The Road Ahead (A Hunter Hayes Fanfiction, Book 4 of The Hardships Saga)

Chapter Seven

❝sing (pronounced sɪŋ or as spelled), verb
to make a vocal tune.
e.g. I need you, darling, c'mon set the tone, if you feel you're falling, won't you let me know?❞

Phoenix scrawled a rough picture of the Big Ben from where he was sitting, looking at it. Robin and Spencer had wanted ice-cream, and so Hunter had gone with them to get some. Spencer had struggled to explain that he wanted a popsicle- he kept calling it an 'ice lolly' or something. He could see them from where he was, they were only a few metres away. He smiled again at the bag that Hunter was letting him hold- the bag with the many metallic paints that he had wanted for such a long time, along with some more things he had been asking for from that amazing art store. "Papa, can I have the red one?"

"I want white!"

"Raspberry and lemon, please," said Hunter. "Nick?"

"Cola," he said quietly, not looking up.

"And Cola, too," said Hunter, paying for the popsicles.

"Here you are, sir."

"Thank you, mister!" said Robin cheerfully.

The shopkeeper smiled at her, and the three of them left the place. Spencer tugged on Hunter's arm, and he lifted him up. He giggled. "Papa, look!"

"That's right! That's Big Ben, isn't it?"

"Yeah! It's nice, huh?"

"It's very nice." Hunter ruffled Robin's hair. "How's the popsicle?"

"It's good," she said. "Thank you."

"Well?" he said, sitting down. "Are you guys all having fun?"

"Yeah!" said Spencer.

"And you, Nick?"

"Yep."

"That's good. What have you drawn?"

"Just the clock tower."

"Oh, okay. It looks good!"

"Thanks."

"Are we ready to go home now?"

"Yeah, okay," said Phoenix.

"Yay! Mama's gonna make pizza!"

"She is?" said Hunter, kissing his cheek. "Is she gonna let you put your own toppings?"

"Yeah! I always put ham and cheese! And tomato sauce!"

"Yeah? Robbie, what do you want on yours?"

"I want... I want onions and beef."

"And you, Nick?"

"Anything's fine," he said distractedly, glancing at a nearby pigeon and scrawling a quick picture of the interesting pattern on its wing. It was by no means perfect- he needed time to draw something properly- but if he had a brief memory, he could usually draw very well. He had a good memory.

Hunter was used to never getting a full answer from him, and didn't press him to speak. It made him uncomfortable to talk more than he needed to, and though that could be a pain sometimes, it was almost a good thing. He didn't know how well he could handle two angry children, let alone one. Not that Phoenix was angry... he just didn't really emote at all.

They got into a taxi, and Hunter texted Ryan.

Hunter: Hey where are you?

Ryan: just got back home, Elle's gonna help me make pizza

Hunter: sounds awesome :) I love you <3

Ryan: I love you, too <3

Hunter sighed slightly, putting his phone back into his pocket. Phoenix was silently watching out the window, and Robin was singing some random song that she had just made up, much to Spencer's amusement.