#uncle!5sos

“She will, honey.” Calum reassures you, taking your hand in his, giving it a gentle squeeze before lifting them to his lips and brushing a kiss to your knuckles. “She’s a baby, she doesn’t hate anyone. Apart from Michael when he takes her pacifier away from her and doesn’t let her nap past 3pm.”

“Terrible twos, huh?” You ask, knowing those were just two examples do some of the things Michael and his partner have had to deal with.

“If you’re lucky, you might get to experience that today too.” He chuckles, finding it sweet how nervous you are to meet Harper. She’s so important to him, and he knows how desperate you are for her to like you. He isn’t nervous, though. He knows she’ll love you just like he does. “Don’t worry, baby. It’s going to be fine.”

***

“Shall we see who’s here, Harper? Who is it?”

An excited squeal instantly leaves her lips as she notices Calum’s car pull up in the drive, the familiar vehicle one that makes her happy since it means her favourite uncle is coming to visit.

“Remember, we have an extra guest visiting today.” Michael’s partner reminds her, brushing her blonde tufts of hair out of her face. Michael was a little nervous, knowing how upset she and Calum would be if Harper didn’t warm up to you. You’ve met Michael plenty of times, and he feels like you and Calum are solid enough for Harper to meet you now too. “You’re not gonna go all shy on Uncle Cal, are you?”

“Unca Cal!” She charges towards the front door as Michael opens it, so she can stand with him to see Calum coming towards the house. Her excitement and confidence soon falters as she spots you jump out of the car too, your hand linked with Calum’s as you approach her. It’s almost as if in that moment she remembers that he has a guest joining him, and she’s unsure about it. “Dad, up please.”

“It’s okay, bubba.” Michael picks her up and sits her on his hip, lips brushing over her forehead to calm her down. He knows it’ll take her a little while to warm up to you. “Uncle Cal is here to see you, and his friend too.”

“Hi, sweetheart! How’s my favourite girl?” Calum calls out, stepping through the front door to where she’s hiding in her dad’s arms. She’d usually give him a bigger welcome, running up to him or clinging onto him until he cuddled her. Not today, though. “Where’s my hug, huh? You’re not going shy on me, are you? I have someone to introduce to you.”

She pushes her face against Michael’s neck, hiding as if it makes her invisible — in her mind, if she can’t see you, you can’t see her either. Michael chuckles and rubs her back reassuringly, murmuring a “it’s okay, baby” trying to coax her away from hiding from you and Calum.

“Can you say hi, baby? This is my friend,” Calum tells her, gently tapping her shoulder to get her attention before introducing you to her. “We have something for you.”

“Hi, Harper. I have a present for you,” You tell her, speaking gently in the hopes of catching her attention. You hold the little stuffed lion out in front of you, so she could see it if she decided to stop hiding against Michael’s neck. “I heard you like animals, so I thought you’d like this.”

Michael shifts her in his arms a little in the hopes of her looking at you, his hand reassuringly rubbing circles in her back as you stand there. “Look, baby, what is it? That’s so kind.”

She dares to peek out from his shoulder and her eyes light up at the sight, flickering between you and the lion in your hand. She smiles softly and reaches out for it, wrapping her small hand around the middle and pulling it into her arms. Michael smiles at her reaction, murmuring a “what do you say, baby?”

“Thank you,” She murmurs, rubbing her cheek against the fluffy material in her grasp.

“Now do I get my hug?” Calum asks, holding his arms out for her. She nods and reaches out to him, letting him take her in his arms and cuddle her. “That’s better. What are we playing this week?”

You follow them into the lounge, watching as Harper tips one of her toy boxes upside down, so Calum can find something to play with. She seems cautious of you — she looks over at you occasionally, mainly staying close to Calum — but the lion you gave her moments ago stays in her grasp. She sets up her zoo, apparently her favourite — placing the small toy figurines in each area to set it up. Calum wasn’t lying — she does have an extensive animal collection.

She stands still for a moment, hand clinging to Calum’s shoulder. She looks at you, and down at the zebra in her hand, like she’s thinking about asking you to play. Calum notices too, his hand coming up to land on her back to reassure her.

