michael.

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I was finally able to shut my eyes and go to bed. It was a long day and I would only be faced with even longer hours in the many days to come. Don't get me wrong, I love touring and I love traveling from city to city, but the one thing I had to sacrifice in exchange of living my dreams is sleeping. In the midst of all the jet lag, early mornings and late nights, I was still able to function on as little as 4 or 5 hours of sleep-- assuming it was uninterrupted.  This time however, interruptions plagued my slumber. 

I jolted upwards in my bunk, banging my head on the top of the bunk. I immediately rubbed the throbbing area with my hand, groaning in pain as I tried to ebb the ache. Melody's high-pitched cries filled my ears and hitting my ear drums with an annoying and startling buzz. I pushed aside the small curtain that hid me away from the world as I slept, and jumped down from my bunk. 

I knew those cries.

Melody was having another night terror and these were frequent. Social services mentioned and highlighted it in her case that Melody suffered from these demonic nightmares ever since her mother died. Normally, my mother took care of Melody during these nighttime interruptions but unfortunately, my mum was not here and I had to deal with my own daughter. 

"Melody," I grumbled, turning on the bus lights. 

My eyes squinted shut in reaction to the amount of sudden light. With only one eye open, I crouched down next to Melody's bottom bunk and pushed the curtains aside. She sat up in her bed, clutching onto her stuffed monkey with a face etched with pure fear. 

"Shhh, calm down princess," I whispered, rubbing her leg gently. She kept crying and I nervously looked over my shoulder at the bunks that surrounded us. I was pretty sure that the guys were now awake and waiting annoyingly till I pacified Melody's shrieks.

"Michael," a raspy voice caught my attention and I turned my head to see Luke's head sticking out of his bunk with groggy eyes. "Give her some warm milk. It'll help her go back to sleep."

"Don't forget to rock her gently, she likes that," Calum chimed from inside his bunk. Of course, the two youngest in the band would know how to help my own child. They might as well be a gay couple and adopt Melody instead.

With a sigh, I grabbed ahold of Melody and pulled her out of bed. I rested her against my hip, walking away from the bunks and into the kitchen area of the bus. I briefly looked out the window, to see nothing but the open road ahead of us. Opening the fridge, I pulled out a jug of milk and followed Luke's advice. After warming up some milk and handing it to Melody in a bright green, monkey sippy-cup, I took her to the back room of the bus. 

"Drink your milk," I told Melody, plopping down on one of the couches and sitting her down on my lap. 

Instead of listening to me, she continued to cry. I let out another groan, remembering Calum's advice. I cradled Melody so that her head was rested against my forearm and I placed the tip of the sippy cup near her mouth in hopes she'd drink the milk. Unexpectedly, she did and as she drank the milk, I gently rocked the little diva, watching as her cries subsided and her eyes slowly fluttered shut. 

"Victory," I dramatically whispered to myself, happy that Melody was finally asleep again. I placed her back into her bunk with a gentle hand and ever so carefully, I shut the bunk curtains and tip-toed back to mine. Finally, I could go back to bed-- or so I thought. 

"Mummy!" Melody's cries once again filtered into my ears and I grew frustrated as I turned on my heel to aid the upset girl. 

"Melody, will you just sleep," I pleaded, opening up the curtains to find Melody sitting up with tears in her eyes. "What do you want? More milk? A cookie? Work with me here!" 

I couldn't lose my temper with her and I had to stay calm. Blowing up won't do anything but make it worse and I had to do what I can to make her sleep so I can go back to bed.

"Please just go to sleep," I begged, rubbing Melody's back softly, but even the gesture wouldn't do the trick and I was growing frustrated. 

"She doesn't want to be alone," I heard Ashton speak up. I looked up to see his head peaking out of his bunk, gazing down at me with tired eyes.

"What do you expect me to do? Sleep in her bunk? In between Melody and her stuffed Monkey collection?" I replied, snark coating my tone. 

