Isn't She Lovely (h.s)

Chapter 18

Samantha

Harry's flat was huge! Three bedrooms, three bathrooms, a large state-of-the-art kitchen, dining room, a den, and a family room. His flat was larger than most houses were!

We had just finished getting Catherine set up in her room when the boys announced that they should probably head home themselves, and of course, like always when Louis left from a visit, she threw a fit. Plus when you add in three other new 'uncles' it gets messy. I can't wait to see what it'll be like when Harry leaves for their next tour, oh god, I'm not sure I'm acquiped to handle a meltdown of that level.

"Uncles stay wif me!" Catherine sobbed as she attached herself to Niall's leg. He giggled and started tickling her. She was trying so hard to be upset, wailing dramatically at the top of her lungs, but finally she couldn't take it anymore as Niall picked her up and threw her over his shoulder, continuing his torment of tickling. Her sobs soon turned to hysterical laughter.

"Uncle Ni Ni! Nooooo! Sto-p!" She gasped.

"The tickle monster don' like to see little girls cry!" Niall said in his best monster voice and I stifled a laugh as she squealed, wriggling out of his arms and ran from him. "I'm going to get ya, Love bug!" He roared, stomping out of the room after her. Louis pouted, feeling left out, and ran after them.

"Wait, what about Uncle Louis?!" He cried after them. By now I was laughing so hard I could barely breathe. It had been a full day of laughter, games, and getting to know one another, and I truly couldn't remember the last time I felt so truly happy.

As the day progressed I learned more and more about each of them, and I was really beginning to feel at home with the three boys I had previously only known from the TV. I learned that Niall had a soft spot for children, and he quickly became Catherine's new favorite because of his blonde hair and 'funny' accent. Throughout the day, Liam began to loosen up as he watched Harry interact with Catherine and realized how much he truly loved her. He quickly offered to help me prepare lunch for everyone while the others joined Catherine around her CD player for a sing-a-long. We had a long chat as we prepared sandwiches and tea, and I began to understand just how much Liam cared about all of the boys. He apologized for how he had acted earlier, and I dismissed it as I knew he always had Harry's best interest at heart. Zayn was the only one that I hadn't gotten much time to interact with, as he mainly kept to himself, smiling as he watched Catherine show the boys all of her favorite dolls. As he stepped out of the flat to take a smoke break in the parking lot, I cautiously asked if I could join him. Harry shot me a look as if to say "You're still doing that? We'll talk about this later." He had always despised my smoking habit. I quit when I found out I was pregnant with Catherine, but then as soon as she was born and Harry became famous, my anxiety shot through the roof at all of the secrets I was keeping and the smoke unfurling in my lungs was the only way to sedate my worries. While we were out, we had a long talk and I learned that we had much more in common than I ever would have guessed. Besides the filthy habit, we both had struggled with our inner demons, the anxiety and depression sometimes becoming too much over the last couple years, but we always had a reason to persevere; I had Catherine and Harry, and he had his mum and sisters. I could tell he wore his heart on his sleeve by the way he opened up to me so honestly right away, and deep down I just knew that Zayn would become one of my closest confidantes.

"Thank you so much for the help today boys! I really appreciate it, and feel free to come over and babysit Catherine whenever you want!" I joked as Louis and Niall rejoined us with a cheerful Catherine in her 'Uncle Ni Ni's' arms.

"Oh it was no problem at all Samantha, I'm sure we'd love to watch her anytime, won't we lads?" Liam said as he surveyed the nodding boys.

"She's a great little girl." Zayn said with a soft smile.