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“And how is Tilly?” Harry asked, his voice already sleep soft enough over the phone that Louis knew it wouldn’t be long before he was actually drifting off.
“She crawled into bed before her bath, and I didn’t have the heart to get her out of it, so she’ll have to get extra clean tomorrow.” Louis shook his head fondly, thinking about his daughter’s green eyes blinking up at him as she’d cuddled her favorite stuffed bear to her chest earlier that evening.
Harry giggled quietly, and Louis could picture the exact expression on his face. He turned his head to the side to inhale the pillow he’d covered with one of Harry’s thoroughly scented t-shirts and smiled. “I promise she’ll get a bath before you’re back on Monday, alright love?”
“Mmhmm.”
At that point Louis knew he’d lost Harry to sleep. “Time to hang up, baby. Love you.” He waited for a muffled ‘love you’ in return and then the silence of the call being ended on Harry’s end before hanging up himself. It was a couple of hours earlier than where Harry was, meaning it was early enough for Louis to get up and do a few more things before sleeping, maybe watch a show or give the kitchen a good cleaning, but instead he opted for brushing his teeth and calling it a night, pressing his face into Harry’s pillow and breathing in his mate’s soothing scent until he drifted off to sleep.
He woke with a start just a few hours later, sitting bolt upright in bed at a loss for what exactly had roused him. The house was silent around him, nothing more than the hum of a fan and the ticking of the clock on the wall filling the night. Outside, their suburban street was as quiet as usual, with no car alarms or loud parties happening in spite of it almost being the weekend. He took a deep breath in, and that was when it hit him. Tilly’s scent.
Being an alpha, Louis was used to being keenly attuned to the scents of those around him. He was able to track Harry’s cycle from the minute changes to his scent alone-- Harry had laughed it off as luck until he got pregnant with Tilly on their very first try --and often half joked that he could smell his mate coming from almost a mile away. When they had a house guest, Louis’ nose kept track of them as well, though not in quite the same ways. Usually he could tell when a guest was hungry or frustrated or particularly tired from traveling. It was easy to play it off as just being a good host, but Louis knew well enough that it wasn’t a sixth sense so much as one of his core five senses being very, very good.
When Tilly was born four years ago, her scent wound its way around Louis’ heart in a way that only Harry’s had before. To say he was keenly attuned to it would be an understatement. Even before she could speak he could usually pinpoint what was wrong with her based on scent alone, having the keen (and useful) ability to soothe whatever was causing her to cry without much fuss at all. At the moment, her scent was sending off alarm bells. Louis got out of bed and beelined for her room.
Just looking at her from the doorway, nothing appeared wrong. Tilly was lying on her side, curled up around her teddy almost as Louis had left her hours before. But her scent told a different story. She was feverish and uncomfortable and very likely just a few minutes from waking up in tears. Louis stepped quietly into her bathroom and wet a cloth for her forehead, grabbing the little trash bin in case she needed to be sick in it, though he didn’t think this was that sort of illness.
He’d only just knelt at the side of her bed when she thrashed in her sleep, waking up with a little sob that practically tore his heart in two.
“I’m here, love,” Louis whispered, stroking her hair. Just one touch confirmed that she had a fever, and he tsked softly as he leaned down to kiss her forehead. “Daddy’s got you, angel.” Tilly just whined in response, breaking Louis’ heart further. She was typically a chatterbox, so it was rare to see her nonverbal.
“Come on then, Tilly-- let’s get you cooled down.” He pressed the cool cloth to her head, offering her his hand to hold. She nosed at the scent gland on his wrist, her scent mellowing with the contact, and Louis breathed a small sigh of relief at the knowledge that his attempts to keep his own scent steady and calm were working.
After a while, Tilly squeezed his hand to get his attention, and he looked back at her questioningly, waiting for her to speak.
“Don’t feel good, Daddy,” she said, voice quiet and tinged with frustration. Louis nodded back at her.
“Is it your tummy, sweetheart?”
Tilly grimaced, pausing for a moment before shaking her head. “Hurts all over.”
Louis hummed, considering his options. She needed a fever reducer, obviously, but he was at a loss for what else he could do. He held out his arms and she immediately went to him, wrapping her arms around his neck as he lifted her up to carry her to the bathroom. He held her close as he re-wet the cloth for her head and got some medicine from the cabinet, noting the shift in her scent when she saw the bottle.
“Don’t worry, love. We got the watermelon flavor this time. You liked that one, didn’t you?” She nodded, nestling closer to him. “This will help you sleep, and Daddy will stay right beside you, alright?”
He carried her back to her bed, giving her a dropperful of medicine before helping her get cozy in bed. She held out her teddy bear to him, asking him to scent it and then holding it tightly as she finally drifted back to sleep.
