Chapter Text
Three months later, and not much has changed in the Tomlinson household, or Zayn thinks any way.
There are, of course, the superficial changes, like how Zayn reorganized the entire kitchen to work in a way that makes sense for him. Emptying all of the cabinets out on the floor and the table and putting it back together again. He never figured out the kitchen when he didn’t have a memory, and now that he’s got one, he’s going to know how to function the room he makes all the family meals in.
They’ve also redecorated, and by redecorating he means that they’ve finally put up photographs with Zayn in them around the house, and one with Louis, and ones of them together without the kids. It’s not much, but it helps remind Zayn this is home.
Another change, one that only matters for one person in the house, is the reorganization of the furniture so that Liam can no longer hide from them, instead he has to hide in the open when he’s upset about something or scared, an action that’s helped Liam express his feelings more. He’s not like Harry in that sense, he’ll never express his emotions and every thought as freely as his older brother, but he no longer hides them from away and makes it impossible for Zayn and Louis to help him without working their ass off to accomplish it.
Besides those, the house is the same. It’s the same smell as it’s always been, the same toys littering the floor. The same book bags and shoes piled up next to the door.
It’s the same three little boys running wild throughout the house, giving it the bright glow that it’s always had, making the house as amazing as it is.
Since his memory came back and he’s rejoined the family, Zayn knows that it’s the same curly haired boy clamping onto his leg in the mornings while he makes breakfast, mumbling about how happy he is and what a good morning it is. It’s the same Harry that’s always demanding cuddles.
And it’s the same blond that’s always begged him to help with his homework. It’s the same Niall as always, the same Niall that makes up drawing homework assignments so he can con Zayn into drawing something for him.
It’s still the same little boy that he gets to spend every day with, running errands and coloring pictures, and coming up with ideas for dinner that don’t involved spaghetti. It’s the same Liam that’s always been curled up at his side in the mornings, waking him up in the middle of the night when Harry drags him into his and Louis’ bed.
And lastly, it’s the same Louis that he gets to wake up to every morning. The same blue eyes and warm smile that greets him first thing in the morning before they tuck away into the bathroom so they can shower together, one of their only moments alone.
Everything is the same and it settles a feeling of warmth inside of Zayn, settling his nerves and making him feel at ease.
It’s home, and there hasn’t been a second of time where Zayn wonders if he made the right decision by coming back. Not one.
~~~
Zayn works quickly, moving around the kitchen with a practiced ease that he’s accomplished over the last year.
It’s a Saturday and Zayn’s home alone with the kids, working to finish lunch while he listens to Harry in the living room sing songs to Liam while Niall cheers him on, mostly with laughter.
Louis had to go to an appointment with their lawyer, finalizing the process of getting Eleanor’s rights for the children taken away so that Zayn can finally adopt them. It wasn’t a difficult task, one discussion with a judge about how she hasn’t been seen or heard from in years, their story confirmed by the reports they took from the kids, Liam and Harry both looking confused and saying they don’t have a mommy. Niall had given them more information, frowning and saying that he doesn’t know where she is anymore.
But it’s still a process, one that’s going to be completed after this meeting where Louis to turn in the paperwork that they had to sign to remove Eleanor’s rights and get the approval for the adoption, and then listening to the lawyer ramble on about the adoption process. Zayn should have gone, it’s him that’s doing the adopting after all, but he couldn’t sit through another four hour long discussion with their mouthy lawyer about the legal process. It’s too much for him. He hates it, even if it is giving him everything that he wants.
“Boys, get in here,” Zayn shouts, finishing the final sandwich. It’s not the greatest lunch he’s ever made, but whatever. The boys won’t complain.
“Poppy, I was singing to Liam,” Harry states as soon as he enters the room, like Zayn couldn’t hear him. “Did you hear?”
“I did,” Zayn says, picking up Liam and setting him down in his chair. “You sounded beautiful, baby.” He leans down and presses a quick kiss to Harry’s forehead before he sets out plates, setting one down in front of each of them.
