Lifting You Up

Chapter 4

Harry smiled as he sneaked into Niall's room to wake him up. It was Wednesday, which was one of his days off from both school and work and at home with Niall. Like Louis and Zayn, Harry always enjoyed his time with his youngest brother. Like any other weekday morning, Louis was still in the kitchen making breakfast while Zayn helped Liam get dressed, and Harry was assigned the task of getting Niall up.

Harry quietly walked over to Niall's "big boy bed." It was a racecar bed that they had gotten Niall when he grew out of his crib. Zayn was ever so reluctant to get it for him since Niall never went to sleep easily, and he was constantly worried that Niall would get out of bed and fall down the stairs or something. Eventually, though, they had to get Niall a new bed because he could easily stand up and get over the bars of his crib, which was almost scarier than the alternative.

Harry sat down on the side of the bed and began to rub Niall's back gently. "Niall," Harry cooed, watching as the little boy's eyes fluttered sleepily. He continued to rub circles in Niall's back and occasionally stroke his hair, patiently waiting for Niall to fully wake up. It didn't take long, and soon Niall was staring blearily up at Harry. "Good morning, precious," Harry said, smiling down at him. "Are you ready to wake up?"

Niall nodded and sat up, rubbing his eyes with his fists. Harry stood to get Niall clothes from the closet. By the time he turned around, Niall was standing on his bed and looking around the room. Harry went to him and dressed him quickly before picking Niall up and taking him to the bathroom. "I bet you need to potty, don't you?" Harry said to him.

"Yes," Niall said, squirming to get down from Harry's arms when they reached the bathroom. He immediately pushed down his jeans and pull-up before sitting down on the little plastic toilet. He was taking a little longer to potty train than Liam had, but he hadn't had any accidents in the last month or two, so he really only wore pull-ups just in case and didn't use the regular toilet because he was too short to sit on it. Harry heard the sound of liquid hitting the plastic, but it stopped just as soon as it started.

"Harry, no look," Niall whined, obviously struggling to concentrate to hold it.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot," Harry apologized, turning around to face the hallway. He grinned when Niall started to go again. Niall had very recently decided that he needed privacy while he used the bathroom and got more antsy when any of the boys would give him a bath and wash his privates. It was silly, but the oldest boys tried to humor him and allow him to pee without them watching him.

"All done," Niall announced, standing up and trying to pull his pants up.

"Very well done," Harry praised him, crouching down to help him button his pants. When he was done, he picked up the little bucket and dumped it into the actual toilet carefully. He was about to flush when he Niall stopped him.

"No, Harry! I do it!" Niall said excitedly, bouncing behind him. "Lou say I do it," he said, making sure that Harry would let him flush.

"Okay, okay," Harry chuckled. "Go ahead, then," he said, stepping back from the toilet and watching Niall reach up and pull the little handle down to flush the toilet. Niall cheered as he watched the water go down and turned to Harry when it was over. "Good job, love. Let's wash those hands now, yeah?" Harry said, lifting him up and squirting soap onto his hands before rubbing them together with Niall's under the water.

"Harry, what we do today?" Niall asked him as he dried their hands.

"I don't know yet, babe. I think we'll just stay here; I have some studying to do," Harry said, kissing Niall's nose and helping Niall brush his teeth.

After that was done, Harry carried Niall downstairs where the others were. Niall again wiggled in Harry's arms when he saw his other brothers. Harry set him down and watched as Niall ran into Zayn's legs, hugging them before Zayn leaned down and swung Niall into his arms. Niall giggled as Zayn swung his around and pouted when he set him down in his chair at the table with a peck to his forehead. His pout quickly disappeared when Louis put his breakfast down in front of him though. Harry sat down at his place after going to say good morning to Liam as well.