My Girls| a.i.

two

I look up at Ashton confusedly, Maisie's features shifting into a similar position as she stares at her father. "Bad word, daddy." She scolds him, little finger wagging at him as her face shifts from confused to stern. "No say that." She continues, his face not breaking into the grin that I had anticipated at her words.

His expression stays stressed, his hand reaching into his pocket to pull out his wallet, fingers retrieving a dollar before handing it to the smug little girl sitting next to him. "Thank you," She tells him with a giggle, her laugh bringing a slight smile before the tension returns to his face.

"Swear jar," He tells me as he brings his phone to his ear. Maisie ignores him and instead fawns over the small token of money, her little fingers straightening it out on the table in front of her.

"Do you really need me? Like really, really, need me right this second?" He huffs into the phone, eyes on his daughter as he runs his free hand through her hair. "I'm kinda busy at the moment and I don't have a sitter for Mais," He continues, eyes flitting to me before returning to the small blonde. "No, I am not bringing her!" He lets out with a groan.

"I could watch her?" I offer, my voice lifting in hesitation as I pose the possibility to Ashton. His eyebrows shoot up in surprise, mouth falling open slightly.

"Luke, shut up for one second!" He says harshly to the person on the other line, pulling the phone away from his ear and to his shoulder as he looks at me. "You would really do that?" He asks me, shock evident in his voice.

"Yeah, I mean, it's obviously important." I say with a shrug, his face falling into one of relief.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you," He says in a rush, pulling the phone back to his ear. "Okay, I got Maisie covered and I'll be over in about an hour. You owe me big time for this," He says, his words still slightly stressed but the small smile growing on his lips shows how much this Luke person must mean to him. He hangs up the phone after saying goodbye, placing it on the table.

"That was one of my best friends Luke. He's on his way to buy a ring for his girlfriend and was having a minor freak-out." He explains, his daughters eyes widening at the words.

"Uncle Wukey?" She asks, her eyes wide with innocence as she questions her father. Her father simply nods in response, pressing a light kiss to her forehead before turning to me. "Elsie is going to hang out with you for a little bit, okay bug?" She turns to me wide eyed, a dimply grin lighting up her cheeks as she nods quickly.

"Are you okay watching her at my place? I mean her toys and her bed and-" I cut him off with a quick "yes" and a laugh, his face reading relief at my agreement. "Okay, I'll have you follow me to the house and I'll explain everything else you may need to know when we get there." I nod in agreement, standing up to pull my coat on and push my chair in.

Ashton slides out of his chair, helping Maisie down from her seat before walking over to her father. Ashton helps her into a small blue coat, white and pink flowers adorning the fleece material. She pulls a pair of small pink mittens onto her hands while her dad pulls a small hat over her blonde curls. The blue hat has little cat ears attached, a small nose and smile sewn onto the material below two button eyes.

Once Maisie is all bundled up, Ashton pulls his own coat on, adjusting the collar before zipping up the jacket. "Ready?" He asks, my head nodding as Maisie nods along with me. "Off we go," He says, Maisie giggling as skips next to her father, her little hand clutched in Ashton's large one.

I follow Ashton's car for a short amount of time, arriving at his house in only about 15 minutes to discover he lives only a few miles from my apartment. I pull in next to him in the driveway, turning off my car and climbing out as Ashton unbuckles Maisie from her car seat and helps her out of the car.