Work Text:
It was just one of those bloody mornings; when you can't find anything you're looking for, you forget when you put something 5 minutes previous, and time was ticking by faster than it normally would.
Nick huffed loudly as he retrieved the Nike Air Max he'd been searching high and low for - puppy had hidden it in her bed; no doubt saving it to chew on it later on. Nick was hoping she'd grow out of her puppy stage - but she was well and truly living up to her name; chewing everything she could get her little paws on.
He sighed as he glanced at the time on his phone; 5:50am - he had ten minutes before his taxi would arrive, and thankfully he was all packed and ready to go. Even though he really didn't want to be. It was no normal week of work, you see - the breakfast show were heading off to Ibiza for 3 shows, and Nick was dreading it - he was excited, but that was only a small part of him. He was getting too old for Ibiza now. But the big bosses at BBC Radio HQ watched how successful Radio 1 had been over in Ibiza in previous years, and frankly, they'd be very stupid to pass up opportunities to do it again year after year. Nick just wished it wasn't his team that had to go out there.
With his bags placed by the front door, Nick turned and crept back to his bedroom, he quietly opened the door and peered inside. Harry was still snoring softly and Nick was grateful he hadn't woke him up during his mad dash around the house getting his things ready. If Harry had've woken up, he only would've told Nick he should've packed the night before, like Harry had suggested. Nick only would've replied telling him not everyone is as perfect and organised as Harold, like he did many times.
Nick stood and stared fondly at Harry - there was reason number 2 as to why he didn't want to go to Ibiza; he hated leaving Harry - it was usually him going off doing all the travelling, and Nick was used to being at home without Harry, thanks to the many years they had known each other, and the popularity of Harry's band sending him all over the world for months and months at a time.
Nick and Harry had been a couple for a little over four years - exclusive out-to-the-public for 3 of them. Once Nick manned up and stopped avoiding his feelings, he knew there was nobody other than Harry that he was going to spend his life with. Harry completed him.
One Direction were still well famous, everywhere, the only thing that changed was the fans - they had matured and grown up a lot, as had the band. They were very accepting of Nick and Harry's relationship, and Nick was so bloody thankful for that - One Direction fans had a reputation for being a fiery, aggressive little bunch, and honestly, they frightened Nick a little bit.
Nick and Harry were going strong, and in love more than when they first started dating - it baffled Nick as to how that was even possible. He loved Harry a lot, before they were even a proper couple. He'd never been so in love before and it was ever so scary at the start, but now it was the norm, and it was no secret that Nick loved how Harry could still give him butterflies whenever he broke out his infamous teeth-bearing-dimple-showing smile.
Nicks thoughts were broken when he heard a little whimper from across the room, he quickly moved to peer into the cot in the corner of the bedroom. There was reason number 3 as to why he didn't want to go to Ibiza. Lily May.
The little baby stirred in her sleep and Nick instinctively moved to pick her up, but quickly stopped himself - if he picked her up, he wouldn't put her down again. She was due a feed in the next half an hour, Nick knew from how many times he'd woken to her screaming between 6 and half 6 in the morning - who needed to set an alarm when you had a greedy six month old in your bedroom!
Nick and Harry had agonised over adopting a baby for months and months - were they ready - could they do it - could they cope with a baby and both of their careers? Nick was ready to be a dad, he knew it - he was 33 years old, he'd had his fun out of life, he was in a steady relationship, and he knew it was the right time in his life. And Harry had always said he wanted to have kids, from being 18 years old - Nick thought he was just saying that to get girls to fancy him, but Harry told him he genuinely meant it.
As soon as they agreed that they could do it, and they were ready, the adoption process didn't take long at all. As soon as Lily May was placed in Nick's arms on that first day, he was absolutely terrified, of everything that could possibly go wrong, but he also knew he'd made the right decision, and with Harry by his side everything would be ok.
He and Harry had taken two weeks off work and they spent every day in the flat, hiding away from the world while they got used to being parents, and they fell completely in love. They never made an official announcement about adopting Lily May; they didn't feel like they had to. They were pictured out with her on a few occasions and gossip flew around the columns. Still they didn't address it formally, Nick just dropped a few comments about his daughter while he was on the radio. It wasn't long before gossip died down, and everyone got used to Nick and Harry having a child.
Lily May was the most beautiful girl Nick had ever seen, and he wasn't just saying that because he was her dad. But she was beautiful; she had big sparkly blue eyes, she didn't have any hair, not yet anyway 'cause...well, she was a baby, obviously. She had a cute button nose, and pouty lips; which pouted even more when she cried. She had Nick and Harry wrapped around her little finger, and they wouldn't have it any other way.
