Single Father (Ziall Horlik) AU

Chapter 5

Zayn's POV

My alarm clock went off at six thirty in the morning so that I could get ready for work and get Laila ready to come with me. I decided that I was just going to take her with me and see what my boss says. If he wants to fire me just because I brought my daughter into work then he can do that, all that means is I have to find a new job.

I got out of bed and checked on Laila to see if she was still sleeping. I had woken up three times last night to feed her and change her diaper. It had been that way for the past week now, so I was getting used to the routine of things now. She woke up at four last so I knew I had time to get us both ready before feeding her again. She's getting really chubby and it's really cute to see that. It makes me feel like I'm doing something right.

After a quick shower, I shaved my beard up a little and styled my hair. I went back into my bedroom with a towel wrapped tightly around my waist. I was starting to learn that I can't do simple things that I used to do before Laila came along. One thing was walk around naked. Even when I know she's a sleep and just a baby that won't really care, I still feel guilty about it.

I got dressed as fast as I could in some tight black jeans and a light blue button up shirt with a skinny black tie. By now, Laila was just awake and looking around at things. I went and picked her up out of her crib. I made sure to kiss her up and cuddle her a little.

"Good morning, princess. Are you ready to take a bath?" I asked her. She obviously didn't do anything in return to answer me so I just took her to the bathroom  and begin filling up the sink with warm water. She was still a tiny little thing so I've been bathing her in the sink. Well, kind of like a bath. The doctors told me to make sure I don't get the umbilical cord stump too wet, so I've only put a little water and used a cloth to wash her.

I got her in the sink and begin washing her up. Her blue eyes stayed on me and soft little sounds came from her. I laughed and kissed the top of her head then moved down to wash her chubby tummy. That's kind of when my easy morning got stressed. It seems like there hasn't been a single morning that went smoothly for me. They all start that way, but it's just an act to give me a reason to get out of bed. My wash cloth bumped what was left of the umbilical cord and it fell off. Laila didn't do anything like it hurt her, but I freaked out because I wasn't sure what to do. I begin to really freak out when I saw a small amount of blood.

"I'm so sorry!" I cried to my little girl and pressed a dry cloth on her belly. I picked her up and held her close to me as I cried my eyes out. All I knew was I made my little baby bleed and that probably ment it hurt her. She was probably too hurt to even cry or something. I've heard that happens to people.

I ran from the bathroom into my bedroom where my phone was. With my shaking hands and teary vision, some how I managed to call Louis' number. It rang a few times and when he answered I stated telling him what happened, but I was crying so hard that none of my words sounded like words at all.

"Zayn! Pull yourself together and tell me what happened!" Louis yelled at me over the phone. I heard his mum in the background yell at Louis to give her the phone. He told me he was giving it to her, but that didn't make my stop crying. Laila even started fussing a little in my arms

"Sweetheart, what happened? Are you and the baby okay?" Jay asked me calmly. I mumbled to her no and sat down on my bed. I calmed down a little to tell her what happened and kissed Laila on the head when I finished talking.

"That's supposed to happen, love. The small amount of blood is okay too. It's like a scab falling off. That didn't hurt her at all. You didn't do anything wrong." Jay told me calmly. I let out a deep breath of relief and tried to stop crying. Jay kept telling me soothing things that calmed me down. Louis got back on the phone and asked me if I was still there.