“Where’s Daddy?” Liam asks, his mouth full of bread and cheese and meat, his words mumbled together.
“Daddy won’t get back until dinner time, he had to go do something very important, remember? Daddy’s going to talk to a man about making me your official Poppy, so he’ll be back later,” Zayn says.
“I do, I remember,” Harry says, nodding his head. “He told me before he left.”
“He told everyone,” Niall says before he takes a bite of sandwich, and Zayn’s happy one of his sons can wait.
The oven dings and Zayn rushes over quickly to check on the cake, nodding in satisfaction as he pulls it out carefully, kicking the oven door closed.
“Poppy, it smells like chocolate. Did you make me a treat?” Harry asks and Zayn glances up to see that he’s shifted around so he’s sitting on his knees, his sandwich held in his hand as he smiles at Zayn. “I’ve been a good boy.”
“We’re going to eat it after dinner. I made it for a very special occasion,” Zayn states, shutting off the oven and grabbing his own lunch before he sits down at the table with the boys.
“It’s not my birthday,” Harry says, frowning.
“It’s no one’s birthday,” Niall counters, sneaking a chip off Zayn’s plate, smiling at him when Zayn turns to look at him. “What’s so special that we get to eat cake? We usually only have pudding if we’re good.”
“I’m good boy,” Liam says, dragging his finger across the table as he looks up at Zayn, waiting for Zayn to reassure him that he is, in fact, a good boy, which Zayn does.
“You’re the best boy, one of my best three boys,” he says, smiling at Liam, allowing his eyes to crinkle when Liam smiles back brightly, nodding his head and taking another big bite of his food.
“Poppy, what’s the special thing?” Niall asks, poking Zayn in the side.
“Well,” Zayn says carefully, swallowing the bit of food in his mouth. “I want to do something special for Daddy, and I need your help.”
“Are you going to ask Daddy to marry you?” Harry asks, smiling up at Zayn. It’s the same question he asked months ago, but this time Zayn doesn’t glance down at him in confusion, instead he feels his cheeks stain pink.
“You are,” Niall shouts, throwing his fist in the air. “You want to marry dad.”
“My daddy and poppy are getting married,” Harry shouts, clapping wildly.
Liam is staring at everyone with wide eyes, not understanding what’s happening.
“All right, all right,” Zayn says, reaching over to rub Liam’s back. “You’re excited about it, I understand, but come on, let’s help me think of ideas. Okay? How should I ask him?”
“Just ask,” Liam suggests, still looking confused about what’s happening.
“That’s a good idea,” Zayn agrees, nodding his head. “Thank you, Liam.”
Liam smiles, nodding his head and going back to his lunch.
“Poppy, what’s married?” Harry asks and Zayn has to resist the urge to roll his eyes, because Harry’s been the one mentioning this idea, but leave it up to him to not understand what it means.
“It means that your daddy will be my husband, and I’ll officially be in the family. It means that I can never leave.” Zayn doesn’t mention that marriage isn’t always permanent. Harry doesn’t need to know the sour parts of it, or the fact that marriage doesn’t mean forever. Zayn only wants Harry to focus on the details that pertain to him, because Zayn never intends on leaving, so it’s the truth for him, but Harry still looks a little confused. “Do you remember at the end of Cinderella when they’re running out of the castle and she’s wearing a pretty white dress and they ride off on a carriage?”
“Yeah,” Harry says, nodding his head carefully.
“That’s marriage.”
“Oh,” Harry says, his mouth dropping open and his eyes shining with some kind of emotion that Zayn can’t put his finger on. “How are you gonna do that?”
“I don’t know,” Zayn mutters. “That’s why I’m asking you.”
“I think you should ask him by, um, drawing him a picture,” Niall suggests.
“With flowers,” Harry adds on, nodding his head and giving Zayn a serious look. “Mrs. Hamilton has some.”
“Yes, well, I don’t think we should ruin Mrs. Hamilton’s flowers more than we already have.”
