Baby Daddy

October 24th, 2012

Today was the day.

The excitement in the Quinn household was overflowing. Both girls woke up early and full of energy. So much so that the master bedroom was now a complete disaster. Cam and Cope lay on their backs in the middle of the bed amongst the plush comforter, panting and out of breath. What had started off as tickle fight, turned into building a massive fort using everything in the room, which led to a who can jump the highest on the bed contest. Cope had won as Cam was laughing so hard she could barely breathe.

Over the night, Cam could barely sleep, but she wasn’t tired at all. Thinking about the fact that Kellin was coming home brought jitters to her stomach that prevented her from closing her eyes. Every time he came back home, the jitters came back.

As for Copeland, she had slept soundly all night. A feat that hadn’t happened since before Kellin left for the tour. Cope had been talking about this day since we dropped him off at the airport three months ago.

Ding!

“Ooooh who’s that?” Cope shouted, right in Cam’s ear. She climbed over Cam and reached for the iPhone on the nightstand. Her face lit up when she saw the ID. “Uncle Gaaaabeyy! Can I open it? Can I? Please pleeeease.” She pouted.

“Yeah, go ahead.” Cam said, still trying to get the ringing from Cope’s yell out of her ears.

Cope chuckled madly, and then quieted as she focused on getting the message open. Thirty seconds later, the sound of yelling blasted through the phone. Weird. That sounds like K-

“DADDYY!”

Cam crawled over to her and watched the screen. Sure enough, Kellin was the source of the yelling. He was running around the yard waving his hands in the air. His yelling was a bit muffled, but it sounded like he was saying, “THIS IS THE BEST DAY OF MY LIFE. I GET TO SEE CAM AND COPEY AGAIN! AHHHH!”

Cam burst out laughing, throwing herself on the bed. Man, how she wished Kellin was here now.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

“Hurry the fuck up Justin! The plane leaves in 5 minutes. I am not missing the plane.” Kellin screeched, running through the airport terminal.

Walking behind him, Justin rolled his eyes. “Chill out fucker. The plane boards in 5 minutes, it leaves in 45 min. You’re just nervous you’re going to miss the plane and have to wait another day to see her.”

Kellin slowed, his cheeks flushed. “Yeah! I can’t wait to finally see my little Cope a-“

“No you idiot. I was talking about Cam. You know, one of the reasons why are now running through the airport now, looking like a fucker, so you don’t miss the plane.”

“Wh-wh-no. I-I just don’t w-want to miss the plane. Yeah. I don’t want to miss the plane. And I was going to say Cam too, but you cut me off,” Kellin stuttered.

Justin pursed his lips together, giving him a look. “Whatever you say, lover boy.”

Nevertheless, his taunting couldn’t wipe the permanent smile on Kellin’s face. Thinking about seeing his girls again set forth a flood of butterflies in his stomach. He could barely contain his excitement. In fact, this morning his friends had locked him outside until he let out some of his energy. Kellin ran around the house four times shouting like a madman, before being dragged indoors after getting complaints from the neighbor. Little did he know, Gabe had video-taped him and sent it to Cam and Cope. Apparently, it had been a bit hit in the household, because Cam sent back a picture of Cope flushed and laughing.

“Flight 472 to San Diego International Airport is now boarding.”

Kellin snapped out of his trance, and happily skipped over to the boarding gate. The older lady taking the tickets chuckled, “Going to see your girlfriend sonny?”

A look of confusion crossed his face, “Nope, I get to see my baby girl and my best friend for the first time in three months. Why do you ask?”

Justin scoffed. “You look like a love-struck fool going to see his baby girl and his girlfriend for the first time in three months.”

A grin grew on the older lady’s face and her eyes became dreamy, “Ah to be young and in love again. Go get her sonny.” She patted Kellin on the shoulder and gave him back his ticket.

Kellin stood still, opening and closing his mouth, but no words came out. Justin finally pushed him out of the line, sliding smoothly up to the lady to give her his ticket.

“He’s in denial,” he whispered to her, as Kellin reluctantly started walking down the ramp. “They are perfect for each other. I mean, she’s already taking care of his little girl. Wife status is close behind.”

