Halloween was coming up and Melissa knew James would want to dress up. He would dress up year round if he could. Only Melissa wouldn’t allow it.
@MelWright: I wonder who James plans on being this year.
Melissa was tweeting in class to keep herself awake during the boring lecture. She knew she would pay for when they had a quiz or test, but right then she didn’t care. As Melissa continued to scroll down her timeline a tweet caught her eye.
@DaniellePeazer: James showing @Real_Liam_Payne whose boss www.keek.com/pH487g
Melissa was dying to watch the clip, but she couldn’t in class. The last five minutes seemed to drag on the longest. She watched the clock anxiously. When Professor Hardy finally dismissed class Melissa practically ran out. As she made her way to the campus child care center, she slipped in her headphones and clicked play. Danielle had recorded James chasing Liam for an apparent toy. When he finally caught him, James wore a victorious smile. The whole scene was cute, but Melissa didn’t smile. She knew subconsciously Danielle meant no harm, but it felt like a confirmation of Carmen’s words. Something about the way the girl laughed when Liam swept James into his arms and how Liam smiled at the camera bothered her. Not to mention the fact that James was no exposed to One Direction fans that could have one of two reactions to the fact that one of their heartthrobs had a son. Melissa was just unsettled by the whole thing.
As she continued to pick up James it felt like eyes were watching her. Melissa looked around but everyone was busy heading to their own destinations. She chalked the feeling off to paranoia and being bothered by the video clip. When she got to the childcare center Mrs. Diane, the usual worker, was reading to the kids in a circle. Melissa waited patiently. She smiled watching how focused James was on the story. When it ended Mrs. Diane got his attention and pointed to the door. James ran to his mum excitedly. Melissa bent forward catching and placing him on her hip.
“Hey James, I missed you.” She squeezed him in a hug and kissed his cheek. “Did you miss me?” she asked pulling back.
James nodded, “Miss you.” Melissa smiled. She loved to hear her son talk. “I want candy.”
Melissa gasped, “You want candy? I don’t know about that. Go get your bag.” She placed him on the floor allowing herself to sign him out. James reappeared with his small backpack which was practically empty. She took his hand and led him out of the door. “Did you have fun?”
“Yeah, we read and played.”
“Oh that sounds like fun.” Melissa smiled. James would continue talking even if she didn’t say anything. They had reached the car and she was buckling him into his safety seat when his words caught her attention. “What did you say?”
“I say I get candy with Daddy and Dani.”James repeated himself as if it was a chore. Melissa nodded stiffly and got behind the steering wheel. She wasn’t sure what surprised her more, the fact that James was already attached to Danielle or that he called Liam daddy.

Liam scratched his head as he listened to Louis and Niall scheme. They were all together in the studio to work on some new music. The label wanted to hear what they had so far.
“What are you blokes talking about?” Zayn asked leaning forward and joining the conversation. He had just come out of the recording booth.
“Eleanor and Lou want to have a party for Halloween, but they’re thinking too tame.” Louis announced. Harry had gone into the recording booth taking Zayn’s place.
“What do you consider tame?” Liam asked in pure curiosity. He knew the lads could get crazy ideas (crazier than him pulling down Harry’s pants during What Makes You Beautiful).
Niall shrugged, “We don’t know anything.” He admitted leaning back on the black leather sofa. Louis’s face scrunched up in dissatisfaction. He turned to Liam, “Are you going to come?” The Irish boy asked.
Liam shrugged, “I’m not sure, but most likely.”
“It’s going to be kids friendly. You should bring James.” Louis suggested.
“Oh yeah,” Zayn nodded. “I haven’t met him yet.” He looked at Liam expectantly.
“I don’t know lads really. Melissa may have plans with him already.” Zayn pursed his lips at Liam’s response. Louis rolled his eyes while Niall simply shrugged. None of them understood what Liam was going through. Heck! He hardly understood it himself.
When Liam got home he found Danielle napping on the couch. He kissed her forehead gently waking her up. Her eyes fluttered as she stirred. Once her vision adjusted she smiled at her loving boyfriend and sat up on the couch.
“Hey, how was your day?” she asked in a sleepy voice.
Liam sighed taking a seat, “It was good. Apparently there’s going to be a party for Halloween.”
Danielle nodded, “We started a new routine today for the party we’re entertaining.”
“Wait, you’re working on Halloween?” Liam asked caught off guard. He hadn’t known this previously. Danielle nodded. “Oh, well maybe I can get James and won’t have to go to the party alone.” Danielle smiled optimistically as Liam pulled out his phone.
Liam: Hey how’s James?
Melissa: He’s good; just begging for a costume. I don’t have class tomorrow so I’m going to take him to find something before I go to work.
Liam: Need some help? I’m free.
Melissa: Ummm sure you can come. It’ll be around twelve.
Liam: See you then.

