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Harry just stared at the baby carrier. There was no way this was actually Niall. Right?
The more he stared at the baby, the more it did seem to resemble his friend. It actually looked uncannily like Niall’s nephew, so really there was a slight possibility of this being their Niall. There was only one small issue.
How the hell was that even possible?
Harry hadn’t even realized the kettle had turned on until he heard the sounds indicating Louis was making the tea.
“What’s up with you, Haz? Gone deaf? I called you twice from upstairs.”
Harry knew the very moment Louis noticed the carrier sitting on the table, holding a now quite ecstatic child, because his soft footsteps immediately stopped before he’d reached Harry.
“The fuck is that?” Louis asked. Harry took his eyes off the baby for the first time in who knows how long and didn’t say anything, just held the card out to Louis. Louis, however, seemed to be a bit spooked at a baby showing up in their kitchen with no warning and wasn’t moving any closer.
Harry waved the card in his outstretched hand, showing he was getting a bit frustrated with Louis’ lack of cooperation. “It’s a fucking baby, that’s what! Take the damn card and read it!”
Louis gave Harry his classic unimpressed face. “I know it’s a fucking baby, you twat. Whose baby?”
“Maura and Bobby’s, I’d imagine,” Harry mumbled quietly, letting his arm fall to his side. He apparently hadn’t been quiet enough for Louis to not hear, though.
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Louis cried, throwing his hands in the air in outrage. “There’s no fucking way they just had a baby, and even if they had, how would it have ended up here?”
Harry shook his head. “Well, I think it could possibly be the same baby they had 23 years ago. Or at least that’s what this card that you refuse to take is implying.”
Louis stood there staring at Harry with his brows furrowed, hair still standing on end from drying funny overnight. He then blinked a few times, took a deep breath through his nose, and walked back over to the counter where their tea was sitting, now likely oversteeped and too bitter, but whatever. Harry would take what he could get at this point honestly.
He was about to join Louis, when the baby squawked at him. Right. It was actually alive and needed taking care of. Fuck.
“The hell are we supposed to do with a baby right now, Lou?”
At that, Louis froze and turned to Harry. “What are we supposed to do with a baby? Harry! How has this become in any way our problem?”
Harry didn’t respond immediately since he was trying to safely work the baby’s limbs out of the restraints before lifting him into his arms. At least Niall wasn’t a newborn. He was old enough to hold his head up himself, and Harry guessed he might even be crawling at this point. Shit. He was calling the baby Niall in his head like he believed he was Niall. He didn’t even know for sure if the baby was a boy because he hadn’t checked the nappy.
Fuck. Nappies. They needed baby shit and to baby proof the house! They had only done a cursory run on this house since the youngest twins were already 2 by the time they first visited. They definitely didn’t have any nappies laying around to fit a six month old or however old Niall was here.
Harry tried to force himself to focus on Louis before he went completely crazy thinking of everything they’d need to somehow get ahold of in the next few hours. Maybe Amazon Now would work? Harry physically shook his head and propped Niall on his hip before turning to Louis.
“He became our problem when he showed up in our house, Louis!” Harry prided himself on being a rather calm person in most situations, but damn if Louis didn’t know exactly how to push his buttons. It was 8 am or some fucking early time on a Sunday and they had a baby Niall mysteriously show up and Louis wants to fight him over whether it was their problem? Fuck that!
Harry suddenly felt a tug on his hair, that was in no way pleasant like when Louis did it. He tried to turn to Niall, but he had such a good grip on his hair that there was no way he could turn his head without massive amounts of pain.
“Louuuiiiiis,” Harry whined as he tried to use his free hand to open Niall’s fist from his hair. That apparently just made baby Niall think it was a game, as he started yanking it even more forcefully while giggling at the way his tugs caused Harry’s head to move. Harry found it much less amusing as tears were startling to burn his eyes. “Owww, come on, Ni! Be nice to me!”
At hearing the nickname, the baby immediately withdrew his hand and blinked his bright blue eyes up at Harry.
