Swapping Spit (Nouis) [under editing]

Epilogue

POV of no one in particular: possibly God, who's had a hand in the bondage that's occurred between the hearts of Louis and Niall; possibly fate, who crossed the paths of these lovers; possibly nothing, because sometimes the happenings of life just sort of...happen.

---

Louis walks through the door with confident steps and a bright smile to match. "Honey, I'm home!" he yells loudly, his cheeriness echoing off the walls of the new house.

"Lou? You're back soon." Niall appears from behind a stack of boxes to meet his boyfriend in the front hall. They exchange a quick peck before Louis shrugs off his jacket and begins to talk.

"Yeah, Dr. Kala said my check-in went well today, so there was no need to stay longer."

"That's good!" Niall exclaims. "How are you doing with the therapy sessions?"

Louis breathes out with a smile. "I feel better and better each time. It's amazing."

"I'm happy for you, Lou. I really am. You've come so far," Niall speaks. He brings Louis into a tender embrace, burying his nose in the crook of Louis' neck.

After a moment slips by where the two boys are content in each others arms, the soft pitter patter of little feet sounds behind them.

They break apart and look down at their child, who's blonde hair is messily strewn across his forehead, obscuring his view.

"Papa!" he exclaims and then it is his turn to give Louis a hug.

"Hey, Colby," Louis smiles and ruffles his long locks. "It's almost time for a haircut," he notes out loud. He then picks the child up, grunting in effort as the lad's been going through one heck of a growth spurt recently. "How are you?"

"I'm good. I was helping Daddy unpack boxes until you came home. Then he said we can eat!"

"That sounds great! I'm starving!" Louis laughs while placing the lad back down. Just then, Niall and Louis' other child joins them, in her hands a photograph.

"Hi, Lilly-doll," Louis greets the 11-year-old. Her hair, a chestnut brown, cascades down her back in loose waves. Below the curtain of hair is a pink dress with ruffles at the bottom.

"Hi Papa," she says absentmindedly, more focused on the subjects in the photograph than her dad.

"What's that a photo of?" Niall questions her. He bends down beside her and peers over her petite shoulder.

"I found it in the box of photos. It's of all of us together." Lilly shows it to Niall, then Louis, and then Colby who suddenly became interested upon seeing his dads' reactions to it.

A tidal wave of emotions hits Louis. "That's the first picture we took together as a family."

In the photo, Louis and Niall are stood next to each other, Niall's arms slung over his boyfriend's shoulder. In Louis' arms is 7-year-old Colby, smiling brighter than the sun. And on Niall's outer hip sits Lilly, hugging her arms around her new dad's torso. The happiness and pure elation the four of them felt at the time the picture was taken transfers into the present.

Louis smiles in attempt to push away the prickle of tears. Colby and Lilly wouldn't understand if he started crying over a simple photo. But to Louis, it was much more than that. The photograph represents the moment of his new beginning as a dad and hopefully-some-day-husband. He could use having a family as a way to distract himself from the lasting emotional pain of being raped, and instead focus on raising two amazing children alongside the love of his life.

The photograph also marks the time in his life where he really and truly saw the light at the end of the dark road he was put on by Richard and Fred. There was hope in the photograph and Louis felt it inside his heart. He still feels that same hope now, ever growing in his strong heart.