*Liam's POV*
It's been a little over 2 months and Niall's adoption has finally gone through. We called Carrie the day after we made the decision. She was very excited when we called and made sure our paperwork got through as quickly as possible. I honestly have no idea what kind of strings she had to pull to make it go through so quickly, but I am very grateful for everything she did.
Harry was so excited when asked him about adopting Niall. Apparently his little friend Darcy has a baby sister and she talks about her all the time, so Harry is excited to have a baby brother. He won't stop talking about it. He was so excited to help decorate Niall's room. We went with a soft green for the walls, a jungle theme (all kids love animals right?), and white furniture.
Today is the day we're bringing Niall home.
"Papa how long before we see Ni-ni again?" Harry asks from the back seat.
"We're almost there, baby. Be patient," Louis answers.
Harry huffs. He's met Niall already. We had the same kind of meetings with Niall that we did when we were adopting Harry. He's so wonderful with him. He's been talking to him and telling him all about our family. Niall probably doesn't understand, but it's cute nonetheless. Niall is absolutely adorable and Louis and Harry fell in love with him as soon as they saw him. We're so ready to bring him home.
"We're here, Harry," Louis says.
"See Ni-ni!!" Harry shouts.
"Yep, lets's go," I say, getting Harry out of the car.
"Hello!" Carrie welcomes. "Come in, come in! The party is back here." She leads us into the room where Harry's party was.
"Where's my baby?" Louis asks.
"In the baby room. You're welcome to come back with me to go get him," Carrie says.
"I thought we weren't allowed," I say.
"You two are. We trust you," Carrie says. "Harry, do you think you can go help Miss Zoe with the food?" Best to not have Harry in the baby room waking up everybody.
Harry nods. "MISS ZOE!!" Harry yells running over to her.
Carrie leads Louis and I over to the baby room. We walk in and there is a boy reaching his hand over the crib and playing with Niall while the other babies are sleeping.
"Oh, Hi," Louis says.
The boy looks up, looking frightened, and pull his hand away from Niall.
"Oh, Zayn, will you excuse us please," Carrie says.
The boy looks to the floor and walks away.
"Who's that?" I ask.
"That's Zayn. He's a sweetheart. He comes to play with the babies sometimes. He's become quite fond of Niall, actually."
"And we're taking him away..." I start.
"Don't look at it like that. Zayn will be okay. He..." she pauses and thinks for a second. "He's been through a lot, but he's a strong little boy."
"Can I talk to him? So he can say goodbye to Niall?" I ask.
"Are you sure that's a good idea, babe?" Louis asks after picking Niall up out of the crib.
"Yeah, it'll be fine."
I find Zayn sitting outside the door with a book. He looks up when I come out.
"Hi, Zayn right?" He nods cautiously. "I'm Liam. My husband and I are going to be Niall's new parents and we're taking him home today." He looks back down at his book. "Miss Carrie tells me you've become quite good friends with him. I was wondering if you wanted to say a little goodbye." He quickly shakes his head 'no.' "Are you sure? It's okay. I don't mind. You can hold him if you want." He perks up at that. "There we go. Come on," I encourage, reaching out my hand. He takes my hand and we go back into the room together.
Carrie has a bit of a surprised look on her face.
"You can sit there, and I'll bring him over to you," I say pointing to a rocking chair.
I take Niall from Louis and sit him in Zayn's lap. Niall smiles at him and reaches for his face. Zayn scrunches his nose and smiles back, shaking his head when Niall puts his hands on his face. Niall giggles at that.
It's interesting to watch them. It just seems so natural. Zayn isn't even talking, yet they seem to be communicating. It's completely different from how Harry is. Harry loves to talk, but this... this is different. It's sweet. Not that Harry isn't, but it's a different kind of sweet. It's actually quite beautiful.
Zayn hugs Niall to his chest and gives him a kiss on the forehead. Then he says something to Niall, but it's too quiet for any of us to hear. Zayn hugs Niall one last time then looks up to signify he's done.
Louis takes Niall off of Zayn's lap and tickles his little tummy, making Niall giggle.
"Come on then," Carrie says enthusiastically. "We have a party to get to."
We start heading out, but Zayn doesn't follow.
"Zayn, you're not coming?" Carrie asks.
He shakes his head no.
"You want to stay here?"
He nods his head yes.
"Okay. We'll be out there if you want to join us."
I walk back over to Zayn, because it doesn't feel right to leave without saying something.
"Thank you for being so good to Niall. You're a good kid. You'll be out of here soon."
He shakes head a bit then looks up, making sure he has eye contact. "Just, take good care of him," he says softly, but assertively.
"We will. Don't worry about that," I say giving Zayn a hug. "Goodbye, Zayn."
