Julia’s POV:
It’s been about a week now, and Lexi is still getting used to calling Niall ‘daddy’ or ‘dad’. We’ve tried our best to keep her away from the paparazzi, and so far, so good. Lately, Lexi has grown much closer to Niall and it made me happier than ever. I just didn’t know how to tell her that he would be going away soon.

“Mommy, I’m tired.” Lexi whined, nuzzling her head into my neck.

“I know baby, daddy should be here soon, okay?” I had to bring Lexi to work today since Christa had places to go, and Matt was out of town. As for the boys, they were somewhere doing something I honestly didn’t care about. I called Niall and he said he try to be there as soon as possible.

“Moooooooommy!” Lexi started to get louder. I sighed, and watched her begin to cry.

“Lex, don’t cry, please. I understand you’re tired but your dad is running late.” I picked up my phone and saw that it was getting closer to her bed time. Niall was an hour late. Where the hell was he!? I looked back over at Lexi, seeing her kicking her legs all over and throwing a tantrum. Thanks, Niall.

“MOMMY! I’M TIRED! I WANT DADDY! I WANT DADDY!” She yelled, and cried hysterically. I heard a knock at the door and soon enough, Niall walked in.

“Where the hell were you!?” I yelled at him as he looked down, and shoved his hands in his pockets.

“I was…out…” He still didn’t look at me.

“Wow, it’s nice to know you don’t even care about your daughter.” I scoffed going over to Lexi’s bag which was placed by my stuff. I gather everything she took out from earlier and zipped up the bag.

“Oh, don’t even go there with me, Jules. You know I care about her.” He argued back.

“Apparently not enough.” I mumbled, giving him Lexi’s bag.

“I couldn’t cancel! I’ve canceled plans with this person for a while so I couldn’t cancel this one.” He said in the same annoyed tone.

“Oh, really? And who exactly is this person who you obviously want to spend time with rather than your daughter?” I figured it was just the boys but now that he said this, I was wondering who it actually was.

“It was…Demi.” He replied, looking back down. My stomach grew sick at the name that just escaped his lips.

“Oh.” Was all I managed to say. I walked over to give Lexi a kiss, then exited the room without another word or look towards Niall.

Niall’s POV:
“Daddy, I’m tired…” Lexi whined, wrapping her arms around my leg. I bent down to pick her up, and placed her on my hip. I gave her a kiss on the top of her head before she nuzzled her little head in my neck.

“I know, princess. We’re gonna get you to sleep real soon.” I assured her, making my way out of Julia’s dressing room. I have no idea why Julia was so upset. It’s not like she still had feelings for me. I thought it was best if I moved on. Yes, I went out to dinner with Demi. We’ve been talking for a few years now and I think we kind of have a connection. Not really sure what kind of connection, but I know it’s there. I just hope things could maybe work out between us…

“Daddy, are we going to see my uncles?” The boys thought it was officially okay to call them her uncles. Now she refers to them as Uncle Liam, Uncle Zayn, Uncle Harry, and Uncle Louis.

“I don’t know, they might still be out.” I replied, not really knowing where the others were.

“When will they be back daddy?” For a tired three-year-old, she didn’t seem very tired asking all these questions.

“I’m not sure.” We finally exited the huge building and made our way to my car.

“Why aren’t you with them?”

“I was out doing my own thing.” I didn’t want to bring up Demi, in case she had a billion more questions to ask me.

“Why?”

“Because I can.” I said, not sounding rude. “Hey, I thought you were tired?” She just shrugged her shoulders.

“Daddy can we get some ice cweam?” Lexi started whining again.

“No, not tonight. It’s already way past your bedtime.” As I opened the car door, I set her down in her seat and strapped her in, seeing as she was too tired to do it herself.

“Please daddy?” Her whines got louder and louder, but I shook my head.

“No, baby.”

“DADDY I WANT ICE CWEAM!” She yelled as she kicked the back of the seat once I got in.

“Alexis Hor- Cowell.” I started to say Horan but realized that’s not her last name…although it should be.

“Daaaaaaaddy!” She began break out into tears. Man, this kid was a handful. I thought it was called the terrible two’s not the terrible three’s!

“Nope, and that’s final.” I would not give in, because if I did, I’m sure Jules would kill me.

The whole ride home, Lexi cried and kicked the back of my seat and screamed. I found a way to sort of tune it out for the whole twenty-minute drive. When we got back to the hotel the boys and I were staying at, she didn’t want to get out of her seat.

“Lexi, come on.” I said crossing my arms. She shook her head and looked away from me.

“No!” She refused.

“You know, you’re just like your mother.” I rolled my eyes and tried to unbuckle her, but she swatted my hands away. I shrugged my shoulders and closed her door making her think I was leaving her in there. Instead, I stepped to the side where she couldn’t see me. I could hear her continue to cry and scream.