When she was out, Louis went back to his room to grab a pillow, his phone, and some water. He sent a text to his mum, hoping that the time difference between them would mean she was awake and would respond quickly.
Louis: Hey-- Tilly is very feverish but I don’t think there’s anything going around at her school. H is away for work and this is the first time I’m alone for her being sick! Any advice?
Then he laid down on the floor next to Tilly’s bed, unsure if he’d be able to fall asleep but willing to try. He’d only been lying there for a moment when his phone lit up with a text.
Mum: Is this her first time apart from Harry?
Louis thought about it for a moment. Harry had done short day trips before, but never any overnights.
Louis: Yes actually. Could that really make her ill?
The response took a while, with his mother typing and then pausing for a few minutes before a long message came through.
Mum: It could be Nestling Sickness. Usually found in young children or long-term mates who’ve never been apart. Symptoms include body aches, high fever, and inflammation of the scent glands. Children especially can get very distressed and experience something like a drop in the worst cases. It can take a few days after the missing pack member returns for the person experiencing it to get back to normal, though the effects can be mitigated with time in a nest with other pack members and plenty of close contact and scenting. Can you take her to your nest?
Louis thought about the state of his nest with Harry. They’d shared a heat and rut about a week before, and hadn’t wanted to tidy their nest afterward. Both of them liked the lingering aroma of sex that it had-- Louis especially --and in fact they’d fucked in it just before Harry left for his trip. There was no way in hell he was bringing his daughter into it.
Louis: Our nest isn’t an option at the moment. Any other ideas??
Mum: Could you make a nest for the two of you?
Tilly whined in her sleep then, and Louis knelt up to check on her, flipping over the cloth on her forehead to offer her the cooler side. The distress in her scent tugged at his heart, and he made up his mind: he was going to build a nest.
Louis: Giving it a go. Thank you for the advice xx
Now he just had to do it.
He went back to his own room as quickly and quietly as he could, gathering up everything from the bed he and Harry shared, leaving pillows, sheets, and duvet in a heap. Then he dumped out the hamper, sorting through to find the softest things he could that were also well scented. He threw a couple of hoodies into the pile with the bedding as well as a pair of pajama pants that Harry had worn before leaving and one of his favorite t-shirts. It didn’t feel like enough, but he wasn’t sure what else to use. Surely scented things were best, but maybe a few extra blankets would be good?
In the end he grabbed some pillows and throws from the living room, tossing them in with the other items and dragging them into Tilly’s room. She stirred as he walked in.
“Daddy?” She was pouting, her grip on her teddy bear tighter than ever. Louis went to her immediately, kneeling down next to her bed.
“I’m right here, Tizzy,” he said, taking her in his arms. “Daddy’s going to try to build a nest for the two of us to use until Mama gets back.”
“When is Mama coming?” Tilly asked. Louis could hear her frown.
“Just a couple more days, love. So soon. He’ll be back on Monday. That’s just two more sleeps after this one.”
The notes of distress in Tilly’s scent grew stronger at that, and Louis rubbed circles on her back, holding her closer until she calmed again.
“Let’s make that nest, hm Tilly? What do you think?”
“Okay,” she said weakly. He could feel how tired she was, and all he wanted was for her to get some rest. Dragging the materials over to the little reading nook in her room, he started laying them out one by one.
He began with the throw blankets, layering them over each other, and then added the smaller pillows around the edges to create a more contained space. He picked up one of Harry’s t-shirts and offered it to Tilly, pleased when she buried her face in it and her scent soothed instantly.
Next he put down the sheets from his bed, his and Harry’s scents even stronger on them than he’d initially thought now that he was smelling them in a different room. Then came some of the clothing items, followed by the duvet. His and Harry’s pillows were the last things he added, climbing inside the nest to finish laying them out and then adjusting them slightly, thinking of how Harry built a nest.
Finally he laid Tilly down on the pillow that he’d buried his face in earlier that night, the one covered with one of Harry’s soft old t-shirts. She immediately turned her face to it, inhaling just like he had, and his heart swelled as her scent mellowed to its usual soft tones. Her fever wasn’t entirely gone, but it was diminished enough that it wasn’t noticeably affecting her scent, which was a massive improvement.
“How’s that, sweetheart?” Louis asked, resting his hand on her back. Her breathing was even and slow. She’d already fallen asleep. Louis laughed softly to himself, smiling as he laid down beside her and took in the soothing aroma of his little pack’s mixed scents. It wasn’t long before he was drifting off too. His last thought before sleep was of showing off his nest to Harry in a couple of days, curling up with Harry and Tilly both wrapped safe and sound in his arms.