The next morning when Zayn woke up, he was met by a gorgeous sight. There was his husband, lying on his back, with his arm around the tiny Niall that was cuddled into his side. He mentally coo'd, then decided he should probably go check on his other boys. So Zayn got out of bed and made his way down the hall.
Upon entering the spare room, he was met by one sleeping boy and one boy sitting up in bed looking wide awake.
"Hello, baby. Up early aren't we?" Zayn asked Harry. "Am I s'posed to be sleeping?" Harry asked. Zayn chuckled. "Well, everyone else in the house is; its early. But no, you don't have to be," He replied. "Okay!" Harry said. "Do you wanna come downstairs with me and get breakfast while everyone else wakes up?" Zayn asked. Harry nodded, then crawled out of bed and made his way over to Zayn. He grabbed Zayn's much larger hand, which made Zayn smile. "Let's go," he said.
Once downstairs, Zayn sat Harry down on the counter. "Wanna help me cook?" He asked. Harry's big green eyes lit up and he shouted, "Yeah! I like to cook!" Zayn chuckled at the small boys enthusiasm. "Okay. But let's keep our inside voices, yeah? Some lazy bums are still sleeping," Zayn responded. Harry nodded his small head and let Zayn grab everything.
Zayn was never really one to cook, so he just decided to grab pancake mix. "Okay, do you wanna help me pour the mix?" Zayn asked. Harry eagerly nodded his head yes, so Zayn put the mix in Harry's hand, then put his his hand over Harry's much smaller one. He tilted it down and let Harry pour the stuff in until there was enough, then repeated this several times in a few other pans so that he could make several pancakes at once.
By the time there were ten pancakes, Liam came stumbling down the stairs with Louis in tow. "Where's Niall, babe?" Zayn asked. "I'm gonna let him sleep a little longer; he had a bit of a rough night," Liam said, shooting Zayn a glance that said 'we'll talk later.' Zayn just nodded.
After a few more minutes, all the pancakes had been fixed, so Zayn and Liam set them all out, adding an extra plate for Niall and putting two pancakes on his plate. "Thank you," the two small boys at the table said together. "You're welcome," Zayn said. "And thank you Harry for being my assistant," he finished. Harry gave a toothy grin and then he and Louis dug into their breakfast.
"I'm gonna go get Niall," Liam said. Zayn nodded in response, so Liam jogged up the stairs and into his and Zayn's bedroom, where he saw Niall still peacefully sleeping. "Niall, baby it's time to wake up." Niall whined. "Mmm, daddy," he said. Liam smiled. "It's breakfast time. I know you wanna eat your yummy pancakes!" Liam said enthusiastically. "Pancakes?" Niall asked quietly, popping one eye open. "Yep! Why don't we go down and eat them?" Liam replied. Niall nodded and reached his arms up for Liam, who gladly took him into his arms and carried him downstairs.
"Look who made a reappearance!" Zayn said once Liam came back into the kitchen. "And look who he brought with!" He finished. This just made Niall blush and turn to hide his face in Liam's shoulder. This just made the men coo at him in adoration.
"Can I sit by you daddy?" Niall asked quietly, more comfortable with the name now. "You sure can, baby," Liam replied. Niall cracked a small smile and climbed into the chair beside Liam's.
Everyone was quietly eating breakfast, and honestly, it was a little tense. "U-um, Liam?" Louis asked quietly after a few minutes. "Yes, Louis?" Liam asked. "W-when can me and Hazza call you daddy?" Liam broke out into a grin. "You can call me daddy anytime you like. You can start whenever. And you can call Zayn Baba whenever you like," Liam replied. Louis smiled. "Okay!" He said. And suddenly, all the tension was gone.
"After breakfast, I think we're all gonna go shopping." Zayn said. "For what?" Harry and Louis asked. "We're gonna get you boys beds and new clothes. Oh, and we're gonna get you some new toys, too," Zayn answered. "Really?!" Louis asked in excitement. "Yep! So let's get finished up here so that we can go before there's traffic."
Harry, Louis, and Niall soon finished their breakfast, Harry and Louis eating both pancakes, while Niall only ate a little over half of one of his. "Are you sure you're not still hungry?" Liam asked the little boy. Niall silently nodded, putting his arms up for Liam.
"I'll get Louis and Harry ready. You get Niall," Zayn said, as he noticed that Niall pretty much wouldn't let go of Liam. Liam held a thumbs up and gathered Niall into his arms to take upstairs.
