Another incredibly long chapter!
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The beginning of the day had been slow. Zayn and Liam were shocked to find Louis in Harry's crib and had given the boys a talking to about the dangers of leaving their cribs on their own. Harry had pouted because he just wanted Louis to be with him at all times, even in the middle of the night.
After a sleepy breakfast, they were allowed to go outside and play in the leaves. Liam watched over them while Zayn prepared lunch. They had grilled cheese sandwiches that had been shaped like little pumpkins and ghosts using cookie cutters to go along with their tomato soup.
Right before lunch, Zayn noticed Louis' voice was hoarse and asked the boy about it. He said it was a little sore but not that bad. He gave him medicine and some orange juice to help him feel better with the strict instructions to let him know if he feels any worse because he doesn't want Louis going out in the cold air tonight if he doesn't feel well.
After eating, Liam and Zayn fed the boys bottles of warm milk and gently urged them to take naps so they're rested enough for the night. A napping pad was placed on the floor of the living room and the boys cuddled on it until they fell asleep.
Louis is the first to wake from the nap. He lifts his head from the pillow and opens his eyes slowly. He still feels groggy and his throat is sore and dry. Louis knows he should tell Papa and Daddy, but he doesn't want to spoil the evening, knowing very well that they wouldn't let him out in the cold night air if he's sick. The pacifier is lying on the pillow in a small puddle of drool. He lifts his hand and wipes away his saliva in disgust. The boy rolls over to see that Harry is still sound asleep only inches away from him. His hands are curled underneath his body for warmth. Louis smiles lightly and lifts the blanket higher on the younger's delicate body. Harry nuzzles his face into the fabric that falls on his cheek.
Louis makes sure the younger is content and not going to wake up before getting up on his hands and knees and crawling over to the couch. He uses the couch for support and heaves his tired body off the ground. He hears talking coming from a different room and decides to follow the voices. He walks into the kitchen where Zayn and Liam are listening to light music while preparing dinner.
Caught up in their conversation, Zayn jumps a little when he feels the back of his sweater being yanked. The daddies turn to see their little looking up with half open eyes and disheveled hair.
"Hey, Dove. How long have you been up," Zayn asks, combing his fingers through Louis' fringe.
The boy shrugs. "Few minutes."
"Well dinner might take a while. Do you want to go back to sleep?"
Louis shakes his head. "Can I have some juice?"
"Sorry, but you've had plenty of juice today and you'll be eating candy tonight. Way too much sugar! Would you like some water instead," Liam asks.
Louis nods. "With ice?"
The brunette man smiles. "Course, Babe."
Liam turns around and reaches into a cabinet for a sippy cup and grabs a basic blue one with a bigger drinking spout, just as Louis prefers. He goes to the fridge and fills it first with a few ice cubes and then some water. He screws the lid on and hands to Louis as he places a kiss on the boy's forehead.
"Thanks," he says quietly, bringing the cup to his lips. He takes a few large gulps, allowing the cool water to sooth his aching throat.
"Such good manners," Liam coos, lightly pinching the boy's cheek. Louis blushes and offers up a small smile.
The music on the phone's playlist changes to a song that makes Louis' ears perk up. He recognizes the tune. While the daddies just stare at their little, Louis glances at the phone and rocks his body back and forth.
"Oh, it's what you do to me. Oh it's what you do to me," he sings along. "A thousand miles seems pretty far. But they've got planes and trains and cars. I'd walk to you if I had no other way."
"Has anyone ever told you that you have an amazing voice," Zayn asks.
The boy looks down at his feet, his cheeks burning a dark pink color.
"This was the first song I ever sang at karaoke night. My mates made fun of me for picking such a sappy song, but I love the Plain White Ts," he says in a fond tone.
The daddies smile. "They're pretty good," Liam says.
Louis smiles, but deep down there is an ache in his chest, almost like he's missing something, but he hasn't got a clue what it could be. He feels like he should be crying, but instead his face just remains frozen as the singer finishes his song, singing about the love of his life that he will one day get to be with.
Zayn frowns, noticing Louis' mood change. "Everything alright, Dove?"
Louis looks up and plasters a bigger smile on his face, hoping it's convincing. He nods, "Yeah. This song just gets me sometimes."
"Well, perhaps you'd like to help us finish making dinner," Zayn offers, wanting to distract the boy.