“For you,” She murmurs, walking over towards you and dropping it in your hand. Calum can’t help but smile, watching two of his favourite people interact.

“That’s for me?! Thank you so much, Harper!” You reply, a blush spreading over her rosy cheeks at your praise, before she moves back to sit in Calum’s lap. You move to sit a little closer, Calum sending you a knowing smile as Harper starts to play with her toys.

You stay and play for a few more hours, before Michael declares dinner time, and you and Calum decide to leave them to it.

“Bye bye, Harper. It was so nice to meet you.” You lean down to her level to say goodbye, and much to your surprise, she runs forward and wraps her arms around your shoulders in a little hug. Your heart melts as she cuddle you goodbye, and you wrap your arms around her too. “You’re so sweet, thank you for the hug.”

“Love you, sweetheart. See you soon, okay?” Calum kisses her cheek and picks her up, hugging her until Michael reaches out for her so they can wave good bye. She says a soft, “bye bye, unca cal” before sitting on Michael’s hip to wave you off.

As you drive away from Michael’s house, both with content smiles on your face — Calum can’t help but say I told you so.

“See, I told you she would love you.”

***

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           After the events of today, you’d say you’d successfully deserved some sleep. Hosting your daughters first birthday party was no easy task; all of her uncles (your brother included) had pre-gamed and then Luke’s brothers, along with his bandmates, Ashton, Calum, and Michael, and your brother, raided your alcohol cabinet, getting into the whiskey and vodka the two of you had hidden away.

The uncle’s made a scene, the aunts tried to calm them down, and your daughter was not in the best of moods because she’s beginning to get sick and she’d missed her nap.

To make matters worse, Ashton ended up smashing Calum’s face in the cake, resulting in you and Luke both to start yelling at everyone.

What was supposed to be a good day turned into be a chaotic one, and you felt so bad for your daughter because you know she isn’t feeling well.

After forcing everyone to leave, you and Luke spent the time cuddling and playing with your daughter, and celebrating that she’d been alive for a whole year already.

It’s now eight p.m., and the two of you have already put your daughter down for the night. You’re sitting in the living room, reading one of your favorite books, and Luke is strumming on his ukulele you got him as a gag gift, but he actually loves it and plays it almost every night.

“I’m sorry about the boys.” Luke says suddenly, drawing your attention away from your book. “It’s kind of fucked that they’d do that to Chlo. I mean, she’s their niece for crying out loud.”

You put your bookmark between the pages and shut the book, looking at your husband. By the look on his face, you can tell he’s genuinely upset by what happened: all he’s ever wanted since he found out you were pregnant was for Chloe to have the best life possible.

He hates making your daughter sad, he especially hates when anyone else makes his daughter sad, because it’s pretty hard to piss off a one year old – especially your one year old.

“Come on, let’s turn in. We could both use the sleep.” You say, standing up and reaching your hand for Luke to grab, and the two of you walk into your bedroom to get ready to sleep.

You walk into the bathroom to take off your makeup and change before getting into bed. Luke comes up behind you and wraps his arms around your waist, kissing your neck as you brush your teeth.

You pull away from him to rinse your mouth, and then walk into the closet to change into your pajamas.

“Those are sexy.” Luke says as you exit your closet and walk back into the bathroom. You look down at your pajamas; an old pair of running shorts and one of Luke’s tee shirts.

“Whatever.” You say, smacking his butt as you walk out of the bathroom and into your bedroom.

You climb into bed, waiting for Luke to join you in the next few minutes. You check your phone for a few minutes before you hear Chloe’s cries from across the hall.

You get out of bed to go check on your daughter; your one year old standing in her crib, her cries becoming softer as you step closer to her.

You pick her up out of her crib and brush the curls from away from her face and kiss her cheek gently as you walk back to your bedroom.

“Chloe Reign, what’s wrong my love?” Luke says as you place your daughter on the bed.

Chloe’s tears keep falling as she crawls towards Luke, and he grabs her and holds her to his chest.

“Her diaper isn’t wet and I know she’s not hungry.” You tell him. “I think she just had a bad dream.”

Luke kisses his daughters face and wipes her tears away with his thumb. You lean back and watch as Luke rocks your daughter.

