Larry's Cougar Ch. 05

"You named them?" Looking at the photos, she had to agree with the eldest Payne. They were cute kids.

"Here's what Niall and Tanalei's kids would look like," Ruth said. She frowned. "Do you have any red-heads in your family?"

"Yeah."

"Oh good. I thought the program had a glitch." A blue-eyed angel with red hair smiled up at her.

"You all did it?" The sisters nodded.

"I even did one for Louis," Gemma said. After looking around, she leaned forward. "Don't tell Eleanor."

Tanalei glanced at Perrie and Sophia. "What do y'all think of this?"

"It was our idea," Perrie said.

"Hey, love," Harry said as he opened the door to his house. Alan and Eli ran over to Tanalei, telling of their adventures. Harry frowned. Tanalei was bundled in a blanket though her face was flushed. He leaned over her, pressing his lips to her forehead. It was hot. "Lei, have you taken your temperature lately?"

"It's just a headache. I took somethin' for it a few hours ago." She winced at her sons' volume.

"Boys, go watch the telly. Let me take care of your mum. Get the blanket off."

"But I'm cold, Harry."

"It's just for a bit, love." He went to search the bathroom for a thermometer. "Open," he said when he returned.

She glared at him, but did as told. When it beeped, she removed it, staring at it. "I can't read this."

"That cause its Celsius." He read it and called Liam, walking away from Tanalei. "What are you doing?"

"Going out with Sophia. Why?"

"Shit. Lei's running a fever. I need to take her to the hospital."

"Who doesn't have plans? Niall?"

"Went to Ireland this morning. Louis' making appearances with Eleanor. Especially since we took them out today. Zayn and Perrie?"

"Maybe. Call them. Hazza, how high?"

"39.06."

"Shit. Let me check with Sophia."

"No. You two go out. I'll call Zayn."

"Let us know."

"Will do." He quickly disconnected. "Hey," he said when Zayn answered. "Please tell me you're not busy."

Tanalei watched Harry as he paced. When he finally got off the phone, she called out to him. "What is it?"

"Gemma is coming to watch the boys. I'm taking you to the hospital."

"It's a headache, Harry. I'll be fine."

"Your temperature is 39.06."

She stared at him for a moment. "I don't know metric."

"102.3."

"Oh. Yeah, let's go." She began to stand but delved into a coughing fit. He quickly crossed to her.

"Having you been coughing too?" She nodded. "Dammit, Lei. Why didn't you call me?" She waved him off as she tried to catch her breath.

"Cause the boys have been lookin' forward to this trip. And spendin' time with you guys."

He sighed and pulled her into his arms.

Gossip blog: "It seems that a certain American actress is on holiday in London. She and her sons were met at the airport by a certain boy band. The next day was a large family-type outing, including mothers and sisters. Handholding and kissing were documented. The actress was spotted a few evenings ago out with said sisters and girlfriends. Has she joined the elite ranks? A conversation of that night was who would she would make cuter children with. Last evening her 'son' had tweeted about taking her to the hospital and they were seen exiting the building. So far there is nothing about her condition, whether it's delicate or not. We are impatiently waiting an update of her diagnosis."

Harry frowned at Tanalei, who was on the phone with her manager. When she rung off, he commented, "You need an assistant."

"I have one. I left her at home." She flopped back onto the bed. He crawled over to her, taking her into his arms. She protested. "You're gonna get sick too."

"Then I'll deal with it. What did he say about the latest bout of gossip?"

"Nothin'. Asked if I was okay. Alan Carr wants to do an interview next week." He nodded. "And Graham Norton."

"You gonna do them?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. What do you think?"

"They're gonna ask you about us."

"I could say we're friends with benefits." She glanced up to see him frowning. "No go?"

"We'll talk about it. Will you be alright tomorrow by yourself?"

"Yeah. What's up?"

"Gotta go to work. Gemma is taking the boys to Holmes Chapel for a few days so you can get better."

"I can get some work done."

"On the new script or a new book?"

She slapped at his chest. "I knew my mother told y'all about the books. So, whacha think of 'em?"

"Are you trying to get a compliment? Shameless." He hugged her to him. "They were really good. I enjoyed them."

"So we're both workin' tomorrow." She laced their fingers together.

"And you're accepting those interviews. Is Rose Spears a secret?"

"No. Just separate from Tanalei Granger."

"I heard that you visited the great Simon Cowell the other day," Jaymi said as he took a sip of coffee.

Tanalei scrunched up her nose. She and Jaymi were meeting for coffee while Harry and Louis took Alan and Eli to the studio with them. "They're lucky I made it out the door before I set the place on fire."

He smirked. "What happened?"

She sighed. "Meetin' Simon went fine. It was afterwards that almost brought a crashin' halt to everythin'. Some peon stopped me and Harry from leavin', sayin' she had to go over somethin' with us. Little bitch pulled out a contract and began to outline it. They actually thought I was gonna sign it."

His jaw dropped. "A dating contract? Between you and Harry? Are they fucking blind?"

Her eyes narrowed at the comment, but continued. "I told her she could shove the paper up her ass and stormed out, runnin' right into Simon. Harry was right behind me, fumin'. When told what happened, Simon got mad. He didn't know anythin' about it. Lucky for him. If it was his idea, I would have sat back and roasted marshmallows."

"Wow. If I wasn't gay, I would try for you myself."

She smirked. "You can't handle me." Leaning forward, she said softly, "Why do you think I have two guys?"

He laughed. "How are you handling Eleanor?"

"Bitch better watch her mouth. One more snide comment and I'm gonna pull her hair out."