Chapter One Hundred Three –Zayn
Zayn frowns as he rocks Zack in his arms, glancing quickly towards where Chloe is still sleeping, in her bouncy chair, he can hear Liam down in his office working, which he had promised he wouldn't do for the first week he was back. It's only been three days since he got home, but Zayn almost feels like he never came home, other than he's in bed with him every night. There was a huge issue that Zayn still doesn't understand at the office and Liam has been spending every waking minute trying to reverse the damage both from his home office and the actual office. Zayn understands that whatever this is could potentially be catastrophic for Payne Industries, but at the same time he misses his husband, and wants to spend some time with him. Zack starts cooing to him and Zayn smiles, "yeah, and then what happened Bub?" he hums, grinning when Zack turns his head and starts sucking on the edge of Zayn's sleeve, Zayn's also really glad today was a day Bella has Preschool, so she's off playing and learning for the next few hours, which gives Zayn a chance to get some stuff done around the house when the twins sleep, but the twins rarely sleep at the same time. Zayn frowns when his phone rings beside him on the couch, reaching out he answers it without looking at the screen.
"Hello...?" Zayn asks his attention still very much on his babies, "hey Zayn" Louis answers enthusiastically and Zayn rolls his eyes, "hey Lou, what's up?" he murmurs. "Your husband still working like a madman?" Louis asks and Zayn rolls his eyes, "yeah, I can hear him downstairs, he sounds angry" he murmurs, switching Zack's position so his little man could no longer slobber all over his sleeve. "In that case do you and the babies want to come and get some lunch?" Louis asks and Zayn can hear the hopeful tone to his voice. Zayn bites his lip thinking, before he makes up his mind, "yeah, I think I need to get out of the house for a bit, where are we going?" he answers. Louis squeals, actually squeals making Zayn snort, "you alright there Lou?" Zayn teases, "yeah, I'm fine. Want to just go to Nandos?" Louis asks. Zayn grins, "sure I'll meet you there. Is Harry coming?" he asks, but can practically hear Louis shaking his head at him, "not this time Haz is working" Louis answers slowly. Zayn frowns his best friend sounds off and he hasn't seen Louis and Harry together since New Years which is odd, because even before they were actually dating, then engaged, they were inseparable. "Everything alright Lou?" Zayn murmurs "it's fine Zayn, really. Harry's just been working a lot lately, and I dunno, I'm lonely I guess" Louis mumbles. Zayn nods, even though Louis can't see him, "I get that Lou, but you guys will find a balance. I promise" he hums. Louis chuckles "I know, it just sucks. But I'll see you in half an hour?" he asks and Zayn agrees before they both hang up. Zayn turns his attention to Zack in his arms, "we're gonna go see Uncle Louis, let's go tell Daddy we're leaving, yeah?" Zayn asks the infant who just gurgles at him.
Zayn checks on Chloe one more time, seeing her still sleeping peacefully in her chair before he carefully carries Zack down the stairs towards the basement where he knows Liam is. "...I don't care who's fault it actually is, if this isn't fixed by midnight tonight everybody's fired" Liam shouts before he slams the receiver down on the desk, startling Zack in Zayn's arms. "How's it going Babe?" Zayn murmurs, handing Zack to Liam when he makes grabby hands towards the pair as soon as he sees them "how do you think it's going" Liam mutters, kissing Zack's head. "I'm sorry Li, you'll get it figured out" Zayn murmurs, leaning over to kiss his husband, Liam just sighs nodding "I really hope so Zee" he mumbles cuddling Zack close to him. Zayn smiles sadly at him "Louis just called, he wants me and the babies to come have lunch with him, but I can tell him I can't if you need me here" Zayn says leaning onto Liam's shoulders. Liam shakes his head, "no, you go with Lou. I'm close to figuring this all out and I need to call Niall" he answers, he sounds distracted and Zayn really hopes he does get everything sorted out and soon. "Okay, I'll bring you back some lunch" Zayn murmurs, leaning down to catch Liam's lips in a kiss, frowning when his husband kisses back distractedly. When they pull apart Zayn watches as Liam kisses Zack's forehead, "be good Bubba" he hums before passing him back to Zayn, "I love you" Zayn murmurs, Liam looks up and smiles at him, one of the first real smiles Zayn's seen in days, "I love you too Zee. I promise once this is figured out I'll be all yours for two weeks" he murmurs. Zayn just nods, smiling at his husband before heading back upstairs.
