Hold Her Tight - 5SOS Adoption Fic

Chapter 4

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Lyric Irwin.

Lyric had chosen Ashton to adopt her. She didn't quite understand the whole concept; all she knew was that she would have the same last name as the guy with the Cajun.

Ashton, of course, was a bubbly giggly mess as he signed the adoption papers. He loved kids, and had always dreamed of having one of his own. Though it wasn't under the expected circumstances, he was still ready to accept Lyric with open arms.

After a long talk with the boys, they decided that Michael would be Lyric's godfather, meaning that if something bad were to happen to Ashton, Michael would immediately gain legal guardianship. The rest of the boys would be as her uncles, or maybe big brothers, there to guide her and love her. It was already obvious that Michael was her favorite uncle.

Michael was overjoyed. He'd never admit it, but he cried a little. He wasn't usually one to earn kids' love and trust. There was one time where he'd accidentally made a baby cry at an airport after he went to greet her. It was humiliating.

The week following Lyric's adoption was difficult.

Lyric went from happy to unhappy overnight. She cried all the time without apparent reason, she had horrible nightmares, she wouldn't eat much....

The boys also began to notice slight oddities with Lyric's behavior. When she did eat, she was very careful with the way she ate her food. It was slowly, one bite of a particular food item at a time. It usually started with her veggies. Sometimes she would just chew it, make a face, and spit it out, before taking another bite and swallowing as if nothing had just happened at all. If two foods touched, she would avoid it altogether.

She was compulsive. Every time she walked in a room, she would check behind the door exactly three times, making sure that she looked for the same amount of time each go. When she hugged the boys, she would pat their shoulders exactly three times. Sometimes she'd start over again with a frustrated grunt, signaling that maybe she didn't do it the way she wanted the first time.

The way she arranged her toys was strange. Each toy was organized and lined up a certain way, depending on what type of play Lyric was doing. If anything got knocked over, she would throw a tantrum.

Oh, the most god-awful tantrums one would ever see.

They would start with no obvious reason. They could be eating dinner, in the car, or even watching a movie, and Lyric would suddenly begin to shake. Her eyes would fill up with angry tears, her fists would curl so tight that her knuckles paled...

And she'd let her rage make a show.

Kicking, screaming, wailing, and fast-paced heavy breathing. Sometimes she would grab the nearest object and fling it at the wall. Other times, when her rage got to it's worst, she would start smacking herself in the head, over and over again.

The boys didn't know what to do. They couldn't always find the trigger for her tantrums, but they couldn't just let her act like a wild animal when she was upset. Most of the time, Ashton would put her in her room and wait for her to stop screaming before he opened the door once more. Usually, by the time he did, she was calmed down enough to tell him what was bothering her.

But, the things that seemed to be bothering her weren't things that usually bothered most two-year-olds.

"What's the matter, honey bunny?" Ashton would ask, scooping Lyric into his arms. "You know better than to cause such a fuss."