“You know your name? Is your name Niall?” Harry asked, and upon hearing the name Niall, the baby grinned and began to giggle.
“You...shit. I’ve gotta…” Louis looked like he had seen a ghost and sat down right where he was standing in the middle of the kitchen. Harry watched as Louis’ fringe flopped down into his eyes and he just sat there, legs splayed in front of him, hands tapping the floor in a rhythm Harry didn’t recognize.
Waiting for Louis to reach whatever conclusion he needed to, Harry continued bouncing Niall on his hip while planning how exactly to get what they needed to support 6ish month old Niall.
By this age, he should be okay with solids, but who knows what his body can handle, so he should probably start simple. Luckily they already know he doesn’t have any food allergies or sensitivities to be wary of, so they don’t have to worry about introducing just one food at a time or anything.
How much formula would he still be drinking though? Babies don’t drink water yet, right? Or do they once they start eating solids? Harry is rusty, it’s been awhile since he’s cared for an actual baby. Louis would know. Or their mums.
Harry shifted Niall to his other hip so he could grab his phone, only to remember he was only in his boxers and his phone was upstairs. He really needed to see what kinds of baby food and supplies were options on Amazon Now, or they’d be sending someone shopping for them. Harry was already making a mental list of everything they would need to care for Niall when Louis finally spoke again.
“So we obviously don’t know how he got to be like this, but how do we get him back to being our Niall? I mean, Haz, he’s a baby. If he’s a baby, that probably means his adult self isn’t still here, right? That would mess with all kinds of shit, and if his adult self isn’t here, then fuck. What happens with the band?”
Harry just froze. “Well, I mean, we are on hiatus, so that timing is good…”
“For a fucking year! If we don’t get our Niall back, he won’t be able to sing or write or play guitar or perform as a one year old! How fucking long do you want this hiatus to be?!”
Harry bit his lip and looked down at his bare feet. He really did need to get a pedicure here soon, but that was definitely not his top priority at the moment.
“Listen, Lou. All I’m saying is we need baby stuff to take care of him now. Let’s focus on that, get ourselves situated, and then we can focus on figuring out how to get our Niall back, okay?” Louis pursed his lips, setting of his cheekbones. Shit, he really was so gorgeous and it wasn’t Harry’s fault he was easily distracted, okay? “Besides. If we know anything about Niall, it’s that he eats a ton and he shits a ton, so we definitely need to get food and nappies because my bet is baby Niall is the exact same.”
Louis finally cracked a smile at him and his blue eyes were shining just like they always should be.
“True. Priorities. Okay, let’s go figure this out and maybe call the lads. Or...well...Liam since Niall probably isn’t going to be able to answer his phone in the meantime.”
Harry nodded before eyeing the tea. “Wanna grab the mugs and we can figure this out upstairs?”
Feeling a bit more settled now that they had both calmed down a bit, Harry was ready to take on this ridiculous situation.
XXX
Harry was absolutely not ready to take on this ridiculous situation. He was sitting amidst boxes of baby supplies and unsure where to start. The frankly obscenely large box of nappies had already been broken into as had the wipes, but now they also had a playpen to figure out how to put together as, judging by the complete tantrum Niall was throwing, it was naptime. Louis had taken the premade formula to the kitchen and fed Niall, but that hadn’t calmed him at all so Harry really needed to find a room to make the nursery in and get it set up.
He hefted the awkwardly shaped box up the stairs and decided the room with the blackout curtains and toddler beds for the youngest twins would probably be best. He quickly cut the tape and pulled the playpen out. It seemed to mostly be put together already, thank God. Harry found the paper with the instructions on how to correctly set it up and within ten minutes it was ready. It would have been shorter, but he hadn’t realized that if he pressed the bottom down to the locked position, it wouldn’t let the arms straighten. It took him longer than he’d like to admit to figure out what was wrong.
Anyway, feeling rather proud of himself, he closed the curtains to blanket the room in darkness, found a little comfort toy to put in the playpen with Niall, and then went downstairs to let Louis know it was ready.
