Guitars and Love Notes

“Alex are you absolutely positive about this?” his mother asked as in disbelief.

“I’ve never been so sure of anything,” he smiled. “I know I’m young and that this is a big step in my life, but I’m ready. I think I’ve been ready for quite a while actually.”

“So then nothing I say can make you change you?”

“Sorry, but no you really can’t,” he smirked. “Just promise me you’ll be cheering the loudest tomorrow when we throw our caps in the air.”

"I promise you, I will be cheering no matter what,” she said as she reached over and hugged her son.

“Thanks mom. I love you.”



Two days later Alex was standing in the hallway of the high school with Zack trying to reassure him that everything would be okay and that even though the bleachers were going to be full of friends and family they wouldn’t be looking at just Zack. Zack was scared that he was going to trip and make a fool in front of everyone, but Alex knew everything would turn out just fine.

“I promise. I’ll be next to you the whole time. Nothing bad will come to you while I’m near,” Alex said resting his forehead against Zack’s making the younger boy smile at the contact.

“So if I trip,” he started leaving it for Alex to finish.

“If you trip I will go down with you.”

“Is that a promise?”

“Most definitely.”

“Everyone’s lining up, we better get going,” Zack said as he noticed the large line forming from the corner of his eye. “Just remember, you need to make sure I don’t trip up.”

“I’ll be there holding you up the whole time.”

Quickly getting into the line, Alex put his arm around Zack’s waist for their walk onto the field.

“Do you think my parents are going to show up?” Zack asked as the line in front of them slowly started moving. Alex had heard that question at least four times a day for the last two weeks. Ever since Zack told his mom that he would rather continue living with his brother than move in with her, she hadn’t been there for the boy. As for Zack’s dad, he was never really there for the boy after the divorce and Zack was hoping he’d at least come by to see his son graduate. Alex knew that Zack was lying when he said that he was okay with his mom ignoring him. He just wished he could get both of Zack’s parents to realize how lucky they were to have him.

“Even if they don’t, you have enough people cheering you on without them.”

“Thanks Alex,” Zack said with a smile as he leaned his head on Alex’s shoulder. Yes, it was slightly awkward for them to walk, but neither one could complain.



“Is it almost done?” Zack asked an hour and a half later as he rested his head on Alex’s shoulder once again. As happy as he was to be graduating he couldn’t take another speech about opening a new chapter of life or learning who you really are after high school. He just wanted get in the car with Alex, drive back to his house and watch movies for the rest of the night.

“They’re on the last row now. Only a few more minutes,” Alex said after he turned around and saw the back row where students sitting filling up as more students were handed their diplomas.

“Why do they make graduation ceremonies so long?”

“Because it gives parents more time to cry over their baby graduating before their children have to see them again,” he suggested making Zack laugh.

“Is that seriously the last person?” the boy asked sitting up straighter after he noticed that the line that was once there was now gone.

“Yep.”

“Thank god,” he said as their principal started addressing their graduating class again.

“Can I ask you something?”

“Of course,” Zack said as everyone around them stood up and he followed their lead trying to pull Alex up with him, while Alex pulled out of his grasp and got down on one knee.

“Will you marry me?” he asked shocking Zack as their principal announced their graduating class and all their classmates threw their caps in the air.

“Oh my god,” he said as he slowly sunk back down into his chair to look at the ring Alex was holding out to him.

“Is that a yes?”

“Are you serious about this?”

“I wouldn’t ask if I wasn’t. So what do you say?”

“Yes,” Zack said as his face broke out into a huge grin.

Returning Zack’s smile Alex quickly pulled the ring from the box and slipped it onto Zack’s finger as they continued smiling at each other.

“Alex, grab your fiancé and let’s go. The parents want pictures,” Jack said with a smirk as he came over and snapped the two boys out of their staring contest.

“You knew about this?” Zack asked looking up at Jack, wondering just how long Alex had been planning this.

“Of course. Who do you think went ring shopping with Alex?” he said before walking away and leaving the other two boys to follow.



