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hauntedbythefanficsofmypast · 4 years ago

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SuperChat September 14- Their kids are friends

Masterlist

“Mon minou.” Adrien called out in a sing-song voice as he placed his briefcase on the ground resting his suit jacket on it. He crouched down arms wide open a bright smile on his face and love filling his eyes as his little girl ran to him throwing herself into his arms. His entire attention focused on his daughter, not noticing the mother’s and some father’s checking him out. No, the beautiful looking girl with green eyes matching his own, yet clashing black hair, held his complete and utter attention.

Emma giggled softly into her father’s tight and protective hug, she loved his hugs, she leaned up kissing his cheek. Before pulling back talking rapidly to her father in French, this caused his smile to soften as he chuckled softly. He would forever be thankful that his best friend, his Goddess had been more than willing to get artificially inseminated. After nine months she gave birth to their daughter who they named Emma Emilie Agreste. Although Marinette was her mother, Emma called her Aunty Mari, and Marinette loved to act as the girl's Aunt and mother figure. Emma Agreste was just as smart as her mother and held her parents best features. Marinette’s beautiful black hair, adorable button nose, Adrien’s enchanting green eyes, and the same facial shape. She was the apple of her father’s eye, no one loved the little girl as much as him, Marinette came in a quick second, Gorilla a third.

“Oh Papa! You have to meet my best friend! You know Leona Kent, I’ve been telling you all about her since school started! Oh but her dad always arrives before you and whenever we have a playdate Aunty Mari is the one watching me! So now is the perfect time! Please Papa, will you meet her?” Adrien laughed brightly kissing his daughter’s forehead before nodding.

“Mon Bebe,” He started softly as he fixed her head band. “I would be honored to meet your best friend.” Emma smiled brightly bouncing up and down waiting for her father to stand up and grab his briefcase and jacket. She grabbed his hand leading him over to a young girl with dark brown hair, almost black, and pretty blue eyes.

“Leona! This is my papa Adrien Agreste! Papa this is my best friend Leona Kent!” Adrien set his briefcase down once again crouching to the two girls height, and held out his hand to the girl.

“Lovely to meet you Miss Kent, as mon minou has said. I am Adrien Agreste, I apologize for taking so long to meet you, I’m afraid my firm takes up much of my time. Unfortunately yours and Emma’s playdate day is when I meet with my clients, Though my sister has sung praises about what a wonderful young girl you are.” Leona smiled brightly shaking his hand with a giggle.

“Nice to meet you too Mister Agreste! Don’t worry Miss Mari told dad and me that you are one of the best lawyers in the city, and that you work hard to make sure Emma is happy, well fed and loved!” This caused Adrien to smile and laugh letting go of the young girl's hand.

“Well I know that Mrs. Rancheri allows the kids to play at the park while they wait for their parents. I have the rest of the day off so how would you two like to play while we wait for your father?” Both girls shared a look before grinning and nodding wildly. “Go on to the park I shall take care of our bags and let Mrs. Rancheri know.” The two girls ran to the fenced in park at their school while Adrien notified their teacher he was watching them. He sat down at a bench smiling softly as he listened to the girl’s playing pretend. They were playing heroes, Leona was Supergirl and Emma had chosen Lady Noir, causing a bright smile to cross Adrien’s face. He struggled not to laugh at Leona's confusion over the hero. Adrien wasn’t surprised though, both he and Marinette had come to terms a while back to the fact that barely anyone outside of France had known of the Miraculous team. Ten minutes went by when suddenly he watched Leona jump off the playset and sprint to someone behind him.

Jon hurried up the steps of Nera Elementary school entering the school, for the first time ever he was late. His interview with his friend Damain and his fiance Miss Dupain-Cheng, had run longer than planned. It was his fault at first he was surprised Damian’s angel was Mari, Emma’s Aunt Mari. “Mrs. Rancheri! I am so sorry I’m late, I’m afraid my interview ran longer than planned!” Mrs. Evelyn Rancheri was a beautiful woman in her late sixties, she’d been a teacher since she graduated college. She was the school's eldest employee and had been working there the longest. She had even been Jon’s teacher when he was in fourth grade. He was happy to find out that she was his daughter’s teacher.

“Oh Jonathan don’t you worry one bit.” She said softly patting the man on his shoulder with a gentle smile on her face. She walked over to the classroom window, showing the playground. “You see Miss Agrestes father arrived and offered to watch them out on the playground. Since the girls are best friends, and they do this with Miss Mari plenty, I allowed it.” Jon stared at the two girls playing then looked at the back of the blond man.

“Well I should go thank him then. Thank you Mrs. Rancheri.” He said softly, returning the smile before walking out onto the playground. His smile brightened when Leona came running to him launching herself at him and almost causing them to go flying. Thankfully Jon was ready and prevented them from going flying. “Hello sweetheart, I missed you. You’ll never believe it, you know Miss Mari? Well she is Uncle Dami’s fiance!” Leona blinked before smiling brightly giggling.

“I forgot that Uncle Dami finally gained the bravery to ask her to marry him! Oh Daddy! You have to meet Emma’s Papa! He is so nice and has the same pretty eyes as Emma!” Jon laughed smiling before finally looking at the man staring at them from the bench. Jon blushed slightly as their eyes met, he could barely form a thought. ‘France must be filled with beautiful people. First Miss Mari and now Mister Agreste, not to mention Emma is already a beautiful little girl as well. I have no doubt men and women will throw themselves at her when she grows up and matures.’ His thoughts were cut off when Leona gently tugged his hair to get his attention. Adrien and Emma were now standing in front of them, Jon was quick to notice Adrien was holding his case and the two girls backpacks.

