It was a Saturday evening and Zayn had just started feeding the boys dinner. A task that seemed simple, but was anything but when he was juggling trying to get three kids to eat a healthy meal.
"Papa, I want pizza instead. Daddy always lets us have pizza," Harry whined from across the table, poking at the cut up grilled chicken and broccoli that Zayn had sat in front of him.
"Harry, this doesn't have to be a fight every time. It is good for you, don't you want to grow big and strong one day like Papa?"
Harry huffed and crossed his arms across his chest dramatically in response, obviously not taking Zayn's bait.
"Come on Harry, please just try it at least," Zayn encouraged.
"No! I want pizza!" Harry screamed as he pushed the plate towards the center of the table and hopped down from his chair. Zayn sighed in response, watching as the boy ran to the living room, probably looking for a place to pout.
He didn't even bother going after him, he was tired of fighting the same fight at every mealtime. He would give the boy a second to calm down and then try to reason with him.
After a few minutes had past, Niall looked at Zayn nervously from his spot at the table, picking up on his dad's frustration. "Lou and I like it! See papa?" Niall said as his drowned a piece of the chicken in ketchup and put it in his mouth.
Zayn laughed and got up and gave the boy a kiss on the head, "I'm glad sweetheart. Try the broccoli for papa next, yeah?"
Niall scrunched up his face at the comment and Zayn laughed before heading to the living room to check on Harry.
When he entered the room, he found the boy sitting on the carpet with his knees to his chest rocking himself back and forth with tears running down his cheeks.
"Haz, there's no need to get so worked up over dinner," he said as he scooped the boy up into his arms and sat him on his lap on the couch. Harry only cried louder at the words, hiding his face in the crook of Zayn's neck.
This made Zayn begin to worry. They had many *many* dinner meltdowns each weekend, but Harry had never reacted quite like this. "Shhhh. It's okay baby. Papa will cook you something different if you really don't like it. It's no big deal."
"I don't want it Papa," Harry cried out and tried to burry his face further into Zayn's neck as he continued to sob. Zayn gave up reasoning with the boy and just rocked him in his lap, trying to calm the boy down. "Okay baby, you don't have to. It's okay. Let's just go sit back at the table with Lou and Ni. Just try to breathe for me."
Harry didn't put up a fight and continued to soak the front of Zayn's white shirt with snot and tears, something that would usually make Zayn physically gag, but he didn't want to chance upsetting the boy any further.
The pair returned to Zayn's spot at the table and Niall eyed them with concern as they sat down. Zayn pushed his plate out of the way, suddenly losing his appetite, and continued to rock the crying boy back and forth in his arms.
"He's okay Ni, finish your food," Zayn said to the boy as he continued to watch them.
Niall hesitated and then did as he was told, trying to return his attention back to his dinner plate. Meanwhile, Louis was perfectly content making a mess of his baby food on the tray of his high chair, not paying any attention to his brothers or Papa.
As both the boys finished their dinner, Harry's crying eventually died down to small sniffles and whimpers. Zayn did his best to balance carrying the boy and cleaning off the table, leaving the dishes in the sink for him to take care of tomorrow.
He then did his best to wipe off Louis' dirty face with one hand, the baby obviously not liking the act and jerking his head away from the wipe. "Harry, can I put you down for a little bit so I can get your brother cleaned up?" he asked the boy gently.
Harry shook his head and gripped onto Zayn tighter, obviously not a fan of the proposal. Zayn sighed and shifted the boy to his hip so he could pick the baby up in his other arm. Hitting the gym really comes in handy when taking on the role of being a single dad each weekend, he thought to himself.
"Ni, will you follow us to the bathtub buddy?" Zayn asked the toddler. Niall nodded in response, running ahead of the bunch to the bathroom - the only one in the two bedroom house Zayn had been renting.
When the group arrived to the bathroom, Zayn managed to close the door behind them with his foot, balancing Harry on his hip as he sat the baby down in the designated bathroom bouncer that he had to use when he needed a quick shower.
He then turned on the faucet to the bathtub, making sure the water was at an adequate temperature and squeezing some soap into the stream so bubbles began to form. "Alright haz, I need to put you down so I can help you all get undressed," Zayn said gently to the boy.
Harry shook his head in defiance and whined, "Noooo papa."
Zayn sighed and began to pull the boy away from the death grip he currently had on his body, resulting in Harry beginning to cry out once again.
Zayn gave up, not wanting to rile the boy up and sat on the cold bathroom tiles with Harry on his lap. "Come here Niall, let me help you," he said to the blond boy as he struggled to pull his shirt over his head.
