Little Misunderstandings [Sequel to Little Steps]

Aria’s P.O.V.

“She likes monkeys,” I insisted, throwing a wad of paper at Niall.

“I swear, it’s lions.”

“Oh my god, Niall.” I groaned. “I know what my daughter does and does not like. She likes monkeys, not lions. She thinks lions have too much hair and they need to shave.”

“How does she even know what shaving is?” Niall argued. “She’s three years old.”

I chuckled and looked down at the ground. “Okay, so maybe that’s what I think about lions, but seriously ,she likes monkeys.”

“Fine,” Niall groaned. “Nate likes anything artsy, right?”

“Yeah.”

To make things clearer, Niall and I were trying to plan out decorations and party favors for Nicolette’s and Nate’s birthday party. We had been trying to plan for the past two hours which mainly consisted on us arguing over what each one liked.

“Whatever,” I shrugged. “Corryn and Harry are coming over in a bit to help out, since all we do is fight when we try to handle things ourselves.”

“Hey,” Niall frowned. “You started it.”

“Did not.”

“Did too.”

“No I didn’t.”

“Yes you did, Ari.”

“Shut up!” I yelled, throwing yet another wad of paper at Niall. We stared each other down before falling to the floor laughing. Geez, we were such bipolar children. Once we got back into our seats, Niall’s expression became much more serious.

“So, what exactly are we going to get them?”

“I thought you would know, Mr. Know-It-All.”

Niall started jamming out to Kelly Clarksons Mr. Know-It-All in an incredibly obnoxious voice. The disadvantages of being married to a singer.

“Niall., shut up. We really need to figure things out. Their birthday is in two weeks and we haven’t even handed out invitations yet.”

“So?” Niall shrugs. “All we have to do is call the guys, who needs invitations? We can just walk across the street to Chrissy’s to invite her, and my mum is already coming anyways.”

“Wait,” I grabbed his arm. “Maura’s coming?”

Niall squeezed his eyes shut and cursed. “Shit, shit, shit. It was supposed to be a surprise. Damn my stupid big mouth.”

“Oh my god,” I squealed, grinning like a maniac. “Why didn’t you tell me earlier, you little fart?”

“DId you just call me a fart?” Niall snorted, trying to hold in a laugh.

“Well, you are natural, and you smell bad, so it makes sense.” I shrugged, giving him a flirtatious wink. NIall chuckled and stuck his tongue out at me. I snorted mentally. Where did all his manliness go? Normally he would tackle me down for insulting him and tickle the shit out of me.

The doorbell rang and Nicolette screamed from upstairs, saying, “I’ll get it!”

“No young lady!” I yelled back, making my way to the front door. “You stay in your room. If I come up there and you’re not in your bed, no food for a week!”

No long did I hear Nicolette yelling.

The window repairing guys had come earlier this week to fix up the broken window in Nicolette’s room. The had asked what happened and Niall and I hadn’t even had a sure answer to the question. I still felt really guilty for not telling Niall thoroughly about the note I had found near the window sill the day of the break in. I had tried to tell him, but he had brushed it off so quickly.

I opened the front door and Niall came up behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist from behind me. Corryn and Harry stood at the doorstep with their normal cheeky grins.

“Hey, Ari!” Corryn squealed, attacking me with a huge hug. Niall let go off me to say hi to Harry with bro-hug and some weird handshake they had made up a while back.

“Corryn!’I gasped. “You changed your hair!”

“Yeah,” she blushed. “Brown in my natural hair color.”

Oh. I thought she was naturally blonde. You know, because of her dumbness.

“So,” Harry grinned as he kissed my cheek. “I hear two cutie pies are having a party soon.”

“Shut up,” I slapped Harry’s arm. “It’s supposed to be a surprise.”

“You go Ari,” Corryn giggled. “Yell at him because I’m running out of the energy to do so myself.” She gestured to her slightly growing stomach. I realized that I still hadn’t told her about my pregnancy. I would need to tell her soon or else she’d get all emotional and hate me for not telling her earlier.

