The Malikson Family

Quality time

Louis POV

It's amazing how deeply you can love a grandchild despite it not being your actual baby. I can understand with your own children. You carried them or watched them grow for 9 months and spent every waking moment of the day worrying about their health, needs, future, everything! But with a grandchild it's almost like having your own baby back again. All the same love, happiness and adoration but without the unbelievable tiredness and intense responsibility to an extent.
Gemma fit right in with our little clan, even managing to win over Niall with her extremely tight baby grip on his finger. After that she was the 'best girl ever' in his eyes. Harry wasn't particularly bothered by her. He usually just cuddles with her on either zayn, Liam, Sophia or my chest. They tend to nap together too which is beyond adorable especially when Harry decides to share his teddies with her. Gemma's obviously too young to comprehend what he's doing but someday she will. He loves sitting on the living room rug beside her bouncer while he plays and he even gives her blocks and things that she usually drops after about 5 seconds but Harry seems to find that funny which is perfect. Niall even joins in on their fun from time to time which is something I had never expected but that girl has us all wrapped around her little finger.
Zayn and I are infatuated with her. She's like the baby girl we never had. She's only just turned two weeks old and already she's being dressed in dresses and pink and purple everything (within reason of course) She's definitely going to be treated like a little princess. We're trying to avoid picking her up too much so she won't become spoilt or anything which is a challenge since she's just so cute and cuddly but then again, Harry and Niall are fairly good at satisfying that need too.
Gemma was fast asleep in Harry's playpen at the moment after just finishing a bottle of milk for her daddy.
Liam wanted to surprise Sophia by bringing her out in a date like any other teenage couple would and of course I offered to watch the baby. She's no hassle anyway and they desperately needed a break from this type of responsibility for a while. He's only 16 for crying out loud!
"Dad, if she wakes up just give her her dummy and if she doesn't take it, put so-"
"Gripe water, I know Liam I've been in the same house as her since she was born. Don't worry, she'll be fine! Go enjoy your meal and don't even think about coming back for at least 3 hours! I'll be counting" I smiled as Harry tugged on my pants lightly, trying to pull himself up but getting nowhere so I scooped him up into my arms instead and pulled faces at my giggly baby boy.
"Ok. Thanks again for this dad." Liam said with a thankful smile as he tugged on his vans and took a key to the front door with him.
Harry cuddled into my jumper, clearly loving the soft woolly texture against his cheek as I answered quietly "no problem son. Have a laugh, yeah? She'll be fine don't panic. Maybe catch a movie or bring some friends back here. You're too young to be acting like a married couple."
And after a sneaky eye roll and leaving a gentle kiss on his newborn daughters forehead he walked out the door to meet Sophia at the library, where she took off studying for the morning.
"Awww does Harry fancy daddy's jumper?" I cooed as harry continued to nuzzle his cheek into the wine coloured fabric, mewling at the feeling.
"Aww I think someone's just tired." I whispered as Harry's face remained buried in my jumper, his petite body going heavier than before.
"Would you like to take a nap with Gemma? Hmm?" Even though he couldn't answer he could definitely comprehend what was being asked because he immediately began to look towards his playpen, which had become more of a shared play pen over the past few days.
His green eyes became glossy as he let out a big yawn, even squeaking as he did so, before laying back on my shoulder with his thumb tucked between his upcoming teeth and fragments of gum, a habit we were gradually trying to kick.
"Here bubba. Try your dummy instead. You don't want that dirty little thumb in your mouth honeybee." I soothed as he whined at my intervention but he quickly settled back down at the feeling of his most prized possession bobbing up and down in his mouth rhythmically. I slowly bobbed him in my arms as he let out cute, purr-like noises from his spot on my shoulder, something that always seemed to calm him down. That and rubbing his tummy are what's keeping us sane when he wakes up at 4am looking for a feed or a cuddle, although I must admit, he is very good to sleep the night for a child of his age.
All of a sudden I felt another slight tug at my jeans, only to find Niall gazing up at me expectantly.
"Hey buddy! What's up?"
"Wan' pway"
"Well I think nap time would be a good idea at the moment. What do you think?"
"I no tired daddy. I sleeped wery good last night" he lisped as he attempted to jump into my arms, ignoring the fact that they were already full with his younger brother but that's Niall for you, he's like a bull in a china shop most of the time.
"Ni, please. I'm trying to get Haz to take a nap and you don't wanna wake Gemma up either do you?" I scolded as the 3 year old stared blankly back at me with his faint eyebrows furrowed.
"No but I wan' cuddles pwease" his puppy dog eyes were too much to resist as always and I was a weak person when it comes to my boys. Sadly they knew that too and had no problem using it to their advantage.
"Alright, how about we watch a movie on the couch?" I winced as he all but yelled yeah in response causing Gemma to stir and Harry to whimper at the sudden change in volume .
"Shhhh... You go pick a movie, I'll be right back."
And with that I headed out to the kitchen to microwave a bottle for Harry in hopes of making him sleepy and I also got both of the boys dummies as well. Niall only gets his at bedtime or for naps but he would undoubtedly end up conked out after 15 minutes of whatever movie he had chosen anyway. Little did he know, I'd just tricked him into nap time.
Harry squirmed in my arms again, leaving his dummy slip from his mouth as he let out a pained sob while continuing to clench at my jumper and nuzzle the side of his head into it quite frustratedly which was unusual for H. He seemed just fine a couple of minutes ago.
"What's up darling? You tired bugaboo?" I hummed, placing a gentle kiss to his forehead as he continued to moan and sob.
"What's wrong with my little man, ey?" I tried checking his temperature with the back of my palm but he wasn't overly warm. He didn't look in anyway pale and he definitely wasn't acting poorly up until now so what could've happened in the meantime?
All I could do was attempt to feed him as he watched me through his long eyelashes, his glassy green eyes meeting mine as he suckled.
As soon as I was sure he was going to be quiet enough not to wake the baby, i slowly padded towards the living room, bouncing Harry lightly as I went.
"Watcha pick Ni?"
"Bawney, daddy!" He exclaimed as I shushed him quietly.
"Where's the magic word?"
"Pwease!?"
"Alright so, you get your dummy, I left it on the coffee table munchkin" the DVD went in so easily compared to our old DVD player which Niall broke by attempting to hide the evidence of his unwanted banana in the disc slot. That boy really can be a handful sometimes but you have to admire his creativity on that one.
The DVD was playing in no time and the purple and green dinosaur and his friends were just ready to start a new adventure. I was back to reclining on the sofa with my two babies, feeding Harry his bottle and rubbing Niall's tummy, all while cuddling both of them at the same time. That's the joys of fatherhood.