“My Chlo, I love you more than you know.” He begins to sing, but it just makes Chloe cry even more.

Luke rests his head against the headboard and sighs, looking down into your daughters eyes.

“Baby mine, don’t you cry. Baby mine, dry your eyes. Rest your head close to my heart, never to part, baby of mine.” You hear him begin to sing. “Little one, when you play. Pay no mind, what they say. Let those eyes sparkle and shine, never a tear, baby of mine.”

Chloe is now drifting to sleep on Luke’s chest, and you hold your hand out to her, and she grabs your finger as Luke keeps singing.

“If they knew all about you, they’d end up loving you, too. All those same people who scold you, what they’d give just to hold you.” Luke continues, and you see Chloe begin to settle into a slumber. “From your hair, down to your toes, you’re my love, goodness knows. You are so precious to me, sweet as can be, baby of mine.”

~~~

You weren’t sure who cried harder when you announced your pregnancy, you, your husband Luke, or his bandmates. “Oh, we’re gonna sing her the best lullabies!” they all decided.

“Or him.”

“Nah,” Luke said, his blue eyes blurry as he rested his hand on your abdomen. “It’s totally a girl. My little princess.”

A week later, you were presented with a tape to play for the growing baby bump. You proudly blasted the tape to your bump for the rest of your pregnancy.

More tears spilled as you cradled that pink bundle to your chest, kissing the fair and thin hair. Amelia “Mia” Rose Hemmings was about to be the world’s most loved little girl.

You didn’t get to hold her long as Luke was quickly taking you from her, rocking her gently in his arms. “You got to hold her for nine months. There is still so much you’ll be able to do for her that I can’t,” he explained as you started to pout. “Let me have this, please?”

Singing. You had been accustomed to hearing it everywhere since you started dating Luke. That man was always either humming softly or singing at the top of his lungs. But there was something extra special about the sight of your husband dancing around the hospital room, the softest and sweetest sounding lullabies rolling off his lips as he rocked his princess to sleep.

~~~

“G’night love. I’ll be down the hall if you need me, okay?” Ashton told his niece as he tucked her in for bed. Y/N and Luke were on a double date with Crystal and Mike, and Calum was out visiting his sister, which meant Ashton was on overnight babysitting duty. Not that he minded in the slightest. He loved his niece like she was his own. They all did.

“Unca Ash!” Mia called out after him, making grabby hands.

“Yeah, love?”

“Sing!”

He froze.“Sing? Love, I don’t sing. Daddy sings. Do you wanna call him?”

She shook her head. “No. You sing!”

He sighed and moved to sit on the edge of the bed. “You sure you don’t want a story?”

“Sing!” her little voice begged.

“Alright,” he relented.

Mia’s bright blue eyes grew brighter as Ashton started singing. She had never actually heard her uncle sing, but she still recognized his singing voice as strongly as she would have recognized Luke’s. It was inherent.

~~~

“Mia, shh,” Luke soothed, cradling her in his arms. He was getting flustered. He had always been able to soothe his daughter with his singing. Why was tonight suddenly different? 

“No, Daddy!” she whined, squirming out of his arms. “No sing!”

“You don’t want me to sing to you?” he asked, his heart breaking. He wasn’t ready for his little girl to be too big for lullabies.

“No!” she said, crossing her arms.

“Do you want Momma to read to you?” you offered, leaning in the doorway. Luke may have claimed the lullabies, but you had bedtime stories on lockdown.

“No! Lullaby!” she demanded shrilly.

“You want a lullaby?” you asked, trying to decipher the toddler’s words.

“Yes!”

“Do you want me to sing to you in the music room?” Luke asked her. Sometimes Mia preferred her lullabies to have the musical accompaniment.

“No! Daddy no sing!”

Luke laughed in frustration, his hand raking through his blond curls. “I do- Princess, you want a lullaby, but you don’t want me to sing?”

“Yes!”

“Mia, baby,” you jumped back in, coming to sit on the little girl’s bed. “Daddy sings. Momma reads. Who do you want to sing to you if not Daddy?”

“Unca Ash!”

“Ashton doesn’t even sing!” Luke cried in outrage, before he started to pace the room. “My princess… my own daughter! Wants the drummer to sing to her?! What?! I’m the lead singer! Mike? Sure. Okay. Cal? Definitely. But Ash?!”

You clapped a hand over your mouth to hide your giggles while Luke continued his pacing and venting while Mia began to bounce in bed, her hands clapping together as she chanted, “Unca Ash! Unca Ash!”

“Ashton!” Luke’s voice hissed into the phone. “What do you mean why do I sound pissed?! You turned my daughter against me! Yes! She wants you! Stop laughing! Alright, here she is.” He moved to sit on the floor beside you and Mia, putting his phone on speaker. “Tell Unca Ash what you want, princess,” Luke sighed heavily.

“Unca Ash!” Mia cheered, her blue eyes wide in excitement, grabbing Luke’s phone from his hands. “Sing!” she ordered.

Ashton giggled over the line. “Love, you sure you don’t want your daddy to sing to you?”

“No! You!”

Ashton giggled again. “Alright, love. Ready?”

“Sing!” she ordered again, her impatience growing.

“He’s never babysitting again,” Luke hissed up at you as Ashton’s voice lulled Mia to sleep, Luke’s phone clutched in her small fist.

