harder.  "I'm not messing around!  I'll be damned if you think I'm delivering that little girl at a random time because you refused to take it easy."