Papa's Soldiers

Twenty Seven

"Hi Dad," Niall waves as he gets in the car. Since his school has a professional day tomorrow, he decides that it would be nice to go over to his dad's to get some of the clothes he left and maybe even spend the day with him before they go back to school on Thursday. Plus, Niall has so much to tell him.

And yeah, maybe Niall was a bit upset about football but Liam's put him in a great summer program to make up for it and Niall's been over the moon since he recently heard he's kicked Sophia out. Really, can his life get any better at this point?

Well, maybe it can if his papa's cancer was magically cured but he's trying not to focus on that because for the first time, in a very, very, very long time, Niall will be the center of attention. It's been a while since it's just been him and one of his parents without one of his brothers lingering around in the back and he's really looking forward to this.

He's actually surprised Zayn had even let him go, to be honest. But, Louis says that his papa is weird and he should just appreciate the fact that he's getting what he wants.

"Hi, love." Liam is grinning. He knows how important this tonight will be for Niall because Niall's been texting him all day from school telling him how excited he is to have a "man's" day with his father. It's a known fact that out of all of the boys, Niall is the one who gives up time with his fathers so his brothers can have those moments with them. But Niall has grown up before Liam's eyes and he hasn't even realized how much of a jerk he must've been to drive Niall away to living with Zayn. He wants to make today great. "How was school?" Liam asks as they pull out of the driveway.

"Bye Papa!" Niall waves at the window as they leave. Liam forces himself not to look at Zayn and concentrate on the road. Niall grins at him for a couple of more seconds before turning to Liam and saying, "Guess who scored the prettiest girl in all of the 7th grade to go to the Valentine's Day Dance with him this Friday? Moi! That's right. High five me, Daddio!"

"Alright, Nialler!" Liam cheers, high fiving him. "You have something planned for that day?"

Niall nods, "Papa says he'll let Louis drive us and I'm going to bring her flowers and meet her Mum, who Mel says is very excited to meet me, but also that I have to have her home by 7:30 but I think we might get ice cream afterwards. Is that a good date idea?"

"I think it's the perfect date idea for a couple of 13 year olds, yeah," Liam nods his head approvingly. "Just no kissing, okay? Already had that heart attack with Harry way too early."

"Did you hear about Harry?" Niall asks. Liam doesn't comment on how Niall is an actual gossip queen but still listens to his story. "That weirdo Nick came and tried to take him back but Harry was like 'SIKE BOY, YOU THOUGHT!' and rode away on a shiny white horse with Xander. Romantic, isn't it?"

"Niall, I highly doubt that's what actually happened but okay," Liam rolls his eyes. The blue eyed boy chuckles.

"And what's new with you?" Niall asks.

Liam shrugs, "Nothing. I've taken the week off at work and I was going to have you come over this weekend so we can spend time but today is good too. Loki is getting big and I think he misses you." Niall grins, his excitement tripling.

The rest of the drive is rather quiet, considering Niall fell asleep while Liam played The Eagles. But, when they arrive home, Liam decides not to wake Niall up and instead carry him to the couch and lay him down while he gets started on dinner.

It's been a while since he's cooked for the two of them and he maybe goes a little crazy considering he makes baked chicken, macaroni casserole, mashed potatoes, chicken salad and a cake to go with some ice cream for desert.