"Don't need to be so damn rude. Just trying to help," Ashton grumbled, rolling back into his bunk. 

"Damnit," I cursed under my breath, deciding to take Ashton's advice. 

I wanted to sleep and I was willing to try anything. I looked at the small cubby that Melody was basically sleeping in and shook my head, totally oppose to the idea of being cramped up in that tiny space. So again, I lifted the crying girl right out of her bunk, seizing her blanket and stuffed monkey too. I went into the back room and sat down on the couch, my legs sprawled before me as I rested my head on one of the throw pillows. I placed Melody in the space between my body and the couch, draping her blanket on top of her. 

"Here's your monkey," I handed her the stuffed toy and she grasped it immediately, hugging it tightly. "Get some rest, you little diva."

Melody's cries slowly morphed into light sniffles and when I looked down, her eyes were still wide open. The moonlight and the passing headlights casted a bluish-silver tint on her face and I could see beads of tears slowly roll down her cheeks with a glow. 

"Why are you so upset?" I sighed, suddenly not feeling tired anymore. "Daddy's here now." 

She didn't answer of course, and just continued to quietly whimper. This was only the first night of the tour and it already was hard on me. I didn't know how I was going to juggle both work and taking care of Melody. I know the boys were here to help but there's only so much I could ask them to do. They're still kids who wanted to go out and have fun. Hell, I'm still a kid.

I'm a kid, with a kid.

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"Aw, they're so adorable," 

I thought I was dreaming when I heard hushed whispers infiltrate my ears but the tighter I tried to shut my eyes only made me realize that I was not dreaming. It was morning which meant it was time to wake up from what only felt like a 30 minute power nap. 

When I finally opened my eyes to the morning sunshine, I found all three boys hovering above me with wide grins on their faces. I also felt a cold, wet sensation on my chest and when I went to touch the area, my fingertips grazed the soft skin of Melody. 

"I told you she didn't want to be alone," Ashton smirked, referring to the tiny girl who was sprawled across my chest, drooling on my shirt. One arm clutched that stuffed monkey and the other clutched onto my side. 

"Where are we?" I asked, my voice cracking.

"Philly," Luke answered, mouth full of cereal as he held the bowl in his large hands. "We have a radio interview in a couple of hours and then soundcheck." 

"Do you want help with Melody?" Calum asked.

I nodded, "yea, that'd be cool. Just entertain her and I'll make the both of us breakfast." 

"I got your back," he proudly chirped, leaning down to grab Melody off of my chest. She squirmed, a frown forming on her face from the sudden change of comfort. "It's okay princess, it's just Unca' Cal," he cooed as he pressed Melody to his chest, her head dropping to rest on his shoulder. 

I got off the couch, walking away as the lads kept Melody company. In the kitchen area, I opened up the cupboards to look for something Melody could eat for breakfast. Normally, my mother was the one who cooked her a nutritious meal three times a day and now my daughter was doomed because I barely knew how to boil water. 

I found some packaged oatmeal and decided that it was foolproof because it was microwavable. It was indeed foolproof, but that didn't mean Melody was going to consume it. 

"I know it isn't grandma's pancakes, but oatmeal is good for you," I persuaded, sitting across from Melody who looked at the bowl of mush with complete discuss. Referring to my mum as a grandma still weirded me out.

"Boys? You have thirty minutes before we have to leave to the station," Jude announced as he entered the tour bus. "Michael, get ready. The car will be here soon to pick you boys up." 

"Melody won't eat breakfast," I groaned, sinking into the seat and taking a sip of the hot tea in my hands. 

"I wouldn't eat that either. What is that?" Jude leaned over Melody, looking at the oatmeal with a cringe. 

"Oatmeal," I answered. "I wanted to give her something healthy." 

"Honey, you need to eat breakfast so you can get ready for the day," Jude kneeled down next to Melody, pushing the bowl of oatmeal towards her. 

