Faithful (3)

: 9 :

Brian's POV

The next weekend, Sal and I decided that it was a nice enough day to take Ashleigh to the local playground – it wasn't too hot, and it wasn't too cold. The weather was just right. Ashleigh had woken us up that morning, as per usual, by jumping on top of us, until either Sal or I got up. Today, unfortunately, it was me who woke first. I always hated getting up early, but hey, if it allowed me some time alone with Ashleigh, then I didn't mind one bit.

"Shh, we need to be sneaky as Dada is still sleeping." I whispered, holding a finger up to my lips, as Ashleigh copied my actions. She skipped out of the room, as I shuffled tiredly behind her. What can I say, a guy like me couldn't keep up with her boundless amount of energy.

I followed her down the stairs, switching the TV on for Ashleigh to watch the early morning cartoons, whilst I went and made us all breakfast. I was hoping that Sal would be up in time, if not...then the cheeky bastard would be getting breakfast in bed. Typical. I was busy waiting for the toaster to ping, when I heard the sound of footsteps on the kitchen floor. I soon felt something tug at my pyjama bottoms, clearly wanting my attention. My eyes shifted down to my feet, to find Ashleigh hugging at my leg, it was something that she did whenever she just wanted a cuddle. So, naturally, my fatherhood instincts kicked in, and I picked her up, placing her onto my hip. She buried her head into the crook of my neck, as her arms were strewn over my shoulders. I held onto her with one arm, as I used the other to transfer the toast from the appliance to the plate. If you're ever going to become a parent, learn one thing; how to multitask. Believe me, it's a life saver.

"Breakfast is ready, Sweetheart." I spoke softly, placing a kiss to the side of her head, as I walked over to the table to place the food down, and let Ashleigh sit in her seat. She tucked into her eggs and toast, as I ruffled at her hair. She was quite content now that she had a plate of food in front of her. I grabbed Sal's plate and headed up the stairs, seeing as he hadn't made an appearance in the time it had taken me to cook breakfast. I opened the bedroom door, coming to find the bed empty. "Sal?" I called out.

"Bathroom." He answered simply. I placed the plate onto the bedside table, before strolling over to the bathroom door, and leaning against the frame with my arms folded.

"I left your breakfast on the bedside table."

"Okay, thanks." He called back. I decided to try and mess with him, knowing how much he hated me disturbing him when he went about his business.

"Whatcha doing?" I asked through the door in a singsong tone. I listened out for his response, hearing him sigh...out of awkwardness, perhaps? I don't know.

"Bri, you know what I'm doing." He responded back, in a similar singsong tune to me. I let a chuckle slip, shaking my head in amusement.

"Enjoy it, Babe." I chortled, before making my way out of the room. From behind me, I could hear him thank me in a confused manner, probably questioning me on how someone could enjoy such a thing.

In the time I had spent upstairs teasing Sal, Ashleigh was still sitting contently at the table, taking her time with her food. I grabbed my plate of toast, and took a seat beside her, eating a bite of food every so often, as I scrolled through my phone, responding to some fans. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Ashleigh pinch the corner of my slice of toast. I peered down at her, raising an eyebrow, as she cheekily giggled at me.

"Did you just steal my toast, young lady?" I lightly scolded, as she sheepishly nodded her head, swallowing her mouthful of food. "Here, have it. I'm not hungry anyway." I chuckled, pushing the plate towards her. I left my phone on the table, as I stood onto my feet, and started to clean the mess I had made from earlier.

Just as I was putting away the last frying pan, Sal came into the room. He walked over to Ashleigh, kissing the top of her head, before he made his way over to me, and pulled me into a hug.

"Good morning family." He announced, as he pulled away from me, and put his plate in the sink for one of us to wash up later.

"How'd you sleep?" I asked, leaning back against the counter. He shrugged his shoulders, curling his lip upwards.

"Okay, I guess." He answered.

"You kicked me a lot last night, so I'm guessing that you slept very well." I chuckled lightly, causing a crimson red to stain against his cheeks.

"Sorry about that."

"It's fine." I smiled, before nodding my head in the direction of where Ashleigh was sat. "You still up for taking Ash to the park today?" Sal turned to face her, a proud smile pulling at his lips. He turned back to me, nodding his head.

"I'd love to."

After I had gotten ready for our little outing, and Sal had helped Ashleigh to get dressed for the day, we were off. Sal and I had decided to walk, seeing as it was a nice enough day, plus the fact that the park was only round the corner from our house. Ashleigh was ahead of us on the sidewalk, riding along on her scooter. She always knew to come to a stop whenever the pavement dipped into the road, so that we could help her cross safely, before she would zoom off ahead once again.

Once at the park, Sal and I perched on the bench, looking after her scooter, as Ashleigh went off to play on the jungle gym. We were the only ones there, so she had the whole run of the playground to herself. It looked like she was enjoying herself, as she ran around, hopefully burning off a lot of energy so that she'd sleep well tonight. Pretty sure that Sal was hoping for the same.

"Dada, watch! Watch me go down the slide!" She shouted out, as Sal chuckled to himself.

"I'm watching, Princess!" He responded, watching, as she whizzed down the plastic, spiralling surface, coming to crash in the woodchips on the ground below. "Woah, you're so brave!"

We could hear her giggle, as she ran around the structure, climbing up to ride down the slide once again. It was nice to just sit and watch our daughter have fun, her laughter was all I needed to hear to be happy. I was proud of my family, and the knowing fact that we were going to have a second child soon made me feel even more ecstatic. I never pictured that I'd be a father figure, but with Sal by my side, constantly supporting me, and telling me that I was doing well, my confidence had boosted over time.

I was busy scrolling through my phone, when I heard a gasp come from behind us. A young teenage girl, no more than fourteen years old, came running up to us. Tears were filling her eyes, as she jumped up and down excitedly. She must have been a fan.

"Oh my God! I thought it was you! I love you guys so much!" She exclaimed, as Sal and I stood from the bench, taking it in turns to give her a hug.

"Thanks for being a fan." I smiled.

The three of us conversed for a short while, we found out that her name was Martha, and she had been watching us since the beginning. She was also there that day, taking her little brother to the park. She stopped mid-sentence, glancing across to see Ashleigh running about. Seeing as she was the only other child in the park, Martha gathered that she was accompanied by us.

"Who is that?" She quizzed. Sal and I glanced at each other, gulping nervously, before Sal stammered a response to Martha.

"T-That's one of my nieces..." He winced, turning to look at me, pure fear stricken across his features. The truth is, we weren't ready to tell the fans about us yet, we feared how they'd react...even going as far as the show getting cancelled, and that was the last thing that we wanted to happen. I must admit, it did hurt to hear him hide the fact that we had a child together, but I suppose I understood why he had to lie.