“Will you please go check on Zack?” Alex asked his mother as he adjusted his tie and made sure his suit looked fine.

“I just checked on him five minutes ago,” she laughed as she finished putting on her eye shadow.

“What if he gets cold feet?”

“Alex, if he loved you enough to say yes, I’m sure he’ll go through with it.”

“People get cold feet all the time. It doesn’t matter how much they love the other person, they just get scared and run,” Alex explained as he turned around to face his mother.

“Why can’t you just pretend to believe me for one minute?”

“Because I don’t want you to build up my hopes only to find out that Zack left me at the altar.”

"He's not going to leave you at the altar," she said with a roll of her eyes as her ex-husband walked through the door.

"Alex, it's time for you to get into place," Peter said with a small smile.

"Good luck sweetie," his mom said as she came over and kissed his cheek. "Try not to cry too much when you see him walking down the aisle."

As much as Alex wanted to yell at his mother for that comment, he knew she was right. The second he saw Zack coming down the aisle he would be crying tears of joy over the fact that the younger boy didn't run. He knew that Zack laughed him as much as he loved Zack, he was just afraid that Zack would think getting married at 18 and barely six months out of high school would be too much. Some days it seemed too much for him too, but then he remembered that he was probably going to be spending the rest of his life with Zack anyway so getting a head start was no big deal.



"It's weird to think that only an hour ago you were still just my fiancé. It's going to take a while to get used to calling you my husband," Zack said with a smile as he had his arms wrapped around Alex’s neck while they slowed danced in front of all their family and friends.

“I know what you mean. But we have a very long time to get used to it,” he said as he pulled Zack an inch closer. “Your mom won’t stop taking pictures. It’s getting weird.”

“I know what you mean,” Zack said as they turned slightly and he could see his mom smiling brightly from behind her camera that was flashing every two seconds to signal another picture was taken. “For a woman who wanted nothing to do with me after her divorce, she’s really over doing the proud mother thing. I used to pray that she would change her mind and decide she wanted me, but now I’m wishing she wasn’t here.”

“You know she’s just trying to play the part. Everyone is seeing how supportive my mother has been of us all the way from England. Your mom has a lot of catching up to do.”

“Tell me about it,” he said with a roll of his eyes. “I swear, if I see that flash one more time I’m going to break her camera. It’s making me see way too many dots.”

“We wouldn’t want you to make sure a scene and ruin the reception. I’ll have Caleb spill some beer on it after we’re done dancing,” Alex said with a smirk.

“Also have him make sure she can’t find another camera,” Zack said as he moved even closer to Alex, making it harder for them to do anything but sway back and forth as he rested his head on the other boys shoulder.

“I love you,” Alex said as he tilted his head slightly and kissed Zack’s cheek.

“I love you too,” Zack murmured before lightly kissing Alex’s neck.

"They are so cute together," Cassadee said as she leaned back into Rian's chest while they watched the couple dance.

"It feels weird to say, but yeah, they really are. If you had asked me last year I would have told you when he got married he would be dancing with Lisa, but watching those two now I couldn't imagine Alex with anyone but Zack," he said with a fond smile as he wrapped his arms around his girlfriend waist.

"Heck, I used to date the guy and wanted to spend the rest of my life with him, but now I can't even imagine it," Lisa said as she came up beside the couple and stopped at the edge of the dance floor to watch the newlyweds dance.

"They're really perfect for each other, aren't they?" Cassadee asked with a smile.

"They are," Lisa smiled.

"At least they figured it out while they were young, like us," Rian said smiling down at Cassadee.

"Exactly, plus this way Alex and I will never have to go through a messy divorce because everyone conceived us to get married," Lisa joked.

"So where's your date?" Cassadee asked feeling bad that Lisa was possibly at this wedding alone.

"Right over there," she said as she pointed to a table behind them to a guy with shaggy blonde hair that Rian recognized from his history class during their last semester. "He's really enjoying the buffet," she added with a laugh.

