Settle Down

Just as I started opening my eyes I heard some quiet whispering and giggling emanate from somewhere in the room. I rolled over, falling off the couch I was on, and landing on the floor with a thud.

“Shit.” I mumbled, sitting upright and taking in my surroundings. I was sitting on the living room floor; a bunch of still forms sleeping around me. I heard another light laugh, peering around the couch and spotting Liv and Harry in the kitchen. He was peering over her shoulder as she poured coffee into a mug. Her hair was up off her face, and she had a small smile that inched the corners of her lips up. My head ached, and I frowned down at the floor, rubbing my temples in a poor attempt to shake off the constant pounding in my head. I groggily stood up, wobbling a bit not to step on Zayn, who was splayed out on the floor at my feet.

“What the-“ I looked around. The boys were all scattered around the room, including a few girls, and were all sleeping.

“Look who’s finally risen. How was your big night?” Liv chirped, swatting Harry’s roaming hands away.

“Fun, great. But my head’s killing me.” I said, placing my hands on my temples. I walked over to the pair, taking a seat on the barstool.

“Here. Take a few.” Liv said, handing me a bottle of aspirin. She walked over to the sink, pouring a glass of water before placing it in front of me.

“Thanks.” I nodded, chugging two back with water. I glanced around, spotting my phone on the island, and reached over to pick it up. It was half dead, and brimming with messages I must have missed from last night.

“Shit.” I muttered, scanning my phone.

“Whats wrong?” Harry asked, taking a seat beside me and peering over my shoulder.

“I’ve got to meet Justin for lunch at one, and it’s twelve thirty now! Shit.” I jumped off the chair, dashing up the stairs.

Olivia’s POV

“So, what happened last night?” I asked, taking the empty glass off the counter and placing it in the dishwasher.

“It was crazy fun. Dancing, drinking, and the women.” Harry sighed. “Sorry, going into too much detail for a lady friend.”

“Hey! Just because I’m a woman and not a man doesn’t mean you can’t talk to me about that kind of stuff. I’m hip and cool.” I raised my eyebrows, dancing embarrassingly.

“Oh god.” He laughed, hiding his face in his hands.

“Hey, you’re the older one. I’m just playing the role of the old one in this situation.” I shook a finger accusingly, placing my other hand on my hip. “Just remember, when you guys were just staring to be famous I was in grade eight.”

“Oh god, really? Well I’d never thought of it that way.” Harry moaned.

“Morn.” Zayn grumbled, taking Niall’s seat and placing his head on the granite counter. I shook my head, placing two aspirin and a tall glass of water in front of him.

“Drink up, it’ll help.” I nodded towards the glass, setting another down in front of Harry.

“Psh, I don’t need this. I don’t even have a headache. These guys are just a bunch of pussies, that’s all.” Harry scoffed as Louis and Liam trudged up.

“Oh god I haven’t felt this crappy since your birthday party of ’14 styles.” Louis moaned. The two hopped up on the counter, swinging their feet about aimlessly.

Niall ran down the stairs, pulling his shirt over his head. I snuck a peek at his shirtless stomach, my eyes trailing down his abs for a second too long.

“Someone staring?” Harry teased.

“What? Uh- no.” I stumbled.

“Cmon, Niall isn’t even that toned. I bet I could do better.” Harry said, looking around the room.

“No way man. I could beat you any day.” Zayn laughed.

“Oh yeah? Prove it.” Harry stood up, peeling off his shirt. Zayn did the same, bouncing off his chair and unbuttoning his. Harry smirked cockily, flexing his biceps.

“Like what you see?” He winked. I blushed, and kept my eyes downcast as the Louis and Liam rated them on a scale of one to ten.

“Oh god. Boys.” I scoffed, placing my palms flat on my abdomen.

Niall walked up from behind me, whispering in my ear. “I’ll be back ‘round three. Call my cell if it’s an emergency, ok?” His hot breath warmed my jaw, causing my stomach to erupt into butterflies.