Zayn frowns when he parks at Nando's, looking around for Louis, he can see his best friend's car, so he climbs out of his own and moves to open the back door. He's just pulled out Chloe's seat and is moving around to get Zack's when Louis appears, pulling the car seat from his grip, "I've got this little cutie" Louis coos, making a face at the now awake baby. "Thanks Lou" Zayn chuckles reaching into the car and unlatching Zack's seat, who of course is now fast asleep. Zayn just follows Louis into the restaurant and let's his best friend order his food, he gets the same thing every time anyways, before they settle themselves at a table, both baby seats sitting on the large table Louis chose. Louis has taken Chloe from her seat as soon as they were sitting, which Zayn doesn't mind he knows how much Louis loves to cuddle babies and he's not going to take that away from him. Zayn watches Louis for a minute, taking a sip of his Coke, before he bites his lip, "so why are we really here, Lou?" he asks gently, reaching out to tap Louis' arm. Louis sighs, but keeps his gaze on Chloe, never looking at Zayn, "to have lunch" he mumbles, but Zayn just shakes his head, "that's not all of it. Tell me" he insists. Louis sighs, "your Baba is pushy" he mumbles to Chloe who gurgles a response to him, "see she agrees with me" he insists and Zayn nods, "yeah she's very agreeable, that one" he teases. Their food is suddenly being dropped off at the table and Zayn wants to groan at that, as now Louis will use it as his excuse not to talk to Zayn.
Zayn's right, of course he was right, Louis' been alternating between eating and cooing at Chloe, who of course is giving him as much undivided attention as an almost two month old can give. Zayn pushes his plate away a little as Zack starts to fuss in his seat, "aw Bubba, did you want to see Uncle Louis too?" he hums, unstrapping the boy and pulling him into his arms. Zack snuggles into Zayn's chest and he can't help but grin as he cuddles the boy close, he missed snuggles once Bella started to become more toddler than baby, he loves her cuddles too, but there's just something about baby cuddles. "I want you to be my best man" Louis suddenly blurts and Zayn furrows his eyebrows as he looks from his son to his best friend, "of course Lou" he murmurs, "was there ever a doubt I would be?" Zayn asks. Louis shrugs sighing, "I don't know, I guess I just wondered whose you would be, because you've been friends with both me and Harry for a long time. But I need you to be mine Zee" he explains. Zayn nods, adjusting the way he's holding Zack so he can do it with one hand, and reaches across the table to grab Louis' hand in his own. "Yes I have been friends with both you and Harry for along time, but Lou, who has been my friend since preschool? Which one of you has been there since forever?" Zayn asks. Louis smiles slightly before he hides his face in Chloe, "me" he mumbles and Zayn nods, "exactly, so yes I do love both you and Harry, and you're both my best friends. But Lou. You were there first. I would be honoured to be your best man" he murmurs. Louis smiles wide then, nodding his head, Zayn notices he's close to crying but decides not to say anything, he opts for just reassuringly squeezing Louis' hand instead, and once both babies are back in their seats he'll hug him.
Their conversation takes a turn into less deep areas after that moment, and Zayn knows the shift was purposeful, Louis doesn't like showing his emotions to anyone, and being vulnerable with Zayn a few minutes ago would have taken a lot for him. Zayn's just finishing his meal when his phone starts ringing, and he pulls it out confused, looking at the caller ID. "Who is it?" Louis asks, making faces down at Chloe, who is still snuggled into his arms. "It's Bella's school" Zayn answers quietly, worry edging into his voice, before he clears his throat and presses accept. "Hello...?" Zayn asks slowly, "yes, hi. Is this Zayn Malik-Payne?" a cheerful voice asks him. Zayn furrows his eyebrows, "yes it is?" he asks. "Hi it's Hannah calling I have Arabella here and we need you to come and pick her up, please" she says cheerfully. Louis makes a face at him but Zayn waves him away, "is something wrong?" Zayn asks already moving to strap the babies back into their seats and gather their things. "It's complicated Sir, we'll explain when you come to pick up Arabella" Hannah answers and Zayn is just plain confused now, "is she in trouble?" he asks slowly. Hannah giggles a little then, "oh no, not at all, Bella is never trouble for us" she explains. Zayn sighs in relief, nodding his head as Louis straps Chloe into her seat for him, "alright, I'll be there in fifteen minutes" he mumbles. "Thank you. We'll see you soon" Hannah answers before she hangs up.
"Zee what's going on?" Louis asks, snapping Zayn out of his thoughts, "that was Bella's preschool. Something's happened I need to go and pick her up" he mumbles. "Alright, what can I do?" Louis asks, his voice soothing, and Zayn watches as he picks up Chloe's seat, "I don't know Lou" he murmurs, as they start walking. "How about I follow behind you. I can sit with these two while you go inside?" Louis asks, and Zayn hadn't even thought about that, "yeah I think that would be great. Thanks Lou" he murmurs, "don't worry about it Zee" Louis wave him away, before they both start locking the babies' seats into place.