"How long have you been seeing him?"

"We started dating right after graduation. We're really happy together," she said knowing what Cassadee's next question would be.

"I'm glad."~~Three years later~~

Three years later and Zack was ready to have a very important conversation with Alex. He knew that their conversation could lead to a huge life change, but he thought they were both ready for it.

Zack was finishing up the first semester of his fourth and final year of college, and was soon going to have his teaching degree. He figured since he was almost done with school, and Alex finally had a somewhat normal touring schedule it would be the perfect time to start looking into adoption. He wasn't stupid, he knew the process took a while that's why he wanted to get it started sooner rather than later. He just hoped that Alex felt the same way.

“Honey, I’m home,” Alex sang as he walked in the front door with his guitar case in hand and kicked off his shoes. Like every day he walked into the living room where Zack was sitting doing his homework, and put the case in it’s rightful spot next to the couch.

“How was your meeting?” Zack asked as he turned his head to give Alex a quick peck on the lips.

“Good. They want me to do three more shows in Europe. I told them I’d have to talk it over with you first,” the older man said with a shrug.

“Alex, I love how you always think of me, but remember this is your career. You can’t keep putting me first.”

“Zack, I love how you always think about my career, but remember how hard it is for me to be away from you. I have to put you first,” Alex said with a teasing smirk as he rested his forehead against Zack’s.

“Just remember, I’ll be done with school by the time you go on this tour so if you’re really that worried about missing me I can go with you.”

“That sounds perfect,” Alex smiled. “Now tell me what’s on your mind,” he said as he sat back and looked at Zack expectantly.

“W-what are you talking about?” Zack asked nervously. Yes, he wanted to talk to Alex about adopting, but he was still so scared to bring it up.

"I know you. Your mind is running wild. So what’s up?”

“I wanted to talk to you about something.”

“And what is that something?”

“Well as you know, I’m so close to getting my teaching degree and then I want to teach kindergarten because I love kids,” Zack started as he stared down at his lap, refusing to meet Alex’s eyes.

"I know, and I'm so fucking proud of you,” Alex said excitedly as he scooted closer to Zack and put an arm around his waist pulling him as close as humanly possible. “But that’s not what you’re stressing about, so what is it?”

“I want to start looking into adoption,” he said quickly, continuing on before Alex could say anything. “I know we talked about adopting once we were settled into our careers and everything. But with how long it takes to be approved and find a child that fits in with our dynamic might take a while, so why not start everything now. You just figured out a normal touring schedule so you’re not gone too much, and I already was offered a job at the elementary school I did my student teaching at. All I have to do is graduate and I’ll have a job. I think we should start now before we get too set into our routines and keep pushing it back.”

"So we'll go to the adoption agency tomorrow when you’re out of class and get the paper work started,” Alex said as he stood up and headed into the kitchen to grab a bottle of water.

“Seriously? I’ve been stressing out about what you were going to say about this all day and you just agree and brush it off,” Zack said angrily. He knew he wasn’t really mad at Alex, he was just mad at himself for stressing so much, but it was easier to just take it out on Alex.

“Yes. You should know that I want this just as much as you do. I’m not going to argue about it with you,” Alex sighed as he turned around in the doorway and looked back at Zack.

“You take all the fun out of stupid little marital fights,” Zack grumbled, making Alex laugh as he got up and pushed past the older boy to get to the kitchen to start dinner.

“So I kind of want a girl, what about you?” Alex asked walking up behind Zack and wrapping his arms around his waist while he put his head on the other boys shoulder.

“You just want a little girl so you can spoil her rotten,” Zack said turning his head slightly to smirk at Alex.

“What’s wrong with that?”

“I will not let you spoil our child.”

“Then what’s the point of having a child?” Alex asked with a laugh as Zack pulled out of his arms and glared at him.

“I don’t know, so that you can share your love and affection with our future generation.”

“I guess you’ve got a point,” Alex shrugged. “So if I can’t spoil our child can I spoil you?”

