#uncle!ashton

           After they drove off, Ashton ushered the kids inside and shut the door behind them. They stood awkwardly in the foyer as if they had never been in Ashton’s house before. Ashton held his hands with his palms facing the ceiling, “Well, you guys know which rooms are yours. Set your bags down and I’ll get some lunch ready for us.” Hearing the words, the kids scattered, Aiden seeming to be a little less excited than the other two. He hung behind, walking slowly while staring at his phone. Ashton’s eyebrows pulled together and watched until Aiden disappeared behind the closed door of one of the guest rooms. With a shrug of his shoulders, Ashton moved from the foyer and into the kitchen to make all four of them some lunch.

           Once Ashton is finished preparing lunch, he calls for the kids. Logan and Bailey come running into the kitchen while Aiden saunters in with his hands shoved in his pockets. Bailey stops dead in her tracks and gasps, “Uncle Ashton, you got a trampoline?” Her eyes were wide but her smile was wider.

           Ashton smiles at her and raises an eyebrow before looking out the door behind him and nodding, “I did, I got it just for you,” he said while turning back around and gently poking her nose with his pointer finger.

           Bailey giggled, “Can we go play on it?” She asked while bouncing up and down.

           “After you eat some lunch and let it settle first.” Ashton said sternly while pulling a chair out for Bailey to climb on. Bailey pouted, but nodded before climbing onto the chair and sitting comfortably enough to eat her lunch.

           Bailey asked every five minutes if she could play on the trampoline. Every time she would ask, Ashton would look at his wrist, which was bare, and tell her five more minutes. She would huff and sit back, swinging her legs, waiting impatiently for Ashton to tell her it was okay to go play. “What about now? Can we go play on the trampoline now?” Her voice was a bit more begging this time, and she bounced in her seat hoping with all her might that Ashton would let her play.

           Ashton glanced at his bare wrist again, sneakily looking at the actual time on his phone next to him. He looked at her silently and raised an eyebrow. One swift motion, he stood up and placed his hands under her arms so he could lift her to his hip. He ran her outside and to the trampoline, Logan following closely behind them. Ashton climbed onto the trampoline with Bailey and Logan, not only to make sure they were playing on it safely, but also because he wanted to have some fun too. Aiden followed them outside, but slumped down in a chair off to the side and pulled his phone out. His eyes became transfixed on the screen as he leaned the other arm on the table next to him, then rested his head on his fist. Ashton took note of his demeanor but continued to jump on the trampoline with the two younger kids.

           Logan and Bailey successfully tired themselves out and Ashton took them back inside and set them on the couch to watch a movie. Within minutes, they were fast asleep, tucked against each other with a large blanket covering both of them. Aiden was sitting at the breakfast bar with his phone stuck in his hands. Ashton rolled his shoulders back and moved through the kitchen to the fridge. As he opened one side of the fridge he looked at Aiden, “So, what’s going on with you? You haven’t said more than three words since you got here.”

           Aiden looked up from his phone as Ashton turned back to the fridge and grabbed two glass soda bottles out. He set one in front of Aiden, then opened one for himself. As he took a drink Aiden set his phone down and clutched the glass bottle. Instead of opening it, he brought it closer to him and he rested his chin on the top, “I’m having girl troubles.”

           Ashton raised his eyebrows and he finished his gulp, “Those are the worst troubles to have. What kind of girl troubles?” The glass bottle in Ashton’s hand clanked as he set it on the granite counter top.

           Aiden blinked then lifted his head off the bottle, then leaned back completely in his chair. For a second his fiddled with the bottle then he sighed, “The girl that I’ve been talking to want to ‘take our relationship to the next level,’” Aiden used two fingers to gesture air quotes, “But I told her I’m not ready and now she’s, like, lost her mind or something and keeps telling me that I’m not going to get anywhere in life if I continue to live scared of commitment.” Ashton nearly choked, times have changed since he was seventeen, because that is not a conversation he was ever near to having with a girl at that age. “She’s been yelling at me for a week now, and I’m too afraid to ask my parents for advise because I’m pretty sure neither one of them have had a problem like this.” Aiden looked at the glass bottle and turned it around between his fingers.