"What're you making?"
"Mummy dogs," Zayn says.
Louis scrunches his nose in disgust.
The men laugh. "Relax, it's just a sausage wrapped in dough to look like a mummy," Liam tells him.
"Oh, okay," Louis nods.
"Let's wash your hands first," Zayn says, guiding the boy over to the sink. He squeezes soap on the boy's palms and turns on the tap, allowing Louis to do the rest. Zayn pats his hands dry with the dish towel before they go back over to Liam. He's holding a can of crescent dough.
"Ready for the fun part," the man asks.
Louis nods eagerly. "Okay! On the count of three I want you to say 'pop'. Ready? One. Two. Three!"
"Pop," Louis calls out as the can of dough bursts open with a pop.
Louis claps his hands together and chuckles at the noise. Liam flours the surface of the cutting board and rolls the dough out until it's flat. He takes a knife and cuts the dough into many thin, long strips. His husband takes a few sausages out of the packaging and lays them on a plate in front of Louis.
"Okay, so what you're gonna do is take a strip or two of this dough here," he says holding up the flimsy dough. "And then you take a sausage and you wrap it around it a few times like this. And when you're done just set it on that baking sheet right here."
Louis nods and copies Liam's actions. His mummy doesn't look as good as Liam's so he frowns and backs away from the counter. "Can't do it," he pouts.
Zayn rests his hands on the boy's shoulders. "Yes you can. Mummies aren't supposed to look perfect. Go on, give it another try," he says, pecking the boy on the cheek.
The boy walks forward again and picks up a strip of dough. This time he carefully wraps it around and decides to add another strip so it looks less bare.
"Very good," Zayn praises. "See, you can do it, Lou!"
Louis smiles and finishes with just a little help from Liam. The man puts the tray in the oven.
"What are those," Louis asks, pointing to the tray on the bottom shelf of the oven.
"Sweet potato fries. I thought their orange color would look cool for it being Halloween."
The boy smiles. "Cool!"
"These are only going to take a few minutes to cook. Would you mind waking up your brother," Liam asks.
"Okay," Louis says. Before exiting the kitchen, Zayn helps him wash his hands one more time.
Louis walks through the living room and into the lounge. Harry is still passed out on the ground, squeezing the pillow Louis had been using extra hard. Louis walks over to the younger boy and kneels beside him. He almost feels guilty for having to disturb him, knowing it was his fault Harry didn't get as much sleep as usual last night. But he wants to talk and play and eat with him, so that's motivation enough to wake him as he was instructed to do.
"Hazza," Louis says quietly, running his hand up and down Harry's arm. "Come on, Sleeping Beauty. It's time for dinner."
"Mmmph," Harry whines into the pillow.
Louis grins. "Don't you want to wake up? We're going trick or treating after dinner."
Harry's eyes flick open at the reminder that is indeed Halloween. He rolls his body over so it's facing Louis. His forehead rests on the older boy's thigh as he wills himself to wake up fully.
"Louwee," Harry hums.
"Hazza," Louis says in response. "Come on. Daddy wants you up now."
Harry sighs, " I'm up...I'm up."
"Then let's go sleepy head! You're gonna love dinner!"
"What is it," Harry asks.
"It's a surprise," Louis tells him with a cheeky grin.
Louis stands and helps his brother from the floor. They hold hands as Louis takes him to the kitchen. The daddies look at them both with big smiles. Harry walks over to Liam and wraps his arms around the man's waist.
"Hi, Baby," he says in the boy's ear.
"Hi, Daddy," he says, now fully awake and eager for the nights activities. "C'n we go trick-er treating now," he asks.
"You haven't even eaten your dinner yet. Need fuel to go out, yeah? Just like a choo choo train. Besides, it doesn't officially start for an hour and a half."
"Aw, fooey" the boy pouts.
Liam chuckles. "Plenty of time to have fun tonight. And if you boys behave we'll even let you stay up a little past your bedtime."
Both boys mouths drop. "Really," Louis asks.
The daddies nod. "Yay," they cheer in unison.
