playing daddy ||a.i.||

[6] MINUTES

"And I got three stickers!" Neo proudly displays three of his fingers: his thumb, index, and middle. Ashton beams down at the boy, holding his palm out for a low five. Neo slaps it with his own palm and keeps hold of it, also sloppily lacing his short fingers with his mother.

"That's good, baby." Mellony, voice sweet and warm like it always is when she talks to her son, says, realigning her fingers with Neo's.

Ashton and her share a look over the boy's head and Mellony fondly shakes her head as she looks away.

They'd become closer, especially after their late night conversation during their little vacation. Ashton's fallen into the rhythm of her waking him up for work and even letting him help make dinner when they got home-home, he calls her apartment home now, and it's a thing; Mellony's completely fine with it-and he's only been with them for ten days, now.

Not even a whole two weeks, and Ashton is more happy than he thinks he's ever been. He's content with laying on a couch after a shift at Target, because Mellony and Neo are always around. Everything feels right to him, and as pathetic as he sounds to himself, and would sound to anyone if he'd let his thoughts pass his lips, he doesn't want his ceiling to get fixed.

The three of them had gone to the park-a very sly, very parental tactic Ashton and Mellony'd come up with to tire Neo out, so he'd sit down at home and not bounce off of the walls-and were walking back to the complex.

Neo had been telling them what had happened yesterday while he was at pre-k. Which, now Ashton picks him up from there, too, sometimes without Mellony.

"Is one of them the dog sticker you showed me at dinner last night?" Ashton asks, swinging his and Neo's hands a bit in the space between them. In all honesty, Ashton doesn't necessarily know if it was a dog, considering most of what he can remember from the previous night's meal is catching Mellony staring at him and the way her cheeks flared up when she ducked her head and pretended to focus on spearing her broccoli, and honestly after that everything is a bit muddled.

So, it could be a dog. Could've been a cat or a short-necked horse-they're kid stickers, they put anything on those things. He's seen one with a bird riding a bike, so, really it could've been anything.

"Yeah, the dog is yellow," Neo nods, then joggles Mellony's arm. "Mommy, can I run up the steps?"

Ashton looks up, along with Mellony, and Mellony judges the distance close enough to let Neo go. "Yeah, just be careful. And make sure you don't bump into anyone!" She calls after the boy, who's already taken off up the stairs.

Ashton's mouth spreads into a smile at the sight of Neo quickly ascending the staircase. He turns his attention to Mellony and softly nudges her after eyeing her profile.

"What, boy?" She playfully rolls her eyes, biting back a grin.

"We still going grocery shopping later?" Ashton almost forgets to overreact at how domestic that sounds, but that's the kicker, he's been saying things like this for days now and it's practically normal at this point.

Mellony shakes her head yes, losing her balance and gently bumping into Ashton's shoulder when she goes to avoid gum on the pavement. "Yeah, I just gotta finish making the list."

"Mellony Martin." A voice flatly speaks from somewhere on Ashton's right, more specifically from a blond boy in the passenger seat of a black car. Ashton isn't sure who this person is, or why they said her full name with underlying venom, but he surely doesn't like the way Mellony's frame tenses up at the sound.

Her arms stiffen and her face gives off the impression that she's either going to be sick or cry. She stares at the boy, who is keeping his own eyes on her with an annoying smirk. "Luke."