Zayn's POV
The past month I had been pushing my body to work out harder than I did even for my first fight with Liam. I saw my body had changed a little, but what I had felt changed the most was my view on everything. I felt like I had that edge to me that I had when I lived in Bradford before I had Niall in my life. I felt like I was fighting something bigger than the fight I wanted. I wanted to fight Liam for more reasons than even I knew. I wanted to win to prove to everyone that I was good on my own without their support. I guess that's how I felt in Bradford. I was a seventeen year old kid that fought everything from people that wanted to beat me up to starvation. There was more in me than I knew and I let it out by working out and imagining what I was going to do to Liam Payne.
I hadn't really confirmed or denied the fight to the media. I had just sent a statement that I was looking for me next fight and it would definitely be my last. That was the first time I'd said that to the press other than them just assuming it. It wasn't a big deal to the world because everyone was just wanting to know what the fight was. I had personally talked to Liam's manager and said that he was on my list of who I wanted to fight. We kept the conversation quiet from the press. I told him that in a few months I would make a decision and to make sure Liam didn't schedule anything incase I chose him. I was purposely just training so that once the bay was born I could confirm the fight and go for it in a month and show Liam who not to mess with.
I didn't want Niall to stress about this, especially because he miscarried last time. He needs everything to be stress free and he needs me to be on hundred percent by his side for anything that was going to happen during this pregnancy. I felt guilty about keeping this from him, but it was better this way. Everyone knew it was better to keep this from Niall, particularly at this stage in his pregnancy.
Harry was in on helping me get what I wanted now. Even if he thought it was stupid and had some anger towards me for doing it, he hated Liam more because of how long he was in the hospital and how his hands never shop shaking. He can't even hold a pencil anymore. He also had a hard time doing things that normal people can do, like pour milk into cereal or comb his hair. Louis had to do all that for him and that made him frustrated as well as extremely depressed some days. It was hard to see my best friend go through that and only made me angrier. So Harry decided to help me once he gets out of the hospital which can't be soon enough. I hadn't told him not to tell Louis about it so he wouldn't tell Niall, but I figured it's logical not to. The only one that wasn't on board with this was Mark.
He had been pretty much ignoring me for a month. The only time he even acknowledged me we when it involved the boys or Niall. He only wanted to know about them because he said he loved them. I knew he was only saying that because he wanted to rub it in my face that he didn't love me. He lied to me in the past and now is when I'm learning about it. I didn't really need him though. I was doing fine training on my own.
I was drenched in sweat from head to toe and my muscles were burning by the time it was time for me to go home. I took off my gloves and put them in my bag. As I was ripping off the tape I had on my hands, Mark came over to drop some letters next to me on the bench.
"Pay your bills." He said in a cold tone. I picked up one letter and saw it was the bill from the few things I had bought for the gym and it was the remaining balance I owed on the gym. Mark had advised me not to pay for this place upfront and to make small payments incase we were to find an ever better place. I liked this small gym and liked it was kind of hidden from the paparazzi so we stayed here.
"Niall wants you over for dinner tonight. The boys want to see you." I said as I put the letters in my gym bag. I put my wedding ring on and changed my shoes.
"I'll head over in a bit." Mark said, walking away from me. I got my bag and left the gym, making sure to slam the door behind me because I hated that I asked him to do one thing for me and he wouldn't but I ask him to do something for Niall and he's doing it without even being asked twice. I always head him saying that I've never been told no for anything. He obviously doesn't remember that I've been denied more things in my life than he ever had been. I was denied parents. My grandmother was murdered. I went weeks at a time eating stale crackers that I found in the empty pantry. I could have been killed in Bradford more times than I could remember. I didn't get to get an education. I've lost a child. I've been told no more times than I've been told yes. Right now in my life I feel I'm allowed to get rewarded for a bit because I've never had it easy. I don't know who he is thinking he needs to tell me I need to be told no.
I got home and went straight to make sure Niall was doing okay. He was cooking some type of chicken and rice recipe that looked really good. He pushed me out of the kitchen to go shower off because apparently I smelt bad. Ethan ended up following me upstairs while Ezra made sure Niall didn't cut himself or burn himself on anything.
"Baba, is grandpa coming over?" Ethan asked me as I got in the shower. He was sitting on the counter while I showered off. I think when you have kids, you just have to know that you have no more personal space. Especially if your child if anything like Ethan. He just follows us everywhere unless he feels like he needs to follow Ezra around some.
"He said he'd be other in a bit. You remember that Daddy and I are going to take you and Ezra school shopping tomorrow." I said. He hummed in response to that, but I knew if he wasn't talking then that was definitely not a good thing. I turned off the water after getting the soap off my body then got a towel to wrap around my waist as I got out of the shower.
