Stranger! Please be my Child’s Father .Chapter 1: A Team. “Alright, we’ve got a few things lined up for you. Chanty is asking for a track--you remember her from that mixer a few weeks before, right? She’s good, she has a good and stable vocal range, and she’s willing to accept anything that you give her. She respects your work, an avid fan for years. And she’d be a good boost into the pop circuit--there are certain people who still think that you make music that isn’t meant for the charts.” His manager since he had signed onto the entertainment company so many years ago, tapped on his ever present clipboard, not quite looking up at him.“And there’s Vogue, they want to do a shoot with you about one of their collections. I think it suits your style, lots of monochrome looks. That’s less intensive, more of a you go and pose in front of the camera for a few solid hours, and then they’ll edit the shit out of you and you can grace their cover. Or even--”Gael groaned, tossing his head
Stranger! Please be my Child’s Father .Chapter 2: One lie. Two lies. Another. . God fucking damn it. Track seven was going to make him blow his goddamn fucking brains out. He had no idea what the fuck he wanted to do for the melody, had no idea what instruments to start with--he was just facing a blank production track, not a single chord placed on it.It wasn’t like Gael was completely hopeless, no. He had gotten quick a bit of traction with the Chanty collaboration--in fact, that track was close to completion. It was just this stupid track seven that he was unable to gain any headway on. His other co-producers and assistants suggested that he drop the track, that the album would be fine for release without it, but Gael was adamant. He needed that stupid track to be released, he just needed some time. Currently, “some time” was looking like quite a lot: aside from spinning around in his chair for the past thirty minutes, track seven was looking quite empty and untouched. G
Stranger! Please be my Child’s Father .Chapter 3: Not a charity case . If there was one thing that Gael didn’t stand for, it was when people in power abused their dynamic. There was no reason for half of these rich people to act so high and mighty--and sure, okay, fine. Maybe the kid’s super adorable eyes were a part of the reason he stepped in. Maybe because he was so fixated on that, he didn’t notice how the kid’s mother’s eyes rounded in recognition, then fear. A small hand tugged at his sweats, and little Hudson Miller extended his hands upward to him. Gael blinked, before realizing that the little kid wanted to be carried by him. Interesting. Kids were usually really scared of him, so it was nice to see one that was undeterred by his scary man-in-black demeanor. He bent down and hoisted Hudson onto his hip, holding the little one close. “You came! Dada’s here now.” Hudson announced gleefully, patting his cheek. Well, fucking goddamn hell. This little rat child was abso
Stranger! Please be my Child’s Father .Chapter 4: hide no more . “Where’s Dada, Momma? I thought you said that we could talk later? I wanna ask him about everything!” Hudson chattered, swinging their joined hands together. It was the happiest she had seen her son in a while--the little boy was filled with her usual youthful excitement. Arabella sighed, wondering what she did to get into such a mess of things. She couldn’t help but shoot a wary look over her shoulder before tugging her little one to a stop, kneeling down to face him. “Let’s have a little talk, okay?” Arabella murmured gently, not quite wanting to scare her son, but knowing damn well that there was a discussion to be had. Maybe the way home wasn’t exactly the best decision, but Arabella knew that her curious boy would continue asking until he had the opportunity to get the answer or someone gave it to him. “First things first, Hudson, we talked about this this morning. You cannot use your hands to solve an iss
Stranger! Please be my Child’s Father .Chapter 5: non-existent family. [FROM Louis Avian MANAGER: Gael i swear to god i’m going to fucking sue you for stress, i’m about to drop dead with all this goddamn STRESS you’re giving me. I’m going to die from heart related issues, and then i’m going to put the blame on you, and you only, and then take the workman’s comp for my non-existent family, and rob you of your millions. And then i’m going to make sure the next manager you get is the most insufferable bastard you’ve ever had the displeasure of meeting. I’m going to make sure he’s loud, chews loudly and doesn’t leave you alone. And also i hope he thinks that rap is just speaking fast. This would be prevented if you could just OPEN THE FUCKING DOOR!][UNKNOWN NUMBER:Mr Laurent? Please help.]THIS CONTACT IS NOT IN YOUR ADDRESS BOOK.BLOCK?oOoGael blinked at the unknown number--sure, there were always spam calls and those people that trolled the system and ran numbers to get to his,
Stranger! Please be my Child’s Father .Chapter 6: Dada to Daddy. “Who the hell is that?”“That’s Arabella.” Gael rushed to say, glaring back at the woman herself, who had raised her head to glare balefully at Gael. “Your wife?! YOU’RE WITH YOUR wife?!” Louis shrieked.“No!” Arabella stood up, grabbing the phone, and spoke very fast into the receiver. “No. Look. I’m Bella. My son got into trouble today. The school called Gael because my son had written his name down as his emergency contact. Gael, being a major fucking asshole,”“Major fucking superhero,” Gael grumbled, before withering under Arabella’s burning gaze at being interrupted.“Decided to come around and pose like Hudson’s dad. And then, when we went out of the office to talk about what just happened, the paparazzi snapped pictures of us. And now, I’m being mobbed, and my son is scared. So FIX IT, MANAGER SIR. Er.. sorry. I’m usually not that tense. It’s been a long day.” Arabella looked a bit remorseful at shouting at
Stranger! Please be my Child’s Father .Chapter 7: a little slip . “Your momma will still be with you, you’ll still go to the same school.” Hudson pondered that wording a bit more carefully. “And I’ll get to see Daddy!”Gael laughed, wrapping his arms around the little boy, tucking the little frame to his chest. “Absolutely, little tiger.” Hudson shook his head. “Bear! Tae’s a bear.” Gael pinched the end of the little one’s nose lightly, not enough to hurt. “Mmm, maybe you’re your momma’s bear. But you can be my little tiger. You even look like a tiger.”Hudson seemed pleased with that explanation. “Rowr.” He growled, a small squeaky imitation of a tiger. Gael couldn’t resist grinning, planting a kiss on his curly hair. “There you go, my tiger cub.” The two delved into growling at each other, practicing their roars, before pausing as Arabella came to stand in front of him. The sight of her son growling at her pulled a weak smile to the woman’s face, before she set her phone do
Stranger! Please be my Child’s Father .Chapter 8: congrats, Laurent family . “Okay, Mr Laurent. We’ll move in with you. Can you please, please, make sure my two conditions are acknowledged? I promise we’ll be good houseguests, the second this entire thing dies down we’ll leave you alone and let you be. But I’m unwilling to part with any of my conditions. I can’t.” Arabella tentatively broached the subject, and Gael could see how tired the woman got just by talking about their situation. “Okay.” Gael acquiesced. “Okay. We’ll figure out a way around it. I’ll accept the two conditions.”[to Louis Avian MANAGER: Louis. We have an answer.Arabella is willing to pose as my spouse, but she has two conditions.She’s using another name, and she’s not doing any publicity with me.She doesn’t want her face to be seen.][from Louis Avian MANAGER: That’s not looking good at all.][from Louis Avian MANAGER: It won’t look believable.][to Louis Avian MANAGER: I know, but I don’t know what