part 2.
lucas stays quiet in the car even after they drop off his brothers at their school. he also kind of shrinks down when they got to the school, giving liam the idea that he was avoiding being seen.
so liam, realizes that his son is in a bad mood, decides to do something to cheer him up. he saw an ad of a carnival coming to town some days ago. he wanted to take all his kids, but this is the last day and it's a school night so he decided not to bother. now that lucas isn't going to school, he can actually take him.
liam drives him there without telling him, planning to surprise him. he parks the car when he gets there, lucas hasn't been paying attention to the road so when they park he looks around and frowns when he realizes that they're not home.
"this isn't home," he says. "where are we?"
"we're at the carnival," liam says. "i figured you'd be bored at home so we might as well have some fun."
lucas entire expression changes and he smiles widely. "really? can we go see the circus?"
"why not?" liam reciprocates his smile, trying to match his excitement.
lucas raises his hands up in excitement. liam
chuckles.
"want me to lift you up?" he asks as they make their way through the crowd. lucas was having trouble keeping up due to his small statue. lucas nods, feeling embarrassed as his dad gives him a piggyback ride. but it's much better this way, now he can see everything.
"hey lucas," liam calls his attention.
"hmm?" he replies.
"want to ride the rollercoaster?" he asks. lucas shakes his head but realized that liam can't see him.
"no," he says quietly.
"why not?"
"i'm scared," he replies. he has a fear of heights, liam is trying to get him out of his comfort zone.
"c'mon it'll be fun," liam insists.
"no dad, i don't wanna," lucas says, more forceful this time. liam sighs, disappointed. he also wanted to ride it, it's been a while.
"alright, i won't force you," liam says. "hey, there's the circus."
"yay! circus!" lucas glees excitedly. "i wanna see the monkeys!"
"let's go see them then," liam says, chuckling. they pay for their tickets and spend most of their time at the circus.
after they leave, lucas looks much more brighter and happier. he's practically vibrating with how giddy he is. liam decides to take advantage of the opportunity.
"think you're up for the rollercoaster?"
lucas hesitates. "i guess i can try it."
"it'll be fun, trust me," liam says. "have i ever let you down?"
lucas nods. "i can think of a few times."
"i've never let you down intentionally lucas," liam adds, chuckling at his sons smart mouth. "trust me, you're going to like this."
"but i'm scared of falling," lucas says.
"i won't let that happen," liam says.
"promise?" lucas asks in a soft voice, his eyes displaying all the nervousness he's feeling. liam almost feels bad about how nervous he is, almost. but he wants lucas to overcome his fear of heights.
"i promise," liam assures. "come on."
he picks lucas up and heads for the roller coaster.
lucas blushes as he's picked up. "dad i'm eight years old."
he's right. liam keeps forgetting that lucas has gotten much older and he still keeps treating him like he's a baby. he can't help it, he feels like he'd always see lucas as a baby. the different between jordan and lucas is striking. jordan was eight just two years ago, but even at that age he'd never let liam lift him up like this. he's always been more independent and he hates being babyed. in contrast, lucas might complain but liam knows he doesn't mind. the other reason that treating lucas like this comes so easy to him is how small the boy is.
lucas has gotten mistaken for a five year old more times than he can count. at first zayn and liam were worried that he wasn't growing, but his pediatrician assured them that he is, he's just a bit smaller than kids his age.
lucas clings tighter to his body as they get closer to paying for their ticket for the roller coaster. liam can feel his heart beating really fast.
"hey buddy," liam calls his attention. "are you good?"
"i'm scared," lucas replies.
"don't be," liam says. "i'll be there with you."
the first one they go to, lucas wasn't tall enough to ride on it. liam can tell he looks but relieved and disappointed. but they find another one where he can ride as long as he's accompanied by an adult.
they enter it and lucas screams all through, except when it ends. he's shaking but he's smiling.
"t-that was awesome!" he screams.
liam chuckles, smiling softly at him. "see, i told you you'd have fun."
"can we go again?" he says, adrenaline coursing through him and making him bolder.
"course," he says. he brings out his phone to check his time only to discover that he has seventeen missed calls from zayn. and a few missed calls from a number he doesn't recognized.
his heart skips a beat, instantly thinking the worst. with shaky hands, he calls his husband back.
"liam!" zayn yells immediately when he picks up the phone. "where the fuck did you keep your phone?"
"what's wrong?" he asks in a panicked voice.
"tell me why i got a call from mall security that oliver and noah have been arrested?"
