Reason To Be (A Zouis Family AU)

Part Four, Chapter One

The four AM calls from Liam have become a regular occurrence in Louis' life since the birth of his first grandchild. Little Gracie is six months old now and isn't a fan of going to sleep easy, and so the panicked and extremely exhausted voice of his twenty-two year old son and a baby's screeching have become two very familiar sounds to him recently.

He's almost drifting off himself as he sits up against the pillows of the bed he shares with his husband, holding the phone to his ear and glaring enviously at the snoring man beside him. Gracie is slowly calming down on the other side of the line, and he holds his breath along with his son in the hopes that if they don't make a single sound, she'll settle down for the night.

One thing nobody tells you when you become a grandparent is that you end up having to be a new parent all over again. He'd forgotten how exhausting it had been when Liam was a baby, those sleepless nights and the days spent watching children's TV whilst trying not to nod off. Liam is the one taking leave from work whilst Emily brings in the money; and honestly, he knows how that feels. Parenthood is a full time, never ending job all of its own.

"I think..." Liam's voice is hesitant and hoarse on the line, and Louis smiles tiredly because he remembers himself sounding exactly the same through every sleepless night with the boys as they've grown up.

Not even just as babies - the nights spent up with Liam after an anxiety attack, the nights in the hospital with Harry when his diabetes took its toll, the nights spent in bed with Niall trying to coax him back to sleep after a nightmare. He wouldn't wish that level of exhaustion on anyone.

"I think she's sleeping," he finishes, letting out a long sigh.

Louis wants to let out one of his own but stays quiet instead, listening as his son puts the baby down to sleep hopefully into late morning.

"I'm sorry, Dad, you didn't sign up for this -"

"Hey, hey, none of that," he breathes, because as tired as he is currently, he doesn't for a moment regret being there for the kid.

Liam sniffs. "I'm so freaking tired. Why does nobody tell you how tiring it is, being a Dad? I didn't - I don't - you and Papa never let it show," he drabbles sleepily.

Louis smiles at that, sitting up a little more as Zayn snores particularly loudly from beside him, resisting the urge to reach over and flick the man in the cheek and wake him as a form of comeuppance. "Trust me, kiddo. You don't wanna know how many times I've almost fallen to sleep behind the wheel of the car. I'm surprised I'm still in one piece at this point," he chuckles.

"...well, I just wanna say how much I appreciate you guys. I didn't realise how hard all this is," he says through a yawn.

He smiles again. "And we appreciate you. Now get some shut eye before the little terror has you up again," he soothes, hearing the kid groan on the other end of the line.

"Pray for me," he mumbles, before the line goes dead and Louis can only imagine that he's fallen straight to sleep as soon as the call ended.

Now that the phone is away from his own ear, he doesn't feel so ready to nod off himself. He shakes his head as his husband rolls over in his sleep and mumbles something about getting up for work before falling silent again, smiling in amusement and leaning over to kiss the man's forehead.

They've worked on their relationship a lot recently. Perhaps it's because they've had more time together with Liam being so preoccupied with Gracie, and Harry moving out with Brad for uni. The only kid living full time in the house is Niall, and he's been doing a lot better lately as far as he can tell, getting along well with his friends at school, seeing Luke on the weekends.