parenthood | niam au [ON HOLD]

elise

"liam, can you watch elise for the afternoon? please? i have a pregnancy appointment, and last time we brought her, she cried the whole time because she wasn't getting enough attention."

"uh, i don't know," liam answers honestly. his phone is cradled between his shoulder and his ear as he attempts to wash teddy's hair in the bathtub. the boy giggles, delighted by his bath toys, and rather liking the sensation of having his daddy wash his hair. "we're kind of having a full house right now. the boys wanna make gingerbread houses and go christmas shopping."

"take elise with you! please!"

liam rolls his eyes. harry and zayn would do it for him, he knows that. "okay, h. are you dropping her off or do we need to pick her up?"

harry makes such a happy sound that liam can't even be annoyed. "we'll drop her off. thank you so much, li. tell niall i said thanks, too!"

"of course i will," liam smiles, and hangs up.

"what's uncle harry say?" teddy questions. his hair is styled in a soapy mohawk.

"he's bringing jellybean over."

"yaaaaay!" teddy cheers.

"what are we 'yaaaaay'ing about?" niall asks, entering the bathroom to grab the hamper. zinnia is on his hip, thumb in her mouth, and flynn follows after them, blanket tied around him like a cape.

"daddy says jellybean's coming!"

"she is!?" flynn gasps, and claps, too. zinnia smiles even though she has no idea what's going on.

"she sure is, so you need to get in this bathtub after your brother's done, mister," liam says sternly to flynn.

"but, daaaaddy," flynn whines, dropping onto the floor dramatically. "i took a bath last weeeek!"

niall laughs. "you've taken a bath more recently than that, sweetheart."

"yeah, or you'd really reek, ducky," liam chuckles, tickling flynn's tiny tummy. "come on, your brother's just about done anyway."

soap out of his hair, teddy grumpily climbs out of the tub with liam's assistance. niall puts out a hand for him to take, but teddy runs down the hall, totally naked.

"teddy!" liam and niall call after him in unison, and niall can't help but laugh.

"i'm nakey!" he shouts from his bedroom, which makes them laugh harder.

"i'll go help him get dressed. flynn, you be good for your daddy," niall warns.

"okay," flynn huffs, still pouting. niall leaves the bathroom and goes down to teddy and flynn's room. teddy managed to get his rocket ship undies on, but one of his arms is trapped in his shirt.

"need some help, cub?" niall chuckles.

"yes, please, papa!" teddy chirps, voice muffled by the cotton fabric. with a laugh, niall pulls the shirt down, letting out a laugh when teddy puckers his lips as soon as his head pops through. "kisses?"

"always, sweet boy," niall smiles, kissing his son's face.

"can i keep my pajama pants on?"

niall shakes his head, unable to keep from smiling. "sure, kiddo."

"yahoo!" teddy dances around the room with delight before sitting on the floor with zinnia, making silly faces so she'll smile.

just then, the doorbell rings. "jellybean!" teddy cheers, and the same delighted cry can be heard from flynn in the bathtub.

"let's go get the door, yeah?" niall asks, slinging zinnia onto his hip. teddy bounces down the stairs and to the door, practically vibrating with excitement.

"eliiiiiise!" he cheers once the door's open.

"tedddddy!" she cheers back, and their parents all coo when they hug each other.

"thank you so much, ni," harry begins to thank him, but niall rolls his eyes and gestures for harry to head to his appointment. zayn waves from the car, and harry kisses elise goodbye quickly before leaving.

"alright, are we ready for gingerbread houses? i think we're gonna go shopping another day," niall frowns, seeing that it's rather late in the evening, and toting four grumpy, tired kids around a shopping mall is no fun.

"yay!" teddy cheers, and flynn makes his way into the room a few minutes later. elise clings to his side for a few minutes, delighted to see him, and liam and niall watch with fond smiles as the kids attempt to stick the pre-made gingerbread parts together with frosting.

"no, teddy, that's the roof!"

"is not. it's a wall."

elise just shakes her head, chubby cheeks covered in frosting. most of her contributions to the gingerbread house building has been eating the leftover pieces.

"daddy, papa, look!" flynn calls, and they move from where they'd been making dinner. the sight actually makes niall want to cry. the gingerbread house itself is rather sad, but efforts were clearly made. "it's me, you, zin-zin, and teddy," flynn explains, pointing out the gingerbread family.

"me, too!" elise frowns, and shows that right next door is her little family. "not two famiwies. one big one," she beams, and niall and liam couldn't agree more.