"I'm gonna miss you so much around here, son." Simon hugged Niall one more time.
The pregnant lad was about to take his maternity leave and was just finishing up signing the necessary paperwork with Simon, however, the older man couldn't seem to let go of him.
"I'll miss you too, Si. I'm not going for good, I'll be back so wipe your tears." Niall said jokingly and they both laughed. "Before you know it, time will fly by so quickly and I'll be back to work."
Simon let go of Niall and the latter remained standing, only because sitting and getting up would be hassle. What with being almost nine months pregnant and all.
"I can't wait to meet the baby when you give birth." Simon smiled. "You are like a son, Ni and I feel like I'm gonna be a grandfather."
Niall put a palm on his bump and rubbed it when he felt her kick.
"Seems like she can't wait to meet you too." Niall smiled at his bump and then looked up at Simon whose eyes had just widened to the size of saucers.
"S-she?" Simon asked with a huge smile and Niall nodded.
"Yes, she. You are having a little granddaughter, Si." Niall's smile was just as wide as Simon's.
"Oh my god... This is great news!" Simon stood up and launched himself at Niall again, hugging him tightly. "But, why didn't you tell me all along?" He feigned offense.
"Because I was waiting for this moment to tell you. Right before I go on leave. This moment right here." Niall gave the older man a toothy grin and Simon shook his head fondly.
"Well, I'm so glad. I can't wait to see her." He said excitedly.
Niall rubbed his bump again when she kicked and he smiled.
"So the plan is still to travel?" Simon asked Niall after they'd talked about the baby for a bit.
"Yeah. I mean my mum offered to travel here and be with me but I guess I just wanna have her where I was born. And that way, all of my family who want to see her won't have to fly out." Niall explained, he hadn't told Simon about Harry and frankly he was quite nervous about when that happens, Simon has been so protective of him and he had made it clear to Niall that the man to hurt and impregnated him would get an earful from him.
So for now, Niall decided not bring it up.
"That's so sweet and considerate of you. I'll go see both of you when you put to bed and then we'll wait for you until you come back here." Simon smiled. "How long are you planning on staying there?"
Niall had thought about that long and hard. Originally, when he had found out that he was expecting, he had planned on staying in Ireland till the whole six months Simon had given him were over, but with the coming of Harry in his life, he decided that he would have to get back sooner.
He didn't want Harry to miss out on anything in their baby's early life.
"As soon as she is a bit strong and when I need little to no help from my mum with taking care of my incision. So when she is atleast a month old." Niall explained and Simon nodded.
They talked for a bit more and spent another half hour saying goodbye.
By the time, Niall was done, it was already time to knock off and so he went straight to Harry's studio to check up on him.
When he opened the door, he was met with Liam, Louis, Zayn and Brendan but no sign of his curly haired baby daddy.
"Niall! Hi, you doing alright?" Brendan stood up and went to give Niall and quick hug.
The other three looked at Niall with different emotions swimming through their eyes.
Harry may have mended things with Niall but the blonde was still uncomfortable around his friends.
And they hadn't even apologized so Niall didn't think they cared. He just avoided them as much as he could.
"Hello, Niall."
Niall was actually taken aback because the person who had greeted him was Zayn, he wasn't expecting him or any of them for that matter, to acknowledge him.
"Hi." Short an simple, Niall decided.
"How uh, how are you and uh and the baby?" Zayn continued. He sounded so different. It was so unlike him.
"We are fine, thanks." Niall said, not asking it back, indicating that he didn't want any small talk.
He turned back to Brendan who was knelt down and talking to his bump.
"Baby is kicking so much huh?" Brendan looked up at Niall with a smile.
"That's your fault. You woke her up." He said with a stern voice but he broke out in giggles when Brendan blew a raspberry on his belly.
"Where's Harry? I'm done for the day and he's kind of my ride." Niall asked when Brendan was standing up again.
Brendan glanced at the lads behind him then he looked at Niall with an uneasy face.
"He uh, he received a call from his dad and he just left saying he'd he back to pick you up." Brendan explained.
Niall furrowed his brows. Harry and his father didn't see eye to eye so why would he just leave to go see him after receiving a call. Was Harry's sister or mother sick or something?
He didn't know what to think but he knew it wasn't alright.
"Did he say where he was going?" Niall asked again.
"Just said, he's going to talk to the old man somewhere near our building. So my first guess is the café. Why?" Brendan asked but Niall was too busy calling a cab to answer right away.