“You already do. Or have you forgotten about the spare room filled with all the gifts you get me when you go on tour?”

“What can I say? I show my love by buying you things.”



“I’m scared Alex,” Zack said with wet eyes as the two of them stood in front of local hospital.

“Everything is going to be fine. I promise,” Alex whispered as he pulled Zack in close and hugged him tightly.

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep.”

“I’m not. I promise you, everything will be okay. I’ll make sure of it.”

“What if she backs out too?”

“She’s fifteen. There is no way she can support this baby, plus she even told us she doesn’t want her own children, hence why she’s putting her baby up for adoption.”

“But what if she looks at the baby and changes her mind? I hear that that happens all the time.”

“Zack, please stop stressing. Let’s go inside and see if we got the baby girl we wanted,” he said grabbing his husband’s hand and pulling him into the front door of the hospital.

While they were walking in Zack was trying his hardest to dry his tears. He didn’t want to seem overly emotional when they want in to see Amelia, the young teenage girl that offered to let them adopt her baby. But after what happened a year ago, when everything seemed to be going right; they had a nursery set up; they even brought the baby girl home. It was two days later, before all the paper work was finalized that the mother decided she wanted to keep her daughter and they sadly had to give her back.

After losing out on adopting the baby girl that they were going to name Phoebe, Zack told Alex that he didn’t want either of them to learn the gender of Amelia’s baby. He didn’t want to get his hopes up, or start picking out names for a child that might not even go home with them.

“Knock, knock,” Alex said with a smile as they walked into a hospital room to see a young girl lying in bed looking absolutely wreck with a crying baby in a portable crib right next to her.

“Thank god you’re here,” she said sitting up. “She won’t stop crying and since she’s your daughter I find it fair that you have to make her stop.”

“Our daughter?” Zack squeaked excitedly. Having done nothing but prepared for the worst it was great to hear Amelia say ‘your daughter’.

“Was he absent when we were discussing all the terms of the adoption?” the young girl asked with a raised eyebrow as Alex walked over to the crib and picked up the baby girl.

“Well if you remember, we told you things feel through last time. He’s kind of scared that it was going to happen again,” Alex explained as he walked over to Zack, passing his shocked husband the baby.

“No worries about that happening here. I really don’t want a kid. Not now, not ever,” she said with a shake of her head. “This whole pregnancy thing is a onetime thing for me.”

“Well thank you for carrying this little girl for us,” Zack said looking up from the baby and smiling at Amelia.

“You’re welcome. I’m just glad that this little slip up between my boyfriend and I could help make another couple so happy. Even though I never want kids, I don’t believe in abortion, so I’m glad I get to know she’s going to be well taken care of.”

“You still want to keep this an open adoption? We’re still willing to make you her godmother,” Alex smiled.

“Are you sure you don’t want someone closer to you to be her godmother?”

“There’s no one else we’d want to be her godmother,” Zack said.

“Only on one condition,” she started before pausing.

“And that is?” Alex asked prompting her to continue.

“You tell me what you’re going to name her. I need to know what to call my goddaughter.”

Alex knew how special this was to Zack, so on the way over he had told the younger boy that he had final say on their child’s name. Looking over at his husband, he lightly nudged the younger boy silently asking him for the name.

“Laelynn,” Zack said with a smile.

“Laelynn? That’s an interesting one,” Amelia said with a smile.

“It means flower of hope. I think it works for her. Even though it didn’t seem it at times, we had hope that this would turn out and it’s like out hope bloomed into this beautiful baby girl.”

“It’s beautiful. I think it really works for her.”

“If it means anything I like the name too,” Alex said making the other two laugh.



"Dad's going to be home in time for my birthday party, right?" a now four year old Laelynn asked her father as she climbed up onto a stool at the kitchen counter and watched him as he put the finishing touches on her birthday cake.