Upon reaching the landing, Harry realized that it had finally gotten quiet. He wasn’t sure what magic Louis had used, but it had worked in finally getting Niall to calm down. Harry turned the corner into the great room and found Louis gently swaying a sleeping Niall in his arms as he softly hummed the tune to what Harry thought was a Lumineers song.
“Is that Ophelia?” Harry leaned against the wall and softly smiled at the lovely view of Louis rocking a baby. It was their dream that they’d be able to do this together one day when the time was right; Harry just never imagined it would be because Niall had somehow been turned into a baby and shown up on their kitchen table with no warning.
Louis turned slowly, gently rubbing Niall’s back. “Yeah, been stuck in my head all day. He obviously didn’t seem to mind. Is he asleep? I can’t tell.”
“Yeah,” Harry whispered. “Let me show you where I set it up.”
They quietly climbed the stairs and got Niall settled into the playpen that would be his bed for the next...well...hopefully not too long. He stayed asleep, which was perfect, and they tiptoed out of the room before closing the door behind them. As soon as the door was closed, Louis pulled Harry in for a tight hug.
“I love you so fucking much, you know that, right?” he murmured into Harry’s neck.
Harry found he was suddenly choked up and could only nod in reply. Yeah, he definitely knew. Harry kissed the hair right above Louis’ ear and breathed in his scent that had been grounding Harry for almost six years now.
After a few quiet moments, Louis pulled back and nodded towards their room. “I think it’s time we finally ring Liam.”
XXX
“How is this even possible?” Liam cried for the upteenth time. This was the fourth phone call with him that day and it seemed he was still in shock. He had only believed them when after calling Niall’s phone with no answer he had also reached out to those who had gone drinking with Niall last night. They’d all known he was out having fun because of the drunken snaps he’d privately sent them, but only now did they have any answers.
Apparently, they all saw Niall leaving with some bird he’d picked up but when a few of them woke up at his house this morning, all of Niall’s personal effects were gone. The awards were still there, same with the major furniture and such, but all decorations, clothing, guitars, etc were gone and no one could explain it.
That was apparently enough to have Liam believing that Niall was now an infant whose bedtime was half past eight at night. Which luckily had already passed, so Louis and Harry could continue trying to work out what was happening and how to fix it.
“I mean, you do realize that the entire future of the band hinges on our being able to get Niall back, right?”
Liam’s tinny voice rang through Harry and Louis’ bedroom.
“Yes, Liam, that had crossed our mind,” Louis said a bit harshly. Harry looked to his left at Louis sprawled on his side of the bed, but he just shrugged. He obviously felt bad for it coming out so sharp, but not bad enough to apologize. Harry reached over and began to run his fingers through Louis’ soft hair, Louis leaning his head into the touch. Harry wasn’t sure if it was the affectionate touch or his regret at speaking the way he did just a moment before, but he did soften his tone a bit when he spoke again. “What are we supposed to do about it if we don’t even know how it happened?”
“I don’t know,” Liam conceded. They went quiet for a bit as they all considered the gravity of the situation they were in. “You two doing alright, though? I mean, you know how to care for babies, but it’s a bit different than suddenly having one show up in your house…”
“Yeah, Li. We’re great. You should see Louis, it’s like he’s a proper dad and everything,” Harry said, thinking back to the soft moments they had all experienced together. Sure, Niall had his moments of being fussy, but just as he was as an adult, as a child he was fairly easy going and loved to laugh and play with them. They’d found the toys they’d purchased for Doris and Ernest not even a month ago and Niall had been in heaven.
It just felt so wonderful, like they were an actual family. Harry knew that when the time was right for them to do it with a child that was actually theirs, that it would be perfect and wonderful.
Harry pushed himself up a bit further so he could kiss Louis’ forehead and then his lips.
“Hey, Li? I know it’s already tomorrow in London, but it’s getting late here and we don’t know what time Niall wakes up, so we should sleep while we can.”
Louis’ eyes were already closed, but he smiled softly up at Harry as soon as he mentioned sleep.