The four of us sat down on the sofa, me with a clipboard in my hand. Corryn sat beside me while Harry and Niall sat on the parallel sofa.

“Have you two decided the theme yet?” Harry began, pushing his hair back.

“We were thinking artsy monkeys.” Niall answered his question. Harry got a sour look on his face which pretty much demanded an explanation.

“Nicolette really likes monkeys and Nate likes art, so we kind of combined them together,” I explained. Harry nodded and Coryn just looked lost.

“Why are their parties on the same day?” she asked, scratching her head. “Wouldn’t it be better for each of them to have their own parties when it’s their own birthdays?”

“Cory, their twins.” I snorted, facepalming myself. Niall chuckled and Harry burst into laughter.

“Right,” Corryn blushed. “I forgot.”

“What if you make the theme monkeys, but the little things to do are all artsy?” Harry suggested. “You could do face painting and give out those shitty little coloring books in the goodie bags.”

“Hey,” Niall said. “That actually sounds like a good idea. Besides, I don’t know where we would get artsy monkey’s from.”

I quickly wrote down Harry’s idea before I forgot and listened and Corryn gave some of her ideas. BY the end of two hours, we had come up with a list load of ideas for the party. I was more than happy with the results, except for Corryn’s occasionally dumb blonde moments. But wait, she's naturally a brunette. Ah, screw it. It cracked me up how she had forgotten my kids were twins.

We talked over lunch until Nate and Nicolette came downstairs, looking for a drink of water. When they saw Corryn and Harry at the table, their smiles grew and they ran up to them. My kids had strong bonds with their “aunts” and “uncles”, and I swear they loved the boys and their wives more than they loved us.

“Why are you here, Uncle Harry?” Nicolette asked, tugging on his pants.

“I’m just hanging out with your mum and daddy.” Harry grinned, picking Nicolette up. I watched as Harry noticed the thick white bandages wrapped around Nicolette’s arm. Damn it. I told Nicolette to stay it her room. His eyes widened and he looked up at me worried.

I shook my head quickly and signaled for him to drop it.

“Hey, Nate,” Corryn cooed, patting Nate’s hair.

“Want to come see my drawing?” Nate asked Corryn.

“Is it a drawing of me?” Corryn giggled, starting to stand up.

“No,” Nate laughed. “It’s a picture of mum and daddy.”

Nate dragged Corryn upstairs and Nicolette followed, claiming that she could draw a picture better than Nate’s even though the world knew Nicolette probably couldn't draw to save her life. Once the three of the could no longer be heard, Harry turned to me with a demanding expression.

“What the hell happened to Nicolette’s arm?”

“About a week ago, someone broke the window in Nicolette’s room. She was sitting right by the window when it shattered so the glass obviously hit her.”

“Shit,” Harry breathed. “Do you know who did it?”

“No,” Niall answered. “There was literally no evidence. Someone probably pressed one of the gadgets that are sort of like a time bomb. They shatter the glass really easily.”

Yes there was evidence, Niall.

“So whoever did it was either trying to break into your house, trying to hurt Nicolette, or trying to prove some sort of point.” Harry said slowly. He looked genuinely worried about the concept.

“Whatever they were trying to do, it pissed me off,” Niall stood up straighter. “Who the fuck would be crazy enough to hurt my daughter? God I swear, if I find out who did it, I will cut their throat.”

Scarlett is crazy enough.

This reminded too much of what had happened to me years ago. The mysterious text messages I had received from someone that I didn’t know. The constant fear I had of someone sneaking up behind me and choking the life out of me. The weeks I had spent being abused by my father while my mother lay dead beside me. The constant guilt I had felt, knowing that everyone around me was in danger because of me. I felt sick to the stomach thinking about it. The rape, the hits, the messages, the fear. The damn fear that had taken over me for such a long time.

My vision started to spin and I grabbed onto the kitchen island to hold myself up.

Scarlett, Scarlett did it.

Scarlett did it.

Scarlett is alive. She’s going to kill me, kill my family, make me go through the pain she went through.

“Aria?”