"Of course he is sweetheart. He wouldn't miss it for the world," he said hoping that he wouldn't be made a liar later that afternoon. Alex had called him three hours earlier to tell him that due to severe weather out in Los Angeles all flights had been grounded until further notice. Alex swore he would do anything to get home in time, but there was only so much he could do. Even if Alex rented a car, their was no way he'd make it to Baltimore by tonight.

"What if he's not home in time?" the young girl asked with tears in her eyes.

"Trust me sweetheart, he wouldn't miss your birthday for anything. He's going to be here just you wait and see," he said trying his best to keep the guilt off his face. He knew that once the party was done and Laelynn found out Alex never showed she would go to bed refusing to give her dad a kiss, let alone allowing him to tuck her in but as long as she has fun with all her friends at the party he could handle it.

"How long is he going to be here before he goes away again?" she asked as she reached over and tried to sneak some of the batter out of the bowl.

Zack, wanting her to have the best birthday ever, despite the fact that her other dad might not be home for her party, pretended as though he saw nothing.

"He won't leave again until you're done with Winter Break. He wanted to spend all of the holidays with us," Zack said pulling Laelynn into a hug, once again pretending that he didn't see her swipe more batter.

"Do I get to stay up and watch the ball drop this year?"

"If that's what you want to do."

"It sounds like fun," the girl said with a shrug before climbing back down from the car and putting it away before he dad could yell at her to do it. "I'm going to go color," she yelled over her shoulder as she skipped to the living room making her father laugh.

Without his daughter there to snoop, Zack quickly poured the cake batter into the pan and put it into the oven before going to the cabinet above the fridge and grabbing out the last few gifts he needed to wrap for the party.

Even though he was on the road for most of the party planning, Alex made sure he didn't miss out on any of the shopping for presents. With each new city that his tour stopped in, Zack got another package with something for their daughter; half of which was going to be saved for Christmas because he wasn't going to let Alex completely spoil their daughter.

By the time all the last minute gifts were wrapped and Zack had finished decorating his daughter’s cake with super hero figures; an obsession he could thank Alex for, the doorbell was ringing signaling that the first guests have arrived.

"My friends are starting to show up. Where's dad?" Laelynn asked as she ran into the kitchen and skidded to a stop in front of Zack.

"He’s probably just running late. You know your dad's never on time," Zack said with a laugh as he grabbed his daughter by her shoulders and led her out of the kitchen. "Now let's go welcome your friends to your party."



Forty five minutes later and Laelynn was too preoccupied with her friends to realize that Alex still had yet to make an appearance and Zack couldn't be more thankful. He tried calling his husband a few times just so that he could at least talk to their daughter on her birthday but the first time he said he was busying trying to find a way home and after that all the calls have gone straight to voicemail. Zack was hoping it was because Alex as on a plane and would be here by the end of the night.

"Dad, Hayley has to leave soon, can we please do the cake before she leaves?" Laelynn asked as she and a group of her friends came over and gave Zack their best pout.

"Sure, go tell everyone to sit at the table. I'll be right out with it," Zack said with a smile before turning around and going into the kitchen to grab the cake.

While he was inside Zack picked up the phone and quickly dialed Alex's number. As he listened to it ring he prayed that he could finally get a hold of the older boy, just so that he could at least tell their daughter happy birthday so that she wouldn't be too upset at the end of the night.

When he heard Alex's voicemail box pick up again he couldn't help but scream out loud. "Alex, where the hell are you? Thankfully Laelynn is too busy with her friends to realize you're not here yet, but she asked for me to bring out the cake and she's definitely going to realize you're not there singing her happy birthday," he said as he opened the fridge and pulled out the cake. "Please call me once you get this. I just want to be sure you're going to get home okay. I love you."

Once he was done recording his message Zack put the phone back down on the counter and quickly lit the four candles on top of the cake and carried it carefully out the door.

As he made his way out the door the other parents at the party noticed and quickly got the kids singing happy birthday, and making the birthday girl smile. Once all her friends had finished the first line Zack watched his daughters face fall as she realized that he other dad's voice wasn't part of the group. At that point he wished he has told her Alex as stuck in LA so that she wouldn't be so sad for the rest of the song.

