Raising Sophie Ryan.

“Ugh, that is the last time I take up Jack’s Deep Dish Pizza Competition, I am going explode cheese everywhere,” Harmony groaned, clutching her stomach in agony, as Jack did much the same thing beside her, but still worked up the nerve to laugh at her.

“How many times do I have to tell you two, if you continue to eat that much pizza, you will both turn into one!” Rian said, throwing a crust into the pizza box by his feet. Jack and Harmony looked at each other through narrowed eyes and leaped off the couch, both of them colliding together in an attempt to grab the last slice.

“Rian, how many times do I have to tell you not to give them such stupid ideas?” I muttered, and Rian just shrugged innocently as Harmony grabbed Jack in a headlock before shoving the slice into her mouth, finishing with a victory dance. Harmony’s manners seemed to be on a constant vacation, which is why she managed to get along with the boys so well.

“Right, it’s time to have a talk,” Alex started, trying to sound just a little serious. “...Again.”

“If it’s about the porno I took from Zack’s bunk, then I have a completely believable excuse for that,” Jack piped up, and all eyes were drawn to his face with wide eyes.

“Err, no, it has nothing to do with that...” Alex mumbled, as Zack shot a flushed glare at the back of Jack’s head.

“Oh, well then proceed,” Jack said, shrugging his shoulders nonchalantly. Nobody really wanted to go into depths with Jack’s porno thieving stories, so the conversation quickly continued.

“I was thinking that now that we have a child around, some guidelines should be made so that we don’t raise an almost three year old that says ‘fuck you’ whenever she is asked to go have a nap. Am I right?” Alex looked around the whole room, as we all agreed except of Zack who had an odd look strung upon his face.

“Zack?” Alex asked warily.

“Oh, I’m sorry, my ears went into shock after you said ‘I was thinking’,” Zack said with a giggle, and the rest of the boys joined in, blatantly unaware that Zack’s wittiness was in fact stolen from an episode of The Suite Life Of Zack And Cody, and Harmony and I locked eyes with a knowing smile.

“That was a cheap shot!” Alex protested, before throwing a half eaten crust at Zack’s head. “Anyway! Back to these rules, number one would definitely be no more cursing around Sophie. If the need to swear becomes apparent, improvise.”

“Number two, keep the vulgar and sexual jokes to a minimum, and I guess I don’t have to mention not having sex with Sophie around, considering none of you get lucky anyway,” I said with a smirk, and Harmony let out a loud chorus of her unique laugh.

Each of the boys let out a unique sound of hurt, followed up by a string of comebacks in their own defense, although they all knew deep down that I was right.

“Alright, alright, calm down! If any of you wake Sophie, I’ll castrate you. Well, except Rian, Kara might find a way to castrate me,” I mumbled, shuddering at the thought as Rian smirked, following up with a fist pump.

“Moving on from such disturbing thoughts, where is Sophie going to stay?” Harmony asked, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand before transferring it to Jack’s shirt.

“Rian? Is it okay if she comes and lives with us? I mean, if not, I can move out and Kara can move in permanently, no hard feelings...” Alex rambled, his mind obviously filled with plans and escape routes, all piling up until he wouldn’t be able breathe under the weight of his own decisions.

Rian looked amused. “Of course, dumbass! She’s your daughter, you own half of the house, and there is a spare room that nobody is using! And of course, Kara won’t mind, she’ll love Sophie to bits. Sophie’ll be like her own life-sized dress up doll. Poor, poor Sophie.”

Alex grinned up at his friend, his mind slowing as he seemed to realize that things might just work. Suddenly, he looked up at me, a favor hanging on the corners of his lips.

“Would it be okay if she could stay here for a few days? Just until we can set everything up, y’know, and so she can know us a little better. You are much better with kids than I am,” Alex admitted, ducking his head with shyness and I just smiled, casting a questioning look over toward Harmony.

She merely nodded with a small smile; nothing really ever bothered her in her laid-back, wave-at-life-as-it-drives-by little world which was just one more thing that made her so easy to be around.

“Absolutely Alex, it’s fine. And that’s probably a good idea, having her in an environment she is semi-familiar with until she is comfortable around us. Good thinking, dad.” I winked playfully and Alex just stuck his tongue out in return.

