Blue eyes fluttered open, stinging due to the bright LA morning. The man that they belonged to suppressed the urge to grimace as he could tell that it was early in the morning.
The biggest differences between living in the Sacramento suburbs and a Los Angeles townhouse were the lights and buzz. In Sacramento, he could sleep as late as he wanted and the only disruption would be a thin gleam through his curtains, the paperboy, and nine to five workers heading to the office. However, LA was constantly loud with all kinds of people doing all kinds of different things. And even though there were blackout curtains on the huge bay window in he and Anthony's bedroom, each morning the sun still somehow shone in and woke him up.
Sighing, Ian shut his eyes again, hoping that he could somehow go back to sleep. He knew that this was impossible, however, when he felt a pair of strong arms wrap around his waist and lips on his right temple. "Morning," he heard in his ear.
He smiled softly, his heartbeat turning to a faster pace. "Good morning."
"We should get up," Anthony murmured, hugging Ian close to him.
Ian chuckled. "You say that and then you squeeze me closer?"
"I love you," Anthony whispered, pressing a kiss onto his husband's shoulder.
Softening, Ian turned around to kiss Anthony's mouth. "I love you, too."
So much in Ian's life had changed in the past year. After an impromptu, drunken threesome, he and Anthony had become the caregivers to a very sad, very neglected baby girl. He'd fallen in love with her and even more in love with his best friend — who eventually fell for him, too. But after the girl's mother returned, he and Anthony's relationship had been tested beyond anything either of them could have ever imagined. They both fell into immense depression before Anthony was finally able to fix it. And then, everything had finally fallen into place.
Shortly after he and Anthony had gotten Audrina back and gotten back together, they moved back into the Smosh house together, soon realizing that it simply wasn't going to be big enough for the three of them. Not only that, but due to the fact that the Smosh brand was expanding, they were having to spend more and more time in Los Angeles. It just made sense for them to move. So after a beach wedding in Santa Monica, Ian and Anthony decided to move to LA.
Due to the fact that Audrina took up a good amount of their time, they added on a few new members for the main Smosh channel: Keith, Olivia, Noah, Courtney, and Shayne. At first, the fans were a bit skeptical, but warmed up to them quickly. They were busier than ever, but they were also happier than ever before.
"We should probably get up, though," Ian sighed, resting back down on his pillow.
Anthony scoffed and shut his eyes. "Why?" he whined.
"Because," Ian said, chuckling, "it's kind of your daughter's birthday. And she's kind of having a birthday party. And we kind of have to get to the Smosh Games HQ soon."
They'd decided to hold her birthday party in the room where they regularly filmed Game Bang and they'd invited the Smosh Games crew, the Smosh crew — new and old members alike, their Youtube friends, and even some of their family.
Needless to say, Ian and Anthony's families were a little more than surprised. Anthony's dad welcomed Ian quickly into the family and his little sister was excited to have a niece. Ian's parents — especially Cheryl — claimed to have known all along and his sister, Melissa's son was glad to have another playmate. Anthony's mom, on the other hand was less than enthused at first. It wasn't that she had an issue with Ian at all. She'd loved him like her own sons for almost the entirety of her life. And it certainly wasn't due to the fact that she had an issue with them being gay. It was just that she knew of the struggles that her son and Ian were soon to face, especially with having a daughter. She wasn't happy to hear of how Audrina was conceived — at all — but once she saw the tiny girl's face, she was hooked.
They all were.
And all had shown up to their wedding with big, happy smiles.
Anthony groaned. "I know. I just want to lay with you forever, though-"
Before he could finish his whines, a loud cry jolted him.
"There's your daughter," Ian chuckled.
Anthony pressed another kiss to Ian's forehead. "Yours too. You can stay here. I'll get her."
Ian grinned, shaking his head. "Go ahead, but I'm still gonna go get in the shower. We've really got to get going."
Anthony pushed himself off of the bed and quickly slid on a pair of plaid pajama pants and a gray T-shirt. Then, he dashed off to Audrina's room, leaving Ian alone.
Ian stretched and took a deep breath, slowly getting up and heading to the master
bathroom. He passed the his and her (more accurately, his and his) sinks, the jacuzzi, and finally found his way to the walk-in shower. Smosh had never been about the money, but he had to admit, it was a nice bonus.
He turned the shower on and stepped in, his mind completely on the party that was to occur later that day.
