Lifting You Up

Chapter 10

"Zayn, we have to go! What if Santa has to leave?" Liam whined, pulling on Zayn's hand and trying to make him walk faster through the mall.

"He's not going to leave, love," Zayn chuckled before looking over his shoulder for Harry, who was carrying Niall. "And we need to wait for Harry and Niall; they've gotten a little lost in the crowd," he said, stepping to the side and out of the way of the oncoming traffic of people.

"They're too slow," Liam pouted. Zayn smiled and held Liam's hand a little tighter, apprehensive of all the people in the crowded mall. He really wanted to pick Liam up and carry him, but he knew Liam would want nothing to do with that.

It was the Saturday before Christmas, and Zayn and Liam were officially off from school until after the New Year. Louis and Harry had also taken off for the first week of their break to spend time as a family and get things done that had been put off until the week of Christmas for whatever reason. Right now, Harry had decided to brave the Santa trip with Zayn and the kids while Louis finished some shopping elsewhere in the mall, and they had plans to meet up for lunch in the food court. Zayn had already gotten most of the gifts he was getting for his little brothers, but he had left enough of his Christmas budget for them in case they came up with something to tell Santa that they hadn't told him. He'd almost blown the Santa cover last year when he wasn't made aware of everything Liam had told Santa and didn't get something Liam had apparently said was at the top of his list. This year he would make sure to ask the "elf" exactly what Niall and Liam asked for.

Once Harry finally caught up to them, Zayn joined the flow of people, still holding tightly to Liam's hand. After a few more minutes of walking, Santa was very clearly in sight for everyone but Liam who was still staring at the back of people's legs.

"Harry, Santa!" Niall squealed from Harry's arms, pointing toward Santa.

"That's right, Ni," Harry said, smiling at him.

"Zaynie, I can't see him," Liam frowned, pulling on Zayn's shirt. Zayn reached down and picked Liam up and received no protest as Liam craned his neck to see Santa. "I see him now!" Liam exclaimed.

Zayn chuckled lightly at Liam's excitement and stepped into the long line of people waiting to see Santa as well, putting Liam down beside him now that they were just standing. He always forgot how heavy Liam was starting to get, and it made him sad to think about how he was getting too big to be picked up at any given time now.

Liam had always loved going to see Santa and was always okay with taking a photo even when he couldn't quite say what he wanted for Christmas. Niall on the other hand had always been apprehensive about Santa, and this was his first year to visit Santa. They had tried in the past, but Niall didn't understand what was going on and was too stubborn for his own good, even as a baby. Consequently, this was the first year Niall would be actually sitting on Santa's lap, and so far he seemed pretty excited about it.

"How much longer do we gotta wait?" Liam asked, tugging on Zayn's shirt again. Zayn looked down to Liam's concerned face and pushed his hair back from his forehead.

"I don't know, babe. Not much longer," Zayn assured him.

"I don't want to wait," Liam whined.

Zayn shook his head at Liam's whining. He was never like this, and Zayn was just letting it slide because he knew how excited Liam was. He deserved to be an impatient five-year-old once in a while.

"You'll be fine for a few minutes," Zayn said before trying to distract him. "What are you going to pick to eat in the food court?"

"Oh, can I get McDonald's? Please," Liam begged, bouncing on his toes and dragging out the last word.