The entire family went to watch Louis' first football game with his new team a few weeks later. It was icy cold and so they were all wrapped up in hats and scarfs, hands gloved.
Liam had to admit, he was a little worried about how Niall would deal with being at the game with all the crowds of people that would no doubt include people from school (especially since he had only left the house a handful of times in months now), but the blond was adamant that he wanted to see his brother play.
And he had been progressing, for real this time. He'd been working well with Cal, even having a few sessions alone with the man in the past couple of weeks, and they were getting along well. When he wasn't having a good day, or when he was having a quiet day, he spent it writing in his journal and cuddled up on the couch with Cooper and some popcorn. He was definitely getting better with eating again - he'd even woken his Papa up at three o'clock one morning claiming that he was too hungry to sleep, his appetite clearly growing again now that he wasn't suppressing it so much.
Everything signalled that he was moving in the right direction, and they got through the bad days with the hopes that it would get better again. They all knew, of course, that what had happened to Niall would undoubtedly affect him for the rest of his life. But for right now, he was coping well and they couldn't have been more proud of him.
Thankfully, the crowds weren't overly large when they arrived at the field. There were a load of plastic chairs set out and a few people had laid blankets down on the wet ground. Liam and Zayn made sure to get a spot close to the pitch so that they'd be able to watch Lou as well as possible, and Liam didn't miss how Niall was clinging onto the back of his jacket.
Just as he was beginning to wonder if he should take the twelve year old home, Luke ran over, cheeks and nose red from cold, hat pulled down over his head. "Hi Ni," he said, grinning, then looked up at the two men. "Hi Liam and Zayn!"
Liam smiled at the boy, shaking his head. "Hey, Luke. Didn't expect to see you here," he said, and the tall boy gave a shrug.
"I told Louis I'd come watch. Hey, Ni, I got a blanket with my Mum down at the front. Wanna come sit with us?" he asked, and Niall glanced up at his parents with worried eyes.
Liam gave a small shrug, more than thankful for the twins' friend at that point because he was at least acting as a distraction for Niall. "It's up to you, Bug," he said softly.
Niall scrunched up his nose at that. "Dad! Not in front of my friend," he muttered at the nickname, then turned to Luke. "Yeah, I'll come."
Liam watched with a small smile as the two of them disappeared off the other end of the field, the normality of what had just happened warming him up from the inside. He turned to Zayn, who looked concerned, and gave his hand a squeeze.
"He'll be fine," he reassured softly, and the other man gave a small nod.
"I just worry when I can't see where he is," he murmured, and Liam nodded in understanding because he knew that what had happened to their smallest son had effected all of them in one way or another, and for them as parents - it had made them almost afraid to ever let any of their kids out of sight again.
Over Zayn's shoulder, he caught sight of Harry, who was standing with Ashton. The two of them were whispering to each other, laughing softly and he shook his head, clearing his throat. The two of them had no concept of personal space, especially in front of other people.
"Any closer and you'll be swallowing each other," he said, and they broke away. Ash blushed and looked down at his shoes whilst Harry raised an eyebrow.
He seemed to be prepared to spit out some sexual innuendo about the word swallow for a moment, then shook his head to himself. "Shut up, Dad. Tell him, Pops," he said, and Zayn raised his hands as if in surrender, letting out a laugh.
"I'm not taking sides on this one," he said, stepping back.
Harry opened his mouth as if to argue back, but before he had the chance to, a whistle blew and the crowds fell silent. The teams jogged onto the pitch and Liam spotted Louis instantly.
Rather than being the shortest like he had been on the school team, he was now of average height in comparison to the other players. He wore a long sleeved white shirt beneath his light blue football jersey, and his hands were gloved. He smiled and gave a small wave when he spotted his parents, nose tinted pink, cheeks a matching shade.
"He must be freezing," Zayn muttered, forever concerned about something or other, eyes focused on the shorts that the boys were all wearing.
Liam smiled and shook his head, waving back to their sporty son as the game started. "He'll be more than warm enough once they're all running about," he said, and Zayn shook his head.
"As soon as this game's over, we're all going somewhere for hot chocolate."
#
The game ended and Louis' team won, but they didn't get to go for hot chocolate straight away.
"And did you see how I made that goal? It shoulda been impossible!" Louis rambled, grinning from ear to ear, somehow sweating from the heat of running despite the chilled air and the fact that everyone else was in winter attire.
Liam grinned back and opened his mouth to praise his son once again as he ruffled his hair.
But then another man approached them, tall and bulky, on the older side. A tall boy with long features and white blond hair was by his side, wearing the same kit as Louis.
"Hey, Billy!" Louis greeted, and the two of them fell into excited chatter about the game.
"Good game, right?" the man said, and Liam smiled and nodded politely. The man held out his hand. "I'm Joe, we've been on the team for a couple years now. Your boy's new, right? He's a good player," he said with a smile.
Liam nodded. "Thanks, he's always been good. Oh, I'm Liam, this is my husband Zayn," he introduced, not missing the way the man's expression changed when his eyes landed on Zayn, who gave a stiff nod.
Liam could understand the instant dislike for the man. He was almost too boisterous from the get go, and much too loud and out there in personality for his liking. Still, he tried not to judge too quickly.
"Husband," he murmured, then he frowned slightly. "Of course. I read a story in the paper, there was a picture of you two - your other son, he was the one who," he waved his hand around, nose scrunched up and Liam had to grit his teeth slightly at the look of disgust on Joe's features.