“Shit, my calls have probably kept you from resting and new parents need their rest! Definitely get some sleep. We’ll talk later, I’m sure.”
Louis snorted. “Yeah, I’m sure.”
“Night, Liam. Have a good day,” Harry said.
“Night Liam,” Louis echoed.
“Night, lads,” Liam called before ringing off.
“Let’s have a snuggle and get some sleep, yeah?” Louis tried saying through a yawn. The day had been more than exhausting for both of them.
“Yeah. Love you, Lou.”
They both stripped off before shutting off the light and climbing into bed. Only once they were cuddled with Louis’ head resting on Harry’s chest, their arms wrapped around each other did Louis respond.
“Love you, too. Always.”
XXX
“PAPA PAPA PAPA DADDYYYYY DADDYYYYY PAPAAAAA!”
Harry shot up in bed upon hearing what sounded like a child running around their room and yelling. He’d expected to be woken during the night by crying, but not...words? Particularly those words. All he saw was a tiny person running out of their room and down the hall.
“What the hell is going on?” Louis said, rolling over and hiding his head beneath a pillow. Harry checked his phone and found it was half seven, and while later than expected, that’s still too early.
He cleared his throat and tentatively called out, “Niall?”
“Papa! I’m hungry!”
Fuck.
“How’s he talking?” Louis asked, voicing Harry’s same question.
“I have no idea,” he said before rolling himself out of bed to put on a pair of joggers.
Niall kept yelling from what sounded like downstairs, and Louis sat up with a confused look on his face. “Does he have an American accent?”
Harry cocked his head and listened a bit closer to what Niall was saying. It sounded like he was narrating everything he was doing, which included playing a game on the iPad. And it did indeed seem like he had an American accent.
“Well, if in this version of reality we are his dads and we are currently living here in LA, so it seems this version of Niall is American, yeah.”
“Fucking crazy,” Louis said. As if anything since they woke up yesterday morning had been normal. Niall was a fucking child who thought they were his parents.
Harry traipsed downstairs and was happy to find that Niall apparently, in addition to aging like three years had also become potty trained, learned to walk and talk, and had somehow magically acquired clothing to take care of this older version of Niall’s needs. So. That’s good.
Rubbing his face with both hands, Harry tried to pull himself together and act normal. Apparently he and Louis were going to have to act the part of Niall’s parents as he aged, hopefully daily, and maybe they’d get their Niall back at the end of the week or something.
“Papa! I’m hungry! Make me a pancake!” Harry pulled his hands down from his face and looked into the face of Niall around what was probably age 4. He looked so pure, so innocent. Harry supposed he was, if he was just a child. A child that believes Harry is his father. He supposed he better play the part and do it well, then. Make his day as wonderful as he could. What other choice did he have, really?
“Sure, love. Want caramel chips in yours?” Niall scrunched his entire face up and it was all Harry could do to keep from laughing over it.
“No. Daddy likes caramel. I hate caramel. I want chocolate!” His blue eyes shone and Harry loved it. This. This felt like something he could definitely look forward to in his future.
“Chocolate chip pancakes it is.” Harry set about pulling the pancake mix from the cupboard and quickly had a batch of chocolate chip and caramel chip pancakes ready for the three of them to enjoy, Louis coming down as he smelled breakfast cooking.
Once Niall had eaten his fill and gone off to bang on a toy drum Harry didn’t remember them ever having before now, Louis helped him clear the table and took the chance to speak with him without Niall overhearing.
“So...he ages a few years every day?”
Harry shrugged before setting the plates in the sink and putting the syrup back on the shelf. “It looks that way.”
“And he calls you Papa and I’m Daddy?”
Harry nodded again.
“Fuck, I love hearing him call you Papa.” At Louis’ admission, Harry turned away from where he had been rinsing the plates in the sink to look at the man standing in front of him. His hair was still mussed from sleep and he was wearing one of Harry’s old t-shirts paired with some ratty jogger shorts, but he was everything that Harry ever wanted and he was looking at Harry like he was the sun, moon, and stars.
