Getting Caught in the Rain

Within a few days, they get a couple of replies from people, saying that they'd like to come in for an interview.

The interviewers tend to vary: it's always Harry of course, and sometimes he's joined by Louis and Niall, who watch Olivia the most. They don't ask many questions, and when they do, they're said with an air of suspicion and accompanied by threatening glares, to throw the person off. Other times, when they have to work, Liam and Zayn sit in. Liam asks a lot of practical questions, and Zayn sits quietly, never taking his eyes off the interviewee. Sometimes, all five of them are there, and it's like a free-for-all.

Sometimes Olivia will grace everyone with her presence, too, waltzing in ten minutes later. She'll say hello to whoever is being interviewed before settling herself onto Harry's lap and staying quiet save for a few times when she asks how the interviewee feels about princesses and Olive the Ostrich.

They're all nice people, of course, but something just doesn't feel right about it. Harry can tell the second they walk in whether or not he wants them to take care of his kid, and usually the other boys can, too.

One Saturday afternoon, when they've been doing interviews for a few days now, a girl named Caroline Calloway. They're all sitting there, including Olivia, tucked up on Niall's lap this time, and she's due to come in five minutes.

"Is there anyone after her?" Liam asks.

Harry checks his emails. "If we don't like her, we'll meet with two more people."

"And then?"

He shrugs. "I don't know." And he really doesn't. So far, none of the people they've talked to have given him any sign that they're the perfect babysitter for Olivia. Maybe he's just picky, who knows? But if they can't find anybody right for her soon, they'll have to think of some more options. And Harry's not sure what those are.

There's a knock at the door, and Harry gives them a wry smile before getting up and going to answer it. He pulls it open and is met with possibly one of the most beautiful girls in the entire world.

She's got long hair and big eyes and full lips and she's just standing there, holding a portfolio and smiling nervously. Harry feels like he's been hit round the head with a huge mallet, but oddly, he doesn't mind. "Uh," Harry says. "Hey."

"Hey," she says, and then she blinks. "I mean, hi. Are you -" She glances down at a piece of paper in her hand, "Harry Styles?"

"Yes."

"I'm Caroline Calloway. I came here to be interviewed? I've got the day correct, right?"

It's then that Harry realizes the purpose of her being here. "Right, right, yeah, sorry, come on in." He stands back and lets her in. "We're all right in here." He leads her to the living room, where Liam is blowing raspberries on a shrieking Olivia's tummy.
"Lads?" he says pointedly, and they all stop. "This is Caroline."

Everyone shakes hands and exchanges greetings and introduces themselves, and then they're all seated on one couch with Caroline across from them. Olivia has now wormed her way into Liam's lap. Caroline smiles at her. "You must be Olivia, right?"

"Yes," Olivia says in what Harry recognizes as her posh voice, the one she develops every time they play princesses. "My name is Olivia Rose Styles and I like painting and making cake pops and watching the telly and playing princesses and I also like dancing with my daddy. Who are you?"

"I'm Caroline," she says, and that's it. Olivia watches her for a moment before she nods and settles back.

"Oo-kay," Harry says. "Anyways, I take it this is your résumé, right?"

The interview actually goes well. Caroline is an extremely qualified nanny, and from her papers, she's a good one, too. She's got a lot of references, and from the way she interacts with Olivia during the interview, she's great with kids. Olivia seems to like her, too.

Plus, Harry gets her number, so he can call her if she's got the job. "Thanks, Caroline," he says, smiling cheerily as he ushers her out the door. "We should be in contact in a few days."

"Thank you so much," she says, shaking his hand, and he shuts the door behind her.

As soon as he does, Louis says, "That girl was right fit."

"Yeah," Olivia pipes up, because Olivia idolizes Louis and repeats everything he says, "she was right fit."

"No, Livs, she wasn't," Harry says, shooting Louis a stern look. The oldest boy merely laughs and scoops the little girl up.

"She was, and you know it. You were making googly eyes at her the entire interview. Niall, back me up on this."

Niall nods from where he is peering into the fridge. "Yeah, you were. Hey, got any beer? I'm thirsty."

"Don't think so," Harry says. "You might've drank the last of it on Saturday, mate."

"It's only four o'clock," Louis scolds. "Have some water, you drunken Irishman."

"Yeah," Olivia repeats. "Have some water, Irish-man." This time, Harry laughs, leaning over to kiss her curly hair.

"So," Zayn interrupts, from where he and Liam are sitting at the kitchen table, "we should talk about this, yeah?"

"Yeah," Harry agrees. He sits down, Louis next to him, Olivia on his lap. Niall joins them a few minutes later, sucking on a juice pouch somewhat moodily.

"Okay," Zayn says. "What'd you guys think of her? Besides her being fit," he adds before Louis can open his mouth.

He rolls his eyes. "I was going to say that she seemed to be the most qualified we've had so far. Her references seemed solid, and of course we'll have to check them out, but she looks very dependable. She's my top choice." And that's Louis for you: one minute he's joking, the comedian of the group, and then the next he's taking on the role of the responsible, older one. Harry watches him absently bounce Olivia on his knee and decides that he made a good decision in making Louis her godfather.

Liam nods. "Me, too. I think we should try her out, what do you guys say?"

Zayn agrees, but Niall mumbles, "I liked Heidi," referring to a blonde woman with massive boobs they'd talked to a few days ago.

"Shut up," Zayn chides. "Haz, what do you think?"

Harry had liked Caroline, too. He wants to read over her papers a little bit more and see what she's like, but from their short chat, she appeared to be very nice and responsible, and she also got along well with Olivia, which was the most important part, of course. "I'm game," he said.

Louis leans over and kisses Olivia on the cheek. "How 'bout you, missy?" he asks.

"How about you?" Olivia answers, oblivious to the previous conversation.

"Do you want Caroline to come over and play with you for an afternoon?" Harry asks. "Be honest, Livvy. Do you think she's someone you could have a lot of fun with?"

"She has long hair," Olivia muses. "Like a princess."

"Babe," Harry says, trying to be patient with his four-year-old. "Do you want her to come over? We can try her out and see if you like her, and then she can maybe start coming over every day?"

Olivia perks up at that. "Every day? Okay." And that's how it is with Olivia; it goes from extremely difficult to extremely easy in a split second.

Louis opens Caroline's résumé and grins. "Welcome, Caroline Calloway."