Settle Down

Olivia’s POV (after whipped cream fight)

“Ignore these idiots.” Niall said, stuffing his sticky hands into his pocket.

I laughed, climbing the stairs and gripping the railing tightly for support. I wandered down the bright hallway, peeking into rooms in search of a shower. I poked my head into a room at the end of the hall, noticing the open luggage on the floor and the unmade bed. This must be Harry’s room.

I walked past it, finally finding a bathroom, and pushed the door open. I flicked the light switch, and they snapped on, revealing the white and grey room. I clicked the door shut behind me, turning the complicated shower on before slowly stripping out of my sticky clothes. I stepped into the shower, sighing as the warm water cascaded over my body. I immediately relaxed, standing still as I watched the water stream over my protruding abdomen. I looked around the shower, finding some body wash to use to remove the lingering smell of sweet whipped cream. I scrubbed my body down, rinsing my hair off thoroughly. After a few minutes I shut the shower off and stepped out, snatching a large fluffy white towel off the back of the door and wrapping it around my torso.

My tangly wet hair clung to my back as I sneaked out of the bathroom and into Niall’s room in search of some clean clothes. I located the closet, making my way over to the large walk-in and gazed around the mostly empty room. I opened drawers, finally finding a pair of pajama pants and an oversized run for the cure 2016 shirt. It was slightly snug in the abdomen, but would do. I ran my fingers through my hair quickly, ringing it out.

“I thought I would find you in here.” A familiar husky voice said.

“Harry, what are you-“

“Hey, can we talk?” He asked, concern lacing his tone.

“Sure, what about?” I replied wearily, crossing my arms across my chest.

“Liv, I’m sorry for what I did to you. No girl deserves to be treated that way. I was an asshole, and I feel terrible for what I did.”

“Harr-“

“Just- please, just hear me out.” He said, taking a large, shaky breath. “I-I couldn’t sleep for weeks after everything went down. It was bad. I got into smoking, alcohol. I just- I couldn’t forgive myself.” He confessed, brushing his palms off on his pants. “What I just wanted to ask was- would you please forgive me?”

“I- I- of course I will.” I smiled slightly. I was only making amends with Harry for Niall; I didn’t want anything to stand in the way of their friendship.

“Good, good. Thank you.” He took a step towards me, his eyes flicking up to meet mine. We stared at each other silently for a moment, his eyes flicking briefly between my lips and my eyes. My lips parted slightly, and I bit the inside of my mouth nervously.

“If you want me to stop, I’ll stop.” Harry whispered huskily. He leaned forwards, making eye contact before his lips touched mine. My breath hitched in anticipation, but the kiss was not what I expected it to be. I backed up after a few brief moments, slightly leaning out of his touch. Harry backed up as well, looking at me lovingly.

“That’s our goodbye kiss, Hazz.” I rubbed his shoulder, giving him a small peck on the cheek before slowly making my way out of the room. I stood at the top of the steps, wiping my eyes with the backs of my hands quickly before bounding down the steps to be met with a grumpy Niall.

“What were you doing outside?” I asked, trying my best to sound energetic.

“Oh, I just needed some fresh air.” He smiled grimly, looking down at the floor.

“Hey, what’s wrong? You look upset.” I walked up and rubbed his arm, frowning.

“Nothing.” He replied harshly, jerking out of my touch and down towards the kitchen.

A/N- now were zooming off to the morning, I just wanted to put this bit in to calm you guys down. No more Olivia/Harry.

-

“MORNING MORNING MORNING!” Someone yelled. I felt the foot of the bed dip, and suddenly it was shaking. I opened an eye lazily, noticing the five boys jumping around both beside and on the bed.

“Wake up sleepy head.” Niall murmured in my ear. I barely hear him over the boy’s screaming, but I could tell he was there from his hot breath on my ear.

“Fine, fine I’m up.” I sat up, taking in the scene around me. All the boys were shirtless and in their underwear, and many of them were covered in flour. Zayn had a flour handprint on his back that I don’t think he’d noticed yet.

“What are you-“

“We made pancakes! We wanted you to try them!” Niall said excitedly, pulling me by the hand out of the bed. The boys dashed down the hall, sliding down the railings. I wobbled after them, my wrist clasped firmly in his warm hand. He led me down the stairs slowly, speeding up when we got to the bottom.