“O-ok.” I stuttered, turning around to wave goodbye. In a few short moments he was gone, and you could hear his car revving out of the drive. I watched the door silently, noticing the few girls who were passed out on the floor quietly exit the house, not bidding any goodbyes. Exactly what I thought. They didn’t even know them.

“Can we watch a movie?” Liam asked, running over to the TV and turning it on. Louis ran after him like the little kids they still were at heart.

“Lets watch a Disney movie!” Zayn called, hopping over the top of the couch and landing with a whoosh.

“How about Cinderella?” Harry called, scrambling to join the rest of the boys. I slowly ambled over, watching the boys hard at work.

“Scootch.” I smiled, signaling with my hands for Zayn and Harry to make room. They parted, leaving me a large space in between them. I sat down, and settled into the springy couch as the searched through Netflix.

“Found it!” Someone cheered, selecting the movie. The credits started and I sunk into the couch, propping my feet up on the coffee table in between Harry and Zayn’s.

-

It was about halfway through the movie when my back started to hurt. It throbbed, and no matter how many times I shifted around or readjusted myself the pain was still there.

“You ok? You seem a little restless.” Harry asked, concern lacing his tone.

“Yeah, my back is killing me all the sudden.” I mumbled, stretching to my side while grasping the base of my back.

I relaxed, trying to ignore the throbbing pain and focused on the movie. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed Harry glance over at me every few seconds. Just as I was about to speak up, I felt a cramping sensation in my abdomen. It moved, like a ripple, from my chest to my hips. It was unbearably painful to the point where it brought tears to my eyes.

“Fuck.” I squeaked, grasping the first thing my hand reached for, which, just happened to be Zayn’s knee.

“Liv? W- what’s wrong?” Harry stuttered.

“Crap.” I managed to get out, glancing over at Harry. His eyes were wide, and he looked absolutely terrified. Hell, all the boys did. They all shared the same expression, and looked like they had no idea what to do.

“Are you-?” Louis started, and then stopped midway through the sentence.

“I’ll call Niall.” Liam jumped up, whipping his phone out of his pocket.

“I’ll go with him.” Louis piped, the pair dashing into the kitchen.

I leaned back into the couch, both my palms flat on my stomach as I breathed deeply, trying to calm my suddenly jumpy nerves.

“Oh god I cant believe this is happening now.” I panicked. My fingers trembled slightly and I placed them on my abdomen to hide the shakiness.

“How often do you-“ Harry asked, looking at me nervously.

“Well, they should start around 15-20 minutes apart. When they start to get five-ten minutes we should actually got to the hospital.” I breathed.

“Do you need anything? Water? Food? Where’s your hospital bag, I can go get it for you?” Zayn jumped up.

“Its on my bed. Thank you.” I smiled, watching his disappear down the hall.

“Niall should be here in fifteen.” Louis called from the kitchen. The two boys stayed in the kitchen, exchanging hushed words.

“Got the bag!” Zayn announced, placing it down by the door.

“Harry, do you know if Niall has set up the car seat yet?”

“Um, no. I don’t think he has.”

“Oh shit. We need it to take him home. Here, let me just check if its still in the closet.” I stood up, wobbling over to the closet. Everyone stared at me as if I was a ticking time bomb, about to go off. “Here, its in here.” I mumbled into the closet, dragging out the large cardboard box. “I just-“ I stopped mid-sentence, doubling over with another contraction.

“Uhggg.” I droned, wincing through the excruciating pain. In a moment Zayn was at my side, and had doubled over to eye level, holding my waist gently. I sighed, stretching up as the pain finally subsided, allowing me to stand again.

“This hurts more than they say it does.” I choked, holding a hand to the base of my back and shuffling over to the couch, Zayn at my side. Harry was standing, ready to jump to my aid at any moment. I collapsed into the couch, tensing up slightly as my back pricked.