“Hello,” Adrien said a little shyly, causing his daughter to give him a weird look. “I’m Adrien Agreste, Emma’s father. You must be Mister Kent, Mari has told me much about you.” Jon smiled as he took Leona’s back pack from him, still holding Leona on her right arm.

“Yes! I’m Jon Kent nice to meet you! Mari said you were a lawyer.” Adrien nodded as he shifted his case and Emma’s backpack into his other hand before taking Emma’s in his.

“I would like to invite you and little Leona here over for dinner tonight! I have tomorrow off and I think it would be great to know my daughter’s best friend a bit more.” Emma and Leona brightened up at the offer and Jon had always been weak to his daughter’s puppy dog eyes.

“Well we have no plans for dinner, and I am weak to my daughter’s puppy dog eyes. So yes, we’ll come to dinner tonight, thank you for inviting us.” Adrien smiled brightly, taking Jon’s breath away in seconds.

“It's a date.” He said softly “Dinner will be done around six so be there around five.” and with that the four parted ways heading home, excited for the night a head.

@superchat-september2k20

#miraculous fandom #miraculous ladybug #miraculoustalesofladybugandcatnoir #adrien agreste #ml x dc #dc comics #dc universe #jon kent #superchat #superchatseptember

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softboywriting · 6 years ago

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Finding Home | Shawn Mendes

Summary: You and Shawn have a long history as friends and as lovers from before he got famous to after. When he decides to take a hiatus from his hectic life and spend some time with the one person he’s loved since he was a teenager, he’s going to find out a secret you’ve been keeping from him for years. A secret that will bring you together closer than ever. [dad shawn] [non au setting] [long fic]

Word Count: 7.8k

|Masterlist In Bio|

Two in the morning and you wake up to your phone buzzing loudly against the bedside table. For a moment you think it's one of your daughter, Lily's, toys. She was always leaving them in your bedroom. The light of the screen is what gives it away as your phone and you reach over, wondering if it was your parents calling from their vacation in Japan. They had retired two years ago and left you the house so they could travel.

“Hello?” You answer groggily.

“Hey, it's Shawn.”

You roll over on to your back and hold the phone against your ear. Your stomach churns. Had he found out about Lily? “H-hey. Why are you calling me at two in the morning?”

“Oh. Fuck. I didn't realize it was that early for you. I'm sorry, I'm in Australia right now and it's like five. You can go back to sleep, I'm sorry.”

“No, Shawn, what's wrong?”

He sighs heavily. “I'm just tired. I'm at my limits. I need a break, I need a long break.” He always called like this when he needed to remember where he came from, where his heart was waiting for him.

“You work too hard, of course you're tired. I told you that you push yourself to much.”

“I know. I'm stupid and I'm exhausted and I want to come back home. I want to come see you and remember what it feels like to be normal again.”

You're silent. You and Shawn have a long history, friends since high school, hooking up occasionally, both clearly in denial of what could be. The last time he wanted to see you was about a year ago and you had to fake sick and cut things short because Lily got sick. He had no idea about the little girl sleeping in the room next to yours. You wanted to keep it that way.

“Hello?”

“Sorry. Um, yeah, we can meet up if you want. I miss hanging out with you. When will you be home?”

“A few days.”

“Just let me know when so I can make arrangements.”

“I can't wait to see you.”

“Me neither.”

___________________________

It's Saturday, four days after Shawn called and there's a massive storm raging outside. You worry about the playset in the backyard because last time it blew over and you had to get your neighbor to help you get up up right. Poor Lily couldn't use it for a week and she absolutely loves to swing.

Thunder crashes and you watch as Lily runs from her play tent to the kitchen yelling. She's a funny one. Four years old already and you can't believe it. Four years passed in the blink of an eye.

Knocking at the front door makes you jump, eyes going to it and as you half expect it to fly open or something. You really don't think FedEx or the mail carrier l is delivering in a storm but you go to check it out. Behind you Lily runs up the stairs to her bedroom, something she always did when you had guests or she heard someone at the door.

“Hello?” You ask, opening the door to reveal someone standing there with their back to you. They turn around and your stomach lurches. It's Shawn.

“Hey, surprise,” he grins, opening the screen door. He's soaked to the bone and you don't know what to do. Let him in? Send him away? He wasn't supposed to just show up. You still had to arrange for Lily to stay with your best friend Olivia. “Can I come in?”

“No. Fuck. You were supposed to call me.”

“Oh. Is something wrong? I thought you'd be surprised to see me.”

“I am plenty surprised. I just...fuck it. Come in.” You hold the door open and he steps inside. This was going to be a shit show.

Shawn looks around and you can see his eyes go to the play tent in the living room, the Moana cup on the table, the litter of dolls and stuffed animals set up around the coffee table as a tea party. “Are you babysitting?” He asks slowly, turning to look at you as you close the door.

“No.” You sigh softly. This was going to happen sometime. Shawn would find out about Lily one way or another. “They're my daughter's toys.”

“What? What daughter? Are you messing with me?”

“Shawn, I...I had a kid.” You look to the stairs and his eyes follow yours. Sitting there staring through the rungs is Lily. “Her name is Lily. She's four.”

“Four...why did you hide this from me? You're one of my best friends...I don't understand. Why?” He asks as Lily walks down and stands at the bottom step clinging to the bannister.

