Given A Chance (1D Version)

3.

Waking two ten-year-old girls and getting them ready for school on a Monday morning was never easy but by now, Louis had gotten the hang out of it. Both girls were awake, dressed and seated at the dining table right now. That was a success. Carrying their cereal over to the table, Louis sat down as well and they started to eat in their usual tired silence. No one liked Monday mornings.

Except for Louis. He loved these moments more than anything. Seeing his girls in the morning, all tired and sleepy and barely awake, was something he savoured. They've grown up so fast and Louis wanted to hold on to every tiny moment for as long as he could. Every second was precious, just like his girls.

Watching them eat, Louis got lost staring at them all over again. This happened a lot but they reminded him so much of someone he once loved. While Evelina had her mother's red hair and his blue eyes, Maeva looked exactly like him except for her mother's unruly curls. Evelina had long, straight her while Maeva had shorter hair with bangs. They couldn't look or be more different but at the same time, they were so much alike. And so much like their parents.

When they were done eating, Louis carried the dishes back into the kitchen while the girls went into their room to gather their school stuff. This was the moment, like every morning, that Liam joined them to kiss them goodbye for the time being. Zayn was very much still asleep, like always after his late-night shifts. Or any other day really. He would see the girls after school.

"All ready?" Louis asked his two daughters to make sure.

"Always, Dad" Evelina assured him yawningly.

"Mae?" Louis double-checked softly.

"Yes. We can leave" Maeva smiled up at him, a lot more awake than her sister.

"Then let's go, girls" Louis ushered them out of the door and into the elevator, which was surprisingly empty. Luck was on their side.

Downstairs, they rushed outside and into Louis' car. Fastening their seatbelts, Louis started to drive them to school. It was only a short drive but it was one of the best things he would do all day. He needed to make sure they got to school safely.

"Here we are".

Undoing her seatbelt, Maeva leaned over to him to press a short kiss to his cheek before exiting the car. Her sister copied her actions before bidding him goodbye and walking towards the school building. Louis watched them leave for a moment before backing out of the school's parking lot. The drive back home was even shorter, at least to Louis it seemed like it.

Parking his car, Louis got out and went back inside his building. Taking the elevator up to the third floor, Louis got out and headed to the right, ringing the bell of the second door. Only a few seconds later, the familiar face of his good friend Àmbar showed up in his field of view, together with her black dog Lucky.

"Ready to go?" Louis hugged her as a greeting.

"Born ready" Àmbar grinned boisterously at him.

Together, they took the stairs down and Lucky dragged them outside impatiently. Quickly, they headed towards the closest park and unleashed the dog. They watched him run around wildly and carefreely. Lucky was only a year old, after all. She had gotten him from her girlfriend as a gift after her first dog Alexa had died over four years ago. At first, she didn't want a new one but everyone could see she was missing a dog in her life. Now, they had Lucky and sometimes Louis and Àmbar would go for a walk together. Mostly in the mornings because it was the most free time they shared.

While Louis worked middle shifts at the restaurant, Àmbar worked mostly later shifts at the hospital. She was active in the service department, which meant she made sure the patients had water and got their food. It was an overlooked job but someone had to do it and she liked it, most of the time. Even though this hadn't been her plan for her life. Louis could still remember how they had met when he was twenty-seven and still with his last boyfriend. They had been next-door neighbours at a shitty one-room flat complex. She had helped him with a job when corona had hit and his workplace had been closed for over a year. He owed her a lot and cherished her as a friend. Louis would even go as far as calling her his best female friend. He loved everything about her and felt proud she could be her authentic and loud self around him, even though she was struggling with social anxiety and autism and was naturally introverted. It has never been an issue with them. Louis loved her.