a/n so I'm sorry if you read this earlier before I deleted it. The wrong copy got saved over it and I had to re-fvcking-write it and i was like real mad so if this is slightly different then that's why.
* * *
Like baby, baby, baby oooh
I thought you'd always be mine (mine).
- "Baby" || Justin Bieber
___
"Can you handle her?"
"Uh...Sure?"
"Thanks a bunch," says Sherrie, the woman with greying, frizzy brown hair who seems to be absolutely overwhelmed by the incessant crying surrounding her. A plump, light-brown-skinned baby is placed into his arms. She cooes, gurgling up at him. "She's walking, now, according to her mom, so you've got a runner on your hands."
"Oh, alright," Zayn nods, although he's smiling down at the baby. "Good."
"Yes," Sherrie says breathlessly, as one of the twins Magdalena's been assigned plops down and begins to cry. "Yes," she says again, because her daycare is just too big and while she's happy the entire Arts Department of NYU has formed a partnership with her, the place is really just too small and there are just too many occupants aged 4 and below, despite her helping hands. "Okay," and Sherrie pivots away, "Thanks again. Yes," she's staring around the room - the baby room - wondering why there is so much commotion at 10 AM on a Saturday. "Yes," she repeats, and she turns to Zayn, who has got the baby, Brooklyn, bouncing in his arms laughing.
He turns to her. "Anything else?"
"No," she shakes her head abruptly, because the girl, Magdalena, seems to have gotten the twins to quiet down although there's a boy, a Lucky, who seems to really need some help. "Call if you need anything," she exclaims, tossing the words over her shoulder before hurrying over to the two.
Zayn has Brooklyn in his arms and hasn't stopped smiling since she's been placed there. The baby is grabbing at his beard, wriggling in his arms.
"Wanna get down?" He asks, lowering her to the floor.
The baby takes off, wobbling away.
Zayn follows. "Alright, then. After you."
__
"Louis, for the first time in my life, I'm jealous of you," Anais says, because upstairs, the toddlers have all flocked around him. "They all seem to like you better than the rest of us."
"What can I say?" He shrugs, poking one of the girls in the stomach and sending her into a fit of giggles. "I've got a gift, Anais."
She rolls her eyes, stacking blocks with a few three-year-olds. "Says you."
He holds out his arms to the kids around them. "Says them. And quite frankly, their opinions are the only ones that matter in the moment."
"Fair enough -- Ah, Alec," she exclaims, as the curly-headed boy boy holds up the horse he'd been playing with, "Is that your horsie?"
He nods.
"What's its name?"
"Um. Um," the boy stutters. "His, his name is, it's Brownie."
"Brownie?" Anais takes a pretend bite from the horse. "Yummy."
Louis snickers as the boy laughs, "No," he recoils, snatching back his horse. "You can't eat him. You can't eat a horse."
"What?" Anais gasps, and Alec leans against her, repositioning himself so that he's sitting now in her lap. "Okay," she says. "Get comfortable."
Alec is, and he's making Brownie gallop along her thigh.
Anais shakes her head, grinning.
"Seems like they like you quite well, too," Louis says with a smirk.
"Everyone, sooner or later, finds out that loving me is crucial to their health."
"This must be why we're friends," Louis nods. "And, speaking of friendship, I really need your help with something."
"Lemme guess," Anais begins, continuing to stack blocks as Alec runs the horse up and down her kneecap. "It's about Soo's party."
"Actually, yes," Louis nods. "And Niall and Haz want me to put on a fu - I mean, a wonderful," he continues, scanning the faces of the toddlers amongst them. Anais chokes on a laugh, because he definitely was about to curse horribly in front of infants. "They want me to throw a magical, wonderful puppy party and I just don't see how that's gonna fit-"
Anais gasps. "A puppy party? Oh no. No, no no. You don't need to do anything else. That's it. You're done. Do that."
Louis is regretting asking Anais for help. "You sound like Harry."
"He's got good taste in fun, then. Great taste, even."
Louis rolls his eyes, groaning.
