In Other Words (Niall Fanfic)

Chapter Seventy-Five

Niall’s POV

We’d clocked only a few hours of sleep, when my phone began to rattle on the bedside table, earning only a groan of recognition.

Our night at the pub carried on well beyond the sanctioned closing time, thanks to a generous offer made to the owner by my mates.  By half one though, I was leading her by the hand back to my car, where we sat in happy silence for a moment, almost in shock, before I turned the engine over and headed for home.

We made love last night, like we had so many times before. And yet, it felt completely different. She rocked her hips against me, our fingers tightly laced on the pillow above her head, my name stretched out into two distinct syllables against my lips as she came undone beneath me.

“You’re so beautiful.” I said, sweeping the stray hairs from her forehead and replacing them with my lips. She didn’t offer a sarcastic remark, instead turning on her side and wrapping my arm around her and pulling the sheets up around us.  “I love you so much, Ni.” Were the last words I heard before my eyelids fell heavy.

“Niall.” She grumbled. “Your phone.”

“Unhhh” I reached my arm from beneath the duvet. “Piss off.” The wretched thing went to voicemail before I even managed to grab it. I pressed my face back into the pillow, her soft body warm pressed against my back. Almost immediately, her phone began to ring. She reacted about half a second faster than I did, sitting up and glancing at the clock. It was never a good feeling when you realized someone was trying desperately to reach you.

“It’s your mom.” She said, swiping the screen to answer. “Maura?”  My heart was pounding now, and I couldn’t keep my hands from reaching for her phone and bringing it to my own ear.

“Ma. Everything alright?” I breathed.

“I’m fine, Niall.” She said, her sweet and soft voice a welcome sound. “But you need to get on a plane. The baby’s coming.”

I was suddenly wide awake, tossing the blankets back and getting to my feet. Roxy looked at me, white as a ghost. “Denise is in labor?” I said to my mother, Roxy sprang from the mattress and into the closet, quickly returning with a pile of clothes for both of us.

“They’re just headed into the hospital now. It could two hours, it could be ten.” She said. “But ya need to get to Dublin quickly, because if this baby is anything like you and your brother, he’ll be making his appearance sooner rather than later.”

I hung up the phone with shaky hands, over-the-moon. I thought for sure it was going to be a few months before I was able to meet my nephew, as only a couple of days were left before we’d all be jetting off for the second leg of the tour. Not fifteen minutes later and we were out the door, Roxy behind the wheel and heading for Heathrow as I called up the airline and booked us two tickets on the next flight out, rattling off my credit card number by memory.

“It’s going to be coach.” I groaned, wiping the last bit of sleep from my eyes.

“It’s an hour flight.” She laughed, reaching behind her seat and tossing a hoodie into my lap. “And it’s seven in the morning, no one will even notice you.” I rolled my eyes knowing there was a slim chance of that being the case. “I’ll let ya have the window seat. Keep you safe.”

“You my bodyguard now?” I chuckled.

“Yup.” She said, and I snatched her hand into my lap, seeing the ring on her finger for the first time in the daylight.

Roxy’s POV

My foot pressed an imaginary brake pedal, my eyes slamming shut and my body bracing for disaster as he totally missed a stop sign, phone pressed to his ear. How appropriate it would be for one life to be brought into the world and one (or two) to be quickly eliminated. “Oi Bobby.” Niall said, totally unaware of his careless state. “I know, Da. But I just wanted to be there in the waiting room when it happened.”  I could hear his father’s low voice on the other end. He guided us into the parking lot of the hospital and repeated the room number aloud once more before tucking the phone back into his pocket and jumping out of the rental car. “She couldn’t have kept him in there another forty-five minutes?” he said, as we quickly walked toward the sliding glass doors.