married life ♡ niam au [COMPLETE]

day one hundred and thirty-three // the phone call

a/n: so it seemed like most of you wanted some super fluffy smut, so that'll come soon! it won't be important for the plot, though, so if you don't want to read it, you won't miss anything. x

"you used all my shampoo!" niall yells, enraged, from the shower. liam is laying on the bed, taking an annoying number of selfies on niall's phone, knowing his husband will be annoyed beyond belief once he finds out.

"oops," liam calls back, clearly not meaning it. 

"i...you..." niall pauses, too annoyed for words. "fight me!"

liam laughs. "i ran out, what do you want me to do? live life with dirty hair?"

"that's what i'm gonna have to do!" 

"fair point," liam notes with a shrug. he gets up, though, digs around in the cabinet under the sink until he finds the extra shampoo he bought. "here," he says, pulling the shower curtain aside so he can give to niall.

"you're mean," niall pouts, but takes the shampoo from liam.

"don't pout," liam warns, "you're already naked..."

niall goes pink. "shut up," he mumbles.

liam grins and leans in for a kiss, not even caring that the shower is spraying him. it's about to go a lot farther than just kissing when liam's phone starts ringing in the bedroom.

"damn it," liam mutters. he leans in to kiss niall again.

"go see who it is," niall giggles, pushing him away. "it could be important."

liam lets out a clearly disapproving groan, but makes his way back into the bedroom, sulking. he doesn't recognize the number on the caller id, and he contemplates just letting it go to voicemail.

"answer it!" niall says again, knowing his husband too well.

liam sighs. "hello?" he says into the phone.

"hi, is this liam and niall payne?" an unfamiliar voice asks.

"um, just liam at the moment." liam looks over his shoulder to see if niall is done in the bathroom yet. "who's calling?"

"sorry, i should've introduced myself! i'm angie, i work with child protective services. sarah, your case worker, she told you that we would be calling whenever we had a child or sibling set that met what you wanted, correct?"

liam's heart leaps. "one second," he says into the phone. "niall!"

"what?" niall questions, poking his head out of the closet where he's getting dressed.

"it's child services, come here," liam says, voice urgent. niall yanks his jeans the rest of the way on and rushes to his husband's side, and liam puts the phone on speaker. "sorry, we're back. what were you saying, angie?"

"we have a sibling set that we think would be a perfect fit for you two," angie responds. she sounds like she's smiling. "we have their files on hand right now if you'd like to look them over, and if you want to, you can even meet them."

niall's heart is beating a million miles a minute. "today?" he asks. 

"sure, if you guys are free," angie answers.

"how many kids are in this sibling set?" liam asks slowly. after all, they'd been banking on adopting one child and having one.

"two," angie replies.

"okay." liam pauses. "can you hang on a second? niall and i just need to discuss this for a minute."

"of course!" angie tells them her number and tells them to call her back whenever they're ready.

"oh my gosh," niall blurts once liam's hung up.

"this would mean three kids and two dogs..."

niall bravely manages to look up at liam's face. "what are you thinking?" he asks, a bit afraid of what the answer will be. 

"i don't know," liam replies honestly. "i...i really thought they were just going to match us with one kid. i hadn't even thought about the possibility of a sibling set."

niall nods. "me neither."

they're both silent for a minute, afraid of what the other is thinking.

"...i think we can do it," niall says finally, the first to speak. his palms are sweating. "i...i couldn't bear to separate them. that wouldn't be fair. and if we turn this down, who knows how long it'll be before another kid matches with us?"

"that's true," liam nods.

"what about you?" niall presses.

"i think we can do it, too," liam responds, nodding after a bit more contemplation. 

niall brightens, and he scrambles into liam's lap, throwing his arms around liam's neck. liam laughs, hugging his husband back. they hug for a long time, both equally excited and terrified.

"so we're going to meet them?" niall questions, face still nuzzled in liam's neck.

liam hugs him closer. "yes. yes, we are."

a/n: FEEDBACK NEEDED -- what genders should the siblings set be? :)