The Trouble with a Cough

chapter one

It was November and a pretty chilly day, however Liam and Zayn decided to take their three boys to the park as they had so much energy and it wasn't raining.

They made breakfast for the boys, who were still in there pajamas on a Saturday morning, bouncing and chatting excitably in their usual seats around the table. Liam and Zayn made the mistake of having their backs to the three boys as they scrambled the eggs over the stove top and when the giggling suddenly increased in volume they turned around to see Niall stood up in the centre of the table, pulling faces at his little brothers.

Liam opened his mouth to yell but he felt a hand on his and turned to see the amused grin on his husband's face.
"It's sweet Babe, don't go off at him too hard," Zayn said.
Liam sighed and smiled easily, pecking Zayn's rough cheek. "Niall Bud, you might hurt yourself all the way up there. Hop down, we don't want Lou and Haz following you," Liam told Niall sternly but not angrily.

"Okay Papa!" Niall bounded down in two leaps, one on his chair and then the next into the soft carpet.Niall then sat on his chair and carried on making faces making Harry and Louis laugh to keep them occupied.

"Alrighty then my gorgeous children, brekkies all done! Who wants eggs?" Zayn smiled brightly, chuckling at the way little Harry's big grin eyes lit up like gems. He floundered in a seat, chubby limbs bouncing eagerly and letting out a long 'meeeeeee!'

"Yuck." Louis scowled, shooting his twin a confused frown. It wasn't just yuck to Louis, he had an egg allergy so what he ate had to watched carefully. Luckily three year old Louis didn't mind. It was so much easier for his parents in shops now as they could buy egg free cake anyway.

Liam strolled over to the table with the toast and Louis smiled up at him as he clumsily lifted a piece from the top of the pile, "thank you Daddy."

"You're very welcome LouLou." Liam patted the feathery hair on the top of his son's head. Zayn brought over the pan of eggs and joined the rest of his family around the table.

Harry and Niall ate their eggs happily while Liam and Zayn spoke about what the plan was going be for the rest of the day. After breakfast they'd clean up and get the kids dressed and ready to go out. Liam was keen to put together a quick picnic morning tea slash lunch to sit down and have on the grass at the park. Zayn was a little unsure, the weather wasn't super nice and he wasn't sure if having the kids out in the cold for too long was a good idea but Liam was the one with the nursing degree and he promised him that they'd be fine, so that put his mind at ease a little.

Liam made sure to put Louis' food in a separate bag so that it woudn't get mixed up. Some of the sandwiches were made using remaining eggs and he didn't want for there to be unplanned trip to the ER to ruin their day out together.

They decided to walk to the park as they didn't want to set Harry's travel sickness off if they didn't have to. It wasn't as bad as it used to be but Liam and Zayn were still cautious, it wasn't nice for poor Harry when he did get sick and they didn't like to see him unwell.

Louis was completely potty trained whereas Harry was still quite behind in that sense so getting changed was quite a different process for the three year olds. Louis liked to go into Niall's room with his armfuls of clothes for the day and get changed with him while either Liam or Zayn helped Harry with his pull up.

"We're going to the park today?" Harry asked hopefully as his Dad stitched his Velcro down on his shoes."Yeah Haz, Papa's even downstairs making a picnic for us!" Harry clapped his hands and giggled happily as his Dad tapped his bum lightly.

"Now you need to tell daddy and papa if you need a change," Zayn reminded as he picked a spare pair of trousers from the top drawer for the boy, knowing it may be needed as Harry often didn't tell them and then leaked out the pull up. Both twins were premature but Harry seemed to be a lot more behind then Louis. Zayn and Liam weren't too worried just yet. It wasn't as if Harry wasn't developing at all because he was, and they were so proud of him, regardless of the pace being a little slower. He'd get there.