The first year with Julia! I think I made Eli a little out of character, but you never know who being a father will affect someone. I'm SO sorry this took so long. I had semester exams and a lot of crap, but here it is! (ugh! this stupid thing i sbeing a buttt! sorry if a lot of the begining is centered)

So Enjoy!


"Come on, Julia," Eli heard Clare cry. "Please stop crying!" He checked the time: 2:30 am. Hearing Julia cry along with Clare, he got out bed and sleepily walked into his three-month-old daughter's room. Clare was bouncing Julia in her arm. He went up to her, wrapping his arms around Clare's waist. She jumped a little.

"Go back to bed, Clare," he whispered in her ear. "I'll take Julia."

"Are you sure?" she asked, her eyes watering a little still.

"Positive. Now give me my daughter," Eli demanded, smirking.

"Fine," Clare sighed, shifting Julia into Eli's arms. "Good luck." She kissed him. "Thank you. Love you."

Julia was still crying. "What's wrong, Jules?" He noticed her pajamas: pink footies with yellow, blue, and purple flowers where a pocket would go on a button down shirt. "You're mother obviously dressed you," he smirked. "Hold on. I know what you want." He put her back in her crib and walked over to the dresser. He pulled out her black Escape The Fate onesie. After taking her out of the crib, he changed her into it. She stopped crying a little. Placing her back in her crib, he said, "And now your lullaby." He walked over to the iPod dock, placing his iPod in it (it was always in here to play for Julia). Turning it on, 'Carolyn' by Black Veil Brides, her nap song, came on. He went to artists, switching it to Escape The Fate. Once there, he pressed 'Something', her bedtime song. "Your mother also doesn't know what to play for you."

Julia stopped crying. She giggled when Eli put her blanket on her. He waited by her crib until she was asleep, two replays later. He blew her a kiss, not wanting to wake her up. After shutting off his iPod, he walked back into his bedroom and laid down in bed.

"How did you do it?" Clare groaned, noticing he was back. "I was with her for an hour. You took, what seven, eight minutes."

"Three words: Escape The Fate," Eli whispered before falling asleep.

"Oh, okay… Wait, what?"


"Please Julia," Eli begged his six-month-old daughter. "Say it again. Come on, you can do it. Say it: daddy!" He was excited, probably one of the most excited he's ever been in his life, defiantly top five. "Please? Before your mom comes home! Please?"

She starred at him, confused, and tilted her head.

He chuckled. "Okay, we know you're cute, but please!"

"Daddy," she said, giggling.

His mouth dropped, a smile then formed. "Yes! YES! She said it!"

"Said what?" Clare asked, walking through the door.

"SHE SAID HER FIRST WORD AND IT WAS DADDY AND…" he rambled.

"Wait! Breathe Eli! I'm going to tell you the same thing you told me: stop, rewind, and play."

"Julia said Daddy!" He exclaimed.

"Really? That's awesome!" She picked up Julia. "Next you're going to learn how to say mommy." She balanced her on her hip. "I've never seen you so excited about anything before."

"Well, she's my daughter and she said daddy first. So I'm going to be excited," he answered, following Clare into the kitchen.

"And the four pots of coffee had nothing to do with it?" Clare asked, looking in the sink at the coffee papers. "And why are they in the sink?"

"Well, maybe that helped a tad," Eli smirked.

"Wow, Eli. That's kind of sad."

"How?"

"Just is."

"DADDY!" Julia exclaimed, reaching out to Eli."

"Come here." He took her from Clare and held her up. "Who's Daddy's little smart girl?"

"I was going to say: isn't she a little young to say her first word? I said mine at nine-months-old," Clare asked.

"Well, she is our daughter," Eli reminded her. "And when she came to the past, she did tell us she skipped three grades, four in English! This just proves she's a freaking genius."

"Fine." She looked inside her bag, then threw his iPod at him. "But it's time for the freaking genius's nap. I already have her nap song on."

"Okay!" He caught his iPod and took Julia to her room. Laying her down in her crib, he placed his iPod on the dock. After turning it on, "Love Story" by Taylor Swift came on. "Your mother does not accept your music choices." He turned it to the artist section. "What will it be today, Madame Julia? Black Veil Bride or Three Days Grace? Right hand for Black Veil Brides, left for Three Days Grace." She reached up with her left hand. "Three Days Grace it is for the little lady," he smirked, then turned on "Break" before going towards the door. Once he was outside of her room, he shut her door, bumping into Clare.

"You do not act like the you I met when you're around Julia," she smiled, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"It that a bad thing?" he smirked, putting his hands on her waist.