"I have to go, I don't want his dad to feed his mind with lies again." Niall turned around to walk out but Louis' voice stopped him.
"Niall wait!" Louis stood up and rushed towards Niall, stopping only when he was a few feet away. "Uhm, you don't have to answer me or anything but do you know what the deal with Harry's father is? Harry's demeanor completely changed when he received that call and he seemed angry but he didn't tell us anything."
Niall sighed and looked at the rest of the lads before looking back at Louis.
"I don't know the whole story, but what I know is not my story to tell. He'll tell you in his own time. Please excuse me."
He walked out with Brendan behind him who had told him that he'll walk him out until his cab got here.
By the time they made it to the parking lot, Niall's cab was waiting and he bid goodbye to his friend, getting inside the car.
*
"If I had known that this is why you called me here for, I wouldn't have bothered to show up, you made me believe you were gonna make things right between us." Harry's angry voice rang through the car park of the café.
"It's her birthday. You know I always call you on her birthday and since I was in town today, I decided seeing you was the best option. You took her away from us, from me. Don't think I'll ever stop reminding you of it." Desmond said lowly. It was almost six and there were people around, attention on themselves wasn't needed.
Harry shook his head as the image came into his mind. He doesn't even remember it but he'd been told by his father so many times, he actually pictures it.
"No it wasn't my fault." Harry said still shaking his head.
"Yes. It was your fault-" Harry cut his father short when the older Styles started talking.
"No. It wasn't my fault. I'm not going to stand here and listen to you accuse of something that wasn't my fault. Now I'm gonna go back to my friends-"
Harry too was cut off by his father.
"Friends ha! Harry you don't have friends, I mean how many times did you try to have friends and they would all leave you because you are just so unlikable?" Desmond said.
Harry's last barrier had been broken and he was seconds away from breaking down.
Desmond had a way with hurting him. He was his father and he had broken Harry when was still a child. So whenever he showed up, he had the upper hand. Granted, Harry tried to stand up to him but he knew just what to say to hurt him.
Harry opened his mouth to say something, but a new voice joined them. A voice he didn't in a million years expect to be here.
"He has friends." Both of them turned around to look at Niall. "He has people who care about him more than you ever have."
Harry smiled big and pulled Niall to his side by his waist.
Desmond seemed to be taken aback but he quickly composed himself and crossed his arms over his chest, tilting his head to the side.
"And who might you be? One of his "friends"?" He asked.
Harry was about to speak up, he didn't want Desmond to say something that would hurt Niall. The blonde had been so sensitive lately and everyone had been very careful around him.
But again, Niall beat Harry to it.
"Yes, I'm one of friends, infact," Niall paused and placed his hand on his bump. "I'm his fiance and yes, we are expecting."
As soon as those words were out of Niall's mouth, Desmond's mouth fell open.
He looked between Niall and Harry. He looked at both their hands and were cradling Niall's bump protectively. And just like that, it seemed like something clicked I'm his head.
"You are gonna have a child?" He directed the question to no one in particular so Niall again, answered.
"We are, now if you would excuse us." He grabbed Harry's hand and walked over the car that he knew all to well.
After they were both inside, they looked back and saw that Desmond was still standing in the same spot, staring into space.
*
None of the two lads said a word, they drove in silence, when they arrived in Harry's car park, the latter parked the car and they rode the lift up to his penthouse silently.
The silence was broken when Niall had sat down on the comfortable sofa in Harry's living room and moaned when he had to rest his sore body in the confides of the plush surface.
"My mother's gonna freak out when she hears that I got engaged and didn't tell her." He jokingly nudged Niall.
Niall on the other hand, looked down at his hands and blushed a deep red.
"Hey! I had to say something to make him shut up, okay." He coyly replied, not daring to look up with his heated up face.
"Fiancé. I like the sound of it." Harry said instead and Niall looked up then, seeing nothing hut sincerity in Harry's eyes.
"Will you ever tell your mum about, you know." Niall asked pointing to his bump.
Harry nodded, he brought his large hand to Niall's bump, rubbing it and smiling when the little one kicked.
"I will, and I was hoping you would be here with me when I call her to talk." Harry took a deep breath. "I plan on telling her everything, absolutely everything that happened in Scotland."
Niall put his hand on top of Harry's.
