Clarity « Niam

Chapter 10

They'd landed in Dublin nearly two hours ago and after an hour long drive to Mullingar, Niall was carrying a sleepy Aybrum up a cobblestone path to his mums cottage.

He shifted the toddler around, receiving a few halfhearted groans in protest and knocked on the door. Niall rested his head on Aybrum's, coaxing him to sleep with hushed words and smiled when his mum opened the door.

"Hi sweetie, do you want me to take him?" Maura whispered, immediately understanding that the toddler was most likely exhausted from the excitement of his very first plane ride.

Niall silently nodded, kissing the side of Aybrum's heated face and gently shifted him into her open arms. "I'm going to grab our bags, you can stick him on the couch if he's too heavy. I'll set up his crib once I've grabbed everything."

It took some maneuvering, but Niall managed to carry all four bags and the folding crib into the cottage. Setting the bags on the floor by the stairs and went straight to his childhood bedroom to set up the crib, wanting to make sure Aybrum was comfortable and had somewhere to sleep before he even thought about fully unpacking.

"Thanks for carrying him in for me, I'll put the rest of our things away in the morning. I'd rather not wake him and throw off his schedule." He thanked his mum once he had Aybrum settled in bed, and went to the kitchen where his mum was making tea.

She smiled, shrugging her shoulders at him and carried two cups of tea over to the table and sat down across from her son. "There's no rush, sweets. I miss having your things strewn around the place."

He smiled, taking a slow drink of his tea and took in his surroundings. "You've redone the flooring, yeah - looks nice."

"Dear god, your small talk is absolutely atrocious." She playfully scolded, knowing he had plans for tonight but he didn't just want seem like he was going to run out after dumping Aybrum with her.

He smiled, innocently shrugging his shoulders. "Alright, Liam's here too and I told him I'd come see him - without Aybrum."

"I had a feeling," She smiled knowingly, reaching out to give his forearm a small squeeze. "How are things between the two of you, last I knew he was babysitting Aybrum during the day. He treating you right this time round?"

Niall's glanced down at the table, staring at the worn spots on the wood top. "It's not like that, we're just friends and I can't hold our history together, against him when it comes to Aybrum. It wouldn't be fair to either of them, especially Aybrum. He'll always be his dad, whether Liam and I are together or not."

"Okay, sweets. I won't pry unless you want me to." She nodded in understanding, catching his evasive eyes with hers and gave him a warm smile. "Now go catch up with Liam, I was going to head to bed anyways, but I'll keep an ear out for Aybrum as well."

They both stood up at the same time, embracing in a long overdue hug. "Are you sure? He sleeps through the night, but he might wake up and get scared since he's never been here."

"I raised two boys, I think I can handle my own grandson." She laughed, kissing his cheek and began shooing him towards the front door. "Spare key is in the potted plant, I'll leave a lamp on for you."

He hugged her again once he'd slipped his shoes back on, "Thank you, I'll see you in the morning - if not later tonight."

Maura watched as Niall went out to the black rental, proud that her son was handling the situation the adult way. Because a part of her always assumed Niall would never tell Liam about their son. She knew what happened between them once Niall announced he was pregnant.

But she wasn't going to blame Liam for wanting an abortion, because they were young and Liam's career makes it difficult for him to have an average life. At the time, having a baby would've definitely held him back in certain aspects of his career and put a strain on their already complicated relationship at the time.