Beginning. // z.m. au [discontinued]

Chapter 11

Sweet Life | Frank Ocean

It was officially safe for me to say that Zayn was not a handyman in any way, shape, or form. He was a killer artist, knew paints and drawing techniques and art in general like the back of his own hand. He'd become a better cook over the years (probably even better than me), was an excellent negotiator at times (but I was convinced that was only because his face could get him in and out of a lot of things if he used it to his own selfish advantage like that), and speaking of faces, he could even dabble in a bit of modeling if it ever came down to that, too, but when it came to putting things together, well, he was like a fish out of water. And I enjoyed every second of it.

I'd never seen Zayn break out into a cold sweat like he had in this exact moment before until now, and I never thought I'd witness it either, especially not while he was attempting (and sadly failing) to put a crib together. But this moment was golden, a definite time to remember, and I needed to document this fast. This was way too precious for me to just ignore. Thankfully I had my phone on me so I wouldn't have to run and grab it and miss any of this glorious moment.

I couldn't help but snicker as I watched Zayn suffer in silence, as I watched him mentally self destruct more and more with each second that flew by. He was so adorable, honestly, that I couldn't decide if I wanted to continue to laugh at him or coo at his pouty little face instead. Both were possible though, so I stood there as I leaned up against the wall while snapping pictures of my very clueless husband, laughing up a storm and awing every time he made one of those pouty faces I seemed to love way too much.

Zayn looked up at me from underneath his unfairly long eyelashes with a loud huff. "You gonna stand there and laugh at me all day or are you gonna actually help me, January?" And he only used my full name when he was annoyed with me (or trying to tempt me into doing certain things but that was an entirely different story), but that only made me giggle even harder than before.

I doubled over with laughter, my eyes squeezing shut as I did so. I could hear Zayn groaning from where he sat on the floor in front of me, and I would've felt bad if I weren't laughing so hard, but. "Sorry," I said once I started to calm down a bit, wiping away the stray tears that leaked from the corner of my eyes. "You know I would, but." I pointed down at my bump as an excuse, which it kind of was a free pass for me to skip out on helping, but it was mostly because my help would be just as useless to Zayn as his own. I was doing him a favor by not helping whether he knew that or not.

"Of course," he grumbled harshly. "I give up. Is it socially acceptable for a newborn baby to sleep somewhere else other than a crib, 'cause I'm pretty sure this is impossible."

"Aw, babe," I pursed my lips, walking over to where he sat. I leaned against his body, carding my fingers through his hair and in return he rested his head against the top of my thigh, wrapping an arm around my leg. He was so cute, even after all these years and I'd never ever get over that. I'd never think otherwise. "S'okay. We'll figure something out."

"I'm the worst husband ever, aren't I?"

"Yeah," I agreed jokingly with an apparent smirk slowly growing on my face. "You are. Think I need a new one."

"You think? I could probably go for a new spouse, too. Hold auditions or somethin' and see who's fit enough to take your throne."

"My throne?" I raised my eyebrows. "I like that. Don't think anyone could take that from me anyway. Think I make a proper good queen, don't you?"

Zayn shrugged a shoulder, looking up at me from where he was perched on the floor with his hazel eyes glistening under the fluorescent lights above like never before. He was such a beauty, honestly. "Eh." He waved me off.

"C'mon," I rolled my eyes. "Get up. Maybe if we leave this unbuilt crib alone for a few hours it'll fix itself."

Zayn unhooked his arm from around my leg, linking his fingers with my own afterwards, using me as an anchor to help him off of the floor. "This isn't a Disney movie, bub." He told me once he was stood upright again. "Inanimate objects can't do that kinda stuff."

"Yeah, yeah," I scrunched my nose as he left a sloppy kiss against the side of my face. It was definitely going to be an interesting day.

***

Louis Tomlinson was a lifesaver; a genuine superhero. Well, when it came to assembling baby cribs together he was. And we was kind of a superhero when it came to being Oliver's dad, too, but that wasn't the topic of discussion at the moment. Louis was sort of like a blessing in disguise, camouflaged as Zayn's best mate, and definitely Zayn's number one saving grace right now. And Zayn owed his best friend big time now, owed him all the thank you's in the world that he could possibly muster up.

Apparently Louis thought he was some kind of constructive expert now since he was the one who's out his own son's crib together (and apparently had to build a whole new one as well since he'd accidentally broken the first one, which I still wanted to know how in the hell that ever came about), but I was sure that was only because he was a lot better at following instructions than Zayn was, surprisingly. And after a full hour of leaving Thing 1 and Thing 2 alone to finish their work, they were finally finished, and really we did owe Louis a ton for this. He was like a miracle in a sandstorm of sticky situations.

"Y'know," Louis started to say as he and Zayn made their way into the kitchen area where I was stood with Grace. Kat would've been here as well along with their son but they were currently spending the day with her mother. Louis was still convinced that his own mother in law hated him, but Kat always made sure to assure me that his bizarre beliefs weren't the case at all. "There are cribs that you can order that are already built for you. Just so you know."

I snorted at that since I'd told my idiot of a husband the exact thing when we bought the thing. Thick as a rock that one was sometimes; very stubborn, I'd say.

"I said the same thing," I interrupted with a roll of my eyes before bringing the cup of tea I held between both of my hands up to my mouth and taking a sip. "He doesn't listen."

"I wanted to do it myself," Zayn pouted like a child, frowning like the stubborn man he was.

"And look how that turned out," Louis muttered to himself. "You're welcome, by the way. I expect to be wined and dined, full steak dinner or something along the lines of that by next weekend." Louis requested, stern and oh so assertive. "Actually," he pointed a finger, "get me some diapers or anything baby related instead. Olive's really breaking my wallet."

"Sounds like a personal problem," Zayn snickered jokingly, rightfully earning a smack to the back of his head from Louis. He rubbed his head and made a face at his best friend. "Okay, ow, you definitely haven't lost your swing after all these years, mate."

"S'what I do best," Louis shrugged. He then turned to face me, a serious look taking over his scruffy face. "I apologize sincerely that you've been stuck with this fool all this time." He whispered to me. "I'm so, so sorry, Jan."

"I think I'll be fine," I played along. "I mean I've managed to come this far, haven't I?"

Zayn grunted loudly from behind me, but even I knew he wouldn't be able to keep his laughter at bay for long. "Fuck off, both of you. Jesus Christ."

"Love you loads, too," I blew Zayn a kiss to which he only waved off with a flick of his hand. The banter between us, it would never get old. And honestly, I hoped it never did. It was kind of what made us, us.

Zayn moved forward closer to Louis until he was giving him a little push, edging him closer and closer towards the front door with every step they took. I could hear him telling Louis to get out, that he was no longer needed in his household anymore, in the friendliest way possible for the both of them the further they got away.

"You're all a mess," Grace giggled into her palm all while bumping her hip into mine. "I actually love it."

"Yeah," I nodded with the fondest smile spreading across my face, tucking a piece of my hair behind my ear. I couldn't have agreed with her more. "Me too."