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Niall whimpered as he woke up, the nightmare getting to him more than it should. The fourteen year old boy moved out from his sheets and ventured off to his dad's room. "D-daddy..a-are yo-you awake?" He sniffled quietly, pecking through his fathers room and walking over to the lump in the bed.
A fourteen year old boy running off to his dad after a nightmare, it might seem silly but it made him cry in his sleep. Which usually he's dead to the world once his head hits the pillow. Not tonight though.
"What's the matter Ni? Are you okay?" Josh sat up in the bed. looking at his son.
Niall shook his head. "I had a nightmare" he gulped and looked up at the awoken figure.
"Aww, Ni, come here kiddo." Josh held out his arms as Niall came onto them. He knew Niall had bad nightmares and he would always come running to him when one got too bad when he was a kid. He wasn't expecting Niall to do it at this age, but nevertheless, he loved his son. "What happened this time?"
Niall plopped down next to Josh and snuggled into him. "Well, I don't know to explain it" Niall shuddered and wiped the forming tears from his eyes. "I just remembered being chased, then killed at the end" he responded softly, whimpering slowly.
"It's okay Ni, Daddy's got you now." Josh said, rocking Niall back and forth a bit, trying to comfort him. Niall nodded and smiled softly. "Thank you daddy" he whispered, closing his eyes as Josh rocked him.
"Anything for you buddy." He said, pulling him down on the bed and covering him, letting Niall snuggle into his side. He was never this affectionate with anyone except Niall's mother, who was now dead. He sniffled a bit and a tear ran down his cheek when he thought of her, remembering when she used to do this with him and Niall before she died.
Niall opened his eyes and he heard his dad cry, he knew the reason, he always did. Niall turned to his side and looked at him. "I miss her too daddy, but she's in a good place. You still have me" he whispered, wiping Josh's tears. More tears ran down his cheek when he thought of how much Niall was like her.
"I know Niall bud, I just miss her so much. She was just like this when I was a little guy, I would always come to her with a problem and she would just hold me, like i'm doing to you right now." He said. "She loved you Niall, you were the center of her world, like she was of mine. She was my best friend and I loved her." Josh sobbed.
Niall felt tears run down his pale cheek, " Daddy it's okay, please stop crying. Please?" Niall pleaded."I'm sorry bud." Josh said, sniffing and wiping their tears away. "I'll stop, it's just hard."
Niall nodded and laid his head on the pillow. "Yeah, I understand. Mommy was very pretty" he smiled.
"She was, I just wished she'd lived for longer than she did. She would have been cheering her head off at all your soccer games and clapping and crying when you graduated primary school. But I know she's proud of you right now and so am I."Josh said. "What do you remember about your mom? You were only five, but I know you probably remembered something from back then to make you say that." Josh asked.
"I remember mommy singing me to sleep. She had an amazing voice." Niall smiled widely and looked at his dad. "She used to tuck me in then would kiss my head and call me her little Nialler" he nodded.
"Yeah, you got your mom's temper you know." Josh said, grinning. "You're kind and gentle, but when you really have to, you're demanding. We were so young when we had you, sometimes we couldn't believe we were allowed to keep you in those days." he said, remembering how they cried, thinking how they wouldn't get him back because of the law.
“Dad, what were the laws like in those days, from what I heard they were bad when it was teenagers than adults?” Niall asked.
“Yeah, they were son. When you were a high schooler, if you were a teen parent, people thought you were throwing your life away. Which is why, there was a law against single mothers keeping their babies. If there was no support, the baby was put up for adoption. Thank god I was there and her parents wanted her to keep you. My parents, not so much. He wanted me to leave you both and move with them to Brighton.” He said.
“Was it hard, raising me?” Niall asked, looking up at him.
“It was at first, we had little money, her staying home to take care of you and me working two jobs, but we managed to get by. Then when I stumbled upon that new system on how to make drums better than the way makers were making them, we got what we needed.” He said.
Niall smiled. His dad’s drum company was huge, how it started from him stumbling on something in the garage of their old home was a mystery for him.
“Now go to sleep NIall, I think that’s enough stories for tonight huh?” Josh asked, laying himself back down on the pillows and the bed.
“Yeah, goodnight daddy.” Niall snuggled into his daddy’s side and soon, he was asleep.
“Goodnight Ni bud.” Josh smiled, kissing his forehead. He then looked up at the sky outside of the balcony. “Goodnight love.” He closed his eyes and was soon asleep with Niall. As long as he was around, Niall would never get hurt.