“He’ll figure it out. My husband was like that before he finally got the balls to take me out on a date,” the lady smiled knowingly, then handed back the ticket. “Here you go. Have a nice flight and best wishes with the Mr. and Mrs.”

“Merci beaucoup, Madame,” Justin said, reaching down to kiss her hand. The lady giggled and lightly slapped his hand away, before reaching for the next ticket. He always knew how to get the ladies going. It’s part of what made him Justin.

Unfortunately, his flirtatious nature prevented him from having any real serious girlfriend. Apparently women didn’t like it when males they liked joked around with other women. He was still trying to learn the ways of women, and talking with Cam was helping a lot. He would never admit this to his friends, but he wanted to fall in love so bad. He had seen the magical bonds of love form with Jesse and his wife, Gabe and his longtime girlfriend Robin, and of course, Kellin and Cam, though they were both idiots for not admitting it. The concept of love made Justin’s heart swell with hope that one day he might find a special lady who treated him right. There were too many women who used him for fame, and he would not let it happen again. Admitting all this was hard, and he rarely told anybody anything about his personal and home life. The only person he trusted with all of his feelings was Cam, and Kellin had already made a mark on her.

Justin let out a deep breath. Suddenly, an arm shot out and pulled him down into a seat. “Dude, are you okay?” Kellin questioned, though he seemed a bit distant himself. Probably thinking about Cam.

“Uh, yeah. I just spaced out I guess,” Justin replied curtly, before settling down in his seat and shutting Kellin out by putting his headphones on. It’s not that he didn’t want to talk to him; he just wasn’t ready to be questioned about why he blanked.

Kellin seemed a bit hesitant to leave the conversation where it was, but he shook it off and put on headphones of his own. He scrolled through his playlists before clicking on a familiar one. The playlists name was titled “My Paradise”, and it contained all the songs that reminded him of Cam and Cope. He hit shuffle and closed his eyes before nestling into the seat. Foster the People’s melodic beats rang through the headphones. Kellin hummed in content as he reminisced in memories.

Cam singing the song while cooking dinner, Cam blasting this in her Jeep, Cam freaking out because he got her VIP tickets to one of their concerts, Ca-

He stopped. He thought about what Justin and the ticket lady had said. Maybe his feelings for Cam were more than friendly. Kellin shook his head, and denied the feelings. Cam would never like him like that. He cleared his mind. The, along with the comfort of his favorite playlist and the knowledge that in he would see his girls in less than three hours, Kellin fell into a deep sleep.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

“Cope wait up for me!” Cam yelled.

The little girl stopped skipping and turned to face her. Cam had locked her Jeep and was attempting to put her keys into the front pocket of her small backpack. Cope had decided to run ahead and now stood in front of the doors to the baggage claim, where Kellin would come out. “Come on Cammy! I wanna see daddy.”

Cam ran up to Cope and tugged on her hand, pulling her through the doors and into the airport. The baggage claim was full of hustle and bustle, people running to collect their baggage and get out of the chaos. “Cope, you have to hold my hand at all time, okay? I don’t want to lose you.”

Cope nodded and squeezed her hand. Looking toward the staircases that Kellin would be coming down in approximately 2 minutes and wishing time went by faster, Cam remembered the last time Kellin had come back after a long tour. Seeing Kellin for the first time in a while always became one of her favorite memories.

Cam sighed and reached for the phone in her back pocket.

3:14 pm.

Kellin’s plane landed fourteen minutes ago. Where was he? She searched the crowd for a black head of hair. Nothing.

“Daddy!” She heard Cope screech. Whipping around, she realized Cope had let go of her hand. Panic started to set in as she realized she lost Cope in the midst of a wave of people rushing towards their luggage.

All of a sudden, a pair of hands gently covered her eyes and led her away, to what seemed like a quieter place with less people. “Guess who?” the familiar voice whispered in her ear, his lips ever so lightly touching her ear causing her heart to flutter.