Before he could think to make a move over to his daughter, he watched as he face light up while a pair of arms wrapped themselves around his waist while Alex started belting out the words to happy birthday right next to his ear making their daughter laugh. Smiling at the fact that his daughter was so happy Zack subtly mumbled to Alex about how much he hated him right now.

"Quit lying, I know you love me," Alex whispered into his ear before kissing his cheek and then letting him go and moving towards their daughter and her cake. "Who's ready for some cake?"

A chorus of me's sounded from all the young kids as the parents all laughed while Alex worked on cutting the cake. As happy as he was that Alex made it in time for their daughters party, Zack couldn't help but glare a little every time Alex would smile at him after he passed a piece of cake to a waiting child. Once the cake was passed out and all the kids were eating Alex made his way back over to Zack.

"Surprise," he said nervously, not sure just how angry Zack was, but not wanting him to yell in front of their guests.

"Why didn't you tell me you were going to be home? You had me freaking out about how mad our daughter was going be when she found out you were still in LA," Zack hissed quietly not wanting to gain everyone's attention.

"I wanted to surprise her," Alex said with a smile while adding, "and you."

The second Alex let him know that his arrival was a surprise for both him and their daughter he couldn't help but smile. When Alex first started touring he would always call Zack and lie about a layover in some city to surprise Zack by having some romantic dinner on the table waiting for him when he got back from class. Ever since Laelynn has come into their life Alex has been making sure to be home when he's supposed to be to help out Zack and spend time with their daughter, so the surprise was a nice gesture.

"You know I can't stay mad at you when you do sweet things like that," Zack said trying to pout, but ended up smiling too much.

"Good, because I have another surprise for you later tonight when Laelynn is sleeping," Alex said with a sly grin.



"Alex Gaskarth is officially done making music! Say it ain't so," the radio DJ's voice said filling the car as Alex, Zack and their now 10 year old daughter made the drive back to Baltimore to see their families for the holidays.

"Looks like I've been completely miss quoted... again," Alex said as he reached forward and changed the station to another station that was playing music rather than talking about a mis-quote from his last interview.

"I just can't believe you're done touring. How am I going to stand you being home all the time?" Zack said earning a playful glare from Alex.

"You and I both know you hated it when I was gone on tour all the time," Alex said as he reached over and grabbed Zack's hand in his own and put them both on his leg. "Plus this way we won't have to worry about if I'm on tour for family get together ever again."

"Yeah, that would be nice. It was always so awkward going to see your side of the family without you. I mean, they're nice enough they just asked way too many questions about why you weren't there too. You think they would know you were in tour," the younger man said as he pulled his hand out from under Alex's and started drawing designs on his husband’s leg.

"I think they were under the impression that I would cancel shows to go to their children's birthday parties. As much as I wanted to, that's not how the music world works," Alex sighed as he turned down the road that led to Caleb’s house. "Fans only take the excuse of a family event so many times before they start bashing you on tumblr."

"Don't worry now they'll just be bashing you because you're done touring," Zack said with a shrug before putting his hand back in his own lap and looking out the window.

"Thanks for that," Alex said as he pulled into Caleb’s driveway and put the car in park. "Ready to see Uncle Caleb’s family?"

"Yes," she said excitedly bouncing in place. Both of her parents couldn't help but hope that her excitement for seeing their extended family would stay intact during her teenage years. But on the other hand they were also ready for the day the excitement would die off.

"Good because it looks like they're ready to see you too," Zack said with a smile as he watched his bother step onto the front porch along with his wife and start waving at them.

"Uncle Caleb!” Laelynn yelled as she through her car door open and ran up the driveway to her uncle.

“I’ll grab her suitcase; you grab her activities from the back?” Alex suggested as he started opening his car door.

“Deal,” Zack said as he got out of the car himself.

“Oh, I am so happy to see you boys,” Caleb’s wife, Ashley said as she pulled Alex and Zack into a group hug.

