After Hours [H.S.]

Daddy Daycare

"Aria, let's go!" I yell out from the bottom of the stairs.

I turn around to look myself over in the floor to ceiling mirror I've got by my front door, making sure I look okay for whatever the fuck this meeting is for.

I've got on what I wore to work today, I can't be fucked to change into regular clothes for this. I've got on one of my favourite suits, and Aria's too. It's a nice dark purple, with multi-coloured cherry blossom trees scattered around it, all of them with shiny gold trunks and branches.

I may be a bit overdressed for this meeting but I really don't care, she's lucky I'm even showing up in the first place.

My assistant got a call, not the first one might I add, from Aria's teacher, Ms. Harper. Apparently I've missed our last three scheduled parent-teacher meetings, and she was starting to get a little bit aggravated with me about it. It's not my fault I have to run a multi-million dollar publishing company while simultaneously taking care of my daughter. I'm sure it's not the end of the world if I don't attend these fucking things.

It's definitely been hard. Balancing work and watching Aria means that I have to constantly be splitting equal time between the two. I know that I should be making an effort to go to these teacher meetings, but I've just become so busy lately, especially with a new influx of content wanting to be published. Drafting up contracts can be a bitch.

My advisors keep insisting that I get a nanny for Aria, to take care of her and watch her so that I can focus more of my attention on the company, but my heart doesn't agree. It's always been just me and her from the beginning, since I adopted her three years ago.

She was just a small little girl, but adopting her was a hell of a process. Being a 'single dad' as some may call it was such a fucking struggle, and finding a place which allowed such adoptions was an even bigger obstacle on its own. Who knew that agencies don't deem single men fit enough to raise a child on their own? I think I'm doing a fine fucking job though.

I fought so hard for Aria, she was the closest I had ever been to adopting, and I was determined to make her mine. Aria was two years old when I first saw her. With her big blue eyes and the cutest chubby cheeks, I knew as soon as I saw her that I would do just about anything to fight for her and call her my own. I was 27 when I finally got to bring her home, and I was so fucking elated. I finally had my little girl.

But things haven't always been easy.

With my job and a young child, there were restless nights with no sleep, hissy fits thrown throughout the day, and lots of crying. But with that also came the excitement, when I pick her up from daycare and she tells me stories about her day, the long hugs she gives me as she tells me she loves me, and the snuggling in my bed as we watch her favourite Disney movies.

There was nothing that would make me regret ever making her a part of my life. Women have never been a constant in my life, sure they liked the lifestyle I could provide and the events that I was invited to, but none of them ever stuck around. None of those women were a constant, but Aria is.

"Aria, sweetheart, I'm serious! We need to get going!" I yell out again, only to see her come trotting down the stairs. Her yellow sundress makes her vivid blue eyes shine bright, which was a given indicator that she wasn't biologically mine.

"I'm here daddy," she giggles, stretching her arms up for me to hold her. I pick her up and hold her above my head, making her laugh. She's so small for being five years old but I'm not complaining, I don't want her to grow up.

"Mr. Styles, the car is waiting for you downstairs," Steve interrupts, making me bring Aria down into my side.

We're already late, but it doesn't make me move any faster. This teacher is lucky I even made time for her in the first place. There's only so much I can do, and if she doesn't like it, I couldn't really give less of a fuck. I have more important things to worry about, such as the little human who is currently pulling on the lapel of my suit.