"I'll be here." Then he quickly remembered Harry's friends worrying about the curly haired lad. "Your friends are worried ahout you. They were asking about what the deal with your dad is. But I don't know the whole story so I didn't know what to say."
Harry sighed, he knew he had to tell Niall.
"It's about time you know, though. The whole story." He said and took a deep breath before he would start reliving the painful life of his childhood.
"You don't have to tell me if you are not ready." Niall, noticing that it was a hard thing for Harry to tell, said.
"Her name was Carmen. Carmen Lisa Styles. She was mine and Gemma's elder sister." Just saying his sister's name brought the sting of tears at the back of his eyes. But he was determined to tell Niall so he pushed through and continued.
"There was no doubt that dad loved us the same but he loved Carmen just a bit more. She was the first child and dad's princess so he adored her. I was only eight months old Gemma was five and Carmen was nine." He stopped to take a another deep breath.
"One Saturday afternoon, mum had taken Gemma to the doctor's for a dentist appointment. And dad was watching Carmen and me. I was napping and for some reason dad just held me in his arms while I slept instead of putting me down. Carmen was sat on the floor watching TV. Then dad put me down on the sofa and told Carmen to watch me and that he'd he back real quick as he went to answer the house phone that was ringing in the kitchen.
He answered the call and went upstairs, still talking on phone. Back in the living room, I woke up started crying, Carmen tried to get me to calm down till dad came back but it wasn't working. So she placed her teddy in my hand, it distracted me a bit and she rushed off and up the stairs to get dad."
"She was almost at the top when she missed a step." Harry sniffled. "It was a terrible fall and she s-she died on the way t-to the hospital."
Niall eyes watered. He brought Harry in a tight hug and they silently cried together.
"I was too young to remember anything but he has reminded me of it enough times for the image to be stuck in my mind. She died because of me. If only I had stayed asleep for another couple minutes then she'd still be alive. He changed after her funeral. Mum was broken but she devoted her time into loving Gemma and I unconditionally, dad on the other hand, he grew more and more distant and when I was old enough, he began telling me about everything. He hates me for what happened to Carmen and he blamed me and I believe him. And I hate myself for it."
"He had been abusing me verbally and threatened me to not tell mum. He even hit me a couple of times but mum caught him once. He apologized and blamed the alcohol. I started living my life in self loathe. When I was seven, he told my mum that he wanted to have some bonding time with me and took me to Singapore with him on a business trip. He left the next day, imagine how I felt when I realized that my dad was nowhere to be found and his stuff was gone. I cried in the room clutching Carmen's teddy and when room service showed, I told them that my dad had forgotten me. Long story short, my mum was contacted and she went to get me and she divorced his arse. He tried for fight saying he'd just been crowded with work and he didn't realize he'd left me but mum was not having it. We moved and left him in my childhood home. But wherever I went, he always showed up and ruined the little happiness I had. I resorted to dealing with my fucked up life by hurting others, I carried so much guilt and anger, thanks to him and I only felt better when I wasn't the only one hurting. That brings us to me hurting you back in Scotland. It was totally uncalled for but I found some sort of satisfaction in hurting others. But that all changed when I learned that I was gonna be a father." Harry stopped talking and wiped a few stray tears before turning to Niall.
"Look, Niall, I will totally understand if don't want to be part of my life anymore but please just know that even if it was because of a bet, the feelings were real. I didn't mean to hurt you and no amount of words will explain how sorry I am."
Niall grabbed Harry's trembling hands in his.
It was all too much to take in.
And all he could think of doing at the moment was to pull Harry into his arms.
"I'm so sorry, you had to he subjected to such cruelty at such a young age. I'm sorry. But Harry it wasn't your fault, god, it wasn't your fault. What happened was beyond your control. The way I see it, your dad knows deep down that it was entirely his fault and he's just looking for someone to blame because blaming himself is too painful. It's not your fault, it's not." Niall tried to sooth the crying brunnet.
"And the next time your dad comes for you, he would have me to deal with." Niall said after Harry had stopped crying. The way he puffed out his chest made Harry chuckle.
"Thank you, thank you so much. For everything. For making me a parent, for accepting me back in your life after I screwed you over, for standing up to him, for everything, thank you." Harry squeezed Niall's hands.
Niall smiled a bit when he saw Harry's little smile.
He stood up and placed his bum on Harry's lap, wrapping his hands around his neck.
"The feelings were real on my side too." Niall said quietly and crashed his lips onto Harry's.