The little dark-skinned boy in his lap, David, taps him in the shoulder.
Louis blinks his bright blue eyes. "Yes?" He asks. "What is it, buddy?"
"I like puppies," he says simply, before turning back to the game of Connect Four he was playing with his sister.
"And the children have spoken," Anais nods. "Louis, seriously," she continues, "Soo will freaking love that. She'll love it. Completely and absolutely you cannot go wrong with a puppy party."
"I love puppies!" Chimes Alec.
"Me too."
"I have a puppy!"
"Me too."
Anais shoots Louis a smug smile. "There you have it," she shrugs. "You're doing it. Decision's been made for you."
Louis stifles another groan.
__
Brooklyn is actually quite fast for a baby.
How someone's little legs can take them so far is quite entertaining to Zayn. He's chasing after her, watching as she pauses to stare at the different students and babies and toys and colors configured about the baby room.
And it's when he sits on the floor with her, clapping her hands together does he hear Anais' laugh filter from another room across the hall.
"Alec! That's not what horses do, babe!"
Brooklyn looks up from the stuffed bears scattered on the floor before her.
"Yep," he says. "That's Ana."
Brooklyn teeters to her feet, her little hands pulling his shirt down in the process.
"Want to meet her, love?" He asks, as she clutches his clothes, her fingers grabbing at the towel draped on his shoulder. "Want to meet Anais?"
Brooklyn laughs, drool dripping down her face as her chubby hands grab for her mouth.
"Good," he says, lifting her into his arms. He wipes her mouth and exits the room. "I'll take that as a 'yes.'"
And Zayn carries Brooklyn into a very loud group of toddlers.
"Neigh, horsie," Anais exclaims, bouncing an olive-skinned, curly-headed boy upon her knee. He's squealing with laughter and she's giggling, laughing harder as the boy slips and slides along her leg.
Zayn stands at the door, a lazy grin upon his face.
Brooklyn squirms in his hands, and although she's itching to get down and traverse her new surroundings with new toys and new, bigger kids, Zayn rocks her a bit, calming her down.
"Yeah," he says, smiling from her to Anais. "That's her."
"Okay, okay," Anais laughs, placing the little boy back on his feet. "Your horsie needs a little water break."
"Horses don't get breaks," says Zayn, chucking as he approaches the two in the beanbags across the floor. "Like, I thought you knew that, Anais."
Ana looks up.
"This one might need some water," she grins, "because she's kind of about to pass out."
He chuckles, and Anais rises to her feet, waving to the baby in Zayn's arms.
"Hi, precious," she coos. "Who are you?"
"This is Brooklyn," Zayn grins, smiling down at the infant in his arms. "Can you say 'hi,' Brook?" He asks, waving his hand, waiting for her to copy his action. "Can you say 'hi' to Anais?"
Brooklyn waves, leaning further into Zayn in the process.
"Oh," Anais raises her eyebrows. "Someone's really into you."
There's a smirk on Zayn's face. "Jealous?"
"Eh," she shrugs, "I mean, it's pretty hard to beat this face," Anais says, tickling Brooklyn's stomach. "I can't be too mad to be honest."
"Really, Ana? At least put up a fight," Zayn snorts, and as Anais laughs, she looks down at the little boy with both of his hands wrapped around her thigh.
"Oh. This is Alec," says Anais, tapping his nose. "Alec, this is Brooklyn, and that's Zayn."
And Alec looks between Anais and Zayn and he looks a few times before dropping to his knees, grabbing a toy from the floor and holding it up to Zayn.
"Where are my manners," she continues, before pointing now, to the plastic, equine companion. "And that, Zayn, is Brownie."
Zayn crouches beside the little boy.
He waves. "Hi, Brownie."
Alec runs the horse up Zayn's bent knee. "Neigh."
"We've been playing 'horsie' all day," Anais laughs, dropping to the floor. She watches Zayn nod, simultaneously shaking a squirming Brooklyn onto the rug beside Alec.
"I can see," he says, and Brooklyn takes off, crawling between himself and Anais. He juts his chin towards the moving baby. "I've been chasing this one around while you've been a horse."
