My phone sang my favorite song as a sign that it was time to get up. I rolled over in my bed to grab it from the side table. I opened my eyes a bit to peer at my screen. It was 8am on the dot. I groaned and swiped my finger across the screen, silencing the voice coming from the small rectangular device. I nestled back under my covers, putting my phone under my pillow as I laid my head back down. Not even a minute later my phone buzzed twice signaling a text message. I took the phone from under my pillow, rolled onto my back and squinted my eyes at my screen.
Niall: Don’t you dare think about going back to bed.
I smirked at his text and typed back.
Ugh, how did you know?
I sat up in bed, kicking my covers off and throwing my legs over the edge, letting my feet hover over the floor. My phone buzzed again.
Niall: I know you.
Get up.
Be there in 15!
I sighed again as my feet finally met the floor. I left my phone on my bed as I roamed around my room, switching out my pajamas for knee length black tight running pants, a black zip-up track jacket over a grey t-shirt which was over a black sports bra. I sat back on my bed and pulled on a pair of socks and laced up my running shoes. I headed to the living room, putting my long brown hair into a high ponytail. A few moments later there was a knock at my door.
I opened it and Niall stood in front of me in black Nike shoes, black Adidas shorts, a grey hoodie, and a black snap back that hid his blond hair. He smiled at me, his hands in this front hoodie pocket. “Ready?” he asked enthusiastically as I walked out my door, closing it behind me.
“If we must,” I groaned, tightening my ponytail.
He laughed and said, “Hey you said you needed motivation to get up and run, so here I am!”
He bent down to touch his toes. I grabbed my left ankle to stretch the front of my leg, and switched to stretch the other leg. I hopped on the balls of my feet lightly, shaking out my arms, warming my body up. The sky was cloudy, and there was a slight chill in the air, but I had to admit it was my favorite running weather.
I sighed, and replied to his comment, “yeah, yeah. Well, let’s get going then.” He stood up and shook his legs out a bit. I smiled up at him and smacked his behind before taking off down the sidewalk.
“Hey!” he called out behind me.
I sprinted at first, but slowed down to a comfortable jog as I heard his footsteps coming behind me. He returned the smack on my butt has he came behind me and started to match my pace jogging beside me. I turned and poked my tongue out at him and smiled. He just smirked and bit his lip shaking his head.
Our feet fell into a steady rhythm as we traveled down the residential street, our breaths coming light and consistent. The streets around my house made a two-mile loop. We took a left turn to continue the path pass the edge of the houses and into a small forest that stood on the edge of it. We enjoyed the sounds of the birds in the trees and the sticks and leaves beneath our pounding feet. I pushed the sleeves of my jacket up my forearms as we neared the exit of the forest. We had a mile left until we reached my house again. Our feet met the cement of the sidewalk, making it a smoother path for our feet, and I began to pick up my pace, pulling a little ahead of Niall. I could sense he noticed this because I saw his legs move faster and he inched along up to me again. I smirked and ran harder, pulling a tad bit in front of him.
“Oh,” he said breathily, “it’s a game now.”
I managed a small chuckle. “Only if you can keep up,” I breathed, as we made another left turn to the straight a way to my house. I decided to just sprint the length of the sidewalk to my house. My arms pumped at my sides, and my feet hit the pavement at an increasing rate. I could hear Niall’s feet behind me also quicken, and his breath getting heavier. I sensed him right on my heels, but my front lawn was just in site. I managed a last burst of energy and my shoe reached the soft grass a half a second before his.
I plopped down on the grass, breathing heavily, and sweat sliding down the right side of my face. I wiped at the drop with my sleeve and stretched my legs out so I wouldn’t cramp up. Niall walked around in small circles on my grass, shaking his legs and arms out, before putting his arms above his head, as he tried to slow his breaths. He took the hat off his head and wiped his sleeve across his forehead. He ran his hand through his matted hair, messing it up before putting his hat back on. He smiled at me as he sat next to me in the grass. I moved to grab my left toe, stretching out the back of my leg and leaning towards his side. I laid my head on my arm, and smiled at him.