“It’s great to see you too,” Zack said hugging her back. Other than when Caleb married the girl a year ago, this was the second time that Zack or Alex had seen the girl.

“Has Caleb been treating you alright?” Alex said as they followed everyone inside.

“Yes, he really has,” Ashley said with a smile as she led them to the kitchen where Caleb already had Laelynn sitting in his lap eating cookies.

“When do I get to open presents?” the young girl asked looking up at her parents, while Caleb was behind her giving them a ‘help me I didn’t know what to say’ look.

“We talked about this before we left sweetie,” Zack said as he sat down next to his brother and stroked his daughter’s hair. “We have to wait for Christmas.”

“What about my birthday presents?” she asked.

“Your birthday was three days ago. We opened them all at home.”

“Uncle Caleb didn’t give me one,” she said looking up at her Uncle innocently.

“She’s got a point,” Alex mumbled earning a glare from both Zack and Caleb.

“How about you sit tight with Caleb and I’ll go get your birthday present,” Ashley said with a smile before quickly hurrying out of the room. In less than thirty seconds she was already back in the room handing Laelynn a gift.

The young girl barely had the words ‘thank you’ out of her mouth before she was ripping apart the wrapping paper. Once she had all the wrapping paper pulled away from the box she squealed in excitement as she saw the astronomy kit she had received.

“I’m going to go set it up,” she said before running out of the room.

“She definitely got your love for astronomy,” Caleb said nodding at Alex as he started cleaning up the plate of uneaten cookies.

“Yeah, she really has,” Zack said with a laugh. “Don’t even ask me how many times I’ve had to fight with her to go to bed at night because she wants to stay up and look at the stars with her father.”

“Hey, at least she’s interested in stars and not drugs,” Alex said with a shrug.

“She’s ten, I highly doubt she’d be into drugs already,” Caleb said with a laugh.

“You never know, kids are into crazy shit these days,” Alex said shaking his head as he walked over to the fridge and pulled out a water bottle.

“So how are you guys doing everything for Christmas?” Caleb asked as he put the plate in the sink and leaned against the counter.

“Well Christmas eve we’re going to see mom,” Zack said with a sigh, hating how complicated one holiday could be because of all their families divorces.

“Then in the morning we’re going to see my dad,” Alex said with an eye roll. He still didn’t have the best relationship with his dad, and even though he begged, Zack was making him go see the man for the holidays.

“Then that evening we’re going to dad’s Christmas party.”

“What about Alex’s mom?” Ashley asked, knowing that the woman still resided over in England.

“We fly out the day after Christmas,” Alex said with a smile. Ever since his mom had moved away almost eleven years ago, he didn’t get to see her as much as he wanted. Yes, he always made sure he had a day off before or after his concert in his mother’s neck of the woods so that he could spend more time with her, but some days it wasn’t enough. Some days he wanted nothing more than to beg her to move back to the states, out to Los Angeles, where Alex and Zack themselves had relocated to three years ago, just so that she would be closer to them. But then he saw the new life she build; all the friends she had, the new man in her life that was making her so happy and he couldn’t go through with it.

“I bet she’s excited to see her grandmother.”

“Yeah, she is. My mom’s also glad to see Laelynn again. She hasn’t seen her since her eighth birthday.”

“Excited to see your mom again?” Caleb asked with a smirk, already knowing the answer.

“Of course I am. As much as I want to fly her out to L.A. and set her up in a nice house down the road from us, I know she’s happy where she is and I don’t want to take that away from her.”

“It’s funny to hear you say that. I still remember the teenage boy that come over to my house at three in the morning begging to see Zack because you didn’t think you could take it anymore and wanted him to help you fly out to England to be with your mom because living with your dad was so horrible,” Caleb laughed.

“Well, it’s been over ten years. It gave me plenty of time to mature,” Alex said laughing right along with Caleb.