"Not at all. I think it's kind of sexy," she smirked back, then kissed him.

"Really?" He kissed her back.

"Oh, you guys make me sick!" Adam groaned from the other end of the hall.

"ADAM?" Clare shrieked, obviously scared.

"Clare, Julia's asleep," Eli whispered.

"Sorry," Clare whispered, before walking towards Adam. "What are you doing here?"

"It's Fiona's and my day to watch Julia while you guys catch up on school. It's Saturday; we come every Saturday," Adam answered.

"Hi," Fiona called from the living room couch.

"Oh, yeah," Eli remembered. "Sorry. We just put Julia down for a nap and she said her first word, so I guess we were just… excited?"

"Aw! She said her first word!" Fiona exclaimed.

"Yep. Daddy," Clare said, pointing her thumb to Eli. "He was so excited, you would have thought Dead Hand was right in our living room."

"Well, I'm sorry! You would be freaking out too if she said mommy!"

"Aw! Eli's turned into a daddy," Adam said in the baby voice, mocking him.

"Ha, ha, shut up," Eli groaned, taking his English homework from the kitchen table. Journalism was his major. He already had a job as a music critic for a big magazine lined up.

"So how's everything going, you know, with Julia and school work?" Fiona asked, handing Clare a to-go coffee cup from The Dot.

"Thank you," Clare said, grabbing the second cup. "Pretty good, I guess. I mean, we're not failing our classes and Julia's fed and clothed and happy, so we're doing good."

"Um, that one's Eli's…" Fiona drifted off.

"Trust me. He's had enough," Clare giggled, pointing towards the coffee maker.

"You know what? N-N-No! No! Four pots are not enough coffee! You can never have enough coffee!" Eli screamed.

"Eli! Julia!" Clare warned.

"It's decaf," Fiona whispered, going back to the living room.

"Here you go," Clare said, cheerfully, handing Eli the cup.

"Thank you," Eli sighed, taking a sip. "Decaf. You guys hate me!"

"Okay, Eli, I know a good rehab center," Adam started, "because you're obviously ADDICTED to coffee!"

"Hey! You try going into journalism AND having a half-year-old daughter who can not go to sleep unless you are in the room and she wakes up three times a night wanting you and see how much of a coffee addicted you are!" Eli yelled, then went back to working quietly.

"He may talk like that, but he's a huge softy around her. Half the time, I go in when she wakes up and he ends up coming, not because I call him to come, he just does. He loves that little girl," Clare whispered, then took a sip of her coffee.

"Hey, quit telling them things that are true!" Eli called from the kitchen. They laughed at him before they heard Julia cry.

"I'll get her," Fiona offered, standing up.

"No, I'll get her!" Eli exclaimed, almost running out of the kitchen. "She's calling for daddy!"

"See what I mean. I'm not quite sure if it's his fatherly instincts or the caffeine." Clare started her homework while Adam and Fiona snuggled up on the couch. Eli can back into the living room, hold a bundle in a dark purple blanket.

"She didn't want to go back to sleep," Eli stated, bouncing Julia lightly in his arms.

"But she was just put down about 15 minutes ago," Clare remembered, worried.

"Aw, Clare, let her play! She wants to see her Uncle Adam," Adam said in baby voice, taking Julia from Eli. "Maybe she's picked up on your coffee addiction."

"Not funny, Adam. You can make fun of me all you want, but leave Julia out of it," Eli warned heading back into the kitchen.

"Yeah, until she can talk and starts making fun of you with me," Adam retorted, joining Eli in the kitchen. Eli handed him a bottle to give to Julia before heading back to his homework. "So how's the homework coming?"

"Good. I'm almost done," Eli answered.

"You've just started."

"You're point…?" Eli asked, writing down his name on his paper. "I get a lot of my work done in Julia's room, waiting for her to fall asleep at night. Coffee helps."

"I see. Cool. You really have turned into a softy," Adam laughed.

"You have a kid and come see me. You'll be a softy too," Eli answered, taking Julia back.

"No, no, no!" Adam took her back. "You're going to crash any minute now."

"What? No, I'm n…" He started, then felled down, sleeping, out like a light.

"What was that?" Clare yelled. "Is Julia okay?"

"She's fine," Adam answered, walking back into the living room. "Eli just crashed."

"Thank God," Clare sighed. "He could use the sleep. I don't think he's slept in three days."

"Wow," Fiona sighed. "Julia?"

"Julia."

"Softy!"


ELI!" Clare yelled from down the hall. "ELI, COME HERE! HURRY!" Eli rolled over, sluggishly, out of bed. "IT'S JULIA!" Clare yelled. Eli heard that and ran to Julia's room.