I couldn’t tell who was calling my name. Harry or Niall? It seemed liked a mixture of both. My breathing was rapid, my heart beating so fast I felt like it would jump out of my body. I tried to keep my balance, holding onto the cold marble. My head spun faster, images of my father throwing me to the ground, stripping me off my clothes taking over my mind. Then, my daughter, lying on her bedroom floor, blood gushing out of her arm. My fathers rough touch, how I had woken up one day to see a hole in my mother’s chest.

I couldn’t pass out.

But as I tried to regain my strength, it just seemed to disappear. My family couldn't go through what I had to go through. Not my daughter. Not Nicolette. Not Nate or Niall. And if they did have to go through that much pain and wreckage, it would be because of me.

Because of me.

When my knees hit the ground, someone grabbed me. The last thing that reached my vision were a pair of green eyes.



Harry’s P.O.V.

I dove to the ground just as Aria’s knees buckled, her body falling into my arms. Niall cursed and ran to get some cold water from the refrigerator.

“Who the hell is Scarlett?” I questioned frantically as Niall pressed water to her forehead.

“Her sister,” he answered, holding Aria’s face up. “Shes been dead for almost twelve years and thats pretty much all I know about her.”

“Why did she keep saying ‘Scarlett did it’?” I asked, pushing Ari's body up into a sitting position.

“I have no fucking clue.” Niall muttered, shaking his head. “I just knew she was hiding something. I can always tell, you know? She gets this really sour look on her face.”

Aria gasped suddenly and her eyes shot open.

“Fuck,” she hissed, holding her stomach. “I’m gonna throw up, Niall.” she groaned.

“Did you take those pills for morning sickness?”

“Yeah,” she gulped. “But I didn’t eat anything with them.”

“But you just-”

Aria got up in a rush, almost falling over in the process. She ran out of the kitchen towards the restroom. I turned to Niall, now more confused than ever.

“Morning sickness?” I asked. “Is she pregnant?”

A small grin hit Niall’s lips. He nodded. “Yeah. About four and a half weeks now.”

“Congrats!” I grinned, taking him into a hug. “But I’m still really confused about this Scarlett chick.”

Niall looked away. “I don’t know if it’s my place to tell you. I think it would be better if you asked Aria. Even I don’t really know what she meant.” Niall’s gaze shifted towards the restroom. “I’ll be right back. Gotta make sure she’s alright.”

He jogged towards the restroom and stepped inside, closing the door behind him.

Well, that was one dramatic moment. I had just discovered that Aria had a dead sister who was apparently haunting her mind, and also that she was expecting a third child. Alot to take in, if you ask me. Niall and Aria returned shortly. Aria looked extremely pale. SHe shot me a small grin and chugged down a glass of water.

“Are you alright?” I asked her as she set the glass down.

Aria nodded. “I guess you know now,” she smiled weakly. “I’m pregnant.”

“Yeah,” I smiled, pulling her to me. “Congratulations, babe.”


“You’re pregnant?”

My fiancee’s voice interrupted the moment. Corryn stood at the entrance to the kitchen holding Nate’s and Colette’s hands in each of hers.

“Yeah,” Aria nodded. Corryn squealed and dropped the kid’s hands, running towards Aria. She nearly suffocated Aria with a tight hug.

“Now we can be pregnant together!” Corryn yelled.

“Mum, what is preg- nun-t?” Nicolette asked Aria.

“Yeah. What is that? Can I have one of those?” Nate added. I almost burst out laughing at their questions, especially Nate’s. A smile grew on Aria’s face. She pulled away from Corryn and opened her arms out to NIcolette. Nicolette ran into them, letting Aria pick her up. While Niall and Aria tried to figure out how to explain Aria’s situation to their kids, Corryn came over to me. I wrapped my arms around her and pressed a kiss to her forehead.

“I want our family to be like them one day,” Corryn whispered to me, pointing at the family of four in front of us.

“They are an amazing family, aren’t they?” I whispered back, hugging my fiancee to my side. Corryn nodded, kissing my jaw.



Aria’s P.O.V.