“It’s okay, they’ll be dead soon. We can take them,” Niall says, shrugging his shoulders. “So, we’ll get Harry’s flower’s and we can do my drawing idea and then you can just ask him, like Liam said.”
“All right, we can do that,” Zayn agrees, thinking that he has a good idea on how he’s going to ask Louis.
~~~
Unlike the romantic dinner that Zayn planned months ago, he doesn’t let the kids go all out this time. Instead, he gives them permission to ask Mrs. Hamilton if they can take flowers from her garden before they arrange them in a vase on the table, the only decoration for the night. It’s not something that’ll tip Louis off in any direction, because, unfortunately for Mrs. Hamilton, Harry seems to always be picking flowers out of her garden and bringing them home. Zayn wonders when the old woman will show up on their doorstep to yell at them, but he thinks that she doesn’t mind as long as Harry always returns when she’s gardening to help her.
And while Zayn finished icing the cake and decorating to the boys’ satisfaction, Niall, Harry and Liam sat at the kitchen table and drew on their own white sheet of paper that Zayn had written on in thick, black decorative letters.
It was Niall’s idea for what to put on them, a simple message that reads: let’s get married.
It’s not the one that Zayn wanted to put, especially since these are coming from the kids and he never imagined asking Louis in a way that wasn’t ‘will you marry me?’ But Harry had said it was beautiful and Liam said that he liked it, so who is Zayn to tell them no?
“Who can tell me the plan?” Zayn asks, hand resting on the back of Liam’s chair. “When Daddy gets home, what do we do?”
“We give him our papers,” Harry answers quickly. “And then we eat the cake.”
“I like cake,” Liam offers, turning around in his seat to look at Zayn.
Zayn hears the key turning in the lock and he curses, running a hand through his hair. “Line up over there, holding your signs up, okay? I’m going to go stop Daddy from coming in until you’re ready.”
Zayn rushes across the room, taking long strides and pushing the door shut when Louis gets it open. He opens it back up immediately, smiling at Louis through the crack in the door. “You’re back early, how was the lawyers office?” Zayn asks, stepping outside.
“Fine,” Louis says, cocking an eyebrow at Zayn. “Why aren’t we allowed in the house?”
“We are, I just don’t think the boys need to hear about legal matters. But everything went okay? All the paper work was signed correctly, right? We’re ready to take the next step?”
“Yeah,” Louis says, nodding his head. “We have to wait six months, but the termination of Eleanor’s rights have gone through, or well, it will soon enough, but through signing that and the adoption papers, which are being filed, by the way, we have six months until our hearing and then it’s pretty much done with. And then, you will officially have custody of the boys.”
Zayn smiles, biting on his bottom lip before he steps forward to kiss Louis, both of his hands on either side of Louis’ face. It’s hardly a kiss, they’re both smiling too much for it to be anything other than them pressing their lips together, but it’s enough.
“Okay,” Louis says, pulling away. “Let’s go in before the boys coming rushing outside.”
Louis side steps Zayn and pushes the door open, he can hear the sound of Harry’s giggle wafting through the air. He takes a deep breath before follows Louis inside, trying to settle his nerves.
He knows that Louis will say yes, they’ve talked about getting married, just going to the courthouse with the boys, Nick, Danny and Leigh-Anne, nothing special. That’s still how Zayn wants to do it, but it doesn’t feel right getting married to Louis without asking him properly.
Zayn steps into the house and sees Louis standing a few feet from the kids, staring at them with his mouth wide open. He shuts the door quietly, clearing his throat to get Louis’ attention.
It takes a minute, but Louis finally turns around and says, “What’s going on?”
“You’re going to get married,” Niall explains before Zayn has a chance, stepping in front of Louis. “But Poppy has to ask first.”
Zayn smiles and shrugs his shoulders. “So? What do you say?”
“Daddy, um, married means like Cinderella,” Harry says, handing Liam his paper. “I learned that.”
