Forever My Father

Chapter Twelve

A couple weeks pass by. Two weeks and Zayn is already the happiest he's been in months. Even years possibly. The first couple days after the trial were a bit rocky because Zayn was certain now that Harry and Liam were officially his parents they would find a way to leave him, too, however, the men were persistent on telling him that wouldn't be the case this time around. And finally after many nights of reassuring the boy, and even a couple of mornings of finding the boy asleep in front of their bedroom door, they were able to get him to believe them. Obviously the boy was still a bit angsty, but he's always been that way so Harry and Liam don't think much of it.

At school, though Zayn never seemed to slack off no matter how sad he got, he actually began to become a bit more social. Rather than just going from class to class, writing notes and taking exams, Zayn is engaging in class activities and even offering out his opinions when they have class discussions. And Zayn being Zayn he couldn't help but feel like a shitty person when he realized how shitty of a friend he had been to Ant, Danny, and Shahid for not talking to them in so long, so he helped Harry bake a huge apology cake to which Ant and Danny immediately forgave him (though they never were mad) but unfortunately the same couldn't be said for Shahid. The boy had seemed to take Zayn's silence far too personal and ended up saying a few things he may regret because it led to Zayn telling him off ten times worse than anyone could ever imagine.

And now it's Wednesday, two weeks after the trial, which just so happens to be the day Zayn will complete his list of apologies. The young boy, who oh so loves his sleep, woke up at the ungodly hour of 5:00 AM and made his way down to the kitchen. Once there he was quick to start up the ovens and set out all the different foods he will need. Eggs. Cheese. Sausage. Potatoes. Bread. Jelly - grape. Peanut Butter - chunky. And a wide assortment of fruits.

First thing Zayn started with was the eggs and sausage. As he made sure the sausage was cooked perfectly throughout, he made the housemade scrambled eggs making sure to add just the right amount of cheese. From there he chopped up the sausage into small pieces before stirring them into the cheesy eggs. Once the sausage was added, Zayn added the seasoned potatoes and a couple of chopped up peppers which were already cooked they just needed to heat up a bit and spread out the flavors.

After finishing, what he likes to call, the breakfast casserole Zayn moved the pan onto a lower heated stove top before pulling out another pan. From there Zayn began the process of making French toast, however, rather than doing the original with just cinnamon, the boy made the bread slices into PB&J's. Zayn ended up making ten sandwiches because he knows how much his brothers can eat, and even if they don't finish them they can either be saved as left overs or Liam could take them down to the station.

From there, Zayn quickly set the table, making sure to place the balloons he bought the night before on Harry's chair, before going back into the kitchen to make lunches for all five men. By the time Zayn has finished it's nearing seven o'clock, so the boy figures it wouldn't hurt him to rest his eyes a bit. To which he does only to be woken up after what felt like only ten minutes later to a gently hand running fingers through his hair. And though he would much rather sleep, Zayn finds himself opening his eyes only to be met by a grinning Harry.

"Morning, baby," Harry says with a smile that Zayn can't help but return.

"G'morning, happy birthday," Zayn says with sleep-filled eyes before stretching out his arms.

"I saw your little surprise, what time did you wake up at, love?"

"Um, around five-ish," Zayn says sheepishly as he continues to stretch himself out on the couch.

"Zayn. You need to get proper sleep, love. I love what you did and I'm sure it's going to be delicious, but you still need to sleep," Harry scolds lightly which makes Zayn blush a bit.