“Try them!” Liam shoved the plate towards me. I took a seat in the barstool, cutting up and then taking a bite out of the massive stack of pancakes. The boys looked like excited kindergarteners.

“Mm, those are so good.” I mumbled. Harry and Zayn high fived, then went back to making more on the griddle. I continued eating, pausing to take a sip of water. Niall took a seat beside me, watching the boys put batter in each other’s hair.

“I have to go to a party tonight; for our old record label.” Niall started.

“Oh really? When will you be heading off?”

“Well, I was wondering if you want to come with me. As my date.”

“I-“

“It would only be for publicity of course.” He nodded.

Of course it’s only for publicity; why would he want to take you out on a date anyways? I thought solemnly to myself.

“Sure. What should I wear?”

“That lace dress would be perfect for it.”

“Ok, I’ll wear that then.” I forced a smile at Niall, and then turned back to my stack of pancakes. “I’m not hungry. You guys have these.” I pushed the plate away, sliding off the stool.

“I’m going to take a shower.” I started down the hall, the boy’s shouts getting quieter and quieter. I huffed up the stairs, slowly padding towards my room. I pushed the door open, stepping over sleeping bags to make it to the washroom. When I got in I turned on the shower, letting it run warm as I stripped down. I opened the door of the shower with a sigh, letting the steam run out of the glass enclosure before stepping in. The hot water relaxed my tense muscles, and the baby immediately stopped kicking hard, instead only sending out a light kick every few minutes. My mind strayed, and I remembered I had to call my doctor back in Toronto to ask about another check up before the baby was born. I shut off the shower, wrapping myself in a plush towel before stepping into the bedroom.

I perched on the side of the bed and pulled my cell out of its charger. I pressed speed dial one and heard it ring once, twice, before someone picked up.

“Hello, Doctor Moretta’s office this is Amy speaking how may I help you?”

“Amy? Hey, it’s Liv.”

“Oh hey girl, how’ve you been?” Amy chirped.

“I’m great. I wanted to ask a question.”

“Shoot.”

“I’m in LA and was wondering if you could recommend somewhere to get my next ultra sound? I remember Dr. M mentioning I should get one once I’m back from England.”

“Well, you should visit Dr. Blakemore. He’s amazing, and a really great friend of Dr. M’s.”

“Ok, could you get me an appointment with him?”

“Sure, I’ll call you back with the available times.”

“Thanks love.”

“No prob.” She replied, hanging up. I changed quickly into a pair of jeans and a sheer black top. With my phone in hand, I walked over to the washroom and put on some light makeup. Just as I was putting away my toothbrush I heard a knock at the door.

“Come in!” I called, just as my phone started ringing. Niall strode into the room, taking a seat in the bed as I leaned against the doorframe and answered the phone.

“Hey girl, so he has a spot for you, but it’s a little last minute because one of his patients couldn’t make it.”

“Sure, when is it?”

“Today, at three.”

“Today?” I gasped, taking a seat beside Niall.

“Yeah, do you think you can make it?”

“Uh, yeah one sec.” I told Amy, holding my hand over the phone.

“Niall, do you think you could drive me to the doctors today? There's an opening for an ultrasound at three.”

“Yeah, of course.” He nodded.

“Ok, I’ll take it. Thanks love, bye.” I hung up.

“You have an ultrasound? Can I- can I- come?” He smiled excitedly.

“Of course you can.” I smiled, standing up and brushing my shirt off. “What time is it now?”

“It’s two now, we’ll leave in twenty.”

“Ok, I’m just going to get ready. I’ll be downstairs in ten.” I shot back over my shoulder, stepping back into the washroom. I pulled my hair into a messy high ponytail, bobby pinning the top. After ten minutes I emerged from the room, picked a pair of combat boots off the floor and dashed out into the hall. I made my way down the stairs, smiling when I walked up to the living room. The boys were all spayed out on the furniture, half of them in food comas.

“Liv! Liam said he got to feel Ethan kick last night!” Zayn said from his perch on the love seat.

“Ethan? Who’s Ethan?” I asked, taking the only empty seat in the room next to Zayn.

“It’s what Niall wants to call the baby!” Liam piped up from beside Niall, who was now blushing.

