She was never normally this shy about spending time with Calum, but Ashton assumed it was because her brother had wanted to practice and she’d been vocal in her distaste for the loud ruckus her brother always caused.

Calum knew different.

“Uncle Cal, are we gonna play some songs today?” Her question was filled with excitement as Ashton pulled the car out of the driveway, her posture relaxing. Calum laughed at his niece.

“Yes we are sweetheart. Did you find a song that you wanted to learn?” And he watched as a blush coated her cheeks, eyes ducking down.

“I wanted to do one of the songs you and daddy used to play.” The admittance was quiet, but Calum heard and his heart melted as he held his hand out to the smallest Irwin.

“C’mon then kiddo, I think I’ve got all of the sheet music for our old songs. You can pick the one you want to learn.” And her eyes flew to his the look of shock colouring her features.

She didn’t hesitate as she took his hand and they headed to the small studio he’d created so many years ago and they went about getting the bass ready. He’d already taught her how to take care of the instrument and she was good at it.

Calum knew that she was scared to tell her dad that she preferred the bass over drumming, and part of it was like she was betraying him, or so she’d told him when she’d begged him not to tell Ashton about giving her lessons.

He couldn’t help but laugh when she settled into his lap, despite not needing his assistance, but she huffed at his words.

“It’s a new song and you wrote it. Of course I’m going to need help.” She was so wonderfully stubborn with her ways and Calum adored her for it. It was the streak of stubbornness that had her hiding her talent from her father, but Calum silently mused that it was the universe giving back the amount of times Ashton was stubborn as a teenager and it was coming back in spades with his children.

They’d settled on on of their older songs, and he guided her fingers with ease and repetitively. He found himself humming the lyrics as she played, making her giggle before they started again.

“You got it!” He crowed in delight when she did her first run through of the song. It had been riddled with small mistakes, but she would learn. She laughed as he squeezed her tight before she slid from his lap and sat cross legged in the middle of the floor, starting from the beginning.

Calum hadn’t heard his front door opening, and he hadn’t heard the call of their names. But he caught movement from the corner of his eye and he recognised Ashton easily.

He turned to see his best friend watching his daughter avidly, his eyes alight with sheer joy as she got lost in the world of going over the song, giggling when she made a noticeable mistake.

Ashton’s eyes never left hers as she played and Calum smirked at his best friend when he finally glanced to him.

“Wow.” The word was barely breathed but Calum understood.

When she finally stopped, her eyes widened at the sight of her dad, but the beaming grin he wore eased any concerns she held. She still turned an accusatory glare onto her uncle who held his hands up in surrender.

“This is all your dad sweetheart. I didn’t hear him when he turned up.” And she relented before her gaze flickered back to her dad.

“It’s not that I don’t like music, because I love it. But I don’t like playing the drums.” She hummed and Ashton beamed in return.

“I’ll take it baby girl. Who knew I’d end up creating the next best rhythm section?” He shot to Calum who laughed.

“Of course you would. The rhythm beat lives in your blood, I’m certain of it.” Calum snarked back, earning a giggle from the youngest.

“So you don’t mind me playing bass, dad?” And Ashton felt himself melting.

           The two girls Calum loved most in his life were his sister, Mali-Koa, and his Mum. His entire life, those were the two women who kept him grounded and made sure he’d always kept his head on straight when making any kind of decision.

Everything changed the day that Callie was born. At six pounds, seven ounces, his niece was the one girl he’d make sure he’d never disappoint, never hurt, and would always be there for.

Calum, being Calum, had rarely held newborns in the past, but his face lit up when his sister handed him his niece.

“What’s her name?” Calum asked his sister, his eyes never leaving the newborn baby in his arms.

“Callie Joy.” Mali smiles, looking down at his daughter.

“Callie, as in…” His eyes were beginning to tear up.

“As in Calum, yes.” Mali states. “Joy is named after Mum.”

Calum didn’t know what to think. He’d always heard jokes about his sister naming her future children after him, but he didn’t think she was one hundred percent serious. It was touching, that his sister would even consider naming her children after her brother, but the fact that she actually did it, makes his heart even happier.

“Callie Joy. A beautiful name for a beautiful girl.” Calum smiles, looking down at the baby in his arms.

“She looks like Rob,” Mali chuckles. “I carried her for nine months for her to look like her father.”

“I think she looks just like you.” Calum says, his eyes trained on the little girl in his arms. “Spitting image, really.”

“You’re just flattering me.” Mali chuckles.

Callie begins to cry in Calum’s arms, and he immediately looks up at his sister for help.

“I think I broke her.” Calum says. “Mali I broke your baby.”

“No, she probably needs a diaper change or is hungry.” Mali giggles, taking the baby from her brothers arms.

Mali uncovers her daughter and checks her diaper, but realises she’s just hungry and ends up leaning back to feed her.

Calum turns away to give his sister a bit of privacy as she feeds her daughter.

“You can still look at me you know. I know you’ve seen a boob before.” Mali chuckles. “It’s also not like I’m trying to flash you.”

“It’s just weird. Seeing you be a mum and all that.” Calum says, looking at his sister.

Mali’s looking down at Callie and rubbing the side of her head, gently singing to her as she feeds.

Calum takes in the moment; his sister is actually a mum of her own. It’s not just Mali-Koa and Calum anymore, now it’s Mali-Koa, her daughter, Callie, and Calum.