Three days later and Alex and Zack were standing around at Zack’s fathers Christmas party trying their best to keep Laelynn out of trouble, while simultaneously avoiding making small talk with any of Zack’s aunt and uncles. As much as Zack wished that they had a normal family to go see every holiday, it wasn’t so. It also didn’t help that Zack’s father seemed to be related to the type of people that wanted to use Alex’s fame to help themselves, so after their first family Christmas the two boys decided that this whole, avoid the relatives game was the best to play.

“Aunt Cheryl keeps talking about how stuck up Alex has made you,” Caleb said, making them laugh as he walked over to join them. “But the more I listen to her talk the more I realize why you guys are way better at their family events then me.”

“You only just got married. Trust me, now that you have someone to talk about this with you will figure out all the tricks too,” Zack said before taking a sip of his wine.

“That’s very good news,” Caleb said as he started looking around the room for his wife. “Looks like Ashley got herself caught by Uncle Don. I better go save her. Bye”

“Isn’t Uncle Don the one that just got out of prison?” Alex asked.

“He called it prison, in actuality it was a rehabilitation center,” Zack answered as Laelynn ran over and hid behind his legs.

“What’s wrong sweetie?” Alex asked worriedly as he crouched down to his daughter’s height. They hadn’t dealt with Laelynn being scared and hiding from people since she was five, so seeing her reverting back to this was enough to let Alex know something was seriously wrong.

“Uncle Scott told me that now that I'm ten I might be traded in for a baby," she said with tears in her eyes, breaking both of her father’s hearts.

"Do you really think we would trade you in?" Zack asked as he too crouched down to his daughter’s level and pulled her into a much needed hug.

"Exactly, we didn't go through ten years of raising you just to send you away. We actually ended up getting too attached to send you away," Alex joked making his daughter laugh and Zack shoot him a glare.

"So I'm not leaving you guys, ever?" she clarified with a smile.

"When you're older and go to college you're going to be begging us to let you go, but until then you're not leaving us," Zack said as he moved to sit on the floor and pulled Laelynn into his lap.

"You're wrong. I'm never going to want to leave you," she said throwing her arms around her father’s neck and holding on for dear life.

"I hope she still feels the same way when's she's eighteen," Alex said loud enough for only Zack to hear as he sat down on the floor next to his family enjoying the fact that the party was going on around them and they didn't have to worry about being bothered.



That night when Alex and Zack headed to their hotel Laelynn demanded that she slept in between her dads so that she could have some reassurance that they would still be there in the morning. Alex and Zack really couldn't complain about that. They heard the horror stories from their friends who talked about how their children Laelynn's age were throwing fits and yelling about how much they hated their parents, so Alex and Zack cherished the sweet little girl they had while they could.

"So I don't know if I ever told you this, but thank you for putting those notes in my guitar case all those years ago," Alex said randomly as he rested his elbow on the bed and put his head in his hands so that he could see Zack over the sleeping girl in between them.

"You're welcome," Zack said with a laugh. "And I guess this is where I should thank you for being so persistent about perusing me when I tried to push you away."

"Someone had to get your head out of your ass," Alex said with a smirk.

"Well I'm really glad you did. I can't help but think if I never started leaving you notes you'd be married to Lisa right now. It scares me to think of that," Zack said honestly looking down at his daughter so that he wouldn't have to see the look Alex as more than likely giving him.

"Trust me, with the way Lisa and I were going we would have been over by the end of senior year with or without you," he said lifting Zack's chin and smiling widely once he caught his husband’s eye.

"If you say so. But if I hadn't of met you when I did I would have gone across the country for school and we would have never been together."

"I'm sure we would have been together in the end," Alex said confidentially.

"If you say so."

"You know, I've never asked before but how exactly did you manage to get those notes into my guitar case without anyone noticing?" Alex asked the question he should have asked all those years ago.

"First off, who said no one noticed? And second of all, some secrets have to remains secrets," he said with a smirk before reaching behind himself and turning off the light and laying down for sleep with his arm reaching over Laelynn and resting on Alex's hip.