A/N: Big thanks to wolfienjhoanfdwar, and alwaysanubis(Guest). They helped me find free, working links for HoA season 1; I hadn't seen it in a year and a half, so it was nice to watch it again. While on the search to look for another working link, I found one; if anyone's interested in a working, free link to season 1, with every episode, just so say and I'll PM you the link.

Well, I was waiting for the messages to come, but none ever did. Seriously, guys, I'm not gonna chop your balls off if you ask me "How much of chapter [insert number here] do you have written?" You don't even have to do it on anon. I want to apologize and hug you. Besides, it might make me concentrate on the chapter more than the others I'm currently writing...

The ending was kind of rough, because I rushed it a bit, not to mention this is a big filler chapter . . . but I'm currently at work at chapter 18, which has much more action than this one. Everything that I promised in the last chapter is going to come true, so make sure your seatbelts are buckled tightly, because this won't be a smooth ride from here on out.

I do hope you enjoy this chapter, and I hope you have a sparkling day!
~Lia

Fabian
Chapter 17: "The Playdate"

I was still helping Emma in the bathroom when I heard the front door open and close. I was still awkward enough, crouched on the floor next to Emma's body on the toilet, but when she jumped from the sound of the slamming door, I attempted to comfort her.

"It's okay, Emma," I grinned, hoping that a smile would calm her down. She mumbled incomprehensible words as the footsteps downstairs continued.

I was actually thinking it might have been a robber when a familiar voice exclaimed, "Mate? Where are you?"

Mick. I sighed with relief as I yelled back, "In the bathroom down the hall!"

The footsteps grew louder as Mick walked toward the bathroom. "Why are you in the bathroom?" he asked, opening the door to see Emma on the toilet. "Oh," he said suddenly, his face priceless, turning around and covering his eyes.

"Yeah," I chuckled, helping Emma off the toilet and slipping her pants back on. "I didn't know Nina was potty training her, either. I had to call Eddie hyperventilating, and all he did was laugh his ass off. I've been in this bathroom for a good twenty minutes, but I don't think Emma really has to go, do you, sweetie?"

All she did was giggle, but at the sound of her laugh, Mick smiled. "So, this is Emma?" he asked, and I nodded. "Wow . . . I've never seen your daughter before. It's strange, kind of . . . knowing that my best mate has a child . . ."

"Who this?" Emma asked, pointing up at Mick.

"Well, kid, " Mick began, leaning down to pick Emma up without my permission — but it didn't matter, because I would've let him pick her up anyway — "I'm not really your uncle, but since Daddy doesn't have any brothers, I'm as good as he's ever gonna get. So I guess you can call me Uncle Mick, if you want."

I pushed myself off of the tiled floor and rubbed the sweat off on my jeans. I grinned as I saw Emma pat his blonde hair, bringing the left and right side together; Mick was silent, watching her play with his hair; I could tell that he wasn't sure what to do. Mick was just as clueless with children as I was.

Then Emma started crying. As Mick's eyes grew to the size of tennis balls, I swore my eyes grew twice that size. I'd been around Nina and Emma for almost three months now, but never once had I seen either of them cry. I knew Nina was a strong person; she could take teasing and bullying well, but I never stopped to think that Emma was still a toddler.

"Take your kid!" Mick exclaimed, shoving Emma back into my arms, screaming her lungs out. I didn't know why she just suddenly started crying like that; had Mick done something to scare her? Did Emma know, subconsciously, that she hadn't seen Mick before today?

"I don't want her!" I yelled, trying to give Emma back to Mick, which, looking back on, was a shitty move. There I was, trying to give my daughter to someone else. I was her father; maybe I had to calm her down herself. "She's never cried like this before! I have no idea what to do!"

Emma's screams were echoing around the bathroom; I just hoped that no one else in Nina's neighborhood could hear us. "Oh, come on, Emma!" I yelled, my daughter in my arms. "Calm down! Please! Daddy wants you to calm down!"

"Yes, calm her down, please!" Mick had to yell to be heard over Emma's wails. "Ugh, I can't take it anymore!" He started to walk out of the bathroom, but I grabbed the collar of his shirt to stop him.

"Don't leave me!" I begged, bouncing Emma up and down in my arms, but she didn't stop screaming. "I can't do this alone! I've never been alone with a crying toddler before! I can't do this!"

"Uggggh!" Mick complained, but he didn't leave. He covered his ears with his hands, as if that would help him block out Emma's temper-tantrum.

