Through The Dark

Afternoon Errands

     "Are you ready to get grocery for mum?" I ask Olivia as I sit her in the trolley. I take the list out of my back pocket and of course, Olivia tries to grab it away from me. "No no, mum made this for us." The first item on the list is baby carrots and I push the cart into the produce section. I grab a bag and set it gently into the cart. "Now baby spinach..." I look down the aisle for the bags of tiny spinach leaves. I grab the first bag I see and throw it into the cart. "To the Deli!" I push the cart a little faster, causing Olivia to squeal. She giggles as I quickly turn the cart around the corner.

       This was one of the few times I've took Olivia out with me. Usually Sam does the shopping and Olivia stays home with me. But since we now have Meredith and Mason, Sam stayed with them today and Olivia and I took the day out together. I know she won't remember any of this, but I just adore spending a few hours alone with her. I hope when she gets a bit older she still thinks hanging out with her dad is fun. 

    I step into line at the deli counter and wait my turn. I catch the lady in front of me smiling down at Olivia, making funny faces at her to get her to laugh. "She's just a doll." She says when I make eye contact with her. "What's her name?" 

       "Olivia. She's ten months old today, actually." I answer. The lady smiles and turns back around, as it's her turn in line. "We just have to get some ribs and Pillsbury dough and we will be on our way home to mum." I say as Olivia takes my index finger. 

      I step closer to the counter as the lady leaves. "Hello, two racks of baby back ribs please." I order. Olivia begins to fuss, as I am ignoring her for a minute. "Oh hush, Olive." I take the meat and lay it in the trolley. "Do you need your nap?" Her mood has changed so quickly as I watched her grow tired. I quickly grab buns and head to the check out. I wanted to make it out to the car before Olivia had a full on melt down. I hand her her pacifier and she tosses it to the ground. "Here we go..." 

     "Hello, how ya doing today Niall?" The cashier smiles, ignoring my fussy baby. 

     "Better than she is apparently." I reply and slide my debit card once he's done checking me out. "We both need to go home and take a nap, I guess." I joke. We share our goodbyes and I'm quickly out the doors.

    Olivia manages to fuss and whine the whole five minute ride back to the house. Her diaper is clean, she's been fed, she's just over due for sleep. I pull into the garage and I'm immediately met by Sam. "So, you got everything I hope." She says as she takes the groceries into the house. "Meredith and Mason are off to grandma's house for the night. I was thinking of calling a sitter for Olivia and making dinner for the two of us." She takes the last bag and I unbuckle Olivia from her car seat. 

    "That sounds just lovely." I say as I plop down into the recliner, rocking Olivia.   Sam and I haven't had a night to ourselves in months. At least since Olivia was born. That hasn't really stopped any of the romance, though. Of course, it has been harder since we got Mere and Mason. 

    "You two take a little nap. I'll get Olivia's bags ready and see if Liam and Louis can take her for tonight." She says. Olivia cuddles into my chest and I kick up the footrest. Being out and about with her for an hour really wore me out. 

     "Niall James Horan, what are you doing?  Sleeping on the job?" Liam says as he stands above me. Olivia is still asleep on my chest and I rub my tired eyes. "Your wife is over here slaving to get the kitchen cleaned and find a sitter and you're just napping? I think we're going to have to confiscate Olivia for tonight." 

    "Oh hush, I was running errands all day with her. She's exhausting." I sit up just as Olive opens her eyes.  

    "Oh please, just wait until she's a toddler and hates sitting still." Liam replies and sits on the couch. "Louis is out of town tonight, so it's just me and Christin. We'll take good care of her Niall." I stand up and find her diaper bag, grabbing a diaper to change Olivia. Christin stands in the kitchen talking with Sam as she's preparing the ribs. 

    "How long were we sleeping?" I ask. 

    "Two full hours." Sam responds and smiles. "Neither one of you made a sound. There's proof on my phone if you'd like to see." I shake my head and quickly change Olivia's diaper. 

    "Liam, their dinners almost ready, we should be going." Christin says. I kiss Olivia's head and hand her off to Liam. "Her bag's already in the car, we let you sleep Niall." She says with a smile and they're both out the door. 

     "Will you set the table, please?" Sam asks and hands me relatively small plates. 

      "These ones? Really?" I ask. She just nods and pushes me towards the table. "Alrighty then..." I set the table for the two of us. 

     "You just sit down and I'll bring dinner to you in just a minute." She says and is back with a bottle of wine. "Here you go." She pours me a glass and walks off. In just a short minute, She places the food on the table. "BBQ baby back ribs. Honey roasted baby carrots. Baby spinach and almond salad." 

       "You're such a little chef." I smile and take a sip of my wine. "Ooh, this is good where did you get this?" 

        "I got it when I was in New Hampshire with my parents, It's Sweet Baby Vineyard." She hands me the bottle. She begins to fill her plate with food and begins eating without saying anything. She seemed to be a bit frustrated with me in the moment. 

        "What's wrong, Sammy? The foods incredible." I say and take her hand from across the table. 

      "No, nothing, just eat." She continues until the oven timer goes off. "Oh shit, those are the buns." She jumps up and goes back to the kitchen. She brings back a basket full of steaming buns and places on the table. "Be careful. The buns are hot, straight out of the oven." She says as I grab one, dropping it quickly onto my plate. 

     We both finish dinner and I stand up. "Well, that was amazing. I'll help you do dishes." I say and take her plate to the sink. She huffs and follows me to the kitchen. 

    "Niall, anything you have to say about dinner?" She comes up behind me and hugs me. 

    "No not really. The food was great, I liked it a lot. You should have had some of that wine. Let's make sure it gets in the cooler."  I spin around and pull her into my chest. 

    "I can't have the wine, Niall." She says and I run my hands through her hair. 

     "Why not? Still not feeling well?" I ask and she pulls aways from me. 

      "Niall, what are you not understanding?" She holds both of my hands and looks up at me. "Baby back ribs. Baby spinach salad. Honey roasted baby  carrots." I furrow my brow and look back at the table. 

     "It was all really good! You did a fantastic job!" 

    "Dammit Niall, I'm pregnant." She blurts and I freeze. 

    "Are you sure...?" I ask and look down at her stomach. "Are you sure there's a baby in there?" 

     "There's defiantly a bun in my oven Niall. And you put it there." She says and backs up. "Apparently breast feeding is not very reliable birth control." I stay quiet for a moment, trying to soak it all in. "I'm anywhere from 6 to 12 weeks along....we went through a really active phase after the doctor gave us the go ahead." She wasn't wrong. There were times we'd get all the kids to bed and go at it every night for a week. "Are you okay with this Nialls?" 

    "Of course!" I smile and kiss her. "I love you so much. There's no one else I'd rather do this with than you." I pick her up and set her on the counter. "And then there were four..."