See You Again - Niall Horan

Chapter 60

Niall's POV

I put my Range Rover into park and cut the motor. It was fairly late in the evening so when I looked into the backseat Riley was passed out in his car seat. We just arrived home after being gone for the past twelve days. I had been gone promoting our Christmas album and took Riley with me so Erin could study without worrying about a toddler running around.

I grabbed our suitcases and took them into the house before I went back for Riley. I unbuckled him and picked him up into my arms as carefully as possible, hoping not to wake him. He rested his head in the space between my neck and shoulder and wrapped his arms around my neck. I walked us inside, toed my shoes off before I walked further into the house. I tried to stay as quiet as possible because I didn't know what Erin was doing, and since most of the lights were off on the main floor I was guessing she was upstairs sleeping. Or at least I hope that's what she was doing.

The house smelled of a mix of evergreen and cinnamon, a tell-tale sign Erin had been decorating for Christmas. She made sure before I left we got a tree and that I helped her put it up. But when I left it had yet to be decorated but now I could see the soft glow of lights coming from it. The banister leading upstairs was covered in garland and the fireplace had our three stockings hanging from it also. That gave me a great idea, I need to go shopping tomorrow. There wasn't a room in the house that didn't have some sort of Christmas decoration in it.

I carried Riley upstairs to his room and laid him down in his bed. I pulled the blankets up to cover him before I placed a kiss on his forehead. "Goodnight Riley, I love you," I whispered quietly before leaving his room.

I walked into our room were the only light was coming from the lamp next to the bed. I found Erin laying spread out on the bed fast asleep. She had her glasses next to her, her head resting on her open textbook that I was pretty sure she was drooling on, her laptop open in front of her, and notes spread all over the bed. I sat down on the edge of the bed near her. A few pieces of her hair had fallen onto her face so I took my index finger and slid them behind her ear. I leaned down to place a kiss on her now exposed temple. I continued to stroke my fingers through her hair. "Hey beautiful, do you think you can awake up so I can see your pretty face?" She let out some strange sound that let me know she heard me. "And we need to clean up the mess you have on the bed so we can both go to sleep."

"You do it, I'm tired."

She was always a little grumpy when she was getting woken up. "I'll clean it up but you at least have to move so I can get into bed too, unless you don't want me to sleep with you tonight. But I would really like it if you would stand up so I could get a hug and kiss from my wife that I missed so much." A smile formed on her face and she cracked one eye open to look at me. "Hi sweetheart."

"Where's Riley?"

"Already in bed asleep."

She laid there for a short time before she finally sat up. "I missed you too."

"Can I get a hug?" She smiled at me before crawling off the end of the bed. She crashed our bodies together and held me tightly around my waist. Her face was buried in my chest which allowed me a chance to smell her hair. It always smelled of the mint shampoo she always uses and laundry soup, but to me it smelled like home.

She moved slightly, changing the position of how she was against me, but it didn't feel like she normally did. I pulled away and looked down at her. "What?" she asked concerned.

"You feel different."

"I feel different?"

I think I figured out what it was so I grabbed the back of her jumper and pulled it tight against her torso. I looked up and locked eyes with her. "How come you didn't tell me your bump had started to grow?" I was a little sad she hadn't told me.