"Oh, Emma," I pleaded over her wails. "Please, please stop crying . . . I don't know what set you off . . . Oh my God Mick how can we calm her down?" I asked, continually bouncing Emma up and down; but when she didn't stop crying, I stopped bouncing her, thinking that maybe the bouncing was annoying her; but when I stopped, she continued to cry.

"Um . . ." Mick thought for a moment, turning around in circles. "Okay, um, we can . . . we can look it up!"

"Good idea!" I agreed, pointing to his phone in his pocket.

Only two seconds later, he whipped it up into his hands and muttered as he typed: "Tips . . . to . . . stop . . . a . . . screaming . . . toddler . . . temper . . . tantrum . . ." Then we waited for a few seconds while it loaded — the longest seven seconds of my life — then Mick exclaimed, "Bingo!" and I knew had hit gold.

"Okay, so . . ." he yelled over Emma's wails, "It says here to find something more enticing than screaming, something that distracts them . . . what the hell distracts Emma, then?!" he yelled, acting like he wanted to throw his phone against the wall and scream into a pillow so he wouldn't have to hear Emma cry.

He took a deep breath and turned back to his phone. "'Some common distraction items are toys, food, television, or possibly an activity such as coloring'. Okay, so let's try some of those!"

"I don't know what Emma eats!" I wailed along with my daughter. Mick looked about ready to throw himself out the window at this point.

"Let's just look in the counter!" Mick yelled, ushering me into Nina's kitchen. I held Emma in my arms as I followed him into the kitchen, watching him look through food for something to give to Emma. She calmed down a little as we walked into the kitchen, so I sat her in one of the stools as Mick and I rummaged through the cabinets.

"Does she eat cucumbers?!" Mick wondered, grabbing the vegetable out of the fridge. I shrugged as I looked under the sink, desperate for something, but Mick brought the cucumbers over to a cutting board and cut them into small pieces; when he approached Emma, he threw a slice of cucumber on her lap.

She looked at it for a second, and stopped crying — the best four seconds of my day — but soon enough, she threw the cucumber onto the ground and continued to wail.

"Emma!" I scolded, but I knew she wouldn't take my displeasure to heart. She was two years old. Mick looked at me, his big blue eyes pleading. "What's next?" I wondered, walking next to him, ready to scream and wake all the neighbors.

I didn't know why Emma was crying so much. I knew two-year-olds got frustrated easily because they took in a lot but couldn't express themselves as easily as older people could, but why would she throw a cucumber onto the ground?

"Um . . ." Mick's frantic expression changed when he remembered, "Toys! Toys! Look for toys around the house!"

I nodded, and two seconds later, I returned with a toy car in my hand. "Here!" I cheered, running over to Emma, who was sitting on the counter tops, and placed the toy car next to her.

Nina had told me once that Emma liked a mix of things; toy cars, dolls, and even the television remote (which, she told me, Emma liked to break). Fresh tears were streaming down her face when she noticed the car next to her, immediately stopped crying, moved her body around so she was lying on the granite counter, and started moving the car back and forth, sucking her thumb as she rolled it around.

Mick and I both sighed with relief as we crashed onto the couches in the common room. "Oh, mate," Mick breathed, not bothering to look at me as he stared up at the ceiling. "I didn't know that it was going to be this hard."

"Neither did I," I admitted, sitting up to look around the corner; Emma was still lying on the counter, but as Mick was lying back against the couch, like he usually did, I walked into the kitchen and grabbed Emma around the waist. I didn't want her to fall off the counter and crack her skull open.

I brought the toy car along with me as I sat Emma down on the carpeted floor in the common room with me and Mick.

"Where is everybody else?" Mick wondered, after a few moments' silence.

"Well, Nina's out of town, Eddie and Mara — they're Nina's friends —are out getting food, and you're here with me. Jerome, Alfie, and Amber are . . . wherever."

"Yeah, about that . . ." Mick scratched the back of his head guiltily. When I raised my eyebrows, he explained, "Well, I didn't know what had happened; you never invited me over Nina's house before, in the three months you two have been together, so I kind of panicked, and, well . . ."

Instead of saying anything else, he opened the door and waved to his car in front of the house. When two or three doors open, I groaned and leaned against the back of the couch again; I knew what Mick had done. He had brought Jerome, Alfie, and Amber along with him.

"Wonderful," I muttered, but I was secretly grateful; even with Mick, Eddie, and Mara helping me out, I'd still be scared shitless. I watched as the three of them climbed the steps to the door, and as Mick let them in, I "bro-hugged" Jerome and Alfie, as Eddie put it, and Amber attacked me in one of her infamous hugs.