"Good day," Anais laughs.
"Could've been better," he shrugs, scooting closer to Anais.
"And how's that?"
He runs his fingers beside her jaw, gently pulling her face towards his. "Haven't seen your pretty face all day, have I?"
"Eew," Alec exclaims, closing his eyes and crossing his arms over his face as Zayn's lips meet Anais'. "Kissing is gross."
Anais giggles, shaking her head. "I forgot," she says. "I forgot the audience I was dealing with."
"It's not gross," Zayn exclaims, reaching out and grabbing Alec beneath his arms.
"Hey!" The boy squeals, laughing as Zayn brings him against his chest, tickling him.
"What?" Zayn laughs. "What, Alec?"
And Anais scoots back, watching first, how Brooklyn is getting drool all over Brownie, and second, how Zayn continues to grab at Alec, making the boy squirm and laugh all at the same time. She watches him take a break, pausing his tickles to shrug.
"Okay, I'm done," he says.
Alec holds his hands over his stomach. "You're done?"
Zayn nods. "Yep."
"You're sure?"
"Nope," Zayn exclaims, grabbing the toddler and sending him into a fit of giggles once again.
Anais is smiling as she grabs paper towels and wipes the saliva from Alec's horse.
And that's when Sherrie practically runs into the room - everything she does, she seems to do in a hurry, Zayn's noticed.
"Snack time," she exclaims, holding out a tub of what appears to be candy. "Does anyone want a little snack?"
And Alec pops out of Zayn's arms, rushing with the other kids to get whatever Sherrie's brought for them to eat, leaving him, Anais and Brooklyn by the beanbags with his horse toys.
Anais hums disapprovingly. "That's got to be a bad idea."
"What?" Zayn turns, brows furrowed. "What're you talking about?"
"That," she exclaims, holding her hand towards Alec, who, along with a bunch of other children, is fishing a lollipop from the container. "Giving them sugar like this. I mean, for God's sakes, it's barely twelve and already she's giving them sugar? Let them eat lunch first, like sheesh."
Zayn chuckles. "It's just a lollipop. And they're gonna eat next, aren't they?"
"Yeah, but still. It's like, they're gonna get high on sugar and they're barely four."
Zayn lifts a brow. "Really? They can't get high on one piece of candy."
"Still," she says. "There really should be a sugar-free option."
"Wow. Anais, you literally sound exactly like a mom."
"He's right," Cara nods, as she and Lucky look up from the toddlers they'd been tasked to care for. "You do," and she looks between them. "It's like, they're your children," she says, motioning to Brooklyn and Alec, who jogs back towards them. "And you two are the parents. Literally, those two could be your kids. This is a glimpse of the future, Mr. and Mrs. Malik."
Cara nods again, as Anais groans and Zayn fights a smile.
"This here," she says, "this is perfect practice for you two crazy kids in love."
And a look of realization passes over Lucky's visage.
"Oh," he begins, to Anais, of course. "So, this is the boyfriend, huh? This is why you're too busy to hang out."
Anais rolls her eyes, scoffing. "You knew that."
"I didn't, but that's fine," Lucky shrugs.
He smiles. "And on that note, when are we going on our date, Ana?"
Zayn turns abruptly. "Your date?"
"Nope, unless lunch between two friends is now considered a date."
"But," Lucky nods, "it kind of is, if you think about it."
Cara shrugs. "Actually, Ana, it kind of is."
"Please stop making this into more than it actually is," Anais says, as Alec sucks on his lollipop, crawling into her lap. "It's not a date," she says to Zayn, whose jaw is clenched.
"It's not a date," she repeats.
"Sure, sure," Lucky grins, and he drives Zayn crazy because he winks at him. "Don't worry, mate. I'm not trying to steal your girl."
Zayn does not crack a smile.
"So, Friday?" Lucky asks, turning back to Anais.
"Um," Anais forces herself to peel her eyes from Zayn's. She smiles at Lucky, although it's forced. "Sure," she says, "Friday's good."
