Austin Carlile Is My Father? (#Wattys2015)

Lips Around A Loaded Gun (Friskyhands)

Hope you guys are enjoying this.

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Austin's PoV

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The warm summer rain hit the window at an angle, drumming his brain into a puddle. Austin had a headache from lack of sleep and it was only 8 AM. His phone call with Alan in the early hours of the morning comforted him more than he imagined it would.

"Austin, what the fuck it's 1:30 am." An irritated Alan picked up.

"I know, I know, it's just I got this email... they're saying I have a daughter..."

"Austin, this is not fucking funny."

"I'm not kidding Alan, she's mine. They want me to take custody of her."

"Start from the beginning bro."

"I was checking my email, ya know, just cause, when this one pops up from Child Safety Services... I thought it was a prank but it had all these documents, including a death certificate for Lucy, the mother, and a birth certificate for the girl, Sienna. It had plane tickets too, they're sending her to me 3 o'clock tomorrow. It's real. Fuck Alan, what am I gonna do, we start tour again the day after." Words spilled out of Austin's mouth.

"Okay, um, can you talk to them? Like, soon? They can't just dump her on you. If you absolutely have to take her with you I'm sure she'd be fine on tour until you find a place for her."

"I can't take her on tour, what if we have to cancel?"

"No!" Alan protested, "This is our biggest tour, we're headlining and everything."

"I know, I know, I can't fucking deal with this right now. How can I have custody of a daughter I didn't even know I had?"

"I dunno, but you can fix it."

"Thanks mate, I'll let you sleep."

"Yeah... yeah... no... problem." Alan was asleep again before he even hung up.

Austin groaned, he had to wait another hour before he could call the fucking agency. He might as well take a shower while he stewed in the mess. Everyday it had become almost a ritual for him to run his fingers down the scar separating his chest with a cruel line, thanking the gods that he was alive. His chest tattoos were slightly mismatched now but it was a small price to pay for his life. Water coursed down his body as he stared at the tiled wall of his newly installed shower stall. His reflection in the glass door to his right mimicked his actions, as he waited for something. He didn't know what though.

He wondered what Sienna would look like, the one thing they neglected to send him was a recent photo, the one of the scanned passport being three years old. She obviously had dark wavy hair and a stubby nose like his own, but he wondered about the smaller details. Would she have freckles, loped ears, dimples? Those little things would couldn't pick out of such a small photo. She would probably be quite tall, tall was the dominant gene, right?

About 5 minutes later the glass was steamed up and foggy, so Austin decided it was time to get out. The doorbell rang just as he finished pulling on his baggy jeans, and he cursed, yanking up his fly as he ran down the stairs. He wasn't expecting it, but all four of his bandmates stood on his doorstep, Alan at the front.

"Hey dude, mind if we come in?"

"Nah, not at all."

They all marched into the lounge, looking dead serious, sitting down on the two large sofas, one an L shape.

"Alan told us about the whole having a kid soon thing." Aaron told him sympathetically. Were they gonna kick him out of the band? Austin panicked, assuming the worst, it seemed his whole life was falling to shit around him.

"We'll support you in whatever you're gonna do." Tino stated, while the rest of them nodded, "If you need to take her on tour then we'll be cool with that, or if we need to cancel a few dates."

Austin exhaled loudly. "Thank you so much guys, honesty, this means so much."

Half an hour later his bandmates ushered themselves out of his house while he dialled the number given to him, while he paced and wore holes into the carpet.

"Hello, yeah, hi. My names Austin Carlile, I got an email concerning a girl named Sienna Francis."

"Hold on a minute sir, I'll just put you through to the right line."

Two beeps later Austin was talking the lady in charge of Sienna's placement, Mrs Butcher.

Austin didn't bother with pleasantries, instead diving straight in, "I got an email about Sienna Francis this morning, telling me that I am now in custody of her."

"Yes, yes," The women replied, "Your daughter has lost her mother in a house fire, you are her closest relative."

"Yeah, I kind have a bit of a problem with that, is there anyone else she is related to she can go to?"

"I'm afraid not Mr Carlile, all her relatives are deceased with the exception of you."

"I can't... that is to say... at the moment... how can I have custody of someone I didn't know existed?"

"Ms Francis decided that you would not be informed of your daughter unless absolutely necessary, to make things less 'complicated' for her."

"I really can't take care of her, see I'm in a band, we have a headlining tour for the next three months."

"I know Mr Carlile, it was hard to track you down, but you are the only place she can go, otherwise she will be placed in a foster home."

Austin internally battled with himself, she was his daughter. He couldn't let her grow up in that sort of environment, but what would make him any better? He knew he'd be able to love her, and that he'd treat her right, but he still didn't think he was the right person for the job. In a split decision he made up his mind.

"I'll take her." God, he sounded like he was discussing buying a new lawn mower.

"Excellent. I hope you got the information I have sent you, and I will see you this afternoon." With that the phone went dead. What an uptight bitch.

Did he just make the worst decision of his life? Jesus, why did he think he was capable enough to look after another human being. He knew he'd try to fight the arrangement again today.