Take Me Home

Chapter Thirty-Six

Niall and Louis were tired when Sunday morning rolled around, the day after they spent the night at Luke's house.

Harry still hadn't come down from his room, but the teenager often had a lie in on the weekend so Zayn and Liam didn't go up to wake him straight away. Instead, they sat around the breakfast table; Zayn munching on toast, Liam on his laptop and sippigg on a coffee, and the two little ones making a tower out of their leftover crusts with the dog watching them with eyes that seemed to be hoping he'd be fed the leftovers.

"Did you get a start on your work at Luke's house, Ni?" Liam asked, expecting a 'no' because the boys had apparently been up until three in the morning playing video games.

Niall looked up, then grinned and nodded. "Oh, yeah, Daddy. I did it all, and Luke's Mum is a teacher so she helped me! We even made it look nice, 'cos she had these special coloured pens. I'll show you in a bit," he said, then huffed when the crust tower fell.

Liam watched in amusement as the two seven year olds began their work again.

He looked across at Zayn, lifting his leg to nudge his boyfriend under the table. "Do you want to go and wake Harry or should I?"

He wanted the boys to be up and dressed because his parents were coming over for lunch to meet the family properly, and he wanted them all to make a good impression. He knew that his adoptive parents would love them all regardless, but there was still that part of him that was constantly eager to please them.

Zayn smiled. "I'll go get him up," he replied, finishing off his toast and sticking his crusts on the plate the two seven year olds were using with a grin, pressing a kiss to the top of Liam's head before he left the room.

The tower crumbled again, and Liam allowed the boys to feed them to Cooper, who took them happily, tail wagging.

Louis sat back in his chair and looked a little nervous, chewing him lip. "Daddy," he started, and Liam waited for him to go on. "Are your Mummy and Daddy gonna be our Nanny and Grandad?" he asked.

Liam hesitated, knowing how the boy felt about those titles, particularly the idea of having another Grandad after the first one.

"Well," he started, then paused. He leaned forward to where both boys were now watching him with twinkling blue eyes and the same curious expression. "You could call them whatever you wanted," he said, then when he saw the cheeky glint in Niall's eyes, he added, "but nothing cheeky, mister."

Niall mocked innocence. "What?" he asked.

Louis chewed his lip, then said, "What about Nana and Gramps? That's what Luke calls his," he said. Niall nodded in agreement and Liam smiled.

"I think that sounds lovely," he said. His heart swelled a little at the thought of his boys calling his parents by those names, because it was all he'd ever wanted since he was little himself to have a big family and now he had it, complete even with a dog.

Then Niall piped up, frowning. "Daddy, why don't we have a Mum?" he asked, and Liam almost choked on his coffee, coughing slightly as he croaked out an awkward laugh.

"Well, uh -"

"It's because you only need two parents, Ni, and we got two dads. Right, Daddy?" Louis said, his tone a little know-it-all, and Liam grinned at his son, thankful for saving him from an awkward speech.

"Exactly, Lou," he said, softly. "Hey, do you both want to help me with some baking today? I thought we could make a cake for when my parents get here."

Louis nodded enthusiastically because he'd baked with Liam plenty of times before in the home and he enjoyed it a lot. "Yay!"

Niall scrunched up his nose. "I don't think I'm good at makin' cakes," he mumbled, and Liam wished his little blond would have more faith in himself.