WRITTEN IN THE SCARS

2029 - Glowing

Summary:
Miles is on tour and Alex is shamelessly enjoying being the only dad around.

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Liverpool, November 2029

"Good afternoon, love; how was your day?" I asked as soon as Haylee reached me and threw herself into my arms for our back-together-again hug. She was the one who ran the fastest when the school doors opened and during those few seconds, when I looked at her running toward me with a broad smile enlightening her face, I always felt ridiculously overjoyed and proud to be her dad.

"We painted with our feet today! Tomorrow I show you the drawing," she said with her radiant smile as she got ready to be lifted off the ground and placed on my shoulders. I walked toward the car holding her by the legs that were dangling against my chest and I was aware of the fact that I had the eyes of several mums on me despite they should have gone used by now to see me around. I confess that, in this case, being under the spotlight didn't annoy me at all, rather the opposite; waiting for Haylee outside the school and chatting with her a little before reaching the car was a special moment for me; it made me feel fulfilled and proud and I could dare to say that it was a real delight to have people's eyes on me. I loved to think that they noticed the happiness on display on my face the moment I reunited with Haylee and I loved to think that they were commenting on how good my relationship with her was. When my band mates had become fathers, I thought that being a parent meant to sacrifice a huge part of your life, a sort of duty to comply with after the initial enthusiasm but Miles had showed me how his life had changed for the better with Haylee and, right now, I considered myself blessed for Miles sharing with me such a wonderful gift. It had always been a joy for me to raise Haylee, give her my attention, show her my love and protect her, help her grow and get independent with each passing day and, sometimes, I still felt a little surprised of how I felt at ease in this role. "I used my favourite colours and it was funny!"

"And which colour are your feet now? Orange and green?"

"Noooo. They're pink. Like yours. Because we washed them!"

"Well, if your feet are clean then we can stop as usual for some tea and biscuits at Paolo & Donato," I said, given the fact that we got into the habit of stopping for a snack after the nursery school; we had our favourite spot reserved in the corner and we tried different biscuits or cakes every day and she loved telling me all the things she had done as well as whatever passed through her mind while chewing on the sweets with satisfaction. It was a way to pamper her a little and distract her from the fact that her dad had been away from home for a while now that he was on tour; Miles had recorded the album and rehearsed for the tour here in the city, always coming home in the evening and although he had had to leave Liverpool several times after the release of the album to promote it around the country, he hadn't been away from home for more than three days in a row. I put her back on the ground before helping her inside the car and she looked at me a little pensive instead of show me her usual enthusiasm of our afternoon ritual.

"I think we need to practice for the surprise."

"Love, we already sound like John and Yoko and we can practice later.... maybe we can have a hot chocolate instead of tea today," I said as I secured her at the child seat but she kept looking doubtful.

"I am not so good; I don't want to make mistakes."

"We have plenty of time to practice, honey, so... are you completely sure that you don't want to drink a yummy hot chocolate and sink your little teeth into those delicious shortbread biscuits?" I asked with a tender smile and she frowned.