“I-I didn't want to. I mean I had-”

Shawn steps forward and stares at the small girl and you know he can see it. She looks like him. Same eyes, same dark hair, same nose. Lily is unmistakably his child. “She's mine isn't she?”

“No.” You grit your teeth. “No, she's not.” She is. You couldn't tell him. You couldn't have him put aside his entire career at twenty years old because you slept together while wasted and you hadn't taken your birth control for two weeks. You wouldn't make him stop living his dream even if it meant being a single mother. You loved Shawn and that was a sacrifice you were willing to make.

Shawn lays his hand on your shoulder. “Why does she look like me then?”

“I slept with some guy that looked like you after you left. I was lonely and drunk and I hooked up with someone.” It's believable enough. You did do that once. “I swear she isn't yours.”

“Momma,” Lily says softly as she walks over to you. “Why is he wet?”

“He was out in the rain baby.” You pick her up and she stares at Shawn. “This is Shawn, he's my friend.”

Shawn steps closer and holds his hand out to take Lily's tiny one. “Nice to meet you, what's your name again?”

“Lily.” She giggles and grabs his fingers. “You're really big.”

“I am.” He grins and you roll your eyes. That was one of your favorite qualities about him too and he knew it. “I bet I could lift you up to touch the ceiling.”

“Yeah! Yeah!” Lily reaches out for Shawn and he takes her in his arms.

You can see the moment he grabs her that he loves her just as much as he loves you. The way his eyes soften and he hauls her up on to his shoulders with ease is unmistakable. It's all over. There was no way you were going to separate these two.

“Higher! I can almost get it!”

Shawn stands up straight and Lily's fingers brush the ceiling. “Are you doing it?” He laughs, inching up onto his tip toes.

Lily giggles and grabs his hair for support as he wobbles.

“Lily, don't pull his hair,” you warn and she stops reaching up with one arm.

“Sorry.” Lily says as he runs her hand over Shawn's mop of damp curls. “It's just like my hair Momma! Look!”

Shawn raises his eyebrows and you give him a look. You take Lily off of his shoulders and have her go play while you talk to Shawn. There was a lot to catch up on from the last four years.

________________

“So, no boyfriend yet?” Shawn asks as he flops back on your bed.

You turn to look at him as you undress for bed. He tilts his head back and grins at you in your underwear. “Obviously not.”

“Why? Is it Lily?”

You cross the room and stand over him as he stares at you upside down. “Yeah...it's because of Lily.”

“Why? Plenty of guys love kids. You're still an amazing person. Have you tried?”

You shake your head and turn to grab your night shirt, pulling your bra off and tossing it aside. Behind you the bed shifts and before you can get your shirt on, two hands are on your bare waist. “Shawn, I'm not in the mood.”

“That's okay, I just want to feel something real.” He presses his nose into your hair and you press back against his chest. “You changed shampoo didn't you?”

“Uh, I guess? It's rose water scented.”

He hums. “Used to be apple.” His arms envelop your waist and he holds you against him. “I've missed you.”

You close your eyes and lean your head back against his collarbones. “I've missed you too.”

_____________________

Wednesday. You wake up late, your phone going off quietly under the pillow. Shawn isn't in the bed, he had stayed since Saturday and every day you woke up next to him. For a moment you panic, thinking he's finally left. The two of you hadn't discussed his visit, or how long he would stay. You jump up, grab some clothes from the closet and toss them on the bed. You go to Lily's bedroom and find it's empty.

“Lily!” You yell as you walk down the hall to the staircase. “Lily!”

“Kitchen momma!”

You run down the steps and into the kitchen expecting to find a mess of some sort. “I'm so sorry baby, I must have overslept. I can make you-” As you round the corner you see Lily sitting at the table eating scrambled eggs and toast. “...breakfast.”

Shawn stands up from where he was squatted down behind the island counter loading the dishwasher. “Morning.”

“You made her breakfast?”

“Yes. I figured I'd let you sleep a little longer.” He walks around and runs his hand over your sleep mussed hair. “I can take her to school too.”

“You don't need to do that. I can take her.”

Shawn grabs your hands and brings them up to kiss your knuckles. “Please? Let me do this for you. You've been caring for her alone for four years. I think you deserve one day to have a little extra time to yourself.”

You look down and sigh. He's right. You haven't had time away from Lily or even just a whole day to yourself in ages. The last time Shawn was in town was probably the last time you did anything without her, and even then, you felt guilty the whole time. “I have an extra car seat in the garage. Do you know how to install it?”

“I can sort it out. Go shower.”

“No I'll help you get-”

Shawn holds your face and kisses your nose. “Go shower. I promise if I need help I'll come and get you.”

“Just...don't forget her lunch okay?”

“He got it.” Lily says walking past with her unicorn lunchbox. “He even made my sandwich with extra jelly like I asked.”

“Wow.” You smile as Lily goes to get her backpack off the couch. “I guess you got it then.”

Shawn grins and you shove his shoulder. “What? The kid has grown on me the last few days. She reminds me of you.”

“I sure hope so, she's my daughter after all.”

“Of course.” Shawn pulls his keys from his pocket and goes to the door with Lily. “I'll be back shortly.”

_____________________

Once you're in the shower you feel yourself relaxing. It's nice, not having to worry about Lily getting into something or wonder if you're taking too long. But as you think about the day ahead you can't help but let your mind wander. The most pressing question is Shawn. How long was he going to stay? It had been days now and he said nothing about leaving. In fact the two of you didn't even discuss him staying. He just sort of fell into your life like he'd always been there, like he always did, and you just let him. It's a slippery slope. What happens when he needs to leave? When he wants to leave? How does that go over with Lily?

