Summary: domestic life for Luke, an ex gang member, is kinda rough some times
Warnings: none
Word Count: 5.1k
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Luke held his baby close to his chest as he entered The Luxury, eyes finding Puppy who immediately ran towards him, "gimme gimme gimme." she cooed, holding out her arms.
"Just... don't set her down anywhere. It's dirty." Luke said, scrunching his nose at the bar top.
"Of course I won't, I won't put the princess anywhere, isn't that right Soph, won't put you down anywhere." Puppy said in a baby voice, taking the one year old from Luke's arms.
Calum and Ashton watched their girlfriend beam down at Luke's kid, her fingers wrapping around one of Sophia's brown strands as big blue eyes looked up at her and Sophia giggled happily. Puppy played with the little pink scrunchie in Sophia's hair, a scrunchie that matched her mother and fathers. Sophia loved her aunt Puppy, almost as much as she loved uncle Harry which vexed everyone greatly.
Ashton and Calum wanted to come say hi to the baby but they had a mission.
"What do you guys need?" Luke asked, pulling his pink scrunchie out so he could run a hand through his messy curls. He'd been a stay at home dad for a little over a year, having completely dropped out of the gang at the begging of Birdie. The moment he'd seen his baby, he'd decided it was a good thing to ditch. He hadn't been at the Luxury in ages, and a call from his former gang leader had left him a little confused.
"We want you to start working again." Calum said.
"What?!" Luke practically yelled, looking around to make sure he hadn't disturbed Puppy or Sophia. Calum grabbed Luke and pulled him, making him follow them to a back room while Luke asked "are you two out of your fucking minds? I'm done with this shit. I've been out for a year-"
"It would only be once or twice a month." Calum interrupted.
"And you'd get a bigger cut." Ashton stated.
Luke looked between them and part of him itched to ask how much more but he pushed that to the side, "I have a daughter now-"
"Don't you want to be able to pay for her to go to university?" Ashton asked
Luke groaned. He had money. He did. He had a lot of money. But... more was always better.
Luke ran another hand through his hair, "how much more money?"
Calum pushed open the door to the interrogation room, "let's just say, we can make it worth your while."
—-
Birdie's voice was clear and perfect, getting every single tongue twister effortlessly as she read through the Doctor Seuss book. Luke's head was on her lap and Sophia was on his chest, looking up at her mama while Luke's hands kept her steady.
Luke watched his daughter, the way she was so bewitched by her mamas voice, just like Luke always had been. He still wasn't used to Birdie reading children's books out loud, but he definitely preferred it to the poetry she'd always used to read to him, although he'd never admit it.
The sound of the elevator doors opening drew everyone's attention, and Petunia went running, excited to see Harry, who immediately got to his knees to great the dog. Olivia laughed, also saying hi to Petunia before Harry stood up, brandishing a gift bag, "got a little somethin for the princess." he said, waving at Sophia.
"Hazza!" she said, clapping in excitement as she began to wiggle in Luke's grip. He hated the fact that Sophia called Harry 'Hazza', it was too close to Dada for him. At least with 'Cow' 'Ath' and 'Mickey' the names were obviously different.
"Why do you always bring gifts?" Luke asked, standing and holding Sophia to his chest, who was reaching out towards her favourite uncle.
"How could I not? Have you seen this face?" Harry grinned, holding out his arms for the little baby who was practically screaming in excitement.
Instead of giving his daughter to Harry, Luke handed Sophia to Olivia, who was more than happy to immediately begin cooing and kissing the baby's face.
"So where are you two headed?" Harry asked, setting the present down on the kitchen counter.
"Just a date night." Luke answered absentmindedly.
Birdie grinned, "He's keeping it a secret."
Olivia gave Sophia to Harry, and Luke had to fight the need to go over and once more retrieve his princess. It looked so odd to see his new, shiny, precious baby in the arms of a tattooed gang member...
But Luke supposed he was being a hypocrite, about the gang part, not the tattoos. Luke had begun doing small jobs for the gang a few months earlier, and he'd been keeping it a secret from everyone but Calum, Ashton and Puppy.
