married life ♡ niam au [COMPLETE]

day one hundred and fifty // beautiful chaos

"angie," liam says frantically into the phone. this is the fourth time he's called her and the first time she's answered.

ever since he and niall met the boys, they've wanted to adopt them. they talked it over the night after and made their decision -- they want flynn and teddy to be a part of their family. the next few days, liam and niall have both been desperately calling her and have gotten no response.

"hi, liam," she responds, finally answering.

"angie, we want to adopt them. flynn and teddy. we want them. please tell me they haven't been adopted yet."

angie hesitates. "well, they're meeting with another family right now...they seem very interested as well."

"where are you?" liam demands, looking around for his shoes. she responds with the name of the restaurant she's up, and liam hangs up.

"what's happening?" niall asks.

"there's another family who wants teddy and flynn. we have to go." liam's voice sounds more scared than niall thinks he's ever heard it. he puts his shoes on as quickly as he can.

- - -

liam hates the family as soon as he sees them. the husband and wife are beautiful, and it seems like teddy and flynn like them. liam can see the happiness on niall's face fade straight to fear. 

"liam, niall..." angie sounds very disappointed.

"please," liam blurts. he doesn't even know what he's going to say before he says it, the words just tumble out of his mouth. "please. we need them."

"please," niall begs, his eyes welling with tears. "please. they've made their way into our hearts already. please don't take that from us."

angie shakes her head. "it's out of my hands," she says, "it's what they want."

they all watch teddy and flynn, silent. the tears in niall's eyes spill over and run down his cheeks in silent streams. teddy and flynn play happily with the couple and all they can do is watch. it seems like the boys warmed up to them even faster than they warmed up to niall and liam.

"sweetheart," liam murmurs, putting an arm around niall's waist to hold him close. niall sniffles and leans his head against liam's chest.

"at least they'll be happy," niall sniffles. "even if it's not with us. it's nice to know, i think."

liam nods. he gently thumbs niall's tears away, trying to manage a smile. "hey, we've still got our baby in here, huh?" he asks gently, rubbing niall's stomach.

"uh-huh! i think we have to ditch the name flynn now...it wouldn't feel right."

"yeah. you're right," liam says softly. he hugs niall for a second. "shall we go home?"

niall is about to say yes when he feels a tug at the end of his shirt, and to his surprise, teddy is standing there, beaming up at them. "you came back," he beams.

niall looks over at liam in shock for a second before kneeling in front of the boy. "of course we did," he says. 

teddy inches closer to niall, puts his tiny, pudgy hands to niall's face. "why crying?" he questions. he sounds so sad.

niall gives him a sad smile. "you're gonna go home with that nice family, and we're a little sad. we wanted you to come with us."

teddy juts his lower lip out. "noooo," he whines. 

that hurts niall's heart. "well...it's okay. you don't have to come with us. we understand, and you can go with them."

"noooo," teddy whines again, and links his arms around niall's neck. his chubby cheek is soft against niall's. "want to go with you. wanted to go with you before."

as if on cue, niall is crying all over again. he stands with the toddler in his arms, cradling teddy close. teddy is practically purring at the attention, nuzzling closer. "where's flynn?" he asks, and teddy points, giggling. niall turns to see where teddy is pointing; liam is cradling flynn similarly to how niall is holding teddy. niall's smile hurts his face.

"flynn wants to go home with us," liam tells niall. flynn is entertaining himself by running his hands over liam's slight stubble, the texture making him giggle.

"teddy does, too," niall grins. teddy still has his face nestled into niall's neck, making happy humming sounds. "please," niall whispers to angie, who is standing there, looking torn.

"please," flynn says, too, and teddy pulls his face out of niall's neck just long enough to nod, and then puts his face back.

"well," angie says slowly. the air is tense as she pauses, and niall holds his breath. anxiety is crawling up his spine, and he's about to drop to his knees to beg when angie smiles. "well, all right. i suppose their minds are made up. do you guys want to sign the adoption forms today or wait?"

in response, liam pulls a pen out of his pocket. "today," he demands, and niall, teddy, and flynn all laugh.

"we have a family now, teddy," niall hears flynn whisper to teddy.

"that's right," niall answers. flynn looks startled -- he hadn't known niall had heard him. "you sure do." and he peppers kisses on the little boy's face until he's beaming.