Harmony let out a loud yawn, sleeping dragging at the corners of her eyes as she tried to rub it away without much success. “I think it’s my sleepy time.”

I suddenly felt how weary I was feeling also, and realized that we had all had quite an emotional evening, and all of us must feel pretty mentally drained. Rian checked his watch before making a grab for his keys and jumping up off the couch.

“Yeah, I should be heading off before Kara does Addie’s job and castrates me,” Rian muttered with a laugh before looking at the rest of the boys. “You kids ready to go home?”

Zack and Jack both nodded as Alex didn’t answer, looking around uneasily before looking back over at Harmony and I.

“I was wondering if it would be okay for me to... stay the night, just so I can be here when Sophie wakes up?” Alex asked timidly, and it was obvious he was trying so hard to think like a father, and do everything right. There was no way Harmony and I could say no to Alex Gaskarth’s puppy face, and we both gave in almost instantly.

“Of course, although I must mention now, you’ll be staying at the couch motel.” I motioned to the mangy couch that was flecked in multicolored splatters of God knows what. Alex made a face, but said nothing before nodding with a smile.

“If he’s staying at the couch motel, then where are you sleeping?” Harmony piped up, and I rolled my eyes before swinging an arm around her neck and pulling her against me.

“Hey there, bed buddy!”

“You have got to be joking...”

“Nope, it’s either me or Alex!” I said cheerfully, and with perfect timing, Alex let out a loud belch that the rest of the guys thought was absolutely hilarious. Harmony’s nose wrinkled with the thought of sharing her bed with that creature and suddenly threw her arms around me.

“Bed buddy!” She squeaked over dramatically and I cheered in triumph. Jack, Zack and Rian began to make their rounds, passing out hugs, and goodbyes before leaving with the promise to be back tomorrow for our first whole day with Sophie. Harmony wandered off to get ready for bed as I began my domestic duties and started picking up the abandoned trash that littered the lounge floor as Alex’s eyes followed me around.

“There are spare blankets and a pillow in the hall cupboard, if you want to go fetch them, ‘Lex!” I called out from the kitchen as I finished cleaning up and dimmed the lights. When I returned to the lounge, Alex was snuggled down on the couch, and I laughed at how stupid he looked, his large frame crushed by the tiny couch.

“Alright, I guess I will see you in the morning then,” I said, leaning against the hallway door frame and lightly tapping the toes of my right foot against the carpeted floor.

“Yeah, you will,” Alex said, before changing his tone as he called out to me one last time. I raised my eyebrow and stayed still, waiting for him to continue.

“Ads, thank you so much for making me pull my head in. I’m really going to try hard to be a really good father, but I am going to fuck up. So don’t be too mad at me, will you?”

I let out a small chuckle, before shaking my head as Alex’s soft voice seemed to blend with the lights and make me feel this dizzy happiness that caught me off guard. I was now familiar with his small attention span and the fact that his emotions changed fast enough to give you whiplash.

“I’ll try not to. Get some sleep Alex; you have some catching up to do in the morning.”

I padded down the hallway into Harmony’s room where she was already in bed, fiddling around with her thousands of soft toys that occupied the bed. On the left side were my pyjamas and iPod and I gave Harmony a look.

“How did you get these without waking Sophie?” I questioned and Harmony shrugged, still focusing on which soft toys were going to be exiled from her bed for the night.

“I’m a ninja.”

“Touché, Harmony.” After a couple moments, I returned from the bathroom and jumped in beside her, now that the bed was almost free of her toys. Harmony was a kid at heart, and couldn’t bear to give her childhood memories away in the form of her toys, so she kept every single one of them. I wasn’t sure how I was going to grab sleep with the feeling of their small beady eyes looking at me, but I guess I would have to try.

“So, this is going to be quite a ride, isn’t it?” I questioned softly, plugging my iPod into my ears.

Harmony nodded in agreement. “Oh hell yes, but think of all the fun we can achieve with our new minion!”

I just rolled my eyes as Harmony flicked off the light and shuffled underneath the covers, bidding me goodnight as I did the same. Everything was going to change from here on in, but that didn’t necessarily mean it was a bad thing.