~~~

Unfortunately for Luke, he wasn’t able to follow through on his threat that Ashton would never again babysit the princess. “Are you going to stop laughing?” Luke grumbled as he pulled into Ashton’s driveway.

You shook your head, hand clapped over your mouth as your body heaved with silent laughter. It had been a solid week of Mia demanding Ashton to sing her to sleep instead of Luke. And now, the little girl had demanded the drummer as her babysit because Luke had been stupid enough to ask her. “Why’d you ask her which uncle she wanted to watch her if you don’t want Ash watching her? Of course she’s gonna pick him,” you finally said when you caught your breath.

“Unca Ash!” Mia screamed happily, running up to Ashton after Luke freed her from the backseat.

“Love!” Ashton called, just as happily, crouching to wrap his niece in a bear hug. “Did she get lunch yet?”

You shook your head, passing him Mia’s bag. “She said she wanted to eat lunch with you. Something about a grilled cheese sandwich?”

Mia gasped and nodded her head excitedly, placing her hands on her uncle’s face. “Unca Ash cheese!”

“You know your daddy knows how to make them too, love,” Ashton said, looking over at Luke who glared back.

“No, Unca Ash cheese!” Mia said with more force.

Ashton looked over at Luke worriedly. “Mate, I- she’ll come around. You’re her dad.”

Luke continued to glare. He couldn’t be made at his princess, but he could sure as hell be mad at Ashton.

“Cheese, cheese, cheese!” Mia chanted in her uncle’s arms.

“Okay, I’ll make you a grilled cheese. Say bye-bye to Momma and Daddy.”

“Bye!” Mia told you and Luke.

“Bye, baby,” you said, kissing her blonde curls. “We’ll be back tomorrow, okay? Be good for Uncle Ash.”

“Eepover?” she asked, her eyes going wide as she clapped her hands.

“Yeah!” Ashton told her, feeding off her energy. “You’re gonna sleep over at my house. How’s that sound?”

“Yay!”

“Bye princess,” Luke said, giving his daughter a kiss on her cheek. “Momma and I love you.”

“Bye! Wuv you!”

~~~

“Oh, mother-” Ashton started to swear before he remembered he was in the presence of little ears. “Don’t stop!” he blurted the first thing that came to his head. Yeah, he decided. “Don’t Stop” was a good filler for cursing that would be sure to drive Luke nuts. He had been trying to be nice to Luke, knowing that the younger man was genuinely torn up about his princess showcasing a preference for Ashton over her own father. But, Luke was testing Ashton’s patience with the pettiness of it all. All Ashton was was Mia’s uncle. He’d never be able to have the bond with her that Luke had. No one could. It was time to fight petty with petty.

Mia looked at her uncle in confusion. “Daddy says big people words.”

“I know,” Ashton said, setting the sandwich that had the faintest scorched lines on them for himself. The sandwich hadn’t been in danger of burning, but he knew Mia would only eat the sandwich if it was lightly toasted because the black scorch lines “taste icky.” “But you shouldn’t use those words. So you say ‘don’t stop,’ okay?”

She nodded her head excitedly, like Ashton had unlocked a secret world. 