"what?"
"why didn't you go get them from school liam? i'm so close to packing my stuff and taking the next flight home because clearly you can't handle all of them on your own," zayn laments.
"wait, hold on. i lost track of time, okay? i'll go get them now. stay at your parents, i've got this," liam tries to reassure him.
"do you? i feel so helpless here liam, tell me if you can't handle this on your own,"
"i can," liam insists. "i'll call you when i get there."
liam ends the call and dials the other number that calls him, he's sure that it's from the mall security that also called zayn previously.
he speaks to them and they tell him where he should come get the twins. then he ends the call and starts rushing back to the car, holding lucas hands as he walks faster.
he can't believe he lost track of time so fast, he's more than thirty minutes late to picking them up.
"dad, why are we walking so fast?" lucas asks.
"we need to get oliver and noah," liam says. "they got in trouble."
"the one time i didn't go with them," lucas shakes his head. liam chuckles.
he speeds as much as is legally allowed and safe to the address of the mall. then he's led to the mall security. he sees both of his sons in a room with a security guard.
oliver is seated on a chair that's too high for him and he's swinging his legs as he sucks on a lollipop. noah is standing anxiously next to him.
"what happened?" liam asks as soon as he sees them. noah runs up to him and hugs him, sniffing. "why did you guys leave school on your own? you know that's not allowed."
lucas walks to go meet oliver, and liam carries noah up since he looks scared and sad.
"oliver," liam says, knowing that oliver talks more. "tell me what happened."
"we were waiting daddy, and then i thought we could go get some candy. and then we tried to pay for the candy with our own money, and these bad men came and took us away. and then they asked me about our parents so we gave them your number," oliver confesses.
liam shakes his head. "you know better than to leave school when you're not supposed to. where did you even get money from anyway?"
the security guard walks over to liam. "they tried to pay with fake money. the cashier was very confused so she called us."
"fake money?" liam frowns, confused.
"olly said we could make our own money," noah finally chips in. "we used your special machine daddy."
"what machine?"
the security guard hands liam a couple of bills that are so obviously photo copied and fake.
liam is angry, but he finds the whole situation funny. he finds it hilarious that they were actually serious about paying for something with this. but he tries not to laugh to show that he's serious.
"i told the both of you not to go to my study," he chastises. "you've broken so many rules today and i'm very disappointed in the both of you."
"we're sorry," noah and oliver chorus.
"you better be," liam says then turns to the security. "i'm sorry for all the trouble they caused."
the security shakes his head and chuckles. "they caused no trouble at all, we all found the situation funny. especially this one," he points to oliver. "he was sassy all through."
"that's oliver," liam chuckles too. "i promise they wouldn't do something like this again."
the mall security lets them all leave with no trouble at all. oliver and noah bend their head in the car, knowing that their dad is mad at them. lucas makes conversation with them.
liam is silent as they arrive back home and they all walk inside. liam makes sure they change their clothes and put away their things. he makes some food for them and when they're done eating, he tells them to go have a nap in their rooms.
but he feels like he's forgetting something.
his phone starts ringing before he can properly think about that. it's zayn.
"hey," liam says. "i just got them back. can you believe they tried to buy candy with photocopied money?"
"what? how did they even come up with that?"
"right? i wonder what goes on in their heads,"
"we either have future accountants in our hands or criminals,"
"fingers crossed it's the latter," liam chuckles. "sorry i didn't pick your calls earlier. i took lucas to the amusement park. he finally got on the roller coaster."
"lucas is ghastly scared of heights, how did you manage to get him to do that? and did he like it?"
"he loved it. he wanted to go again," liam says. "when you get back we should all go together."
"sounds like a plan," zayn says. "how about jordan? how did his day go?"
shit. this is what he forgot about.
he forgot to pick jordan up from school.
shit. he's never going to hear the end of this. zayn can not know about this.
"f-fine. we haven't had the chance to speak," liam says.
"i wanna talk to him," zayn says. "he always tells me details about his day."
"i have to go, i think oliver just broke something," liam lies, ending the call. he hurries to put back on his coat and shoes.
he wonders if it's a good idea to leave the kids in the house alone or not. he's not going to spend long, but he doesn't feel safe leaving them in the house alone either.
he's contemplating when the door opens and someone walks into the house.
it's jordan, and he looks angry.
"dad!" he yells. "how could you not pick me up?!"
...
do you guys like these little series? i'm not really getting feedback on it so idk. would you want another part to this particular story?
please vote and comment!