Flaws

14

"Calum?" Anastasia asked, looking up at her guardian angel.

Smiling down at her little frame, he bent his knees to be eye level with her.

"Yes, baby?"

"Can we do something today?"

Calum was taken back by the question. So far, Anastasia had been a fan of the lazy Saturdays that they spent together, when they would lay in his bed and talk or watch movies or something. The most they'd do on those lazy days was play outside. But Calum tilted his head nonetheless and continued with the conversation.

"Like what?"

Smiling softly, the small child took his hand and dragged him out of bed, leading him over to the calendar that Ashton put up on the fridge and pointed.

"Huh?" Calum asked, perplexed by the action. "What does that mean? You want to make a calendar?"

"No!" Anastasia said, rolling her eyes a little bit. "The picture, silly!"

Calum then noticed that the picture on the calendar, was, in fact, of a pretty beach somewhere. Creasing his brow, he looked down at the girl and then back up at the picture.

"You want to have a beach day?"

Nodding hopefully, Anastasia looked up at him with her big, innocent eyes and Calum found himself shrugging and nodding.

"Okay, we can do that. Do you want to invite the boys along with us? Or do you just want it to be you and I?"

Ana seemed to ponder on it for a second before giving him a straight answer, which made him chuckle a little bit.

"Boys." She nodded, seeming pleased with herself. "I want the boys to come."

Nodding once again, Calum whisked her off into her room and helped her get ready, putting on her bathing suit (that was decorated in little polkadots of which he found absolutely adorable) and then put a pair of shorts and a t-shirt over it.

"Hey, Ash!" The young man called out, braiding his little girl's hair.

"Yeah?"

"Wanna go to the beach?"

Poking his head in the doorway of the little girl's room, he nodded enthusiastically.

"Yeah, man, I haven't been surfing in forever!"

"Then it's settled. Do me a favour and call the boys, yeah?"

"Sure thing. Are you packing all the stuff, or do you want me to?"

"Nah, I'll do it when I'm done getting ready."

"Sweet. You want me to get your board, too?"

Calum thought about it for a moment before deciding that it'd been way too long since he had surfed, as well. And while he was in the water, at least one of the other boys would be there with his pride and joy, so nothing would happen to her. So, he nodded and thanked his bandmate before continuing to get himself and his daughter ready.

After he got changed, he and Ana packed up some stuff for themselves, such as sunscreen, towels, sunglasses, a cute little bucket hat with Ariel on it (for Anastasia, of course), and enough food to feed four young men and a growing girl. And after another half hour or so and a pit stop at Michael and Luke's place, they were off. Ashton riding shotgun, Calum driving, Anastasia in the middle of the back bench, Luke on the left, and Michael on the right.

"You excited to go to the beach, Princess?" Michael asked kindly, tucking her tummy a little bit, making her blush.

"Yeah..." She trailed off. "I've never been to the beach before."

"You haven't?!" Luke asked in astonishment, leaning forward just to look at the little girl incredulously.

She blushed at the reaction she got, but shook her head no (very shyly, by the way) nonetheless.

"Well what made you want to go, then?" Ashton asked politely as Calum stole glances at the little girl through the mirrors just to make sure that she was okay with all the questioning.

"I saw it on the TV," She said innocently, kicking her feet lightly. "I wanted to go but the grown ups said no."

"Well it's a good thing that you have us, isn't it?" Michael smiled, tickling her tummy lightly.

Calum watched for a second as her cheeks went up in flames and smiled. She was precious and every time he looked at her he felt an incomparable love spread through his chest. Being a dad was the best, scariest, and most exciting thing that he had ever been, and if he had to choose between his baby or his music, he would honestly pick the little girl in the back seat. He loved her more than he loved himself, and at this point, he would probably do literally anything for her.

"Because we're lucky to have you, princess!" Luke smiled back, repeating Michael's actions and joining in on the tickling.

Everyone in the car grinned at the sound of her squealing and giggles, enjoying the sound that wasn't as frequent as they had hoped. Sure, she was coming out of her shell more and more with every passing day, but she was still very shy. The only person that she was completely okay with was Calum, and that was because she spent so much time with him. But the lads would wait for her patiently until she didn't even feel the need to ever hold anything back from them however long it would take. She was their family now.

"We're here!" Calum spoke excitedly as he turned off the car.

As the five piled out of the car, Calum picked up his daughter and took a moment to look out over the horizon. The sky was as clear as could be, and the ocean was perfect. The waves roared as they crashed on the shore and the smell of salt water filled their nostrils.

"Do you like it?" Calum asked after a moment of silence.

"It's..." Anastasia trailed off, not really knowing what to say.

"I know." Was all the young man replied with.

She didn't have to say anything, if he was being honest. Her face said it all.

"Come on!" Michael called, carrying multiple items in his arms. "The beach awaits!"

"Why is he carrying so much?" Ana asked, staring at the abundance of god knows what.

"Because, love," Ashton chuckled, loading things in his arms as well. "We don't make two trips."

That seemed to be a good enough answer for the child, though, seeing as she wriggled out of her father's grip and walked over to the boot of the car, picking up some towels and attempting to get the cooler.

"Woah, there, princess," Luke chuckled softly as Calum plucked the smaller towel and draped it over her shoulders. "Let me get that one. How about you get the bag with all the sunscreen in it? That's the most important one, after all."

Excited by the newfound responsibility, she reached for the bag and carried it with pride, determined to not let anything happen to it.

"Thanks, mate," Calum said quietly to the blond, watching her closely as she walked with Ashton and Michael (who had kindly waited for her) down the path to the sand as they loaded their arms up with the remaining things.

"Don't sweat it. Now let's go have some fun!"