"What? What's wrong?" he asked, fully awake.

"Feel her forehead," Clare demanded, holding Julia out to Eli. Once he placed the back of his hand on her forehead, his noticed she felt very warm.

"Have you taken her temperature?"

"I was going to. I just wanted to know if she really did or if it was just me."

She gave Eli Julia as she went to look for the temple thermometer. He looked down at his daughter. Even if the dim nightlight light, he could tell her cheeks were very pink in color and her eyes looked into his eyes, pleading for him to make her feel better. "Daddy…" Julia whispered.

"It's okay, Julia," Eli tried to comfort her as Clare put the thermometer to her temple. After a couple of seconds, a beep ran through the room. "Well?" he asked, as Clare read the thermometer.

"Oh, my God. 101.9 degrees! Eli, she has a fever!"

"Clare, it's just a fever. Calm down."

"What do we do? What do we do? I don't think our pediatrician would be thrilled if we called at 3 am." By now, she was pacing around the room, trying to figure out the situation.

"I said calm down!" Eli demanded. He handed her Julia and sat her down in the rocking chair. "I'll call my mom, okay? She'll know what to do." Going into the kitchen, he found the phone and pressed speed dial 2 (let's just say: Mrs. Goldsworthy is called a lot).

"Hello?" he heard his mother groan sleepily.

"Sorry to wake you up, Mom, but Julia has a fever."

"It's okay. I told you to call me whenever you needed. Does she have a runny nose or just a fever?" his mom sighed, her tone changing.

"Just a fever. Okay, so what do we do?"

"This is what we did when you were first sick. Step one: tell Clare to go to back to bed."

"Okay… wait, what?" He was confused.

"Trust me, you won't want her to see you," she giggled.

"Fine." He walked back into Julia's room. "Okay, put Julia back in the crib and go to bed, Clare."

"Why?" Clare asked, laying Julia down in her crib.

"Don't question my mother." He kissed her cheek. "Just go back to bed, okay?"

"Fine. Good luck." She kissed him back, then kissed Julia's burning forehead before going back to bed.

"Now what?" Eli asked.

"Take Julia to the living room open a window," she commanded.

"What?" Eli questioned, but still picked up Julia. "Okay, whatever you say." He placed her on the couch, while he opened the window behind it. He felt to warm draft "Now?"

"Now lay down on couch."

"Okay…" He picked up Julia and laid down on the couch. "Now?"

"Place Julia on your chest."

"Okay…" He did as he was told.

"Now wait for her to go to sleep. Then you can."

"How is this supposed to help?" Eli asked.

"I don't know. It worked for you. Just trust me. It'll work for tonight, until you can call the pediatrician," Eli's mom explained.

"Okay, fine. Thanks Mom," Eli sighed.

"It's the least I could do, Baby Boy. Call me when you take her to doctor, okay?"

"Okay. Love you, Mom."

"Love you, too. And tell Julia I love her, too," she said, before hanging up.

"You're grandmother says she loves you," Eli chuckled, hanging up. He circled his finger around her back, trying to calm her down. He did that for about ten minutes until he could tell that she was asleep. He could feel the cool air rush from the window as it moved her hair into her face. He moved her head from her face, seeing how cute his daughter was when she was asleep. "Yep," he thought, "Defiantly not dating until she's forty."


Eli heard Julia giggling, squealing, "Morty! Morty!" from the back seat. He smiled. 'Morty' was her fifth word; he had been counting.

"Someday, he'll be yours, Jules," Eli chuckled. "On your 16th birthday, maybe, but not now, not on your first."

She was playing with his iPod, hitting button after button, changing from Escape The Fate to Three Days Grace to Black Veil Brides and back. It was a special playlist called 'Julia'. She never stayed on one song too long, until she reached her favorite song, 'Issues' by Escape The Fate.

"Issues!" Julia giggled, even though it sounded more like 'Ithues'.

"Ah, you Craig Mabbitt crazed fan girl, you," Eli sighed.

"Craig?" Julia squealed, looking around as if he were right outside the car.

"Now if she would say 'Daddy' and 'Mommy', we would round out the words she can say," Eli thought, putting Morty in park. He looked back at his daughter, who gave him a confused look, her eye saying, "Did we just go from a hearse ride around the block to come back home?"

"Sorry, Julia. It was your mom's idea," he apologized, picking her up out of Morty. She wrapped her arms around his neck; she wasn't a big fan of heights. "It's okay," Eli chuckled. "I won't drop you." Since he was holding Julia, he kicked the door, hoping someone would hear.