“You want to call him Ethan?” I asked Niall.

“Yeah, I like that name.” He half-whispered, looking down at his hands.

“I love that name.” I smiled at Niall, who finally looked up and made eye contact.

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

“So Liv, can I feel Ethan kick?” Zayn asked, pouting his lips and giving me puppy dog eyes.

“Sure, but he hasn’t been kicking much today. He kicks a lot when Niall’s around though, get him to come over.” I whispered to Zayn, taking his wrist and flattening out his hand.

“Niall! Come over here.” Zayn called.

“Why?”

“Just come.” Zayn huffed. Niall stood up reluctantly, scuffling over.

“Is something wrong?”

“Give me your hand.” I instructed, reaching my hand out. He placed his hand in mine, and I put both men’s hands on the side of my stomach.

“Feel that?” I took my hand off theirs, letting them move their hands themselves.

“Ooh, us too!” Liam yelled, taking Harry’s arm and dragging his over. I smiled as Liam placed a reluctant Harry’s hand along with everyone else’s.

I flinched, giggling slightly “It tickles!”

“What tickles? This?” Niall laughed, tickling my sides. I cried in laughter, jumping up and dashing away.

“No, tickling is not okay.” I huffed, leaning on the back of a chair for support.

“Shoot, what time is it?” Niall’s expression went from carefree to worried in an instant.

“Three thirty, why?”

“Crap, Liv, we gotta go.” Niall ran up to me, taking my arm and hustling me out the door.

“Where are you off to?” Liam asked.

“An ultrasound.” I smiled, tugging on my boots.

“Ohh you have to show us the pictures of Ethan!” Louis grinned, clapping his hands excitedly. “Bye bye!” He called as we stepped out the door. Niall closed it, patting his back pocket and pulling out a car key. I followed him to the side of the house, carefully stepping across the slightly damp grass. Niall waved hello to the two men who were trimming the hedges in the front of the yard.

“Hello Niall, how’ve you been?” One called out.

“I’ve been doing well, thanks. You?”

“Good, good. The usual, ya know?”

“Well, have a nice day!” Niall finished, opening the side gate. He pressed a button on the key chain, causing the garage door to slide open. When it was fully open he stepped in, unlocking the doors to a black BMW. We hopped into the car, and I relaxed into its plush seat.

“Do you know where his office is?” I asked, buckling up my seatbelt.

“Yeah, my doctor is in the same office.” He replied, sticking the key into the car and turning it, causing the car to purr. He pulled slowly out of the driveway, turning down the road and starting his way.

“So Ethan. You like that name?”

“Y-yeah. We don’t have to name him Ethan, I just liked the name and I mentioned it to the boys-“

“Hey, I like that name; A lot. Is that what you wanna call him?”

“Well, yeah. I mean- don’t feel pressured to or anything just because I like the name.”

“Niall, I love the name Ethan.” I patted his hand, smiling.

-

Twenty minutes later we were pulling up to the office, frantically dashing out of the car and into the lobby.

“I think she said it was on the fourth floor.” I told Niall ad we stepped into the elevator. “Fourth floor, ok, here we go.” I said, pressing the fourth floor button.

“We have five minutes. I’m sure we’ll be fine.” Niall soothed.

The doors finally slid open, and we shot out, looking around for the office.

“This way, its this way.” Niall took my arm, leading me over to an office and opening the door. I stepped in, walking up to the receptionist with Niall in tow.

“Hi, I have an appointment at four with Doctor Blakemore?”

“Oh, yes. You must be Olivia. Take a seat, he’ll be out soon.”

“Here, lets just sit.” I huffed, slightly out of breath from running down the hall.

“Your out of breath?” Niall smirked slightly.

“Hey! You try running ten meters while your eight months pregnant.” I laughed, taking a seat on one of the chairs. I picked up one of the magazines, flipping through without really reading the pages.

“Niall Horan, last place I thought I would’ve seen you.” A male voice called out. I looked up, noticing none other than the Justin Bieber walk towards us.

“Hey mate, I didn’t know you were in LA.” Niall stood up, giving him a man hug.

“Yeah, I just got here a few nights ago. Just gotta go for a routine check up. You know, the usual.” Justin smiled.

