boys //ziam

chapter fifty-one

liam had been planning a week getaway with his husband for what seems like months now. zayn wanted to wait till jordan got back from new york, and when he did they decided to stay longer to keep an eye on him since he was exhibiting some signs of substance abuse. that just led to postponing their trip till this moment.

but zayn doesn't want to go because if he did then they might miss jordan's seventeenth birthday. liam has been trying to convince him all day that jordan doesn't care but zayn is insisting.

"why can't we just go after his birthday?" zayn pouts. he knows they've been postponing because of him and he'll feel terrible if they cancel it because liam has been really looking forward to it.

"i already made the deposits. i can't get a refund zayn,"

"well you shouldn't have made deposits without telling me first,"

"i wanted to surprise you,"

"liam i'm not sure you understand how surprises work," zayn replies.

"i guess it's time to come clean. zayn, i wasn't planning on spending our getaway week in some hotel," liam starts. "i wanted us to continue our vacation in italy, you know the one we had to cut short because i let work cut into our time. i knew you were upset then and i wanna make it up to you."

"w-what? you want us to leave the country?"

"yes. think about the next time we'd get this opportunity again, you wouldn't be able to travel any further into this pregnancy and when the baby comes, we'll be too busy taking care of a newborn to have time for ourselves. this is the only chance we could have in years zayn, and i'm sorry it coincided with jordan's birthday but there's nothing we can do about that," liam explains.

"you're right," zayn says. if he gets any bigger they might not be able to travel anymore, and this is currently the easiest part of his pregnancy. he still has morning sickness sometimes but it's getting better than it was before. and after they have the baby, zayn knows that the next time they could travel again could possibly be when the baby is old enough to stay with someone other than them.

"you're the most thoughtful husband ever," zayn adds. "thank you."

liam smiles. "i'm sorry that we have to miss jordan's seventeenth but he's not a little kid anymore. he wouldn't mind at all."

"i know," zayn says. "i'll buy him the best present ever in italy to make up for it."

"i'm just worried he might take advantage of our absence," liam says. they wouldn't be able to ensure that jordan follows through with the rules they set for him.

"yeah he definitely would. it's his seventeenth birthday, his parents are out of the country. he's definitely gonna throw a party," zayn says. "i hope nothing happens to the house."

liam cringes at the thought of multiple teenagers around his house and possibly breaking things.

"we could get zayaad to come keep an eye on them on some days," liam suggests.

zayn frowns. "it's like you don't know my brother at all. zayaad will definitely encourage him."

"maybe we should learn to start trusting jordan," liam says. "he hasn't done anything for a month and he regularly goes for his appointments. i think that he'll be fine."

"i hope so," zayn says.

...

time moves by fairly quick and soon enough zayn and liam are on their way to the airport. jordan offers to drive them, which was very nice and surprising of him but zayn figures that he was just excited about their absence. noah tags along too, he's been glued to zayn's side ever since he said they were leaving. out of all his kids, noah is the one most attached to zayn. he's technically the youngest after all, but not for long with the new baby coming. zayn makes a mental note to spend more time with his kids when he gets back as they might not have much time with each other when he has the baby.