5 seconds of summer imagines/preference

12

You watched with a hint of worry in your eyes. All of this was too risky. Yet you loved your boyfriend and was going to support him through anything. Regardless of how insane, reckless, and a bit stupid his idea was.

     You stood in the middle of the aisle rolling the shopping cart back and forth in a playful way to make Ian smile. The child resting in a car seat Ashton had gotten for him that sat atop of the cart. You tiredly looked over to Ashton and watched as he stared at the different baby formulas. It had been exactly three days since you agreed to playing house with your boyfriend and raise the baby he had found and for the first time the two of you were going out in public with the child. "Which formula is better for him?" Ashton muttered, looking back at you only to earn a shrug in response.

"I just babysat the kids I didn't have to do any shopping," you replied, reaching into the car seat to run your finger down Ian's cheek. He smiled at the gesture and kicked his feet in enthusiasm. Ashton cursed under his breath realizing he should have researched all of this before the two of you left the house. You turned your back towards Ashton to look at the shelves on the opposite side and grabbed one of the packages that held some pampers. "Get that one," you said, your attention now back on Ashton as you pointed at one of the tin cans that had a blue label on it.

"How can we be sure its healthy?" Ashton questioned, grabbing the can and looking at the back label.

"I don't know Ash, this is the first time I'm doing this," you sighed out, pinching at the bridge of your nose. The two of you had been bickering for most of this day trying to figure out what was right for the baby and what was wrong. Your attention turned back to Ian and you began to talk to him. "Ashton is being difficult today huh?" you cooed at the child. Your boyfriend rolled his eyes at your words and then took a glance in your direction.

"I'm not deaf ya know," he grumbled under his breath. You began to laugh and pushed the cart so it could move. "I'm just trying to get use to being a father," he sighed, placing the can of formula into the cart.

"You're not a father," you reminded him. Ashton gave you a look and pointed down at Ian, who was looking between the two of you curiously. "Okay theoretically you are a dad and current father figure for Ian, but remember Ashton at some point you'll have to call child services," you said. You approached him and your arms snaked under his arms so you could hug him. "I know it's hard but if you want to be a dad you have to think about what's best for your children." His arms wrapped around you and he looked over your shoulder at the car seat. As far as the government knows Ian doesn't even exist due to no record of his birth being documented. So what the two of you were doing was sort of illegal, but so far you were in the clear.

"You're right, but I can't help but to feel responsible," he told you, "Thanks for doing this for me." He kissed the top of your head and then pulled away so the two of you could continue shopping. Before the two of you fully leave the aisle Ashton came to a stop and turned to you. "Hey can I ask you for one more favor?" he timidly smiled. You eyed Ashton carefully and waited for him to say something. "Can you come with me to visit my mom? She won't yell at me as much with you in the room."

     When Anne opened the door to reveal you and Ashton with a car seat in hand she began to glare at you both in frustration. Ashton's grasp on your hand tightened and you could feel him begin to shake in nervousness. "Hi mommy!" he chirped, trying to act as if nothing unusual was happening. Anne continued to glare at Ashton and without saying a word she stepped back and gestured for the two of you to come inside. You gave Ashton and hesitant look and followed behind him into the living room. Ashton sat the car seat on the couch and began to unbuckle Ian out. "Mom, I want you to meet Ian," Ashton said, carefully picking the nearly asleep infant up and laying Ian's head on his shoulder. Anne still had a frown on her face, but the minute Ian was in her arms she was smiling and cooing at the child.

"I'm still not happy with you," she said, sending a small glare towards Ashton. Her attention placed back on the baby in her arms. Not too long after footsteps could be heard running down the stairs and in came Ashton's siblings, Lauren and Harry. Ashton grinned at the site of his siblings and immediately engulfed them into a hug.

"What are you doing here?" Lauren questioned, pulling away from Ashton to hug you.

"Just visiting. I wanted you all to meet Ian," Ashton said, gesturing over with his chin towards his mom. Lauren's eyes widened at the sight of the baby and soon she and Harry were surrounding the child.

"When did you to have a child!?!" Harry exclaimed.

"They didn't," Anne commented, carefully placing Ian into Lauren's arms. Both Harry and Lauren looked at Anne quizzically and then looked at both you and Ashton. "Your brother found a baby in the woods and instead of calling the police like I told him to do, he decided he wanted to become a father," she said, sitting down with a deep sigh. Ashton sat down adjacent to her and reached out to grab her hand.

"I'm sorry I couldn't bring myself to do it," he said, lifting up her hand to send a kiss to the back of it. "Y/N agreed to go along with it for a bit as long as I promise to call child services after a month." Anne looked over to you with raised eyebrows, silently asking if this was what you had actually agreed to.

"I wasn't too thrilled about the idea but he won me over," you said, pointing over to Ian. This whole situation was somehow a good test run to see if you and Ashton could handle raising a child. Silence fell between the three of you and you watched as Lauren and Harry eagerly played with Ian. "Ashton's suggesting that we tell everyone that I hid a pregnancy. I don't like the idea mainly because no one will believe it and the fact that Ian has red hair kinda gives it away," you told Anne. She let out a small laugh at your words and then looked at Ashton in amusement.

"That's a bad idea. I do have to admit that I'm semi disappointed in both of you, but you are taking care of him so I can't be all that mad," she responded. "It would be better if you just told people you adopted him or something," she said, Anne's attention went down to her hands. You could tell she was deep in thought and was also worried about Ashton. There was no telling how this situation could go. So far Ian was taking a liking to Ashton's family which was a good thing. You had a feeling he was already planning on adopting Ian. A discussion neither one of you had yet, but you could see it in his eyes. Ashton was already too attached to the child and it was dangerous.

"What are you thinking?" Ashton asked, nudging his knee against Anne's. He was waiting to hear his mother's approval over the whole thing. Although Anne wasn't on board with the idea there was nothing she could really do to stop her son from making mistakes. It was bound for him to mess up in life and Ashton had to learn from it.

"Are you two sure that you're ready to take on this type of responsibility?" she asked, "I get that you feel the need to take care of this baby, but I just have to know if you're up for the challenge of being a parent." You began to chew on your bottom lip and looked towards Ashton in question. The talk of having children came up a lot in your relationship, so the both of you knew that was something you wanted. This conversation was of course referencing the future and not the now. One thing both of you were learning is that sometimes reality liked to throw curve balls and changes at any moment.

"I don't think we're ready, but no one is really ready to become a parent. Everyone learns as they go and this is one of those situations," you spoke up. You felt Ashton's hand slip into yours and he gave it a squeeze. You were doing the best you can with everything going on, being supportive even if you disagreed with what Ashton was doing. Ashton found himself nodding in response and then smiled over to his mom.

"That's how I'm seeing it," he commented.

"Well I think he's cute!" Lauren chirped, blowing a raspberry on Ian's tummy.

"Well for the time being you and Harry are temporary aunt and uncle," Ashton announced. This was just the start of things and Ashton still had to explain everything to his friends and your family. Hopefully things would go a lot smoother and that everyone would understand.