resolve // 5SOS

1

3 months later
Ashton

"Daaaaad!"

"Ash!"

"Hello!"

Ally's body crashed into me, hugging me tightly. Axel was quick to follow.

"I am sorry I am later than I said, work ran over,"

"That's okay. You haven't missed out on food,"

"Is that Ashton?"

"Yep,"

"You staying to eat?" Luke shouted.

"If thats okay!"

Ally dragged me to the dining table where Gabi was setting the table, then I started to help out. With me going back to work, I couldn't pick the kids up from school, so Gabi often did it for me and they got to come and see everyone here. It had really helped them strengthen the bond with Luke and Sierra, Gabi too.

"How was school today?"

"It was good,"

"Yeah. Track was fun,"

"Geography club was fun,"

"Good! How many people were there this week?" I asked, brushing Ally's crazy hair out of her face. It was never, ever normal when she came home- I didn't know what the girl did.

"Nine,"

"Oh wow,"

"I think it's so cool you started a club, Alyssa," Gabi said, "I hated geography but I would join,"

I watched a small smile creep onto Ally's face from having some Gabi-validation, and gently pat the top of her head as I scooted past to get to Luke and Sierra.

"Thank you for having them here again,"

"They're always welcome, they seem to have had a really good day. How was your day?"

"A bit chaotic but nothing this food can't solve. Looks good,"

"Go and sit down, you," Sierra said, pushing me back out the kitchen, "Water?"

"Yes please,"

I sat down between Ally and Axel, Gabi opposite me. I could tell she must've had a long day at uni because she was already showered and in her pyjamas, her makeup off. She was getting along with uni really well nowadays though, and her health was all a-okay.

Ally had seemed to manage to get herself in a grump in the space between me entering the kitchen and leaving, and sat picking at a thread on her school shirt, which I promptly stopped her doing. It earned me a scowl but I didn't read into it.

She was becoming a lot more expressive and I wasn't going to fight that for now- I would rather she figure it all out in a safe place.

"This smells so good," Axel said.

"Why thank you,"

"I beat my personal best time today, dad,"

"Oh that's amazing! I am so proud of you,"

"I watched him at the end, he is really fast," Ally mumbled, "Thank you for my food,"

"You're welcome, darling,"

"Uncle Ash, I have a presentation poster thing for uni next week. Do you think you can come?" Gabi asked.

"Send me the details and I will be there,"

"It's about my research,"

"Well then I am very excited. You finish soon for summer, right?"

"Yeah, about the same time as those two. Then we get out holiday,"

"The first one abroad," Luke grinned, "We are very excited,"

"It sounds like a really exciting holiday,"

"It is,"

Gabi was swinging her legs under the table, occasionally hitting my legs, but I didn't mind because the smile on her face was priceless. Her and Maddox were doing amazingly, and I tended to notice she rather enjoyed having Ally and Axel's company. I think she had always secretly wanted siblings, and this was the closest she got. I thought they got along well.

After we had eaten food, I helped clear up and then decided to take the kids home so they could cool down before bedtime. Both of them decided to shower when we arrived, so I made myself some herbal tea and sat with a record on for a bit. Work had been chaos today, I needed some peace and quiet.

Home wasn't usually peaceful or quiet either, so I took the moment while I could. It was in a good way most of the time, but still loud nonetheless. Axel played the drums a lot more to divert his anger, and Ally liked to listen to music or her tv very loud. One of the things I was working on, though, was picking my battles. In the scheme of things they were not my battles.

Both of them really struggled with their mental health still- that was my battle. Things were getting better, they both had therapy regularly and it had definitely improved Axel's life so much. Ally too, but she got put on antidepressants which had really been the main help. It wasn't an easy decision, nor an easy process, but it had worked out in the end. We didn't discuss it, but she was very grateful for it, I knew that.

Obviously I had done plenty of research before adopting, but I had truly tried my best to learn more about what they might be feeling and how I could make home a safe space for them. I wasn't letting them go rogue, but I was pretty relaxed on what happened inside the home. I would rather the shouting and cursing be inside the home towards me, than outside to the wrong kind of person. We figured things out together, because hey, I was learning too. They knew that, and I think it made conversations a little less intimidating.

Afterall, my kids were my best friends.

I heard Ally come downstairs- I knew it was her because she stomped- and she sat on the sofa by my feet, scrolling on her phone. She rarely used it, but it was good for her to chat to her friends on, and I noticed that was when most of the giggling occurred.

"I like this music, dad,"

"Yeah? It's one of my favourite records,"

"I think you are really cool for a dad,"

"What does that mean?!"

She giggled and squeezed herself to lat next to me, wrapping her arm round my stomach.

"Can you read to me tonight?"

"Maybe,"

"Please?"

"Sure. Are you getting tired already?"

"A little bit, yeah,"

"I could start now and read you two?"

"Yes please,"

"Go and get ready, I'll check on Ax and be through,"

She slid over me and scurried upstairs, so I turned my record off and refolded the blankets she had messed up. I almost admired how she literally did not give a fuck.

When I went upstairs, Axel was chilling on his bed, so I went through to Ally and picked up the book I had been reading her. It was one of my favourite times of the day, and it did basically happen every day. Though her reading was getting much better, I liked to let her brain shut off and actually enjoy the story without any frustration. It was one of the many little habits that had formed that let me bond with my kids even more.

Things weren't perfect- they were far from it- but we were definitely one step closer nowadays to a happy little family.

***

new boooooook
this chapter got accidentally deleted 3 times and got crappier with each rewrite tbh HAHAHAHAHA but ik u guys wont care mwah