parenthood | niam au [ON HOLD]

trick or treat!

"daddy, rawwwwr!" teddy squeals, crawling across the floor. he looks absolutely adorable in his little bear costume, complete with ears on the hood.

"oh, you scared me, cub!" liam chuckles, scooping the todder up and kissing his cheek. teddy contentedly plays with the string on liam's hat, since liam has dressed up as woody from toy story.

"okay, i think he's done!" zayn calls from the bathroom. he's spent the past twenty minutes drawing a fake beard onto flynn's face, and he completes the look with one of his beanies.

"do i look like you, uncle zayn?" flynn asks, and when liam pokes his head into the bathroom to see, he can't help but laugh. zayn went so far as to draw his tattoos onto flynn.

"hey, go big or go home, right?" zayn chuckles when he sees liam's face.

"absolutely," liam chuckles, reaching out to ruffle flynn's hair.

"don't, daddy!" flynn whines, flinching away. "uncle zee did it perfect!"

liam shakes his head fondly, but settles for touching flynn's cheek affectionately instead. "whatever you say, kiddo."

"your beard looks cool," teddy tells flynn, one hand clinging to liam and the other playing with the ear on the hood of his costume.

flynn beams. "papa, do i look like uncle zayn?" flynn shouts, not bothering to leave the bathroom to find niall.

"hang on," niall calls back. soon enough, he makes his way into the bathroom and rolls his eyes at his husband. "i can't believe you're making me be jessie."

"but zinnia is the cutest buzz lightyear in the world! aren't you, sweet girl?" liam leans in and kisses her nose, and she lets out a squealing giggle. her little buzz lightyear costume is way, way too cute.

"she really is! and lydia is the cutest spiderbaby around," zayn laughs. he's wearing his spiderman suit, and lydia is wearing a tiny, matching one. harry is downstairs, being forced to dress as mj and not being as opposed to it as he pretends he is. 

"alright, are we all set?" liam asks.

"i think so," zayn nods. they all head down the steps, a horde of pop culture references.

"daddy, i want the biggest bag of skittles we get," flynn tells liam, clinging to his hand. "do you like skittles, uncle zee?"

"i like whatever candy you like, kiddo," zayn chuckles, strapping zinnia and lydia into the double stroller. "elise, are you holding papa's hand?"

"yes!" elise cheers. she wanted to be mj as well, 'just like papa!', so she and harry are matching costumes as well. "holdin' hands!"

"alright, then, payne-malik crew, let's go!" zayn cheers, and liam can't help but roll his eyes as all the kids shriek in unison, delighted.

"this is madness," niall says, but he's laughing. teddy is holding his free hand as they make their way down the driveway. all down their street, jack-o-lanterns litter the doorways and children run around, squealing with delight. 

"it is definitely madness," liam nods. "but it's good madness."

"chaotic good," niall agrees, nodding. he takes liam's free hand, keeping an eye on flynn, who's holding elise's hand as the two of them skip down the street. "okay, guys, what do you say?" niall asks as they get to the first house.

"i remember, papa!" flynn assures him, beaming. he actually squirms a little from excitement when the door is opened, and a young woman stands in the doorway, smiling.

"trick or treat!" the kids singsong all at once.

"oh, look at you all!" she coos.

"i dressed up as my uncle! see!" flynn says excitedly, letting go of elise's hand so he can rush to zayn's side, eager to show off the comparison.

"oh, wow! i see that!" she laughs. "looks like the rest of you are the toy story crew! and is that a few spiderpeople i see?"

"yeah!" elise squeals happily.

the woman laughs again, finding this super adorable, but holds out the bowl of candy for the kids.

"what do we say?" harry asks once they've all gotten their candy.

"thank you!" teddy shouts, remembering first, and then all the rest of the kids echo him. "daddy, can i have my candy now?"

"one piece," liam relents after making eye contact with niall. he's not sure how they got to a point where they could communicate without even needing words, but they're definitely there. teddy happily chooses a reese's cup while flynn opens his first pack of skittles. "hey, not all at once," liam adds quickly as flynn prepares to pour the baggie of skittles directly into his mouth.

time passes quickly as they trick or treat, and about an hour in, the kids start to get whiny and tired. liam ends up having to carry flynn, and by the time they get back home, teddy is literally snoring on niall's shoulder.

"no, papa," he whines sleepily when niall tries to unzip his bear costume and put him to bed in his pjs. "keep it on, please?"

"alright, cub, if you're sure," niall smiles, and he kisses his kids goodnight before going back downstairs.

"well, that was an adventure," harry says tiredly, laying in zayn's lap. zayn absentmindedly plays with his hair, as if it's just a reflex, something he's always done.

niall lowers himself into liam's lap. "it sure was."

"elise ate too much candy," zayn adds. "i can't believe she fell asleep as easily as she did."

"she didn't fall asleep easily," harry snorts. "she fought us the whole time."

"i know, but i expected worse." zayn lets out a tired laugh.

niall is playing with the shorter hair at the nape of liam's neck. "i've got a snake in my boot," he mumbles, since liam kept saying that line all night long and now it's stuck in his head.

liam cocks an eyebrow. "i've got a snake you can --"

"oh my god," niall interrupts, burying his face in his hands. zayn and harry are laughing, and all h can do is shake his head. "i hate you," he tells his husband.

"oh, please." liam kisses the side of his head. "you've never loved anyone like you love me."

and it's true, but it's still annoying, so niall just scrunches his face up at his husband. "whatever, dude."

"whatever indeed, pal," liam nods.

"you guys are fucking weird," zayn chuckles, and honestly, who could argue with that?