1+1 Makes 3 | Niam

Chapter 36

Niall's p.o.v

"Happy christmas guys!"

Opening the front door, Niall shook his head as he saw Louis and Harry stood there, sighing as he noticed the reindeer sweater Louis was wearing and the antlers appearing from Harry's curls.

Letting them inside, Niall shook his head again before saying "You know that christmas was a week ago, right?"

"Yeah, but we were in Cheshire and couldn't celebrate with you guys, so we thought we'd celebrate with our favourite family today!" Practically bouncing around the flat, Louis grinned at Niall before setting the bag of microwaveable christmas food they'd brought with them on the table and peeling his sweater off to reveal a glittery snowman t-shirt, helping Harry with his antlers and coat before scanning the rest of the apartment. "Where is my favourite godson, anyway?"

"Taking his nap, Lou, so could you be a little bit quieter?" Closing his eyes, Niall count to ten, wishing that when he opened them the flat would be empty, instead, opening his eyes to find Louis now sat on the couch, flicking through the TV channels whilst Harry stood in the kitchen, looking semi-apologetic.

Running a hand through his hair, Niall tried to remember why he'd ever missed this Louis, half wishing for the quiet, slept all day Louis from a month ago to return before saying "Your favourite godson? Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought I was the only person stupid enough to name you guardian to their child?"

Nodding, Louis grinned again as he said "You were, Ni, but it sounded better to say favourite godson instead of only. Where's the cradle snat- Where's Liam?"

Rolling his eyes at Louis, Niall simply shook his head, mentally counting from one to ten before he said "Do you want to try that again, Lou?"

Sighing dramatically, Louis ran a hand through his hair, the pink streak having finally grown out, before saying "Sorry, Ni. One of these days, I swear I'll get it right first time. Where's Liam?"

Collapsing into one of the stools in the kitchen area, Niall rested his head against the cool marble worktop before he noticed the candy cane patterned cape Louis had deposited by the front door. Unable to take his eyes off it, Niall shook his head again as he said "Liam had to go into the office, he said something about an emergency meeting. Is that a cape, Lou?"

Looking up from the TV, Louis nodded, coming through to the kitchen and wrapping an arm around Harry's neck. "It is. Fizzy gave me it for christmas and it's actually rather warm."

Nodding, Niall smiled as he watched Harry nuzzle into Louis' neck, glad his friends had finally gotten their shit together before he picked the cape up. "Well.... It's very... different, Lou. It's festive, anyway."

Kissing Harry's cheek once more, Louis sat himself up on the worktop as he snatched the cape back, shrugging before he laughed again. "Please, Ni. You can say it's hideous. Harry did when I first unwrapped it."

"Did not." Pretending to look offended, Harry pulled Louis off the worktop, shaking his head as Niall started at the two of them. Hearing the baby monitor sound, Niall pushed away the memories of the sedate, quiet christmas he and Liam had enjoyed as a family, smiling as he remembered the look on Kieran's face as he saw 'Santa' had been before heading into the nursery to gather his son, sighing again as he heard Louis laughing in he kitchen and the TV began to blare out some christmas movie before pressing a kiss to Kieran's forehead and carried him out to the living room.

Making a beeline for Niall, Louis left Harry sat on the couch as he grinned at Kieran, struggling to pull the baby away from Niall before he gave up, folding his arms across his chest as he watched Niall coo at the baby. "Gimme, Ni. When is it my turn?"

Raising an eyebrow, Niall sighed as Kieran began to reach out towards Louis, gingerly handing the eleven month old over to him before leaning back against the wall, watching as Louis carried Kieran around, his best friend wrapping his fingers around the material of Kieran's fluffy onesie, chattering to his godson as Harry turned his attention back to the TV, the brown haired boy smiling whenever he heard Louis talk.

Sitting down next to Harry, Louis arranged Kieran on his lap, Louis leaning his head against Harry's shoulder as the three of them watched he TV, leaving Niall stood in the kitchen watching them.

*************

Looking up as he heard the door open, Niall pushed the plate of mince pies away as he stood, smiling as he saw Liam stood there, the scarf Niall had bought him for Christmas still wrapped round his neck.

Setting his stuff by the door, Liam raised an eyebrow as he took in the junk food scattered around and the wrapping paper littering their living room before looking at Niall. "Hey you."

"Hey yourself." Meeting Liams gaze, Niall shrugged sheepishly as he saw what a mess Louis, Harry and he had made, picking up the empty plates and depositing them in the sink before noticing why Liam was staring. At some point, Louis had hung several loops of tinsel and had deposited a pile of confetti which, mixed with the wrapping paper from the late gifts and the wrappers from the many containers of junk food, created the cleaning job from hell. Smiling as he noticed the way Harry was currently rocking Kieran, he shrugged slightly before asking "How was your day?"

Kissing Niall's cheek, Liam ran a hand through his hair before he said "Long. I swear my clients change their opinion every three minutes. I'd ask how your day was, but given the state of this place, I'd say you were celebrating Christmas again."

Pulling Liam towards the living room, Niall shrugged again. "Unintentionally. Lou and Haz just turned up and I had no idea how to say no."

Laughing, Liam picked Kieran up, taking him away from Harry and holding him close, jogging Kieran up and down before he said "You guys do know that christmas was last week, right?"

Sitting up, Louis grinned at Liam, snatching up the last of the candy canes and pulling a face at Harry before saying "We do. But we had a fridge full of leftover christmas junk and nothing better to do."

Taking Kieran out of Liam's arms, Niall snorted at Louis' words, turning the film off and gesturing at the mess surrounding them as he said "I feel honoured. So much for wanting to spend with your favourite family... Since you guys have nothing better to do apparently, you can be the ones to clean all this crap up."

Glaring at Harry and Louis, Niall shot them the look he'd perfected over the past few months, the one Louis had called his dad face, giving them the same stern expression he gave Kieran when he refused to have a nap, as they started to protest, the two of them falling silent as Niall continued to glare, Louis turning and shooting a pleading look towards Liam.

Shrugging, Liam tried to hide his smirk, his eyes meeting Niall's as he but back a laugh. "Sorry you two. I'm not the one in charge. It's no good looking at me."

Sighing, Louis pouted again before standing up, pulling Harry off the couch with him before they proceeded to obey Niall, Louis gathering the empty dishes and Harry collecting the wrapping paper before they both glared at Niall. 

Walking over to where Liam was now stood, Niall stared at the two of them, trying to remember what he just did as he mumbled "I have no idea how I did that. How did I do that?"

Shrugging again, Liam smiled at him, wrapping an arm around the shorter boys waist before he pressed a kiss to the top of his head. "Do what, love?"

"Manage to make Louis obey me. It's never happened before." Leaning in to Liam's touch, Niall adjusted his grip on Kieran, holding their son against his chest as he spoke.

Snorting at Niall's words, Louis looked over from the dishwasher, sticking his tongue out at Niall before yelling "It'll never happen again, Ni." 

Appearing from behind the sofa Harry, still wearing the antlers and a t-shirt to match, dropped a pile of crumpled wrapping paper on to the couch as he said "It's a real christmas miracle."