Meanwhile, Anthony had made it to Audrina's room and taken her out of her crib. She'd immediately stopped crying when he'd stepped in the room. "You just wanted to make sure I knew you were awake, huh, baby?" he'd asked her, lowering the bars on the crib and picking her up and out of the crib.
She'd giggled a little as he tickled her stomach and he breathed a sigh of relief. Each time Audrina cried or smiled or frowned or laughed, he couldn't help but feel a sense of euphoria. Even though they'd taken Audrina for physical and psychological examinations and had passed with flying colors, he still worried greatly about her. His mother claimed the worry would never go away. But Anthony was concerned that she would have mental illnesses later on in life due to her neglect very young. The professionals tried their best to convince him that just as long as she was well taken care of and loved, she would be just fine.
They also recommended putting her in a play group and preschool as early as possible, which worried him. Audrina tended to have separation anxiety from he and Ian. She was fine if they were in the room with her, but if they left her with someone else — even just for a moment — she would get fussy. Sometimes, she'd even cry. All he could do was hope that she grew out of it.
"It's your birthday!" he exclaimed, setting her down on the changing table. He wasn't as weirded out with changing diapers as he once had been, but he still found it a bit gross. That being said, he had the entire process down pat and it was almost second nature to him.
Once Audrina was all cleaned up and in a fresh diaper, he kissed her forehead. "What do you want to wear today?" He picked her up and walked her over to the closet. She instantly pointed to a red velvet dress and Anthony laughed.
"I think that's perfect for LA in January, huh, baby?" He took it out of her closet and sat her down on the floor. He then put the dress over her head and buttoned it up in the back.
Anthony scanned the floor of Audrina's closet, searching for a pair of shoes to match the dress. He stopped on a pair of gold velcro sandals and settled on them. He fastened them onto her feet and then picked her up again, studying her very messy curls.
Thankfully, they'd grown back just as they had been before. At her first haircut appointment, the stylist had cut her hair short, thus eliminating her beautiful chestnut curls. They denied it later mercilessly later, but he and Ian had both cried.
"We'll let Daddy do your hair, huh, princess?" Anthony asked, chuckling.
Luckily for him, Ian had since gotten out of the shower and gotten dressed. He looked great in a pair of dark skinny jeans, a black button-down shirt, and black boots.
"We will, huh?" Ian asked, taking Audrina from his husband's arms.
Anthony nodded profusely. "Yeah, besides, I've got to take a shower, too."
"And you'll take much longer than me," Ian laughed.
His husband scowled, but did not respond, mostly because he knew that Ian was correct. He looked back, giving his daughter a smile before disappearing into the hallway.
Ian turned to Audrina and grinned. "You're in a red dress and sandals, so Daddy did pretty good, huh? We just gotta do something about this hair. Oh, and your little teeth!"
Since Audrina was a year old now, they knew that it was important for her to try things on her own. She could hold her toothbrush now, but she wasn't too great at the genuine act of brushing. Oftentimes, she made a mess, which meant that Ian would have to put something over her dress while she brushed.
He grabbed a small hairbrush off of her dresser and began to slowly and carefully brush through her tangled curls. When she began to jerk away, he sighed and also picked up a bottle of detangler. Soon, her hair was perfectly neat and he'd fastened a matching red bow in her hair.
"You ready to go, Audri?" Ian asked, pressing a kiss to her hair.
Audrina smiled. "Yeah!"
Ian chuckled, picking her up. "Then let's go!"
Over the past few months, Audrina had began to pick up a couple words, as well. She could say yeah, no, and dada. Dada was currently a universal word for both of her fathers. Ian knew that many children with two dads called them Daddy and Papa, and he'd mentioned that in the dream he'd had months ago. But he wasn't exactly sure how he felt about mimicking anything that had been in that dream. So, for now, he and Anthony were perfectly content with both being Dada.
"Anthony!" he called out, stepping into the hallway, "Audrina's ready to go!"
When there was no reply, he sighed and looked at Audrina. "Looks like we're going to just have to go get him." He tickled her and she giggled as they walked to the master bathroom.
As Ian suspected, Anthony was still at the mirror putting in hair gel to expertly style his quiff. "Anthony," he whined.
"I'm almost finished," Anthony protested, "I swear."
Ian looked back at Audrina and kissed her forehead. "Daddy Anthony's being a douche again, huh, baby?"
Audrina laughed again. "Dada!" she exclaimed.
Hearing his daughter's voice made Anthony smile. Instantly, he put the gel down and turned to his husband and daughter. He gave Ian a small kiss on his mouth before taking Audrina from him and swinging her into the air. She laughed loudly in response, her hair flying around.