He nods his head and watches as we leave the room.
"I can't believe he talked to you and held your hand," Carrie says after we exit the room. "He doesn't talk to anybody. Zoe says that's why he goes to play with the babies. They don't mind if he doesn't talk."
"How long has he been here, if I may ask." I don't know what the policy is on speaking about other kids.
"About 4 years. He's such a good kid, but he's been through a lot. He also doesn't like to talk. Some people just aren't willing to put in the effort it takes to care for a child like that. It's a shame, but it is what it is," Carrie states, matter-of-factly.
Poor kid. He seems so nice. He doesn't deserve this. He belongs in home with a family. I hope he gets that some day.
"Ni-ni!!" Harry shouts and runs over to Louis when we get into the main room. Niall giggles.
"Harry, no shouting. I know you're excited, but it's not nice to shout at the baby," I say.
"Sorry Daddy..." Harry mumbles.
"You're forgiven, my love," I say.
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Niall is now home. He and Harry slept the whole way. They had so much fun at Niall's party. Niall got his picture taken and put on the Hope Wall next to Harry. We even got more of Zoe's cookies, which Louis was very excited about.
The boys were a little fussy when we had to wake them up, but they're fine now. We're giving Niall the grand tour of his new home. How much he understands, I don't know, but Harry is definitely having fun chatting away and showing him things. We save Niall's room for last, like we did with Harry.
"This is your room, Ni-ni," Harry says, pointing to a little wooden sign that says 'NIALL' in green letters.
Niall's room is a nice soft green color. All of his furniture (the crib, the changing table, the dresser, the toy box) is all white, except for the recliner (that also doubles as a rocker) which is brown. His bedding has little polka dots on it while the bumper pad for the crib has little animals. His blanket and the curtains have animals on them. His walls have little pictures of giraffes, monkeys, elephants, and zebras. The carpet is the same as Harry's, a plush beige. Niall spots a stuffed giraffe on the dresser and reaches out for it and screams.
"Is this what you want?" Louis asks. He grabs the giraffe and hands it over to Niall. Niall squeals and holds the toy's soft fur to his face. "Do you like that?" Louis giggles.
Niall just babbles and plays with the giraffe.
"I think he likes it," I say.
"Daddy, up please," Harry says, not wanting to be left out on the attention.
I pick him up and set him on my hip. Harry reaches over to pet Niall's giraffe. "I like your giraffe Ni-ni. He's very soft."
Niall continues to babble and squeal at the giraffe.
"What's his name?" Harry asks.
Niall babbles out something resembling 'Bobo.'
"Bobo?" Harry asks. "Is his name Bobo?"
"Bobo," Niall babbles again. "Bobo, Bobo!"
"Bobo it is then," I say.
"Nice to meet you, Bobo," Harry greets, shaking the stuffed giraffe's foot. "Would you like to meet Bubble? He's my bear. Daddy, can I go get him?"
"Of course, darling."
Harry runs off to his room.
"So, Niall, this is your new home. Do you like it?" Louis asks.
Niall babbles.
"Good. I hoped so. How about the green? Did Daddy and I make a good choice?"
Niall babbles again.
"Yeah, I thought so. We didn't want to do blue again and Daddy thought you would like green."
"Papa, how do you know what he says?" Harry asks when he comes back in.
"I just know," he answers and kisses Niall's head.
Niall grunts a little then smiles up at Louis. There is a distinct new odor in the air.
Harry covers his nose. "Papa, he's stinky."
"Well, I know that noise means he wants Daddy to change his nappy."
"Wow, really? He said all that?" I ask sarcastically. "You must be the baby whisperer," I say taking Niall from Louis and setting him on the changing table.
"It is a gift," Louis replies.
"Papa is being silly," I tell Niall.
Niall giggles and bites on his giraffe's ears.
"Hey, I don't think Bobo likes that," I say pulling the giraffe out of his mouth. I pull a dummy out of the drawer on the changing table (Carrie said he still uses one, so we bought him one). "Here, try this," I say popping the dummy into his mouth.
"Hey..." Harry whines. "Where's my dummy?"
Louis and I look at each other with wide eyes.
"Umm..."
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Author's Note:
What?! A new chapter?! It's only been 2 days!! Well, friends, I already had most of this one written up. Just had to add a bit and make a couple changes. I actually meant to post it yesterday, but my cousin was graduating and I got busy.
OMG Zayn! I told you guys he would show up eventually. And before you ask, he will show up again. I won't tell you how, but he will show up.
Also, I did my research and the 2 month timeline for a second adoption is possible. You have to fill out a lot of special paperwork, but it's possible.
Anyway, I hope you enjoy! Feel free to leave me comments :)