"Yucky," Melody scrunched her tiny nose, pushing the bowl away. Jude looked at me with sympathy on his face. He shrugged, as if to apologize for Melody's actions. I don't blame her though, she and I had a lot in common. Healthy food isn't exactly my cup of tea either. 

"I got an idea," I spoke to myself, opening up the cupboard next to the microwave. I pulled out a familiar blue box and pulled out one of the individually wrapped foil packages. Walking over to Melody, I opened up the wrapping and set down the sugary breakfast item in front of her.

"Poptarts?" Jude raised a brow. "That's not exactly nutritious for a growing girl." 

"But she's eating," I pointed out, gesturing towards Melody who happily ate the artificially flavored strawberry pastry. "I'll make her eat veggies for lunch or something. Can you watch her while I change real quick?" 

"You have 25 minutes to get both you and Melody ready," Jude declared. "Unless you want paps and fans to catch Melody in her pajamas." 

"Whatever," I groaned, walking away from my manager and my daughter.

After throwing on a pair of black skinny jeans and an Iron Maiden shirt, I went into Melody's things. I frowned, looking at all the clothes my mum packed for the little girl. Her luggage was littered with pinks, purples, florals and bows. I began to pull out articles of clothing, observing it in the light with confusion. Little girl fashion isn't my forte and I wasn't sure what shirt matched with which pair of shorts. As I continued rummaging through Melody's bag, I found the holy grail; the answer to all my problems; the piece of clothing that would never let me down:

A flannel.

I remember buying this for her at the store last week. Granted, it was in the little boy section but I liked it. I pulled out a pair of pants and one of her many floral tops just as Melody came skipping towards me. 

"Little diva, time to change your clothes," I told her, brandishing out the items before her. "Want to go into the bathroom and get ready?" 

Melody stared at me for a moment before her little, almond shaped ones drifted behind me with a giggle. Confused, I looked over my shoulder to find Luke flapping around his limbs awkwardly before nonchalantly turning away. He whistled, as if the act would imply casualty, but it did the opposite. 

"You're a dumbass," I shook my head at Luke as a small smile formed on my face. "Can you help me get Melody to change please?" 

"Sure thing," Luke complied. He looked at the little girl with a grin, "sweetheart, can you change your clothes? Your daddy and uncles are gonna do some work and afterwards we'll get ice cream. Okay?" 

"Okay Unca' Luke," Melody nodded her head, grabbing the clothes out of my hand and merrily walking into the bathroom. 

I looked at Luke and as if he read my mind, he gave me a pat on the shoulder, "don't worry about it. Melody will come around. You're her dad. She's, like, biologically deemed to love you." 

"I guess," I shrugged. Luke gave me one more reassuring pat on my back before sauntering to the back of the bus. Even though I was Melody's father, it didn't make me her dad. She already grew up three years without me in her life and I wasn't so sure she wanted me there. I had hoped Luke was right-- that she'd come around, but if she didn't, I only had the summer with her. I could give Melody back if I wanted. And at this rate, Melody might have to.

"Boys! The cars are here! Time to go!" Jude's voice rattled the inside of the bus. 

The lads all grabbed their things in a haste and proceeded out the bus. I looked at my bunk, snatching my phone and headphones before following suit. A large, black car was parked outside of the tour bus ready to take us to a Philly radio station. Calum sat in the back making an Instagram video just as the car started to drive off. As I sat on the cool, leather seat, I noticed a booster seat in between Ashton and I. My eyes widened and I let out a gasp that caught the attention of everyone in the car. 

"I forgot Melody!" 

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First of all, can we get a big round of applause for 5SOS' big wins at the AMA's & ARIA's these past few days?! I'm so proud of these four boys and they derserve all their success. I bet their families are really proud of them and I just wanna hug them all.

Second of all, kids and 5SOS still makes my feels go nuts. I don't know how I can go on with this story without dying haha.

Third of all, thank you so much for reading my story. Please VOTE, COMMENT and SHARE this with all your friends. I appreciate it so much. This story is a few hundred away from 1K so let's make it happen?! Thanks again! <33