Zayn helps the boys into their highchairs and ties their bibs around their necks. He refills Louis' water and fills Harry up a cup of his own. He also gets two tall glasses of water for himself and his husband, setting those glasses down on the far sides of the high chair trays. The timer on the over dings and Liam opens the door, filling the air with the comforting scent of baked crescent dough. Zayn and him arrange the food on the boys' plates. The two watch with curiosity as they carefully add two dots of ketchup on the mummies, making little eyes. They each are given a handful of the fries and the plates are set down in front of the littles.
Harry gasps. "Mummy dogs!" He turns to face his brother. "Daddy made these last year, too!"
Zayn and Liam bring the ketchup bottle over and squirt some on the side of each plate for dipping before Zayn puts it back in the fridge and sits down in front of Harry.
"Eat up, boys," he tells them, taking a bite of a fry. "Harry, do you want me to feed you?"
The boy shakes his head and picks up the "mummy", taking a big bite on his own and grinning. Louis also chows down and hums at the delicious taste. The daddies watch them eat happily.
"Babe," Liam says to get his husband's attention. Zayn turns to see Liam holding a fry close to his face. "Extra crispy, just like you like."
Zayn grins and takes the fry from his husband using only his mouth. "Thanks!"
The boys giggle at the daddies' silly displays of affection.
"Harry," Louis says, copying Liam. Harry looks over at Louis. The boy is holding a fry, stretching his arm out as far as he possibly can reach.
Instead of biting the fry like Zayn had, Harry just snatches the sweet potato with his fingers and dips it into his ketchup and eats it.
"Do you like your meal," Liam asks.
"Uh-huh," Harry says enthusiastically.
"Louis helped make it," Zayn tells the boy.
Harry's eyes shine bright as he turns his head to look at his brother. "It's tastes super nummy, Loulou!"
"Thanks, Hazza," Louis blushes.
The rest of the meal is finished with more laughter, jokes, and playing with the food. All four have their bellies full and excitement for the night buzzing through their bodies.
After faces have been washed and nappies have been changed, the daddies separate the boys to prepare them for the evening. Zayn takes Harry to their bedroom while Liam keeps Louis in the nursery. The boy stands in the middle of the room in only his nappy as Liam grabs a few things. The man returns and sets things down on the changing table. The first thing he holds up is Louis' deodorant.
"Okay, Sweetie. Show me just how high you can raise your arms up," he encourages.
"To the ceiling, Daddy," Louis says, stretching his limbs, enjoying the burn. Liam uncaps the deodorant and rolls the stick over his armpits. Louis flinches and giggles. "Tickles!"
Liam smiles and sets the deodorant down. He picks up the plastic bag on a clothing hanger and unzips it, revealing to Louis his costume for the very first time. Louis squeals in excitement as he sees royal red and shining gold fabrics.
His daddy takes the pants off the hanger and holds them open for Louis to step into. They are loose fitting around the legs but tight at the ankles. Then a white, flowy long sleeve shirt is brought over his head and arms. The shirt is tucked into waistline of the pants. For a moment, Louis truly believes he's stepped foot in the past and is a royal being prepared to take the thrown.
"Your cape, Your Royal Highness," Liam says as he shakes out the long red cape. It'd embroidered with gold stitching in an elegant pattern on the sides. This definitely isn't a basic costume you can get at Tesco. The daddies definitely spent a pretty penny on this costume.
Liam clasps the cape right above the boy's collarbones and adjusts it so it sits perfectly.
"Now for your hair," Liam says.
"What're you gonna do," the boys asks. Louis used to style his hair all of the time, but since he's arrived it's remained fluffy and untamed the whole time.
"You'll see," Liam says, booping Louis on the nose.
Liam grabs a small pot of some sort of product that Louis can't read the label to from so far away and a hair brush. He unscrews the lid of the pot and dips his fingers in and lightly coats them before running his fingers through the tips of the boy's hair. He then takes the hair brush and brushes the strands up and forward, forming the basic quiff shape. He plays with it for a bit, trying to make it perfect. When he decides it's good enough, he lightly sprays it with a bit of hairspray, making sure to shield the boy's eyes.
Liam grabs hold of Louis' hand, and first they walk over to the changing table to put the hair products down and Liam grabs the crown. He leads the boy out of the nursery and into the bathroom across the hall. They can hear Zayn chatting to Harry and the youngest boy giggling in the distance.
Liam flicks the bathroom light on and Louis gets a good look at himself in the mirror. He looks elegant enough to put Prince William to shame.