He quickly undressed the toddler, setting him in the tub and handing him some bath toys to keep him entertained while he then quickly undressed the baby, stripping him of his nappy and throwing it in the bathroom bin.
He looked around the bathroom inquisitively with the naked baby and a very clothed Harry in lap, trying to figure out his next move. "Harry, if papa gets in the bath with you can you be a big boy for me and let go just for a tiny second?"
Harry peered up at Zayn through his wet eyelashes, seeming to perk up at the idea of Zayn joining them in the bath. He nodded slowly and released his grip, scooting farther away, but making sure not to leave Zayn's lap.
Zayn chuckled at the boy and reached over to set the baby back into the bouncer before turning back to Harry to undress him and set him next to Niall in the tub.
The boy let out a soft whimper at the loss of contact, and Zayn quickly shushed him, making quick work of undressing himself before grabbing Louis and squeezing next to the two toddlers in the tub. It was uncomfortable and unsanitary to say the least, but Zayn was so desperate to keep everyone happy at the moment he didn't even care.
Harry quickly pressed back up against Zayn after he submerged himself in the water, snuggling underneath one of his arms and plopping his thumb in his mouth.
Zayn didn't even try to correct the boy and make him remove it, he just needed to survive the rest of their bedtime routine and get the boys to sleep.
Niall kept himself entertained with his toys, while Zayn held Louis in his lap, blowing butterflies on the naked baby's stomach and making him giggle while he did his best simultaneously to wash the boy.
After the baby was cleaned off, Zayn turned to a groggy Harry next to him, gently scooping up the bath water and tilting the boy's head back to wet his hair with one hand. After he lathered the boy's curls in soap, he repeated the process, feeling Harry go practically limp next to him.
Thank God his eldest child was a little more self sufficient and Zayn only had to reach over to help him rinse some of the remaining suds out of his hair before everyone was clean.
Zayn made quick work of pulling the plug to the bath and climbing out with a half asleep Harry in one arm and the baby in the other. He balanced them both as he grabbed the three towels he laid out and walked to the connecting bedroom, telling Niall to stay put before he laid the other two boys on the carpet, coming back to retrieve the third from the tub shortly after.
Once all the boys were dry, Zayn quickly dressed them and then himself, replacing Louis' nappy and slipping footed pajamas on them each. Harry was completely knocked out at this point, obviously tired out from all the crying, so Zayn placed him on the bed before picking up Niall and Louis to take them to their room.
He read the two a quick bedtime story while he rocked them both. Niall listened attentively as Louis dozed off to sleep to the calming sound of Zayn's voice. He kissed them both goodnight before heading back to his room to retrieve Harry from the bed.
When Zayn saw him, the boy was still curled up where he left him with damp curls pressed against his forehead and puffy red eyes from all the crying. Zayn was worried to say the least. Harry was notorious for being a pain at meal time, but Zayn felt like there may be something more bothering the boy than just grilled chicken and broccoli.
After sitting next to the boy for a few more minutes letting his mind spiral with worry, he decided to stop torturing himself and take the boy to bed. He kissed him gently on the forehead as he laid him down in the boys' shared room and made sure to check the baby monitor before leaving and finally heading to his own bed.
Zayn was exhausted. He had been the CEO of a major company for the past three years, spending many sleepless nights in the office, but it truly did not even come close to comparing to a full weekend spent caring for three kids by himself.
He laid in bed for silently for awhile longer, scrolling through his phone and trying to distract himself from worrying about Harry. He figured if something had happened, Liam surely would have let him know.
Their relationship was practically at rock bottom at the moment, but neither of them messed around when it came to the boys. Liam always kept him in the loop and vise versa when anything happened - even if Karen did have to act as the messenger at times. That's why Harry's sudden behavior change seemed so strange.
Zayn pondered waiting until tomorrow evening and letting Karen know so she could pass the message onto Liam, but he was afraid the worrying would eat him alive if he waited that long.
It's not a big deal to call Liam, the man he had spent so many years of his life with, right? Especially when it was concerning the boys. If it was him, he would want to know right way, and surely Liam feels the same?
Zayn went back and forth in his head for a few minutes longer, eventually deciding that it was silly be was so apprehensive to ring the man who was technically still his husband. So he did it. Before he could talk himself out of it, he clicked on the contact he had been avoiding on his phone for so many months now, praying that Liam would pick up.
It took a few rings before the line was picked up. It was silent for a few seconds so Zayn initiated the conversation with a quiet, "hello?"
"Zaynie?" a slurred voice came from the other side of the line.
Zayn hesitated before he spoke again, "Liam, are you drunk?"
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