Love Affair

Epilogue III*

☆One year later☆

"Baba, say Mumma." I speak to my daughter across the table where she sits in Niall's lap babbling away between blowing raspberries and loud giggles.

Niall lifts our daughter so she can see his face, a bigger smile overtaking her lips. "Who's your favourite parent, Mumma or Dada?" He asks while brushing the tip of his nose against hers.

"Dadadadada." She sings in a bubbly tone, grasping his face in her chubby hands.

The only word she knows is Dada, I swear she says it to wind me up.

Lennon laughs from the other side of the garden, standing in front of the barbeque in our garden as she cooks sausages and burger patties but watches her family all around her. Poppy is also at the table with us, she's not into what the boys are doing as they chase Harry around the garden with little Madeleine on wobbly legs right behind them.

I'm worried she'll take a tumble but Archie keeps turning around to take her hand and make sure she's okay, my sweet baby boy.

"You're mean." I huff, eliciting laughter from Niall's lips who turns our daughter on his lap so she's standing on his thighs.

He pretends to speak as if he's her, "Dada is my favourite."

Lennon's laughter gets louder, "you're so mean to poor our poor baby, she pushed your daughter out at home with no pain meds and you claim to be her favourite parent. If Harry did that he'd sleep on the couch."

I giggle, sticking my tongue out childishly at Niall across the table who pouts.

"Kids! Come get some food!" She's shouting to all the children, Harry included and immediately they're rushing over but Madeleine is hauled up into her Daddy's arms where he kisses her cheek.

All of them are pretty independent now they're older so Lennon doesn't need to help much but she plates some food for me, no one but me and herself before she takes a seat beside me at the table with Archie on her other side. It's a squeeze to fit us all around this table but we always seem to manage as long as the little girls sit in someone's lap – when they're older then I don't know what we'll do.

I don't think Madeleine and Aoife will ever grow up, I want them to stay babies forever, seeing as they're the last children joining our family.

We eat six out of seven dinners together all a large family, Sunday nights are the only night of the week we don't spend together because Harry and Lennon take their kids over to his parents for most of the day which means Niall gets his pamper peace and quiet time as he calls it considering he can no longer escape Harry like he pretends he wishes he could.

I'd always dreamed of a large family growing up, to be surrounded by pure love that I never received from the people who should've loved me as a child but didn't. Niall gave me enough to last lifetimes but Harry added himself to the mix with little Poppy, Lennon diving headfirst into our dynamic and we started having the sweetest babies who I now get to give that undivided love to that I was deprived of.