"Now, the most important part of making my little prince into a king," Liam says holding the crown over the boy's head. Louis stands up straight and watches in the mirror as the gold plastic is lowered onto his hair. It fits perfectly and looks amazing. "My, my, my Your Majesty. You look mighty handsome."
Louis chuckles and wraps his arms around Liam's torso. He kisses the man's cheek and whispers a thank you.
"You are so welcome, Louis. You deserve to have the greatest life and we intend on giving you the world," Liam promised.
Louis can't help the massive smile on his face as he is carried down the stairs. He and Liam sit on the couch watching 'It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown' while they wait for the other two to be finished.
Just as Charlie Brown whines about receiving another rock in his candy sack, they hear Harry's giggles and footsteps on the stairs.
Louis is blown away when his eyes glimpse up to the beautiful boy in Zayn's arms. His cheek bones have a shimmery powder on them. His eyelids are coated in a holographic silver glitter that extends to the sides of his eyes. The light of the setting sun streaming through the windows reflects on the glitter, revealing little specks of the rainbow.
Harry's costume is more simple than Louis thought it would be. He's wearing white skinny jeans that hug his waist and a white sweater with little silver strings in the knit. He has wings coming out of the back that don't appear to be attached to the sweater. Louis wonders if he is wearing them underneath the top with cuts in the sweater to allow the white feathers to hang out. On top of his head sits a golden ring that is pinned into his curls. A halo so beautiful that only Harry should ever be wearing it.
"There's my beautiful little angel," Liam says taking Harry from Zayn's arms and propping him on his hip. He walks around cooing at Harry and bouncing him. Louis can't help but stare at Harry as if a real angel was actually in his presence. He was always raised to believe Halloween is a demonic holiday, yet here they celebrate it in such an innocent, friendly way. Nothing bad has happened at all. Nobody is gathering around a fire chanting about death and sacrificing any animals. Harry is the exact opposite of everything he's ever been told of the children that go trick-or-treating.
Liam sets Harry down on the couch next to Louis and the daddies stand in front of them. Harry leans his body into Louis', careful that neither of their head pieces are bumped. Louis notices that the boy smells sweeter than usual tonight, as if he's wearing some sort of women's body spray or lotion.
"Now, we have some ground rules for tonight," Zayn says. Liam nods and they look at the boys with extremely serious faces. "Rule number one, you each must hold one of our hands tonight while we are walking. When we say it's okay, you can let go and go up to the doors, but if either of you break this rule and run off, we will not hesitate to end the night early and just go home.
"Rule number two, you must have good manners. Always say thank you when someone gives you candy. Just remember, they are doing this out of the kindness of their own hearts.
"And rule number three," Liam says. "If either of you are need something or feel uncomfortable at all, you must tell us so we can help."
"Those are our rules. Are you both going to follow them," Zayn asks.
"Yes, Papa," they say at the same time.
The daddies smile. "Good. Then let's get your shoes on and go have some fun," Zayn says, lightening the mood in the room.
The boys leap off the couch and jump around a bit before following the husbands to the entry way. Harry is put into white Converse sneakers while Louis wears black Vans. They don't exactly match his costume, but Liam tells him that they will be much more comfortable to walk in.
The boys are each given plastic pumpkin pails for their candy. Louis grins at the novelty of the pumokins as they look just like the ones he sees in the movies. Zayn grabs the diaper bag which doesn't have as much as it normally does because there wouldn't be a place to change them even if they needed to. They are really only bringing it along because they have extra sweaters and an emergency aid kit inside. Liam holds Harry's hand and Zayn takes Louis' as they exit the front door, making sure to lock up behind them.
There is still some sunlight. Some houses have their porch lights on to signal they are giving out candy. A few caregivers and littles in various costumes are prancing around, eagerly filling their bags with goodies.
The daddies lead the boys down their own sidewalk and onto the main concrete. A little dressed as a vampire walks past them with his own daddy. Louis flinches and moves closer to Zayn, afraid the boy could actually be a real vampire.
"Don't worry, Dove. These are just costumes." Louis nods but still sticks close to his Papa.
They reach the first house, which is only three away from their own. Liam and Zayn release their hands. "Remember, use your manners," Liam reminds.