I put my legs in front of me and shook them out, and he did the same. I turned my body so it was facing him and spread my legs and held my arms out to him.
“Help me stretch,” I said.
He mimicked my position and grabbed my hands in his and pulled me too him gently. The stretch in the back of my legs, back, and shoulders felt amazing I groaned a little bit. After a few more seconds, I sat up and pulled him to me so he could stretch. He breathed a contented sigh. I let go of his hands and he sat up.
“You didn’t let me win did you?” I asked playfully.
“’Course not!” He said, bewildered, “if I had about 10 more feet I would’ve caught ya.”
“Well, good thing you didn’t,” I replied, smiling slyly as I stood up.
He reached out his hands up to me and I laughed and pulled him up. Once he was standing in front of me, he put his hands low on my hips and said, “you did good today babe,” and kissed me on my slightly sweaty forehead.
“Thanks,” I said, standing on my toes to sneak a kiss just under his chin, “you did too. Thanks for getting me out of bed.”
“Yer welcome,” he said pulling back and heading to his car that was parked in my driveway. I headed back towards my door. “Shower, then I’ll be back in an hour or so?” he called as he reached the driver’s side door.
I nodded and blew him a kiss. He animatedly pretended to catch it and put it in his pocket before getting into the car and pulling out of the drive way and driving down the street we just ran.
***************************************************************************************************************
I was just finishing my makeup, dressed in dark jeans and a light red sweater over a white tank top, when my phone buzzed on the counter. I saw a picture of Niall holding his baby nephew with a text that read: Mind if I bring a friend? I smiled and wrote back, Baby Theo is more than welcome here!
I walked out of the bathroom and into the living room, pushing the couches against the wall, making a large space of carpet for Theo to play on. I went to the closet by the front door and grabbed a box of his toys we kept here whenever Niall and I babysat Theo for his brother and sister-in-law. I placed the box in the center of the floor and made sure all potential hazards were away and my living room was baby proof. My doorbell rang this time and I walked towards the door to open it. It was Niall carrying Theo in a car seat in one hand and Theo’s bright blue diaper bag and dark blue bag of toys in the other. I let them in and Niall sat everything down in the living room. He was in blue jeans and a light grey crew neck sweatshirt, his sleeve rolled up to his elbows, and his light hair lay fluffy and not styled on his head. He unbuckled Theo from his car seat and carried him in his arms, standing up and turning towards me. Theo was awake and taking in his new surroundings.
Niall bounced Theo on his hip lightly, bringing his attention towards me as I walked to them, smiling. “You remember this pretty girl, right Theo?” Niall said, looking down at his nephew.
“Hi baby Theo!” I said, my voice a bit higher than usual, “how’s my favorite boy?” I put my finger towards his hand and he wrapped his little fingers around it.
“Hey!” Niall said looking at me.
“Awww,” I said to Theo, “I made Uncle Niall jealous.” I kissed Theo’s soft forehead. Theo smiled and tightened his grip on my finger. I looked up at Niall with a smile; he was doing his best to form a scowl on his face. “Ok, tied for first,” I said winking at Theo and pecking Niall on the lips.
“That’s better,” Niall said.
Theo spotted his favorite blue elephant on the floor and let go of my finger to motion his hand towards it. He whined a bit. Niall shifted Theo in his arms to put him in a superman position. He pretended to fly Theo down to the floor to get the elephant. Theo grabbed it and stuffed the plush toy in his mouth and started to soak it in drool. Niall brought Theo back up to his hip again before sitting on the couch. He let Theo crawl out of his arms and onto the couch cushion. I sat on the floor in front of them and pulled some miscellaneous toys from Theo’s bag and set them in front of him. We played with him in the living room for a while.
We were now all sitting on the ground and I helped Theo put different shaped blocks in different shaped holes. I heard a growl come from Niall’s stomach. I looked at him and raised my eyebrow, “hungry?”
“Yeah,” he laughed, grabbing his stomach, “forgot I didn’t eat after the run.”
My stomach made the same noise in response. “Oh, me neither,” I realized. “What should I make?” I asked getting up, and Niall moved closer to his nephew, who was still playing with the blocks.