Nick stared down at his sleeping child, wondering how it was possible for him to love two people as much as he did. Then his phone rang loudly, making him jump. He quickly answered it, glad he hadn't disturbed Lily.
“Taxi's 'ere, mate,” a bored voice said as Nick answered.
“Yep. Five minutes and I'll be out.” He replied in a hushed voice.
Harry groaned and rolled over, blinking sleepily, “What you doin'?”
“I'm going to work, stupid,” Nick chuckled at his adorable, sleepy popstar.
Harry sat himself up, looking around in a sleepy daze, “Why didn't you wake me up?” He asked through a yawn.
“It was too early and you have to be up with Lily soon, so...” He shrugged and Harry held his arms out wide, eyes closed. Nick frowned.
“Come 'ere and give me a hug before you leave,” he mumbled and Nick didn't hesitate in crawling up the bed to let Harry wrap his arms around him. Harry kissed his head softly, “Don't be a miserable pig while you're in Ibiza - it's only four days, so have fun!”
Nick pulled back from Harry's warm embrace, pouting sadly, “Technically I'll be away for 5 days - I'm not going to see you for the whole of today.”
Harry smiled sweetly, patting Nick's cheeks softly, “I'll take so many videos and pictures - you won't miss a thing.”
Nick smiled, but before he could reply his phone started ringing again and Lily started crying loudly.
Harry quickly jumped out of bed, kissing Nick's head as he passed by on his way to the cot, “You better get going, before your taxi leaves without you.”
He simply nodded before he got up off the bed and quickly left the room; he really didn't want to leave them.
--
Before the breakfast show started, Nick and the team had an early morning meeting to discuss Ibiza and the schedule before they flew out at midday.
“Oh, good morning!” Matt smiled brightly as Nick walked in the room; last one to arrive. “You look rough - did the little 'un keep you up all night?”
Nick sighed, “No, my daughter slept right through last night - I look this because I'm dreading the three shows in Ibiza.”
Matt laughed, shaking his head, “It'll be fun!”
Nick didn't agree; his idea of fun nowadays was babbling away to his 6 month old daughter, for hours on end.
--
An hour into the show and Nick aimlessly checked his phone, seeing a picture message from Harry, of Lily sleeping on Nick's side of the bed: "She had her feed at 6 and hasn't woken up since!xx" Nick smiled at his phone screen - he and Harry had such a lazy baby; new parents were envious of the hours of uninterrupted sleep the two of them got at night.
His phone vibrated again and Harry text: "Plenty more pictures to come, don't worry .x" Nick sighed; pictures were nice and all, but he preferred the real thing over pictures.
--
2/3 Ibiza shows were done and Nick was worn out, not through drinking or through working though - he had hardly been out during his stay in the top party destination. He was tired because he missed Harry and Lily, and puppy. His little family. And he wasn't sleeping at night because of it.
He pulled out his phone and opened up the twitter application; he felt like telling everyone how miserable he was: "Ibiza is nice and all but... I want to go home to my family."
Within a minute he had hundreds of relies and he spent a minute scrolling through them; one stuck out to him: "Remember a few years ago in Ibiza, you wanted to go home because you missed puppy!" He smiled after reading it because he did remember, and how times had bloody changed! He had to type out a quick reply: "Yes, and remember my horrible friends wouldn't let me call or her, or go on Skype!!"
Then he had a genius idea, he couldn't believe he hadn't thought of it before. He quickly closed twitter and dialled Harry's number.
“'Ello?” He answered after three rings.
“Hiya, what you doin'?”
“Watching CBeebies, uh... I mean, Lily's watching Cbeebies, and I'm sat with her.”
Nick chuckled, “You are watching it! I know Lily isn't interested and she's probably chewing on whatever she can get her hands on.”
“You would be correct,” Harry laughed, “She tried to eat my phone and then screamed the house down when I took it off her. She's got a teething ring now - her gums are bad today.”
“Oh, poor baba,” Nick pouted sadly - he didn't want to think of Lily suffering from teething problems. He'd spent many nights in the last few weeks cuddling her, soothing her because her gums were hurting and she couldn't sleep because of it.
“Anyway, what's wrong?” Harry asked and Nick quickly snapped back into reality, remembering he had called Harry for a reason.
“Oh, yeah. Are you near your laptop?”
“Uh...no, but I can get it. Why?”
“Because I want to Skype with you and Lily - your picture messages are nice and all, but...I want to see your faces in real time.”
“Aw, Grim!” Harry cooed and Nick rolled his eyes.
