Harry: Tugging on at the seams of his pants, the little girl grumbled under her breath when her father hadn't turned his head away from the computer. "Daddy!" She called for the umpteenth time, her cheeks beginning to flush with her aggravation. "Daddy, c'mon, I wanna play. Will you play with me?" She gave his pants another tug when she got no response, this time with both hands. Harry forced his eyes from the computer screen then, unable to hold in a sigh as he bent forward and picked the little girl up and set her on his lap. "What can I do for you, sweetheart?" He asked softly, tucking some stray strands of hair behind her ear. "Daddy, I wanna play and you won't play with me because you're too busy with your computer games." The little girl frowned a bit at the fact. But her posture fixed itself when she carried on, "Where's Mommy, Daddy? She always plays with me when you won't." And that surely was not what Harry was expecting. A dry sob lurched out of Harry's throat and he screwed his eyes shut, willing himself not to cry. Not right now. His nostrils flared as he bowed his head and shook it from side to side slowly. "Daddy," the little girl asked again, her voice much softer this time around like she were aware of the change in atmosphere. "Daddy, where's Mommy?" Harry mindlessly fiddled with the bow at the corner of the girl's shirt, counting out his breaths before he forced himself to look up. The girl was a spitting image of you and sometimes that absolutely winded him. "She's," Harry cleared his voice of any cracks. "She's up in heaven, love. But she's alright, she's being taken care of, I promise. And she loves you, you know." His thumb swiped across the girl's right cheek as she slowly nodded her head, shoulders rolling as she let out a short sigh. "I know," she admitted sadly, unintentionally jutting out her lower lip. "But I miss her, Daddy." Harry's arms swamped the little girl and she buried her face further into the reassurance of the hug. "I know, love," he hummed. "I miss her too."
Liam: "And look," he gushed, moving the photo album over so one end of it rested on the little boy's lap while the other rested on the older girl's. "This was when I asked her to marry me. She cried for nearly four hours, I'm pretty sure I counted every second. I surprised her with a trip to Paris - remember when we went there last summer? The big tower and the crepes? - and on the last night, I took her out to dinner and I asked her to marry me." The little boy, Hunter, looked up with his wide brown eyes. "Did she say yes, Daddy?" The girl, Teresa, rolled her eyes, nudging her little brother in the shoulder. "Of course she said yes, idiot. If she hadn't, you wouldn't be here. Isn't that right, Dad?" Liam smiled at the memory, reaching over to ruffle his son's hair. "Right, T." Hunter's finger rubbed at the plastic covering of the picture, following the swoop of your hair. "Where's Mommy now, Daddy?" He asked. With his eyes steady on the picture, Hunter hadn't noticed the stutter in Liam's breathing or the wary glance Teresa sent her father. Liam pushed himself off the back of the sofa, straightening out his composure as best as he could. His mouth felt dry and closed up, and Liam could only shift his weight uncomfortably from one foot to the other. "Mom's still here," Teresa answered, carefully running her fingers through her brother's hair. "Just not actually here." Hunter switched his gaze to his sister, furrowing his little eyebrows. "What'd'ya mean?" Teresa flipped the book closed, smiling a bit at both her father and her brother. "She's not here," she started, keeping her voice to a whisper like what she were about to say was a secret only between herself and her brother, "But Mom's always looking after us, you know? Making sure you eat your vegetables and stay safe and keep your grades up. She's always gonna look after us."
Louis: "How come I have to stay here?" The five year old moaned, stomping her feet aggressively to the carpeted floor. "I don't wanna stay with grandma, I wanna go with you and I wanna see Mommy." Louis bit at the inside of his cheek, giving his mother, who stood at the entrance of the kitchen, a pleading look. When Jay simply shook her head, Louis squatted down to the little girl's level, placing his steady hands to her shoulder. "Babe, you only gotta stay here for a little while, okay? I'll be back tomorrow and I'll pick you up and we can see Mommy then, all right?" The little girl fiddled with the hem of her shirt, shaking her head from side to side in an unconvinced manner. "But I wanna go with you now," she complained loudly. "Grandma doesn't know how to cut the crust off my sandwich like Mommy does and she won't sing me to sleep like you do and what if I have a nightmare? Grandma can't scare away the monsters! I'm gonna get eaten before I can see Mommy tomorrow!" The little girl's eyes widened in horror before she bounced on the soles of her feet, begging, "Please please please let me come with you and see Mommy, Daddy. Please!" Louis thumbed at the girl's cheek, shaking his head. He wasn't going to let her break him down. He wasn't. He was going to remain firm and not cave. "I'll come pick you up tomorrow, love. I promise." She sighed, crossing her arms over her chest and pushing a pout across the lower half of her face. "Where is Mommy?" She asked softly when all Louis gave her was a silent look and a tilt of his head. Louis sighed then, rubbing the palms of his hands down his face. "Mommy's with some doctors right now. They're just making sure she's okay. And I have to get back over there now because Mommy doesn't want to be alone. So please, just be good and stay with Grandma, okay? Only for tonight, I promise. I'll come back for you tomorrow morning." Although she tried another pout, the little girl rather reluctantly nodded her head before shuffling into the kitchen.
