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It's December 24th - Louis' birthday. He's 39 today. It's also Christmas eve, so everyone's out in the snow on this freezing evening. When I say 'everyone' I mean the boys, their wives and their children, all running around in the softly falling snow.
The sun has faded and the street- and house-lights are flooding the front yard with a yellowish glow; the children are all having the time of their life, catching intricately detailed snow flakes and fighting with balls of white water. The oldest, Amber, Edward, Emily and Chris, are having a snowball fight with their Uncle (or in Edward's case, Dad) Louis; he really hasn't ever grown up. Meg and Annie, both now six years old, are laying on their backs, swishing their arms and legs around in an attempt to make snow angels in the driveway.
In the meantime, the other parents are standing around talking. Nicki, Zayn's five year old, is making snow castles at her mother, (name)'s, feet, and Niall is snuggling with three-year-old Finn, trying to keep the sleeping child warm in the gusty wind that has just picked up.
"Liam, honey, can you take Annie to get her beanie, please?" Danielle, Liam's wife of fifteen years asks before scooping Annie up from the ground and handing her to her father.
"Sure," Liam replies, taking Annie effortlessly and heading for the door, but not before kissing Dani softly.
Annie races ahead of Liam once they reach the threshold of the house, running to her pink Barbie back-pack and swiftly grabbing her matching pink beanie. Liam follows her, squatting to help the young child put on the head-wear. He brushes strands of hazelnut coloured hair from the little girl's eyes and secures the knitted garment with a little bow beneath Annie's chin.
Just as the pair are about to head back outside, something in his peripheral vision catches Liam's attention. "You go on out sweety, I'll be there in a second," Liam smiles to his daughter, a little preoccupied with what he has just seen.
"Okay Daddy!" Annie calls, already near the front door. When she is gone Liam heads back to the living room mantle. One this mantle sits a collection of photos, cards and other important family memories. There's the usual: family photos, Edward and Meg as babies, Lou and El's wedding, but one certain picture catches Liam's eye.
It's the boys, back in the One Direction days. The photo is great, just the boys having fun and acting up, like they always did back then. It was taken in that park, the one where they filmed the video for One Thing. The photo is framed nicely; a wooden frame with gold corners. That was so long ago, Liam thinks to himself as he gently picks up the intricate frame.
Unbeknownst to Liam, Louis is creeping into the house, silently closing the well-worn door behind him. He is walking towards the kitchen to fetch some tea, when he spots Liam in the living room, looking at that picture he kept from almost twenty years ago, now. A devilish smile crosses Louis' face as he quickly devises a plan to surprise Liam.
"It's pretty amazing really," Louis states loudly, trying not to laugh as Liam jumps to face the older lad, nearly dropping the photo frame in the process.
"Y-yeah, it was so long ago," Liam stutters in response, placing the frame carefully in it's original place on the mantle.
"We were so stupid, running around like there was no tomorrow," Louis laughs, and Liam quickly joins in, thinking of one factor Louis didn't consider.
"You're still like that, Lou," Liam gasps through laughter, memories sliding through his mind in remeniscence. The two men come to a standstill, sharing a pleasant smile. After an awkward moment, Liam coughs, remarking, "We should probably get back out there."
Louis agrees with a curt nod, but that cheeky glint returns to his eyes and he adds "Sure, but first we have to do something,"
~ 15 Minutes of persuasion later...
"Louis, I don't think this is such a good idea," Liam exclaims once more, and Louis replies with the same thing he has been repeating for ten minutes.
"But it'll be fun, Li!" the older man whines childishly, "We used to prank the boys all the time!"
"Yeah, but that was nearly twenty years ago though," Liam insists, still Daddy Direction.
Louis suddenly feigns horror on his face, gasping with a dramatic recital of, "Oh Liam, how dare you make me feel so old!" to which Liam only laughs.
"Fine," Liam sighs, defeated, "but if anyone asks, it was all your idea,"
"Oh they won't have too much trouble believing that," Louis grins, already on his way to the front door with Liam in tow. Leaning from the doorway Louis yells a quick "Hey Sarah! Come help me would you?!"
Niall's wife pulls herself from her adorable child and husband and hurries inside.
"What do you want, Louis?" she asks suspiciously in that heavy Irish accent of hers.
"We need your help," Liam smirks, appearing from the living room to help Louis explain the plan.
~
When Louis, Liam and Sarah come out of the house their spouses are all suspicious of the behaviour inside.
"Where have you been, Lou?" Eleanor asks, cocking an eyebrow suspiciously at her mischevious husband. When Louis, Liam and Sarah come out of the house their spouses are all suspicious of the behaviour inside. "Where have you been, Lou?" Eleanor asks, cocking an eyebrow suspiciously at her mischevious husband. He only grins and wraps a loving arm around Eleanor's torso.
"Oh, we were just getting Niall's Christmas present," Louis whispers in her ear, trying to sound convincing. He pauses for a moment, as though having a sudden great idea. "Hey, how 'bout we get a picture of the boys this fine evening? Sarah's got her camera," Louis asks. They huddle the five men together, a close knit group with Louis and Liam on the ends grinning at each other, excited for what is about to happen.
Sarah stands in front of them with her camera at the ready, a smirk gracing her lips. "Ready boys? Three, two, one!" she shouts the last word and Louis and Liam jump out, flicking on two hoses and completely soaking their three best mates. The kids are in hysterics laughing at their dads, and the wives are all laughing along too.
Suddenly a cold, wet ball of snow hits Louis' back, and he turns to see Harry smirking cheekily before running from the older lad and around the yard, tyring to avoid being hit by the freezing water from Louis' hose. Zayn, Niall and the kids take Harry's lead, and soon a fully-fledged snowball fight is taking place in the Tomlinson's front yard.
Niall admits to himself Louis and Liam's prank surprised him, but it was all in good fun and ensured an eventful evening. He just couldn't believe they got Sarah in on it too!
~
Now the large group all sit down together in the dining room; one table for adults, and one for children. They all eat a delicious classic roast dinner prepared by Eleanor and Harry's wife, Lucia, and everyone adores it, even Finn, the pickiest eater in the family. Lucia probably doesn't notice all the praise her good cooking has received; she and Harry have been too busy kissing all evening.
Thus is the Christmas Eve of the so-called '1D Family'. All five families are content - heck, they're more than exhilarated - with how the evening has turned out; all light-hearted fun and Christmas (and birthday) cheer.
~*~*~The End ~*~*~