After the star’s shocking death at the age of 31, Liam Payne’s son is now facing life without his father.

The One Direction singer had a seven-year-old son named Bear with Cheryl Cole.

The former couple welcomed their baby boy in March 2017, when Payne was 23.

“I always wanted to be a young dad, but I didn’t really expect I would ever be in this place,” Payne said People in 2018.

“I had my son at a young age and you think it will be something magical, that one day you will grow up to be the person you are meant to be. But it took a lot to find my footing. I thought dad takes care of everyone, that’s his job, so cooking was my thing.”

Has Liam Payne seen his son Bear?

Payne and Cole began dating in 2016 and split a year after Bear’s birth.

“It was a difficult decision for us,” Payne wrote in a tweet to fans after the split became public. “We still have so much love for each other as a family. The bear is our world and we ask that you respect his privacy as we walk through this world together.”

While Bear continued to live with his mother full-time, Payne continued to play an active role in his life.

“I see him twice a week, sometimes three times,” he said People in 2022. “And when I see him, I make sure he has 100 percent of my time. I make sure I don’t talk on the phone or snoop around somewhere else.”

While Payne and Cole largely kept their son out of the spotlight, usually sharing pictures of his back on social media, the proud father revealed that Bear was a little different.

“He looks exactly like me, which is very strange,” Paye said People when his son was 3 years old. “Now when family members see baby pictures of me, they say, “Oh wow, that bear looks really great there!”

And while many kids think their parents are uncool, Bear was pretty proud of his famous parents. Cole is also a popular singer and television presenter in the UK.

“The other day he said, ‘How lucky am I to have famous parents?’ I said, “It doesn’t matter.” He says, “Yes. But it’s pretty cool,” Payne said,” Cole told British fashion.

“The problem is that I want Bear to have a normal childhood. I don’t want people to recognize him on the street. But he said I was famous.”

When he was 6 years old, Payne took his son to see him on a billboard promoting his single “Teardrops.”

“I want to be on a billboard one day dad,” Payne wrote on Instagram of his son’s words at the sight.

Payne last spoke publicly about his son when he celebrated his 31st birthday in August.

“I haven’t gotten daddy socks yet, I thought. I’m about to talk to my son, which I’m really happy about,” he shared in a video on Insta Stories.

“Bless him. He’s getting so big now. He’s a big boy and looks like a little me. As if we needed any more of me in the world.’

Read more about Liam Payne’s tragic death here.