Chances - 1D KidFic

The Storm

*Louis's POV*

I wake up to a loud crack of thunder and a flash of lightening shortly after. I look at Liam and he is still sound asleep. I look at the clock and it's only 3am. I roll over and try to fall back to sleep, but the thunder is too loud. I think I hear a whimper on the baby monitor. I listen for another but it doesn't come. We've never had a storm this bad with the kids, so I decide to go check on the little ones to make sure they're okay.

I go to Niall first. Luckily, he's still sleeping, suckling on his fingers because his dummy fell out. If the whimper came from him, he doesn't seem too bothered. I replace his fingers with his dummy and cover him with his blanket again before I check on Harry.

Harry is still asleep, snoring away. One of his toys, Penny the penguin, had fallen off the bed. I tuck her under Harry's arm, kiss his forehead, and leave the room.

Now, Zayn. He's only been here a week and I'm not sure how he would feel about me peeking into his room. I wasn't going to, but I hear a noise coming from his room as I pass by. I open Zayn's door slightly and hear him quickly shuffle back under the covers.

"Zayn, you know you're supposed to be asleep." He's lying very still in bed, trying not to move, pretending he's asleep. He's so cute. "I know you're awake." 

There's another crack of thunder and I hear a whimper come out of Zayn. 

"Oh, honey," I say moving toward his bed, "I'm okay. Did the storm wake you?" 

He nods his head, not looking at me.

"Yeah, it woke me up too," I sympathize, rubbing his back. Poor thing. Maybe I was too harsh? "You're okay. I'm not mad. I promise." 

Another crack of thunder hits and Zayn whimpers again and sniffles. I notice that he's also shaking. Something isn't right. Lightning flashes again and it finally clicks with me. "Zayn, look at me," I ask. "Please, look at me, darling."

He slowly turns over and looks at me with tears in his eyes. I've never seen him cry like this. He looks frightened.

"Ohh, honey, come here," I say, raising him to a sitting position and wrapping my arms around him. "Are you afraid of the storm? Are you scared of thunderstorms?"

Zayn nods against my chest and lets out another whimper when more thunder and lightening hits.

"Shhh... you're okay. Oh, darling. It's okay. You're safe here," I soothe and kiss his forehead. "Shh... you're safe. Papa's here. I've got you."

I rub his back as he continues to cry.  It breaks my heart seeing him cry. There's no telling what would cause him to have this sort of reaction to a storm. He's so strong, but right now he looks so sad and so scared. 

Eventually, he calms down enough so he's just sniffling. 

"Sorry..." he mumbles into my chest. That breaks my heart even more.

"Zayn, look at me." He looks up at my eyes, his eyes still a little watery. "You don't have to say sorry for this. It's okay to be scared of something. You don't have to apologize for being scared. Okay?"

He nods his head.

"Liam and I are here for you no matter what. You can come to us for anything. If you're scared, sad, mad, happy, confused, whatever. You're our son now, and we love you very much."

Zayn nods and hugs me again just as another round of thunder and lightening hits. 

"Darling, would you like to come to my room? Come sleep with me and Liam?"

Zayn thinks about it for a moment, then shakes his head 'no.'

"Are you sure?"

He tentatively nods a 'yes.'