Teen Dad Series

The Club (Ashton & Kadia)

On nights like tonight, where Ashton was called into work really last minute with no other option, Kadia got to come with him. The club was packed, thanks to some celebrity movie release party or whatever. Either way, the amount of people was hard to get through, especially with a kid. Thankfully, crowds didn't overwhelm Kadia and she was perfectly fine once they got to the break room. She'd already been dressed and ready for bed, so she sat in her Spider-Man pajamas and watched cartoons on the old TV.

Ashton had hoped she'd fall asleep on the couch, but she was wide awake now and refused to even sit still. He had no time to compromise with her, so he let her join him behind the bar. It probably went against every protocol they had, but no one complained. She didn't even look at the alcohol, so there wasn't much of a reason to anyway.

Kadia stood on her stool, passing out napkins to anyone that passed by. She got a lot of compliments on her pajamas. She also got a lot of questions about why she was here so late in the night, how old she was, what grade she was in, if she had school the next morning, and so on. 

"Hey!" Kadia yelled at the retreating back of the guy she'd been trying to hand a napkin to. "This is for you, you big booger!" (The color of his jacket was oddly similar to a booger.)

Ashton was quick to shush Kadia, but as he turned to apologize to the guy, he realized who it was. Hugh Jackman, in the flesh. He stood there, chuckling as he looked down at Kadia.

"You're funny." He said, leaning down to get a better look at the little girl. "Isn't it past your bedtime, little girl?"

Kadia jutted out her chin, staring defiantly. "Maybe." She waved the napkin in front of his face. "Are you gonna take it or what? I've got other customers."

"Kadia, stop." Ashton gently pressed her arms down to her sides and looked up at Hugh. "I'm sorry, she's not like this all the time, I promise. She's not even usually here. I just got called in super late and--"

"You gotta do what you gotta do, it's fine." Hugh smiled and shook his head. "She's seems to be well adjusted."

Ashton glanced down at Kadia, who had moved on to passing out napkins to someone else. Some guy seemed to find her extremely adorable, because he kept taking napkin after napkin, nodding as she ordered him to clean up his messes when he was done. "Adjusted is a good way to put it."

Hugh Jackman shook his head, smiling in amusement. "Kids are something else."

Ashtons started to pour drinks for a group of giggly girls that had just made their way to the counter. He glanced up and nodded. "Yeah, they're life-changing."

Hugh glanced up and down the counter, took in the lack of any bartending girls and looked back at Ashton. "So it's just you two then?"

Ashton shrugged. "Has been since she was a baby."

"Mom not around?"

Ashton exhaled slowly. "Who knows where she's at any more. I've stopped keeping track."

Hugh nodded. "Well, if I do say so myself, I'd say you're doing just fine."

"Yeah, I would too." Ashton grinned, watching Kadia rushing past him to the other side of the bar. She all but shoved a napkin up someone's nose, noticing the glass they had just spilled. He heard her demand for the guy to clean it up.

Only Kadia could tell Zac Efron to clean up his whiskey and actually get him to do it.