The boys run forward. Louis lets Harry be the doorbell ringer for the night. Harry eagerly presses the button and they hear the chiming from inside. A woman opens the door and smiles down at the two.
"Trick-er treat," Harry sings. Louis was unsure of what to do. He had seen people say that in movies but wasn't sure if that was actually what normal people chanted, but apparently it's true.
"Oh, my! Aren't you two looking spiffy," she comments.
She drops a candy bar into their pumpkins before looking down. "Oh, am I your first house of the night?"
"Yep," Harry replies.
"Well in that case," she says and reaches into her large bowl of candy and grabs two more candy bars. "Let's start you off good for the night," she says and sends a smile and wink to the waiting daddies.
Both boys smile up at her. "Thank you," they say happily.
"Have a good night," she calls as they skip over to Zayn and Liam. The husbands wave at the woman and take their hands again.
"Very good manners," Liam tells them.
They walk the boys over to the next house. There is a man and his wife sitting in rocking chairs on their porch just waiting for the little trick or treaters. Zayn and Liam have talked to them a handful of times before and know that they moved here a few months ago and have been waiting patiently to find a sub to sign a contract to be their little.
They give the boys consent and let them move forward. Louis grabs Harry's hands and helps him up the few steps on the porch.
"Trick or treat," they cheer loudly, Louis feeling much more confident this time.
"Look at that, James. We have an angel and a prince right here," the woman says happily to her husband.
Harry shakes his head. "Loulou is a king," he tells them.
The woman stands and playfully bows. "My apologies, Your Highness."
The boys giggle and the husband gives them their candy.
"Thank you," they says and return to their daddies.
They go to a few more houses on their side of the street before Zayn and Liam pick the boys up and safely carry them across the street. Louis clings tightly to Zayn's neck when he sees a boy with green skin and scars allover his body being walked around with a leasg around his torso. Harry on the other hand points to the boy and says 'Hi Frank'stein!'
When they reach the other side, the boys look around. Harry spots a familiar blond head bobbing up and down as he walks around. Harry gasps and sticks out his finger. "Daddy, look! it's NiNi!"
At the sound of his name being called, Niall's head snaps up to see his uncles, best friend, and Louis only two houses away. Not caring about any of the rules set by Nick that night, Niall's face cracks into a smile and he races towards the family.
Harry squirms in Liam's arms until he is set on the ground. "NiNi!"
"Harry," Niall squeals as he collides with Harry and they wrap their arms around eachother in a long hug.
"Niall," Nick calls from behind. His caregiver runs up to them as well. "Ni, I know you're excited but I told you not to run off like that. You could get hurt, Honey."
The blond releases Harry and looks up at Nick with puppy dog eyes. "Sorry, da-Nick."
Nick places a kiss on his cheek and pats his shoulder. The other four are now able to get a good look at the blond. He's wearing a navy blue sailor suit and a white cap. Zayn and Liam coo at the boy.
"NiNi, can you guess what I am," Harry asks, twirling around to show off his outfit.
"You're an angel," Niall grins.
"How'd you guess so fast," Harry asks in shock.
The blond chuckles, "Because you told me you were going to be angel a million times!"
Harry blushes, "Oh, yeah!"
Niall turns to Louis. "I like your costume, Louis! You sure a cool king!"
Louis smiles. "Thanks, Pal!"
Harry turns around and grabs hold of Liam's arm and tugs it lightly. "Daddy, can we tricker-treat wiff NiNi and Nicky?"
"I don't see why not," Liam says.
The three little boys cheer and Harry pulls them into a group hug. The daddies and Nick smile. "But first things first," Nick says. "We need a picture of you three."
"Okay," Harry says loudly, not giving the other boys a choice before he tightly pulls them to his side with his arms around their shoulders. Halloween is one of Harry's favorite holidays and nothing and nobody could ever take his excitement away from him.
After the photo is taken, they hold hands again and the three men walk the boys down the street letting them go collect their candy. While the Liam and the boys are talking to a man on his porch, Zayn takes the opportunity to talk to Nick.
"So, how have things been with Niall? Is he adjusting well?"
Nick nods, "Yeah, I'd say so. But he keeps having nightmares and I've caught him a time or two crying out for Josh in the middle of the night."
"That's to be expected," Zayn says. "I noticed earlier though that he almost called you daddy."
