Baby Daddy || mgc

02

Michael was sitting on a bench, looking at Facebook, when he first met Nessa.

He had noticed her already, pushing an adorable little girl on the swings (whom he assumed was her daughter). Every time the little blonde girl swung towards her mother, she would jump back and pretend like the little girl kicked her. The little girl erupted in high-pitched laughter each time. Michael smiled at the two. He admired a mother who actually played with her kids and didn't just sit on a bench looking at her phone.

And Michael realized what a hypocrite he was, considering he was sitting on a bench looking at his phone while little Dani played on the playground with a curly haired boy and a miniscule blonde girl. Shaking his head, he looked back down at his phone. He shouldn't be admiring any mothers at the park, since they were probably all married already.

Michael soon grew bored of Facebook, so instead he opened Instagram. The first thing he saw when he opened it was a new picture from his best friend and former bandmate, Luke. He was standing behind a shorter, curvy girl, with his arms wrapped around her and his lips on her cheek. She grinned broadly, looking straight at the camera. The caption underneath read:

"I think I'm gonna marry this girl"

Mike smiled at it. While he and Luke didn't talk that often (because of Michael's busy schedule- he was always with his kids, and even when he wasn't, he was working), Michael caught glimpses into Luke's life every now and then from his Instagram and Facebook posts, and the occasional 20 minute phone conversation or a few exchanged texts.

He was happy for little Lukey (who wasn't that little- when Luke hit 20 years, he grew another two inches somehow, hitting a humongous 6'6"). The boy was never very popular with the ladies- no, he was popular, but he never kept them around long. His sense of humor... Well, let's just say he was stuck in his 18-year-old mindset. "That's what she said" jokes were (apparently) still the funniest thing since "your mom". Some girls just didn't like that, Michael supposed.

Mikey heard vaguely familiar crying coming from the swingset. But, since all kids crying sounded the same, he didn't bother to look up from his Instagram feed (which was peppered with the picture Luke just posted- apparently there were still fan accounts for the band he and Luke used to be in).

"Excuse me, Mister? You, with the... Uh... Silver hair?!" A feminine voice barked. Michael looked up, startled.

The first thing he saw was the beautiful lady who had been pushing the little blonde girl on the swing, scowling at him. Then he looked down a bit and saw his daughter, lying on the ground, clutching her head and crying. Mikey raised his eyes and saw the little blondie in the swing above Dani, swaying forwards and backwards slightly. Michael put two and two together, and realized he had ignored the fact that his baby girl had been kicked in the head by a kid on the swing.

"Oh, gosh! Dani, baby!" He cried, rushing over to her. She reached her chubby arms out to Mike, who knelt down and pulled her into his arms, cradling her to his chest. She clung to his Metallica t-shirt, burying her little face in the crook of his neck. "My poor little angel, what happened?" He cooed.

"Your 'poor little angel' ran in front of my daughter's swing! That's what happened. Maybe she wouldn't be crying if you had payed better attention to where she was!" The attractive mother snapped, standing over Michael. She had pulled her daughter out of the swing, and the little girl stood next to her mother.

Michael glanced up at her, getting a closer look at her. Her eyes were a clear, bright aqua color- like the ocean in Hawaii- and her hair was a matching shade of blue. She was wearing an old All Time Low shirt with dark skinny jeans and black high top converse. Michael thought that a business suit and brown hair pulled into a french twist would have been more appropriate for her. It would have matched the sour look on her face and her sharp tone. Despite the negative look which adorned her face, she was still very pretty. Michael was a fan of the hair, which was straight with a bit of a wave to it. She wasn't model skinny, but her curves were delicious.

"Hey, buddy? My eyes are up here!" She said, snapping her fingers.

Michael blushed lightly and stood up, picking up Dani as he went. "I apologize, but perhaps this was a two way thing? Maybe you should have been paying attention to people running in front of the swing. This is a park, after all. Kids are bound to run in front of the swing."  

The lady's frown deepened. "Just... Watch out okay? you've got a cute kid there and it would be bad if she got hurt."

"Yeah, no of course! I'm so sorry...?"

"Nessa." She introduced herself. They shook hands.

"I'm Michael Clifford." Michael smiled at her. She smiled back a little bit, and instantly her frown lines disappeared.

"Wait... Michael... Clifford. Like, from the band 5 Seconds of Summer?!"        

"Yes! You know of it?" Michael asked.

"I was a huge fan when I was 15. You know, you were my favorite member." Nessa said, giggling wistfully.

"I guess this must be a big deal for 15 year old you, then!" Michael laughed.

"Yeah, you know, it is! Although... I kind of have a knack for meeting band members. You toured with One Direction, didn't you?"

"Yep, that's actually how we got famous. Until we died down in... 2020? People just forgot about us when we hit mid twenties. Damn boyband thing... Everyone thought we were a boyband." Michael grumbled.

"Trust me, I know. It wasn't pop, it was pop punk. But anyways, I actually ended up getting... Oh, speak of the devil!" Nessa waved at someone behind Michael.

Michael turned around to see someone striding towards him that he wouldn't ever see again. In all of his long hair, long legged glory, came Harry Styles striding towards him.