parenthood | niam au [ON HOLD]

floofies

"daddy, it's saturday," flynn tells liam, curled up on his chest. 

"i know it is, ducky," liam says back, ruffling his curls.

"can we give the doggies baths? they're kinda stinky."

"stinkers," teddy says back sleepily. "they're stinkers, daddy."

"you're a stinker," liam laughs back, gently pinching teddy's little nose. teddy sneezes, and then giggles. he nuzzles closer to niall's chest and niall rubs his back.

"i don't have any other plans for the day," niall shrugs.

"yeah, it's about time we bathe them again anyway. wet dogs smell reeeeally bad, though," liam warns the boys.

"it's okay! we can plug our noses," flynn laughs. he wiggles his way over liam and to the bathroom, pausing only to peer into zinnia's crib. "she's awake. she's chewing on her hand, it's cute."

"alright, up we go," niall says, scooping teddy onto his hip. teddy smiles, putting his tiny hands on niall's cheeks. when niall bends over zinnia's crib, teddy's grin grows.

"hi, zin-zin-zinnia!" he cheers, and her tiny face lights up. "she likes me, papa!"

"of course she does! who wouldn't like you?" niall grins.

teddy giggles shyly, hides his face in niall's neck. liam gets out of the bed a minute later, scooping zinnia up and kissing her little face.

"hi, sweetheart. sweet little angel, i love you," he coos down at her, kisses the end of her cute little nose.

"daddy, are we still bathing the -- ooooh, zinnia's looking at me! hi, hi, hi!" flynn goes onto his tiptoes, leans his forehead against hers. she makes a happy gurgle sound and sticks her thumb in her mouth. "are we still bathing the puppies?"

"yup, we are, baby. we're gonna have breakfast first, so let's head downstairs, yeah?"

- - -

after breakfast, liam and niall make their way upstairs. padfoot and moony follow the boys up the stairs, giggling when the puppies lick at their hands and faces. flynn attempts to pick padfoot up in his arms, and with a grunt, plops him in the bathtub. teddy (with liam's help) puts moony in beside him, and turn the water on. the puppies love getting bathed, and teddy and flynn end up getting nearly as wet as the puppies do.

flynn squeals as moony licks his cheek. "daddy, he's done it again!"

"ducky, you might as well get used to it," liam laughs.

"padfoot needs more shampoo," teddy tells liam.

liam looks over. "cub, you could give padfoot a shampoo mohawk. he's definitely good in terms of shampoo. in fact, he needs a rinse."

teddy pouts. "but --"

"no way, kiddo, none of that. doggie shampoo is expensive. ted, rinse."

teddy's pout deepens, but he turns the shower head on and rubs the shampoo with niall's help. liam helps flynn finish shampooing moony and rinses him. both puppies shake when they get out of the tub, much to the delight of teddy and flynn.

"they really do that! not just in tv!" flynn giggles. "i like it!"

liam laughs. "we've gotta blow dry 'em now, yeah?"

"we do?" teddy questions.

"yeah, otherwise they're gonna drip all over the carpet," liam chuckles. "ni, do you know where the blow dryer is?"

niall nods. "it's in our bathroom. hang on." niall leaves the room, and teddy shrieks when padfoot hops up to lick his cheek.

"my shirt's wet now!" teddy whines, frowning down at his shirt.

"s'okay. we have more shirts," liam assures him, tugging at his shirttail affectionately.

"okay," teddy answers, still pouting.

"got the blow dryer!" niall calls, and the boys cheer. they sit on the floor and blow dry the puppies, liam and niall watching to make sure they don't miss any spots.

"they're floofy!" teddy shrieks delightedly.

flynn giggles. "floofies!"

"they're floofies!" teddy repeats, giggling loudly. flynn starts giggling, too, watching the puppies parade around the upstairs. "they're so floofy! i love them!"

"happy, happy floofies," flynn hums, and he sits on the floor and hugs padfoot around the neck. zinnia is sitting in niall's lap and she lets out a loud laugh when moony noses at her cheek.

"gentle," niall warns, but he didn't need to. the puppy just laps at her cheek and snuffles his way back over to teddy.

"i love our puppies," flynn says, still cheerfully hugging padfoot.

"we do, too," liam chuckles, ruffling his oldest son's hair.

"daddy, can we get a kitty?" teddy asks randomly.

"a kitty? i thought you liked our puppies," niall replies.

"i doooo, but uncle harry and uncle zee have a kitty! i love bookmark and we should get a kitty."

liam facepalms. "they named their cat bookmark. god, i hate and love them."

niall tries not to laugh and brushes teddy's hair back. "we'll think about a kitten, okay, cub?"

"okay!" teddy giggles, and he hugs moony. liam grabs his phone and snaps a pictures of both boys and their puppies, and his heart just about melts in his chest.