Sugar ♡ Niam AU [COMPLETE]

ONE

"Daddy, where's my shoe?" Zoey, Niall's six-year-old daughter asked. She had one tiny converse shoe on her foot and a Star Wars sock on the other.

"Give me a second, love," Niall said, trying to wrangle a light up Buzz Lightyear shoe onto a squirming Isaac's foot. "Isaac, baby, please work with me." Isaac was three and occasionally hard to handle.

"Daddy, Sena put my shoe in the toilet!" Zoey shrieked, holding her dripping wet shoe and pulling Sena into the room by her little chubby arm. Sena was nearly two and a troublemaker, but she made Niall laugh, and he adored her.

"Sena," Niall said tightly, after finally getting the shoe on Isaac's foot. Sena just giggled and stuck her thumb in her mouth. Niall sighed for a second, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Zoey, go change your shoes. Isaac, go get your coat, please. Sena..." The baby looked up at him, giggling happily when Niall could do nothing but give her a smile. "Come here, little princess." He picked her up, pressing a kiss to her soft cheek.

Niall loved his kids more than anything in the world. It was difficult, sometimes, being the single father of three, but he wouldn't give up his kids for the world. Niall had adopted Zoey first, when she was two and a half, and then Isaac a year later. Sena was the most recent addition to the Horan family, and was the perfect little piece. She was a very affectionate, very happy baby, and Niall smiled just thinking about it.

"Ready, kids?" Niall called, tucking Sena into a fluffy blue coat that had originally been Zoey's (but Isaac had worn it, too, because fuck gender roles).

"Ready, Daddy," Isaac beamed, bouncing his way to the door. Niall ruffled his hair, and he leaned his head against Niall's hip.

"I'm ready, too," Zoey called, and Niall shut and locked the door behind them.

~ ~ ~

"Are the files I asked for last night on my desk?" Liam asked as he guzzled down his coffee.

"Yes," his assistant and best friend, Louis, said, following Liam into his office. "Why didn't you come out with us last night, Li? It was really fun!"

"You know parties aren't my thing, Louis," Liam sighed as he sifted through the papers on his desk.

"That's because you never go to them," Louis frowned. "You should give a try, Liam, you might actually get laid."

Liam's head snapped up and he glared at Louis. "Get out," he snapped.

Louis' face fell. "Liam, I didn't mean–"

"Just go," Liam sighed, because even Louis was too much for him sometimes. It was part of the reason why he hadn't dated anyone since college – people exhausted him. They said and did unkind things, and it was just easier for Liam to be alone.

Louis finally left, and Liam sat down to see what his next project was. He opened the folder and he saw that he was supposed to build a new hotel complex right near the suburbs. Picking up his phone, he said, "Louis, call that bakery over on Sycamore to see how much we have to pay them to buy them out. Go as high as they like, but nothing too crazy, yeah?"

Liam cracked his neck and set to work with the paperwork. He loved starting new projects, and even more than that, he loved tearing things down and building them up again.