ᑕᕼᗩᑭTEᖇ 167
[Liam]
Once they got home, Zayn started jumping around. He showed Benny the living room and the kitchen, and he kept chattering with the stuffed animal. Liam chuckled to himself, fondly observing the kid. He himself felt relieved at being back home, and though this house was like a pit stop for the boys, it had never felt like home the way it did now. To Zayn, this was his home. To the boys, this was their home with Zayn.
As if realizing the same thing, Zayn bolted upstairs screaming about his room. His sudden shouts about Ziam made Louis gasp. "Fucking wolf should go die," the brunette grumbled, stumbling tiredly into the kitchen to make some tea. Liam followed after him, deciding he needed some coffee if he was gonna match Zayn's energy.
"How was it single parenting?" he joked as he poured himself a cup. Louis wiped his nose on some tissue paper and then shook his head. "He's awesome."
Despite his grumpy remarks the entire trip, hearing that come from Louis made Liam grin. "Well of course he is."
"He's so smart," Louis said thoughtfully as he sat down opposite Liam on the kitchen isle. "Yet so incredibly dumb. Like I have experiences with kids, I have tons of siblings, but Zayn's so...perceptive."
"Hmm," Liam said, taking a sip of his coffee.
"Like he asked me about the presents and asked why Santa wore red if nobody had seen Santa," Louis chuckled. He rolled his eyes. "And then the smartass said he knew you'd bought him the Ben 10 watch, which im pretty sure he overheard from our conversation."
Liam was about to whine that he wanted Zayn to think Santa had bought him that, but just then a insanely loud squeal was heard, which made Louis jump up. Liam raised an eyebrow at his quick reflexes.
"Everything alright?" Louis yelled casually, sitting back down.
"Ziam said he missed me!" Zayn yelled back happily. Louis brought his mug to his lips and sighed exasperatedly. "Of course he did," he told Liam. "I swear that wolf cursed the entire trip." He suddenly broke into a smile, the corners of his lips tugging into a wider smirk. "Well, Liam. It's time for me to go chill, so you have babysitting duty."
"Happily," Liam grinned back, downing his coffee. "I havent seen him in two weeks, and hes already so grown!" Liam was about to leave the kitchen, but Louis stopped him. "Liam?"
"Hmm?" Liam spun around, fingers tapping against the threshold. Louis seemed deep in thought, thin fingers wrapped around the hot mug that sat in his lap. "The girl from earlier. Could it be Waliyha?"
Liam's chest constricted. "We can't know that."
"But what if it was," Louis mused, raising an eyebrow to make his point. "Zayn has a sister out there. She's family."
"He barely remembers her, and whenever he does it's not fondly," Liam pointed out, his lips curling in displeasure. He wanted it to be Waliyha, but then again they didn't know anything about the girl.
"We don't even know what happened to her," Louis mumbled, loud enough for Liam to hear and get the hidden meaning. Did they even know that she was...okay?
"Let's discuss this with the others," Liam suggested, not wanting to think about it right now. He knew he was brushing the problem under the carpet, but they needed to know more about Zayn's sister before they could jump to conclusions.
"Alright. Don't forget Zayn's social worker is coming after new years," Louis reminded him. "We can ask her some stuff about Waliyha then."
Liam groaned internally at the thought of the visit. No pressure at all. Having a social worker visit made him feel anxious. He knew there was nothing to be anxious about, Zayn was treated well and with gentleness. Yet their lifestyle wasn't the most ideal for a kid, and that was easy to spot.
When Liam walked into Zayn's room, the kid was playing with his toys, Ziam in his lap. Liam admired him from a far, watching him babble to his stuffed animal. "Hola," Liam said cheerfully after a few minutes of observing and taking in how different Zayn seemed and looked.
"Cola," Zayn replied and waved at him with his Green Lantern action figure. "Liam, come play!"
"Okay sure, what are we playing?" Liam inquired as he sat crossed legged on the carpet in Zayn's room, his lips pulled in a smile at Zayn's failed greeting.
"I'm pwrotecting Ziam," Zayn told him seriously. "And you are the bad snow man."
Liam made a disgusted look, to which Zayn found himself giggling. "I wanna be the hero," Liam whined for fun, and he went in to tickle Zayn, causing the kid to squeal loudly. He laughed as Liam's fingers snuck under his shirt, tickling his torso and then went up his chest.
"Liam, stop. Stop. Okay, fiiiiine" Zayn laughed. "You can be the hero." He held out his arms in surrender, and offered Liam the Ben 10 watch. Liam grinned and showed his arms. "See, I'm strong, I'll protect Ziam."
"Always?" Zayn asked, holding out his pinkie.
"Of course, Zaynie," Liam said, sending him a little wink. Zayn was busy watching his biceps, his mouth falling open. "LIAM, you've got huge muchles!"