~~~

It didn’t take long for Mia to utilize her secret. As luck would have it, the bomb dropped during a big 5sos family outing.

You all watched in silent horror as the ice cream scoop slid off the cone and plummeted to the ground, six sets of eyes whirling to watch what the little girl would do. Her mouth opened, and you all braced for the shrill scream. And promptly busted into a fit of giggles when that shrill scream was “Stupid don’t stop ice cream!”

“Mia, baby,” you quickly said, body shaking in held back laughter. If you looked at Mike who was already rolling in the grass, crying, you would definitely lose it. “Let’s not call things stupid. We can get you a new ice cream.”

“Unca Ash said!” was the blue-eyed protest.

A different set of blue eyes snapped to Ashton, humor gone. Of fucking course. “Ashton!”

“What? I told her not to actually swear,” Ashton defended, his hazel eyes dancing, his lips upturned in a humorous smirk.

“But ‘don’t stop’? Really? All the phrases in the fuckin’ world and that’s that one you fuckin’ go with?!”

“You giant don’t stop!” Mike wheezed from the grass which set Calum back into a fit of giggles, his hands covering his face.

“I hate this band,” Luke grumbled as Crystal picked Mike up off the ground and you got Mia a new ice cream.

“At least she’s not swearing like her dad,” Ashton tried to be helpful.

“Oh, don’t even!” Luke turned, using the slight height difference to tower down over the older man. “First you take lullabies from me, and now you have her substituting swears with the damn fuckin’ phrase!”

“Whoa!” Calum and Mike said, their humor disappearing as well. “Mia’s been asking Ash to sing to her?!”

“Yeah!”

“Mia! Don’t you like Uncle Cal’s voice?” Calum pouted at his niece.

Mia looked up at him with an ice cream smeared smile and shook her head. “Unca Ash!” she announced proudly, reaching to grasp Ashton’s index finger in her hand.

“But, Mia-sweets, Uncle Ash doesn’t sing. Uncle Cal does.”

“That’s what I said,” Luke told Calum with an eye roll. “Mike, how come you’re not more upset?”

Mike shrugged. “Kid’s got good taste. If she asked for me I’d be a little worried for her.”

“Mike, you sing fine,” Ashton said. “But, I think I might know why Mia likes my singing…”

“Oh, do tell,” Luke said with dramatic gesturing, complete with an eye roll.

“Y/N, how often did you play that tape we made when you were pregnant?”

“Like all the time, why?”

“Did you ever listen to it yourself?”

“No. I just played it for Mia. Why? Where is this going?”

“Oh, fuck you!” Luke screeched at Ashton in realization. “You sang her lullabies, didn’t you! When you watched her!”

“I tried to read to her. I knew singing was your thing. She didn’t want that. What was I supposed to do? Tell her no?” Ashton fought back.

“You fuckin’ idiot! We were all singing on the tape! She knew your voice!”

“Of course she knows my voice! I’m her uncle, you dumbass!”

“Did you ever sing to her before the night you watched her so we could have date night?”

“No, of course not.”

“And she never had a problem with me singing to her until then. Do you know why?!”

“Because of the tape, dumbass! That’s what I was getting at!”

“Because of the tape! Y/N played it for Mia on repeat her entire pregnancy. She recognized your damn singing!”

“Unca Ash sing pretty,” Mia chirped, not sure why the her dad and uncle were being so loud.

“Princess,” Luke groaned, scooping his daughter into his arms. “Don’t you want Daddy to sing?”

“Unca Ash!”

“Mia baby,” you interjected softly. “You’re making Daddy sad. He wants to sing for you.”

Mia gasped, her little mouth making an ‘o’ shape. “Daddy no sad! Daddy sing! Uncas sing!”

“Everybody sings?” Luke asked.

Mia nodded happily. “Sing!”

“See, mate? Told ya she’d come back around,” Ashton told Luke, clapping the man on the shoulder.

“I’m still mad at you, you giant don’t stop.”

“Giant don’t stop!” Calum and Mike started to snicker again.

All was right in the world back in the Hemmings household that night when Luke sang his princess to sleep for the first time in three weeks.

~~~

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