"Hand, peanut. I need you to hold my hand so we can cross the street or we're going back to the car and getting your buggy and you can stay seated the whole day." He held out his hand to him, trying to get the toddler to cooperate without too much coercion.
Aybrum looked up at him, squinting some because the sun was in his eyes and his daddy was much taller than he was so he had to crane his neck upwards. "No, bubba."
Even though he said no, Aybrum held his hand and started tugging him along so they could enter the massive building.
A few days ago, Niall promised he'd take him to the water park if he passed on to the second level of his swim class - which he successfully succeeded in doing so.
"Good boy." He smiled down at him before they both crossed the street, and went into the building.
Aybrum was bouncing around, squealing excitedly as Niall paid their entry fee and jumped around the whole walk down the hall towards the locker rooms to change into their swim gear.
Niall could barely get Aybrum changed due to the amount of bouncing he was doing, not to mention his constant babbling about the water slides wasn't helping his patients but he eventually got the both of them changed and shuffled the giddy toddler out to the swim area.
"Alright peanut, now you need to stay with me. No running off on your own, there's loads of people here and I don't want to lose you. Stay with daddy, yeah. Can you remember that?" Niall prompted, squatting down in front of the toddler and situated his swim shorts.
He nodded, smiling widely and kept his eyes on the large water slide. "Stay bubba."
Niall kissed his cheek, standing up and grabbed his hand to lead him towards the large slide he knew the toddlers had his eyes on since the moment they pulled into the car park.
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Aybrum was still a ball of energy by the time they got home, Niall was tired and surprised he was still able to function after the day they've had. But he fed Aybrum dinner, gave him a bath to fully wash the chlorine from his body and got him changed into pajamas.
They cuddled up in Niall's bed together, watching a Disney film and just snuggled together because it's been ages since they've just spent quality time together.
"Bubba." Aybrum whispered, flipping onto his belly and poked at Niall's exposed chest, watching his finger mush against his daddies skin.
"Aybrum." He murmured, looking at him and smiled when the toddler continued to avoid his eyes.
"Where mummy?" Aybrum questioned in a small voice, laying his head down on Niall's chest and listened to his heartbeat.
Niall's been dreading this conversation for ages, especially now that he knows Liam isn't reliable and probably never will be.
"I, um - you don't have a mummy, peanut. You know you came from my belly." He put a hand on Aybrum's head, brushing his fingers through his slightly dampened hair.
Aybrum lifted his head, furrowing his brow at him. "No bubba."
He smiled, nodding his head and pointed out the faded scar on his lower abdomen to the toddler. "See, that's where the doctor took you out." He explained, "Sometimes two daddies can make a baby and that's what happened with you, you've got two daddies instead of a mummy and a daddy."
Aybrum scooted down the bed to look at the mark and poked it hesitantly, because he didn't know if it was hurting daddy any. "Where daddy?"
Niall pulled Aybrum up beside himself, laying him down with his head rested on his arm and covered them both back up with the blanket. "Your daddy is - he rides on airplanes a lot, so he can't be here. But I know he loves you and that's all you need to know, alright."
Aybrum got up and crawled towards the nightstand where Niall's phone was plugged in, grabbing it and poked around on the screen to get it to light up.
"Peanut, what are you doing? Don't you want to watch the film with me and cuddle before it's your bedtime?" Niall questioned, leaning up onto his elbow and looked at the toddler.
Aybrum unplugged the phone, holding it up and smiled. "Ring daddy."
Niall's heart sank at his words, "How 'bout we not ring him tonight, maybe tomorrow." He suggested, knowing the toddler would most likely forget by then.
He shook his head, pushing the phone in his face and whined. "Ring daddy, bubba."
"Peanut, no. Please lay back down with me." Niall tried to gently defuse the situation, but judging by the saddening look on Aybrum's face, he knew this wasn't going to go over well.
Aybrum started whimpering, tearing up in the process. "Bubba, ring daddy."
Niall immediately sat up when he realized Aybrum's tears were genuine, pulling the toddler into his lap and wiped away his tears. "Peanut you don't need to cry, we can try calling. Alright, will that make you feel better?"
Aybrum nodded, "Yeah, ring daddy."
He pulled the phone from the toddlers hands, finding the number he needed and prayed Liam wouldn't answer because he honestly doesn't know what he'd say if Liam actually answered.