Niall: "Daddy?" The little boy shuffled into the bedroom, his feet padding against the wooden floor before coming to a stop at the foot of the bed. "Can I sleep with you tonight? My nightlight's broked." Niall waited for his eyes to adjust to the darkness before he lifted the boy into bed. "Just this once," Niall bargained as the little boy shuffled under the comforter. "We're gonna buy you a new nightlight tomorrow and you'll have to sleep in your own room then, okay?" He nodded his head, squirming closer to Niall's side with his stuffed cow nestled tightly within the crook of his elbow. There was about five minutes of silence and Niall's eyes were about to droop back to sleep when the little boy piped up again. "Daddy." His voice was soft, unsure. Niall knew that voice and he could picture his son's fingers toying with his lower lip in a reluctant manner. "Daddy," he repeated again. "Where's Mommy?" Niall sucked in a sharp inhale, forcing his eyes shut as his fingers unintentionally fisted at his sheets. It wasn't that he expected the boy to know what happened. This was the first night he slept in your bed without you on the other side of him, after all. It was an innocent question and Niall couldn't blame the boy for asking. "Mommy's at Grandma's tonight," he answered, repositioning himself so he was laying on his side. Niall decided to bite the bullet and force the rest of the words out of his mouth. "Mommy's gonna be staying at Grandma's for a little while, actually. She, um. She'll come back tomorrow morning, but. She's not. She's gonna be with Grandma for a bit. She'll tell you tomorrow, I'm sure." The little boy nodded silently, moving his gaze from his father's darkened face to the ceiling. Niall flipped back over to face the other side, fingertips wiping furiously at the tears leaking from his eyes. His arm was soon pried open and a warm stuffed cow was shoved to his chest. "Chester always helps me when I'm upset," his son mumbled. "You can sleep with him tonight, Daddy."
Zayn: Setting the paper plates to the right corner of the table like she was told, the little girl rushed back into the kitchen and held her hands out for another type of kitchenware. Zayn placed a stack of cups to her palms, smiling widely as he watched her sprint back to the table. It was her sixth birthday and it had to be set up perfectly, so naturally she'd be the one setting up. "Daddy!" She squealed when the reentered the kitchen. "There's a bird on the table and it won't go away! Make it go away, Daddy!" Zayn rolled his eyes fondly, stepping out onto the deck and shooing the bird away. The little girl placed a hand to her forehead, breathing out a dramatic, "Phew! I thought the party was gonna be ruined!" Two hours later, balloons were tied to the posts around the deck, streamers hung above the kitchen door, fourteen first graders bustled around the backyard, and the birthday cake sat at the front of the table. The birthday girl soon scuttled back into the kitchen where Zayn was searching frantically for the candles. "Hey Daddy," she called out, bending forward and huffing and puffing a bit from the running. "What's up, sweetheart?" She smiled wide, though it faltered minutely as her eyebrows furrowed. "Where's Mommy?" The little girl asked. "She always sang me happy birthday before everyone else and braided my friend's hair and she always helped set up, too, and she wasn't here today. How come?" Zayn's smile stuttered as he gulped the lump in his throat away. He daintily reached out, brushing back his daughter's hair as he mumbled, "Baby, you know where Mommy is. She.. she had to go." The little girl sighed, fiddling with the ruffles of her dress. "But she can come back, right? One day she'll come back." Zayn was unable to stop the nod of his head. What kind of dad would he be to diminish his daughter's hope? And fifteen minutes later, when the cake was lit and the candles were blown out, the little girl leaned over and whispered into her best friend's ear, "I wished for my mommy to come back. But don't tell anyone!"
