JAAN :: ZAYN

the system

•zayn•

Zayn unlocked his house door, letting Mecca through first before closing it.

Chiara was sitting at the counter with her laptop, looking intently at the illuminated screen. Brooklyn sat beside her, eating orange slices and asking questions about any and everything.

"Hey," Zayn kissed Chi's cheek and she flinched, looking up at him and sighing, "what's wrong?"

"I called her relatives," she whispered before greeting Mecca, "hey, baby! How are you?"

"I'm good," she smiled, her little dimples showing, "how's the little baby?"

"Good, he's good. Are you sleepy or anything?"

"Hungry," Zayn picked her up so she could sit beside Brooklyn, "hi, little baby."

"You're a little baby," Chi retorted with a smile before getting off the stool and looking at Zayn, "did she eat? What did you give her?"

"Wendy's. I mean, only the best."

"Really?" she gave him a look and he shrugged, "okay, Um. Brook, why don't you show Mecca your new toys."

Brooklyn just nodded and Chi let her stand on the floor along with Mecca. They both strolled into the living room while the TV was still playing Adventure Time.

"So what happened?" Zayn asked her.

"They're on vacation," Chiara griped, opening the fridge and pulling out leftover pizza, "didn't bother to drop her off at a relative's or anything. I doubt she knows they were leaving."

"So, did you call anyone to take her?"

"Yeah, I called her grandparents and uncles through the emergency contacts on her file at the daycare. Her grandparents are currently on vacation in Tahiti and her uncle can't do it."

"Why not?"

"He's in the hospital dying from pneumonia," she put the pizza on a plate and put it in the microwave, "it's sad, man. She...she has no one right now."

"Chi--"

"No, it's not fair!" she whisper shouted, tears about to fall down her face, "how could you adopt a child and then treat it like shit? Does no one do background checks anymore?"

"Chi...come here," Zayn pulled her close to him and she hugged his waist, "go sit down, okay? You've done enough."

"But--"

"You're worrying too much and I swear if you end up in the hospital again I'll lose my mind," he kissed her forehead, "Mecca is here, Brook is here, we're all safe. I'll try to contact her parents in the morning. It's okay."

She pouted, looking cute as ever. Zayn held her stomach in his hands and she started to smile. RyDae kicked several times before ceasing.

"He's been kicking since you left."

"Because he loves me," he kissed her lips until she giggled, holding his face in her hands, "and I love you."

"Same."

The microwave stopped and Zayn got out the warm pizza for Mecca. "Babe, come eat this. I know you're hungry."

"Her parents barely feed her. 'S why she's so small."

Zayn sighed, handing Mecca the plate. She kissed his cheek and thanked him before sitting on the couch again and biting into her food.

"I'm definitely talking to her parents tomorrow."

•zayn•

"Why did you need kid's clothes again?" Harry asked Zayn as he followed him to the bedroom, "these are too big for a newborn."

Zayn snorted, setting the clothes on the bed, "we're...babysitting."

"What? Brooklyn won't fit these--"

"Harry, there are a lot of little girls in this world," Zayn sat down and the bed and looked at the clothes Harry bought, "how much was this stuff?"

"On sale. You owe me like thirty bucks."

"Harry, this is stuff you'd wear," Zayn pulled out a baby blue button up and black shorts, "we're talking about a four year old girl, not a twenty one year old metrosexual."

"Jokes! You've got jokes!" Harry rolled his eyes.

"I'm kidding, man. You've got nice style," Zayn ripped the tags off a few clothes and laid them out on the bed, "the girl's name is Mecca and her parents left for vacation without her. On purpose."

"What?" Harry sat down, a frown on his face, "how could--"

"I don't know, but she's been with us for a few days and they haven't even contacted to see if she's alright. And Chi thinks this wasn't the first time. She's super stressed, man."

Harry bit his lip. "So what are you gonna do when they come back?"

"No idea," Zayn shrugged, "I called the parent's cell the other day and no one answered...again. And Chi doesn't want to put her in the system again, she's already been adopted."

Harry ran a hand through his hair and stared at his best friend. "I know what you're thinking, Zayn. You think you're up for that?"

"No," he admitted truthfully, "I have one on the way and one I'm babysitting almost weekly. I don't know if I'm ready for three kids at once when I only prepared for one."

"Just see how it goes, but don't stop calling the parents 'cause they might come back and say you kidnapped her."

"Right. Thanks, Harry," Zayn said earnestly.

"Have you told Chi you're thinking about--"

"No, and I don't want to until I have to," Zayn looked behind him, listening to Chi sing as she bathed Mecca, "but I might as well stock up on clothes for now. Who knows how long they'll be on vacation?"

"Right."

"Is that Harry's voice I hear?" Chiara stood at the bathroom door with a smile on her face. Besides her being pregnant and stressed from this whole ordeal, Zayn's girl was still smiling through everything and looking good while at it. She wore a lot of cute dresses that hugged her body so her bump was exposed to everyone. It was the cutest thing and she was the cutest girl. "What are you doing here?"

"Got you guys some more clothes, babe," he replied easily.

"Really, can I see?" she walked over to them, standing beside where Zayn sat, her hand on his shoulder. "Oh, these are...so you, Harry."

"That's what I said," Zayn rubbed her belly and she hummed, "what's Mecca doing?"

"She refuses to get out the bathtub," she hummed at his touch, "I'll give her a few more minutes."

"So Zayn told me about her," Harry started, "her parents left?"

Chiara shook her head. "We don't know if they're coming back either. I got my coworker Reina to go see if the house is vacant or not. If it is, then...I don't know."

"So, you wouldn't think about, like, adopting her or anything?"

Zayn wanted to smack him.

"I honestly never gave it thought, but, I don't know. That's big. What do you think, Zayn?"

"Uh..."

"Chi, I'm done!" Mecca screeched, causing him to flinch.

She got up and walked back into the bathroom. Zayn pushed Harry off the bed and punched his side. Harry just laughed.

"I had to ask! God knows you weren't."

•zayn•

SO YaLL JUST THINK YOU KNOW eVERYTHIGN DONT ya

GOd I make stuff way too obvious