Always You ( Calum Hood AU)

Part 3- Social Casualty

"Seeing the boys today?" Tristin asks
"Yeah, I was thinking we could go to the zoo." I muse.
"The zoo? That's so boring. What are you, my first grade teacher?"
"The boys love the zoo. plus we could invite Charlie and Casey so they could meet the boys and they wouldn't have to find a sitter for Parker cos she could come."
Tristin sighs, "you're such a problem solver Livia."

"I wonder what Calum's favorite animal is." Tristin says to no one in particular, "probably something cool and exotic like a leopard."
He's still on this?
"Calum likes otters. He thinks they're adorable and he loves their little paws."
"Oh, so he's sensitive, even better."
"I'm calling Charlie now." I say in an attempt to change the subject.
"Imagine how cute your kids would be." He says stubbornly sticking to his fantasy.
"I can't hear you." I say leaving the room.

~~~

Parker runs up to me and wraps her little arms around my leg.
I instinctively sweeps the girl into my arms and plant a kiss on her forehead.
"Aunt Livie." The toddler coos at me.
"Hey Parker." Tristin greets
She scowls at him.
I smile and reach into the pocket of the sweatshirt Calum gave me, "guess what I got?"
I pull out a lollipop and hand it to Parker who squeals excitedly.
"Why does she like you so much?" Tristin mutters.
"Cos I have pockets full of candy."

"You can't just run off Parker." Charlie yells softly.
"Sorry mama." The toddler concedes.
"Is Casey here?" I ask glancing around
She shakes her head, "he had to pick up an extra shift."
An edge of exhaustion creeps into her normally smooth southern accent.
"Are you alright Char?"
"I worked late last night and Parker has been a nightmare this morning."
"Do you want me to take her for the day?"
"You're an angel hun, really, but I can't ask you to do that."
"Please, you've done so much for me."
She sighs, anyone could tell she's bone tired, "just this once, but I'm meeting your friends first."
I check my watch, "they should be here any minute now."

As if on queue I see the boys wave at me. Charlie's jaw drops, "that's them?"
"Yeah?"
"Woah."
"That's what I said!" Tristin chimes in.
"If I wasn't married..."
I shake my head, "Ok, stop. You guys are so weird ."

"Hey Sunflower." Calum says warmly.
Charlie and Tristin exchange a look and I sigh.
Why are they like this?
"Hey Cal, glad you guys could make it."
"I love the zoo." Luke chirps
"We know" Michael huffs, "you said it like 75 times in the car."
"Who's this?" Ashton asks making faces at Parker.
I bounce her, "this is Parker, we're gonna be watching her for the day. Charlie needs to take a well deserved break. Hope you don't mind."

They all turn their attention to Charlie who they just seemed to notice.
She smiles, "Nice to meet y'all."
"Hey." Calum and Luke say in tandem.
"Hi, your kid is cute." Ashton says like Parker is some kind of dog.
Michael just waves.
"I was startin' to think she made y'all up." Charlie jokes.
Ashton and Calum laugh.
"How much did she pay you to pretend to be her mate?" Luke asks
I kick him in the shin.
"Fu...dge." Luke spits trying not to teach Parker any choice words.
Charlie giggles and turns back to me, "bye Livia, thank you."

Once she's out of earshot Calum smiles, "you guys are scaring all of Sunflower's mates away."
"Good." Ashton says, "my master plan to have her all to myself is working."
I roll my eyes and chuckle.

"Can we go see the penguins first?" Luke asks.
"No! Panda." Parker argues.
"Pandas are the worse black and white animal."
"Potty head!"
Luke blows a raspberry at her.
"Lucas Robert Hemmings you are a grown man, stop fighting with a toddler." I reprimand
"Alright mom." Luke immaturely answers.
"That was kinda hot." Ashton kids
Michael and Luke both shoot him a dirty look.
"You know what? Ashton and Luke go look at penguins and I'll take Parker to the pandas. I hate you." I huff, "It's amazing how quickly you got me to want to get away from you. I thought it would take at least a couple hours."
Ashton giggles.
"I hate going in public with you two." Michael complains.
"I'll go with them." Tristin volunteers, maybe a little too enthusiastically.
"I'll go with Sunflower and Michael." Calum says.
"Meet back at one for lunch?" I ask.
"Sounds good."

Calum's POV

To get to the mammal area we have to pass through the marsupial area where Parker stops Olivia Rose to look the kangaroos.
"Where I grew up kangaroos are everywhere. When you go to the park you'd see kangaroos." Olivia Rose tells her.
Even though Olivia Rose hasn't been home for almost as long as us, her Australian draw has stubbornly stuck to her voice. It makes her feel even more like home then she already did.

"Kangaroo" Parker chirps hoping around her.
Olivia Rose laughs and scoops Parker up into her arms, "Alright little joey, ready to go see the pandas?"
"Joey?" Parker echos
"That's what a baby kangaroo is called."
Parker giggles and gives Olivia Rose a hug.

"I want to walk." Parker insists
"Go ahead, but don't pass Mikey."
Olivia Rose is so good with her. She always insisted she didn't like kids but that's the biggest lie I ever heard, they love her and she loves them.

"What are you thinking about?" Olivia Rose asks lagging behind Michael and Parker to keep in time with me.
You.
"Nothing."
She rolls her eyes, "Lie."
"No it's not."
"I can practically see the gears in your head turning."
She always saw right through me, right through everyone. Yet, somehow, never saw the thing that should've been most obvious, or maybe she didn't want to acknowledge it.

"I miss home."
Half true.
She takes a deep breath, "I miss those cool nights in July when we would sit outside and talk for hours, or write music."
"You would always whisper something to Ashton or Luke, and I would want to know what the big secret was."
A small smile plays on her lips, "Really?"
"Felt like I was on the outside looking in."
"It was all stupid and out of pocket."
I chuckle, "those were the best days."
She smiles, "I don't think I enjoyed them enough."

Olivia Rose's POV

Parker skips back over to us, "are you coming slowpokes?"
"Who are you calling slow?" Calum challenges
She giggles, "you!"
"Race you." Calum offers
She takes off and he trots behind her pretending to struggle. He's cute with her, sweet and gentle. I could never be nearly as good with kids as him, and that's fine.

"She's got a lot of energy." Michael says.
I sigh, "that she does"
"She asked me if fish drown on land. How am I supposed to answer that?"
I laugh. As much as he bugs me I missed having my brother around.
"I saw a playground on the way in, can we go after we're done?" Michael asks
"People are going to give us dirty looks."
"Who cares?"
And he's right, who does? Being away from them made me forget how free we used to feel. Somehow I had conformed to the social norms I used to hate.
"Race you Mikey." I say taking off in the direction of Calum and Parker.
"Cheater!" Michael yells after me.