baby, I'll show you the world [muke af]

Vienna, Austria (Sunday, June 16th, 2019)

Vienna, Austria (Sunday, June 16th, 2019) 

Bella kicked her legs up and down, watching as her knees flexed. She bounced up and down on her father's lap as she looked up at him. She reached her hand up, feeling over his stubbly face. Ivona was staring at her other father as he tried to get them to pose. He had his favorite lenses pointed in their direction, but Bella didn't like sitting still. 

Ash squeezed her back slightly, blowing on her face. "Look at Dad."

"The sun is in my eyes!" She complained, wiping her blonde hair off of her shoulders. 

"Cal, let's move somewhere else, she's not gonna sit still."

Calum pouted as he looked at the gorgeous view—Vienna was pretty, too, but he thought his family was prettier. He liked the rocky grounds and the golden hour background, but he also liked his laughing boyfriend looking at his two princesses. He let his camera hang around his neck as he took Ivona from Ashton. "You're a good model," he told her.

"I didn't do anything."

"That's the point." He kissed her cheek, pecking up to her forehead. 

Ivona giggled as they looked around for a new spot. Calum placed his daughter on a wooden fence, waiting for the rest of his family to join them.

Luke spotted Ivona first, her brown curls blowing in the wind. "Can we have kids?"

"No," Michael responded.

"Please?" He begged. Their entwined hands swung back and forth as they headed up the path, closer to their tour-family.

Mike dropped their hands, but let them rise to Luke's shoulder. On instinct, Luke wrapped his own hand around Michael's side. "I don't know, Lukey, maybe one day."

Calum got a few good candids of the trio by the time Michael and Luke made their way up. "We found an ice cream shop for the girls," Luke said.

"He's lying. We found an ice cream shop for Luke," Michael answered. 

Calum continued to shoot candids. His favorite of the raw footage was Ashton looking to the left at Mike and Luke, his mouth open as he said something to them (Calum wasn't paying attention when he was in his zone). Ivona was looking at Calum, not the camera. Bella was looking up at Ashton, her eyes fascinated on his prominent cheekbones and dimples. 

"I think I got as many photos as I could of them, we can go eat now," Calum said. He started to undo his gear, placing it in the proper slots. 

"Did you hear that?" Michael asked as he held Bella in his hands. "Your father gave us permission to get food!" His tone radiated sarcasm, even through his baby-voice.

"Rude. We don't need his permission," the three-year-old mimicked the worlds leaving her uncle's mouth, not quite understand what the syllables meant. 

Michael switched her to his other hip so he could easily grab Luke's hand (or bum). "True that. Fight authority," Michael told Bella. 

Luke glared at him. "Don't listen to him." He attached their hands, their fingers warm as they gripped tighter. There was something so pleasant about holding one's hand. It was calming in a security-type of way. With hands held tight, Luke swore nothing could tear them apart. 

Calum had Ivona high on his shoulders, her small hands wrapped in his dark hair. She didn't like the feeling of his black hair heating up in the sun, but was too afraid to let go. She was afraid of falling, in more than one sense. 

The ice cream store came into view. Even though their walk was short, their bodies seemed to produce a layer of sweat. Luke regrets wearing his thick black jeans in the middle of summer. He cuffed the sleeves of his tee shirt, Michael making grabby hands as they unclasped fingers. 

Michael held the door open for their large group, Bella stayed on his side, babbling on about something Mike only understood half of. 

After their orders, they stayed sat outside. The sun was still high in the air, and they knew they had to be back at the venue before five. Fans came up to Michael, stopping him every few bites to ask for photos or Twitter follows. 

Calum played around with the melting ice cream in his bowl. "You know," he said to mostly the girls, "My first date with your father was at an ice cream shop."

"This ice cream shop?" Bella asked with wide, fascinated golden eyes.

Cal laughed, "No, not this one. But it was like this one."

Ashton smiled at the memory. "I promised to model for you anytime, I didn't realize that meant half a decade."

"Half a decade and many more," Calum answered. He adjusted his body in his seat, pulling out his Coach wallet. His fingers flickered through many photos of his girls and Ashton, memories he liked to carry around with him. A smile quickly etched itself upon his tan cheeks as he found the right set. 

He pulled out four photos, placing them in front of the two girls and Ashton. Calum remembers leaning as close to the window as possible as he aimed his lenses straight at Ashton in the passenger seat. The then-twenty-four-year-old has his eyebrows furrowed in the first photo as he tried to figure out what his boyfriend was doing. In the second photo, a smile was on Ashton's face as he told Calum to stop. Calum could still remember the giggle leaving his lips at that exact moment. The third photo had his large hands covering his face as his shoulders curled up close to his neck. The fourth, and last, photo was still Calum's favorite. Hell, it might be his all time favorite photo of Ashton. It was the infamous Ashton face, a small smirk stitched carefully upon his lips as his eyes glowed as he looked at his boyfriend. It makes him happy when he still sees that glow in his lover's eyes, even after these complicated years. 

"Is that Daddy?" Ivona asked, picking up the last photo. Her eyes traced over the details, looking at every blurred ink mark from the many years of damage.

Ashton covered his mouth his hair right hand as he picked up the first two. "You kept these?"

Calum licked his bottom lip, nodding slightly. "Everything."

Ash looked at his, a devious glint in his eyes. "Everything?"

His long, tattooed arm wrapped around Ashton, pulling him closer as his fingers dipped along the hipbones of his basketball shorts. "Everything."

Michael finally sat back down, his feet brushing upon Luke's. He looked a table over. "Why are they always crying?"

"Emotional divas," Luke answered.

(a/n) i fucking love this book why don't u guys