“Can’t wait for us to have kids, Lou,” Harry whispered.
Louis wiped a tear that had escaped before throwing himself into Harry’s arms. “Yeah. Me too. Should probably go check and see what trouble he’s getting into though. He’s quiet and you know what that usually means.”
A chuckle left Harry’s lips before he even realized and shoved Louis in the direction where they last saw Niall headed. “Go save us from our son, and I’ll finish cleaning up here.”
XXX
The next morning they woke to find Niall was “Eight years old, God. Don’t you know how old your own kid is?”
“That’s a lot of sass for an eight year old,” Harry muttered to Louis early that afternoon. He could already tell the day or so they had ahead of them when Niall was a teenager was going to be a blast.
“Well, I am his father. Apparently.” They both laughed a little under their breath before Louis grabbed his football from beside the back door and tossed it to Niall. “Come on, then. Let’s work out that pent up frustration with a kick about.”
At that, Niall looked like he was glowing in excitement. His blue eyes were wide and his sun bleached hair even seemed to become brighter as he straightened up. “Really?”
“Course! Show your Dad what a great footballer you are.”
Niall rolled his eyes. “It’s called soccer here, dad. Get used to it. Football is something totally different.”
Louis made a face at Harry before following Niall outside. Harry was supposed to be working on his lines for Dunkirk, considering filming started in just a few months, but he couldn’t bring himself to leave the window. Louis was out there with Niall having fun running about, teaching him little techniques for better form. How to control the ball better when running, how to ensure your pass is better aimed while everyone is moving, and the best part of your boot to hit the ball when you’re shooting at the goal. It was amazing to watch Louis in action.
Harry had seen him with kids often, of course. All of his charity work with childrens’ foundations - and his siblings, of course - allowed Harry to ruminate on how wonderful he would be as a father, but seeing him with a child that, for all intents and purposes, was theirs ? Harry could hardly contain the warmth that was constantly filling him these days. If it were possible, it was as if he loved Louis even more. He could only imagine what the next days would bring.
XXX
Niall at thirteen was...mostly fine. He stuck to his room and did God knew what in there outside of meals (especially considering, last he knew, all that was in that room was a playpen and two toddler beds), but it was only when Harry finally went to see what was in “his” room that Niall finally really spoke to him that day.
“Hey, Pop,” Niall said morosely.
Harry should probably be a bit more worried about Niall’s state of mind, but he was frozen in the doorway. The room was covered in posters, clothes were strewn on the floor, and Niall was playing what looked to be a vintage Goldeneye game on a ridiculously sized television. Was he the kind of parent that allowed his kids to have TVs in their rooms?
“Uh, hey…” he finally responded, still taking in the changed surroundings. “So, what’s up? You don’t seem quite your normal self today.”
Niall paused his game and bit his lip. “I’m fine, why do you say that?”
Harry stopped paying attention to the room and focused in on Niall. “Really? You think I don’t know you better than that after all these years?”
A peek of a smile appeared on Niall’s face, and Harry began to traverse the dark and dangerous path across the teenager’s room.
Once he made it to Niall’s bed, he took the controller from his hand, set it on the nightstand, and settled himself with his back against the headboard just like Niall was. “Well? Gonna let me know what’s going on with you or should I just start to guess?”
Niall rolled his eyes. “Right, I’m sure you could guess.”
Harry scrunched up his face animatedly. “Hmmm...it could be that your room smells like teenage boy and dirty socks? That’s a rather unpleasant combination, by the way.”
Niall cackled his signature laugh. At least that hadn’t changed. “Nah, that’s about the norm these days.”
Harry hummed his agreement before throwing out another option. “You only ate four slices of pizza for dinner instead of your usual seven?”
“That was disappointing, wasn’t it?” Niall quipped.
“Okay, so not the pizza.” Figuring Niall was probably done with the messing around and ready to actually handle the issue at hand, Harry went to what he thought 13 year old Niall might be worked up about. “Is it a girl?”
Niall’s head turned so fast, Harry was afraid he might have broken his neck. He was biting his lip, a tell that he was trying to hold back from telling the truth but would spill the beans shortly.