If he told Harry, Harry would tell Olivia, who would tell Birdie... it was a whole ass mess. But... Calum hadn't been lying when he said he'd make it worth it for Luke. They were paying him tripple what they had before, and he only went in once or twice a month.
It wasn't the same though. Dove refused to torture with him anymore, and Luke missed that, he missed his murder bro, but he understood why Dove didn't want to get involved. She could keep her mouth shut, Luke was sure of that, but Dove had been hanging out at girl nights with more frequency, and it would have been added pressure.
Luke and Birdie left for their date night, and Olivia and Harry took Sophia to the living room, both of them sitting on the floor so Sophia could crawl between them and play with the toys scattered around.
Harry gave Sophia his complete attention and Olivia watched him play with the baby, letting her grab at his tattooed arms and hands, careful not to let her get at his rings that she could easily accidentally swallow.
Olivia didn't want to bring it up, she didn't, but they'd been together over two years and Harry had admitted he was looking at engagement rings a month into dating. She'd figured he would have proposed already but... she had told him that she enjoyed the just dating. But, again, that had been over two years ago.
She was confused, not wanting to bring it up, besides, they were practically married as it was. But seeing him with a baby... it made things a little different. She knew she'd have to talk to him about it sooner or later, but in that moment, she just wanted to enjoy watching her boyfriend play with a baby.
—-
Luke had thought he'd be prepared for the girl trip. After all, Sophia was almost two and she was a complete daddys girl. But Birdie had never gone on a trip without him or Sophia. It was the first weekend alone with his little girl and Luke was oddly terrified.
When the girls had gone that morning, Calum and Ashton had shown up to hang out with Sophia for a bit. Calum had a new obsession with making non alcoholic cocktails for Sophia so she felt like she fit in with the adults. Luke never drank around her, but Calum and Ashton both had a thing for having an interesting coloured beverage in their hands at all times.
Sophia adored Calum and Ashton, who both tried their absolute hardest to be the favourite uncle, but try as they might, neither would ever beat Harry.
Harry was over more because of Olivia, and Sophia had gotten accustomed to beauty nights where she'd sit with her aunt, uncle, mama, dada and Petunia, and everyone would wear face masks and get their nails painted. Harry still hadn't stopped bringing presents every single time he came over, even going so far as to bring her one of those small baby, battery powered cars. It was pink. And a jeep. Luke had nearly died when he saw it.
Michael was... well, Luke wasn't sure where Michael was. Dove had mentioned something about a new game coming out and Michael taking the weekend off to play it, but Luke hadn't paid much attention to talk about video games since Sophia was born.
After a fun day with uncle Calum and Ashton, a trip to the park, and a disney princess marathon, Luke assumed Sophia would pass out pretty easily.
It was 2am when a small "daddy?" woke Luke from his sleep. Sitting up quickly, Luke's eyes went to the small toddler standing at the foot of his bed. Dressed in her little onesie, holding her pink teddy bear aptly named Hazza (which Luke hated) she looked distressed.
"When's mommy getting home?"
Luke got out of bed, going to kneel in front of Sophia, "she's gone the whole weekend princess." he pushed some of her brown hair out of her face. Sophia's lower lip began to tremble, and Luke knew the tears were about to start flowing, "aw princess don't be sad, it's only two days-"
Sophia let out a loud wail and threw her arms over Luke's shoulders, burying her snotty, tear streaked face against his neck. Luke rubbed at her back, cooing and saying soft musings to help calm her down.
An hour must have gone by, and Luke was shocked that Sophia was still crying, she was usually a pretty chill little toddler, but she'd never been separated from her mommy before.
"Soph, what can I do? Do you want milk? I can warm you up some milk?" Luke groaned, hoping that maybe this time when he asked, she'd accept.
"Hazza." Sophie whined into his neck, gripping at his shirt tighter as she cried more.
"Hazza is right here." Luke said, using one arm to steady Sophia to his chest while he reached to grab the discarded pink teddy bear, "look, he's here." Luke insisted, rubbing the teddy against the side of Sophia's face.
"No. Real Hazza." Sophia insisted.