“Hmmm, I don’t know…Theo!” he exclaimed, his baby nephew looked at him, “What do you want to eat?”
Theo just looked a Niall with a blank expression before crawling across the carpet to get to a tower of multicolored rings. Niall lay down on his back and stretched his arms out grabbing Theo and raising him above Niall’s chest. The baby let out a scream of delight. Niall sat Theo on his chest and held Theo’s small hands in his big ones, helping Theo to sit upright.
“Do you want her to make cookies?!” Niall asked enthusiastically, his eyebrows raising and his bright blue eyes growing big. Theo made a noise that resembled a laugh as he looked at his uncle’s face. “I’ll take that as a yes,” he said. “Cookies!!” Niall yelled raising baby Theo’s hands in triumph. Theo moved forward to crawl off Niall’s chest and Niall let him.
“You heard the baby,” Niall said, sitting up on his elbows and smiling, “cookies.”
I laughed and said, “cookies it is,” before I turned toward the kitchen and left the boys in the living room to play.
I gathered all the ingredients to make oatmeal walnut cookies out of the pantry and set them on the counter. I preheated the oven and mixed up the ingredients as instructed. My batter was ready just as my oven signaled me that it had reached the desired temperature. I pulled out a flat pan and began to scoop spoonfuls of batter onto it in rows. I heard footsteps behind me and saw Niall walk in with Theo on his hip. Theo was sucking on one of his multicolored rings. Niall set Theo on the counter, and shook Theo’s bottle of formula in one of his hands, while he still held Theo’s back in the other.
“Someone couldn’t wait for cookies,” he said, placing the bottle on the counter and picking Theo up again, this time cradling him in his arms. He took the ring away from Theo and threw it on the counter. Theo began to cry and Niall grabbed the bottle and gave it to his nephew. Theo put the top in his mouth and began drinking his formula. Niall leaned against the counter, holding Theo securely as Theo sucked on his bottle. I placed the pan in the over and set it for 12 minutes. I wiped my hands on the towel that hung on the front of the over and walked over to the boys. I caressed Theo’s soft forehead and he closed his eyes slightly at the soft touch. I looked up at Niall who was still watching his nephew. I raised my hand from Theo’s forehead and touched Niall’s cheek. He looked at and smiled, pressing his cheek into my hand before turning his head to kiss my palm.
“You’re so great with him,” I said looking back down at Theo, who was nearly half way done with his bottle.
Niall smiled at his nephew. “Thanks,” he said, “I just really love him.”
“I can tell,” I said, turning my smile back to Niall.
I moved to his side and kissed his cheek softly. He turned his face towards me and I kissed his lips. The combination of the timer going off and Theo’s cries because he had finished his bottle made us pull apart and we each turned out attention where it was needed.
Niall made Theo another bottle and I took the cookies out of the oven to let them cool before I removed them and scooped more batter onto the pan. I stuffed a cooled cookie in my mouth as the put the pan in again, setting the timer to the same 12 minutes. Niall walked over, Theo in tow with his second bottle, and grabbed a cookie. He popped the whole thing into his mouth and reach for another. He swallowed before stuffing the next one in his mouth and grabbing two more. He finished eating the one in his mouth and kissed me on the cheek. “Fabulous babe,” he said before leaving the kitchen.
“Hey, Ni,” I called as the timer went off again.
“Hmm?” He hummed turning around.
“Can you keep Theo up for just a little bit longer? I don’t want to the timer to go off if he’s gonna take a nap.” I said, taking the pan out of the oven.
“Sure,” he said, shifting Theo in his arms so he could pat Theo’s back to burp him, “probably gonna have to change him first anyway.”
I made three more pans of cookies, washing the bowl and utensils while the last one baked. I peered over the counter and into the living room. Niall and Theo were playing with cars, Niall making sounds has he drove his on the carpet. I smiled at the sweetness of the moment. I saw Theo yawn and knew it was probably time for him to take a nap. The timer went off for the final time and I took the pan out and turned off the oven. I walked into the living room and saw Niall lay Theo down on his changing pad. He fussed with the baby’s pants and diaper and groaned at the smell. Theo rubbed his face with his tiny hands, yawning again, while Niall finished changing him. Good thing Theo was tired or Niall would’ve had a harder time. He put Theo’s pants back on and wrapped the dirty diaper up in a bag. I returned to the kitchen to place the last of the cookies on a cooling rack and putting the already cooled ones in a cookie jar. Niall walked into the kitchen again, Theo slightly whining in his tired state.