           Ashton cleared his throat, “Well, is she right?” Aiden’s eyes shot up at Ashton and his eyebrows pulled together, “I mean, are you not ready because you are scared of commitment?” Aiden relaxed his eyebrows and looked down again, shaking his head. “Then, what’s the problem?” Ashton leaned forward, eyes still locked on the teenager sitting in front of him.

           Aiden was silent for a minute and then he sighed, “It’s not that I’m scared of commitment, it’s that I’m not sure I want to commit to her.” Aiden sighed again and dropped his head into his hands. “Which then makes me sound like an asshole.”

           “There’s nothing wrong with not connecting with someone, Aiden.” Ashton said as he picked the bottle up in front of him and took another swig. “What’s wrong is stringing her along making her think you connect with her.” Ashton shifted his weight as he set the bottle back on the counter.

           Slowly, Aiden lifted his head and furrowed his eyebrows, “So, you’re saying I should break up with her?”

           Ashton shrugged, “I’m saying that it’s not fair to hurt her by pretending to feel differently than you actually feel. It’s up to you how you want to interpret that.” Ashton raised his eyebrows again and then walked away, plopping himself into the empty space on the couch next to the sleeping bundle of kids.

           After Ashton talked with Aiden, Aiden loosened up. He became more willing to participate in the weekend activities, talked more, and certainly laughed more. When Monday morning came and it was time for the Hood kids to go home, Aiden stopped at the door and shifted his bag in his hands. “Thanks for the advice Uncle Ash, that night we had a talk and we figured things out,” Aiden smiled and wrapped his free arm around Ashton.

           A little shocked, Ashton hesitated for half a second, then gathered his wits before wrapping his arms around Aiden. “I’m glad I could help.” Aiden smiled as Ashton again then headed out the door towards his parents’ car. Ashton may be a kid at heart, but he’s definitely gone through enough in his own life that he’s always there to give his favorite nephew girl advise.

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“I go too! I go too!” Willie kicks their legs in their car seat in the back. 

“Uncle Ash will be sad you don’t want play with him, Wills,” Calum says and it’s as if he said the magic word. 

Calum and Olive wanted it to be a surprise Willie would be spending the day with Ashton but with their continuous screaming, it was time to throw in the towel.

Willie’s legs stopped kicking immediately.

“Unca Ash?!” their eyes widen and then they’re kicking again, but this time from happiness. Willie makes a little dance of it all as well.

“Yea bugaboo, you’re going to spend all day with Uncle Ashton,” Olive tells them turning in her seat. 

“Excited mommy!” Willie smiles showing their tiny dimples in their cheeks. 

Calum and Olive exchange smiles and listen to Willie’s story they’ve created. The thought of spending the day with Ashton has put them in a much better mood. 

When the family of three arrive at Ashton’s, Willie is a wiggling worm trying to get out of their car seat.

“Willie, you need to sit still for mommy so I can get you out,” she tells them a little sternly.

Willie freezes while Calum grabs their bag, he laughs at Willie’s clear excitement but still feels a pang of jealousy of that excitement directed to Ashton. He’s glad Willie has connected so well with all of his friends, but it’s hard to take at the same time. Does Willie get that excited for Calum anymore?

Once Willie is safely on the ground, they bolt up the driveway to the front door and they try their hardest to reach the doorbell. 

“Daddy help! Can’t reach!” Willie shouts looking back at Calum and Olive.

That eases Calum slightly so he rings the doorbell then opens the door to see Ashton halfway in the hallway making his way to the entrance. 

“Munchkin!”

“Unca Ash!” Willie squeals and runs to their favorite uncle who scoops them up in a big hug. 

Calum and Olive shuffle in grinning at the exchange of dual happiness between Ashton and Willie. 

“Hey guys,” Ashton finally greets them shifting Willie to his hip who is now playing with the chain around Ashton’s neck. 

