Song of the chapter: Can't Fight This Love by Austin Mahone
Emily's POV
"Emily, knock it off."
I silently giggled as I watched Lucy play with Austin's hair. It was early in the morning, and I was giving Lucy the honor of waking her daddy up by herself. She was having a great time, just sitting at his head with her hands in his brown curly hair. I was sitting on the edge.
"Emily," he groaned again. "I'm serious, stop. I'm exhausted."
"It's not me." I told him.
He opened one eye tiredly and immediately smiled at the sight of Lucy. "Well good morning to you too, you little shit." He sat up and scooped her up, setting her on his lap so she was facing him. "So are you my new wake up call? Mommy doesn't get to do it anymore?"
Lucy just smiled and kicked her feet. She had definitely figured out the sound of our voices, that's for sure.
"Mommy still gets to do it," I grinned, leaning over. Austin gave me a quick kiss before getting out of bed.
"Guess what day it is," I said.
"Sunday?" He asked, bouncing Lucy lightly.
"Guess again."
"Monday?"
My face dropped in anger. "I can't believe you."
He burst out laughing. "I'm totally kidding, Ems." He crawled out of bed with Lucy and kissed her cheek. "It's Lucy's birthday! Happy first birthday, princess."
"Don't do that," I sighed with relief. "I actually thought you forgot it was her birthday."
"No way. Besides, you've been talking about this party for so long, how could I?"
He was right. We were having a party for Lucy to celebrate, and I had been talking about it for a while. I just wanted everything to be perfect for her.
The past year had been extremely hectic, but Austin and I had made it through, with some fights here and there. Bottom line, raising a baby was NOT a piece of cake, especially so young. Austin was turning 21 in a couple of months, and I turn 21 two weeks after him. So, yeah, we'd be breathing birthdays for a while.
"Can you go feed Pancakes while I give Lucy a bath?" I walked over to the joint door and into the baby's room. "I haven't been downstairs yet."
"Yeah, sure. Uh, Emily?"
"What?" I called as I rummaged through drawers.
"Aren't you forgetting something?" He walked into the doorway and gestured at Lucy with a raised eyebrow, who was in his arms sucking on her fist.
Sucking on her fist was already one of her habits. I was surprised she hadn't gagged on it yet. I kept trying to pull it out of her mouth and tell her no, but she didn't listen.
"Oops," I said sheepishly as he handed her to me. "Sorry, Lucy. Mommy's distracted."
"I tend to have that affect on the opposite sex," Austin smirked as he leaned against the doorway, shirtless with just his grey sweats on.
"Ha ha, funny guy."
He just smiled. "But in all seriousness, what's wrong?"
"Nothing, I'm fine" I lied.
Austin looked unconvinced. "You just said you were distracted, so obviously you're not fine."
I sighed. "I'm stressed about a lot of things; Lucy's party, the music video for that bullying campaign, writing a new song for the video, writing your new song-"
"Okay, one: you need to breathe," Austin walked towards me. "And two: calm down. I'm right here, and you don't have to do that video until you're ready, you know that. My new song can wait a little longer, too."
"But it's already been a year! They'll be getting impatient." I said.
I was shooting a music video for the Make It Right foundation, which focused on bullying. The people there had told me I could start filming after Lucy was born, but that was a year ago.
"Trust me, it'll be fine. They still want you," Austin rubbed my arm. "Now relax."
I took a deep breath. "Sorry. But you better go feed the dog; she's probably starving."
"Damn," he said before hurrying out the door.
I shook my head to clear it before I brought Lucy to our bathroom. I took her out of her pajamas and set her in her little bath that was in the big bathtub before kneeling down beside the big tub. "Alright, little lady, time to get you ready for your big day."
Lucy just gurgled to herself and inspected her fingers while I turned the water on. She started turning her head from side to side when I was cleaning her.
"What are you doing?" I laughed.
"She misses me," Austin said from the doorway.
Lucy's eyes lit up when she saw him and she threw her hands down into the water over and over while kicking her legs, soaking me with soapy water.
"Lucy!" I exclaimed, grabbing a towel. "God damn it, Austin, you know she always does that when she sees you!"
Austin, however, found it quite hilarious, and he knelt beside me laughing his ass off. "Told you she missed me. And yeah, that's why it's funny."
Lucy smacked her hands down again and splashed Austin. "Now who's laughing?" I retorted.
He rolled his eyes and grabbed the towel from the floor while I finished giving Lucy her bath. "Here, take her while I get ready." I went to the sink and grabbed my toothbrush.
Austin wrapped Lucy in her ducky towel and hauled her out of the tub into his arms. He dried her off by rubbing the towel with his hand gently.
"Hey, why aren't you dressed?" I asked him.