Luke thought about it for a moment and sighed, "let me call him." Sophia pulled away from Luke's shirt and wiped her face, blinking up at him hopefully as Luke reached for his phone on the nightstand, finding the contact 'Walmart Mick Jagger'
He expected it to ring and go to voicemail, but on the fifth sound, Harry answered, voice low and husky, "Luke?"
For a second Luke didn't even know what to say, and then he stated, "Sophia can't sleep."
There was a small pause, then: "I'll be right over. I'll bring paint." the line went dead and Luke stared at his phone for a moment before looking at his two year old who was waiting expectantly.
"He'll be over soon." Luke assured her, pressing a kiss to her forehead before he stood and picked her up, carrying her to the living room.
Luke and Sophia were scrolling through Netflix when the elevator signalled Harry had shown up. Luke had never been happy that Birdie had given Olivia and Harry a fob to get up to the penthouse, but in that moment, nearly passed out on the couch at 3am with a toddler on his chest, Luke was glad he didn't have to get up to let Harry in.
Sophia tried to crawl over top of Luke and the couch to get a better look at Harry, but Luke held her tight, not wanting her to fall as he turned his head to stare at the man who looked as exhausted as he felt.
But Harry still held up a bag full of arts and crafts, the type Olivia always did with Sophia, and Luke had never been happier to see the guy before.
"Hazza!" Sophia called, making grabby hands at the british man who approached the couch. Luke allowed him to take Sophia, letting out a sigh of relief at the loss of the weight on his chest.
Harry took Sophia to the floor, moving the carpet to expose the marble, "what are you doing?" Luke asked, almost too exhausted to protest at the guy who was rearranging his furniture, almost.
"Out of paper." Harry said.
"So she's going to paint the floor?!" Luke asked.
Harry rolled his eyes and continued setting up the paint, looking at Sophia who was sitting patiently on the ground next to him, "gonna paint my back okay?" he told her, "but you have to be careful. No red hand prints like last time."
The last time they'd ran out of paper, Harry and Olivia had taken Sophia out to the terrace, where at least they could use the hose to get rid of the easily washable paint. Luke had arrived home to a red hand print or two on the wall and Harry in the kitchen, he'd expected the worst, and almost killed the innocent brit, who hastily explained his child was, in fact, not dead, and the hand prints were paint.
Luke had been on edge that day to begin with, having been at a particularly long torture session, he'd been feeling guilty and anxious, so when he's arrived home to red hand prints... well, he'd freaked out.
After an enthusiastic nod from Sophia in response to the question that had been asked, Harry grabbed a pillow, took off his hoodie, and laid down on the floor on his stomach, exposing his back as he got comfortable with the pillow, eyes closing. Luke couldn't help the smile that appeared on his face, watching the British man pass out almost instantly.
But Sophia seemed excited, grabbing red, her favourite colour, she began to paint a circle on Harry's broad back. Luke watched; eyes half closed as he watched his child create a large red sun on Harry's skin.
Luke came to sit next to his daughter on the floor, helping her by giving her the colours she needed. Harry's soft snores were the only noise other than Sophia's statements of what she needed, and Luke's soft, tired musings.
Harry's back was half covered when Sophia yawned, and Luke jumped at the chance, "you tired princess?" he asked.
Sophia nodded, reaching out to her dada who lifted her up to put her onto the couch. He was about to clean up when he decided against it, too tired, so instead he got comfortable with his daughter snuggled on his chest and almost as soon as his head hit the pillow, he fell asleep.
—
Harry woke up first, sitting up and looking around, noticing Luke asleep on the couch with Sophia. Harry cleaned up the small mess of paint before going to look at his back in the mirror in the bathroom. He took a picture of Sophia's art to send to Birdie.
After a shower to wash off the paint, Harry endeavoured to find something to read while he waited for Luke to wake up. Petunia trotted next to him as Harry went to look at Birdie's bookshelf, admiring the classics that they had in common. He settled on Shakespeare, pleasantly surprised when he opened the book to find Birdie's pretty scrawl marking up the margins in notes that were just as entertaining for him as the actual play itself.
He sat in the living room and read for an hour or two, Sophia waking up before her papa. Harry waved and made a motion to be quiet before he set down his book and went to pick up the toddler, leaving Luke to sleep while he took her to the kitchen.
"What do you want to eat, little monster?" he whispered, earning a giggle.
