Imagines with Niall Horan

61. He is sick and your kids want to play

"Is he sleeping?"

"I think he's sleeping."

Niall cracked one eye open. His daughter and son were pressed up close to the side of his bed, their noses nearly pressed against theirs. "Hi," he croaked. "I was sleeping."

Madeleine wrinkled her nose. "Your breath is gross," she said.

Thomas elbowed her in the side. "Daddy was sleeping!" he said. "Mommy told us not to wake him up."

"But I wanted him to play with us!" Madeleine protested. She clambered onto the bed and plopped down beside him. "I brought my Barbies. Here, Dad, you can be Miss America."

Niall caught the doll clumsily before she dropped it on his face. "Maddy, baby...I can't play," he said blearily.

"But why?" Maddy said, perplexed. She waved her Mermaid Hair Teresa Barbie around. "You haven't played with me in forever, Daddy."

"I'm sick," Niall said, rubbing his hand over his face. "Too sick to play."

"Yeah, he's dying," Thomas added.

Maddy dropped her doll. "Like...like Bambi's mother?" she whispered. "He's gonna go away forever?"

Niall struggled to sit up. "Honey, no, I'm not going to die," he said, trying to hide a wince as he pulled his four-year-old daughter onto his lap for a cuddle. She burrowed in his arms and clung to his shirt. "I'm okay. I just don't feel good, that's all."

Thomas sat on the corner of the bed cross-legged. "Mr. Louis said you were going to die," he said seriously.

Niall sighed. "You don't have to call him Mr. Louis," he said. "He was just teasing you. And he's wrong. I'm not going to die."

Maddy wrapped her little arms around Niall's waist and nuzzled her cheek against his chest. "I love you," she said. She looked up at him, all big blue eyes and freckled cheeks. "If I love you enough, will you stay?"

Niall hugged her tightly. "I'll stay," he said. He reached over and tugged Thomas into his other side; the little boy only resisted for a moment before snuggling against him. "I'm not going to die. I promise. You just have to wait for me to get better."

"I'll help you get better," Maddy offered.

"Me too," Thomas added.

Niall smiled and hugged them both, the warmth of their little bodies pressed against his sides easing a little bit of the ache in his chest. He didn't want them to know how sick he really was, but it at least made him feel a little bit better to know how much they loved him.