"Hey, hey!" Ian exclaimed, "I just did her hair!"
Anthony stopped and settled Audrina onto his hip. "Yeah, and she looks beautiful. I love the bow." He grinned at Ian, kissing him again. "Now, let's go."
With that, the three of them got into Anthony's car and made the short drive to the Smosh Games Headquarters.
When they arrived, the Game Bang room was completely dark. Everyone was hoping to surprise Audrina.
"Dark," Audrina said from Ian's arms, tugging on his shirt. She wasn't terrified of the dark, but she wasn't fond of it either and definitely preferred sleeping with her Franklin nightlight rather than sleeping in complete blackness.
Anthony chuckled. "I wonder why…," he trailed off slyly, flicking the lights on in the room.
"Surprise!" erupted from the room and he looked over, seeing the shock on his daughter's face. Then, she began to giggle and her blue eyes began to sparkle.
Looking around, Anthony could see that everyone invited had arrived. The room was decorated quite nicely with a theme of purple rabbits, founded completely on the fact that Audrina's most favorite toy was her beloved stuffed, purple rabbit. The cakes were set on a table in the middle of the room: a normal sheet cake for the guests and a small Winnie the Pooh bear cake for Audrina to rip into on her own. On a table beside this one, there was a huge pile of presents just for their daughter.
Before Ian or Anthony could move, Mari and Sohinki were dashing over to them.
"Careful, Mari!" Ian exclaimed, clutching Audrina closer to him. "You're in your third trimester of pregnancy. You can't just run around like an idiot."
Mari rolled her eyes as Sohinki said, "that's what I keep telling her. She's gonna mess up our baby."
"Shut up, bitch," Mari snapped, reaching over and taking Audrina from Ian. "I can do whatever the hell I want and if I want to run over and hold and squeeze," her voice dropped down to a coo, "my goddaughter, I will."
Ian thought about telling Mari not to curse around not only his child but hers, but quickly decided against it. She had after all, spent a very long and tiring week preparing for Audrina's party.
Soon after he and Anthony had gotten back together, they resolved that it was necessary for them to get their affairs in order. While neither of them intended on going anytime soon, they also knew that things could happen and they needed a plan. Deciding on Audrina's godparents was a no-brainer. Mari and Sohinki had been supportive of them from the start and Mari especially knew of Audrina's needs. Besides, they were married soon after Ian and Anthony were and they both had good heads on their shoulders. Everything else went totally to Audrina: their cars, their homes, their affairs, and Smosh totally belonged to her. Their friends at Smosh Games were all given a shared portion of Smosh Games, but Ian and Anthony's shares were wholly Audrina's.
"Happy birthday!" Mari cooed, tickling her goddaughter and walking over to the rest of the Smosh Games guys.
Anthony smiled, quickly following after them. However, Ian spotted someone else he wanted to speak to and went in the opposite direction. Troye was standing with Tyler and their daughter, Zoe, whilst talking to Dan Howell and Phil Lester, another Youtube couple that Ian had recently found out to be gay. He waited for Troye to stop talking and look up and see him.
Tyler nudged him and then laughed, "you've got a pretty little visitor, Troye. But remember who you come home to."
Troye smiled softly, rolling his eyes and shaking his head. "Tyler, he's married to Anthony Padilla. I doubt he wants me at all."
Ian smirked at Tyler, grabbing Troye's arm. "Don't worry, we'll be quick." Then he winked.
"Oh, please," Tyler drawled, "take as long as you need. But keep in mind that if you take too long, I'll come find you and will not be held responsible for my actions."
Chuckling, Ian led Troye away from the group to a somewhat empty spot and gave him a big smile.
Troye grinned back, furrowing his brows. "So…What was it that you wanted to talk to me about?"
Ian shrugged, his smile softening. "I just wanted to thank you."
"What?" Troye asked, frowning
Nodding, Ian continued. "You've helped me more than you could ever know. At the meeting, you and Tyler showed me how happy I could be and inspired me to be an even better parent to Audrina. In fact, I would bet that if we had never came to that meeting, Anthony and I would have never gotten together."
Troye was silent for a moment before chuckling. "Well, I'm happy that Tyler and I were able to help you, but I'm sure you would have eventually figured it out. You and Anthony are soulmates, plain and simple. Everyone knew it even before you two stepped into the meeting. Some of us had bets on which youtubers would eventually come out and you guys were at the very top of the list."