"Lunch at Nero?"
"Uh, sure," she says. "Yes."
And Lucky shoots her one of his signature smiles. "Great," he says, as two little boys run back over to him. "See you then."
And Anais turns to Zayn, who is silent as he watches Brooklyn make grabs at Brownie, who is already in Alec's hands.
Anais scoots herself - and with her, Alec - a bit closer to the boy with the furrowed brow and darkened eyes.
"Zayn?"
"Yes?"
Anais winces at his clipped tone. "What..." She pauses, wondering exactly how to approach this with a room full of children. "What are you thinking?"
He turns to her. "I'm thinking, no, I'm wondering how my girlfriend forgot to mention that she was going out with the one kid I think I like, hate."
"Eew," Alec chimes. "Girls are gross."
That statement at least elicits a smile from him, and he ruffles the boy's hair.
He lowers his voice. "So I'm surprised," he snaps, "'Cause I like, really didn't think I'd have to find out this way."
Anais frowns, because this is the first time that they'd actually seriously argued - this is the first time Zayn'd ever actually seemed angry with her. "Are you mad?" She asks, despite knowing the answer.
"I mean," his jaw clenches, "Kinda, yeah."
Anais' frown deepens. "Really?"
"I mean, like, yeah."
"But, Lucky's a friend, Zayn," Anais says. "I didn't think to tell you because I mean," she says, "it's like going out with Cara or Jourdan or Magdalena-"
"Except it's not and you know it isn't."
"Aren't you overreacting? I mean, just 'cause you don't like him-"
"I don't like him 'cause he's into you, Anais," he snaps. "Like, really, love. He wants you and, I mean," he exclaims, "I mean, how's that supposed to make me feel?"
"But," she shakes her head, "But, so what if he likes me? He's got a girlfriend and," she explains, "more importantly, I have a boyfriend."
Zayn rolls his eyes. "That obviously doesn't matter to him since he's trying to get with you."
"But, I'd actually like to keep my boyfriend. Last time I checked, I wasn't trying to leave you."
"And it's not you, Anais. It's not, I swear, it's," Zayn scrubs his hands frustratedly across his face. "Not everyone's as sweet and honest as you," he says. "You're just the only one who can't see how bloody obvious it is."
"But-" And Anais' words are cut short because Alec is standing, rising to his feet between her legs.
She turns to him. "What is it, Alec?"
He grabs at her hair, playing with the ends. "Are you two fighting?"
"What? Alec, no. No, babe. Why would I be mad?"
Alec shrugs wordlessly. "You, you just sound like you're fighting."
Anais shakes her head, squeezing his free hand. "We aren't fighting, and I'm sorry I made you think that at all."
"But," Alec's fingers drop from her hair, "But, but, you're mad?"
"I'm not mad," Anais replies, "Promise." And she turns to Zayn, eyebrow raised, "Are you mad?"
And it's how both Anais and Alec are staring expectantly at Zayn, their brown eyes similar in their looks of anticipation, that makes him sigh.
Zayn shakes his head. "No, like, I'm not mad, buddy."
"But," Alec stutters again. "But, you were yelling."
And Zayn sighs again. "C'mere," he says, holding out his arms.
Alec shuffles past Brooklyn, who has now leaned against Anais' outer thigh, both hands grabbing at a stuffed horse.
Zayn stares up at the little boy. "I'm sorry for yelling," he says softly. "I didn't mean to yell."
"It's, it's," Alec looks at his hands, long eyelashes casting shadows upon two plump cheeks, "It's 'cause you were arguing?"
"We weren't arguing," Zayn says at once, shaking his head.
"It sounded like-"
"Sometimes," Zayn interjects, "when two people are like, really passionate about their opinions, they-"
"What does 'passionate' mean?"
Zayn grins at the sound of Anais' soft chuckle. "It means like," he pauses because what the hell- he's seriously blanking on synonyms. "It's like extra serious. It's like..."
"When you feel strongly about something," Anais finishes, and Zayn smiles gratefully.
