Clarity « Niam

Chapter 23

All morning Liam's been in court, which left Niall at home with Aybrum - like how it used to be. He'd taken the day off from work, wanting to spend a full day with his son and not have to hand him off to a sitter.

"Peanut, come cuddle. It's getting cold and I need my little snuggle bug back." Niall slightly raised his voice, calling out to the toddler that had climbed out of bed ten minutes ago. Saying he was going to make them a snack.

Aybrum came back into the bedroom a few minutes later, his blanket was draped over his head as he carried two bananas and some grapes he'd managed to crush. "Bubba, eat."

Niall smiled at the toddlers selection, grabbing the squished grapes from him so they wouldn't get all over the bedsheets. "Thank you, Aybrum. You've made us a very healthy snack, I'm sure daddy would appreciate this."

Aybrum was maneuvering the tricky peel off his banana when he smiled at the mention of Liam, "Daddy home?"

"No, you know that. Remember he gave you hugs, and lots and lots of kisses this morning." He spoke softly, already regretting mentioning Liam because he'd have to break the news to him all over again.

"Come home?" Aybrum questioned, holding the banana up for Niall to take a bite because the toddler never liked taking the first bite of a banana.

Niall smiled at the toddler, putting a hand on Aybrum's side. "No, daddies going back to work remember. We'll see him in a few months, but we can talk to him on the phone."

He pushed out his bottom lip, "Call now, bubba."

"We can't peanut, he's in a really important meeting today so we can't bug him with phone calls. Maybe tomorrow night once I'm home from work we can give him a call, yeah." He tried, wanting to change Aybrum's focus.

Aybrum dramatically flopped down face first into the blankets, growling at Niall's unsatisfying words. He stayed still a few seconds and then collected his things, crawling down from the bed and ran out of the bedroom. Seconds later Niall heard Aybrum's bedroom door loudly slam shut and moments later the toddler was sobbing in the other room.

Niall desperately wanted to comfort the toddler, but how was he supposed to do that when the one thing that could truly comfort Aybrum was out of reach. He grabbed his phone and dialed Liam's number, praying he would catch him at an in between time and Liam could talk with Aybrum for a couple minutes.

"Niall I can't really talk right now. I've got a five minute break and then I have to go back in, I'll call you back later." Liam hurriedly said.

"Wait, just talk to Aybrum. He's crying in his room because I said you weren't coming back for a few months." He pleaded, already heading down the hall to get Aybrum.

Liam huffed, "I really can't. I don't have time."

"You just said you had five minutes, use two of them to talk with him - please." He begged, stopping outside Aybrum's closed door.

"Shit, Niall." He cussed, clearly torn with his current situation. "Why don't I try and stop by after this, before I catch my plane."

Niall stepped away from Aybrum's door, "Seriously Liam, it takes two fucking seconds to tell him you'll see him soon or that you love him." He hissed into the phone, not wanting Aybrum to hear anything being said. "I told you to stop putting him last in your priorities. I know you've got a lot on your plate right now, but this is what happens when you have kids with more than one person."

"Alright, two minutes." Liam sighed, knowing Niall made his point because they wouldn't be in this mess if had of just been loyal from the start.

"Thank you, just a second." He murmured as he opened the toddlers door and spotted him snugly tucked under his crib with his stuffed giraffe. "Peanut daddies on the phone, do you want to say hi?"

Aybrum hesitantly poked his head out, not believing Niall at first because he remembers him saying they couldn't call and that's why he was so upset in the first place.

"Come on out and talk with daddy, he's only got a couple minutes." Niall further coaxed, smiling when Aybrum crawled out and grabbed the phone from him.

"Daddy?" He questioned softly, still unsure if Liam was going to be on the other end.

"Hey bud, you alright?" Liam slightly laughed into the phone, knowing Aybrum was probably making that adorable puppy face.

Aybrum smiled towards Niall, his eyes lighting up at the familiar voice. "No, come home daddy."

"Awe bud, I wish I could but I've got to go back to work. I'll see you again soon, maybe I can make it so you can come visit me and stay for a bit. How's that sound?"

He nodded, oblivious to the fact that Liam can't actually see him. "Okay, love you daddy."

"Love you too, bud." Liam smiled at the toddlers words, wishing he could drop everything and just go be with him. "But I gotta go Aybrum, I'll try really hard to call you again today - okay. You be a good for you dad and no more crying, yeah. I'll miss you loads."

Aybrum had already started crying, knowing Liam was saying goodbye again and wiped his teary face on his stuffed giraffe. "Miss you, daddy."

"Alright bud, can you give dad back the phone so I can say bye to him real quick?" He hesitantly questioned, not knowing if the toddler would willingly give up the phone.

"Bye daddy." Aybrum hiccuped, handing the phone to Niall and buried his face into his giraffe as he sat down on the floor and cried.

Niall's heart sank even more at the toddlers actions, trying not to look at him because he can't handle watching him cry without crying himself.

"Hello, Niall?" Liam questioned.

"Yeah, I'm here." Niall sighed, pushing a hand through his hair. "Liam he's literally on the ground crying, I cannot go through this every time you leave. He's inconsolable."

"Fuck, I know and I'm sorry." He apologized, feeling almost as much heartache as Niall was - the only thing that prevented him from breaking down was that he couldn't see the saddened toddler.

Niall sat down beside Aybrum, letting the toddler crawl into his lap and bury his wet face against his torso. "No it's alright, I should've been better prepared and I stupidly brought you up. I think we'll have a movie day and have some extended cuddles." He murmured as he kissed the top of Aybrum's head, rubbing a hand along his back to soothe him.

"I can hear him crying," he commented.

Niall looked down at Aybrum's reddened face, seeing the steady stream of tears roll down his cheeks. "You should get back and I need to take care of him. Call whenever you can, yeah - and I'm sorry I yelled at you. I was frustrated, I know you're trying to balance all this and my nagging isn't helping."

"I deserve the reality check, you're the only person who yells at me - other than Zayn and his mum." He halfheartedly laughed, "You keep my head from getting too big, but I do need to get back in. I'm getting the evil eye from my lawyer."

"Alright, peanut you want to say bye to daddy one last time?" Niall tried, holding the phone by Aybrum.

He shook his head, blindly batting the phone away and hiccuped through his next wave of tears.

"Bye Aybrum, I love you!" Liam slightly yelled, wanting to make sure the toddler could hear him.

Aybrum looked at the phone, and grabbed it with two hands. "Love you, daddy!" He shouted and then started crying again.

"Bye, Liam." Niall murmured as they ended their call, he scooped up the toddler and cradled him in his arms like he did when Aybrum was an infant. "It's alright baby, he'll be back soon." He cooed softly, rocking the distraught toddler.