Liam grabbed Niall's clothes and took him into the bathroom, while Zayn just kept Louis and Harry in the room. "Okay, let's brush your teeth real quick and then we can brush your hair and get dressed," Liam told Niall. He nodded and allowed Liam to brush his teeth with the little tooth brush him and Zayn had brought. He then combed out Niall's hair and dressed him in the other set of clothes Kari had packed the boy. "Alrighty, you're ready to go. Why don't we see how Baba's doing with Lou and Haz?" Liam said. Niall nodded, so Liam pulled him into his arms, already knowing Niall was going to put them up.
Liam brought Niall into the bedroom where Zayn was just finishing up dressing Harry. "Need any help?" He asked. "Um, could you take Louis to brush his teeth while I get Harry?" Zayn asked. "Sure," Liam replied. He then grabbed Louis' hand and guided him into the bathroom.
Once in the bathroom, Liam helped Louis brush his teeth and then he combed out the boys thick hair. "Alright! You're all set, bud," He said. Louis smiled then Zayn called from downstairs that he was ready and that Liam needed to get ready himself. He sent the boys downstairs, Niall putting up a teeny tiny fight about not wanting to leave Liam, but Liam assured him he'd be down in five minutes tops.
Liam quickly brushed his teeth and got dressed himself, then headed downstairs to see Zayn holding Niall with Louis and Harry at his sides. "Look who it is!" Zayn exclaimed to the tiny boy that was hiding his face in his chest. Niall looked up and squealed, "Daddy!" He reached out for Liam, who gladly took him into his own arms. They then proceeded to all walk out to the car.
Zayn and Liam loaded the kids up, Niall thankfully letting Liam sit up front with Zayn.
They finally arrived at the plaza they had been driving to, so Liam and Zayn quickly unbuckled Harry, Louis, and Niall from their seats, Liam placing Niall on his hip after he'd refused to be put down.
"So how are we gonna do this?" Zayn asked. "I think it'd be easier if we all just stuck together and went to one department first and then the other so the boys can get what they want and we know what clothes fit them," Liam replied. "Sounds good. Where are we gonna go first?" Zayn said. "Uh let's go ahead and get furniture first, then we can come back and get clothes and toys," Liam responded. Zayn nodded in agreement, so the two men, along with the children, made their way to the furniture department of the store.
"Alrighty, what kind of beds do you kiddies want?" Zayn asked Louis and Harry, whom had taken both his hands in their small ones. "Football bed, baba!" Louis exclaimed, pointing at the football themed bed. And Zayn could've just died right there as it was so cute. It was a brown wood finish trundle bed with football bedding. "Louis, that's perfect! And Hazza can sleep in your room whenever he wants since there's another bed under it! We can definitely get it! But first, we've got to find Hazza a bed," Zayn replied. Louis smiled since his little "brother" could sleep with him anytime. "Harry, have you found a bed you like yet?" He asked. Harry was still standing in front of all the beds, looking around, but then he saw one he liked it and his eyes lit up. "That one baba!" He squealed, pointing to the bedding that had cats all over it. Zayn just thought it was too cute, and there was no way he was going to tell Harry no, so he said, "I love it, Hazza, but don't you think we should find a bed too?" Harry nodded excitedly, so Zayn led him over to the section of the aisle with actual beds.
"What about this one, baby?" Zayn asked, pointing to a white, slightly railed toddler bed. Harry looked at it intently with his fingers on his chin in an adorable manner. "My bed, baba," Harry declared cutely. It took all of Zayn's willpower not to break into a fit of giggles right there from our adorable his baby was. "Alrighty, well let's go see what Niall and daddy are up to, then we'll come ring them up," Zayn said. "Okay daddy!" Hardy said, grabbing Zayn's hand. Louis grabbed the other hand and the three headed to the aisle Liam and Niall were in.
"Any luck over here?" Zayn asked as he approached Liam and Niall. "Actually yes. Ni over here found a bed and we were just about to come find you three," Liam said. "Look, baba. S'really cool," Niall said quietly, pulling Zayn over to the bed he'd chosen. And Liam actually wanted to cry, because shy little Niall who'd barely spoken a word to Zayn and had constantly clung to him, finally opened up to Zayn a bit.