Niall and I sort of gave up on explaining pregnancy to the kids, because there was no way to explain it without corrupting their minds. Corryn insisted that we have our baby shower together, since we were due around the same time. I was more than glad that she wasn’t pissed at me for not telling her about my pregnancy earlier.

Sooner than I wanted, the kids and I were dropping Niall off at the airport. After he had checked in, he came over to us and scooped Nate and Nicolette into his arms.

“I’m going to miss you guys,” he sighed, peppering their little faces with kisses.

“Can you bring me a monkey from the zoo?” Nicolette asked, holding NIall’s face in her tiny hands. I shot Niall an “I told you so” look. Niall chuckled and kissed Colette’s forehead.

“You bet I will, babe.”

“And can you get me some paint?” Nate tugged on Niall’s hair. “I want blue and red and purple…” Nate went off, listing all the colors that he could think of on his fingers. I couldn’t help but giggle, because little did Nate know, he already had all those colors of paint. He just couldn’t get enough, could he?

With one child in each of his arms, Niall gestured for me to come closer. I gave in and wrapped my arms around his neck. I was sure there were cameras clicking, but I had learned to ignore it. There was really no way to get rid of the paparazzi until fame wasn’t a part of your label anymore.

“Don’t miss me face too much, alright?” I laughed, kissing his cheek.

“Pft,” Niall snorted. “I can go days without seeing your face.”

“Sure,” I rolled my eyes. Niall chuckled and captured my lips with his. I giggled, putting my hands over Nate’s and Nicolette’s eyes as they shouted, “eww” and “gross”. Niall smiled against my lips, his body vibrating ever so slightly with laughter. When the kiss broke, it seemed too short. I wanted to pull him in again and kiss him forever, but I knew if I did that, he’d probably get fired. Niall pecked my lips again and set the children down on the ground.

“Don’t forget a monkey, daddy.” Nicolette grinned, tugging on the bottom of pants khaki shorts. Niall bent down and kissed her hair.

“I won’t princess.”

“Love you daddy.” Nate mumbled, rocking on his feet.

“I love you too, bud.” NIall winked back, giving Nate a fist bump. Nate giggled and leaned against my legs as I stood.

“I better get going,” Niall smiled weakly. It seemed like neither of us ever got used to him leaving, even if it was only for two months or so. The horrible times were when he was on tour for almost a year, two or three years in a row. I didn’t know how he could deal with it. Hell, I didn’t know how I dealt with it. However, I had managed with two kids at their terrible two’s, so I was starting to feel a bit more confident.

“See ya,” I choked, trying to keep my face clear of tears at least until we got home. Niall and I had agreed never to say “goodbye” on occasions like these where he was leaving for a while, because it really wasn’t goodbye. He’d always be back some day, whether it be months or days later. Our bond and trust for each was strong enough though, strong enough to last through tough times like this.

“See ya,” he winked back, kissing me one last time. He started walking backwards, dragging his suitcase with him. He waved and the kids and I waved back. He blew kisses with that overly cheerful smile of his, making my heart quench. Goosebumps appeared on my arms as I thought about spending nearly two months without him at my side to help me out. I didn’t know why I was overthinking this. I had spent countless times without him, let alone for longer periods.
He turned his back to us and headed towards the security check, until we could no longer see him.

“Mum?” Nicolette tugged on the hem of my shirt. I looked down at her, daring tears to fall from my eyes.

“Yes, babe?”

“Why does daddy leave all the time? Why can’t he stay here with us?” Nicolette wondered.

“Yeah,” Nate added on, “he doesn’t like us enough?”

“Of course not,” I gasped, squatting down to take them both into my arms. “He loves you both, but he’s got a much bigger family that he’s gotta make happy. That family is what made us a family, in a way.”

I don’t think they really understood I was talking about the directioner fandom. They just sort of nodded and then pulled me towards the elevators.

Time to be a pregnant mother of two for two months.

I couldn’t wait.

Hip, hip, hooray.

Notes

gah. why. i don't know. whyyyy is this so bad. idk ugh. can we not. ok bye.