parenthood | niam au [ON HOLD]

family dinners (pt. one)

"daddy, i wanna go see lydia," teddy tells liam as they get in the car after school. after a few months of adjusting, the transition to school can still be a nightmare, but it's not nearly as brutal as it was the first day.

"ooh! me, too!" squeals flynn.

"l'dia!" cheers zinnia, finally able to say a few words, being almost a year old.

"hmmm," liam says, hesitating only to be annoying. after all, it is tuesday, and every tuesday night, the paynes and the maliks have dinner together. they alternate whose house it's at, and tonight the maliks are hosting.

"daddy! it's tuesday," flynn adds. "that means we gotta go!"

"hmmm...i don't think we do, do we, niall?"

"no...i don't think so," niall agrees.

"papa! but i wanna go!" teddy whines, lower lip trembling.

"hey, cub, no tears," liam says quickly, parking in the driveway and turning to face his youngest son. "we're only teasing. of course we're going to see little lydia."

"yay!" shrieks flynn, scrambling to get out of the car.

"but only if you finish your homework," niall adds, getting zinnia out of her carseat.

"papa," she coos, touching niall's face with her tiny hands.

"hi, baby!" he kisses her little hands, and she giggles at the sensation.

- - -

"daddy, i'm done! can we go now?" flynn yells from the kitchen table, though his yelling was unnecessary because liam was just in the next room over.

"no need to shout, ducky," chuckles liam, making his way into the kitchen with zinnia in his arms. "are you suuure you're done?"

"yes, daddy! i'm done!"

"hmm...i'm not so sure..."

"daddy!"

liam finally laughs. "okay, ducky, go get your shoes."

"YAY!" flynn hops up from his seat at the table and runs to the door, slipping his shoes on, teddy following close behind. 

"papa, can you carry me?" teddy asks, so niall hands zinnia over to liam and picks teddy up. teddy hums, content, nuzzling his little face into niall's neck. "i hope uncle harry makes sp'ghetti."

"we had spaghetti last night," niall laughs.

"i knooow, but i want more," teddy whines. "i want all the sp'ghetti in the world, papa."

"hmmm. well, i can't promise anything, but we'll see what uncle harry's made."

teddy nods, content with that answer, and not much later, they're walking up the driveway to harry and zayn's.

"oh, can i push the doorbell?" pleads flynn, and when liam nods, he skips forward and rings the bell.

"flynn! hi there, kiddo!" zayn calls, smiling, and flynn beams and throws his arms around zayn's waist.

"hiiii, uncle zee!"

zayn bends, kissing the top of his head. "hi, teddy, hi, zinnia," he calls, still ruffling flynn's hair. he presses kisses against little zinnia's face, and teddy hugs him hard.

"eliiiiiiiise," calls flynn, and runs into the house to find her.

"hi, zee," beams niall, and hugs him. "do you need any help with dinner?"

"oh, no, harry's finishing up right now," zayn smiles.

"aren't you gonna greet me, you jerk?" liam questions.

zayn rolls his eyes. "no, you're just gonna tell me not to hug you anyway. at least niall appreciates my affection." at those words, niall hugs zayn around the waist a second time.

"okay, well, you're my best friend, you can't love my husband more than me," frowns liam.

"then appreciate me more," zayn huffs, and leads niall into the kitchen with his arm around niall's shoulders.

liam shakes his head at zinnia, who's staring up at him with wide eyes. "your uncle zee is so mean," he tells her, shaking his head. he kisses her forehead and makes his way into the house. "hey, jellybean!" he calls when he sees elise.

elise looks up from the castle she, teddy, and flynn are building long enough to beam at her uncle liam. "hi, uncle li!" as she's grown, her cute little mispronunciation of her l's and r's has gone away.

"hi, cupcake." liam kisses the top of her head.

"kids, time to eat!" harry calls, and the kids get up from the floor and run to the kitchen. when liam makes his way in, zinnia is already in her high chair, lydia smiling from her spot in harry's arms.

"hi, lyd!" liam coos, kissing her little button nose. "hi, h," he greets harry, lets harry fold his arms around him.

"how come you let harry hug you and not me?" whines zayn, and with an eye roll, liam crosses the kitchen and wraps his arms around his best friend. he knows he doesn't do this enough, that he should be more affectionate with zayn, but he gets riled up too easily, and it's amusing.

"let's eat, yeah?" harry questions.

"uncle harry, is it sp'ghetti?" questions teddy, and to everyone's surprise, harry nods. "SP'GHETTI!" he shrieks delightedly, kicking his legs in his seat.

liam shakes his head, takes his seat next to niall. he takes niall's tiny hand in his, presses a kiss to the back. "love you," he murmurs. he hasn't said that nearly enough times today.

niall makes a happy sound, like a kitten's purr, and leans his head against liam's shoulder for a second. he taps out i love you in morse code against the back of liam's hand, and liam is smiling so widely it hurts his face.