Gray Area (sequel to White Noise)

Ch 13 - Dirty Diapers

"I don't know, Lex."

"Oh, come on," I argued back. I wasn't letting it go without a fight. "You can't tell me that you don't need some time alone with Calum."

"We're together all the time!"

"Yeah, but that's different. All your time together the past six weeks has been spent with dirty diapers and a crying baby."

"And we're completely okay with that. We're actually kind of fond of our crying baby," Tori replied, smiling down at the sleeping Avery in her arms.

I had come over as soon as I got off work, which is pretty much what I had done ever since the baby was born. The other boys and I absolutely adored Avery, and none of us could really stand to be away from her for an extended period of time, especially not Tori or Calum. Which is what brought on our current argument.

"Tor, she'll be fine. I promise. Don't you trust me?"

She sighed then, and I thought I could finally see a tiny break in her resolve. "It's not that I don't trust you, Alexis. It's just that I haven't spent a minute away from her since she was born. I never want to leave her, not even for a second."

"I get that, but you're going to have to eventually. I'm not asking you to leave her for a month, Tor. Just a couple of hours. Let me and the boys watch her for just a couple of hours while you and Cal go out for dinner or something. You guys deserve some time to yourselves."

"I don't know..."

I opened my mouth to give my rebuttal but was interrupted by Calum entering the room, followed closely by the other three. Calum immediately plopped down next to Tori and smiled down at his baby girl.

"What don't you know?"

"It's nothing, babe," she answered, shrugging him off. "We were just talking."

"It's not nothing," I argued. "I was just telling Tori that you guys should go out tonight. Grab a bite to eat and take a walk. Just enjoy each other's company for a little bit. The boys and I can watch the baby."

I fully expected Calum to shut me down like Tori had. He was absolutely enamored with Avery and hated when he had to be apart from her. But, in typical Calum fashion, he surprised me.

"That actually sounds nice, babe," he said, turning to Tori.

She was just as surprised as I was. "Really?"

"Yeah," he shrugged. "We could use a little time to ourselves, especially since we're about to be really busy with the wedding and stuff."

"Seriously, Tor. Avery will be fine, I promise." I could practically smell my impending victory.

"Don't worry about a thing, Tori," Michael assured her. "What's the worst that could happen?"

Luke immediately gave him a sharp slap to the back of the head and mumbled, "Shut up, you idiot!"

"Okay," Tori sighed, standing and handing the sleeping bundle off to Ashton. "Fine. You guys win. I'm going to get dressed before I change my mind." She turned on her heels and left the room, Calum following closely behind.

As soon as they left, Luke gave Michael a shove. "'What's the worst that could happen'? What the hell were you thinking, you idiot?!"

"Seriously, Michael," I agreed, shaking my head. "That was probably the worst thing you could have said."

"Sorry! Geez. I was just trying to help." He started pouting then, and I could never seem to stay mad at him when he pouted.

"It's fine," I sighed. "Just don't say anything stupid until they leave, okay? We don't want her backing out." He nodded his agreement but stayed silent, still slightly pouting from being scolded. Good grief, he was such a child sometimes.

It didn't take long for the happy couple to reenter the room. The rest of the group rose to meet them, and we all slowly began making our way out of the living room towards the door to the garage. Once we were close, Calum stopped and turned to his friends.

"Alright, you assholes, listen up. If anything happens to my daughter, I will murder every one of you punks with my bare hands."

"Nothing's going to happen, Calum," Luke assured him with a roll of his eyes. "We got this."

Calum wasn't convinced. "I'm serious, Lucas. She better be in the exact same condition we left her in when we get home. Or else."

"Does that mean I can't dye her hair?" That comment earned Michael another hard slap to the back of the head, this time from Calum. "Ow! I was joking! Fuck."

"Don't swear, Michael!" Ashton scolded, making a move to cover Avery's tiny ears.

"Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all," Tori began, starting to move back towards the living room.

"No!" I interrupted, grabbing her by the shoulders and turning her towards the door. "This was a great idea. You guys need some alone time. Everything will be fine, I promise. Now go. Get out of here, you two." I gave her a little shove, and she slowly began making her way back towards the door.

It took a little more coaxing and several more almost tearful goodbyes from Tori, but we finally got them out the door. I did feel a little bad for my friend, and I hated seeing her so upset leaving her baby girl, but I knew she and Cal needed this night. I had promised her that everything would be fine while she was gone, and I didn't intend to break that promise. I turned to the three boys standing behind me in the hallway and gave them a stern look.

"Alright, losers. Let's lay down some rules. First, there will be no..."

"Um, actually, Lex," Ashton interrupted with a grimace. "There's some other business that we need to take care of first."

When he didn't elaborate, I decided to give him a prompt. "What is it, Ashton?"

He looked down to the now stirring baby in his arms and let out a little giggle. "I'm surprised you can't tell already." He giggled again before looking up at the rest of us with a smirk. "This little one needs a diaper change."