Reason To Be (A Zouis Family AU)

Part One, Chapter Eleven

Louis doesn't make his presence known as he leans against the doorframe of the living room early the following morning. It's barely six AM and yet Harry and Niall are sitting down at the coffee table, both in their pyjamas with their hair all bedridden and ruffled, whispering quietly.

He has to strain to listen in, a small smile lingering on his lips.

"That's really good, Ni," Harry whispers with a sense of proudness, and Niall's shoulders hunch up to his ears as he beams, the coloured pencil held in his hand audibly scratching against the paper.

"I didn't make a mess!" He says happily, and Harry smiles across at the younger boy, giving him a quick, fond hug.

"I know! You could be a - an artist like Papa one day," he says, gently slipping the paper away from his brother and lifting his own pencil. "Now I gotta write in it. Um. I can't remember how to spell Liam," he mutters, sounding conflicted.

Growing curious then, Louis decides to make his presence known, speaking quietly so as not to scare the boys, though they both jump and turn to face him as he clears his throat. "Sorry kiddos, didn't mean to scare you," he let out a small laugh, approaching the coffee table. "Anything I can help you with at this fine hour?" He asks.

Harry frowns. "Why's it fine?"

"Why's what fine?" Louis asks in confusion, crouching down beside them at the coffee table.

"The hour."

He lets out another laugh at that, pressing a kiss to each boys head in turn. "It's just an expression, baby. What's this then?" He asks, gesturing to the paper.

Niall grins, baby face still holding the elements of sleep in it. "For Liam!"

He looks to Harry for confirmation, and the five year old blushes a little as he shrugs. "He was sad yesterday. Me and Ni heard him cryin' for ages," he says, turning the paper over to show the man the drawing.

Louis feels his eyes well up a little at the statement paired with the attempt at a giant love heart drawn on the paper, with red scribbled in the centre. "This is really lovely, boys," he says softly.

Harry grins at the praise. "I drawed it and Ni coloured it in. See, he didn't go out the lines," he says, and Niall just stares at Louis with wide eyes, waiting for his turn to be praised.

The man laughs. "You did amazingly Niall! Wow, a little artist," he says, reaching across to the boy and tugging him over to sit in his lap, making the boy squeal before breaking into giggles.

"I wanna write a special message in it to cheer 'im up," Harry says with a serious nod, glancing up at Louis. "Cos he was a bit mean to me and he did hurt Niall, but I know he didn't mean it. And he was really, really, extra sad after, so me and Ni 'cided to for - um...to not be mad anymore," he finishes after stumbling over the word 'forgive'.

Louis just smiles and pulls the boy in to a side hug, kissing into his curls again because goddammit, he loves these boys with everything in him and he wants to make sure that they know it with every minute that passes.

"You two are the sweetest, you know that?" He says, and Niall perks up at that.

"Sweeties!?" He gushes in excitement, and the man winces.

"Not until later on, okay mister sweet tooth?" He says, and the boy pouts but doesn't whine, thankfully. He turns back to Harry. "Well, what do you wanna write? I'll help you get it done before Liam's up."

Harry hesitates, then nods. "Ummm. To Liam," he begins, and Louis takes his time telling him each letter one by one, impressed when the kid manages to print each one with ease and surprising clarity. "Me and Ni love you lots. And ummm...that's it."

Louis has to laugh at the ending, helping him through the rest of it then grinning at him when he's done. "Well, a genius and an art prodigy. Aren't I lucky?" He says, and Harry blushes bashfully again whilst Niall just nods and waits for more praise.

He ends up making breakfast early for the boys, and they're halfway through by the time Zayn and Liam join them. Liam still looks a little stuffy from all of his tears, but he smiles at his Dad when he walks into the kitchen and climbs up onto one of the chairs.

Zayn looks a little better after last night too - as soon as the boys had gone to bed, he'd practically broken down. Louis knows how much the man hates any type of cruelty towards kids, even from other kids. And of course, he's angry too, at the kids who've been bullying his son.

But for Zayn it hits different. The man has been through abuse of his own in the past, and it still gets to him to this day. Which is exactly why they're putting a stop to the bullying today - Louis plans on making sure that none of those kids ever come near to Liam ever again by ensuring that the main perpetrator is expelled.

For right now though, he's happy to focus on the heartwarming scene in front of him. Niall, mouth wide open and full of coco pops so that he can hear them crackling. Harry with his own mouth covered in toast crumbs, and Liam giving him an apologetic sort of look after yesterday and using a piece of kitchen roll to wipe at his brother's face.

Then Harry pulls the card out from underneath him, the paper crinkled because he's decided to sit on for whatever reason, handing it to Liam. The older boy admires it for a moment before breaking into a teary grin (he blames himself for passing down his extremely sensitive genes to the kid).

"When did you guys make this?" He asks, and Harry smiles.

"Really extra early, didn't we Daddy?" He asks, looking over his shoulder at Louis for confirmation. He nods, stepping forwards with a mug of coffee in hand to ruffle the five year olds hair.

"Yup. These two were awake before anyone else," he tells them, and Zayn scans over the card from behind Liam as the boy reads it, before he glances across at his husband with a proud smile. "Nothing to do with me, all their idea," he murmurs to the man.

Liam sets the card down on the table after closing it, before he practically jumps from his chair and dives across to Harry and Niall, throwing his arms around them both.

"M'really really really sorry," he tells them, sniffling, and Harry just giggles, hugging him back.

"S'okay," he forgives instantly, whilst Niall just screeches.

"My pops!" He yells, bottom lip jutting out as he stares at the spilled cereal on the table, making everyone laugh.

And it's a simple moment, a snapshot of happiness, but he knows he'll hold it forever in his memory because the amount of love that's held in their little family there and then...

It's unmistakable.