"Yeah, I train," Liam boasted. Zayn looked at his own arms. "I wanna be strong too!"
"Well, then you need to start drinking your milk and eat all your veggies."
"I eat all my veggies from befowre," Zayn stated. Liam smiled confusedly. "You do? Since when?"
"Jonanna say I can be supewhewro then," Zayn exclaimed. Liam smiled fondly. "Is that so. Well, she's not wrong."
There was a pause as Liam pondered over things and Zayn started pulling out Lego blocks to make a castle for Ziam. "You have to be in fwront of the castle," Zayn instructed him. Liam nodded half-heartedly. "Hey Zayn?"
"Hi Liam."
"You know that girl today, who ran towards us...what did she look like?" Liam asked carefully, observing the kid closely. He hoped Zayn wouldn't get upset again, but this was important.
Zayn stopped building his legos. He didn't move for a minute and Liam wondered what he was thinking, unable to see his face from this angle. "No," the boy answered finally.
"Have you seen her before?"
Zayn finally looked up and tilted his head curiously . "No, do we know that giwrl?" he said it as a question.
"No, no, I was just curious," Liam assured him.
"Oh" Zayn mumbled, his eyes unclear and his brows a little furrowed. Liam picked Ziam up and smiled, trying to change the topic. "His fur is as soft as ever."
Zayn didn't answer and looked down at Green Lantern. Liam couldn't see the boy's face so he nudged him gently. "Hey, Zayn, why do yo like Ziam so much?"
"Ziam is Zayn's mum," Zayn mumbled. Liam frowned, opening his mouth to ask what Zayn meant but he shut up when he saw the kid stand up all of a sudden.
"Hey it's okay," Liam said once he spotted Zayn's face. He seemed sad. He was too young to remember to or feel sad, Liam thought. Or that's what he believed. He was no expert about children. He watched Zayn as he climbed on his bed and picked his pillow up. He then picked something else up.
He came back to Liam and handed him a picture Liam had seen a couple months ago. His eyes scanned the picture of the happy couple and two kids. One bright smiling girl around the age of nine/ten, holding a little toddler. Liam's chest constricted and he bit his lip.
The girl resembled the girl they saw today at the airport.
"Who's this?" Liam asked gently, pulling Zayn into his lap. Zayn leaned back comfortably as Liam pointed to the girl.
"Wali," Zayn said quietly.
"Have you seen Wali?" Liam asked, keeping his voice gentle. He kissed the top of Zayn's head. Zayn shook his head and rubbed his eyes, where moisture was starting to gather. "Wali gone, Wali neva coming back." He said as if he'd repeated the same thing several times before. Liam's heart sank and he squeezed the child in his arms. "Hey, it's alright." He tried to change the subject again. "Oh is that your mom! She's so cool."
"Yes," Zayn said matter of factly. "She give me Ziam."
"Do you remember her?" Liam inquired. Zayn shrugged. The boy seemed uncertain, but there was a clarity in his eyes. "Do you know what she was like?" Liam asked carefully, trying to give Zayn room to express his feelings. For a pre-schooler, he seemed like he was in extremely deep thought. Zayn pointed a tiny finger at his mom. "Pretty. Wali say Zayn's mum is pretty."
Liam kissed Zayn's forehead and rubbed the boy's back comfortingly. "Yes, she is. She very much is."
"I miss the pictuwre," Zayn mumbled, grabbing the photo from Liam. It seemed like Zayn was being reminded of the past, however much he actually remembered from it. Liam pressed his lips, unsure if he should ask more or not. His eyes lingered on the little girl on the picture and though she was definitely younger than the bold teenager he had seen earlier today, there was no doubt they were the same person. The girl resembled her mother very much, and Liam wondered if they should prod this further. This was Zayn's story, Zayn's family. How important was this for Zayn? He had been given up for adoption, that obviously meant his family didn't want him. Should they even try to figure out who and where they were? They knew Zayn's father was in jail for domestic abuse, and his mother had passed away.
"Liam," Zayn said quietly, poking Liam's cheek. Liam's face softened as he looked down at the kid. "Hmm?"
"I'm sleepy."
"Let's take a nap then, I'll wake you up when the other boys arrive."
Zayn nodded sluggishly, and he was already curling up against Liam's chest. Liam walked over to the bed with the kid in his arms and placed the photo back under the pillow. Liam then lay down on the bed until Zayn fell asleep, his deep and heavy breathing making Liam feel sleepy as well. Soon they had both fallen into a heavy doze, curled up against each other after so long.
>>>>A/N<<<<
WASSSUP. How is everyone? How's quarantine treating ya? I hope you're all safe and well! Also, Ramadhan Mubarak! ♥️
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