seasons of love | Narry Storan AU

chapter 37.

2016

"Niall, I'm pregnant", Perrie's voice scares him after he opens the door of the bedroom he shares with Harry, who's out, taking another class at this time.

"Wait, what?" He raises both of his eyebrows. "Is the father..."

"No, it's not Harry. We've used protection. But I'm still... scared. My parents, they..." She seems to start sobbing, and Niall knows what to do.

Pull her for a tight hug, the kind of action who says more than proper words would do. That's when Perrie cries everything out, all at once. Niall has never been in her position, and that probably will never happen to him, but the empathy he always felt towards Perrie Edwards makes him feel afraid of the world just like she's fearing right now.

"How do you know you're pregnant?" He asks, arms still around his friend.

"My body warned me something was different."

"You had vomit crisis."

"Kind of", she pushes him away, trying to control her tears. "Then I took a blood test and the shit told me it was positive for pregnancy. I don't know what to do. I just came to college and..."

"Hey, hey, take a breath", Niall holds her shoulders, still trying to calm her down. "Panicking right now is not exactly a good solution. Have you thought about possibilities of what to do?"

"You mean, getting an abortion?" Her question leaves him silent. 

He thought about it, but he also believed it was such a delicate topic for himself to bring it up in the discussion.

"I mean, it could be an option", Perrie slowly comes back to her senses enough to talk without crying. "But I don't think I want to do it, Niall."

"It's okay. We'll go with whatever you decide."

"We?"

"I'm with you, Perrie. We're friends, right?" She nods at his question. "Then, there it is. Whatever you decide to do, we're in this together."

"Thank you."

"So, I guess we should tell Harold about your pregnancy before he believes he's the father or..."

"Why would he think that?"

"Because, deep inside, we both know how paranoid he can be sometimes", the comment makes Perrie laugh a little. "See? No tears to cry. You can do it."

2032

"I didn't know that part of our story", Chloe Horan says, almost in a whisper. "I thought she had a calm pregnancy."

"That's what he made the two of you believe", a grown Perrie Edwards completes her daughter's thoughts. "He didn't want you to think you were some kind of liability for me or for himself, because that was never the truth. I never, not even for a single moment, thought of abortion. There was something about being pregnant that scared me, of course, but having you and Taylor is basically the greatest joy I ever had in my life."

"But you're a famous singer", Taylor verbally objects her. "Aren't artists supposed to feel the happiest when it comes to their careers?"

"It's a lie movies tell all the time", Niall smiles at his young son. "Our personal lives are obviously the greatest realizations because it's something no one can take from us."

"Harry and Niall helped me a lot with my pregnancy and they're definitely the best parents you could ever have", Perrie smiles at the memories, before facing Niall and feeling the need of comforting him with her hands above his. "It doesn't matter if time or destiny came in the middle of the story. I still remember those days. And I'm forever thankful for you, Niall."

"For me?" He asks, already teary-eyed.

"If you hadn't taken the step of officially adopting Chloe and Taylor, I don't know if I would have been able to do it all on my own. And I'm sure they were very safe in your hands."

Chloe and Taylor were the kids Niall and Harry were about to adopt when the post-honeymoon accident happened. Niall, however, didn't give up on adopting them when he lost Harry. The second he looked in the babies's eyes, he fell in love with them. He was sure Harold would've felt the same, and for Haz, and for himself, and for Perrie, and for the world, he kept them under his arms for that day.

"You two", Niall points out to Chloe and Taylor, "will be forever our little kids. You two came to us when we needed the most, and this whole love healed us all." 

Perrie had came over Niall's house to chat with the kids and help him tell them the story of how they came up in the world. She was always close to the Horans; never lost contact with Niall, Louis, Liam or the children. Back in the day, she knew she couldn't take care of Chloe and Taylor herself, but she knew Niall could, so he adopted them. And she feels happy she did it.

"Also, I have an important thing to talk about today." Niall surprises his kids by saying those words. "I'll be taking some days off my singing duties to make a trip with Louis and Liam. We're gonna... take care of some past things that escaped my hands before. So, you'll be spending a few days with Perrie. Do you like this idea?"

"Feels awesome not to have to look at your face every day", Taylor blurts out, making his mother laugh and leaving his father shocked at his statement.

But Niall didn't mind Taylor Horan's words this time. Instead, the older Horan laughs along with Perrie.

He could only blame himself for his own kids' behavior, at the end of the day.