Yes, their twelve year old son was the one who was abused by a man he was supposed to trust. The way Joe had just described it made it seem as if it was an error on their son's behalf, and that filled him with anger.
"Yes," he ground out, looking around and deciding to gather the family together and get going. He didn't want to speak to the rude man in front of him any longer.
They were all quite close, Niall and Luke standing closeby and talking away with Louis and Joe's son, Harry and Ash whispering to each other still. Zayn was beside him, glaring at the man.
"Shame that," the man carried on, clearly having no tact and no sympathy. He tucked his hands into his pockets and gave a shrug. "Must be tough on the lad, not having a mother. Probably confused him a bit, you know -"
Liam was glad that Zayn stepped forward before he could land one right on Joe's nose.
"Watch. Your. Fucking. Step," he ground out, and Joe let out a too-loud laugh, raising his hands as if in surrender and leaning back slightly.
"Woah, woah, no need to overreact. Just stating a fact," he said, trying to sound all jolly and friendly.
"A fact? Are you fucking kidding me -" Zayn started, fists clenched as he took another step toward the man.
Liam caught ahold of his husband's arm and stopped him from going any further. As much as he would have loved to see the bully of a man with a couple less teeth in his head, he didn't want the boys to have to witness a fight between their Papa and another man.
"Z, let's just take the kids and go, yeah?" he said, glancing over his shoulder to where all the boys, Luke and Billy included, were watching them with wide eyes. He sighed, hoping they hadn't heard what was said.
Zayn, thankfully, stepped away from Joe and stormed off ahead, leaving Liam to quickly gather his three son's before they could even say goodbye to their friends and follow behind him.
"Don't worry, Ni, Billy's Dad's an asshole," he heard Louis say defiantly, and he turned to look at him with a frown, because it was unlike the brunet to swear.
"Lou," he started, then saw that the boy had one arm wrapped around his brother's shoulder. Niall looked a little upset and turned his gaze away from his Dad when Liam looked at him.
"What? It's true," he stated.
Liam breathed out a sigh. "Well, I can't argue with you there," he said truthfully. The less people like Joe that existed, the better in his eyes. There were no two doubts about that. "You okay, Ni?" he asked softly, turning back to the smaller of the two twelve year olds.
The blond gave a shrug. "I'm okay, Dad," he mumbled, but Liam had a feeling he was covering up how he truly felt. "I'm not confused," he added, glancing up with a small frown.
Liam shook his head quickly, feeling another rush of anger at Joe for upsetting his kids. "Of course you're not, Bug. That man, he wasn't nice. Didn't seem very smart either," he said, wrinkling up his nose. "People like that, they aren't worth your worry."
Niall gave a small nod, then murmured, "And it's fine that we got two Dads. Who needs a Mum anyway, right?" he said.
Louis grinned and Harry let out a small laugh, ruffling his smallest brother's hair.
Even Liam grinned at that, shaking his head. "Hey, Mums are plenty good too. But I appreciate the thought," he said.
They reached the car and Zayn seemed to have called down a bit by then. He smiled tightly at them all, looking apologetic. "Sorry, I shouldn't have -"
"It's fine, Pops," Harry said quickly, and Louis and Niall nodded in agreement. Even Liam found himself agreeing - he didn't like violence or confrontation, but he didn't blame Zayn for what had happened at all.
"Still. That isn't how you deal with ignorant people, I should have just walked away," he told them, then shook his head and looked annoyed with himself.
Liam sighed then, because Louis had just won his first official game with his new team, they weren't meant to be miserable! "Come on, we're supposed to be celebrating! How about we go out for dinner? Hot chocolate all around because I don't know about you guys, but my toes are ready to fall off from the cold!"
Louis cheered and jumped on the spot as his two brother's grinned. They all piled into the car, and Liam felt Zayn's hand wrap around his waist, pulling him in to press a kiss to his cheek.
"I really love you, you know that?" he murmured, and Liam felt himself blush because even after all this time, his husband still made him feel like some giddy, loved-up teenager.
He smiled. "I love you too."
#
"And, for the future footie star," Liam said, setting down the too-big-to-be-true icecream sundae in front of Louis, who gaped at it with wide eyes.
Then he stopped and crossed his arms over his chest. "Hey, I'm already a footie star," he stated with a pout, and Zayn chuckled, using his spoon to dab the cream off of his hot chocolate onto the end ofthe twelve year old's nose.
"Oh, shut up and fill your face before it melts," he said, and everyone laughed at Louis playful glare as he tucked into his dessert.
Liam saw Niall shiver as he watched his brother, turning back to his hot chocolate and sipping it through a straw. "Way too cold for icecream," he mumbled, and Liam let out a small laugh.
It was still freezing outside the little restaurant they had come to. Even inside, with the heating on, they still all had their coats on, though everyone but Niall had taken off their gloves and hats. Louis had one of Zayn's old jackets on from the boot of the car, long enough even now that it draped down to protect his bare legs from the cold outside.
He shook his head as he glanced at Harry, who was taking pictures of his hot chocolate with his tongue poking out the side of his mouth. "Why do you feel the need to have a photoshoot ever time we eat out, Haz?" he questioned, raising an eyebrow.
Harry sighed dramatically. "It's for instagram, Dad. Plus, it looks nice, they made a pattern in the cream," he pointed out, and Liam grinned at their oldest son's antics.
In that moment, everyone seemed happy.
He wished he could capture that feeling and hold it with him forever.
EDITED 20.12.21