“Will you pass the bread?” Zayn asked gently. His mother nodded and grabbed the basket, handing it across the table to her son. Zayn grabbed a piece of bread and gave it to Charlie, who smiled and took a bite wildly, giggling as he ripped into the soft dough.
“So,” Zayn’s mother sighed, “Tell me about…you Zayn. Tell me what I have missed,”
Zayn felt anger boiling in his stomach. She shouldn’t be allowed to just walk in here and ask about his entire life. But Zayn held back his emotions, because he knew that his mother meant well.
“Well…recently, I have just been working, and taking care of Niall and Charlie,” He smiled, leaning over and kissing Niall on the head. Zayn’s mother smiled at him. “I work at the local university as an art teacher. It doesn’t pay a huge salary, but it’s enough to keep us going.”
“I’m…I’m so proud of you,” She breathed.
Zayn then looked to the other side of the table, where his…sisters. Waliyha, Doniya, and Safaa. They were all much like him, tan, with dark eyes and dark hair. They were also beautiful. Zayn felt slightly awkward, introducing his family to his blood relatives. Poor little Niall was having trouble grasping this concept.
“So…how did you find me?” Zayn asked, looking up to his mother, who was picking at her food—something else obviously on her mind.
“Well, actually,” She smiled, “I had told Doniya about you before, and one day she came home with a children’s book in her hand. She works at a daycare, and she showed me to cover. Sure enough, it was you. My beautiful baby,”
Zayn swallowed and dropped his head, trying to grasp all of this. His real family was here, his blood family. But the real question was…why were they here? What did they want after being gone for such a long time?
“What do you want?” Zayn asked, the question coming out a little harshly, Zayn’s mother looked taken aback, her mouth in a tight line.
“To..to meet you…to get to know you. Zayn, you are my son,”
“And you are okay with my life? You aren’t here to…judge me?” Zayn asked, feeling self conscious.
“Of course not,” His mother smiled, reaching across the table and touching his hand gently, “Niall and Charlie are amazing. And you’re an art teacher, nothing could be better,”
And Zayn wanted to yell at her again, because things could have been better. She missed her chance to be here and to help. She hadn’t been there when Niall was raped, or when Charlie was bullied in school. She had missed everything, and she just expected to come back and to fit right in, like it had been perfect all along?
“Things could be better,” Zayn said, running his hands through Niall’s hair as his husband took a bite of his spaghetti.
YOU ARE READING
Patient Love│Ziall Horlik AU *Trilogy*
Fanfiction*Book two* Once upon a time, two boys had a Happily ever after. But what happens after the ending? Where does there life go from there? And what challenges does their Autistic son face, with school, or even socializing with other children? They'll...