“Hey man,” Calum greets. “Everything you need is in here, their blanket, toys, snacks and a sippy cup of juice.”

“Make sure they drink water for lunch, though,” Olive instructs. “We can’t have juice all the time, right bugaboo?”

“Mhmm,” Willie hums indifferently then says to Ashton, “play the drums?”

“We can play drums, munchkin,” Ashton grins kissing their cheek. 

“All right, well, we’ll get going I guess,” Olive says kissing Willie’s cheek. “We should be back close to dinner time if we’re lucky and find something we like.”

“Call if you need anything,” Calum says kissing Willie’s cheek as well. “Bye Wills, be good for uncle Ash.”

“Can you say bye to mommy and daddy?” Ashton asks as they walk out the door. 

“Bye mommy! Bye daddy!” Willie waves. 

“All right munchkin, want to play drums first?”

Willie claps their hands and screams in excitement as Ashton is already heading downstairs where his (and Willie’s) kits are. Ashton doesn’t play as hard like he normally would and he creates a simply beat while Willie watches in hard concentration. 

Willie tries to mimic Ashton the best they can and Ashton encourages them the whole time. Then like all the other times, Willie goes crazy and hits everything with much enthusiasm. 

After drums, they head upstairs to color and watch Blue’s Clues or Little Bear. It’s a Blue’s Clues kind of day. They’re sat at Ashton’s coffee table with sheets of paper and crayons and a pile of cheerios in the middle that Willie would always nibble on.

Half the time Ashton would just sit and watch Willie, completely enraptured by this little person whom he loves so much. Willie would speak to the TV and sing along when necessary and Ashton can already tell they’re going to be a genius. 

After coloring time they go outside and play in the sandbox, a necessity that needs to be at every uncle’s house. Ashton listens to Willie chatter about whatever it is on a three year old’s mind and plays along with their imagination. 

Willie yawns loudly. 

“Let’s head inside for naptime,” Ashton suggests dusting sand off his hands. 

“No nap! Elephant and cowboy time!” Willie waves their arms in the air. 

“We can play elephant and cowboy after your nap, I pinky promise,” Ashton holds out their pinky which Willie links up with quickly. 

Naptime is the best with uncle Ash. Willie snuggles up next to him in the middle of Ashton’s bed with pillows surrounding the edges. Ashton always makes up funny stories for Willie while rubbing their head (a trick Calum told him) until Willie fell asleep. Ashton would slip away to let Willie sleep for about an hour or an hour and a half. 

While Willie slept, Ashton cleaned and would get the ingredients ready for dinner (mac & cheese and hot dogs in croissant rolls were Willie’s favorite) until he’d hear Willie calling for him. 

“Did you have good dreams, munchkin?” Ashton would ask as a sleepy Willie rubbed their eyes. They looked a lot like Olive did when waking up. 

“Uh huh, mommy, daddy and Duke flied me to nana’s house.”

“Really? That’s a very good dream,” Ashton nods. 

The rest of the day goes off without a hitch, they played their elephant/dinosaur/cowboy game--Ashton winged it every time--and watched more Blue’s Clues after dinner until Olive and Calum came back. 

“Where’s our little Willie?” Calum calls and Willie scrambles from the couch after hearing his voice. 

“Daddy!” Willie lunges into Calum’s legs who grunts at the impact. He hugs Willie best he can before squatting in front of them letting Willie climb onto his thigh. Willie began telling Calum all that they did with uncle Ash in broken sentence but Calum listened intently. 

“Did you find something?” Ashton asks Olive while Willie and Calum share their moment. 

“I think so,” Olive nods, “We’re going to look at it again Monday but this time with Willie. You guys clearly had fun today.”

“We always do,” Ashton grins, “but look at how they are with Calum.”

“I know,” Olive smiles, “he gets jealous of you sometimes.”

“What? That’s crazy. Willie doesn’t look at me like that,” Ashton shakes his head. 

Olive looks at Willie who is still sharing about their day all while holding Calum’s cheek in their tiny little hand.

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