Love Me Like You Do (z.h. mpreg)

chapter twenty-six

"She thought that he was going to cry; she felt almost guilty that she had handed some of her grief to him, and then she felt close to him for his willingness to take it and hold it, in all its rawness, all its dark confusion."

-Brooklyn, Colm Tóibín

-

"Daddy, can we bring snacks into our fort?" Liam asked. Ever since they made one with Theo when they were in America, the boys loved making blanket forts anywhere they could. Plus, Liam was going through a stage where he was deathly afraid of thunderstorms, and building the forts helped him cope.

"Sure, sweetheart." Niall replied, Harry squirming on his hip. He took down the little bin he filled with snacks from the pantry and let the boys pilfer it and take what they liked. It was only noon, but the rain had been coming down in buckets since the morning, and another storm had just started.

"What are we watching today, boys?" Zayn questioned as he loaded Netflix on his school laptop.

"Umm...the Grinch, Papa, the Grinch!" Louis cheered. He loved Christmas; it could be July and Louis would ask if they could put their tree up.

Zayn furrowed his brows but laughed all the same. "But sweetheart, Christmas was a long time ago!"

"Papaaaaaaaa!" Louis whined, slipping off the sofa into a puddle on the carpet, nearly knocking Liam over in the process. Liam narrowed his eyes at his brother and then jumped on him in a playfight.

"Louissssssss!" Zayn mocked him, but loaded up the Grinch movie anyway. The kids liked it so much that he could quote it line for line. "We can watch it, but after it's done we're watching something that isn't going to turn my brain into mush. You boys can go pick out some toys to bring down now, if you want."

"And what do you suggest, oh smart one?" Niall cocked his eyebrow and smirked from behind the counter. He let a wriggling Harry down, who started playing with the fridge letter magnets.

"Come over here and I'll show you," Zayn smirked and sent a sly wink Niall's way. He appreciated very much the way Niall's sweats hung on his hips and hugged his curves, the little tie holding them in place.

Niall rolled his eyes and started walking towards the living room to Zayn's left. "You are despicable, Zayn Malik,"

Zayn trapped him by wrapping an arm around his midsection as he walked by and gave him his signature sultry look. Just as Niall gave in and cupped his cheeks to kiss him, Zayn gave his bum a rather harsh little pat. Niall squawked and broke away laughing.

"Zayn, I swear to God! Do it again and you'll die of blue balls!"

"I'm sorry baby, I couldn't help it," Zayn chuckled lowly, his mischievous hand now resting on the curve of his husband's back. "But kiss me though?"

Niall narrowed his eyes at his man until he realised Zayn wasn't letting him go. Niall gave him a quick peck and then tried to shake his arm off, to no avail. "Zaynnn, lemme gooo!"

"No, baby," he flicked his eyes up coolly, the smug look never leaving his face. "You know why. Give us a real kiss,"

Now it was Niall's turn to be devious. He knew the boys were picky about their toys, and would be a bit in their room, so he swung his leg onto Zayn's lap and straddled his thighs. Up on his knees, Niall was finally taller than Zayn, and for once in his life, he was looking down at his husband and not up at him. Slowly, Niall kissed him, hands on his cheeks.

Zayn was enjoying every minute of it, which was Niall's perfect opportunity to tease. Niall kissed him good and hard, and lowered himself a little so that most of his weight was in Zayn's lap.