Daisy's Daycare 🧸 Zouis {COMPLETED}

CHAPTER 1

Louis woke up to his alarm at 5:30 in the morning, like he usually does and gets out of bed, showering and changing his clothes before heading down the stairs.

A note on the fridge lets him know that his dad's already off to work, which he usually is in the mornings, having to work full time after Louis' mother passed away. Louis opens the fridge and begins making breakfast for his siblings.

Once breakfast is on the counter, he heads up stairs to wake everyone up. He heads into the boys room first, to see that Harry is already awake and on the floor playing with his toy cars. He never was an early riser, but he's had trouble sleeping since their mother's death.

"Hazza, breakfast is ready," he says, he lets Liam sleep a little longer since he doesn't have school to go to. Harry gets up and runs downstairs to eat and Louis makes his way to the girls' room.

Lottie and Fiz are sleeping soundly, not waking themselves up despite the fact that they're already teenagers. Louis claps his hands loudly. "Breakfast is ready," he yells. Leaving the room before he can listen to all the groans.

When he gets downstairs, Harry is sitting on his stool, staring at his food, but not touching it. Louis walks over to him. "What's wrong, Haz? Is everything ok?"

"Louis, I don't like pancakes," Harry whines. He turns to Louis with his arms crossed. "You know I hate them. I'm not eating them."

Louis feels a wave of frustration enter his body, but he takes a deep breath and takes Harry's plate. "Ok, I'll make you some eggs instead, that sound ok?" Harry nods happily.

The twins are walking down the stairs, arguing about something and Louis feels a headache coming on. He rubs his forehead gently before taking another breath and going to make Harry's eggs.

Daisy and Phoebe sit down next to Harry and Louis smiles at them. "Good morning."

"Morning Louis," they reply in unison. They begin eating their pancakes and Louis hands Harry his freshly cooked eggs.

Lottie enters the kitchen and takes a seat next to everyone. "Fiz said she isn't hungry," she informs Louis and begins eating her own pancakes.

Louis frowns, worriedly. That's the third time in a row. He takes Felicite's pancakes and puts them in a plastic bag for her to eat later, along with Harry's pancakes. He sticks the pancakes in the fridge and pulls out the girls' lunches.

He hands them to each of them and takes Felicite's upstairs to her room. "You ready for school, Fiz?" he asks, handing her lunch to her. She nods, but doesn't say anything, taking the lunch out of Louis' hand. The two walk downstairs and Felicite grabs her backpack.

Louis hands the twins their backpacks and Lottie takes hers as well. "Ms. Armstrong should be here soon," he says. Their neighbor Ms. Armstrong has offered to drive the girls to school so that Louis can take care of the two youngest boys.

After the girls leave, Louis goes upstairs to wake up Liam. "Hey, bub," he says as Liam opens his eyes slowly. "It's almost time for daycare, get your clothes and shoes on."

Then he goes back downstairs to check on Harry. "Are you ready for school Hazza?" he asks. Harry frowns.

"I don't want to go to school, Louis. The kids are mean to me," Harry says, and it looks like he's about to cry. Louis frowns.

"I'm really sorry, but you have to go to school today. Just try to ignore them, ok?" he tells Harry. "Besides, I'll be here when you get home and we can talk about it."

Harry just sighs and begins walking to get his bag. Liam comes down the stairs all dressed and throws his arms around Louis' legs. "Lou." Louis smiles and hugs Liam back.

"Alright guys, let's get going," he tells them and they all head to the car. Louis drops Harry off at his school and begins driving to Daisy's Daycare.

"You ready, Li?" he asks his brother and Liam nods. Louis takes Liam into the daycare, smiling at the familiar daisies painted on the wall. He spots the owner, Daisy, talking to a man who looks about the same age as Louis.

He's really attractive, his hair styled and his eyes are pretty. Louis feels compelled to go over to him. Daisy leaves to go to some kids and Louis suddenly feels nervous as he reaches the guy.

"Umm, hey," Louis says awkwardly and the boy turns towards him. "I've never seen you here before, what's your name?"

"Oh, it's Zayn," Zayn says, eyeing Louis curiously. "This is my first time here. And you are?"

"I'm Louis," Louis said, reaching his arm out to shake hands with Zayn. Zayn's hand is rough and calloused, but also warm. Then he puts a hand on Liam's shoulder. "This is Liam, my younger brother."

"Hi Liam," Zayn says sweetly, giving the boy a friendly wave.

Louis turns his attention to the little boy standing next to Zayn. "Who's this little guy? Is he your little brother?" He doesn't miss the way Zayn flinches a bit.

"Well, no he's uh-" Zayn pauses. He isn't ashamed of Niall, he loves him more than anyone in this world, but he does get tired of all the judgment he receives.

Niall gets intimidated by the prying eyes of Louis and Liam, hugging Zayn's leg. "Dada..."

Zayn smiles fondly at Niall before turning back to Louis without hesitation. "His name is Niall. He's my son."

"Oh." Louis sounds surprised, but thankfully, his eyes don't appear to hold any judgment. "He's really cute," Louis says awkwardly. He didn't mean to assume that the boy was Zayn's brother.

"Uh, yeah. He is," Zayn says, smiling down at Niall and Louis can't help but feel butterflies in his stomach.

"Liam, this Niall, he's going to play with you today," Louis says to Liam. Then he lets go of the boy. "I've got to get to work, Li. Have fun, ok?"

Liam looks up at Louis with sad eyes. "I don't want Lou to go," he says.

"I know. But I'll be back here soon to pick you up, ok?" Louis says and Zayn watches Louis with curiosity. He seems to be really good with kids.

"Kay." Liam says. Giving Louis a hug before running off to the toy center. Louis watches him go, a little sad. Liam's told him before that he's worried Louis is going to leave forever like mummy did.

"Alright Niall, Daddy's gotta go now," Zayn says to Niall. He picks him up and gives him a kiss on the forehead before setting him down. "Why don't you go play over there," he suggests pointing to some toys. He walks Niall over to the toys and then returns to the spot where Louis is standing.

"Uh, it was nice to meet you," Louis says, smiling at Zayn. He feels the butterflies again when Zayn returns the smile.

"You too. Hopefully I'll see you around?" Zayn says and Louis nods.

Once Louis is in his car, ready to drive to the diner where he works at, he lets out a breath. He hasn't had any friends since he graduated, too busy to keep connections with anyone. Maybe this could be his chance to make a friend.

He smiles as he thinks about Zayn, and then he starts the car and begins driving to work, the image of the handsome boy from the daycare never leaving his mind.

Meanwhile, Zayn's mind is stuck on the cute blue-eyed boy with the strong accent.