Melissa looked at her reflection carefully inspecting her outfit choice. It was quite chilly outside so she choose a black long sleeve tee, denim skinny jeans, black Air Force shoes, and a red and white snapback. It wasn’t her typical ensemble, but she felt like switching it up. James wore a black thermal, chinos, and white tennis shoes.
“I need hat mummy.” He decided as he looked at himself in the mirror. Sometimes he put more into his appearance than Melissa put into hers.
“You don’t have a hat.” Melissa informed him as she took him out her cell phone. James was standing on the bathroom counter. “Will you take a picture with mummy?” she asked him as he began to dance on the counter. James nodded excitedly. Melissa held her phone out. She placed her free hand on her hip as James folded his arms with his best tough guy face. Melissa smirked and captured the picture. The next picture she took was of her kissing James’s cheek. His mouth was in an ‘o’ because she had caught him by surprise. The final picture James got his revenge. Melissa smiled as James wrapped his arms around her neck and kissed her cheek. After taking him off of the counter she reviewed the picture deciding to upload the last one and use the first as her profile picture.
@MelWright: All I need is James Hunter Payne-Wright and I’ll be happy forever.
She captioned the picture as she uploaded it to her Twitter profile. It was cute if she had to admit so herself. James ran to his room to retrieve his backpack. He beat her to the door by seconds. He could be easily excited.
“Let’s go,” he stretched up on his tippy toes trying to open the door. Melissa helped him with a smile. They were meeting Liam for lunch first and then going to find James’s costume.

“If you don’t eat you can’t get a costume.” Liam informed James who was refusing to eat his food for reasons unknown. The voice he used was stern. Melissa was nearly surprised, but she saw the affect it had on James. He nodded somberly and took a bite of the chicken strips. “It worked,” Liam was surprised by his own effectiveness.
Melissa took a sip of her Sprite, “I swear if he starts listening to you more than me I will be so done.” Liam chuckled finishing his own lunch. They were at Marcy’s once again. It was ironic really Liam and James somehow ended up dressed similar. Liam wore a black shirts, chinos, and white shoes. He also had a snapback unlike James who felt left out.
“So we have to get him a costume and hat.” Liam thought aloud. Melissa raised her eyebrow at the last part. He shrugged, “Every boy needs at least one hat.”
“He’s two,” Melissa reminded him but Liam didn’t waiver. His mind was set. It looked like James would be getting his hat after all.
After the three of them finished lunch they headed to the nearest store with costumes on sale. Melissa lost count of how many times James said no and shook his head. Liam groaned as James refused the Woody from Toy Story costume that he held up.
“We’re never going to get out of here.” He faked cried laying his head on Melissa’s shoulder. She patted his head comfortingly. The contact lasted for a minute before they both realized and quickly pulled away. Liam cleared his throat, “Maybe if we split up.” He suggested.
Melissa nodded, “I’ll look over here and you can take James over there.” They split up and continued to look. After a while Melissa made her way to Liam and James carrying the costume she had found confidently. “Look what I got James.” She smiled in anticipation. James’s eyes lightened as he took in the Robin costume.
“I want it.” He pulled at it excitedly. Liam sighed as if a large weight had been lifted off of his shoulders. “Come on Daddy you be Batman.”
Melissa’s smile fell, “Just when I thought we were done.” She muttered as James pulled Liam away. She decided to go to the food court. She needed caffeine and she needed fast.
Liam and James found Melissa sitting at a small round table clutching a venti sized cup of coffee for dear life. He held up the bags victoriously before taking a seat. Melissa watched as James looked around curiously.
“So what are your plans for him on Halloween? There’s a party and I wanted to take him along.”
Melissa set her cup down, “We always go trick-or-treating. He really likes it and I get free candy to last me for at least a month.” Liam nodded with a disappointed frown. “But you can come with us and afterwards you and James can go to the party.” The words left her mouth before she could think them through.
Liam smiled, “That sounds like a plan.” He agreed looking over at James who was waving at anyone who walked by. “He’s friendly, isn’t he?”
Melissa scuffed, “You have no idea.” She took a sip of her coffee. She obviously needed more than she realized since she was extending random invitations. Around two they left the mall. Liam took James with him since Melissa had to get to work. They hugged goodbye and he kissed her cheek. Melissa bent down to hug James and tell him bye. As she stood from the squatting position Liam helped her up always being the gentlemen. Their eyes met and there was something unspoken. It was interrupted by a passing vehicle. Melissa quickly collected herself and speedily walked to her car. She had no idea what was wrong with her.