Clarity « Niam

Chapter 9

When Thursday came around, Niall and Louis decided to take the kids to the park after they'd gone for pizza once swim lessons were over.

"Aybrum, no more sweets. Hand them over to daddy, please." Niall removed the sticky sweets from the toddlers hand, wiping his hand off and leaned down further to give him a kiss on the cheek. "You and Laci can go play on the playground, yeah. We'll be right here watching."

Aybrum grabbed Laci's hand, but Laci gave Louis a nervous look - unsure if she was allowed to go play as well because Niall wasn't her daddy, so he wasn't supposed to tell her what to do.

Louis squatted down to her level, using his thumb and wiped off the smudged evidence of her sweets. "It's alright, love. You can go play too, just be careful."

Laci smiled, puckering her lips for a kiss and waited for Louis to peck her lips before she let Aybrum tug her away towards the children's playground.

Louis and Niall sat back down on the bench they were sharing, sitting in silence for a couple minutes as they watched the kids play and made sure they were safe.

"I don't mean to be nosey, but where's Aybrum's dad?" Louis spoke up, breaking their comfortable silence.

Niall briefly glanced over at him, "He's - um, I -" His words kept trailing off, because he wasn't sure how to explain the situation without giving away that an internationally famous boy band member was Aybrum's biological father.

He smiled, shrugging some. "You don't have to tell me. I was just curious, because he has brown eyes and yours are blue."

"No, it's nothing personal. I just - it's complicated." He tried, only making things seem even more difficult than they needed. "He does see his dad, he just doesn't know it. We haven't had that talk with him yet, but we're supposed to soon."

Louis nodded in understanding, "What about the two of you? Are you together?"

He forced a rather convincing smile when he looked at him, "I thought we were headed in that direction at one point, but not so much anymore."

"What changed?" Louis looked for Laci, making sure she was still within eyesight.

Niall was doing the same, scanning the playground and calmed his inner parent when he spotted his son. "The fact that I'm almost positive he's sleeping with someone."

"Oh - I'm sorry, we could talk about something else." He quickly suggested, not wanting to make Niall anymore uncomfortable than he clearly already had.

Niall cleared his throat as he shifted his weight around on the bench, "It's not a big deal. I should've known better than to think he could change his ways, I stupidly fell for the fantasy version of my perspective on him."

"That's not necessarily your fault though, everyone wants to see the good in someone. Even when they don't have the greatest track record." He smiled some, trying to lighten the conversation.

"Yeah, I just wish -" Niall let his words trail off as he watched Aybrum hold Laci's hand tightly as he helped her up the bright yellow steps to the swirly slide, "So what about you, how's your relationship with Laci's dad?" Niall realized his mistake as soon as the words left his mouth, instantly regretting them. "Oh my god, Louis I'm so sorry. I didn't mean - I have the biggest mouth on the planet."

"Now it's my turn to say it's alright." Louis laughed halfheartedly at Niall's sudden panicked state, "I'm okay with talking about him, it's been a year and I've learned to cope."

He sighed, pushing a hand through his hair. "I still feel terrible, I'm really sorry."

Louis shrugged, still keeping his seemingly happy demeanor. "We were married for almost three years before I got pregnant with Laci. I was absolutely devastated when the police showed up at my door, the hardest part was when I had to tell Laci her daddy wasn't coming home again. She was alright because she didn't understand, but I think she partially understood what was happening when we had the funeral and everyone kept coddling her and apologizing."

"I don't even know how you can function properly, I know my relationship with Aybrum's dad is nothing like you had with your husband - but I know I'd shut down if something happened to him." Niall confessed in a hushed tone, keeping his eyes on the two giggling toddlers.

He shrugged, smiling when he looked directly at Laci and saw the smile he's missed so much over the last year, on her face. "But a part of you knows you wouldn't. You have to put on a brave face for your child, even when you're falling apart. You have to make sure they're okay before you can even begin to put yourself back together."

Niall stayed silent, looking towards Louis when he heard him suck in a sharp breath and noticed his eyes had glossed over.

"I think it's time for Laci and I to head home, she's had a long day already." Louis forced a smiled, wiping away stray tears before he looked at him and stood up. "We'll see you guys next swim lesson."

Niall stood up as well, walking a couple steps behind him as they made their way across the playground.
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(authors note: I didn't know what else to write, so I made this "filler chapter". Hopefully you liked having a bit more perspective on Louis' past.

What do you think Niall's going to do about Liam, as far as confronting him about his "relationship" with Zayn?

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