Single Parent-trip \\ Cashton

Chapter 2

"Daddy! Pretty!"

Calum almost groaned when Aiden pulled on his jacket sleeve, pointing to yet another stuffed animal from a souvenir shop on the small airport. It had been the third, maybe fourth time. But Calum was currently more focused on finding the travel guide. "I know, AJ, but we have to go to the hotel first. Maybe when we go home again, yeah?"

"But Daddy!" The small boy whined, pouting as he followed his dad, still holding his one hand with his own. Calum ignored the whining, looking out for the travel guide, knowing they were waiting for all the guests in the arrival hall.

Once in the arrival hall, Calum looked around to find the right person. There were a few people holding up signs, most with weirdly written names he had never heard of. He sighed, feeling pretty lost, when his eyes finally found the right sign. He tugged his son along carefully and made sure he still had his suitcase, approaching the sign.

"Yes ma'am, we'll leave shortly..."

Calum let out a sigh of relief when reaching the person that held up the sign, taking in their young travel guide. He was just a little shorter than Calum –albeit really just a little- with short curly-ish golden/brown hair. Calum wasn't sure how old he was, but he was happy it wasn't some old man or an overly happy old lady. This guy seemed to be just fine and that made him relaxed already.

"Ah! You two are here for the single parent-trip?" The travel guide asked cheerfully, smiling widely at both with his dimples on full display. Calum nodded, looking down at Aiden shortly before introducing himself to the travel guide. "I'm Calum. Calum Hood."

"Ashton Irwin, your travel guide for the trip." The guy introduced, shaking Calum's hand while still smiling. He then looked down at Aiden, squatting and holding out a hand. "And who are you, if I may ask?"

Aiden hid behind his dad's leg shyly, his big brown eyes taking in the travel guide. Calum chuckled, ruffling the boy's hair. "Don't be shy now, Mr. Irwin is just being nice."

"You can call me Ashton, that's fine too." Ashton said, giving Aiden another smile before getting up properly again. "I'll just check you two off the list and then we can go. You two were the last to arrive."

Calum nodded and watched Ashton write something on his clipboard, before he moved away to a place where the whole group could see him. "If I could get your attention please."

Calum kept his hand locked with Aiden's, occasionally looking down at him just to be sure he was still there, before looking back at Ashton. The curly haired male was explaining what was going to happen. He also mentioned that further explanations and any questions could be asked during the bus ride, but that they needed to get to the bus now first.

And so, the group followed their travel guide, Aiden skipping happily next to his dad, his one hand locked with Calum's as the other was wrapped around the strap of his small Captain America Shield backpack. Calum remembered when they had bought it, wanting to have a bag for Aiden to take whenever he would need one –mostly school of course. They had set foot in the store and Aiden had immediately spotted the bag, pulling his dad over and claiming he wanted that one. Calum had tried to get the small boy to look at other bags too, like the dinosaur one, but Aiden was certain he wanted the bag of his favourite superhero. So here he was, with his loved backpack and skipping after the group while his dad rolled the suitcase behind them.

Once at the bus, all the suitcases were loaded into it and they were asked to take a seat. Calum let Aiden in first, letting him decide where they would sit. At first he wanted to sit all the way to the back, but that was full already, so he picked the front seat that had the best view out of the front window. And Calum was kind of glad he did, not really having the energy to manoeuvre himself through the bus with energetic kids.