But before I could say anything to Amber, she noticed the toddler lying on the ground. "Oh, Fabian!" she screeched, running over to Emma and picking her up. "Oh . . . she's so beautiful . . ." she grinning at me before turning her attention back to the toddler.

That's when I knew I wouldn't be spending any time alone with Emma. Amber would be glued to my shoulder the whole time. She had a reputation for liking "girly" things, like dresses and shoes and makeup, but Amber always had a soft spot the little ones. She'd never want to leave my child's side.

"What's her name?" Amber wondered, softly stroking the toddler's fingers.

"Emma," I answered, and Amber squealed. I leaned over to Mick and whispered, "Tell me why you brought Amber along," and Mick shrugged.

"Oh, that's such a pretty name!" Amber jumped around, and Emma laughed along with her; it seemed that Emma liked being bounced up and down. "So, where's Nina? I've wanted to get in touch with her lately, but she never answered my emails..." Amber shrugged.

"Nina's out of town," I answered. "She was getting a lot of hate on websites and such, so she left with her grandmother. I have no idea where she went, but she said she'll back on November 15th, so she wants me to check in on Emma every day, even though she's not staying with me."

"Then where is she staying?" Amber wondered, inspecting Emma's feature. As the front door opened again, Amber yelled, "Oh! Fabian! She has the same exact eye color as you do!"

Eddie and Mara walked in with handfuls full of grocery bags; Mara grinned at me before placing her bags on the counter along with Eddie's. Eddie, looking around for Emma, noticed her in Amber's arms; without a word, he approached her and took her into the kitchen.

"Aw," Amber pouted. When Eddie beckoned me into the kitchen with Mara and him, so I left my friends and approached them. "What's wrong?" I asked, leaning my shoulder on the counter top. Eddie placed Emma on the counter next to me

"Who are those people?" Eddie wondered, pointing into the common room, where Jerome, Alfie, Amber, and Mick stood.

"They're my friends," I answered simply. "When you and Mara were out getting food — and by the way, I smell biscuits, so I'm going to at all of them no exceptions — I ringed Mick, because I honestly thought I couldn't do this alone. Turns out, he invited my other friends . . . so now there's eight people in this house. I hope that's okay!"

Mara was too busy staring into the common room — I thought Jerome had spared a glance at her — but Eddie had his arms crossed in protest. "Fabian, this isn't a good idea. Emma's never been around those people before."

"She's been around Mick," I stated hopefully. "Maybe that'll help?"

"Did she start crying?" Eddie asked, as if that was the first question he thought of every time.

"Yeah, why?" I asked, and Eddie and Mara shared a knowing look with each other. It still irked me that Eddie and Mara, who weren't related to Emma in any way, knew more about her than I did. "What's wrong?"

"Fabian, do you know why they call it the Terrible Two's?" Eddie inquired, raising his eyebrows. When I shrugged, he continued, "It's because they get frustrated easily. Two-year-old's take in a lot; they understand more, but they can't express themselves, so they cry and scream a lot. They get frustrated easily. Emma probably couldn't understand who Mick was, so she started crying."

I blinked, leading to Eddie chuckling. "Wow. For a father, you know nothing about parenting."

"I've been a father for three months!" I protested, throwing my hands up in the air. "I know nothing worth for shit! I don't even know anything about my own daughter!"

I sighed. For the past couple of months, I had beaten myself up for it, even though I wasn't in Nina's life when she was pregnant. I honestly didn't think I had gotten her pregnant, so I never made an effort to find her. Meanwhile, on Nina's side, my baby was growing inside her.

She had given birth to my baby, taken care of my baby, and raised my baby, all without me. I understood her reasons, and I respected them, but sometimes Nina could annoy me to no lengths.

She was obsessed with the idea of a fan kidnapping and killing me, and even though I knew she was just being paranoid, I also knew she was afraid to lose me. I had only known Nina for three months, and I already knew her like the back of my hand. I knew that her favorite color was green. I knew that she was originally from Florida. I knew that she always drank 2% milk and always wore tennis shoes and never wore her hair back in a ponytail. I knew that she wore a green ring on her finger because it was her mother's, I knew that she had a demon cat named Luna who was never in the house, and I knew that she always held on to the railings when she was climbing up steps.

I knew what Nina was like. I just didn't know what Emma was like.

