Chapter 21: Red Fred Said

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"Cute as a button, every single one of you."
-Harry (Marcel) Styles

ZAYN'S POV

"No, no, no. You get this doll. This one's mine," Lyla cuddles the dolly's dark brown curly hair.

"Ok, do I get the pram?" I ask, rolling it back and forth, as it is set beside us, as we distribute the toys amongst the three of us.

"Here, you lads pick clothes, whilst I'll get the linens," Olivia, the lovely bird, jumps up, running over to the wardrobe. They both really are pretty lasses. Olivia with her beautiful ginger curls, strong cheek bones, and the few freckles that speckled the end of her nose. Then Lyla, her brown roots quickly turning to blonde, matching the mesmerizing turquoise that engulfed her pupils.

"Mates! Dinner!" We hear Louis yell from downstairs.

"Aww," The girls whine in unison.

"We can finish playing later," I soothe them.

"I'll race 'ya!" Olivia slips quickly before racing out the door, Lyla got on her heels complaining.

"Hey! That's not fair!"

I walk down after them, meeting everyone at the table, where there were plates and flatware set up.

I close my eyes as I deeply inhale the smell of...cheeseburgers? I peek through my slightly ajar eyelid. Cheeseburgers.

"We stopped at Nando's," Niall explains, noticing my furrowed brows.

"Nando's?" Olivia questions, sitting down at her usual seat at the table. We own a simple table, three seats on each side, with one single chair at the head of the table. Olivia sits in one of the middle seats in the row with three chairs, to the right of Lyla, left of Liam, and Niall directly across from her. On Niall's left is Harry, me on his right, and Louis at the head.

"You've never been to Nando's?" Niall asks, his jaw dropping to the floor.

Olivia looks at Lyla, before they both proceed to shake their heads.

"Just take a bite and fall in love. Simple as that," Niall states, instantly digging into his burger.

"Wait, let's say grace first," Olivia states, holding her hands out for Liam and Lyla to take.

All of us look around to one another and shrug, before taking up each others' hands.

"Dear Lord, I'd like to thank you for this food, and our two amazing babysitters, and friends, but most of all our amazing family. I don't know where we would be without them. We are all really blessed to have each other, I think some people take family for granted, which they shouldn't. People don't really appreciate anything, until they don't have it. I'd also like to say that, I'm glad that our dad got arrested, our mum ran out on us, and we set out to find her, because if we hadn't, how could we have met our family? I'd like to thank you, God.

Amen. And please have Allah look after us."

She opens her little eyes, unclasping her delicate fingers before saying, "Let's dig in!"

I keep thinking of how she always refers to us all as "family", it is the greatest word I've ever heard roll off her tongue. I'm glad she no longer thinks that they are weeds in our flower garden, because they certainly aren't. We never get to visit our own family very much, so it is nice to have our own. Don't get me wrong, I love the guys, you know when it is the five of us, but I feel as if Lyla and Olivia are just these pieces that we didn't even realize were missing from our lives.

I watch as Liam leans over, leaving a lingering kiss atop Olivia's burning red head.

She giggles, revealing her small, pearly whites, few of them missing.

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