Berlin, Germany (Sunday, June 23rd, 2019)
Michael scrunched up his nose as his voice cracked. "Shit, sorry. Replay the bridge," he said to his on-the-road producer. He rubbed at his eyes, stepping closer to their make-shift studio. Two mattresses were in a v-shape, boxing Mike in the middle. He was hooked up and tangled within many cords as the wires led back to the sound engineer's computer.
Bella was in-between Luke's open legs, a coloring book in her lap. Luke rested his novel on top of her blonde hair, slowly flipping the pages and underlining sentences he liked. It always annoyed Michael when he opened a book and Luke has already been there, annotating the shit out of the once clear pages.
"Hey, Uncle Lukey," her tiny voice whispered. She understood that she had to be quiet when Michael was recording. "When can I get drawings like Mikey?"
"You've got quite a long time, especially with a father like Ashton," Luke answered without looking up from his book.
"Why?"
"Bell, I really don't want to play this game with you right now." He rested his finger upon the page he was on as he slightly closed the book, looking at her turned head.
"What game? I like games."
"The game where you ask one million questions," he responded.
Bella shook her head. She closed her coloring book, placing it neatly to the side of Luke's legs, then turned to face him. With a huge smile upon his face she asked, "Why?"
Luke turned over his book, his fingers tickling her stomach, "You know exactly what you're doing."
Michael looked over at them with a glint of happiness upon his mismatched eyes. Yeah, he really liked seeing his husband and—sort of—niece react with each other. It made the long, stressful nights of recording the next album a little more bearable.
Bella quieted down when Luke realized they were most likely disturbing the studio session. He sat her back down, picked up his book, and continued to read. The three-("Don't be a dick, Uncle Luke, I'm almost four!")-year-old stood up on her shaky knees, then placed two hands on her hips. She didn't know what she wanted to do, but she did not want to go to bed and she did not want to be bored.
Her two fathers and twin sister were both fast asleep next door, but she found her way down the hall into the opposite suite quite quickly when her eyes would simply not shut.
Of course, Luke felt the need to wake the sleeping men so they don't get worried when one of their daughter's magically disappears.
Bella's bare feet walked across the suite, her hands reached up towards the plush, tan couch where one of Calum's many cameras was placed. Luke watched her every move, figuring even if she broke the old Canon, Calum wouldn't care.
She bounced back, tugging on the bandana that was tied to the neck carrier. The knot came undo around the time she plopped herself between Luke's two feet. She's watched her father do this almost every hour of the day, she got extremely excited when the red button flashed, telling her the SD card was in and working.
Bella reached up, tying the bandana around her forehead. She turned around to face Luke once the camera was around her neck.
His blue eyes looked up from his book, a snicker leaving his lips. "Wow, B, new look. I like it," he whispered. Luke hoped the toddler would get the hint that when Mike was singing, they really, really, really needed to be quiet.
"I'm Daddy," she whispered. Bella held up the camera, the shutter closing at a fast rate, taking blurry, over-exposed photos of the older blonde.
Luke bit his laugh to hold in a chuckle. "Hm, I guess you are. You're much cuter, though," he said. He reached out a hand, squeezing her cheeks.
Bella took small steps closer to him, letting the camera fall to her chest harshly. She put her hands on Luke's cheeks, her fingers touching the smooth skin. "You. You are cute," she stated.
He smiled. "Thank you, that was very nice."
She sat back down, this time in Luke's lap. Her fingers played with the buttons on the camera, most likely messing up the settings. She held it up to her golden eyes, taking snaps all over the hotel room.
It was a few hours later when the session finally wrapped up. Luke was still laying uncomfortably against the wall, his butt sore and legs cramping. He was in a shallow sleep, the sleeping toddler in his lap waking him up every time she moved.
Michael walked the sound engineer out, making plans for tomorrow afternoon. He looked at his sleeping husband and Bella, rolling his eyes at the scene.
Once again, Bella managed to draw 'tattoos' on her skin. Ashton was going to kill them, not even as a joke this time. He was literally going to slice their throats for letting his daughter give herself ink poisoning.
Mike took a step closer, realizing the tattoos she drew matched Michael's. Well, they matched as close as a three-year-old could get to matching. He smiled to himself. Bella idolized Michael, she really did. She idolized him like a third parent, or a cool older brother.
He kneeled down, shaking Luke awake.
The blonde put his hands on Bella's hips as he woke up in a rush. His blue eyes blinked a few times before adjusting to the light. "Hm?"
"It's two in the morning," Mike whispered. His voice was soothing and calming, Luke started to fall back asleep listening to his mellow tones. "Should we bring Bella back to her parents or could she just sleep here for a bit?"
"Ash will be knocking harshly on our door in four hours, is it weird for her to just sleep in our bed with us?" Luke asked, his voice deep from waking up.
"I don't think so, should we wake her up and ask?"
Luke moved his legs, suddenly realizing how much pain his entire body was in. Sleeping on the floor was never comfortable. Being the youngest of three, he should be used to this kind of treatment. Bella stirred in her sleep, whining from being woken up. "Baby, we're going to bed. Do you want to sleep here or back in your bed?"
"Here." Her voice was cranky, her eyebrows furrowed as she glared at the two men whom had the nerve to wake up the princess. She cuddled closer in Luke's lap, closing her precious eyes once more.
Luke laughed, "Okay, let's get you to bed." He carried her to the large mattress, tucking her in the center of many pillows. She looked so tiny, all curled up and fast asleep.
Mike and Luke made their way to their en suite bathroom, changing to proper pajamas for the first time in probably three months. Sleeping in just their undergarments was really pushy, and definitely creepy if they were sharing a bed with a three-year-old that was not theirs. Luke wishes she was theirs.
Michael was first in bed, making his spot with a huff to the left of the sleeping girl. He flipped over the pillow to the cold side, bending it so his neck was at a comfortable position. He was second asleep.
Luke always took the longest, no matter what they were doing. He smiled at the site of his sleeping husband—resembling a kitten in the cutest way possible—and Bella. He quietly crawled to the right of Bella once all the lights in their hotel were turned off. He curled around the small girl, making sure to leave a few inches between their two bodies so he wouldn't creep out her, or her father.
Even though Bella was almost their niece, Luke never wanted to make either of her fathers uncomfortable in any way.
The three fell asleep, Bell sandwiched between their warm bodies.
And, yeah, Ashton was at their door at 5:58 a.m.