“Can I join you?”

You tear your eyes away from the dark tile and slide the curtain back to see Shawn standing by the sink in just his boxers. “That was quick?”

“Yes? Should I have taken longer?”

“Well, no. I figured you would have a hard time with that car seat though.”

Shawn chuckles and shucks his boxers. “Oh it was pretty easy. I got it snapped in like the directions on the side said and got her to school. She was real excited to go.”

“Yeah?” You ask, stepping aside for him to get in behind you. “How come?”

“It's music day she said.”

“Oh, yeah she loves music day.”

“Mmhmm.” Shawn groans as he leans back into the hot water to wet his hair. He brings his hands up and runs one over your soaked hair. “Can I?”

“Be my guest.”

Shawn grabs the shampoo and lathers up your hair, fingers working diligently over your scalp. “Lily says she wants to play piano but they don't have one at the preschool.”

“Oh yeah? I dunno if I can afford that right now.”

“Don't worry about it. I have an old keyboard at the apartment I'll bring over. I'll swing by my place after recording today.”

You turn and he stares down at you, hands going to your hips. “You don't have to do that.”

“I want to. I can teach her.”

“Shawn... I don't know.”

“Please? I know she's young but she really seemed like she wanted to. She'll be so happy.”

You sigh and lean your head in his chest. “Fine, alright. But she might break it or spill juice all over it.”

Shawn chuckles. “Oh no, what ever would I do?”

“Hey! Not all of us are multi millionaire rockstars that can just buy whatever whenever.”

“I know, I know. If it breaks she'll learn a lesson and maybe get a new one a while later.”

“Alright, okay fine. This one gift, this is it. No more. I don't want to give her the wrong idea about you.”

“Like what?”

“You know what.” You push him back and rinse your hair.

_____________________

Lily is a ball of excitement when she gets to the car at pick up time. You lift her up into your car and get her all strapped in and ready to go. “Was it a good day bud?”

“Yeah! I got to play piano! Mrs. W brought one from home just for me and I got to play it!”

“Oh? That's very nice of her. What did you play?”

“A song I made up.” Lily puts her hands out like she's playing piano and makes little Doo Doo Doo noises as if hitting keys. “It's a working protest.”

“A work in progress?”

“Yeah that's what I said.”

You chuckle and give her a thumbs up as you close the door and walk around to the drivers side. Daughter like father you suppose. When Shawn brings home that keyboard she is going to lose her little mind.

Watching Shawn teach Lily for the first time that night makes your heart ache. He's so patient with her, deliberately showing her each key and how to hold her little hands. She can't quite hit the keys as fast as him because her hands obviously aren't that large. But she tries. And when Shawn finishes, she shows him her own songs. They're always a little out of tune and just a few keys being played over and over, but he claps every single time.

For three days the two sit down after dinner, after homework, and play the piano in the living room. Lily never gets tired of it. You need to talk to Shawn, to find out where this is going. He can't keep staying over. You can tell Lily is getting attached and it may already be too late. _____________________

“When is Lily's birthday?” Shawn asks from his side of the bed on Thursday night.

“May twenty fifth. Why?”

“Just wanted to know.”

“Are you planning something?”

“No?”

You roll over and stare at his profile as he flips through his phone. “I know you. Why are you asking about her birthday?”

“I just wanted to know is all.” He looks over and sets his phone down. “Can I ask another question about her?”

“I suppose I can't stop you.”

“If she isn't mine, why did you hide her from me? Plenty of my friends have kids now. Did you think I wouldn't want to see you anymore?”

Honestly you hadn't planned for this question yet. “I guess I thought it'd change things between us.” Not a lie technically. “I just didn't want to ruin what we had.”

Shawn reaches across the gap between you and tucks your hair back. The way he looks at you makes your heart melt. He has the softest eyes you've ever seen, it's hard to keep lying to him. It felt wrong. “I promise I wouldn't have judged you, and having Lily in the picture doesn't change how I feel about you one bit.”

“I'm sorry I didn't tell you.”

“Can I ask you something else?”

“Yeah?”

“How did you keep Lily from our mutual friends? Matt and Brian? How?”

You smile sadly. “I stopped talking to them, not that we were ever that close. I just...kind of cut myself off from everything that had to do with you because I didn't want to lose you because I had Lily. I realize now that I was pretty stupid.”

“I'm sorry I made you feel like you couldn't tell me.”

“No, you didn't do anything. It was just me. I promise you didn't make it seem like you wouldn't like me if I had a kid. I just convinced myself that things would change. Please don't blame yourself.”

“Okay, okay. What matters is I know now. I'm here now.”

You sigh softly and look down at the bedspread. He's here now. But what was he doing here? What was going to come of all this? How long was he going to stay? Why was he staying?

“What are we doing Shawn?”

“Talking?”

“No. I mean here, us. We can't keep playing house. Lily is already getting attached to you. I'm getting attached too. You say you’re here but for how long?”

Shawn shifts and lays with his head propped up on his hand. “What's wrong with getting attached? I'm not allowed to care for you and her and stay with you? You haven't seemed like you wanted me to leave.”

“And that's my mistake. It's not that you aren't allowed to care. It's the fact that you're going to leave. I don't know when, but you're going to. You always do, you have to.”

“No...no I'm not leaving.” He reaches over and lays his hand on your stomach as you roll on to your back. “I've been making arrangements with Andrew and I want to stay in Toronto.”

