The Challenge He'd Been Waiting For

Alex took the little girl's hand as she grabbed for his, it felt odd to him, knowing that she was his and she was already accepting of him without knowing him. But as he looked down at her little curls, he knew she wouldn't love him once she found out how his relationship ended with her mother, or when she found out that he wasn't dating a female.

She looked up at him, "Daddy, why aren't you going with the people?"

"Because I play on the stage."

"Oh," she mumbled turning to Jack as he caught up to them. "Hi!"

The lanky boy grinned at her enthusiasm, "Hey munchkin," he picked her up of the ground and held her over his hand, causing her to giggle.

"Be careful!" Alex yelped, pulling her down into his chest, her laughter stopped and she stared at him.

"She's three years old, not three months; she isn't breakable, don't worry I won't hurt her."

He looked at Alexis before setting her on her feet to walk, "Sorry, I'm not used to kids. I wanted one, but I just-"

"You'll learn Alex, don't worry."

The little girl set her light brown eyes on the steps, "Too big."

Jack picked her up and brought her to the top of the stairs, tossing her in the air again and putting her to his waist, looking around at the crew. None of them looked at him, they were too busy setting up the stage to even notice the little girl he was holding.

"Matt," Alex said grabbing his tour manager's arm, "you need to watch the baby."

"Baby?"

He pointed toward Jack, "My ex dropped her off today, said that she couldn't get married until she gave her up."

"You got Maria pregnant and still broke up with her?"

"I didn't know! I would say that she isn't mine if the times didn't match up or if she didn't have my hair."

The tour manager looked at the baby, "You should ask Vinny."

"Merch."

"Danny?"

"We need him here, just suck it up. You're my manager and I need help, I can't go on stage if I have to watch her. She might fall and get hurt or something, and I don't want her to hear--"

"You talk the way you talk on stage all the time."

"Fine, keep her here, but if you can't grab Alexis' hand in a second in case-"

"Alex, dude, I've got it."

Jack walked over at his manager's wave, and held the little girl out, the spiky haired boy took her, giving her a smile before setting her on her feet.

"Hey there Alexis, I'm Matt. I'm your daddy's boss."

"Mommy said that no one can boss daddy around because he's stubborn."

The lead singer crossed his arms, "I am not stubborn."

Jack and Flyzik looked at him, "Oh no, of course you're not."

He stuck out his tongue before grabbing his guitar and going to the edge of the stage, "How long until we're on?"

"A couple minutes."

He nodded and stayed where he was, too nervous to stand by his daughter. Jack walked up behind him and put his arm around his boyfriend's waist, knowing from where they were no one in the crowd could see them. Alex leaned back against him, letting out a sigh trying to get the stress from his system.

"What am I going to do?"

"What do you mean, what are you going to do? Alex, I'm going to help you. I love you, and I'm here for you. It'll take awhile for me to get used to this, but we'll make it work."

He turned around, so that they were face to face, "Are you still going to go on that date with Cassadee?"

"Alex, can we not go there?"

"I have enough on my plate, I don't want to worry about you too," he said with a slight pout on his face.

The black haired boy quickly pressed his lips against the boy in front of him's, "Stop being such a worry wart. I'll date Cass for like a week and break up with her, saying that it just didn't work and I'm not ready for dating again... then I'm all yours for at least two years."

Matt walked over, Alexis was holding one of his Mickey figurines in one hand and the other was holding onto his. The two boys separated before she could look up.

"It's set time, Rian is about to do his entrance, get ready."

"Can I go on stage?" the little girl bounced on her feet.

"Maybe when you're older," Alex offered before patting her shoulder, "but you can stand her with Matt and watch us play."

"Okay!"

Jack grinned at her before putting the strap of his guitar over his shoulder, "She's too cute."

"Indeed she is," the singer replied before shoving his boyfriend onto the stage, waiting a handful of seconds before running into the main microphone and started singing.