married life ♡ niam au [COMPLETE]

day one hundred and seventeen // appointment #2

"you ready? got your shoes?" liam asks.

niall nods. "yeah, let's go." their third second pregnancy appointment is today, and they're both equally excited and nervous. they're not sure of what to expect, and the time between getting to the doctor's office and being called back for the appointment seems to go by in a blur.

"hi, niall. how are you feeling, huh? i know we saw each other not too long ago."

niall nods at the doctor. "i'm feeling a-okay. i get a little dizzy if i stand up too fast sometimes, but i'm mostly doing fine."

dr. carnes nods. "that's totally normal, and relatively common, actually. are you eating often enough?"

niall nods. "i feel like all i'm doing is eating," he jokes.

"no signs of any more threatened miscarriages, correct?"

liam winces at the thought. guilt is still eating him up. "no," he answers.

"good." dr. carnes smiles, gets up and gathers some equipment together. "so how is the adoption process going?"

niall and liam are both surprised. they'd only mentioned it in passing to her, and they hadn't expected her to remember. liam recovers first. "um, well, i think. they called and said we'll be matched as soon as they find a child that fits."

when she turns back around with what she needs, she's smiling. "that's wonderful, congratulations!" they thank her, and she has niall lay back on the hospital bed. he stares up at the ceiling, which has small glow in the dark stars on it.

"those are new," niall states, pointing up. liam looks up, and niall looks over just in time to see the smile spread across his face. when they make eye contact, liam winks, and niall makes a mental note to buy some more next time he goes to the store.

"yeah," dr. carnes smiles. "a lot of parents are really scared when they come for these appointments, so i thought something cute might help them calm down."

"it does," niall mumbles, his death grip on liam's hand loosening slightly.

"okay..." dr. carnes says, "we won't do an ultrasound today --" niall frowns at that, "but we're gonna hear the baby's heartbeat!"

"oh!" niall gasps. he immediately snaps his head over to see liam's reaction, and he's beaming, too. "okay!"

"okay," dr. carnes smiles. she likes liam and niall. niall waits as she hooks up the baby monitor up to him. for a few, terrifying seconds, there is nothing but silence. the baby's heartbeat is nowhere to be find, and niall feels like his heart is tearing to shreds in his chest. "that's odd," she says slowly, but then just a few seconds later, there's a soft buh-bum, buh-bum, buh-bum, and niall manages a shaky gasp.

that's his baby's heart. his baby's heart, he can hear it, the heart of a person he created. he can't wrap his head around this, and he fumbles for liam's hand. liam manages a smile over at his sweet husband, absolutely glowing with joy. he is dying with the need to kiss him. 

all niall can think about is that this is a heart, this is a heart, this is a heart that will love him. that will love others. this is a heart that will love liam and elise and zayn and harry and their parents and god, he is so excited. he is so excited to experience this, to see all of the things this baby will love. he knows this heart will break, too, of course, as that's a part of life, and though he would protect his baby as best he can, he's excited for that, too. because he knows that's what creates growth. love and growth and warmth and light. he can't wait for his child to experience all of these beautiful things.

"oh, i wish they'd hurry up and be here!" niall gasps, just wanting to hold his baby in his arms already and it's only been twelve weeks.

"me, too," liam laughs, with an expression that shows he was probably thinking something similar to niall. 

"let's let them a grow a bit more, huh?" dr. carnes asks, smiling widely. "do you guys have any names picked out yet?"

"we've tossed around a few," niall answers, "but we haven't really settled on anything yet. we're both too stubborn."

dr. carnes laughs. "i'm sure you two will figure something out. don't rush it. wait for something that feels right."

- - -

"coffee and blue moon ice cream should taste worse than this does," niall notes. they're sitting in an ice cream shop, niall's favorite one in the whole city. 

"yeah, that seemed like a bad call to me when you ordered it," liam chuckles, licking at his cone.

"well, you got vanilla! that's boring."

"not boring, just underrated."

niall rolls his eyes, licks another stripe of ice cream. "we do have to decide on names, though."

"we have a few," liam responds, pulling out his phone. "zinnia. dex. flynn."

"what about middle names?"

"hmmm." liam licks at his ice cream as he thinks. "zinnia anne."

niall wrinkles his nose. "no."

liam's face softens. "zinnia maura."

"oh," niall gasps. he bites his bottom lip to keep from smiling. "li, my mum would love that."

"i know she would."

niall leans across the table and kisses him. the flavors of coffee, blue moon, and vanilla ice cream all mix together, and when the kiss is broken, liam wrinkles his nose. "that's awful," he says.

niall frowns. "you didn't like the kiss?"

"i was referring to the ice cream flavors. the kiss was mediocre."

"you're mediocre!"

"how dare you?" liam responds, but his smile goes dangerous and niall lets out a yelp and scrambles up from the table. he scrambles away from liam into the arcade part of the ice cream shop. he doesn't get very far because he nearly drops his ice cream, and liam pulls niall into his chest from behind, resting his chin on niall's shoulder. "love you, you brat."

"i love you, too." niall dumps his soggy cone in the garbage. "bet i'll kick your ass at skeeball!"

liam raises an eyebrow. "oh, you're on. loser does laundry for two weeks."

niall laughs. "deal!"

(they're both very competitive.)

(and, okay, niall might cheat a little so he can win...but only a little.)