“Yes,” Louis says before anyone else can cut him off and Zayn smiles, because he was never worried about what Louis’ answer would be, just his reaction to the proposal, if you can call it that.
“Daddy, are you Prince Charming or Cinderella?” Harry asks.
“He’s Prince Charming,” Zayn answers, stepping forward and taking the drawings away from Liam, who has somehow gotten a hold of his, Harry’s and Niall’s.
“Poppy, want the cake,” Liam says, looking up at Zayn.
“All right, we need to eat dinner, but because it’s a very special day, we’re going to eat the cake first. So, go wash your hands and then sit down at the table. We’ll be in there in one second,” Zayn instructs, patting Liam on the back, gently guiding him towards Harry and Niall.
He waits for them to run off and glances up to see Louis smiling at him. “I’m Prince Charming, huh? Is it because I brought you into a better life?” Louis asks and Zayn shakes his head, reaching forward and poking Louis in the cheek.
“That’s for me to know and for you to never ever find out,” Zayn replies, smiling before he heads towards the kitchen, trying not to groan in frustration when he sees that Harry has pulled a chair up to the counter and is licking chocolate icing off his finger, the substance only getting there because he keeps swiping his finger across the cake.
~~~
After the kids are asleep, well into the night, Louis and Zayn are putting fresh sheets on their bed, trying to prepare for when the boys sneak into their room in the middle of the night. They finish, crawling underneath the blankets and cuddling up in the center of the bed, fresh change of clothes on, lights off, and holding each other close.
“Can feel you thinking,” Zayn murmurs, rubbing his nose against Louis’ throat before he presses a kiss to the skin there.
“Sorry,” Louis replies back, sighing deeply.
Zayn pulls away, far enough that he’s able to get a good look at Louis’ face. “What’s going on?”
“Are you happy you came back?” Louis asks, his grip tightening around Zayn’s waist as he looks into his eyes.
Zayn hums, flicking a stray strand of hair out of Louis’ eyes and smiling at him softly. “I’m the happiest I’ve been in a long time,” Zayn confirms, tracing Louis’ cheekbones with his fingers. “I wouldn’t have come back if I thought that I was going to regret it. Not when there are children involved. This is where I want to be.”
“Just making sure,” Louis replies, leaning forward to kiss Zayn. “Just wanted to make sure that you’re happy here.”
“Wouldn’t have asked you to marry me, Prince Charming.”
Louis groans, pulling away from Zayn slightly to lie back on his pillows, arm thrown over his eyes. “You said that but you’re never going to let me live that down, are you?”
“It’s a cute nickname. It made Harry happy, anyway.”
“I don't mind it, but you can’t say it at the wedding,” Louis says, pulling his arm off his face to look at Zayn. “You have to say Louis, that’s my only rule.”
“I can do that,” Zayn replies. “Let’s kiss on it.” He leans forward and kisses Louis softly, pulling away slightly to say, “Love you.”
“I love you, too, Zayn,” Louis says before he’s kissing Zayn again.
They kiss in the dark; unsure of how much time passes between them, until they hear, “Liam, let’s wake up, Niall, okay?”
“They boys are on their way in,” Louis whispers into the darkness of their room. “Should pretend to be asleep?”
“No. I don’t want Harry to step on my ribs again,” Zayn murmurs.
It’s another minute before they hear the boys back into the hallway, and Zayn rolls over when their bedroom door opens, pulling away from Louis to see all three of their children shuffling in, sleep riddled. Zayn pulls the blankets back, reaching out to pull Liam up to lie down next to him. Niall helps Harry on the bed, who crawls in between Louis and Zayn, leaving Niall to take up Louis’ other side.
It’s crammed, like it always is, but Zayn’s time away was spent curled up with four pillows surrounding him, and he finds that it’s much better with knees and elbows poking him, pushing at him and fighting for the blankets all night.
And Zayn’s reminded that everything is the same, a feeling of comfort floating through him as he thinks about the life he didn’t ask for, turned into the life he couldn’t imagine not having.