“I think I’m going to head home.” Calum states. “I’ll swing by tomorrow?”

Mali looks up and smiles at her brother. “Yeah, I’ll see you tomorrow. I love you.”

9 months later

9 months ago was the best day of Calum’s life.

Tonight?

The worst.

He’d taken Callie for the night so Mali could finally get a full nights rest for the first time since Callie was born.

Sure, baby sitting and having Callie all day was fun. But Calum got to give her back and have her parents take care of her all night.

Just having gotten off tour, Calum missed his niece dearly.

Of course, he’d gotten the daily FaceTime calls from Mali about Duke, and every other FaceTime, he’d see his niece, who instead of looking like her parents, looked exactly like him.

Now that he’s back, he was determined to spend as much time with Callie as much as possible.

For the first few hours, Callie and Calum were good. They watched Moana, Callie drank her bottle, and the two of them fell asleep, snuggled in blankets, together on the couch, while Trolls played in the background. Everything was seemingly fine until Callie started crying.

Immediately, Calum’s eyes shot wide open and he sat up, holding the baby to his chest as he did so, so she wouldn’t fall.

He checks her diaper and changes it, and then warms up one of the bottles from the fridge and tries feeding his niece, but she refuses the bottle.

“Oh please, Lil Cal, stop crying. It’s okay.” Calum assures, rocking the baby in his arms.

Callie won’t stop crying, and he does everything he can to try and calm her down.

He grabs the guitar and starts strumming a short tune. He tries feeding her. Tries wrapping her up in a blanket and laying him down on his chest. He tries putting her in her car seat and rocking her back and forth, but even that doesn’t work.

As a last resort, he calls you.

You and Calum aren’t really close, nor have you even known him for that long.

In fact, you’d only ever hung out with him twice, and the first time was because he brought you home from the club. But he knew that you worked at a daycare, and that was enough of an excuse to call you up.

“Hello?” You answer. Your voice is groggy, and you’re shocked you’ve been woken up at two in the morning by someone you hardly know.

“Hey, it’s Calum.” Calum says. He looks around the room. “Um, I kind of need your help.”

“Calum, it’s two in the morning. I’m not coming over so you can fu–” you begin.

“It’s not that.” Calum cuts you off quickly. “I have my niece tonight and I can’t get her to stop crying. It’s Mali’s first night of being alone without the baby and I don’t want to wake her up.”

You’ve never heard Calum sound so desperate, it almost makes your heart break. You can hear the baby in the background, and you look around the room, looking for an excuse not to go.

“Calum… I don’t think…”

“Please. I’ll do anything. I just don’t know what to do when it comes to babies.”

You sigh and move the blankets from your legs. “I’ll be over there in ten. Leave the door unlocked.”

“Sure thing.”

Ten minutes later, you find yourself pulling up to Calum’s house and walking through the front door. His house looks normal, but the faint cry of a baby makes its way through the house. You sigh and follow the cries to Calum’s room, where he’s sitting on the bed with his dog, Duke, and a baby in his arms.

“You’re here!” He cries, a brief look of relief splashing across his face. “Thank you for coming, I really appreciate it.”

You nod and smile, looking at the boy and the baby in front of you. “Let me see her.”

Calum easily hands you his niece and you hold her to your chest for a few minutes, but she doesn’t stop crying.

“Hey, baby girl, what’s wrong? What’s got you frazzled?” You say, looking at the small baby in front of you.

If you didn’t know any better, you’d say she was Calum’s daughter just by the looks of it.

Callie keeps crying in response, but her cries are no longer screams, just soft cries in response to your voice.

“You know, you’re giving your uncle here a scare. Between you and me, I just think he’s afraid he might accidentally hurt you.” You say, unbuttoning her outfit. “Oh no, Miss Callie!” You say, looking down at her diaper. “That looks a little full, doesn’t it!”

Calum hands you a diaper, and you begin to change her.

“Her diaper was fine a few minutes ago…” Calum mumbles.

You give him a sympathetic smile before turning back to look at the baby laying between your legs.

“Here, I bet that’s all better.” You say, wiping her clean and changing her diaper. “I bet you’re hungry after all that crying too.”

You hand Callie back to Calum and stand up before walking to the kitchen to grab a bottle from the fridge. You warm it up and head back into Calum’s room, handing the bottle to him.

Calum sticks the bottle in Callie’s mouth and looks at you. “Thank you for coming. I wasn’t sure I would’ve been able to handle her cries for much longer.”

“It was just a dirty diaper, it’s no big deal.” You mumble.

“I changed her diaper when she first started crying. She just hasn’t stopped til you came over.” Calum admits.

You look at him – he’s wearing sweats and is shirtless, and he’s holding Callie close to his chest as he’s feeding her the bottle.

“What can I say, I’m the baby whisperer.” You giggle, looking at him. “I think I’m going to go now, I’ve got work in the morning. I pass on the baby whisperer dust to you.”

“Thank you again, (y/n),” Calum states. “I really appreciate you coming to help me. I owe you one.”

“Hey, I’m here to help. Goodnight Calum.” You say, walking out the door.

Calum sighs once he hears the front door shut behind you and looks down at his niece.

“Well, Callie Joy, it’s just you and me for the rest of the night. I promise I’ll be better.”

The nine month old opens her eyes for a slight second to look at her uncle, causing him to smile.