"I haven't had time yet, Ems," he sighed.
I glared at him as I brushed my teeth.
"Don't look at me like that," he told me before walking out of the bathroom with Lucy.
I finished with my teeth and started with my face.
"Lucy, no, you don't put things like that in your mouth," I heard Austin say from the bedroom. I hurried out of the bathroom to see him taking his phone away from her.
"Don't give her your phone," I yelled at him.
"I didn't! She grabbed it from the pillow!"
"Pay better attention to her then. And I'm not going to tell you again, hurry up and get dressed; everyone will be here soon."
"Well your definition of soon must be different than mine because you told me they'd be here by three. And it's twelve now," Austin shot back. He was still in his damn sweats. "Besides, you're not even dressed either!"
"I have to get her birthday party ready! I'll dress after," I walked over and sat beside Lucy, who was lying on the bed. "Were you trying to eat daddy's phone again? Huh, sweetie?"
Lucy just smiled at me before kicking her legs everywhere. "That's right, you were, you little shit," I laughed.
"Hey babe, where's my chain?" Austin asked, opening drawers.
"I don't know. Last time I saw it was when you were wearing it last night."
"I swear I set it down on the bedside table, and now it's not there," he panicked. "It's a necessity!"
I shrugged. "You'll live without it for a day."
He groaned before pausing. "Hey, what's that?"
I looked at where he was pointing. Something was shining in Lucy's little fist.
"Found it," I smiled.
Austin walked over to the bed. "You just love taking my things, don't you Luce? Take mommy's sometimes," he gently pried it out of her hand before bending over her and attacking her neck with little kisses, making her giggle. "You little sneak. How did you even take this without us noticing?"
"Get dressed," I ordered.
He sighed. "Yeah yeah, I'm going," he kissed Lucy's cheek before walking over to the closet. "So, who's all coming to this party anyways?"
I scrolled through the messages on my phone while Lucy sat on the bed playing with her little monkey. "We've been over this many times. My mom, your mom, Taylor, Justin, Quinn, Alex, Zach, Robert, Cody, and Mike; but Taylor's parents can't make it. They're going on a cruise."
"I forgot. Damn, that's," he stopped as he counted on his fingers. "1, 2, 3, 4...10 people!"
"Oh my god, a whole ten? Lighten up, Austin; it's your daughter's first birthday." I snapped.
"Hey, cut me some slack, Emily, I just had a big ass concert last night! I just wanted some quiet." His voice was rising.
"It's not like you've never had a big concert before!"
He pinched the bridge of his nose. "I'm not gonna fight with you."
"Then don't start a fight!"
"Look, why are you yelling at me?" Austin exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air.
I took a deep breath and sighed. "I don't know why I'm so bitchy today."
"Don't worry about it," he said as he turned his back to the closet. I could tell he was still upset about it.
It was quiet for a moment, except for the sound of Lucy gurgling and hangers scratching as Austin pushed through his clothes before I quietly said, "I'm, uh, going to get Lucy ready."
I picked her up and walked into her room. Setting her down on her changing table, I put a new diaper on her before kissing her head. "At least you're not mad at me," I said softly.
In response, she shoved her fist into her mouth and stared at me with her big green eyes. She really looked like me, but I could see the same twinkle in her eyes that shone in Austin's.
I smiled lightly and tried to pick an outfit for her. I finally decided on a white t-shirt with a pink flower on it, a little pink tutu, white tights, and little pink ballet slippers.
As I was slipping the last of her outfit, which was her t-shirt, over her head, I felt a pair of strong arms encircle my waist from behind.
"I'm sorry," Austin mumbled into my neck before kissing it. He rested his forehead on the back of my neck. "I love you."
"I love you, too," I said as I slipped Lucy's shirt over her head. I picked her up and turned around to face him. "But don't be sorry; I'm the one being snappy."
Austin smiled sympathetically. "Part of being a mom."
"Guess so," I told him before kissing him. When we pulled apart, Austin took Lucy.
"Well, don't you look cute?" He beamed before kissing her cheek. I smiled at the sight. It was clear he absolutely adored her. He was just really good with kids in general.
Austin looked as hot as ever with black jeans and his chain, a white shirt, and a black blazer with his necklaces hanging down. His hair was shaggy and he smelled like my favorite cologne of his.
"You cleaned up nice," I commented.
"Yeah, now it's your turn," he grinned as we walked back into our room. "We'll go downstairs and start setting up."
"We?"
"Yeah," he gestured to Lucy. "She's coming with me."
"You better pay damn good attention to her," I threatened. "Or I'll rip you a new one."
"Damn...motherhood changed you," Austin said. "Of course I'll watch her." He walked out before I could say anything else.