Niall:
Sitting on Niall’s couch, your hands trembled as you clutched the fabric of your jeans, your stomach twisting itself into knots. The entire way here, you had rehearsed a million different ways to say it, but now that you were actually sitting across from him, words completely failed you.
Niall sat forward slightly, his elbows resting on his knees, eyes locked onto yours with quiet anticipation. He had been patient, so patient, but you could tell he was barely holding it together. His knee bounced anxiously, fingers tapping against his thigh. “Alright, love,” he finally said, voice softer than you expected. “Just tell me. What did the doctor say?”
You opened your mouth, but no words came out. Your throat tightened, and you blinked rapidly, trying to hold back the emotions threatening to spill over.
Niall’s expression shifted instantly. Concern flickered across his face as he reached for your hand, his thumb brushing over your knuckles. “Hey, you’re scarin’ me a little. Whatever it is, just say it, yeah?”
You inhaled sharply, forcing yourself to just say it. “I’m pregnant.”
The words hung in the air between you, heavy and suffocating. For a moment, Niall just stared, his lips parting slightly, his breath hitching. His fingers twitched against yours, but he didn’t pull away. “You—” He let out a breathless laugh, shaking his head like he was trying to process it. “You are?”
You nodded slowly. “Yeah.”
Niall sat back, running a hand through his hair, his blue eyes darting around the room as if trying to find something to ground himself. “Wow,” he breathed, exhaling a laugh that sounded more disbelieving than anything. He looked at you again, searching your face for something—reassurance, maybe. “Okay. Alright. That’s… big. But we’ll figure it out.”
You swallowed hard, your fingers tightening around his. “There’s more.”
His brows furrowed. “More?”
You took another deep breath, your heart hammering in your chest. “We’re not having just one, Niall,” you said, your voice barely above a whisper. “It’s twins.”
Silence.
The color drained from his face, his grip on your hand loosening as he stared at you, completely and utterly frozen. “Twins,” he repeated blankly, like he was making sure he heard you right.
You nodded. “Twins.”
Niall blinked once. Twice. Then he let out a short, breathless laugh, rubbing his face with both hands before looking at you again. “Jesus Christ.”
“I know.”
“No, like—Jesus Christ.” He ran his hands through his hair again, exhaling sharply before shaking his head, his expression caught somewhere between overwhelmed and completely dumbfounded. “We just—okay, so we skipped straight to maximum chaos, yeah?”
You let out a nervous laugh. “Pretty much.”
For a second, he just stared at you, then suddenly, without warning, he laughed. Not the awkward, nervous kind—real laughter, full and bright and completely ridiculous given the situation. You stared at him in disbelief. “Are you seriously laughing right now?”
“I mean—” He wiped at his eyes, still chuckling. “We’ve been together two bloody months, love. Two months, and now we’re having two babies. It’s so insane that I don’t even know what else to do but laugh.”
Despite the sheer panic still coursing through you, his laughter was contagious. You let out a small, disbelieving chuckle, shaking your head. “We’re absolutely screwed, aren’t we?”
