Levirate [Haniaal/Zarry]

Chapter 33

A/N: Typed this on my phone. Expect errors
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Harry has found that in the recent weeks he looks forward to Zayn's return from work. Trisha is insufferable for him and he has begun to enjoy Zayn's childishness. With everything else around him feeling so serious, Zayn's stupidity is the only gleam of light. Today is not any different. Zayn gets home and heads to the shower like always to wash away the bad aura that he might have collected during the day. Harry found the whole custom really weird but Trisha and Zayn insist that bad auras attach to people and need to be cleansed before attaching to the baby.

Zayn has the biggest smile by the time he steps into Harry's room. Harry is envious of how excited he gets when he sees his nephew and his niece, well technically they are his son and daughter. Harry feels bad that he does not share the same excitement but at least for the few hours that they spend with the children, Zayn's excitement rubs off on him. He is able to laugh at the cooing noises that the three partake in and the many faces that Zayn makes for the babies that seems to drive them crazy with laughter.

"So how are you feeling today?" Harry is floating away somewhere in his brain and barely registers the question. His eyes refocuses when he feels eyes on him and he finds Zayn staring at him, one eyebrow raised. "Oh you were asking me? I thought maybe you were talking to the babies". Harry feels ridiculous after saying that because Zayn normally just cooes or uses baby talk with the babies so why would he talk to them now. "Ag I guess I'm feeling a lot better. I'm feeling exhausted though". Zayn nods and gives him a comforting smile.

"They haven't been giving you too many problems today?"

Harry wants to be honest with him and tell him that they give him problems every single moment. They never sleep at the same time but they are always hungry at the same time. When he is tired, they are energised. When he takes a shower they wake up. He has not had any sleep in a very long time and he is tired and annoyed. He does not think he is any good at this parenting gig. He finds himself wishing that Daniaal would still be here. At least Harry would be able to be open and vulnerable with him. After being together for as long as they were, he was way past the point of trying to impress and appear strong. Now he finds himself wanting to be everything to his babies and it has taken such a toll on him, that most times he does not know if he is coming or going.

"No, not at all" he replies eventually and tries to offer a smile but he can see from how Zayn furrows his eyebrows that he was not convinced by the smile. "You can rest you know. I have them". Feeling like he is very close to unraveling, he slowly slides down the bed and asks Zayn to wake him up if he is needed. He is almost drifting off when he thinks he hears Zayn's voice saying "Everything will be okay, you'll see" and that is strangely soothing for him. Maybe he was not talking to him.

***

When Harry wakes up and checks the time, he finds that it has been 6 hours already since he took that nap. He jumps out of bed frantically, ready to go find his babies because he has not been away from them for that long and he does not trust anyone with them. As he is reaching for his slippers under the bed, his eyes land on Zayn and the babies. Zayn has set up blankets and pillows on the carpet and is lying on his back, both babies wrapped under his arms, all three dozing off peacefully. The babies are in cute minion pyjamas that Harry knows for certain were bought by Zayn because a) he would never buy anything like that and b) he remembers seeing those lil yellow balls of cuteness on that movie they watched a while back. He halts his movement and just stares at them. The way the twins cling to his shirt and the way he has wrapped his arms so protectively around the babies overwhelms him. He has this sudden urge to take a picture of the situation and he is reaching for his phone when another voice stops him. His irrational part of his brain taunts him about how Trisha will use this against him and edges him to kick Zayn out of his bedroom. He is about to approach them when his nose catches a foul odour from his armpits. Deciding to rather freshen up before taking over the role of being a father, he rushes to his bathroom and runs a bath. Throwing in his favorite citrus bath bomb, he strips and climbs into the bath. The relief is instantaneous, the water massaging his tired body and he finds himself excited by the prospect of having this alone time.

He steps into his bedroom feeling refreshed and empowered. He is in a robe and has wrapped a towel around his head. He finds Zayn standing awkwardly in the middle of the room seemingly avoiding to look around. "Zayn" he says in a monotone voice. Zayn raises his head and smiles at him. "Uhm Harry. I was about to head downstairs. Look, I apologise for sleeping in your room, it wasn't intentional. The twins fell asleep on me and I know how you don't want them away from you and you seemed really tired..." He trails off at the end and rubs the back of his neck like he always does when he is nervous. "I'm just gonna uhm" says Zayn while he walks backwards and nudges his head towards the door. He is almost out of the room when Harry calls him. When he turns, Harry smiles at him and says "Thank you for staying with them". Zayn's face lights up at that and he responds with a simple "You are welcome Harry". Closing the door, he stands there for a while trying to calm down from the high he gets everytime Harry compliments him. Feeling normal again, he starts his journey towards the stairs and runs into Trisha on the passage who gives him a knowing look.

"What Ma?".

Trisha smiles and shrugs her shoulders. "What? I didn't say anything. Took you an awful lot of time to notice me. I have been standing here for a whole 10 minutes now. Where did you drift off to?"

"Nowhere Ma. I was just stretching my body"

"You must have super powers finally because your body was frozen during your stretch. Anyway you have such a beautiful smile sonshine. You should smile like that more often".

Zayn shakes his head at her and quietly makes his way downstairs. When he is in the middle of the staircase, he hears his mom say "You were in there for such a long time. I wonder why" and she chuckles. Zayn laughs with her and tells her to stop with her insinuations. "Just an observation baby, no insinuation whatsoever. I have eaten by the way, I felt so alone at dinner. I have kept yours and Harry's food in the oven You can dish up". As he makes his way to the living room for dinner, Zayn's smile gradually gets wider. He has managed to make Harry smile and what a beautiful smile it is. He spends the evening thinking about how he wants to see the smile that Harry gave him more often. He needs to come up with ways for that Harry to be a constant feature in this house.