“Don't start, Harold.” He mumbled and Harry chuckled. Nick was still stiff when it came to talking about feelings, or showing random, unexpected affection, and Harry just loved to play on it to annoy Nick, in a nice way obviously.
“Alright. Give me five minutes and I'll be on Skype.” Harry said before hanging up.
It was ten, agonisingly long minutes before Harry was calling Nick; he didn't waste a second and accepted the call.
“Hi!” Harry said in his usual cheery tone.
Nick couldn't stop the grin from appearing as he saw his two favourite people - well, he saw Lily and Harry torso.
“Sorry I took so long, Lily distracted me. She laughed Nick - a proper little giggle!” The glee in Harry's voice was adorable, but Nick felt rotten because he'd missed her laughing for the first time. “Let me get her to do it again.” Harry said quickly before moving away from the camera so both him and Lily were in full shot.
Harry held Lily above his head and mumbled some nonsense before he dropped her down to his face and softly bumped their noses together; after repeating that three times, Nick's grin appeared again as he heard Lily's adorable little giggle.
“Oh. My god. She has the cutest laugh in the world.” He said, still smiling.
Harry sat Lily on his lap and waved her hand, “Say hi to daddy. Hiii!”
Nick smiled and waved back without even thinking about it - if anyone were to talk into his room they'd think he'd lost his mind - lay on his side on his bed, chatting a waving to his daughter through a computer screen. But he didn't care, he'd do anything for Lily, even if that meant acting like a complete clown.
He didn't hold Lily's attention for long; she was much like him in that they were easily distracted. He'd nicknamed her 'meerkat' from her being four months old - whenever they went into a room she'd look around the room as fast as she could, not knowing what to look at first.
“Uh, Nick...” Harry said, glancing at his watch.
“No,” Nick said quickly, shaking his head, “I know its her dinner time - you can leave Skype on and, I don't know... put it on the dining table or summat.”
Harry chuckled, “That's a good idea actually.”
“I know.” Nick shot back smugly.
--
With the laptop sat on the dining table, Nick had full view of the kitchen and he watched in amusement as Harry wandered around getting Lily's dinner done. Lily watched on from her highchair, equally amused by Harry as he sang and danced his way around the room.
“I agree Lily, daddy is an idiot,” Nick said loudly, laughing.
“Hey!” Harry frowned as he grabbed Lily's chair and pulled her closer to the dining table. He grabbed a chair and sat in front of her, the bowl of food placed in front of her.
“This isn't going to work, Harold,” Nick said as Harry filled the spoon with the carrot and... whatever else he'd mixed in. Lily hated any food that they made fresh at home - she preferred the ready made jars - he and Harry had gone through drama's since they decided to change Lily from milk to solid food. Many times she'd screamed and spat out every bit of food that was put into her mouth, until they bought the ready made jars from the supermarket.
“Yeah, it'll work,” Harry said airily. “She's much more used to solid foods now - she'll like it.”
Nick watched as Harry gave Lily the first spoonful of food, laughing the facial expressions she pulled. “She doesn't like it.” He commented and Harry shook his head; Lily swallowed the food, nothing was spat out.
“Ha, yes! I knew she'd like it!” Harry said gleefully before giving her another spoonful. He and Nick laughed as Lily's facial expressions were even funnier. Every single bit of food she spat out.
“She doesn't like it,” Nick said again, shaking his head as Harry tried to give Lily a third spoonful. She covered her mouth with one hand and slapped the spoon away with the other; it came out of Harry's grip and landed on the floor.
Nick had to cover his mouth to stop the giggles as Harry looked unimpressed at his daughter.
“Fine kiddo, you win.” He huffed before getting up to grab a ready made jar of shepherds pie from the cupboard. Lily ate the whole lot.
--
Nick felt a lot better after his Skype session with Harry and Lily; it was just what he needed to pick up his mood.
He would've stayed on all night, but Harry had to bath Lily and put her to bed, and Nick didn't want to disrupt her routine. So he sat and waited for Harry to call him when she was settled.
It was an hour and half before his skype came back to life.
“She really hates me putting her to bed,” Harry mumbled, not allowing Nick to greet him.
“What d'ya mean?” Nick asked with a frown.
“She always go to sleep straight away with you - you rock her for a minute and she's asleep - I do it and she always fights me. I spent most of the past hour just getting her to settle down.
“What can I say, I have the magic touch,” Nick grinned smugly.
Harry shook his head, smiling, “I miss you loads.”
“I miss you too,” Nick replied instantly. “Its rubbish without you.”