Niall didn't want Aybrum knowing Liam was his dad, because Liam can't and won't be there for him like he knows Aybrum's going to want and it's heartbreaking to know his son can't have a relationship with his own father.
"Niall, what - did something happen, how's Aybrum?" Liam answered in a shocked tone, stumbling over his words because Niall calling him was the last thing he expected to happen.
Niall's heart was pounding loudly against his chest as he looked at Aybrum's tear streaked face and tried to find his words, "Um, I - your son wants to talk to you. I told him you went on planes a lot, that's why you aren't here."
"Wait, you told him? I thought we were going to do this together." He questioned, still stunned Niall had told Aybrum anything.
Niall kissed Aybrum's forehead, letting his lips linger a few seconds longer and then made sure his tears were all dried up. "Please, I'm asking you to put our current issues aside and just do this for me - for him."
"I really don't think we should do it like this, Niall. Tour isn't even close to being over, so couldn't we at least wait to do this until after this next stretch of shows? When I can be home for longer than a day." He tried, hesitantly trying to defer this conversation for the time being.
Niall momentarily closed his eyes, sighing inwardly and looked at his sons hopeful expression. "I need you to talk with him, tell him who you are and let him know you care about him. So be his father for once and assure him everything will be okay."
"Yeah, alright - just give me a second. Brooklyn's here and I need to get her changed quick." Liam was obviously more focused on whatever he was doing, because his words were mumbled and distant. Meaning he'd set the phone down, putting it on speaker so he could do what he needed with Brooklyn.
"Never mind, you were right. Now isn't the time, you aren't ready to have two children. I understand and I can deal with him on my own. Sorry I interrupted." Niall hung up before Liam got a chance to say anything, switching his phone to airplane mode when Liam tried to call him again.
Aybrum immediately started crying, knowing he wasn't going to talk to whoever the man on the phone was and became extremely upset.
He kicked his way out of Niall's hold, throwing himself down on the bed and sobbed loudly - having the biggest tantrum Niall had ever seen, because normally Aybrum could be easily calmed down.
But nothing Niall did would calm the toddler, eventually he carried him down to his bedroom and tucked the sobbing toddler into bed. He felt terrible leaving him so distraught, but there was nothing Niall could do.
Even if he called Liam back, let him defend himself and let him speak with Aybrum, the toddler would still be upset because Liam wasn't there and they didn't have the funds to just fly to wherever Liam currently was.
So regardless to how this played out, there wasn't going to be a positive end result.
But luckily Aybrum still slept in a crib, so Niall don't have to worry about him getting out of bed because Aybrum was just going to have to cry this one out and Niall could only hope that the toddler wakes up refreshed and tear-free in the morning.
After an hour of listening to Aybrum cry, the toddler had finally cried himself to sleep and Niall's heart felt a little less in pain.
He grabbed his laptop, not wanting to turn his phone back on and checked his emails. As he scrolled down, he saw something familiar. The email was received two months back, but there was a second email received no less than a week ago from the same address.
He skimmed through the two emails, letting his jaw drop by the time he finished the first one and nearly passed out halfway through the second email. Because these messages weren't just from anyone, or some childhood friend.
They were from his ex boyfriend, the one he dated before he met Liam and again once Liam had left him. Not that they were together for long either times, it was still shocking to hear from him.
Especially to find out he was coming to London within the week and wanted to see him, to talk about possibly getting back together for a third time.
The weird thing was, Niall's immediate thought wasn't to say no. He needed someone in his life and clearly Liam wasn't going to fill the position.
Niall quickly typed out his response, sending everything he'd written in the spur of the moment and decided not to go back and reread through anything, because he knew he'd change his mind.
Before he went to close his laptop, his email dinged and he checked again - seeing another email from his ex and smiled, biting his bottom lip as he read through his reply.
Two hours later, they had arranged for them to meet up within the next two days. He was already in London, but he needed to visit his family first and then he was free.
Niall's heart was pounding with anticipation, because maybe this was going to be his second chance at happiness and Aybrum's chance to have another father figure.
One that actually wanted to be there from the start.
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(authors note: I'm not sure if I like this chapter, so don't be surprised if it disappears... I might just take this down and do something different, because I think this was shit and wasn't executed how I wanted.
So please comment! Comments help me know I'm doing good, same with votes!!
p.s. Sorry for not updating for almost 2 weeks, my life was consumed with work. Oh and please check out my new story "Shameless", it's Ziall/Ziam!
Comment, comment, comment!!!)