Fool's Gold » ziam

« Chapter 3 »

zayn was always home when niall went to sleep and when niall woke up. He would sit in niall's room and watch his baby boy sleep for a little while before he'd move on to his room and grab clothes for the shower.

that's zayn's morning routine. it had started to worry zayn when niall had learned how to let himself out of his crib. the first night he let himself out, zayn had left his balcony doors open, which led to niall playing out with the flowers in the flower pots and the little worms in the soil. zayn had panicked when he woke up and explained to niall he couldn't do that anymore. he could only play on the balcony if zayn was up with him.

zayn always made sure to keep the doors closed and locked at night, even if it felt like he was in a sweatbox (he couldn't complain too much, he could leave his window open). zayn had asked niall to start staying in his crib, even if he wanted to get out in play. zayn told him to cry or yell so that he heard him through the monitor. he didn't want his son to give him a heart attack because he accidentally left the doors unlocked.

"what do?" niall asked as zayn continued to do his hair.

"we're spending the day together! niall and abi, how does that sound?" zayn smiled at his little boy who just giggled and nodded, raising his arms up for him. which in turn, zayn picked him up. "where are all of your clothes?!" zayn laughed and niall gave him the most surprised look before he shrugged his shoulders, the toddler had on nothing but his nappy. "well... i think we better get you dressed before we do anything today, don't you think?"

zayn sat him on the counter and niall just shook his head as he giggled. "no abi!no cothes!"

zayn laughed, "you have to wear clothes outside, silly goose." he chuckled.

"jidda?" Niall giggled. "watch laddin?"

"not right now, buddy. i'm sure jidda would love to see you but we've got our niall and abi day! when we get home we'll watch aladdin alright? now it's time to get dressed so let's go get some clothes and you can take a quick bath, okay?" zayn smiled at his toddler. niall nodded and grinned as zayn helped his son off the counter, taking the boy by the hand. niall led him back to his room and grabbed his favourite pair of shorts and gave them to abi.

"dis." he giggled before zayn grabbed a plain grey t shirt for him to wear and led the little boy back to the bathroom. zayn ran a bath and stripped the boy of his nappy before setting him in the water to wash him up.

~*~

zayn ended up taking niall to see the new avengers film. he wanted to see iron man. then zayn took niall out for an outside seated lunch. niall thought that was the coolest thing. niall got to sit in the warm sun and around all the flowers. zayn just smiled and poured ranch onto the little one's plate so he could dip his chicken strips.

"zayn! zayn! hey!" liam was in running clothes and zayn just looked him over. "hey! can i sit?" he asked, out of breath. "i haven't ever seen you come get lunch out here." before zayn could answer, liam took the empty seat on the left side of the table.

"this is the first time we were out for lunch. it's a niall and abi day." zayn explained and sighed, rubbing under his eyes. liam just nodded and smiled, "what are you doing, liam? he doesn't know who you are so why are you trying?"

"i know he's my son, zayn. you can't just deny that. you don't have another kid and you were too far along for an abortion, i'm assuming you didn't give him up. you're being a child by lying and not letting me see my baby."

"i don't want you to see him so please stop trying. you're just making our lives harder. i'm just trying to get by with my son." zayn's voice was barely over a whisper. "stop making this hard on me."

"just let me see him, on the weekends. you live right next door. it's not like i'm taking him halfway across town. just let him stay this weekend. tell him i'm his other dad."

"you abandoned him, liam." zayn frowned. "i don't want him to know you're his other father. you'll get tired of it sooner or later and you'll leave him again. i can't deal with that. he's my son. he isn't yours. he hasn't been the past three years. my little one isn't your little one. so back off and leave him alone." zayn had tears in his eyes. he didn't wanna deal with this.

"abi no." niall sniffled himself until zayn pulled him into his lap and held him close.

"he's my son liam. he's not your. you aren't fit to be a father." zayn mumbled and kissed niall's head gently.

"if you don't let me have him on the weekends, willingly. i'll take you to court for custody. sure i wasn't there for three years, but i don't wanna miss anymore. i'm tired of missing out. i've thought about our baby everyday. i didn't even know if he was a boy or a girl... i do now. but it was just hard..." he sighed and zayn just rolled his eyes.

"i don't want you to see him. go. please." zayn mumbled quietly and held niall's head closer to his chest.

liam sighed and nodded. "okay, but i'd start looking for a good lawyer." liam mumbled and stood up, jogging off.

zayn sighed and niall stood up on his lap, pressing his hands to zayn's cheeks. he giggled at the scratchiness of his beard and how his lips plumped up even more than they already were. "abi! scwatchy!" he laughed.

"yeah, it is scratchy, huh?" zayn smiled softly and lifted him up. "my love! we've had such a good day today, huh?" zayn carried niall back to his apartment and fished out his keys as he walked up the stairs to his apartment. "are you tired, blondie?"

"yes." he nods and yawns.

zayn smiled and unlocked the apartment just as a nicely dressed liam and louis walked out of the next door apartment. zayn glanced over and louis just smiled, but liam. oh, liam. with a hand on the small of louis' back, he pressed the lift button and sent a wink towards zayn. this won't end pretty, malik. 

(A/N: 1100 words on 22 April 2017

i appreciate all of the dm's you guys are sending about these stories! it makes me happy to read them and they inspire me a lot to keep going!

- Celina Azad)