thirty-four: the aftermath

3.3K 233 55
                                    

thirty-four: the aftermath

"Mummy, look what I do!" Nathan shrieks as soon as Louis and Zayn both walk back into the front room. Nathan comes running towards the both of them, holding up the cut up piece of paper that was supposed to resemble a snowflake but really just looked like shreds of paper up high and proud. Louis plasters a smile on his face before bending down to Nathan's level, carefully taking the paper from his hands.

"It looks wonderful, Nate. Did Robbie help you?" Louis asks, looking over at Robbie who was sitting on the floor over with the rest of the children. Quinn was sitting in his lap, watching Ethan curiously as he doodles on the paper. Easton was in his own little world, rolling onto his stomach before rolling back onto his back. Zayn had made his way over there as well, sitting down next to Ethan as he watches his son continue to doodle on the paper.

"Yes. Robbie help. But I make." Nathan says, nodding as he wraps his arms around Louis' neck. Louis stands up at that point, hoisting Nathan up with him with a small grimace. Nathan was definitely bigger since the last time Louis really actually held him.

"Did you tell him thank you?"

"Yes." Nathan says after a moment, almost hesitant with his answer before he starts to squirm. Louis smiles fondly at his oldest before putting the little boy back down, shaking his head a little as he goes running off towards Robbie. Nathan throws his arms around Robbie for a second, earning a surprised gasp from Robbie before the young man grinned.

"Did you show your mummy?" Robbie asks quietly, earning a nod from Nathan before he lets go of Robbie.

"Mummy say thank you." Nathan says, grinning as he sits back down next to his brother. Louis is still smiling at the twins, feeling a little sad as he watches them interact with Robbie and Zayn. He felt like he was intruding, even though three out of the four children were his, but he still felt out of place. It hadn't really hit him yet how long it had been since he'd seen his sons interact with their father, or really how long it had been since he'd really gotten to see his sons. They'd grown up a lot in the past year, speaking way more than just the word Ma followed by the occasional no. They didn't look like him as much as they used to either, their features looking more like Zayn's now. They also acted more like Zayn now, even though Nathan was still just as loud as he used to be.

"Everything alright?" Louis jumps a little when Harry comes up behind him.

"Everything's fine. Are you alright?" Louis asks, looking at his best friend with a frown. Harry's left cheek was rather bruised, a band aid over his right eyebrow and his lip was split. Harry just shrugs, wincing a little before giving him a smile.

"It was worth it." Harry says honestly, his eyes flicking towards Niall who walks into the front room as well. Niall doesn't even acknowledge Harry, going straight to Easton and picking him up.

"Is he okay?"

"Not really, but he won't talk to me about it right now. To be fair though, he did just find out that the father of his child is a rapist so I think it's safe to say he has the right to not be okay." Harry says quietly, looking at Niall again.

"I didn't mean to cause any trou-" Louis starts only to have Harry interrupt him.

"You didn't cause this, Louis."

"I did though.... I should've... I should've told someone instead of just up and leaving again. I should've said something and we wouldn't be here. I wouldn't feel like a stranger to my own kids and you wouldn't look like you just got jumped in an alley." Louis says, glaring at Harry as he lets out a small snort of laughter.

"We both know I wouldn't get jumped in an alley." Harry says, a cheesy grin on his face as Louis just shakes his head.

"If you think I look bad, you should see the other guy." Harry continues, still grinning as Louis once again shakes his head. Harry opens his mouth to say yet another thing but he doesn't get the chance before Louis lets out a sigh.

"Are you ready to go?" Louis asks, earning a shrug from Harry.

"Yeah, I guess so. We're gonna take Niall with us though cause I don't want him to be here alone."

"That's fine... I'm just... I'm just gonna grab Quinn while you do that." Louis says quietly, already walking over to where his daughter and sons were playing happily. Louis reaches down from Quinn who had crawled out of Robbie's lap, holding the small baby against his hip before he looks at the boys. He didn't want to say goodbye so soon... but he didn't want to stay in a place he clearly didn't belong in either. Zayn looks up from his spot next to Ethan, his smile fading a little bit as he sees the sad look on Louis' face.

"Heading out?" Zayn asks, earning a nod from Louis who bites down on his bottom lip.

"Yeah, it's getting late." Louis says, but it really isn't the reason why he's leaving.

"Well it was great seeing you... You're not leaving town right?" Zayn asks, a little panicked for a second but it goes right over Louis' head.

"No, just going over to Harry's place." Louis says awkwardly, shifting on his feet as he glances over at Harry who was hugging Niall against his side.

"Oh cool, you're um... You're welcome to come see the boys whenever you'd like, just give me a call before you come over?" Zayn says just as awkwardly, glancing over at Robbie who was pretending not to listen.

"Will do." Louis whispers, smiling at Zayn tightly.

"Alright... I'll see you later."

"Yeah... I'll see you later."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sigh.

This chapter was... eh.

Oh well.

Dedication goes to rainbowfriday

QOTC: how do you guys feel about narry? (As in Narry in this story. Not Narry as a whole.)

Comment

and

Vote

Connie xx

Perfect (sequel to Style)(zouis mpreg)(book two)Where stories live. Discover now