“That's not going to happen. Not forever.” You sigh heavily. “I think maybe if you didn't stay over it would help. I know we haven't talked about it yet, and we've just been doing what we want but I think you should go home.”

“You don't like sleeping with me?”

“It’s not that. I want you to seem less permanent to Lily. She's only four, she is very smart, but she's also very impressionable. If you keep hanging around she's going to think you're...” You can't say it, you can't say ‘her dad’. You can't keep denying it, you can't breath those words and choke them with lies anymore. “She's going to think you're staying forever.”

Shawn is quiet for a moment. The room is tense. This discussion was unavoidable. A week had passed and that was already too long. Perhaps too late. “Can I stay a few times a week?”

“Tuesday and Friday.”

“The weekends? Please?”

“Shawn.”

“Please?”

You sigh. “Alright, only if you don't come over on the other days of the week. Not even a peep outside of Tuesday, Friday and the weekends. I'm serious. I can't have Lily getting the wrong idea.”

“Yeah...I understand.”

“Good. It's settled then.”

_____________________

“So you think she's your daughter?” Andrew asks from his spot across the room. Shawn has been recording all day and he's taking a break while waiting for lunch to arrive.

“I'm so sure. I just can't figure out why she's lying to me. I've made it clear I want to stay in the picture even if Lily isn't mine.”

“Maybe she's afraid you'll ditch. Maybe she thinks you are only sticking around because she isn't yours.”

Shawn sighs softly. “Lily's birthday is roughly nine months after mine and that would line up with when we slept together. She said she slept with someone after I left but I don't know. I just, I'm pissed y'know?”

Andrew nods. “I get it. You should be, a kid is a big deal.”

“It's just...fuck. She is my best friend, I love her. She knows that. I just don't get why she lied. I mean she said it's because she was afraid things would change but I'm just not buying it.” He sighs heavily and leans back against the cushioned chair. “I know that Lily is my kid. I can feel it.”

“Then why don't you lay it all out for her? Just present your evidence and find out why she is really lying.”

“I don't want to push her away. I'm afraid if I do she'll cut me out completely and I'll never see her or Lily again.”

“It's a tough decision Shawn. Can you live with her lying, or just accept Lily isn't yours?”

“She is! Andrew, you saw the pictures. She's mine.”

Andrew shakes his head. “I don't know. You have to talk to her. You have to.”

“Fuck...I'll just give it a little more time. I'll see how things play out.”

“Your call dude.”

“Yeah.”

_____________________

“Where's Shawn?” Lily asks a week into your agreement with Shawn. You hoped this wouldn't happen. You really dreaded this moment.

“He's at home bud.” You turn and dump macaroni back into the pot you boiled it in.

“Oh. Can he come over?”

“No. It's not Tuesday yet.”

Lily sighs heavily, laying her arm across the kitchen table. “This is lame.”

You mix up the cheese sauce with the Mac and walk over to the table to dish some out into Lily's spiderman plate. “What's lame?”

“Shawn.”

“Shawn's lame?”

“Momma!”

You laugh and take your seat across from her. “You will just have to wait until he comes over tomorrow. Why did you want him to come over?”

Lily pushes her mac around with her fork. “I miss him.”

“But you saw him Sunday.”

“Yeah but then Monday was like one hundred hours long!” She huffs and takes a bite of food. “I wanna play piano and show him my dress I picked out for the spring concert.”

You sigh softly. There is no convincing her to drop the subject. She is dead set on missing him. The damage has been done. “Tomorrow bud. Eat your dinner and we can watch a movie after.”

“With Shawn?” She asks hopefully.

“No. Just me and you.”

“Booooo.”

_____________________

Bracelets

Tuesday. You pick up Lily from preschool and Shawn is already at the house when you get there. He's outside of his Jeep leaning against the door. The moment Lily sees him she starts shrieking.

You no sooner get her unbuckled from the car seat and she's bolting up the driveway to Shawn's open arms. Maybe this had gone on long enough. Maybe you should just come clean with Shawn and tell him Lily is his. The two were inseparable and despite the distance you put between your life and his the last week, it doesn't seem to have changed a thing.

“Easy now,” you say as you approach the two of them. Shawn has her held high in his big hands. “She had lunch around one today so she might be full still.”

“Momma! I'm a bird!”

“Yes sweetheart.” You chuckle and Shawn swoops her down to the ground.

“How was school?” he asks as the three of you head into the house.

“Awesome! We made bracelets today and I made one for me,” she holds out her wrist to reveal a little pony bead bracelet in green and white. “And I made one for you and momma!”

“Did you now?” You unlock the front door and head in. Lily dumps her whole backpack out on the sofa and brings over two bracelets. They match and are pink and blue. “They're very cute.”

“They match because my friend Andie said that her mom and dad have matching rings because they are in love and married. So I made yours match because you guys don't have those rings but you are in love too.”

Shawn smirks. He's so damn smug as he grabs the bracelet offered to him. “Your momma and I could have matching rings.”

“Shawn.”

“But she hasn't picked one out yet.”

Lily's eyes widen and she huffs at you. “Pick one out momma! Jeez!”

“Maybe someday bud.” You grab the remote off the back of the sofa and turn on Shimmer and Shine. “Look your show is on Lily.”

She turns and goes to get her little inflatable chair and parks herself in front of the TV to watch the two cartoon girls get up to their latest antics.

“And you come with me.” You point at Shawn and motion toward the kitchen.

The second you're in the kitchen Shawn opens his mouth. “I did propose to you once.”