"Exactly," he says. "'Cause sometimes you feel really strongly about some things you believe, but other people feel a different way.
"And it's like," he draws out the word, "sometimes we disagree about those opinions," he continues, as Alec nods slowly, his curly ringlets bobbing up and down. "So, it seems like we're arguing, but we're not. And it seems like we're mad, but we're not mad, either."
And Zayn snakes his fingers through Anais'. "We don't always agree," he says, kissing the back of her hand - Alec, of course, makes a face.
Zayn chuckles, "But that doesn't mean we don't really, really love each other."
And Alec nods with an, "Okay," before he plops down again, this time, in front of Zayn and looks around for Brownie who is tucked comfortably beside Brooklyn.
The children resume their play, and Zayn is just happy that things worked out and he came out of that conversation relatively unscathed - no innocence was harmed in the process - when Anais squeezes his hand.
He hasn't dropped hers yet.
Her eyes search the ABC rug. "Zayn?" She pauses, searching for the right words amidst the colorful letters beneath them, "Would it make you feel better if you came, too?"
Zayn pulls a face. The thought of going to dinner or wherever with Anais and Lucky is really not that appealing to him.
"Um..."
"Please?"
Zayn folds his arms across his chest. "I really don't like him."
"And again," Anais says, "you don't have to."
"I mean," he runs his hands over his face, groaning at the thought of spending an evening with Lucky Blue Smith, "I trust you, Anais. I do, I just," he sighs, "I just don't fu-" He pauses, and Anais lifts her brows because between him and Louis, the babies were going to learn more than a few cuss words. "I just really don't trust him."
"Then, come," she pleads. "I'll tell him to invite someone else, or something. I can have Cara come if you'd like? You can bring Niall? Or, how 'bout I ask Mags and Jesse? We can turn it into a group thing and then you don't have to be around him..." She grins, and she pouts again. "Please?"
Zayn groans.
Anais slides closer. "Please?"
"Do I have to?"
Anais places a kiss on his neck, and allows her lips to linger beside his ear. "Yes."
He shudders, eyelids low. "Not fair."
"Please?" She asks, purposefully dragging her lips across his skin. "Please, Zayn? Come?" And she runs her hand up his thigh and he nearly kicks Brownie out of Alec's hands.
Anais then puts icing on the cake when she turns her big brown eyes up to meet his. "For me?"
And Zayn really really hates himself because he'd like to not come, but at the same time, he's drawn not only by the thought of Lucky trying anything with his girlfriend, but by the way Ana's fingers are slipping down the inside of his jeans and she's staring up at him in a way that's got him wanting to say anything that'll make her keep doing exactly what she's doing.
"Fine," he groans, hating himself for giving in to his primal urges. "Fine, I'l fuc-" He stops as Anais laughs and he shakes his head. "Whatever," he hisses, scooping up a fallen horse toy and laying beside both Brooklyn and Alec. "Whatever, I'll come."
Anais leans towards him. "Knew you would," she sings, enjoying the renewed, playful atmosphere.
He flips her off when the kids aren't looking and she kisses below his ear.
Thankfully, Alec didn't see that, either.
"And this," Cara nods, as she crawls behind one of her toddlers, "is a glimpse of the future."
Zayn chuckles, shaking his head.
Anais rolls her eyes. "Do I even want to ask why?"
"What? I see it now," she nods. "You two, your son and your daughter and the second-hand embarrassment they'll experience from all, and I do mean all, of the PDA. I hope you're ready," and Cara winks. "I know I sure am."
-~*~-
Ok so sorryyyy again if you tried to read this initially and you couldn't. I deleted and reposted the chapter bc I saved the WRONG version over the RIGHT ONE and had to REWRITE IT.
Literally so pissed.
But anyway...I love writing Lucky's parts, even though he's a mess. (Is that bad?)
Also, Zayn and Brooklyn *insert heart eyes*
Comment and vote! Thanks for bearing with me while I fixed this. Urgh.
PS IM MORE THAN REALLY REALLY EXCITED FOR THIS NEXT CHATEFR OK