Small Bump [Liam Payne]

Part Eight

"Are you sure you can handle this?"

"Anna, I can watch my own son."

She pouted, "Well, yeah. But it's only ever been for a few hours. I'm gonna be gone all night. I've always made dinner for you guys, too."

It was the end of their third week together, Saturday night, and Anna was going out to a play that night with her mom, Perrie, Perrie's mom, and their siblings. It was now five, and she had to leave and wouldn't be back until well after midnight. Liam thought she looked gorgeous, dressed in a nice black dress, tights and heels, her hair and makeup done unlike what Liam had seen in the past.

"Anna, we'll be fine, I promise. Us boys can take care of ourselves, right, Taylor?" He looked over his shoulder to where Taylor nodded quickly, mouth full of apple juice. He had recently found it super exciting to see how long he could hold it in his cheeks for before someone made him spit it out. Thanks, Uncle Niall.

Anna bit her lip, still unsure, and Liam pushed her towards the door. "Come on, you're gonna be late. We'll be fine. I did used to live on my own, you know. So I do know how to kick some things."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Microwave meals and soup don't count."

Liam laughed, pushing her out the door. "Ah, get out of here. Go enjoy yourself! Tell everyone I say hello!" She waved goodbye one more time, then stepped onto the elevators, and Liam smiled at her until the doors closed. Turning around, he rubbed his hands together. "Alright, T. How do you feel about chicken nuggets?"

Taylor's response was to spit the apple juice out, and Liam sighed, wiping it off of his face as Taylor started giggling uncontrollably. This was going to be a long night.

In the end, Liam ended up burning the chicken nuggets. He didn't know how, he followed all of the instructions to the tee. So, with a forlorn look at Taylor, he asked, "Do you like Chinese?" They ordered take out and sat at the table, coloring until the delivery man got there around seven. Liam ate his shrimp lo mien, laughing at Taylor, who was struggling to keep his rice on his fork.

"Here, bud, use a spoon." Liam told him, feeling bad for laughing. He helped show Taylor how to scoop it and keep some of his chicken on there as well (Taylor really liked the Teriyaki) and soon they were munching in silence.

"Dad? What are those?" Taylor asked, squinting at what Liam had on his fork.

Liam looked, then smirked. "That's shrimp. Have you never had it?" Taylor shook his head, and Liam guided his fork forward. "Here, try it. They're my favorite." Taylor opened his mouth and accepted it, munching and nodding. "Can I have another?" Liam gave him three more, then smirked and told him to eat his own dinner, and Taylor went back to his chicken, singing loudly a song he had heard on Disney Channel.

A few minutes later, as Liam was cleaning up and throwing the trash away, he heard Taylor coughing. Concerned, he turned around, "You good bud?"

Taylor face was red, and he was continually scratching at his cheek. "Dad, my throat hurts." He let out another cough, and then another, and another. Liam's eyes widened as Taylor continued coughing, face getting redder and redder.

"Taylor? Taylor?" Liam asked desperately, grabbing onto his son's shoulders as he continued coughing. In a panic, Liam grabbed his phone and dialed 999.

"999, what's your emergency?"

"Hi, my son won't stop coughing." Liam said quickly, trying to get Taylor to get some water. "I don't know what's going on, but his face is really red and he said his throat hurts and he won't stop coughing."

"Is he able to speak?"

"Uh, no." Liam answered, worriedly watching him. "No, he can't."

"Sir, we have your location. Unlock your door and the paramedics should be there in just a couple of minutes. I need you to stay on the line with me, alright, sir?" Liam nodded, yes, okay, he'd stay on the line. He followed her instructions, checking to see if there was anything in Taylor's mouth, and apologizing nearly a hundred times to the tiny boy. The paramedics were there in just two minutes, picking Taylor up and taking him to the hospital. Liam rode in the back with them, shooting a quick text to Anna that said, Taylor's on his way to the hospital, not sure what's wrong. Call me when you can. xx The paramedics got him started on an IV, saying something about anaphylactic shock that Liam didn't understand at all. Once they arrived there, they explained he was having a severe allergic reaction, and left Liam in the waiting room while they took Taylor to the back, who hadn't stopped coughing and whose face was now almost purple.