Slowly, he began to nod.
“Want to tell me about her?”
“God, papa, she’s so pretty!” Niall went on for what Harry was sure was closer to 30 minutes than the five the clock told him it had been describing how amazing and kind and smart she was, and honestly, if she really was that smart Harry could understand the appeal.
“So what’s the problem then? She sounds great.”
Niall huffed a sigh as he leaned his head on Harry’s shoulder. “What if she doesn’t like me?” he whispered.
Harry wrapped his arm around Niall and pulled him closer so he could snuggle into his side before answering.
“What’s not to like?” Niall began to huff and before he could complain about Harry being biased, Harry continued. “No, seriously. You are amazing! You’re so smart, you’re kind to everyone, you’re hilarious, you’re talented at pretty much everything you try, you make everyone feel happy to just be around you, and you’re handsome! So, I’m being serious. You are an amazing catch, okay?”
Harry could tell by the way Niall was breathing, that he was crying and trying to hide it. He wondered how long this Niall had been liking this girl and if this girl is someone from his Niall’s past or what, but none of that changed the fact that the Niall currently in his arms obviously felt strongly about this and he needed words of affirmation.
“I say go for it. Tell her how you feel, ask her on a date. If she’s really stupid enough to say no to you, then she’s not as great as you just told me she was and you’ll find someone else when you’re ready to try again. Yeah?”
Niall nodded and buried his head further into Harry’s chest. He began to stroke Niall’s hair soothingly and kissed the top of his head until he was done.
“You good?” Harry whispered.
“Yeah.”
“Good.” Harry handed Niall his controller back, but grabbed one for himself as well. “I’m a bit rusty, but I bet I can still beat you on this.”
The laughter and fun they had was something Harry hoped he wouldn’t forget once all of this was over.
XXX
Harry woke up to Louis shaking his shoulder. “Hazza. Haz! Do you hear that?”
Blinking his eyes to clear them of sleep, Harry listened intently until he heard some bumps coming from downstairs.
“Yeah, what is that?” He sat up fully and tried to find his phone in the dark so he could see the time.
“I don’t know, but it’s almost 4 in the morning. We should check it out.”
Harry nodded, even though he knew that Louis likely wouldn’t be able to see him in the darkness. “We set the alarm before bed last night, right?”
“Yeah, I did it after the movie we watched.”
Harry nodded his head. The three of them had watched The Empire Strikes Back because according to 13 year old Niall, they were watching Star Wars every Tuesday in chronological order. They weren’t about to complain and had a great time, all of them heading to bed around 11. Less than five hours sleep didn’t make Harry very happy, especially when he didn’t know who or what was down there and why.
He reached for the baseball bat his mum had made him keep beneath his bed since he refused a gun and began to quietly sneak down the hall. It was when he heard the giggling that happened after another gentle bump that Harry realized who it was.
“Niall? Is that you?” he called downstairs.
“Fuck,” Niall said before giggling again. “I’ve been caught!”
“What the hell is wrong with you?” Louis asked, making Harry jump. He had been so quiet, Harry didn’t realize he’d come up right behind him.
His question only seemed to spur more giggles from Niall though.
“Nothing’s wrong! Just trying to get to bed without you knowing I wasn’t here. Whoops!”
“He’s drunk,” Harry groaned. “The legal drinking age here is 21, he’s way too young to have alcohol!”
“I know, fuck,” Louis agreed before taking charge. “So, how much did you have to drink?”
Niall gasped. “How do you know I drank anything?”
“Well you sure as hell aren’t sober, so just answer his question,” Harry said sharply. His tone seemed to be what was needed to get Niall to talk.
“Uh. I dunno. A lot, I guess.”
“Mmhmm. Beer? Or something else?” Louis continued.
“Uh, mostly beer, but some other stuff too. I think.”
Harry flicked on the light and saw Niall squinting and swaying at the bottom of the stairs.
“Hey,” he protested. “Wha’dya do that for?”