Ian laughed. "I guess it was always obvious that I was crazy about Anthony, huh?"
Troye nodded. "Yeah, but it was just as obvious that he was crazy about you."
"I-I never noticed," Ian admitted, blushing, "but I guess it all worked itself out. We're happy. Audri's happy. Smosh is greater than ever. And we've got the best friends in the world." He looked around the room, putting everything in perspective."
Troye smiled, tapping Ian affectionately on the arm. "I'm happy for you, Ian. So happy for you."
"Thank you," Ian replied. "Seriously."
With that, Ian headed back to Audrina and Anthony and Troye back to Tyler. He grinned when he saw his mother holding his daughter in her arms.
"Hey, Mom!" he exclaimed, giving her a hug, careful of Audrina.
She hugged him back as best she could. "Ian! How are you?"
Ian kissed her cheek. "Absolutely perfect."
She smiled, turning her attention to Anthony, who was a few feet away talking to his own mother. "That's all I've ever wanted. And I know that Anthony has always made you happy." She pressed a kiss to Audrina's hair. "And Audrina really completed it. I've never seen you more content, son."
Ian beamed. "Yeah, things really seemed to have fallen into place. Audrina has really come out of her shell, too. She loves everyone in her life." Then he softened. "Especially his grandmas."
Carol smiled again. "I can't exactly speak for Leezah, but I believe it's safe to say that we love her just as much." She then looked up and saw Anthony making his way toward them. "Well, I believe that it's time for Audrina to blow out her candles, huh?"
"Candle," Ian corrected, "and I believe that you're right."
Anthony stepped up and took Audrina from Carol's arms whilst Ian loudly cleared his throat.
"Thanks for coming, everybody!" Ian exclaimed, "now I know we all want to get to the drinks and such," he paused as everyone in the room laughed, "but for now, we're going give Audrina her cake and sing happy birthday. Ready everyone?"
The guests all took their places and Anthony started them all out with a deep breath and a loud 'happy.'
As Ian sang along, he looked around the room. He saw Sohinki holding onto Mari, his hand draped over her stomach. He saw Joven and Lasercorn, singing and holding one another's hands fondly. Wes and Flitz were spinning each other around as Tyler and Troye laughed loudly and took snapchat videos. He and Anthony's parents were looking on fondly as they snapped a myriad amount of photographs. Finally, he looked to his right and saw his wonderful husband holding their absolutely beautiful daughter.
Once the singing finished, Ian placed the small cake in front of Audrina. Instantly, she grabbed a handful of it and flung it into her mouth, most of it going all over her little face. He laughed and Anthony did, too, taking his hand.
"You can all help yourself to the food and drinks now," Anthony announced.
"Thank God," Shane Dawson exclaimed. "Everyone here knows that's the whole reason I came."
It wasn't, but everyone laughed anyway.
As the guests began to help themselves to the refreshments, Ian and Anthony hung around, still watching Audrina plow into her cake.
"This is without a doubt the cutest thing I've personally ever seen," Anthony said, giving Ian a huge smile."
Ian nodded. "It is. She's really enjoying the part, best I can tell, anyway."
Chuckling, Anthony leaned forward and pressed a chaste kiss to Ian's lips. "Thank you," he whispered.
"For what?" Ian asked, "putting in all of the work for the party?"
"No!" Anthony laughed, "if anyone should be thanked, it's Mari."
Ian nodded. "I can't argue with that fact."
Anthony went on. "No, I want to thank you for having faith in me. Having faith that I had what it took to be a good father, a good husband. You've made me an honest man, Ian. And for that, I can never repay you."
At Anthony's words, Ian felt himself begin to tear up. "Th-thank you, Anthony. I really appreciate that. But in that case, I have to thank you, too. For giving me Audrina. For loving me. For making me the happiest man in the world."
Standing on his tiptoes, he pressed his lips against Anthony's again, completely ignoring everyone else in the room. They broke the kiss when they heard a loud, emanating giggle.
"Dada!" Audrina exclaimed, hurling cake at the both of them. Everyone in the room, including he and Anthony, laughed as their shirts were stained with bright purple icing.
But at that moment, it didn't matter that the shirts were designer and very expensive. It didn't matter that they'd be exhausted and sore tomorrow. It didn't matter that the road to here had been completely and utterly rocky. All that mattered was that finally, he had Anthony and Audrina both in his arms, from now and forever.
This is my life, Ian thought to himself. And I wouldn't want it any other way.