The drive to the preschool isn't long, and Zayn spends the whole drive with one hand on the steering wheel, the other with one finger in his mouth, biting at the nail. Zayn stops the car and parks it, but leaves it running to keep the heat on, just as Louis pulls in beside him and climbs into the passenger seat. "Go get your girl. Figure out what's wrong, I'll be here with your other babies" Louis assures. Zayn bites his lip and nods his head before climbing out of the car and making his way towards the door he knows leads to Bella's room. The lights are dim when the door opens to reveal a taller woman, with long dark hair pulled into a ponytail, "you must be Arabella's Dad?" she asks and Zayn nods, "yeah I got a call from Hannah?" he answers, the girl smiles, "I'm Hannah, nice to meet you Zayn" she smiles, offering him her hand. Zayn shakes her hand slowly, "why am I here? Where's Bella?" he asks. Hannah's smile drops, she's in the other room, I need you to follow me" she murmurs, leading Zayn around the dim room, that Zayn can now see has children resting in different spots around the room.
Hannah leads Zayn through into another smaller room, where he can now see Bella, his Bella curled into herself in a corner, tears rolling down her cheeks, while another woman, this one with red hair, sits a few inches away, murmuring something Zayn can't hear. "What happened?" Zayn asks quietly, Hannah frowns "we had a new staff member start today. Her name is Leslie, Bella took one look at her and started to completely fall apart. She kept telling me and Louise who is sitting with her now, that she was a bad lady, mean lady. And was going to hurt her" she explains. Zayn furrows his eyebrows, "what does Leslie look like?" he asks slowly, and Hannah frowns, "Sir, I don't see why that matters" she starts, but Zayn shakes his head, cutting her off. "It matters because-" Zayn starts cutting off before looking at Bella and gesturing for Hannah to step away a little with him, "it matters because Bella's birth mother tried to kidnap her last year, and hurt both Bella and my husband Liam, she also had one of her friends jump me and attack me. So it matters. What does she look like?" Zayn asks again, his voice hard. Hannah frowns "I didn't know. I'm sorry. Louise, can you go get Leslie please?" she asks, the red head nods before getting up and leaving the room.
The door opens again a moment later and a tall blonde woman comes in, the resemblance to Sadie is unreal, and Zayn involuntarily takes a step back for a moment, before shaking his head and looking at the girl again. Once he looks again closer this woman looks almost nothing like Sadie, but he can see how Bella would think she did. "I'm so sorry Mr. Malik-Payne. I don't know what happened, I swear I would never hurt a child" Leslie starts, and Zayn can tell she's minutes away from crying. "Please call me Zayn. And it was nothing you did, or could have prevented. Just let me talk to Bella, please?" he insists. Leslie nods and looks to Hannah who nods as well, "we'll give you a minute" she murmurs before both women leave the room. Zayn moves quickly, and drops to his knees beside his daughter, reaching out to rub at her back, "no touch, I want Baba" Bella wails. Zayn frowns and leans down so he's close to her "Boo, it is Baba, you're alright" he coos. Bella turns and jumps into his lap, "Baba it not safe, bad lady, mean lady here" she hiccups. Zayn smiles slightly, "that's not the mean lady, I promise, she's a nice lady. It's not her. No one here is going to hurt you" he murmurs. Bella eyes him skeptically, "promise?" she whimpers and Zayn nods, "I swear" he murmurs. Bella nods slowly, wiping her nose on the back of her hand, "how about we go talk to Leslie together, and then I'll take you home to see Daddy" Zayn coos, which Bella nods at.
So Zayn finds himself holding Bella on his hip as Hannah and Leslie come back into the room, "you alright Princess?" Leslie asks carefully, Bella's eyes widen as she grins, "Daddy calls me Princess" she mumbles. Leslie smiles widely, "he does? It's because you are a princess" she exclaims, which makes Bella giggle a little. "See Boo, she's nice, right?" Zayn asks and Bella nods, before burying her face into his neck. "I'm so sorry about all this, I'm going to take her home, and I think we'll keep her home the rest of the week, start fresh next week" Zayn says quietly to Hannah, who nods, "of course, I'm sorry about all this" she answers but Zayn shakes his head "it's not your fault and we should have told you all about Sadie when we enrolled her" he murmurs. "Bye bye Leslie, bye Hannah Banana" Bella giggles, waving as Zayn starts to walk outside, "bye Arabella, feel better, we'll see you next week" Hannah whisper shouts to her, before Zayn wraps her coat around her, grabs her bag and steps outside.