The bed ended up being a wood finish toddler bed with railing and zoo animal bedding. It made Zayn coo at how cute it was. "See? S'aminals!" Niall said quietly, yet extremely happily to Zayn, who coo'd at Niall's cute mispronunciation of animals. "That's so cool, baby! Are you ready to sleep in it?" Zayn responded to Niall's light enthusiasm. Niall suddenly turned shy again and silently nodded. "What's wrong?" Zayn asked. Niall shook his head and walked back over to Liam, then stuck his arms up for him. Liam gathered the small child into his arms, who immediately buried his face into Liam's shoulder. "What's wrong?" Liam asked. Niall shook his head again, so Liam just sighed and shrugged. "Well, let's get these beds and then we can grab a few more things, I guess," he said. Zayn just nodded, feeling slightly guilty that he'd made Niall close up again. But, nevertheless, he grabbed Harry and Louis' hands, and led them out of the aisle alongside Liam and Niall.
After getting the beds rung up, the two men agreed that a worker from the store could drop off all their furniture at around 5:30 so that they would have room in the car.
After picking up three dressers, three shelves, three toy boxes, three bedside tables, three lamps, and a few night lights, they were pretty sure they were all set.
"Hey Zayn, why don't I take Niall and you can take Lou and Harry to get clothes and toys?" Liam asked. "Yeah, that's fine," Zayn responded. So, Liam and Zayn parted their separate ways to buy tiny clothes and random toys.
Everything was going great with Zayn, Louis, and Harry. Zayn learned that Louis was really into horizontal stripes and adidas, and Harry really liked plain t shirts.
"Okay boys, shall we go get toys now?" Zayn asked after he'd collected nearly two baskets of tiny clothes for the small boys. Zayn had gotten about 10 or 12 t shirts, a few long sleeved shirts, sweatshirts, jackets, shorts, jeans, khakis, socks, underwear, and shoes for each boy. Needless to say, these boys wouldn't run out of clothes any time soon.
"Yeah!" The boys cheered. So, Zayn guided them to the toy aisles to each pick several different toys for their new toy box.
Back with Liam and Niall, things were a bit more difficult. It was a tad bit hard to find clothes that actually fit the tiny boy. You see, since he had been so malnourished with his previous parents, and since he ate so little, he really wasn't the correct size for his age. Niall was also beginning to grow tired, as he was in need of a nap, so he was getting a little fussy.
"C'mon Ni, just try one last thing on for me, okay?" Niall whined in response. "Don't wanna, daddy!" Liam sighed. "Please Niall? I promise this is the last thing and then we're gonna go try on a few pairs of shoes and then get some undies. Then we'll go get some new toys to play with!" Liam said. Niall whined again, but allowed Liam to place the long sleeved shirt over his head. "Fits like a glove," Liam smiled. Niall couldn't even smile; he just gave a whimper in return. "Hey, tell me what's the matter," Liam said sympathetically, bringing Niall into a hug. "Tired," Niall whimpered in response, burying himself into his daddy. "Shh, I know. C'mon. Let me take this off and then we'll go and get a few pairs of shoes then pick out a few toys, okay?" Liam responded. Niall sighed shakily, but nodded and pulled away, allowing Liam to pull the shirt over his head and replace it with his actual shirt.
Once Liam had redressed Niall into his own clothes, he quickly put everything they were going to buy in his cart and put everything else back up. "Let's go find some shoes then we'll get some undies and toys, okay?" Liam said. Niall just tiredly nodded his head.
"Okay, I think that's the last pair of shoes," Liam said to Niall. He just nodded in response and allowed Liam to tie his little shoes back. Niall stuck his arms back up for Liam, who gladly obliged and picked the small boy up. "Alright, one more thing and then we'll get toys!" Liam said enthusiastically, trying to get Niall to wake up more. Niall just smiled and tiredly laid his head down on Liam's shoulder.
Liam made his way over to the children's underwear section and grabbed a few packs of socks. He then proceeded to grab a few packs of Spider-Man underwear, courtesy of Niall helpfully pointing out which ones he wanted.
Liam was just about to leave the aisle, but then another package caught his eye: pull ups. He grabbed them and placed them in the cart. "W-why'd you get those?" Niall asked, though Liam had a feeling Niall already knew. "Ms. Kari told me and baba that you had trouble going potty at night sometimes, so I'm going ahead and getting some pull ups in case you ever need them," Niall sniffled. "What's wrong, baby?" Liam asked. "D-don't want em," Niall sniffled. "Hey, you don't have to wear them unless you have an accident. We're not putting you in pull ups. You're our big boy," Liam coo'd. "I-I thought Louis was y-your big boy," Niall sniffled again. "He is. But so are you and so is Harry. You're all our big boys!" Liam said enthusiastically, tickling Niall's tummy a bit. That got a slight giggle out of Niall, which made Liam smile ten times wider. "Now, how about you and I go get some toys for you?" Liam said. Niall nodded with a tiny smile, so Liam pushed his cart all the way to the toy aisle to put a huge smile on his baby's face!
