Zero

Chapter 1

Three months later

Calum's POV

"Hi princess," I say softly to my daughter as I re-button her onesie. I toss the dirty diaper and wipes in the trashcan and put hand sanitizer on before picking Zara up again. I kiss her forehead as I make my way back downstairs to Luke and Sierra's living room. I sit down on the couch beside Sierra, glancing over at Luke, who is sprawled out along the other side of the couch.

"What's wrong?" I ask, nodding towards Luke.

Sierra sighs, "On our way back home from therapy earlier, we were listening to the radio, and there was a news report on a new superhero that's been spotted recently. Oh. There she is." She points at the TV screen. All three of us look up and see the new super. In the blurry security camera picture plastered on the screen, the woman is in leather pants, red boots, and a red leather jacket. Her hair is dyed bright red.

"Turn it up," I tell Sierra, staring at the picture as it gets smaller and moves up to the top right corner of the screen as the anchorman talks.

"Earlier today the police confirmed that Los Angeles' new superhero has adopted the alter ego Blaze. Blaze, who stopped an illegal firearms exchange just last night, has been publicly active for the past month, although authorities believe that she began working shortly after the death of our beloved Psyche, aka Molly Hemmings. In a press conference, Chief Owens s-"

"Turn it off," Luke mutters, shoving his face into a pillow. Sierra sighs softly again, but turns the television completely off.

"Lu, honey," she starts, rubbing his back, "Talk to me."

"That other super waited until Molly was gone before showing up," Luke grumbles, he jaw clenched, "Blaze just wants Molly's glory. How'd she even get powers anyway?"

"I don't know honey," Sierra answers, "But I'm sure that's not true. I'm sure Blaze just wants to continue what Molly started. She's allowed to be a superhero, Luke." He huffs and covers his face with a pillow again. I glance down at my phone and swear.

"I have to go," I tell them two of them, "I have to drop Zara off at Felix's apartment then take Duke to his grooming appointment."

"Felix is watching her?" Sierra inquires, sounding a little surprised, "I didn't realize he liked babies. I thought kids in general made him nervous." I shrug as I pick the baby carrier up off of the ground and place it on the coffee table.

I lean down and lay Zara in it, "I guess he's gotten over it. Felix is the one who reached out to me. He said that he wants to be close with his goddaughter. I don't really understand Felix half of the time, but I agree with him on that. Molly would've wanted them to be close. So, if he wants to watch her for two hours when I get Duke groomed, then whatever."

"Let us know how that goes," Sierra smiles, still rubbing Luke's back, "Bye Cal. Bye Zara." I wave as I turn and leave their house.

Felix's POV

"Calum!" I exclaim, hoping Molly hears me and hides, "I didn't realize you were gonna be here so early."

He frowns, "I told you three thirty. I can just take her if you wan-"

"No, no," I laugh awkwardly, letting him inside, "I'm good. I was just in the middle of baby proofing."

"You do realize you don't need to baby proof until she starts crawling, right?"

"I want to get ahead of the game." He nods, a small smile on his face as he tries to refrain from laughing at me.

"Anyways," Calum changes the subject as he passes me the baby carrier, "Here's Zara. She should be asleep for the next hour. If she wakes up early, it's fine. Whenever she wakes up, she'll need a diaper change. Around five, she gets her bottle. Any questions?"

"No," I answer, "I'm good. I'll text you if I think of anything though."

"Sounds good," Calum assures me. He leans down and kisses her tiny forehead, making me smile. "Take care of her, okay?"

"Of course," I reply, "See you in a couple hours." He nods and waves goodbye as he leaves my apartment. I set the baby carrier down on the couch then move forward and lock the door. When I turn back, Molly is crouched down and scooping her sleeping daughter out of the carrier, a big grin plastered on her face.

"That was the most awkward conversation I ever heard," my best friend giggles, holding her baby close.

I roll my eyes, "I don't care. You owe me for that."