"i want daddy and papa," elise mumbles into liam's neck. she's been saying this endlessly for the past two hours that harry has been in labor.
"i know you do, hun," liam coos gently. he kisses the top of her head. "but your papa is going to come back here with your new little sister or brother! isn't that exciting?"
"onwy a wittle," replies little elise, which makes liam laugh. zinnia is crawling on the floor alongside teddy, who's trying to show her how to use his toy train.
"how loooong?" whines flynn. "uncle harry's been in there foreeeever!"
"it does feel like forever, huh?" niall half-laughs.
"yeeees," elise whines back.
"how about we read a story?" suggests niall, but elise just shakes her head and squishes her little face further into liam's neck.
after another hour, all four of the kids are sleeping, and niall tiredly leans his head against liam's free shoulder.
"doing okay, love?" liam asks gently.
niall nods. "was i in labor this long? it really does feel like forever."
"babe, you were in labor for at least twice as long as this," liam chuckles tiredly. luckily, not much later, harry is wheeled back out to them in a gurney, baby cradled in the crook in his arm. niall lets out a delighted cry, which wakes up all of the kids except zinnia, somehow.
"oh, is it a boy or a girl!?" he cries as elise scrambles off of liam's lap and wraps her arms around zayn's leg. harry and zayn just smile at each other. "harry, tell us!" niall pleads.
zayn laughs. "it's a girl," he says softly, beaming. "i'm so happy!"
"we actually need your help," harry adds, fixing the blanket around the baby's face.
liam raises an eyebrow. "how so?"
"her first name is lydia," explains harry. "but...well, we were torn on her middle name. we were trying to find something close to james -- for both of your middle names, obviously -- but we can't decide between and jamie."
niall makes a choked sound. "you guys," he gasps, close to tears.
"oh, don't cry," zayn says, a laugh in his voice. somehow me manages to hobble over to niall with elise still wrapped around a leg, and he hugs him. niall can't help but cry a little, but reigns it in quickly.
"i vote jane," liam says. "lydia jane sounds nice."
"yeah, i like it more than lydia jamie," niall nods, wiping his cheeks.
"well then," harry smiles down at his newborn daughter, kisses her face.
"papa, i want to see!" whines elise from zayn's hip after she finally let him pick her up.
"this is your sister, lydia," harry says gently, moving lydia a little so elise can properly see her face.
"she's so smaww," gasps elise, awed. "tiniew than zinnia!"
"yeah, she is," says harry very softly. "you'll have to be super gentle, doll. you'll be a good big sister, won't you?"
"yes!" squeals elise, delighted now.
teddy and flynn are peering down at lydia, excited, too. teddy gives up first, sleepy, and slumps into liam's lap.
"daddy, i'm sleepy," he whines.
"careful, don't wake your sister," liam responds, and shifts zinnia to his other arm so he can stroke teddy's hair with his free hand. "you're sleepy, huh, cub?" he checks his watch and is appalled at how late it is. "we should get you stinkers home, it's way past bedtime!"
"but i wanna stay with lydia," frowns flynn.
"i'm sure you'll see her very soon," smiles niall. "go on, cutie, give bye-bye kisses." teddy and flynn obey, kissing elise, zayn, and harry goodbye. on the way out, niall ends up having to carry flynn. the poor boy is sleepy to the point of nearly falling asleep as he walks, and he touches niall's face with a sleepy hand.
"love you, papa," he whispers.
niall kisses his palm multiple times. "oh, sweet boy, i love you, too!"
liam and niall manage to buckle their babies into the backseat quickly. it's strange how much easier it is now than it used to be. they both have that thought at the same time, and grin over at each other.
"i'm so happy," niall murmurs.
liam kisses their joined hands, his free hand on the steering wheel. "me, too, my love."
"i can't believe they named their daughter after us."
liam shakes his head. "me neither, bro."
niall giggles. "i love you, dude."
liam rolls his eyes, but says it back. when they park at the house, the kids sleepily try to rouse themselves, but quickly fall back to sleep after gentle kisses and hushed voices. despite his obvious tiredness, flynn clings to liam's sleeve.
"sleep in your bed, daddy?" he begs, rubbing his eye with his free hand. the poor, sweet boy is so sleepy, and it's been such a long day, liam can't help but give in. teddy, of course, can't stand this, so he ends up smushed in the middle. flynn has his entire face buried in the front of niall's t-shirt, snoring nearly the second his head hits the pillow.
niall shakes his head, fond. "i love these little troublemakers."
liam smiles. "they're no trouble. not even an ounce. our sweet boys are good through-and-through."