parenthood | niam au [ON HOLD]

road trip (pt. two)

"daddy, can we get ice cream?" flynn pleads as he looks out the window. teddy immediately squeals, too.

"hmmm. maybe," liam answers, smiling over at niall. they're heading back to the beach they'd been to back when niall was still pregnant with zinnia, and the contrast is strange. niall must be thinking the same thing, because as soon as he gets out of the car he's rubbing his stomach with a strange expression on his face. liam just puts an arm around him and hugs him close for a second.

"i'm good," niall says before liam can even say anything. "just thinking. it's so weird that last time i was here i was pregnant."

"weird for me, too," liam smiles. "remember how overprotective i was? barely let you out of my sight for more than ten seconds." he chuckles at the memory.

"can we build a blanket fort?" elise asks in a sleepy voice. she'd dozed off pretty much right when the car had pulled out of their driveway, but now she's blinking herself awake. "please? we can all sleep in it!"

"we'll see," zayn answers from where's sitting beside her, lydia in the carseat next to him.

elise seems happy with this, and niall just leans his head against the back of his seat and closes his eyes. he knows what liam is feeling even without being able to see him, and he reaches over and takes his husband's free hand. "i'm okay," he assures him. "just tired and really, really happy. thinking about how much i love you and our sweet kids."

liam makes a pained sound in the back of his throat. "you can't say shit like that while i'm driving. can't tell if i wanna kiss the shit out of you or if i want more than just kissing."

niall opens his eyes, jaw falling open, and smacks liam's chest. that doesn't deter liam at all, of course, he just keeps chuckling. "pervert," niall mutters, turning his head to look out the other window.

"only for you," liam responds, and niall doesn't even have to see his face to know he's smirking.

- - -
"daddy, can we play chicken?" teddy asks, bounding over to liam and zayn with teddy in tow. "please? i can go on uncle zee's shoulders and teddy can go on yours! have you played chicken before?" he's so excited he's stumbling over his words, and it makes liam so happy to see his sweet boy so happy.

"of course. you in, zee?"

zayn opens an eye. he'd been most of the way asleep on a towel next to liam, but he can't say no to his nephews. "of course. let's do it. flynn and i are gonna destroy you two, right, kiddo?"

niall shakes his head fondly as the four of them run down to the ocean. elise is sleeping again in harry's lap, and harry rubs some more sunscreen on her nose.

"how're you doing, h?" niall asks his best friend.

"good," harry smiles. his grin deepens as he watches lydia and zinnia play with the sand. "i'm glad we're still doing stuff like this. i like that we're managing our friendships and our kids' friendships, too."

niall leans his head against harry's shoulder, smiles when he feels his best friend kiss the top of his head. "me, too," he murmurs.

"no, zinnia," harry says quickly, jolting forward. "we don't eat the sand, sweetheart. yucky." he brushes the sand off of his niece's face, who just giggles and beams up and him. he shakes his head at her. "you're lucky you're cute, little girl," he says fondly. it makes niall's heart melt to see that his best friend loves his kids as much as he does, and he can't help but hug harry so hard they both topple over. "you dork!" harry laughs, but he hugs niall back just as hard.

- - -
four hours later, the whole family is tucked inside the blanket fort they built. pretty much all the furniture in the living room goes to it, and they managed to even include the tv inside on the other side of the room where the kids are. the princess and the frog is playing, and teddy, hair still wet from his bath, is the only one completely invested. flynn is half-watching with his thumb in his mouth, his other hand playing with a spider-man action figure. spider-man is fighting crime with elise's moana doll, and there's a lot of murmuring about justice and frogs, which makes niall laugh. the two babies are sleeping, all curled up together on a blanket not far from the parents.

"li," harry says, mostly asleep with his head in zayn's lap. zayn is running his fingers through his curls, messing them up and realigning them. even his hands are in love with harry, niall can tell just by the way they're touching.

"yeah?" liam responds, pulling the blanket higher up over himself and niall.

"we should do this more often," harry says with a yawn. "like, more than once a year."

"yeah," zayn agrees. "the kids love it, clearly, and it's good for us, too."

"you're right," liam nods. "we definitely should." he kisses the top of niall's head. "you okay, babe? you're awfully quiet."

"i'm good," niall assures him again. "i think the beach just wore me out."

"dammit. i wanted to wear you out," liam whines, and zayn starts laughing.

"liam! why are you being so sexual today?" niall asks, but he can't help but laugh a little, too.

"not my fault. you're just hot and i wanna have sex with you. out of my hands," liam shrugs. "be less hot and maybe i'll be able to control myself."

"i'm wearing a old ass t-shirt and boxers," niall says back, confused.

"i know, and you're still super hot! it's infuriating!" liam huffs.

niall can't help but laugh and leave a kiss on his husband's chest. he loves him so much; he knows exactly what to say even if niall is feeling insecure, no matter what. they're so in tune, niall doesn't even have to say anything. in fact, niall hadn't even realized how insecure he was feeling until liam complimented him, and now niall is so in love he could probably choke on it.

"if you keep looking at me like that, you're gonna start something," liam warns.

"seriously? here?" zayn asks, still chuckling. "keep it in your pants, payne."

"oh, please. you say the same shit to harry," liam counters.

"he's right," harry interjects.

zayn glares down at him. "just for that, i'm not saying any sexual shit to you ever again."

"i brought those jeans you like, though," harry grins, wiggling his eyebrows.

"i hate you." zayn is still glaring.

"you say with your hand on my butt."

zayn squeezes, and harry yelps. "no idea what you're talking about."

"and you tell me to keep it in my pants," liam teases.

"oh, fuck off, liam."