“We’ll go set up the car seat.” Liam called. The three boys made their way out to the cars, one taking the heavy box and the others following close behind. The second the door clicked shut Harry slowly turned towards me, a mournful look in his eyes.

“You know, sometimes I wonder what it would be like. If it were me, instead of Niall.” He whispered huskily, his emerald eyes roaming my face. I stayed silent, unsure of what to do. Before I had a change to speak Niall barged in the door, flinging it open and leaving it that way as he practically ran over.

“Ohmygod Liv, are you okay? Do you need anything? Oh god, I should have stayed home. I shouldn’t have gone out with Justin.” He said quickly, falling down onto the couch beside me.

“Ni, I’m fine.” I patted his hand reassuringly.

“Okay. Okay.” He nodded, exhaling a large breath through his mouth.

“I’m going to use the loo.” Harry stood up, exiting the room quickly. Niall watched him leave, then moved towards me, placing his arm around me. I moved into his side, resting my head on his shoulder. I inhaled sharply, squeezing his arm tightly as I bent over with another contraction. They were gradually getting stronger, and lasting for longer periods of time.

“How far apart have they been?” Niall asked when the pain finally subsided.

“My last one was about seven minutes ago?” I breathed, closing my eyes.

“We should go now. C’mon.” Niall extended his hand. I took it, allowing him to lead me into the hall. I stuffed my feet into a pair of sandals, and watched Niall closely as he slung my bag over his shoulder.

“Harry! Were going!” He yelled into the house. We then walked outside, where the three boys were all standing outside the large BMW wagon, chatting.

“Are you going?” Louis asked.

“Yep. We’ll take my BMW. I’m not sure how many people we can pile into it though…”

“Liam and I can take Harry in my car. Zayn, why don’t you go with the two of them?” Louis motioned towards us. I smiled at Zayn, who was staring at Louis wide-eyed.

“W-what? Go with the scary pregnant woman and the angsty soon-to-be dad?”

“C’mon Zayn.” I grinned, walking up to the car and opening the passenger side door. He groaned, jumping into the back of the car. I fastened my seatbelt, and then leaned the seat back slightly. Taking a deep breath, I held onto the side of the car as Niall raced out of the driveway and down the street like a madman. I could feel Zayn swiftly grab the back of the seat to stabilize himself as Niall sharply turned a corner.

“Niall, mate calm yourself.” Zayn grumbled. I heard him finally click his seatbelt on; a smart choice when driving at these speeds.

“Niall, if you keep on driving this fast were going to get stopped.”

“Fine, fine.” He mumbled, slowing the car down significantly.

I hitched my breath as another contraction came. It felt so strong, like a shockwave was being sent down my body.

“Oh, god.” I clutched the side id the car tightly, squeezing with all m might.

A few minutes later a wave of relief passed over me as Niall pulled up to the hospital. A quick glance into the side mirror told me the boy’s car was close behind. Niall ran over to the door, opening it for me and shooting me a nervous smile. I climbed out, clutching my back and taking Niall’s outstretched hand.

“Ready?” He asked.

“Ready.”

Niall’s POV

Three and half hours later Ethan Robert Horan was born. Liv sat in the small bed fast asleep, her hair was stuck to her face and was knotted in the back. She was even drooling slightly. I stared down at the tiny bundle in my arms, not believing what I saw. Ethan was perfect. He was wispy, light hair atop his head and light brown eyes. He didn’t cry, he just stared up at me happily, content on watching his surroundings quietly. From the moment I fist held him I had tears in my eyes. It was actually happening; I was a father, I had a son; everything felt so unreal. I could barely believe my luck when those deep brown eyes glanced up at me for the first time; I fell in love instantly. It was hard to believe you could love something this much; for your heart to swell with pride and joy just to look at him. It was another time in my life when I felt truly, gratefully blessed. And I will never forget it.