The other man grins. "He's been doing that quite a lot. It's almost like he's confused about who I am. I would love more than anything to be his daddy. But...you know...can't exactly make him."
Zayn gives the man a reassuring squeeze around his elbow. "Don't worry, mate. When the time comes, he'll come around to it."
Nick doesn't have time to respond because his arms are suddenly full of the beautiful blond boy, showing him what kind of sweets he was just given and how the man had let them see his new puppy.
The boys finish up this street and Zayn and Liam decide they are allowed to continue on half of the next street before they go home. The three littles are carried across the street to the next little neighborhood of houses. The three men decide to carry them up to the porches now that they are in a less familiar neighborhood.
Harry pushes the door bell and a man opens the door. He's dressed like a farmer and has a big straw hat hanging off the back of his head. In his arms is a large, brown paper bag.
"Evening folks!"
"Trick or treat," the boys sing.
They hold out their pumpkin pails and the man reaches into the bag and pulls out a red, shining apple and slips it into Niall's pumpkin, and then Harry's, and finally an apple is given to Louis. The blue eyed boy's nose scrunches up and he squints his eyes.
"An apple?"
"Yep," the man replies. "Vitamin C is good for ya!"
"Don't you have any candy?"
The man is taken back by how the boy responded to him. He looks up at the daddies who have shock written over their faces. Louis rolls his eyes at the man and turns his body, taking Harry's hand and pulling him away from the house. He's stopped by Zayn's hands on his chest. "Woah, woah, woah there, Dove. You need to go back there and apologize to that man and say thank you."
"Why," Louis asks, genuinely confused. It's not his fault the man doesn't understand Halloween.
"Because Louis," Liam says. "He gave you a treat and you promised us good manners."
"But I thought this was the trick to trick or treating."
The daddies chuckle at Louis. The boy frowns in confusion. "No, Baby. He's just giving you a healthy treat. And he was nothing but kind to you so we expect you to go up there and apologize or else we're going home."
Wanting more candy, Louis groans and turns around. He walks up to the stairs but stays on the ground below. He cranes his neck up to look at the man. "I'm sorry. Thank you for the apple."
The farmer smiles. "That's okay. You're forgiven."
Louis returns to his family and they, along with Niall and Nick, finish up the rest of that side of the street. At the end, Nick decides to take Niall to a few more houses. They say their goodbyes and Nick promises a sad Niall and Harry that they would drop by in a day or two for a play date. After many hugs , the two depart. Zayn and Liam carry their littles home. Louis' legs are tired from all of that walking, which wasn't much of a distance but his legs haven't been used that much recently. Harry is overall very tired and rests his head in the crook Liam's neck, hiding his face from the cool October air. They reach their house and Zayn unlocks the door, letting everyone inside. Harry and Louis perk up once again, preparing themselves for their candy feast. They are brought to the living room where Louis' crown, cape, and shoes are removed. Zayn takes off Harry's halo and shoes and switches his white sweater for a baggy gray jumper. Louis' previous guess was correct as a strap around Harry's chest is undone, releasing the wings from his body. Once the boys are comfy, they crawl onto their couch and grab their pumpkins.
"Not so fast, boys," Liam says.
"Huh," Harry asks.
"We need to check your candy first," Zayn says.
"Check it for what?"
"Just to make sure it's all okay and that there isn't anything funny in it," they're told.
Reluctantly, the pumpkins are taken away from them and they are told to stay in the living room. Zayn unpauses Charlie Brown for them and they cuddle under the warm blanket waiting for their mountains of candy to be returned. Harry snuggles into Louis, paying no attention to the glitter he's smearing all over Louis' top. Louis doesn't care though because it's not like he does the laundry here.
"We should stay up all night," Louis says to himself.
"Not 'upposed to," Harry tells him. "Daddy 'nd Papa no like that."
"It's Halloween, Haz. Shouldn't we break the rules?"
"Don't wanna get in trouble," Harry says.
Louis sighs and looks at the tv now. "Fine..."
The daddies return two minutes later with the all of the candy now combined into a bowl. The apples were removed and they also took out a few pieces of candy they didn't want the boys eating, like sour candies.
The bowl is set on the ground and the boys roll off the couch and crawl over to their treasure trove, cheering along the way.