“Yeah, yeah. Hey, are you going to the AMA’s?” Niall asked.

“Yeah, I’ll be there. Are the rest of the boys in LA?”

“There all here. Liam is leaving soon then coming back for the AMA’s, but other than that we’ll be here all November.”

“Great. We have to do something; your birthday is in two days. What are you doing for it?”

“Not really sure yet actually.” Niall laughed.

“Who’s this?” Justin asked, smiling down at me. I stood up, standing next to Niall.

“Justin, this is my girlfriend, Olivia. Liv, this is Justin.”

“Nice to meet you.” I said, shaking hands.

“Is- is it yours?” Justin asked, motioning to my swollen belly.

“Yeah, it is.”

“Congrats man! I didn’t know you were expecting!” Justin congratulated.

“Well, I didn’t really tell many people. Didn’t want everyone knowing until now.”

“Yeah, that makes sense.” Justin nodded.

“Olivia? You can go in now.” The receptionist called from behind her desk.

“Well, mate it was nice seeing you. Shoot me a text and we can meet up” Niall waved.

“Of course. I’m down.” Justin nodded, stuffing a hand in his pocket. “See ya!”

We followed the petite receptionist into the office, where she instructed me to sit on the table. I sat down, getting confortable and laughing at Niall’s suddenly nervous expression.

“Hey, it’ll be fine.” I patted his hand, which was resting on the armrest of my chair. He smiled weakly, looking green in the face.

“Sorry about the whole girlfriend thing. Its just that’s what I want people thinking for now and-“

“Hey I understand. It’s okay.”

I was about to speak up again when the doctor strode in.

“Hello Olivia, how are you?”

“Good, thank you.” I replied politely.

“So, tell me how far along you are.” The doctor sat down on a small stool, wheeling himself over to the side of the table.

“Well, I believe around eight months?”

“Around eight months? You haven’t been following week by week?”

“Well, no, not exactly.” I replied meekly.

“Around when do you believe he was conceived?” He motioned to my abdomen with the tip of his pen. I glanced over to Niall, who was blushing ever so slightly.

“Um, late January, probably around the- uh, twenty seventh?”

“So since it’s the eleventh now, I would say you’re about, 32 weeks?”

“Thirty two weeks?” I gasped, my mouth slightly ajar.

“Yes, that’s right. From the twenty seventh to now-“ The doctor seemed to do some calculations in his head. “Yes. Thirty-two weeks yesterday.”

I stared at Dr. Blakemore, a small pit forming in my stomach. I had no idea he would be coming so soon.

“So, could you please lift up your shirt and we can do the ultrasound, just to make sure everything’s running smoothly.”

I lifted up my shirt, and cringed as he squeezed a cold, clear gel all over my stomach. He flicked on a screen, and then took the wand out of its holder, placing it on my abdomen. He moved it around for a few moments, staring intently at the screen until a good picture came up.

“Ah! Here we go.” He smiled, pointing to the monitor. There was a fuzzy black and white picture of the baby, his tiny fists clenching and unclenching.

“Ohmygosh.” I whispered. I glanced over at Niall, smiling over at him.

“And here’s the heartbeat.” The doctor said, flicking a switch. Immediately the steady sound of swooshing filled the room. I held back tears, staring at the tiny picture of Ethan on the screen.

“Wow.” Niall breathed, his gaze flicking between the monitor and I.

“I’ll print out some pictures for you and a recording of his heartbeat. Everything looks to be ok, and he seems to be moving downwards. I would expect that he could be coming any time within the next four weeks.”

“That soon?” I breathed.

“First time mothers usually give birth four to five weeks give or take of the due date.”

-

We stepped out of the lobby and back outside, the warm breeze whipping my hair around. I followed Niall silently to the car, the pictures and recording held tightly in my hand. We walked up to the car, and I smiled as Niall opened the passenger door for me, then making his way over to the driver’s side. I slid in, glancing down at the pictures in my hands.

“Do you want one?” I asked, offering the stack of pictures.

“Yes, please.” Niall smiled shyly, accepting the picture I handed over. He then put the key in the slot, turning off the road and going in the opposite direction of home.

“Where are you going?”

“To go buy some baby stuff.” He answered, putting on his right turn signal.

