Kick, Push

Competition Day: -5,478

"Baba I'm scared."

"It's ok love, I'm right here."

Arms outstretched to show that he was ready to catch the five year old if she fell, Zayn inspects her foot placement on the skateboard under her feet to make sure that the odds of her taking a spill were lowered by at least having the right form. "You've got all your pads and helmet on, you won't get hurt. I promise."

The small girl turns her wide eyes to the man next to Zayn, wanting extra confirmation from him that things were going to be alright from her drop down the two meter ramp.

"He'll catch you sweetheart, and if he doesn't, I will," Liam promises with his phone at the ready, though Zayn knows that if it came down to it, his husband would drop the device in a second to save their daughter.

"It's not that bad Soph!"

All three watch as the nine year old who gave the reassurance coasts over on his own board from across the warehouse. "Once you do it the first time, you'll want to do it a million more."

The encouragement from her brother causes the girl to stare back at her Father's awaiting arms and lean forward just enough for her weight to push the board off the edge of the ramp.

Zayn steps back as she rides the short distance down, following her as she drifts towards the center of the room as much as her tiny body would allow.

"I did it!" The girl squeals, its volume going up when Zayn lifts her off the board and twirls her in the air.

He's got the biggest smile as he lets her wrap her arms and legs around him in a hug. "I'm so proud of you," Zayn says into her hair after leaving a kiss there.

Phone now in his pocket, Liam comes up to steal the girl from Zayn's arms. "Me too," he praises. "That was a big step. You're so brave."

"We should celebrate!"

Zayn laughs at the younger boy's enthusiastic suggestion, but he's right, they should. The milestone might not have been the largest, considering how far he's come since Zayn's taught him how to skate - and if Zayn thought Liam was a worrier when they were younger, he was nothing compared to when they became Fathers for the first time. Luckily he's learned how to relax about scrapes and bruises over the past nine years, but the first time Ryder got on a board, Zayn made sure Liam was at work. It might have caused a fight after dinner between the two men when the boy, then four, met his Father at the door as soon as he heard the keys hit the lock to babble on about how he didn't just get to watch Zayn in the family's skateboarding warehouse that day, he got to join him, but Zayn didn't care.

"How about we go out to eat?"

The other three are agreeing to Zayn's idea, already moving towards the exit of the indoor park.

"Can I wear your medal to dinner?" Sophie asks Liam, not wanting to get down from her spot in his arms.

Zayn smiles to himself as he nudges the little girl's board out in front of him and jumps on to kick, push, his way to the area where they keep decks. Only on very rare occasions does Zayn take out his two gold medals from their cases in his office, and as much as he wants to make his daughter happy, he's not about to have sticky fingers get all over something as important as Olympic relics. Hearing a "maybe when we get back" come from Liam lets him know the man's thinking the same thing.

It does warm his heart how the girl refers to one of the medals however. His first win was for himself, for skateboarding as a whole, but his second? That was dedicated to his husband of two and a half years at the time. For his love and support, but mostly because he never got the chance to be on the podium himself. That gold was Liam's and now they both could finish their realistic bucket lists.

"Can we get Chinese?" Ryder asks as he skates up next to Zayn, throwing his board into the slot that has his name decorated in purple flames above it. "I want to try the chopsticks again."

"You hear that?" After putting away Sophie's board into her slot, Zayn looks back at Liam. "Our son wants to get good at chopsticks."

Liam's not impressed by the joke, playfully glaring at his husband, who's aged tremendously in the fifteen years they've known each other.

"What?"

Zayn sees that the young boy's confused by the inside joke that he's not in on. "When I met your Dad, he was rubbish at chopsticks. I had to teach him how to use them even though we were already adults."

"There's nothing wrong with learning things when you're older," Liam retorts, hoisting the girl in his arms up higher to get a better grip on her.

Like how you tried to get me on a surfboard when we were in Hawaii? Zayn thinks to himself. At the time, Liam had had a pretty compelling argument that revolved around Zayn being a master at balance on the ground, so the translation would be virtually the same in water, except Zayn and deep water didn't mix, Liam knew that. It helped that the example worked both ways. Why couldn't Liam get on a skateboard then if he was so good at surfing? The counter argument had Zayn basking in the sun far from the unknown depths of the sea.

"Does that mean you'll try and learn how to skate with us Daddy?"

It's no secret that both men have a soft spot for the little girl, but not even her innocent tone can get Liam to budge on that. "Skateboarding is all your Baba. I'm just your guys' number one fan."