Sweet Summer Sunsets- A Robert Irwin FanFic

Robert

I sat in a slouched position in bed, going through some of the photos I recently took on my laptop. I started transferring them when I got home, and they were finally ready after a shower, dinner, and some time with my family. Bindi even showed me what she got Ashley for Christmas from her, Chandler, and Grace. It was a cute mini backpack with some of the animals from Bambi, and I knew she would love it.

I was sorting through the photos, deleting duplicates or blurry ones, putting the ones I wanted to keep into a folder to be edited and giving them proper names. Some of these photos were the ones that I took when Ashley and I went on our first date and from the Roo Heaven the other day. The television in my room was on, playing the Obi-Wan Kenobi series on Disney+. I smiled as I went through the photos I took of Ashley, her smile was as gorgeous as ever in any photo I took of her. 

I glanced at the time and noticed it was a bit later than I thought it would be, and I expected Ashley to call any minute now. I was getting a bit tired, but I wanted to be awake for when Ashley calls to tell me how talking to her mum went. I knew it was important to be there for her, and I wanted to be there for her more than anything. I knew how much she needed me, and I needed her too. I needed her as a friend, regardless of whether or not we worked out romantically. Which is a weird thing to say, but it's hard to explain since I've never felt this way about someone before. But she is all I have. With my family being "famous" and not going to public school, Ashley was the only friend I had that really stuck with me. 

I had just finished sorting through the last few photos when my phone started buzzing. I set down my laptop and picked it up. Of course, it was Ashley calling. It was as if she knew I was thinking about her. 

"Hey, love, how ya going?" I said.

"Ugh, Robert," uh-oh, the first sign that things maybe didn't go well with her mum. Using my full name is a rare occurrence for her, I'm usually Tarzan, Rob, or Robbie. "I'm just so...so...pissed." She wasn't the type to cuss, although the occasional curse word will come out if she was mad enough or got hurt. Like the time she fell off her bike at the zoo when we were around 15 and she scraped her knees and hands pretty badly. 

"I take it talking to your mum didn't go well, then, love?" I said, slouching back in bed and putting my phone on speaker, and laying it on my chest. I picked up my laptop again and figured I could start editing some of these photos while listening to Ashley talk. 

"So after you walked me home, I came in and she was already here, which was great. And she already had all of the Christmas stuff out, so even better, right? So I was like "oh perfect, I wanted to see If we could set up the Christmas tree together anyway since you haven't been home much and we could spend some time together". And then she goes "yeah about that I have a good reason" which like, yeah you better mum I'm your only child. But do you know what her reason was, Robert?" She said. I could hear the anger in her voice, and I could tell she was probably pacing back and forth in her room.

"What was it?" 

"Robert, she has a brother! And she's been going around and meeting up with him and catching up with him because she wants me to meet him."

"Okay, and how come you never met him before? Or ya know, even knew he existed?"

"Apparently, when she was like 15 they had some falling out and he went out and travelled the world and didn't bother staying in contact with her or my grandmum. But there's more! Apparently, he met some Australian woman while travelling, and they dated for a while and travelled together. Then she had to come back here to take care of her mum. But she was pregnant!"

"So, not only do you have an uncle you didn't know about, but a cousin too?"

"Yep! And of course, there's even more to this, because why wouldn't there be? I already know this cousin. And so do you, actually."