"What's the password?" A voice asked from behind the door.

"Well, Adam, it's my house, so it doesn't have a password."

"Nope," Adam replied.

"Craig!" Julia exclaimed.

"Correct!" Adam answered, opened the door. "Only the girl can get in."

"Adam, shut up," Eli sighed, smirking. He set Julia down, moving her into the decorated house. "Wow, you and Clare really went all out for a birthday party she probably will not remember."

"Hey, I'm sorry, but this is a special moment! I've been a godfather for a year!" Adam exclaimed.

"Yeah, I'm afraid for when you have your own kids. They will be spoiled 24/7."

"Most likely!" Adam agreed.

"Eli! Come here and help me!" Clare called from the kitchen.

"Watch Julia?" Eli asked, walking towards the kitchen. He didn't get an answer, because Adam was already chasing Julia around the living room.

"Oh, I worry," Eli sighed, tasting some of the icing Clare was putting the tiny cake.

"Hey!" She smacked his hand with icing spatula. "That's for Julia! So why are you worried?"

"Well, where to began? I'm worried about Adam, because he turns into a little kid around Julia. Look!" He pointed through the kitchen window to the living room, seeing Adam on the ground on his stomach with Julia on his back, both laughing.

"I think it's cute," Clare said, putting the spatula in the sink.

"And I'm worried about Julia… well, future Julia, future dude-magnet Julia," he sighed.

"Aw, Eli," Clare sighed, putting her arm on his shoulder and her hand on top of his. "You sound like such a dad. But we'll have to deal with boys sometime. We know we can't stop them. Let's just enjoy the time we have where she thinks boys are gross."

"The third word she learn to say was 'Craig'," he reminded her, then smirked, "I think we're passed that point."

"Daddy! Mommy!" Julia squealed, running to the kitchen.

"Hey, birthday girl!" Clare exclaimed, picking her up.

"Oh, my God. She just put 'boxer' on her list of future profession," Adam chuckled, catching his breath.

"She's one," Eli said. "She doesn't know what a profession is."

"Technically, she's not one, yet, Eli," Clare reminded him. "It's not 2:13."

"You know the exact time she was born?" Adam asked.

"Yeah. You remember that type of stuff," Clare answered. "So where's Fiona?"

"Out last minute clothes shopping for Julia with Alli," Adam replied. "Yeah, they defiantly spoil her."

The doorbell rang. Julia ran towards it, only to be caught by Eli, who scooped her up. She giggled as he opened the door.

"Hi, Baby Boy!" his mom squealed, coming into the house.

"Hey, Mom. Hey, Dad," he answered, closing the door.

"Let me see my grandbaby!"

"Here you go. Go to grandma." He handed Julia to Cece.

"Where's Clarabell?" Bullfrog asked.

"Kitchen. Getting ready," he answered. He was about to walk back to kitchen, but the bell rang again.

"HEY!" Fiona and Alli shrieked, holding about 5 shopping bags each.

"Oh, God…" Eli sighed, noticing the number of bags. "Are you guys trying to shove clothes down her throat?"

"That's the plan," Fiona joked, going into the living room. Eli followed. His parents were playing with Julia, Alli was separating clothes by color and outfits, and Fiona and Adam were snuggling on the coach. "This was going to be a long day."

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

"Finally, peace and quiet," Eli sighed, flopping down on the couch. The party was over; everyone had left. Wrapping and tissue paper were everywhere, along with clothes.

"Daddy! Daddy!" Julia shrieked, running over to him. She held up her Escape The Fate shirt Eli had gotten her. "Craig!"

"Glad you like it," he smirked. He sat, then picked her up. "Someone needs to be getting to bed. When you wake up, you'll be one." He carried her to her room. She held up her Escape The Fate shirt again, so he put that on her. "I love you, Julia. Good night," he whispered as he turned on 'Not Good Enough for Truth in Cliché' by Escape The Fate.

"Can you believe that in a minute, we have parents for a whole year?" Clare asked, after Eli shut the door.

"Not really, but it true," he answered, wrapping his arms around her waist, pulling her closer.

"I know," she sighed, then kissed him. She checked Eli's watch. "She's one in 3… 2… 1…"


Well? Epic Failure? I know it was… So? Did you like it? I totally made Eli sound very un-Eli-ish in section 2, but coffee does that to people. Ha Ha! I'm going to skip age 2 and go to age 3 (because I can't think of anything for age 2).

So stay tuned! If you want to make a random person extremely happy, you will hit those blue words down there and leave me a non-harsh review! Please?