"Well, anyway," Eddie cleared his throat, searching through his bags again. "While Mara and I were out, we stopped by a clothes store, because Mara needed boots for the winter; while we were there, we found this —" He pulled two shirts out of the bag, plain white t-shirts that both had writing on them. By closer inspection, I saw that they were both two different sizes. The bigger one read My baby's the shit and the smaller one said I'm the shit.

"Oh," I commented, trying not to laugh. I could Eddie holding back a chuckle as well, but Mara, over in the corner, rolled her eyes at us. "I'm guessing you want me to wear this thing?"

Eddie nodded, finally releasing his laugh and leaning on the kitchen counter for support. "Yup. I have to send a picture to Nina. And no, I will not give you her number. She will apparently kick my ass if I give it to you within these two weeks."

I sighed, looking back inside the common room, where Mick, Jerome, and Amber were standing. "Fine. I'll take the picture with you, but you have to meet my friends first. They'll be with me during all this, anyway."

v v v

"Okay, so, introductions!" I announced, clapping my hands as I led Eddie and Mara into the common room, where the others were. I held Emma's small hand as I sat down on the loveseat with my daughter. "Neither of you know each other, so I thought that you could get to know each other! Sound good?"

Noise issued from the group, but I didn't really catch any complaints or groans. "Who wants to go first?"

Jerome raised his hand. I nodded in his direction, and he started before I could say so. "Jerome Clarke. British, 20 years old, loves to scam and prank. So watch out, you may be next." He pointed to Alfie, signaling him to go next.

"My name is Alfie Lewis; I'm British, 19 years old, and Jerome and I are best friends and I fully believe that aliens exist."

After that, silence ensued. Nothing Jerome or Alfie said was news to me; I had known those two as a duo for a long time, and I'd had my fair share of pranks and scams. Alfie wasn't sure who to point to next; so I nodded to Mick and he took off.

"The name's Mick Campbell. I'm 19, British, and all into sports and all that good stuff." Mick pointed to Amber, which wasn't such a good idea; she took off, content that she finally got her chance to speak.

"Morning! I'm Amber Millington! I'm 18 and British and loooove to shop and gossip! Fabian calls me his mini-manager, isn't that sweet? Fabian's one of my very best friends and I don't know where I'd be without him. Then again, I don't know where he'd be without me! I don't even think he'd be able to raise his daughter right! Then again this is the first time I've met little Emma but by god is she cute I could just pinch those cheeks all day and I'd never get tired of looking at her face. Fabian—" she addressed me now; "—you did well, that one night you spent with Nina. I mean, look at this cute little thing you produced! How on Earth could someone produce someone this cute? I think that Nina must be a witch or something but no human could ever, and I mean ever, make someone this adorable. Other than me, of course—"

"Okay!" I interrupted, before Amber could go any further. If I let her continue, she just might go into the subject of what happened during my night with Nina; and that was something I didn't really think about.

I didn't know why I didn't want to talk about it; it wasn't as if it was a secret or anything. I thought that I was kind of embarrassed; when I learned that I had gotten Nina pregnant back in August, I didn't want to think back on that night; after Nina left my apartment without a word, I didn't think I had gotten her pregnant. I practically knew nothing about girls at the time; when I was 16, I still cringed whenever my sisters said they were on their period.

No one really knew about the night we met, other than Nina and I; but I didn't think one of us would be spilling the beans anytime soon, no matter how curious Amber was. After Amber finished her story, she pointed to Eddie; I didn't know what she thought of him, considering she didn't know him.

"Well, my name's Eddie. I'm still 16, but I'll be 17 in two weeks. I'm originally from America, but my mom died so I was sent here to bond with my dad. Nothing really interesting about me."

"Oh, please!" Mara scoffed. "If you weren't interesting, I wouldn't have had a crush on you when I was 13. Sure, I may not be interesting, but I wouldn't have had a crush on you if you weren't interesting!"

Snickers from Jerome and Alfie; I stopped Amber from squealing in delight as a new couple bloomed by pointing to Mara, who was blushing feverishly, to begin her introduction. I was interested in what Nina's friends were going to say; I practically knew nothing about them, other than the fact theat they were Nina's friends.

"I'm Mara Jaffray. I'm about to turn 18 in December, so I'm the oldest out of the three of us. I'm the brightest witch of my age, and I'll always be smarter than Eddie and Nina. So there."

"Seeming as the toddler next to you can't speak in full sentences," Eddie pointed to Emma, sitting next to me on the loveseat, her tiny two-year-old feet dangling off the couch, barely even touching the ground, "I'll do her introduction for her.