“What? Where is there a baby store near here?” I laughed, taking in Niall’s confident expression.

“I remember seeing one just round here when I got lost on the way home one time.” He looked around, squinting his eyes in the bright light. “Here we go!” he cheered, pulling into the parking lot of a large mall. He pulled into the family parking spot, which was situated right in front of the store.

“The family spot? Isn’t that for people with babies?” I asked, opening the car door.

“And pregnant people.” Niall replied. He pulled his phone out of his pocket, checking it briefly before putting it back. “After you.” He smiled, opening the door. I stepped in, happy to be greeted with cold air conditioning.

“So what exactly do we need?” I asked, trailing over to a plush looking blue blanket.

“Well, we can put his crib in your room for now. So I guess a crib, bottles, some toys?” Niall furrowed his eyebrows, absentmindedly stroking the blanket.

“Hello, do you need any help?” A sales woman strode up, a huge grin plastered on her face.

“Yeah, we need baby stuff.” Niall said.

“What type of stuff?”

“Everything.” I answered, smiling slightly.

“Wow. Well, let’s start off with furniture then. What color would you like?” She started walking away quickly, still talking as she moved.

“Well, I guess white.” I replied slowly, trying to catch up with the runaway saleswoman.

“Okay, so you’ll need a crib, a changing table, and a rocker.” The woman, Jean, chirped.

“Ooh, I like that one.” I touched a large wooden crib. It was painted white and had light blue bedding.

“Well, what’s really nice about this one is the bedding’s removable. So if there are any more kids, and you wanna change up the colour, you can just untie it like this.” Jean displayed, pulling the ties on either side of the bed. I glanced over at Niall, who had visibly paled at the mention of ‘more kids.’

“Niall, do you like this one?” I asked, running my hand along the length of the crib.

“Uh, sure.” He choked out, staring at the crib menacingly.

Jean’s gaze flicked between Niall and I, staring at us dumbly. “You know what, I recognize you from somewhere. Do I know you?” Jean placed her hands on her hips, smiling up at Niall.

“Well I was in a band. You may know me from that.”

“Oh really? What was your little bands name?” Her accent was extremely perky and southern. It made me want too slap her across the face. Hard.

“One direction? Not sure if you’ve heard of it.” Niall played dumb, shrugging and putting his hands in his pockets.

“Well you bet my buttons I have! The british band, right?”

“Yeah.”

“You know what, I had a friend who was ob-sessed with you guys. She always talked obsessively about the blond one. I’m not sure what his name is though.” She frowned comically, placing her hands on her hips.

“Well I used to be blond?” Niall shrugged.

“My goodness gracious, you’re the Niall one aren’t you?”

“Yeah, I am.” Niall laughed.

“Wow, that’s so cool! I thought she said you were Irish. What are you doing here in LA?”

“Well I’m here for the AMA’s.” Niall replied sheepishly.

“Well how nice.” Jean grinned widely. “Now, did you like this crib? Or should I show you some others?”

“I like this one, how about you Nialler?”

“We’ll take it.”

-

It took a whole of three hours to shop for everything we needed. Pacifiers, burping cloths, wipe warmers? It was so much more than I thought it would be.

“That was exhausting.” I sighed, flicking on the radio as Niall pulled out of the parking lot. The back seats were filled with four large bags of baby stuff.

“The people will be at the house at seven to drop off the furniture. I’ll get Hazz to help me put it all together.”

“Niall?” I said quietly.

“Yeah?”

“Thank you.” I whispered, placing my hand on his. As we pulled up to a red light Niall looked over, a smile on his face.

“Why are you crying?” He asked, a frown tugging the corners of his lips.

“Its just- you’ve done so much for me Niall. How will I ever repay you?” I sniffled, looking down into my lap. I felt him take my land in his, and I closed my eyes to block out the tears. He ran his thumb over my hand, stroking it gently.

“I didn’t do anything to deserve you.” I mumbled to myself. I wasn’t even sure if Niall heard me over the music playing out of the radio. I just wanted to hear myself say it instead of think it. I didn’t do anything to deserve you; but what did I do not to have you? I thought solemnly. I droned out everything, except for the gentle hum of music playing out of the speakers, and the feeling of Niall’s touch. It gave me shivers even to feel him brush against me.