“Yeah when we were twenty and you were smashed on your birthday. Thankfully I was sober enough to say no but she doesn't need to know that.”

“Yeah you were sober enough to say no to that but you were drunk enough to have sex with me that night.”

You narrow your eyes at him. “I don't have to be drunk to want to have sex with you and you know that. So what is that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing. Just seems like the last time we slept together was that night and we were drunk. Also it was four years ago, and we haven't been intimate since.”

“What are you getting at?”

He crosses his arms and leans against the island counter. “It seems like ever since then things changed between us and I don't know if it's because of the proposal or if it's just because of Lily.”

“I was trying to keep Lily from you, so yeah, I didn't want to be intimate.”

“Because you felt guilty?”

“Shawn...we went over this. I didn't want to get too close because I thought if you found out about Lily it would change everything.”

“So what's the excuse now? Why are you trying to push me away now?”

“I'm not pushing you away.”

“Yes you are.”

“Shawn I told you, I want the distance because I don't want Lily getting the wrong idea about you.”

“What's the wrong idea? That I'm your friend? Because if it wasn't me, if I was some guy you were dating, would you want him to stay away too? Or is it different because there's something more to the situation?”

You swallow thickly and clench your jaw. He's right. You fucked up in your lie and he knows. Why is he different than any other guy you might bring into your life? Why were you still acting like you wanted to hide Lily from him? You should want a guy you're interested in to get close to Lily, for her to like him. Why was Shawn different? Because he was her dad? Because you are afraid of him leaving? Because you can't bring yourself to tell him the truth? You keep convincing yourself of these phantom what if’s and they're ruining what could be the best thing to ever happen to you.

“I just...”

“Am I Lily's dad?”

“Shawn.”

“Tell me. Stop lying to me. There is no point anymore. I'm here if she is and I'm here if she isn't. I just want to know if she is mine. It doesn't change anything.”

You cross your arms and take a shaky breath. He's right, again. There was no point in lying about it now. It wasn't as if he was just going to forget about Lily and go on with his life as a rockstar. “Yes. She's yours.”

Shawn step forward and cups your face in his big hands. “Thank you.”

“I'm sorry.” Your eyes start to burn and your tears run down your cheeks. “I'm so stupid. I shouldn't have lied, I should have told you. I just didn't want you to stop your whole life for me. You got everything you ever wanted and I couldn't take that away from you.”

“You did what you thought was right.” He wipes your cheeks with his thumbs. “You just wanted to protect me, I get it. I'm not angry at you. I promise I'm not.”

“You should hate me. I kept your child from you and look how much she loves you. Look how happy you are. I was selfish.”

Shawn tilts your head up for you to look at him. “I don't hate you, I could never do that. What's done is done. I'm here now. I know now.”

“You're really not angry at me?”

“No. I mean, I was pissed at first because I knew you were lying. I couldn't figure out why but I understand now. Being angry or upset because of it wouldn't make a difference now. I'm here, I want to be a part of your life, a part of hers.”

“But...your dream.”

“I've already made it. I'm ready to slow down and be with you. I've been working myself to the bone for too long, I became obsessed with music. It's time to step away, just for a little while.”

“I can't ask that of you.”

“You're not asking me to do it. I'm telling you that this is how it is. I want to be here, I want to be with you and Lily. It's time.”

“How do we tell Lily?”

“We can tell her on her birthday?”

“A dad for her birthday? She'd be thrilled.”

Shawn kisses your nose. “It's settled then.”

____________________

A little after midnight a few days later and you wake up and Shawn isn't in bed. You wait a minute to see if he comes back from the bathroom or getting a glass of water. He doesn't so you get up and head to the kitchen to see if you can find him. By the time you get to the bottom of the staircase you can hear him talking. You decide to stay on the stairs and wait, to see what's going on.

“I’m calm and happy. I haven't needed my medicine since I've been home with her. I'm done Andrew. I can't keep going, you told me I could stop when I needed to. I need to. This is it. I'm ready to just be a dad and not have the world up my ass for ten seconds.”

Andrew's voice echoes through the kitchen. Shawn must have it on speaker phone. “The new single drops at the end of May, what about promo? We've already announced it, scheduled interviews in London and Paris for it as well as set up interviews with your Armani contract.”

“Fine, but after that I'm done. I'm serious. I want to relax for a while and take things at a much slower pace. I want to be here.”

“You love her don't you?”

“I've always loved her Andrew. You know that, everyone does.”

“I get it. You deserve it, you've put off your love life for years now. Are we still recording or do you want to do a complete hiatus?”

“I'm still recording and writing. Teddy said she'll be out here in a few weeks if I need her.”

“You gonna go public with your relationship?”

“I'm leaving that up to her. I don't want to bring too much attention to Lily if she's isn't comfortable.”

“Keep me updated. I'll make arrangements for security if need be, oh, and Shawn?”

“Yeah?”

“Don't worry about anything. It's okay to want to slow down and start a family. Just don't get in your head about letting anyone down. You gotta do what you gotta do.”

“Thanks.”

“See you soon.”

“Bye.”

You hadn't realized how bad he was when he called you that night from Australia. You had no idea he was back on medication for his anxiety. It had been years since you last knew he was taking anything for that.

“Hey, what're you doing out of bed?” Shawn asks as he rounds the corner and finds you on the stairs. “Did I wake you up? I just had to talk to Andrew about some stuff. I'm sorry.”

“No, it's okay, I was just looking for you.”