"Her name is Emma Grace Martin, daughter of Nina Martin and famous celebrity Fabian Rutter. She's two, born on May 25th, 2010. She's really carefree and doesn't listen most of the time when Uncle Eddie tells her to do something, but she's really into horses. And she's still potty-training so just beware of that."

"Horses, eh?" I questioned, turning to my daughter. "I never knew that about you."

But she didn't respond; all she did was kick her feet, probably thinking about how high she was off the ground at that moment. In only a few years, her feet would touch the ground; I doubt that Emma would go by her full name, or refer to Eddie as "Uncle", or even be into horses. When she was Nina's age, she'd be completely different from how she is right now.

Thinking about the future made me uneasy; in a measly eleven years, Emma would be a teenager. She might not like horses anymore and she might not refer to me as "Daddy" anymore. And no one knew where my fame would take me; in eleven years, my fame might still be there when I'm 30, or it might die out. I kind of hoped it would die out, so that when Emma's in her teens and having a hard time in high school, I'd be there for her. When someone called her a slut because she had a teen mother, or if a boy called her ugly, I'd drive up to that school and punch the life right out of them.

I didn't like change. I didn't want anything to change. Because if things changed, things will be different. I'd mess it up. I'd already messed up my relationship with Nina, and I'd only known her for three months. I'd mess it up even more if I told her I was in love with her . . .

"Oh, Fabian!" Amber groaned, getting up from the couch where she was sitting; the common room was small, only consisting of one couch and a loveseat; Emma and I occupied the loveseat and Eddie and Mara sat on the couch; Jerome, Alfie, and Mick were on the floor, while Amber took the spare seat next to Eddie and Mara on the couch.

"Can I pretty please with a cherry on top play with Emma again?" she begged, getting down on her knees and looking up at me with puppy dog eyes. "She's so cute, and I'm basically her aunt! Even though she has four aunts already..."

I shot her a death glare, and Amber giggled. Then, without my consent, she snatched Emma up off the couch and ran into the kitchen with her, laughing the whole way there.

"Um . . ." I muttered, sitting up quickly, looking around at all the chuckling people in the common room. "Mick . . . would you come with me? I don't think I can handle my child and Amber in the same room alone..."

Chuckling again, Mick stood up, biding a goodbye to Eddie and Mara. "Sure thing, mate." Then we walked into the common room, leaving Eddie and Mara with Alfie and Jerome, but I didn't think too much of it; Mara looked like she was sure getting cozy with Jerome.

When we arrived at the kitchen, Emma was lying on the floor, and Amber was looking in the cabinets for something. I rolled my eyes, leaned down to pick my daughter up, and kept her in my arms; Mick shot me an approving glance.

"What?" I asked, scooching Emma up a little bit higher so she wouldn't slide out of my grasp.

"Oh, nothing," he muttered, looking completely happy with himself. He pointed to Amber, who was still searching the cabinets, making a wreck of the place; eventually, before I could go over there and help her, brought out a pan of vegetables and laid them all on the counter: broccoli, carrots, zucchini, and pretty much everything else.

"Okay," Amber breathed, presenting the veggies on the counter. "What do you think Emma likes to eat?" she asked, pointing to the girl in my arms, who was no sucking on her thumb. I wondered if Nina ever gave her a pacifier.

"Dunno," I shrugged. I was about to set Emma down on the counter, like I'd been doing for the past hour or two, but before I could do that, a fly landed on her shoulder, and she exploded like she did with Mick.

"Oh, no, not again!" Mick yelled, covering his ears and screaming as he ran back into the living room. The sounds of Emma's wails drifted into the common room, where Eddie, Mara, Alfie, and Jerome's heads were now turned. Eddie groaned, rolled his eyes, and raised his eyebrows, silently telling me what to do.

"Fabian, what do we do?!" Amber wailed, along with Emma, who was sitting in my arms, once again crying her eyes out. "I . . . I didn't mean to . . . I'm so sorry!"

And that smug little carrot was sitting on the counter, just waiting to be creamed with the help of Jerome Clarke, who was about to get his first kiss in twenty years.

A/N: I AM SO SORRY FOR THAT ENDING. These chapters are just getting worse by the minute...but I'm very inspired to get on to the next chapter, so don't worry. There's [most definitely] an update next week, because even though school is starting soon, I really want to just get most of my writing over with.
Harrass me on Tumblr and on here if you want an update. I am being 101% serious.
I do hope you enjoyed this horrific chapter, and I hope you have a sparkling day!
~Lia