“Kellin!” Cam burst out in a smile and turned around to wrap her arms tightly around the man. Kellin held her close and rested his head on her shoulder, taking in her wonderful aroma. Both of their bodies melted into each other and all of their stress seemed to rush away as they held each other close. Cam and Kellin felt fully relaxed for the first time since the last time they saw one another. A cough erupted from somewhere around them. Kellin seemed to ignore it as he pulled Cam closer to him, disregarding the fact that she started to pull away, blushing with embarrassment.

“Kellin,” Cam whined. “You have to let go of me.”

Kellin lifted his head from her shoulder and brought it to her ear once more, “No one says I have to. I’m going to hold you like this forever. You’re mine now and I’m never going to let you go.”

“Yeah well that’s too bad because my mother is expecting me,” a new voice cut in.

“Justin!” Cam pulled herself away from Kellin, who reluctantly let her go. She grabbed Justin by the shoulders to pull him into a bone-crushing hug. “I didn’t know you were coming! How are you holding up?” She whispered loud enough for Justin to hear.

“I’m doing okay. Can I come over soon and have some alone time with you?” Justin shyly questioned.

Cam smiled. “Anytime, I’ll just kick Kellin right out of the house and you can come over.”

Cam and Justin continued to have their private and touching conversation, while Kellin watched them with burning eyes. Their faces were so close together, and Cam was laughing. He stopped bouncing Copeland, who was perched on his shoulders, and tried to listen in. No such luck. A tingling sensation overwhelmed his insides and he felt like he was going to throw up. A pit rose in his stomach, and he took a step to go break them up.

“Ow, Daddy, stop!”

He snapped out of his trance and looked at his hands, which were wrapped white-knuckled around Copeland’s legs. Quickly, he released his grip and looked over at Cam, who was giving him a confused look. Kellin gave a half smile and started bouncing Copeland again, like nothing was wrong. He took a deep breath and exhaled loudly, before putting a huge grin on his face.

Nothing was wrong.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

“Bye Justin!” The trio shouted simultaneously from the car.

Justin saluted them, and yelled out, “Just remember, I don’t want to be an uncle just yet.” Then he winked and disappeared into mom's apartment building.

“That crazy kid,” Kellin joked. “Alright, now it’s just me and my girls. Home we go!”

“Okie dokey!” Cam exclaimed, pulling out of the driveway.

“Wheeeeeeeeeeeeee! We get to go home as a family now! And- and-“

Both adults gave each other a look. Kellin craned his head to peek at Copeland, who was sitting in her car seat fast asleep.

“Ha! That was fast, she is already asleep!” Kellin whispered loudly.

“Shhhh. And we had a long morning, so we didn’t get much sleep. She has every right to be tired,” Cam said, pulling onto their street. They lived only five minutes away from Justin, which had its pros and cons.

“Another nightmare?” Cam looked over at Kellin, who was looking at her with a worried expression on his face.

Cam chuckled, “Nope. This was the first nightmare free night in a while. She woke up super early because the day she has been talking about since you left finally came.”

It was silent as Cam pulled the car into the garage. After she parked the car, she turned her head to look at Kellin, who was looking right back. “Welcome home Kel. I missed you tons.”

“I missed you too baby. I’m here whenever you need me.”

They looked into each other’s eyes, before Cam opened her door and hopped out. Kellin carried Cope into the house and laid her on his bed, which was freshly made from the mess the girls had made this morning. Kellin yawned. “I’m tired. Come lay with me.”

“Ok, but I have to get ready first.” Cam giggled.

After changing into a tank top and some shorts, brushing her teeth, and taking out her contacts and all bodily piercings, she climbed into bed next to Kellin. He had Copeland nestled beside him, so Cam lay on his other side.

He turned his head away from Cope and rest his forehead on Cam’s. “I missed you so fucking much Cammy.”

“I know. I missed you too. Having you back is one of the best feelings ever,” she admitted, reaching out to play with his hair.

Kellin hummed a song and murmured, “There is no place like home Cam. Love you.”

“Love you too Kel. Good night!”

Kellin leaned over and planted a kiss on her forehead, then both her cheeks, and lastly her nose. His lips were warm and left tingles on the places it met her skin. Finally, he wrapped his arm around her waist, and pressed into her back. He was breathing on her neck softly, making her heart beat loud.

“Love you too,” Cam repeated, but Kellin had already fallen fast asleep.