Shawn wraps his arms around your middle and lifts you up off the last stair. You wrap your legs around his middle and he holds you against him, staring up at you with this soft brown eyes. “I'm right here.”

“Yeah, I see that.” You smile and run your hands through his hair.

“And I'm not going anywhere.”

“What about the promo?”

“You were eavesdropping?”

You look guilty and he starts up the stairs. “I was curious.”

“It's okay, I don't have anything to hide. Yes, I have to go to Europe for a few days at the end of May. My single is coming out that's going to kick off the album I've been working on. But I swear to you I am not doing a tour or anything. It'll be a soft release.”

“What days in May?”

“I think it's May19th through May 25th.”

“You'll miss Lily's birthday.”

Shawn lays you on the bed and crawls over you. “I’ll be home that morning. I promise.”

You cup his cheek and he leans into the touch, eyes closed. “You swear you'll be back?”

“I will swim across the ocean if I have to. I'll be here. I swear I'll be here. I've missed enough birthdays.”

You pull Shawn down against you and he falls to the side a bit to hold you against his chest.

“I promise you I'll come back. I don't want to be anywhere else.” He noses against your neck. “I want to be home.”

___________________

One month later

“Momma?” Lily's tiny voice calls through the half open door and you lift your head from your pillow. The room is dark and you have to squint to see her tiny figure in the doorway. You assume she's had another bad dream. She's been having them since Shawn left for London at the beginning of the week.

“Yes baby?”

“Can I sleep in here?”

“What's wrong with your bed?”

Lily is quiet.

“Lily?”

“I had a bad dream.”

“Again?” You sit up and turn on the bedside lamp, flooding the room with a soft yellow glow. Lily walks in and crawls up onto your bed with much effort. Her little hands slipping in the comforter. She manages and gets up onto your lap. “Tell me about it.”

She sniffs. “There was a dinosaur and it ate Shawn.”

“Why did it do that?”

“I don't know. But I was all alone and I was very scared. I wanted to make that dinosaur puke him out.” Lily makes a blech noise. “But he ran away and Shawn was gone forever!”

“Oh baby. It's okay, Shawn is okay, he's in London, remember?”

Lily leans her head into your chest and you run your hand over her hair. It's so wavy and unruly just like Shawn's. “Can we call and make sure?”

“Call Shawn?”

“Yeah.”

You reach over and grab your phone off the nightstand. It's almost one in the morning. You're not sure what time it is in London. “It's pretty late. I think Shawn's in bed still maybe.”

“But...what if the dinosaur got him?”

“I promise dinosaurs are all gone bud.”

“Even in London? What if it was an alley gator. They look like dinosaurs. There could be alley gators in London!”

You sigh and give in. As soon as you hit dial you press the video call button and give the phone to Lily. A few rings later and Shawn's face appears on screen lit by what looks to be early morning sun.

“Hello? Lily?”

“You're alive!”

“Yeah?” He chuckles and smiles sleepily. “What's up pumpkin?”

Lily tells him her dream, this time in much more detail as Shawn listens with his eyes closed. He hums now and again and lets out breathy little laughs. “...so I had to call you and make sure you didn't get eaten.”

“Nope. I'm all good. I think you can go back to bed now. You wouldn't want to be tired for school tomorrow and sleep through music day would you?”

“No!” Lily looks panicked. “I'll go to sleep! Good night Shawn!” She kisses the phone screen and gives it to you before hurrying off to her bedroom.

“Did she call me or did you?”

You lay down and turn off the light, laying the phone upright against the pillow next to you. “I called. She had to make sure you were okay. I didn't know if you'd be awake because of the time difference.”

“Mmm. It's almost seven in the morning so no worries. Are you sure you didn't just wanna call and hear my sleepy voice?”

“Oh please.”

“I know how much you love it.” He purrs, voice low and sleep rough. You roll your eyes, he says your name and that gets your attention. Too much attention. “There it is.”

“There what is?”

“That look. The one you save just for me.” He grins and presses his cheek into his pillow. “I love it.”

“Yeah well...shut up.”

“I wish I could be in bed with you right now.”

“But you’re halfway across the world.”

“And I miss my girls.” He sighs sleepily. “I should probably get up soon, the sun is blinding me. Go back to sleep darling.”

“Don't you darling me, I hate that word.”

“Sweetheart.”

“I'm going to hang up.”

He pauses a moment before grinning. “Honey.”

“Shawn.”

“I love you.”

The phone screen goes dark and you just lay there. How dare he get the last word in. God he infuriated you in the best way and he knew that half way across the world, there was nothing you could do about it. You love him even if he was a little shit. ____________________

Friday, the twenty fifth, Lily's birthday and you get a call that she is sick at school. There is no way you can leave work without your boss flipping out. You feel sick. Lily needs you and you have to risk your job to get her. You fucking hate this place.

Initially you want to call Olivia and see if she can pick her up, but she isn't in town this week. So you check your messages to see if Shawn has landed yet. Sure enough Shawn has just texted you a few minutes ago that he's landed and will be at the house when you get home with Lily.

You hit dial and put the phone up to your ear. “Shawn?”

“Yeah? What's up?”

“Are you still at the airport?”

“Just getting my bags now. What's wrong?”

“Can you pick up Lily? She's sick and if I leave right now I will lose my job.”

“Of course. I'll be there as soon as I can.”

Unexpectedly, your meeting ends shortly after you return from your phone call with Shawn. As soon as you are able to, you head out of work to hopefully meet him at the house. The second you get home you find Lily on the couch. She's covered with a blanket and watching TV with tired eyes, barely awake it seems. Shawn is nowhere in sight but you assume he's probably just in the bathroom.