“You’re going to be so fucked in the morning,” Harry informed him before going down to help him up the stairs and to his room.
“Pop! You said fucked in front of me!” Niall giggled, poking Harry in the chest while Harry focused on dragging the completely inebriated boy to his room. Hopefully it was in a better state for this Niall than it had been for yesterday’s.
“I did, mostly because you won’t remember when you wake up again. Up you go,” Harry instructed once they got to the top step. Louis had disappeared, hopefully to get a paracetamol and water. Niall would definitely need it in the morning.
He hip checked the door open and was relieved to find that while not much had changed, there were significantly fewer clothes littering the floor making the journey much more safe.
Once he deposited Niall on the bed, he was pleased to see he had taken off his shoes already, so Harry decided he could sleep in his clothes. The discomfort would serve him right. He’d just placed the trash can next to the bed when Louis came in with two glasses of water and a bottle of pain meds.
“Here, drink up, then you can sleep.” He forced Niall to take one of the glasses while he put the other on the nightstand with the pills. Niall slurped the entire thing down without taking a breath and then burped loudly.
“Hey, didja hear that?! That was awesome!”
“Yes, I’m quite proud,” Harry said sarcastically, but Niall didn’t notice. He and Louis helped him position himself on his side and propped pillows behind him so he couldn’t roll onto his back and hoped that would be enough. They pulled his blankets up and as they were about to say goodnight, Niall grabbed Harry’s wrist.
“You’re being a lot cooler about this than I thought you’d be.”
Louis snorted from behind Harry.
With a warning smile on his face, Harry only answered, “That’s because I’m waiting until morning for the good stuff. I want to make sure you remember it.”
The smile slid off Niall’s face but he let go of his arm. “Night, Dad. Night, Pop. Love you.”
“Night, love.” They turned off the rest of the lights and closed the doors needed before checking to be sure the alarm was actually turned back on.
“Well,” Louis said as they climbed back into bed themselves. “That was fun.”
Harry huffed a laugh. “Brought back some memories for me, to be honest.”
“Me too,” Louis giggled. “We’ve gotta make him pay like our mums made us when we messed up, yeah?”
“Oh, absolutely. But let’s get some sleep first. Unless he wakes up puking, I don’t think he’ll be waking up anytime soon.”
“Night, babe.”
“Night, love.”
XXX
They had started to get into a good rhythm, they thought. Every day was something new when it came to Niall, but it was almost fun to see what that was. Today was probably the day that they found out if they would always have this new Niall that was somehow theirs in a way they’d never expected, or if they’d get their bandmate back.
Louis was on a call with his mum and Harry was eating some cereal while checking his emails when Niall came walking downstairs.
“Hey, mate,” he said. “I had the most vivid dream, and I thought that’s all it was, but I’m like...here?”
Harry laughed, incredibly relieved to hear his friend speaking in his natural Irish accent again. “What kind of dream?”
Laughing a little before grabbing a bowl so he could join Harry for breakfast at the table, Niall said, “I was like, actually your kid. And you were raising me. We did all kinds of awesome shit and you two were like, the best parents ever. You were my larents!”
Harry laughed along with it, not giving anything away.
After shoveling some cereal in his mouth, Niall said, “I just have no idea how I got from London out here to LA. I should have remembered that, right?”
Harry started laughing and it wasn’t his fault that he couldn’t stop until there were tears rolling down his eyes.
“You seriously don’t remember anything from the past five days outside of this ‘dream’ where we were your parents?” Harry asked.
Niall’s eyes widened. “ Days ?!”
Harry nodded. “Yeah. You must have been more wasted than you realized.”
They both laughed about that, but as Louis came to join them and patted Niall on the back, Niall got a wistful look in his eyes. “You two really were the best parents ever. I loved my larents. You were everything I’d imagined.”
Louis cocked an eyebrow at Harry who just shook his head. There really wasn’t any other way to describe the past several days, especially now that they had their Niall back, so what harm could it do to let him believe he had partied too hard to remember the past several days?
“Well, of course we were, Ni! We’re the dream team.”