parenthood | niam au [ON HOLD]

vacation (pt. two)

"daddy, where's captain buttcheek?" elise asks sleepily as zayn buckles her into her carseat. her tiny hand grips at his sleeve.

"here, sweetheart," he says gently, mouth twitching at the name of her bear, and he tucks the bear into her arms. she yawns, nuzzling her cheek against the bear's fur and shuts her eyes. teddy and flynn are totally limp, entirely asleep. only lydia is awake, blinking around at everyone in the van, wide awake but quiet. 

"jesus, i'm tired," harry mutters, rubbing his eyes.

"me, too. it's so early," niall whines, leaning his head on harry's shoulder with a yawn. liam and zayn get into the car and drive to the airport, everyone yawning the whole way there. going through security is a nightmare. elise cries when she has to take her shoes off because, "the machine is going to eat them, papa!"

eventually, though, they make it to the gate, all five kids (and their shoes) in tow. 

"daddy, i'm hungry," flynn mumbles,  rubbing his eyes with the hand that's not holding onto liam.

"okay, bub, we're gonna get breakfast in a minute. you can wait a bit, can't you?"

"maybe," flynn responds, which makes liam laugh. after checking to make sure they had about an hour before their plane left, they decided to get breakfast.

"where should we go?" harry asks. there are way too many restaurants to choose from, and he's pretty sure they'd have to go to four different restaurants if they ask the kids what they want.

"what about cinnabon?" asks niall, pointing. the three other adults' faces light up, and all of the kids like cinnamon rolls as well, so it ends up being a success. niall gives zinnia little pieces of his, and she happily eats them up. teddy somehow ends up with frosting all over his face, and even a bit in his hair, which makes liam laugh.

"we should probably get ready to get on the plane," harry says after they're finished. "we're gonna start boarding in a few minutes and we're in zone one."

"oh, crap, you're right!" they scramble to grab the kids and all their stuff, and they scramble to their gate. they just barely make it, and once they're settled, liam slumps over into niall's lap with exhaustion.

- - -

luckily, the kids sleep for most of the flight. they only start to get antsy in the last half hour or so, and liam manages to distract them with an episode of sofia the first on his phone.

"papa, zinnia needs cuddles," teddy mumbles to niall.

"oh, yeah? what makes you say that?"

"i just know," he says matter-of-factly. "i need cuddles, too."

niall shakes his head fondly and takes teddy's hand as they exit the plane. "well, as soon as we get to the hotel, you'll get your cuddles, baby. i promise."

teddy beams, and he runs over to the window as soon as they're off the plane. he stares around in confusion at the sight of palm trees and the bright sun. "daddy, where are we?"

"florida," liam answers, scooping zinnia onto his hip and handing niall his backpack.

"what's in florida?" flynn questions, equally as confused as his brother.

"should we tell them?" liam asks zayn, and immediately teddy, flynn, and elise start bouncing up and down, pleading for answers. "alright, alright, settle down," he chuckles. "we're going to disney world and universal studios!"

the kids let out almost deafening squeals of delight. liam can't help but smile as he watches them bounce up and down.

"come on, kids," niall laughs, gently taking them by the hand. "we gotta head to the hotel!" it's not easy to keep them distracted while liam and zayn figure out the car rental situation, but soon enough they're in their rental van, on their way to the hotel.

"daddy, are we going to disney world today?" flynn asks, kicking his legs excitedly.

"no, sweetheart, not today," liam answers, and frowns as flynn's smile turns to a pout. "we'll go bright and early tomorrow, all right?"

"okay," he pouts, but he brightens when they get to the hotel. it's one of the resorts right next to the park, and teddy gasps, face smushed up against the window of the van.

"come on, cub," niall calls gently, and he puts his arms up for niall to pick him up. "awww. you sleepy, sweetheart?"

"...no," teddy says, despite rubbing his sleepy eyes.

niall just kisses his forehead, smiling. 

"okay, you guys ready to see the hotel room?" liam asks when niall and teddy meet up with everyone else in the lobby. liam has zinnia on his hip, her thumb in her mouth, and flynn clinging to his hand. elise is entirely asleep, head resting on harry's shoulder, and lydia is smiling up at zayn, tiny hand touching his stubble.

"yes!" flynn and teddy cheer, which wakes elise up. to everyone's surprise, she's not grumpy at being woken up so abruptly. they all go to the elevator, flynn, teddy, and elise giggling the whole time because liam makes silly faces at them in the mirror.

from the second liam pushes their hotel room open, flynn and teddy are speechless with excitement. their room is tangled themed, complete with the lanterns as all the lights in the room, and the beds shaped like little rowboats. there's a knock at the door, and teddy and flynn become even more excited when they realize that harry and zayn's room is connected to theirs. their room is the little mermaid themed, and the kids all play together, running back and forth between rooms until it's time for dinner.

"alright, kiddos, we've gotta sleep early so we'll be ready bright and early for disney world tomorrow, yeah?" liam says gently, running a hand through flynn's curls gently.

surprisingly, the kids agree to go to sleep without any argument whatsoever. flynn and teddy curl up in one of the rowboat beds, cuddled up together, and liam smiles at them, heart so warm. niall comes in a bit later once zinnia is asleep in her portable crib, and he watches over their boys as well, cheek leaned against liam's bicep.

"i love you," he whispers. it goes without saying. every molecule in his body calls out to liam, and liam's to his. everything about them is intertwined, connected; they're soulmates in every way.

so it doesn't bother niall when liam doesn't say it back, just pulls him closer, kisses his temple. he knows.