"Pancakes." she stated, "with chocolate chips."
Harry beamed at her, pinching her chin briefly, "of course with chocolate chips, who do you think I am? An amature?"
"Amature." Sophia tried to reiterate the big word and Harry practically melted.
He lifted the toddler on one hip while he grabbed ingredients, letting Sophia take a turn mixing everything before he took over to finish up, setting her down on the counter close to him, "don't fall over or your daddy will kill me." Harry told her, making sure she understood the seriousness behind his tone.
She nodded, scooching back on the counter so she was safer as she watched Harry begin to cook. "How much chocolate?" he asked, pouring some into his hand.
"More."
He poured more then quirked an eyebrow at Sophia.
"More."
He poured a little more.
"More."
"Think I have to cut you off, monster, don't want you too hyper." Harry said, earning a frown from Sophia but he bent down to look at her, "quit your whining, Princess, and I'll bring you sweets next time I come over, yeah?"
Sophia nodded, "ring pops?"
"Of course." Harry grinned, straightening up again so he could flip the pancake.
"Rings for Auntie Wiv?" Sophia asked quietly. Harry smiled at the way she said Liv as Wiv with a W sound.
"Of course." Harry scoffed.
"Rings like Mommy's?"
Harry frowned a little, looking at the girl who looked so much like her mama, sitting there so innocently as if she hadn't just asked him a super difficult question. He thought about it for a moment, "got a ring like your mommy's for Auntie Olivia but it's a secret. Can you keep a secret for me, monster?"
Sophia nodded happily, "yeah."
He pinched at her cheek lightly, earning a giggle, "good."
—–
Harry pushed the cart while Sophia sat in it, looking up at him with massive eyes and a grin as Luke grabbed the essential food they needed. Harry smiled down at the two year old, making faces and picking up random food items to entertain her with.
It was nice to have Harry there to distract Sophia, as much as Luke hated to admit it. It was nice to wake up that morning to see that Harry had fed Sophia and made enough for Luke to eat as well. It was... it was just nice having Harry there.
Luke was searching for one of Birdie's special health products, the type most stores didn't carry, and he left Harry and Sophia to quickly check down an aisle, content with the fact that the two (who were making faces at each other) might not even notice his minute long disappearance.
Upon returning with the odd product (something called Kefir) grasped firmly in his hand, Luke noticed a woman with her own kid in her cart walking past Harry. The two children, similar in age, looked at each other and Harry grinned, watching Sophia wave at the other toddler.
"Your daughter is very cute." the woman said, taking in the gang leader with big, interested eyes.
"She is." Harry mused, having not even looked up at the mom, too engrossed with how adorable Sophia was being to care much for the woman. Luke glared at the brit, he was so oblivious to the obviously single, hot mom gaping at him, and he hadn't even corrected the lady to say Sophia wasn't his. Sure, Sophia had Harry's dark hair, but her eyes were a breathtaking blue colour, just like her mom and dads, not a hint of Harry's emerald green.
Luke supposed it was typical for Harry to be getting hit on by single moms, he just wasn't a huge fan that the moms were using Luke's daughter as a way to connect with the heavily tatted melt of a man who was staring at Sophia with a look of complete adoration.
Unable to help himself, Luke picked up Sophia, and Harry finally looked up, eyes on the blonde who rubbed at his daughters back. The woman looked between Harry and Luke, "oh." she said, continuing down the aisle.
It took Luke five seconds to realize what the 'oh' had meant, and he began to try to explain to the woman, who was already halfway down the aisle, that he and Harry were not gay lovers with a daughter, but Luke could only stutter "it's not- we aren't-" while Harry smirked in amusement.
"What's wrong babe? You ashamed of me?" Harry asked, tired eyes flickering with mischief.
Luke rolled his eyes, "I hate you."
"Did you hear that Soph?" Harry laughed, "your daddy is being mean."
"Mean." Sophia repeated, looking up at her daddy whose face she grabbed. Luke frowned down at her, not enjoying the fact that both Harry and Sophia had called him mean. He was too exhausted to deal with this.
"Let's go home and have nap time?" Luke suggested.
