married life ♡ niam au [COMPLETE]

day one hundred and fifty-one // whole

"is this where we're living?" flynn questions, leaning forward in his carseat. the past twenty-four hours have been absolutely insane, with buying everything they need for the kids and filling out all the legal forms. now they're finally home, with their boys, and thoroughly exhausted.

"yep, it is," niall nods, turning around to see the boys' expressions. "what do you think?"

teddy squints, thinking, but flynn brightens immediately. "i like it!" flynn cheers.

"needs more dinosaurs," teddy states.

"more?" liam chuckles as they get out of the car. "there are dinosaurs all over?"

"not all over," teddy answers. "only seven million."

"good thing there's only seven million and not more," liam laughs, shaking his head. teddy stretches his arms out to be picked up as liam unbuckles him. liam swings the four-year-old on his hip and teddy hums.

"can you pick me up, too, pleeeease?" flynn asks shyly. he'd been holding niall's hand, but now puts his arms up.

"of course, little prince," niall coos, tickling flynn's tummy as he picks him. flynn squeals, giggling, and leans his head on niall's shoulder. niall kisses flynn's temple, and the boy practically purrs at the attention. as soon as they step through the doorway, flynn wiggles to be set down. "hang on, buddy," niall laughs, "we've got to get your shoes off."

flynn un-velcroes one of his shoes while niall does the other, and as soon as his shoes are off, he walks carefully through the kitchen, peeking around. he stops just outside the living room, at the exact spot where the hardwood floor switches to carpet. 

"what's wrong?" niall asks as liam struggles to help teddy get his shoes off.

"i..." flynn's expression is pained, and it looks too old for his young face. "can i go in?"

"of course," niall says softly, understanding. "you can go anywhere in the house, yeah? except for the stove...steer clear of that, okay?"

flynn's eyes go wide. "...anywhere?"

"sure thing."

finally shoeless, teddy toddles over to flynn. "c'n we see our room?"

"do we share?" flynn asks.

liam nods. "do you want to?"

flynn nods. "can we see?"

liam strokes his chin, pretending he's thinking about it.

"pleeeeeease? oh, please?" teddy begs, bouncing up and down.

"hmmm...i suppose," liam laughs, and the boys cheer. 

"race you upstairs!" niall yells, and suddenly the hall is full of the sound of laughter as all four of them scramble up the steps. flynn wins and is ecstatic about it. "you won!" niall cheers, and he presses kisses on the little boy's nose, making him giggle.

"want kisses, too," teddy whines, on the verge of a tantrum until liam picks him up and kisses his face.

"ready to see your room?" niall asks, and both boys nod. "one...two...three!" niall counts and pushes the door open. both boys let out gasps of delight and run into the room. there are two bunkbeds against the wall, and a bin of toys against the other wall. the toys are all soft and light colored, and teddy pulls out a yellow stuffed turtle and squishes it to his cheek. there's a bookshelf next to the toy box and a squishy chair for reading stories.

"really? this is all ours?" flynn asks as teddy hands him the turtle. "we don't have to share with anybody else?"

liam shakes his head. "this is all yours," he tells them. "we just want you two to be happy...and if there's anything else you want, anything else you need...we'll do our best to get it for you. we promise to never, ever hurt you -- we just want to give you the best life you could have. how does that sound?"

teddy's lip is trembling, and flynn lets out a sniffle. "and -- and you won't...won't hit us?" teddy flinches at flynn's question.

"no! never," niall answers.

"okay," flynn whispers. his little cheeks are wet from crying, but he's happier than he's ever felt. he wiggles himself into liam's arm and presses a tiny kiss to his cheek. "thank you."

liam can barely keep from crying himself. "you don't have to thank us," he tells him. he kisses the top of flynn's head. "should we go get some lunch? are you guys hungry?"

"yessss!" teddy whines. he's wrapped his arms and legs around niall's leg and refuses to let go, even when niall offers to pick him up. he lets out loud streams of giggles as niall walks down the hall with him still wrapped around his leg. "i like pizza," he tells niall.

"pizza sounds good," liam nods, and the kids both cheer. liam looks back at niall, who finally managed to get teddy on his hip instead of around his leg. he catches his elbow, kisses him quickly. just the small kiss makes niall beam like an idiot.

"daddy," teddy says, and liam doesn't even realize teddy is talking about him until he tugs on his shirt.

"huh? sorry, sweetheart." he beams over at niall, though, at the toddler calling him daddy.

"pizza?" he asks again, and liam shakes his head, chuckling. 

"sorry, bub. pizza it is."