One Direction Age Play and Fluff (Harry Centrics)

Shaken Up Part Seven

After tucking Harry in for the night--and well, after Liam fussing over if Harry was tucked in properly, if the room temperature was just right, and if they could possibly kindly ask the neighbors to not let their cats out tonight to be sure that Harry wouldn't wake up (even Niall had to roll his eyes at this one), the two adults went back to the kitchen for their long-overdue conversation.

"Today was long." Niall said just to break the silence. He and his husband have been sitting in silence by the island for about ten minutes now: The only thing keeping Niall sane was his tea. If he expected Liam to respond (he did), well he was disappointed (Liam didn't). Liam just continued sitting in silence, with both hands wrapped around his mug as he blankly stared at it as if the tea leaves were going to tell him the future. 

"Liam we have to talk about this already." Niall said in a gentle tone after a couple more minutes. "I think even Zayn and Louis are a bit confused. Heck, don't you think all these unspoken feelings we've been having are confusing Harry, too?"

Liam looked up at Niall at those words because he knew Niall was right. Maybe Harry acted up today because he was confused about the entire arrangement. He and Niall agreed earlier on that they wouldn't become too attached to Harry so as not to give off any wrong ideas and to avoid any unnecessary hurt when Harry has to leave for a new family in the future; but that's exactly what they did. They became too attached and it's confusing everyone.

"You're right." Liam sighed. "I've been thinking of adopting him for a while now." He admitted. It was when he first made Harry smile that the thought popped up into his mind. 

"I could tell." Niall chuckled. "But Liam, have you really thought this through?"

"We adopted two kids already, Niall. I think I know how to make decisions on this by now." Liam replied--but Niall only gave him 'the look'. "Okay, I know what you mean..." Harry was different. That didn't mean they didn't want him because of his little issues, but they were worried that they wouldn't be suitable parents for Harry. On top of it all, Liam and Niall already agreed that Zayn would be their last child. They love children, but they agreed in the past that perhaps two is the maximum capacity of their threshold. 

"He's such a sweet child, he deserves all the love he can get... he's been through so much, Niall."

"So are you saying that you want us to adopt him... out of pity?" Niall clarified. He knew his husband wasn't thinking that way, but he had to get Liam to properly collect and articulate his thoughts. 

"No it's not that." Liam frowned, and he took a sip from his tea before continuing. "It's just he's a sensitive little one, you know? He needs more attention and maybe a careful hand to guide him, or you know, parents who are willing to give him a little more affection." Liam paused to see if Niall was going to give any input... he didn't. "I guess what I'm trying to say is, he can find that here." 

"I thought we talked about Zayn being our last?" Niall asked.

"Yes but so much has changed since then: We both got better jobs, the two of them are older and... relatively more independent, we technically have more--."

"Okay, I get what you mean, love." Niall chuckled because his husband was already rambling. "It's not that I'm against adopting Harry, it's just that if we do, you know we both have to be 100% in this."

"When have we not been 100% 'in' when it came to our children?" Liam frowned.

"I mean, Harry's different so our 100% with Zayn and Louis may only be like a 75% when it comes to Harry." Niall carefully explained. "You said it yourself: Harry needs a little more attention. I just want to be completely sure that we can give him what he needs."