"No." Sophia stated, letting go of his face to struggle in his arms, reading out towards Harry again, "Haz."
Harry went to grab Sophia, but Luke held her away from him, "come on Soph, nap time sounds good doesn't it?"
"No." Sophia repeated, "Haz." her bottom lip was quivering, and Luke's eyes flickered to Harry whose smirk widened.
With a sigh, Luke handed Sophia to Harry before grabbing the cart to push to the checkout. "You look exhausted." Harry said, voice high pitch as he let Sophia grab at his hair even though he was obviously talking to Luke, "you can have a nap and I'll take Petunia and Sophia for a walk, how does that sound Little Monster? A walk with uncle Hazza and Piggy?"
"Yes!" Sophia clapped, beaming up at him.
"Really?" Luke asked, "aren't you tired?"
"Nah, always wide awake for the little princess, isn't that right monster?" Harry grinned at Sophia who grabbed at his face.
Luke eyed the brit. He'd left Sophia with Harry and Olivia before, but never Harry alone, which, come to think of it, was odd, seeing as Sophia was almost two. But Harry and Olivia always came as a pair. This really was the first time either man had been without their significant other in a long time. "Thanks." Luke said.
Harry grinned down at Sophia, "don't mention it."
—–
They'd been too exhausted to fight the little two year old when she insisted that they drag a bed into the living room. Sophia had Harry and Luke wrapped around her little finger, clutching at her dada while Harry pulled the mattress into position. Next, she demanded a blanket fort, and wouldn't be satisfied until every pillow and blanket in the penthouse was being put to use.
Finally comfortable in her blanket fort with her two favourite men, Sophia cuddled between them and Luke turned on Frozen.
Harry passed out almost immediately, something (Luke noticed) he was quite good at. Harry had been at the penthouse since the first night, he'd gone to pick up more clothes with Sophia while Luke napped the next day, and had stayed another night. Now that Luke was thinking about it, he realized Harry had been with him for over two days.
The girls were scheduled to come back late that night and Luke wanted to go pick them up from the airport, but Calum and Ashton had already said they would, and Luke was exhausted.
He tried to keep his eyes open, if not for his parental duties, then for Sophia who adored singing the songs with her daddy, but he his eyelids were getting heavier and heavier. Luke struggled to keep them open, dreading the oncoming song Sophia always loved to mumble her way through, but when the first lyric began and Sophia stayed silent, he looked down at her and let out the biggest sigh of relief he'd had since Birdie left: Sophia, like Harry, was fast asleep.
He didn't even bother to turn off the tv, eyes slipping closed as he fell into a peaceful, much needed, slumber.
—-
When the girls exited the airport, they were greeted by Calum, Ashton and, surprisingly, Michael. "Couldn't go another moment without seeing you." Michael said, mid hug with Dove who had her legs around his waist, the amount she missed him shockingly evident by the way she clung to his body.
"That's a surprise." Puppy grinned before going to Calum and Ashton who both engulfed her in a hug. As far as anyone had known, it would be just Ashton and Calum coming to pick them up.
Dove and Michael were already getting into their car without so much as a goodbye, and everyone laughed.
"Where are Harry and Luke?" Puppy whispered, noticing their absence. They'd both been quiet on the group chat for over twenty-four hours, and Puppy was a little bit worried, but they all figured if anything bad had happened, Calum or Ashton would have let them know.
"Last I heard, they were having a princess slumber party with Sophia." Ashton answered.
"Harry and Luke?" Puppy asked in shock.
Calum put Puppy's bag in the back of Ashton's car, "Yeah, Harry's been at Luke's penthouse all weekend."
"And they haven't killed each other?" Puppy laughed.
"They're better friends than you'd think." Birdie said, trying to hide the smugness in her voice, but she was happy, she knew they'd get along eventually.
"I'll drive you two to the penthouse." Calum sighed, grabbing Olivia and Birdie's bags.
Birdie appreciated him offering, stepping up even though it was obvious he wanted to get home with Ashton and Puppy, who he had no doubt been missing the whole weekend, "are you sure? We could get a cab-" she offered but Calum rolled his eyes at her.
"Get in the car." he commanded, holding open the car door to the massive black SUV for Birdie, earning a small laugh as she got into the car, the door closed firmly behind her.