The first thing Harry does is squeal at all of the packets of M&Ms. The youngest boy scrambles to gathet up the little brown bags before Louis has a chance to take any. The daddies tell them from behind to not eat too much, but neither boy listens as they begin cramming their faces with taffies and chocolates. Harry requires Louis' help with opening nearly every wrapper, but the older boy is more than happy to help his brother out.
Liam and Zayn quickly sneak a couple of pieces for themselves and sit close to each other on the couch, watching their little boys happily indulge themselves on the ground.
After the boys have the boys have had around ten pieces of candy, the husbands declare that they have had enough. The boys pout and cling to the bowl. They have to pry the candy out of their fingers with threats of a time out if they don't behave.
The boys are carried upstairs to the bathroom and sat on the counter. Zayn washes as much of the glitter from Harry's face as he can, but there is still quite a bit of rainbow specks on his face that simply won't go away. They then have the boys brush their teeth to remove all of the sugar from the evening. The boys whine, wanting more candy. They are promised more tomorrow, but they are on a sugar high now and want their sweets now.
When they get to the nursery their costumes are completely removed and they are changed and put in footie pajamas. Harry is a jumping, giggly mess as he swings off of Louis' arm that he's been holding onto.
"Bugaboo, you need to calm down now," Liam tells him.
Harry fidgets around, far too excited and awake considering his normal bedtime was an hour ago. Louis is also jumpy, but his body more accustomed to large amounts of junk and sugar than Harry's.
They are taken to their daddies bedroom and they all cuddle together on the big bed. The men feed the boys their nighttime bottles and rub their backs in an attempt to make them sleepy. They go so far as to sing them lullabies. When the littles' eyes are beginning to struggle at staying open, they are brought back to the nursery and laid down in their cribs. Zayn goes over to them, tucking the blankets around them so they are snuggly little bugs. Liam reads them The Cow Jumped Over The Moon in his gentle voice that doesn't match his large body at all. The windows are locked, the nightlight is turned on, and just to be sure, Zayn checks the baby monitor to assure that it is now properly working after last night's failure. Once the story is over, Zayn and Liam kiss their babies goodnight and exit the room.
Louis has no idea if Harry is still awake or not, he himself is extremely tired, but his body craves more candy and excitement. He wants adventure! He waits quite a bit of time before acting upon those urges. What feels like hours later, which is really only 35 minutes after the men had left their room, Louis stands up in his crib and throws his leg over the side before he heaves himself down, landing more gracefully than last night.
He tiptoes away from his crib and towards the doorway. A whisper stops him in his tracks. He turns around to see Harry sitting up in his own crib. The older boy mentally slaps himself and sneaks over to Harry.
"Where're you going," Harry whispers.
"Downstairs," Louis whispers as quietly as he possibly can.
"Why," Harry says, rubbing his eyes with closed fists to help him see better in the limited lighting.
"Want more candy," his brother shrugs.
Louis starts walking away but hears his voice again. He quickly turns around hushes Harry. "Take me with," Harry pleads.
Louis nods and has Harry wrap his arms around Louis' neck. Louis uses all of his strength to safely pull Harry out of the crib and on the ground. He presses his lips to the boys ears and whispers, "You need to be very quiet. Got that? Don't make any sounds." He sees Harry's head nodding and decides he can trust him.
Together, they creep out of the nursery while remaining quiet. Harry holds Louis' hand with a death grip. When they are in the hall they hear light snoring coming from the direction of the daddies' room and decide they're okay to continue. Louis leads Harry to the stairway and just as Louis' foot hits the first stair, he feels Harry stop them like a dropped anchor.
"What's wrong," the older boy whispers.
"I'm scared," Harry whines.
Louis hushes him and pulls the boy into a hug. "Do you want to go back," he asks the younger one.
Harry shakes his head. "Stay wiff you."
"Okay, how about this. Sit down and slide down the steps on your butt. One by one," Louis suggests.
Harry nods and Louis shows him what to do. Louis makes it halfway down the stair way before he hears the sliding against the carpet. He looks back to see Harry clinging to the rail as he concentrates on going down the steep steps. Louis reaches the bottom and stands, waiting for Harry to finish scooting himself down. Once the younger boy is down, he engulfs Louis in a tight embrace, allowing the jitters he had from doing that by himself melt away in Louis' warm arms. The older boy kisses Harry's temple and tells him he did a good job.