"Oh God, Ethan what are you doing?" I asked as I saw he had shaving cream on his face and all over the counter. He giggled at me as I wiped him down telling him that he didn't need to do this right now or ever really.
"It's not funny." I said as I got the shaving cream off his face with a cloth. He just smiled even bigger at me like he was happy to see me upset with him. I couldn't help but smile back at him and kiss his forehead. He giggled and latched himself onto me, hugging me tightly.
"I love you, Baba." He giggled to me. My heart pretty much melted right there for him like it always does for those big brown eyes he has. I carried him into the bedroom and went into my walk in closet to get dressed. I just put some shorts on and a t-shirt before going back out to my son. The door bell rang downstairs and Ethan was jumping of the bed yelling grandpa sooner than I could even react. I went downstairs too, but I just went into the kitchen to set the table for dinner. I could hear Mark talking to Niall, asking about how he was feeling and if he needed any chocolate cheese cake yet. Even if I thought it was cute that he remembered what Niall's craving was when he was pregnant with Ezra, I still wasn't glad he was at my house.
I stood at the counter trying to put on a happy face for my kids and my husband in this situation. Niall's arms wrapped around me from behind, his small bump pressing against my back. That was all it took for me to smile. It wasn't even fake. I turned and held Niall close to me then kissed him a few times. We all sat down at the dinner table and got served. I put some salad on Ethan's plate while Ezra served himself some of the chicken and rice thing.
"Niall, do you want some of that nice bread?" I asked Niall, knowing he needed to up the carbs at each meal. He shook his head at me, but I got up to get the bread and butter anyway. He sighed as I put some on his plate and looked at me like I was mean for making him eat food that would make him gain weight.
"We just want you healthy, love." Mark told Niall softly. My husband nodded and took a bite of his food. He was still very thin and it scared me that he and the baby would be unhealthy. But throughout the meal I felt more relaxed about that when Niall had a small second serving of chicken ad rice. He never does that so I figured he must have been helping our growing baby get all that it needs.
Once dinner was over, the boys cleaned up the table while Niall went to make a call to his parents to talk about them coming out. That left Mark and I going out to the backyard together. I was just going to see if Rocky was in the backyard, Mark just kind of followed me.
"I'm tired of how things are between us, son. I miss how things were." Mark said softly. I shook my head and turned to look at him trying not to loose it. I'm tired of father's that only come back when it's convenient and when they feel they want to.
"I just don't understand why you think it's okay to try telling me what to do now. Yes, I understand a fight with Payne could be life or death for me, but I'm not going to let that happen. I've decided that this is going to be my last fight and if it's going to be it, then I want it to be with that man. I've felt him breathing down the back of my neck for years now. Since I won the title from him he's been saying I just got lucky. He's been putting me down for years now and I don't want to say goodbye to this sport when I still have something to resolve. I need to do this then it will be over. I want to have more kids. I want to be there for everything my kids will have in the future. I want to grow old happily with my husband. I can't live my life to the fullest if I know I walked away from a fight. I've never walked away from a fight. I'm not about to do it now." I said seriously, looking him straight in the eyes and waiting for him to say something to me. I saw it boiling in him and just braced myself for him to explode.
"I hate watching you get hurt! In the beginning I had no feelings attached to you at all. I just scheduled thirteen fights for you and hoped that would make you money for your family. Now I look at you and know I can't stand watching you like that! I have a heart of stone when it comes to coaching boxing! I just don't have one when it comes to you, Erik!" Mark yelled at me, but what he called me seemed to stab us both in the heart at the same time. For me, I realized that even as shitty as things had been for us, he still saw me as his son. But for him, he realized that he had called me his sons name.
"I'm sorry I just-" Mark started then broke. He turned from me and brought one hand up to cry into. I walked to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. He turned and hugged me tightly. I hugged him back to and realized how much I really needed this man in my life.
"Dad, I won't do this if it's too much for you. I just needed you to understand where I am with this." I said. He pulled back and got my jaw in his strong hand. His eyes were still glossed over with tears and he looked like he wasn't sure what he was doing right now.
"If this is your last fight then you're going out with a bang and I'll make sure that happens. I don't want you to do this, but I'll feel like you're safer in the ring with him if I've trained you. I hate that you're doing this. I hate it so much. I hate that I thought I could stick with telling you no. I would have been a push over dad, wouldn't I?" He asked me shakily. He sounded scared that he had even just agreed to help me do this. He didn't need to be because I felt confident that this would work out.
"You're only a push over dad to me." I assured him with a cheeky smirk. He lightly slapped me then looked like he wanted to ask me to keep this whole thing between us. I nodded and let him hug me again before going back inside. All I knew was this changed a lot of things and really made me want to tell Niall even though I had a feeling about how he would react.
A/N: more chapters!!! What are your favorite pizza toppings??!?!?! Comment/Vote!
-Bri ;)