“At least we have Skype though, hey?” He grinned and Nick nodded in agreement; thought he was still kicking himself over not thinking of it straight away. Harry sighed, pouting sadly - that's where Lily gets it from. “I can't wait for you to come home.”
“I know, it won't be long now. And I'm never going away with work again - if I do, you and Lily are coming with me.”
The two of them chatted until Harry couldn't keep his eyes open any longer. Nick smiled at his sleeping boyfriend before he shut down his laptop and crawled under his duvet - feeling like he might actually get a full nights sleep!
--
The last link of the breakfast show in Ibiza was done, so Nick turned to Matt, tapping his pen on his chin.
“Do I have anything to do tomorrow?” He asked and Matt frowned.
“Not as far as I know.”
“So...no radio until normal services resumes on Monday?” He said and Matt nodded slowly. “I'm going home then. Today. Right now.”
Matt frowned, “But your ticket is for tomorrow - its non-refundable and you can't change it.”
“I can buy another ticket at the airport - last minute jobby.” He shrugged and Matt smiled fondly, causing Nick to frown, “Why are you looking at me like that, Fincham?”
He shook his head, laughing softly, “I never thought I'd witness you rushing home from Ibiza because you're a family man.”
“Shut up.” Nick sighed playfully, rolling his eyes.
“I don't mind you going home - I've had enough of your miserable arse this week.”
“I haven't been that bad!” Nick said defensively and Matt laughed.
“I didn't mean it in a bad way,” he said quickly, “It's really sweet actually - Lily has had a big impact on your life; a good one though.”
“She has,” Nick agreed quickly, nodding. “I wouldn't change her for the world. Hey, I might get rid of Harry - he's not that important anymore.”
“We all know that isn't true,” Matt scoffed, raising his eyebrows.
“Nah, I could never get ride of him,” he smiled before moving to hug Matt goodbye.
“Good luck with your quick dash home - call me so I know you have landed safely.” He said, patting Nick's back.
“Sure thing, Finchy.” He smiled before walking out of their tiny makeshift studio.
--
Five hours later - a two hour wait at the airport in Ibiza, a two and half hour flight to London, and half and hour in a taxi - Nick was finally back home.
He grabbed his stuff from the boot of the taxi before shuffling to his front door, turning his phone on as he went. Four texts came through; one off Fincham, and the rest off Harry - where was he, what was he up to - could they skype again?
He smiled as he slipped his phone back in his pocket - Skype had been good to him while he was away; living up to its purpose. But now he was home and got to see Harry and Lily in real, real time.
He quietly opened the front door and placed his bags down, before tip toeing to the living room, where he heard Harry chatting away to Lily.
“I tell you what, Lily-pop, I don't know why Cbeebies are still showing Mr. Tumble - he's a big fat liar and all he does is annoy parents up and down the country.” Nick watched Harry shake his head, eyes glued to the television and the annoying Mr. Tumble.
“Come on, Harold, he's not that bad.” Nick chuckled and Harry spun around quickly, eyes as wide as saucers.
“Hi,” he said, shocked to see Nick standing in the living room doorway.
“Hiya, popstar,” Nick said as he crossed the room and dropped down on the sofa next to Harry, kissing him softly. “And hello to you too, baby!” He said in a high pitch, cheery voice, reserved only for Lily May. He pulled her from her bouncy chair and she gave him a huge grin, before he kissed her cheeks repeatedly. She screeched and hit his face over and over, before pinching his nose. “My, my, you're very vocal today!” He said as he sat her on his lap, she giggled and screeched again.
“She really found her voice in the past few days,” Harry mumbled - Nick knew he was still reeling over him arriving home early; the popstar didn't like surprises. “She's forever screeching and babbling away to herself.”
“Aw,” Nick cooed before he attacked her with more kisses all over her beautiful chubby face. “Oh, I missed you, baby! And, I think...more than I missed daddy.”
“Oh, cheers!” Harry scoffed, playfully nudging Nick's shoulder.
“I'm only joking, popstar,” he smiled before he moved to kiss him again.
“I missed you,” Harry mumbled, falling against Nick. “Skype was nice but... I prefer the real thing.”
Nick chuckled, “I said the exact same thing to myself before I walked in here.” He shifted so he could wrap his arm around Harry, Lily sat between the two of them. “I'm not going away again - I can't hack it anymore, and... Skype isn't as good as it used to be.”
Harry laughed, “Its alright for one time, during a short trip.”
Lily screeched again, demanding their attention, and ending their conversation.
They spent the afternoon together, and it was like Nick had never been away.
-end-