Olivia got into the back and, with one last kiss to Puppy, Cal got in the driver's seat. Birdie had connected her phone to the speakers, and when Calum started the car, rap music flooded the interior, startling everyone as Birdie fumbled with her phone to get a new song.
With a quick tap to 'next song' "country roads" replaced the heavy bass and rap music, and Calum fully turned his body in his seat to stare at Birdie as she flushed, furiously tapping the next button until something more on brand came up. 'Drops of Jupiter' by Train finally settled through the car and Birdie let out a sigh of relief, looking up at Calum who was blatantly gaping at her. "What?"
"Rap music and country?" Calum asked, but it was more of a statement.
"Good country." Birdie clarified.
"How have I known you for almost four years and not known you like rap music?"
Birdie shrugged, "I'm layered... like an onion."
"An onion." Calum reiterated, earning a laugh from Olivia who was watching from the back seat.
"It's a quote." Birdie insisted.
"From who? Shakespeare?" Calum asked.
Olivia laughed harder and Birdie opened her mouth then shut it, staring at Calum in shock. She was about to answer when Olivia leaned forward, "yes Calum, it's Shakespeare."
—-
"Do you think they're in there?" Birdie asked.
"They have to be." Olivia whispered back, the two of them staring at the elaborate blanket fort in the penthouse living room. Leaving their bags near the entryway, the two of them quietly walked towards the fort. At around a metre away, the soft sound of snores could be heard, and the two women looked at each other knowingly.
It was hard to find the door to the fort, but once they did, both women ducked under the blanket entry way to stare at the sight in front of them.
A mastress had been pulled from the guest room, and it was haphazardly positioned in front of the couch, a mass of blankets and pillows covering the expanse. Luke and Harry were facing each other, Sophia squished between the sleeping men. Harry's arm was slung casually over Luke's body, and Luke's arm was being used as a head rest by his daughter and the sleeping brit.
It almost felt like a shame to wake them up, but thankfully neither woman had to, Sophia's brows furrowed in her sleep and her eyes opened, landing on her mother and Olivia.
"Mommy!" she screamed, making both Harry and Luke jump awake too, noticing the fact that they were both touching, their eyes met for a moment, then they each pulled away quickly, turning to look at Olivia and Birdie.
"You're back!" Luke smiled, following Sophia who had crawled to her mom, engulfed in a hug.
"C'm here you." Harry grinned lazily at Olivia, pulling her down onto the mattress next to him into a cuddle while Luke, Birdie and Sophia had their little family reunion.
"So you've been here all weekend?" Olivia asked.
Harry hummed, still half asleep and too groggy to answer fully.
"We should get going." Olivia mused, pushing some of Harry's curls out of his face.
He groaned but sighed, "okay, let me say goodbye to my baby first." his eyes were still closed and his words were slurred, Olivia wondered if he'd meant to say 'my baby,' or perhaps she hadn't heard him right. Before she could think further, he was sitting up, and the small family turned their attention to him, Sophia holding her arms out expectantly.
Birdie handed her kid to Harry and he smiled down at her, "I have to go now, but I'm gonna miss you yeah?" She grabbed at his face and nodded enthusiastically, earning a chuckle from Harry who kissed her forehead before handing her back to her mama, "take care of the little monster." he said fondly.
Everyone got out of the blanket fort and after a small goodbye, Birdie left to put Sophia to sleep, and Luke walked Olivia and Harry to the elevator. "Hey, uh..." Luke looked at Olivia who pretended to turn her attention down at her phone, giving the two a moment of semi privacy, "thanks for this weekend."
Harry smiled, clapping Luke on the shoulder, "like I said mate, don't mention it."
Luke offered a small smile, "but I do appreciate it."
"Yeah, it's fine." Harry assured him, "let me know if you ever need help again yeah?"
Luke nodded, "sure."
Harry stepped back and the elevator doors closed. Luke stood there for a few moments before padding to his bedroom, leaning in the door frame to see Birdie and Sophia passed out on the bed. He smiled, adoring his happy family, and, for a brief moment, he wondered when Harry was going to get his own god damned child and stop hogging Sophia so much.