Count On Me | Niam

Chapter Forty-Eight

The star for the top of the tree appeared, a battered old thing Niall recognised from memories so old he'd nearly forgotten them, mostly holidays at Liam's house when they were sixteen, seventeen, and Liam's mum had forced them to decorate the tree and join them in decorating instead of holing up in Liam's room together. That same battered old star was pulled out of a box and one look at Liam's face told Niall that he remembered everything too. Giggling, Chloe clung on to Liam as he lifted her up to place the star on the top of the tree, reaching out and adjusting its place when it began to wobble until she was satisfied that it was secure.

"It looks fantastic, doesn't it, Chlo?" Wrapping an arm around his daughter, Niall stood back a little as Liam took pictures of the tree, pressing a kiss to the top of the little girls head as they admired their handiwork. Chloe nodded emphatically, leaning into Niall's embrace as she murmured, sounding almost awed by the tree and all the work that had gone into creating what was really her first ever Christmas tree she didn't have to share, "Yeah...it's the best, I think. Beats Theo's for sure."

"You know what it's missing, Chlo?" Standing back alongside Niall and Chloe, Liam took a moment to admire the tree, the first one he'd bothered to put up in the past few years, grinning as he took in the whole effect, resplendent with glittery tinsel and plum coloured baubles, the soft glow of the fairy lights shining spectacularly, looking down at Chloe to see her shrug. "Presents, Chlo. Presents. Isn't that what all trees have?"

Chloe's face lit up as she remembered about presents, pushing her curls out of her face as she asked, "Presents? Where?"

Laughing, Liam directed her to the cupboard he and Niall had been stashing brightly wrapped packages in for weeks, giving her a hand to gather them all up and carry them back through and sort them into piles in front of the tree where Niall had sat himself, looking up at Liam and Chloe as they reappeared with a smile. He gestured for Chloe to come and sit with him, pulling her pile of presents over towards them and grinning as she took in the pile in front of her. "Where are you going to start, poppet?"

Chloe answered him by picking out the present at the top of the pile, a smaller one Niall remembered picking out for her from her list nearly months ago, the silver wrapping rapidly disappearing to produce a tin of glow in the dark stars, something Chloe had been clamouring for, for months, ever since she'd come across them in one of her's and Jessica's trips into the big John Lewis in the city centre, the chance to create a galaxy on her bedroom ceiling captivating her at the time. As it was, she let out a gasp, waving the tin around triumphantly, already making plans to add to what was now very much her bedroom at Liam's place, setting the tin down after a few minutes and picking another package up that Liam took credit for. "When you gave your dad the list of things you wanted, he passed some of them along to me...I really hope you like it."

The wrapping paper disappeared to reveal a box set of the few Disney DVD's she didn't own, ones she'd watched with Niall on old VHS tapes before their tape player broke or ones they'd missed entirely. "I love it. Me and you can watch them when Daddy and I get back from Ireland."

Unwrapping the rest of Chloe's pile of gifts went similarly; by the time they were practically ankle deep in wrapping paper, she'd unwrapped multiple soft toys, including an Olaf the Snowman toy she'd been asking for for years, something Liam had bought for her after Niall had groaned, remembering the period Chloe, much like most other little girls, had gone around singing 'Let It Go' for weeks on end. Other toys she unwrapped included robotic goldfish, Zhu Zhu pets, a Build A Bear bear from Harry and Louis that came with its own bed, wardrobe and a selection of clothes that nearly rivalled Niall's actual wardrobe, some colouring books and posh felt tips from Karen and Geoff, and most of the other things Chloe had asked for, but not quite all. Some things had been arranged with Great and Denise so that they'd be there in Ireland ready for actual Christmas.