“Hey baby,” you coo softly, petting her hair back off her sweaty forehead. “How's it going?”

“My tummy hurts and I'm tired.”

“Do you need some water?”

Lily shakes her head. “Shawn got it.”

“Oh.”

“I'm sleepy Momma.” She rubs her eyes and turns into the couch cushions. You rub her back and she falls asleep immediately.

You find Shawn in the kitchen, filling up a bottle of water. “Hey, thank you.”

Shawn turns and smiles softly. “Of course. I'm glad I was able to get her. How was work? I thought you couldn't leave?”

“The meeting ended quicker than I thought. Did you have any trouble picking her up? I texted the teacher that you were her dad and that you're allowed to take her home.”

“No problem at all.” He looks into the living room and shakes his head. “The poor kid. Sick on her birthday.”

“I know. She just needs to rest. How was Europe?”

“Same shit as always. I couldn't wait to get home. It's funny, I've never been so eager to just relax.” He chuckles and shakes his head. “The whole time I was thinking about what I wanted to do for Lily's birthday and here we are.” “There's still tomorrow.”

“You're right.”

“I'm going to get changed, do you mind watching her for a little bit longer? I know you must be exhausted.”

Shawn shakes his head. “No, go ahead. I'll sit with her until you're cleaned up.”

Half an hour later and you're showered, changed and ready to see how Lily is doing. The moment you walk into the living room your heart just melts. On the couch is Shawn, sprawled out with his feet hanging over the end and Lily curled up on his chest with her blanket on top of her. You decide to go to the kitchen to make Lily's birthday cake instead. The two of them could sleep a while.

That night you find yourself in the living room picking up a mess of toys, sippy cups and blankets strewn about from the week. Shawn had just woken up and carried Lily's still sleeping form to bed moments ago and you decided to clean up a bit, changing the tv to a music channel while you did so.

As you stuff Lily's dolls into her little toy box and set aside her blanket and a couch pillow to be washed, you hear something move behind you. It's Shawn. He's pushing the coffee table toward the wall under the TV. “What're you doing?” You ask and he holds his hand out for you.

“Dance with me?”

A slow song starts on the music channel, one of his from a few years ago and you just shake your head at him. “Really? To your own song?”

“Yeah. It's about you so I think it's a pretty good choice.”

“No...it is not.”

“Yes. I swear.” he chuckles and shakes his hand for you to take.

You grab his hand and he puts an arm around your waist and slow dances you side to side singing along to the song. “Be mine yeah, any time any time.”

“I love this one.” You lay your head against his chest and he keeps singing softly. The two of you sway together while he sings quietly through two more songs.

“Thank you.” he whispers lowly against your hair.

“For what?”

“For everything. If I hadn't come to see you when I did, I don't know where I'd be right now. I never would have met Lily or decided that I am officially ready to slow down. I wouldn't be dancing in your living room and feeling so in love my heart is about to burst.” He pulls back and looks down at you. “So thank you, for letting me in that night it was raining. You really saved me.”

“You saved yourself Shawn.”

“But you helped.” He kisses you softly. “I love you.”

“I love you too.”

____________________

Lily wakes up bright and early the next morning. You can hear her little feet running down the hall before she bursts into your bedroom and flings herself up onto the bed between you and Shawn. You've been awake for a few minutes, just thinking about everything that's happened in the last month or so.

“Momma! Shawn! Wake up!”

You roll over and face the dark haired little girl beside you. Five years old now. Oh how time flies. “Yes bud?”

“My birthday is over! I didn't get any presents!”

Shawn rolls over and loops his arm around Lily. “Who says your birthday is over?”

“But...it was yesterday.”

“Yeah but it's not over until we celebrate. So it's still your birthday.”

You boop her nose and she giggles. “Let's have breakfast and then we can open presents.”

“Okay!”

Lily practically inhales her breakfast so she can open presents faster. You worry about her stomach being sensitive but she seems to be alright. Shawn brings in a stack of boxes from the laundry room where you had hidden them and the three of you sit down in the middle of the living room.

“What's the green box?” You ask Shawn as Lily tears into a gift wrapped in pink and blue paper.

“A surprise.”

“A surprise huh?”

Shawn grins and you eye him suspiciously.

Lily opens everything, squealing and thanking the two of you until she gets to the last box, Shawn's. It's a small green box, no bigger than a deck of cards. “Momma, this is for you too.”

“For me? But it's your birthday bud.”

Lily hands you the box and sure enough on the top is your name and Lily’s. “What is it?” You ask Shawn and he just smiles innocently.

You lift the lid and inside is two matching rings with feathers that wrap around them lying side by side. Lily's eyes light up and she realizes what it is before you do.

“Matching rings! Momma! Is Shawn going to be my Dad?!”

Shawn raises his eyebrows as you pick up the smaller of the two rings. You slide it over your ring finger and look to Lily. “Yes he is baby. Yes he is.”

Lily shrieks and throws herself at Shawn, wrapping her little arms around him.

“I figured maybe we could get married before we go public with our relationship and Lily. It doesn't have to be anything extravagant, just friends and family.”

“That sounds perfect.” You take the other ring from the box and slide it over Shawn's finger. He rests his hand on Lily's back and she just snuggles against him, sighing softly as you lean against his shoulder.

“I love you Dad,” Lily says softly and you close your eyes.

“I love you too Lily. I love you too.”

The end.

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