One-Shots ✧ COLIFER

Daddy

Colin's POV

Watching Jen sprint through the house to grab her stuff when she was running late was probably one of my favorite things in this world.

It was Wednesday, three days before Asher's birthday, and I was sitting on the edge of the sofa as Jen applied some very last-minute make-up in the mirror in the hallway. I crossed my arms in front of my chest and chuckled, but she wasn't very pleased by my amusement.

"I know you think this is funny, but I'm already running late," she said, moving aside because her breath was fogging up the mirror. "I promise I'll be back before midnight. This shouldn't take very long."

"Don't worry about it," I said, getting up from the couch. Her manager called her for a very last-minute meeting during dinner about half an hour ago, and now a cab was waiting outside. Asher was asleep upstairs, and Buckley was guarding his door. It was something he'd been doing ever since we moved into the house; we put Asher to bed, and then he just stayed at his door the entire night.

"I hate leaving so suddenly," Jen sighed as she turned around.

I pulled her in for a hug and kissed her on top of her head. "I know, but everything's under control. Isn't it, missy?" I bent down to pet Ava, who was enthusiastically wagging her tail at me.

"Okay, I've got to run," Jen said. She scratched Ava behind her ears and gave me a quick kiss, but I pulled her back before she stepped out the door.

"Hold on," I said, and then I went in for a slow and deep kiss. I felt her relax in my arms; she closed her eyes, smiling in the middle of our kiss.

"I'll see you in a few hours," she said when she finally pulled back.

"I love you."

"I love you too." She kissed me once more, and then she waved and ran up to the cab.

I watched her until she was gone, and then I shut the door and turned around to Ava. "Time for some football," I said, a grin spreading on my face as I headed back to the living room. I plopped down on the couch and turned on the TV, but I heard a whining sound coming from upstairs only ten minutes into the game.

I turned off the sound, realizing it was Buckley. I shot up from the couch and darted up the stairs, but when I reached the first floor, I saw Asher standing in the middle of the hallway with his stuffed elephant in his hands, tears glistening in his eyes. From the moment he saw me, he burst into tears.

"Hey, what's wrong, buddy?" I asked, crouching down next to him. Buckley was darting around him, clearly feeling that something was wrong, too.

"I— I— I—" Asher stammered, shaking from the tears. He started crying even harder, pressing the elephant to his face, and I wrapped an arm around him.

"What's wrong?" I asked again, softly rubbing his back. "Did you have a bad dream?"

"N— N— N— No," he said, but I felt his little body quivering against me. That's when I felt it.

I let him take a step back and looked down at his pajamas. Buckley pressed his nose against Asher and looked up at me with a wagging tail, and I wiped the tears of Asher's face.

"Did you have a little accident?" I asked gently.

He nodded, sobs making his whole body shake.

"That's okay," I smiled, still rubbing his back. The sight of him, with his wet cheeks and the most adorable little pout, just warmed my heart. He'd only been potty trained for about three months now, so accidents were normal around this age.

"Hey, I have an idea." I grabbed his little waist and gently shook him, instantly catching his attention.

"What?" he asked, still covering half of his face with the elephant.

"How about you take a bath, and we change you into some new pajamas. And then," I leaned into him so I was right next to his ear, "And then maybe we can watch a show. You can stay up a little later. I'm sure Hippo would like that."

I could see him smiling behind Hippo's trunk, and he nodded. Then, really unexpectedly, he took one step forward and wrapped his arms around me.

I felt a flutter in my chest when I picked him up. This was another little step to him seeing me as his dad, and even though that process had been slow in the beginning, every time I spent time with him it got easier.

I grabbed some new jammies in his bedroom and stripped him of the dirty ones in the bathroom. Buckley made him giggle as we waited for the water to get hot, and I watched them play around until the tub was filled enough.

I put Asher in the bathtub with some toys; Buckley rested his head on the edge of the tub while I washed his little body.

"Look at you, all cleaned up," I said when we were all done, tickling his belly. Asher let out a shriek and giggled as I got him out of the tub, and I dried him off with a smile on my face.

"Okay, let's go watch a show," I said when I put some new jammies on him. "But there's one rule."

He looked up at me, Hippo clutched to his chest.

"You can't tell mommy about this," I whispered with a smirk.

Because she would probably kill me if she knew.

"Okay," Asher said.

"Do you promise?"

He nodded fiercely, but I bent down and grabbed one of his hands. "Okay, we have to do pinky promise. If you pinky promise, you can't break it, okay?"

"Okay," he said. He grinned and chuckled when I shook his pinky, and then he ran out of the bathroom with Buckley following closely behind him.

I shook my head, chucked the dirty jammies in the laundry basket and headed downstairs. We got comfortable on the couch with a blanket, and I turned on Jake and the Never Land Pirates, one of his favorite shows. I was actually really enjoying it as well when Asher suddenly started moving around; he pushed the blanket off of him and crawled halfway up my chest.

I smiled when he grabbed my face, and he just looked straight at me for a few seconds without saying a word. Then he plopped down, wrapping his arms around me and resting his head on my chest.

"I love you, daddy."

My breath escaped and my jaw dropped. Did he really just say that?

Did he really just say that?!

I wanted to scream and swing him around in my arms, but I decided to go for the option that wouldn't scare him and hugged his little body tightly. "I love you too, Asher," I said, and I'd never even put those words together in my head, but I realized that it was true.

I loved him only a few months after I knew he was mine. And maybe I loved him even from the moment I saw him. 

Because he was my little boy, and he just called me daddy for the first time.