Keep Me Safe (Sequel to Take Me Home)

Chapter Forty-Nine

Liam found himself getting a little misty eyed over the photo and all of the happy memories that came with it. It made him determined to get back to that, back to that perfect scene, that perfect feeling.

Hell, it didn't have to be perfect. He just wanted to see all of his boys that happy again.

He glanced up with his teary eyes to see that Zayn was wiping a thumb across his own cheeks to brush the tears away and he smiled at their three sons, holding out his arms which none of them wasted any time leaning into.

"Thank you boys...its perfect," he murmured.

#

Nana and Gramps arrived just before midday. As always, Liam's mother wore her softest smile and pulled each of the boys into a hug in turn. When she reached Niall, her face grew even softer than Liam was sure he had ever seen it, taking him so gently by the shoulders and lowering her voice a little.

"Hey, baby...I'm so sorry," she murmured, and Niall let out a small breath and leaned into her whilst Liam watched from across the room. The twelve year old clung onto her with delicate hands, closing his eyes as he rested his head beneath her chin slightly.

Liam couldn't help but think back to what that asshole Joe had said at the football match. That maybe Niall needed a female figure in his life to help with the situation (though he hadn't worded it quite like that, the little -)

And maybe all of the boys did. He would be lying if he said it wasn't something he had thought about quite a lot in the past, the fact that none of the boys had really had a mother figure or even an aunt or someone who was around often enough to have a big enough impact in their lives. Sure, Harry had had his biological mother before he had joined them, and Louis had had his grandmother. Niall had only ever known big, abusive men like Keith and Richard...

And yeah, they were good parents - he wasn't dismissing that. They were gentle and soft and kind and loving, but they were both men. What if they were harming the boys by not having a female role in their lives?

Then again, none of them had ever said much about it before. It had been mentioned here and there, mostly on events like mothers day, just questions like, "why don't we have a mum?" when they were much younger.

He shook his head to himself. He was being stupid - it didn't matter that he and Zayn were both men. They were as good of parents as any others, and in that day and age, the idea of a female role seemed quite traditional and sexist anyway.

They were doing their best, and they loved their boys with all of their hearts - that was all they could do.

Still, it did make his heart ache a little to see the way Niall looked so relaxed in his Nana's embrace, muscles untensed in a way that they hadn't been so long. Whether he liked it or not, he knew it must have been difficult for the boy to be living in a house full of other males when he had been abused by two men (or rather, monsters) previously.

He watched as his father, the boys Gramps, walked in with a huge bag of presents clutched in one strong hands.

"Woah, are those for us!?" Louis exclaimed, trying to peer into the bag.

"Lou," Zayn said, shaking his head. "At least say hello to the poor man first," he added with a chuckle.

Gramps just laughed, ruffling the twelve year olds hair. "For you? Why would they be for you? No, they're for all of our other grandchildren," he teased, causing Louis to squint at him with a half smile before he gave him a hug.

When Niall pulled away from his Nana's embrace, Harry quickly took over in leading the older lady over to the couch, the two of them instantly jumping into conversation about university and school. Liam smiled at that, because their oldest son had always loved to sit with his grandmother whenever she was around.

He watched tentatively as his father approached Niall, the small blond instantly hunching his shoulders anxiously. His hand waved at his side slightly and Cooper was there instantly, pushing his head into the boys palm in a way that always calmed him. He and Zayn had taken the first steps in getting the dog formally made into a therapy dog for the boy, so that when he went back to school eventually, he would be allowed to have the animal with him should he feel he needs him.

"Hey, Champ!" Gramps said, keeping his tone cheerful though his eyes were gentle. Liam noticed how his father didn't reach out to scruff up the blond's hair the way he had with the other boys. Instead, he set down the bag of gifts and kept his hands by his sides instead. "You know, I think you might've grown. Just a little," he said with a smile.

Niall managed a small smile at that, because everyone knew he hadn't grown a single inch since the last time Gramps had seen him. Still, the words cheered him up slightly, though he still didn't say anything.

Gramps held out a hand hesitantly, and Niall took a deep breath before he stepped into a one armed hug from his grandfather, eventually relaxing slightly and wrapping his arms around the man in return.

Liam let out a small breath that he wasn't even aware he had been holding in relief, catching his father's eye and the two of them sharing a soft smile.

A couple of hours passed. Louis and Gramps were playfighting on the floor, and Liam had no clue how his father still had as much energy as he had when he had been a kid but he was grateful for it, because Lou was laughing harder than he had done in a long time. Harry was still curled up next to Nana, one of his school sketchbooks in his hands, showing her his drawings as she asked questions with interest.

Zayn was attempting to set up a new console that the grandparents had bought for the boy, TV all pulled out and wires scattered everywhere in a way that looked beyond confusing and so everyone simply left him to it.

Niall had been plucking at the strings of his new guitar in the corner of the room, and even though it was difficult to hear over the loudness of the rest of the family, he was surprised to hear how good the boy had gotten at it. Apparently the lessons he'd had at school had been paying off, and the man knew he would eventually have to get the kid back into lessons so that he could continue learning.

He had been going to and from the kitchen to make sure that the dinner was cooking okay. Everything seemed to be coming together, and he didn't mind watching everything from an outside point of view.

Sure, the dynamic was a little different now than it had been in that photograph.

But when he looked at the frame that had been set up in the middle of the mantelpiece, he no longer felt that longing for things to be that way again.

Things were different. They were harder. They had a long way to go - Harry still had his dark days and he was worried that his son was going to struggle with going away to university the following year; Louis still had issues that hadn't yet been faced, even if the alcohol didn't seem to be a huge issue anymore, it was the reasons behind the drinking that they still had to get to the bottom of; and Niall was finding everyday life tough, there were a lot of days where he was silent, days where he wouldn't let anyone come even close to him, days where the flashbacks took over and it felt like they were never going to get their son back.

But despite it all, he couldn't help but feel like everything that had happened had only pulled them closer together. It had only made them stronger.

After all they had been through, he wasn't going to give up hope. No, maybe they would never have that perfect day on the beach again.

But Liam was certain that there would be many days just as wonderful as that one yet to come.

They were a strong family.
And after that mess of a year, there was almost certainly nothing that would be able to tear them down...

THE END