“DADDY COME BACK. PLEASE. I’M SORRY.” Was what she yelled. I chuckled and opened the door again, appearing in front of it. She still had an angry look on her face, but she unbuckled herself and got out of the car. It was late at night and there were no paparazzi outside, which was good. I did not want anyone to see this girl’s tantrum. She didn’t speak to me once, as we rode the elevator up to the top floor.

“You definitely need to go to bed.” I said, a bit worn out from her tantrum. She still didn’t say anything. She just folded her arms and stomped into my room. I opened up her bag and handed Lexi her pajamas. She just sat there and I sighed.

“I don’t wanna go to bed.” She whined again. Heeeeere we go.

“Oh for Pete’s sake, Lexi. Just put your pajamas on, please!” I said a bit crankily. She shook her head and ran into the bathroom, locking herself in there. I ran after her but I was too late.

“Go away!” She cried when I tried to open the door.

“Lexi, babe. Come out of there.” I tried opening the door again, but there was no use. I didn’t know what to do. So, I called up someone who was great with kids and would certainly know how to get her out of there.

-

“Thanks so much for coming.” I said, opening the door and greeting the person who I knew could help me.

“No problem. I love helping out with kids!” Demi stepped inside the room with a wide smile. “So where is she?” She asked looking around.

“She locked herself in the bathroom.” I sighed, pointing to where the bathroom was. She walked over to it and knocked on the door.

“Go away daddy.” Lexi said quietly. It was no surprise to Demi that she called me daddy because I told her already that I had a child. Demi isn’t one to go to the public and just announce my life and I trust her. We’ve been friends for a while now and she deserved to know.

“It’s not your daddy.” Demi replied sitting right by the door. I sat on the bed as I watched her.

“Who is that?” She replied, curiously.

“My name is Demi. Demi Lovato. I’m a friend of your dad’s.” Demi looked over and smiled at me, as I smiled back.

“Oh…hi.” Lexi said back which made me chuckle lightly. Even when she was upset, she could still manage to be polite. A little.

“Hey, sweetie.” Demi giggled softly. “Why don’t you come on out?” She asked.

“I don’t want to. Daddy is being mean.” She replied.

“Sweetheart, I don’t think he’s being mean on purpose. He’s just taking care of you. That’s how dads are. He cares about you and loves you soooo much! He just wants you to rest so you can be all energized in the morning!” Demi smiled and for a moment, there was no noise on the other side of the door. After the pause of silence, the door slowly creaked open.

“Really?” Lexi asked, poking her head out to see Demi. Demi laughed and nodded her head.

“Really.” Demi confirmed. Lexi looked over at me, and slowly walked towards me. She stopped about five inches away from me and rocked back and forth on her heels.

“Sorry daddy…” She said almost in a whisper. A smile grew on my face and I pulled a strand of her hair behind her ear.

“I accept your apology.” She wrapped her arms around me, and I pulled her onto my lap. “But you still have to go to bed, okay?” I said, and she nodded her head. Lexi grabbed the clothes that were on the bed and skipped her way into the bathroom.

“See, that wasn’t so hard now was it?” Demi laughed and stood up. She walked towards me and sat on the bed next to me.

“Thank you so much. I’m still new to all of this parenting and what not…” I sighed.

“Niall, really, don’t worry about it. You’re a great a father. I promise.” We gazed into each other’s eyes for a moment, both of us leaning in slowly until…

“I’M READY!” Lexi said, coming out of the bathroom in her little onesie. Demi and I both pulled away as soon as Lexi came out of the bathroom.

“Wow, look at you!” Demi said, trying to quickly make the room less awkward. Lexi giggled and spun around to show us her pajamas. I smiled at her.

“Niall…I mean daddy, I’m—“ She cut herself off as she yawned.

“Tired?” I finished her sentence for her. She nodded her head and quickly ran over to me so I could pick her up.

“Nighty night, Demi.” Lexi smiled tiredly and waved. Demi laughed quietly and waved back.

“Goodnight pumpkin.” Demi leaned in and gave her a small hug before she stood up.

“Thanks again for coming.” I smiled at her.

“Niall, it’s not a problem.” She smiled back and looked down at the floor. “I should get going…”

“Well um...goodnight then.” I gave her a small kiss on the cheek as a sign of thanks.

“Goodnight.” She blushed and left the hotel room. I heard another yawn come from Lexi and I looked over to see her eyes slowly shutting. I walked over to the bed, and gently lay her down, pulling the covers over her. I laid beside her and quietly turned the light off. I felt the bed shift due to Lexi moving, and soon enough she placed a small kiss on my cheek.

“I love you daddy.”

Notes

Sorry this one is lame. It's mainly a filler chapter and I needed more Lexi/Niall moments. Oh, and now Demi is in it. Okay so obviously Jules doesn't like Demi, and in the future there could be some mean things said about her, but just an FYI: I FRICKIN' LOVE DEMI LOVATO.

So please no hate ;D

Thanks for reading!

~Camryn