“Can you hold him while I take this to the garage outside?” he said handing Theo to me. He held the bag with the dirty diaper at arms length and plugged his nose as he walked to the door.
I held Theo and laughed, “Uncle Niall is so funny, huh?”
Theo whimpered again. I bounced him lightly up and down, humming one of my favorite lullabies. I laid his head on my shoulder as I walked to my room. I pulled the sheets up with one hand, still humming to Theo who was getting heavier as I sensed he was starting to fall asleep. I lay down on my bed, placing baby Theo on my chest, stroking his back lightly as his tiny breaths became even. I sneaked a peek at him to see that his eyes were already closed. I laced my fingers over his tiny back and held him securely there.
I heard Niall come through the front door again. I heard the clink of the cookie jar being opened and closed and his footsteps as they came to my room. He stopped in the doorway and leaned against it, munching on his cookies. He smiled at me and I smiled at him. He reached in his back pocket and grabbed his phone. He touched the screen before holding it up to Theo and I. He snapped a picture of me looking at sleeping Theo.
“For when I miss you both,” he said, as he returned the phone to his pocket and stuffed the remaining cookie in his mouth. He dusted his hands on his jeans as he made his way to the other side of my bed. He swallowed his cookie and crawled on the bed next to me. He lay on his side, his arm across my hips, and his head on my shoulder. We lay there together, all three of us, quite content.
“We could have this one day you know,” he said, lowly.
I turned my face towards him and hummed contently, “hmmm.”
“When things are less crazy you know,” he said, kissing my shoulder.
I smiled. “I could get use to this,” I said, feeling baby Theo snore against my chest.
He smiled and kissed my lips in a long and sweet kiss. He pulled away as his phone vibrated in his back pocket. He looked at his screen. “That’s Greg,” he said, “he’s coming to pick up Theo now.”
Niall moved off the bed and headed to the living room. “I’ll go clean up,” he said, “I’ll let you know when they’re here and you can get Theo up, kid sleeps like a rock so hopefully he will as you put him in the car seat.”
A few minutes later, Niall motioned for me to put Theo in his car seat. I got up slowly and walked towards the living room. Theo barely moved besides his deep breathing. He really did sleep like a rock. I laid him down gently in his car seat and buckled him in as Niall opened the door for Greg who was walking up the porch. I smiled at him as he walked into the house and saw his sleeping son.
“He wasn’t too much trouble I hope,” Greg said taking the handle of Theo’s car seat and picking him up.
“Oh never, he’s such a great baby,” I said, grabbing Theo’s diaper bag and toy bag and handing them to Greg.
“Thanks again,” he said to Niall and me before heading out the door.
Niall closed the door behind Greg and leaned against it, closing his eyes. I walked towards him and wrapped my arms around him leaning against him, my eyes closed as my head rested against his chest. His arms wrapped around me and his hands squeezed my hips. He kissed my head. “Baby sitting his hard work,” he said against my hair.
I giggled into his chest and pulled away just enough to look up at him. “You sure you want this one day? It’ll be 24/7.”
Niall was silent for a second, as if he were really contemplating it. Finally he smiled down at me, “yeah, I’m sure,” he said, before pulling me into a long, deep kiss. His hand tightened around my hips and pulled me closer to him.
I pulled away giggling, “I mean, I don’t want the kid right now,” I said, placing my hands on his chest.
He chuckled, resting his forehead against mine, “Yeah, but we could always practice anyway,” he said, giving me a small wink.
I laughed and said, “I love you being home,” as I laced my fingers in his hair and jumped into his arms. His hands grabbing my bottom in support as I wrapped my legs around him.
“I love being home too,” he said, kissing me again as he walked us towards my bedroom.