+
"Zayn, where are you?" Liam asked into his phone. "I'm checking out. Relax," Zayn said back into his phone. "Okay. Well hurry. I'm waiting by the door for you. Niall's fighting sleep over here," Liam replied. "Yeah, I've got Harry hanging on by a thread over here too," Zayn said on the other line of the phone. Liam chuckled, and after their short goodbyes, the two hung up so that Zayn could proceed to check out.
A few minutes later, Zayn pulled his large cart and baskets up to Liam with one child on his hip and one child clinging to his leg. "You have no idea how hard it is to shop with two sleepy children," Zayn said to Liam. He got a chuckle in reply. "Here, let me see Louis. I already took our stuff out to the car," Liam said. Zayn gave him a look that said 'THANK YOU SO MUCH.' Again, Liam chuckled, but picked Louis up in his other arm, careful not to jostle Niall, as he had fallen asleep while they waited for Zayn. Louis laid his head on Liam's shoulder and snuggled into him.
Liam carried Louis and Niall out to the car while Zayn carried Harry and pushed his cart of baskets and things he'd bought.
Once they reached the car, Liam quickly put Niall and Louis into their seats, then said, "Here, let me see Harry. I'll put him in his seat," Zayn nodded and passed Harry to Liam, who quickly put him into his car seat as well.
Once Liam had placed all the children into their respectful car seats, he went around back to help Zayn load everything in the trunk of the car.
When everything was loaded up, Zayn and Liam went back around front and hopped into their seats. Zayn decided to drive, so Liam hopped into the passenger seat and they were off.
They were about 20 minutes into their ride when Liam and Zayn started hearing small whines, followed by quiet whimpers. "Daddy." They heard. And they instantly knew who it was: Niall. "What's wrong baby?" Liam asked, turning around to face Niall. "Da-daddy. W-want you back here," Niall whimpered, grabbing Liam's hand as best as he could, as the restraints in his car seat were holding him down a bit. "Hey, you're okay. You're fine. I can't come back there right now, okay?" Liam replied. That just made Niall's face crumple. Then big, fat tears began to roll down his face. "D-daddy!" He sobbed. Liam obviously felt terrible, but what could he do? It's not like he could just crawl in the back in the middle of the highway. "Hey, hey, shh. It's alright. Calm down, Ni. You're fine. It's okay," Liam tried to soothe. "Come back heeeeere!" Niall whined through his tears. "Niall, I need you to calm down before you make yourself sick, okay? It's okay. I'll come back there as soon as I can, alright?" Liam tried to soothe. Niall nodded and tried to dry it up.
After around another five minutes, Zayn pulled up to a red light, so Liam took this is as his chance to get in the back with Niall.
Liam quickly jumped out of his seat and ran around to the back. He opened the door and hopped in next to Niall. "Daddy!" He cried. "Hey baby, it's okay. I'm here with you now," Liam replied. Niall grabbed his hand and held onto it his with his much smaller one. "I love you Niall," Liam said. Niall nodded and eventually fell back to sleep.
About another 15 minutes later, Zayn pulled into their driveway. "Li, can you get Niall and I'll get Harry and Louis?" Zayn asked. "Yeah, that's fine," Liam replied. So, Liam grabbed Niall while Zayn grabbed Harry and Louis.
The two men walked inside with the sleeping children on their hips and quietly closed the door. "I'm gonna put Niall in our bed," Liam whispered to Zayn. Zayn just held a thumbs up in response and walked into the room where Harry and Louis has slept the night before.
He placed them in the bed and laid a blanket that hung over the footboard over them. He watched in awe how the two boys cuddled together. He absolutely adored how close they were.
Back in Liam and Zayn's room, Liam was slowly placing Niall onto the bed. They'd already made the bed, so he just decided to place a blanket over the tiny boy. He put his bear with him, then kissed him on the forehead and walked out to meet Zayn.
Liam and Zayn went outside to grab their things, which ended in them making six trips, but it was all worth it for their babies!