"Now where is the candy," Louis asks.
Harry shrugs and they go into the kitchen. Immediately their eyes go to the top of the fridge where the purple plastic bowl is sitting. Harry is the one to reach for it because he is taller. He grabs the bowl and hands it to Louis with a big smile on his face as if they had just found the Holy Grail.
"Let's go watch TV," Louis says.
"But Papa 'nd Daddy don't want us touching the tv," Harry says.
"They won't know. Besides, we won't touch the tv, we'll use the remote," Louis says like it's the most obvious thing in the world.
Hesitantly, Harry follows his brother into the living room. They sit on the couch and sit the bowl of candy between them. Louis grabs the remote and turns the tv on. They flinch when the tv makes a loud sound and instantly turn the volume down to barely audible. Harry tears open a packet of M&Ms and pops a few in his mouth and Louis searches Netflix for something to watch. He accidentally drops the remote on the ground and when he reaches to pick it up he notices that it had clicked onto a movie when it hit the floor.
"What did you pick," Harry asks.
"Not sure," Louis says. Whatever it is, he's sure it'll be okay.
The boys sit back and relax in the dark living room, snacking on the candy as they watch a family made up of a mom, dad, and three daughters exit their car and walk up to presumably their new house. The house looks old and worn down, with white paint chipping off the side. Harry scoots in closer to Louis as the music changes to some sort of orchestra number. It has an eerie tone as the middle daughter is exploring the attic. She goes over to a box she sees in the corner and bends down to examine it's contents. She finds a music box and curiously twists the knob on the side a few times. The box springs open and plays a lulling song, but instantly a face appears in the reflection and she drops the box and runs.
Harry and Louis scream. The bowl of candy goes flying onto the ground as they cling to each other and both cry. The movie continues playing as they are both too paralyzed in fear to reach for the remote to turn it off.
They hear stomps from upstairs and only squeeze each other closer. Harry screams that there is a ghost upstairs. They shriek when they hear loud footsteps on the stairs and close their eyes as tight as they can be.
The light flicks on and they look up to see the worried faces of Zayn and Liam. "What's going on in here," Zayn asks. He looks at the horror movie being played and immediately shuts the tv off.
Harry runs forward and wraps his arms around Zayn. "Papa," he cries.
Louis covers himself with the blanket and hides, still frightened and not wanting to get punished.
"How did you boys get down here," Liam asks, going over to Louis and picking him up from where he was sitting.
The boys remain quiet except for Harry's crying and Louis' sniffles.
"Answer us," Zayn says in a serious tone.
"Wan-ded candy," Harry cries into his chest.
"So you snuck out of your cribs," Zayn asks.
Harry nods.
"And the movie? Why on earth did you pick such a scary movie," Liam asks Louis, knowing he's probably behind most of this.
"Was an accident," the blue eyed boy mutters.
"How was any of this an accident? You know you aren't supposed to leave your cribs without help or go downstairs without us. You were told it was bedtime and no more candy. You both disobeyed us and we're very disappointed in you," Liam says.
"No spanks," Harry pleads.
Zayn shakes his head. "No, we aren't going to punish you because it's the middle of the night and we wouldn't wait to punish you until the morning because that it pointless. We want you to apologize and pick up all of this candy."
The boys nod sadly.
Harry is the first to apologize. "Sowwy, Papa," he says, hugging Zayn and giving him a kiss. He repeats his actions with Liam. "Sowwy, Daddy."
The men look at Louis now who is situated in Liam's lap staring down at his fingers. The boy swallows his pride.
"Sowwy, Daddy," he says, wrapping his arms around Liam's neck.
"You're forgiven. Go apologize to Papa," Liam commands.
Louis nods and peels himself away from Liam. He walks over to Zayn who's arms are open wide for Louis to place himself in. Louis pecks his jaw and apologies.
"Good boys, " Zayn says. "Now clean up your mess so we can go back to bed."
The boys kneel down and scoop all of their candy up and put it back in the bowl. When they get every last piece, they hand it to Liam who takes it to the kitchen and hides it somewhere else. The men carry Harry and Louis upstairs and put them back in their cribs. They kiss their foreheads and whisper good nights. Neither boy plans on leaving their cribs in the middle of the night ever again, disappointment filling their minds and too much sugar hurting their tummies.