Zacky was rudely awoken at 8am by three things. His dogs were in a barking frenzy, Linzee was screaming from the kitchen, and someone was banging on the door, muffled yells floating into the house.
He hadn't meant to crash on the couch after finally getting the abandoned baby to sleep, but he'd sent SOS messages out to Brian, Matt and Johnny at 4am, hoping that one of them would turn up in the morning and help him sort this whole mess out.

Groaning, he sat up and rubbed his eyes, stumbling into the kitchen so he could shut the dogs up. That, he knew how to do. He poured food into their bowls, and gently stroked their backs, and eventually, they retreated to another room, suddenly quiet. That was one noise dealt with- now just the other two.
Red faced and crying, Linzee was wailing from the basket, and as he looked into the blankets, he saw how scared she looked. Because she couldn't talk- she didn't know how to communicate other than crying. It almost made Zacky's heart break into little pieces. Gently, he gathered the little girl up in her blankets and held her in his arms, rocking her slowly backwards and forwards, hushing her cries.

"Come on baby, don't be scared. Sssh Linz, I've got you, ssh now" he murmured, still a little sleepy, but happy that the girl in his arms seemed to be quietening down. He was almost prepared to say 'Daddy's got you' but he knew that would only bring back a lot of unanswered questions, and his priority now was taking care of the baby in his arms.

Moments later, her helpless wails had been reduced to small hiccups, little noises that made Zacky giggle like a little girl. She was the most precious little thing, Linzee- in fact it was almost like he had some untold connection with this six month old. When she cried, he felt little tugs on his heart-strings, and when she made cute little noises, it made a warm, fuzzy feeling spread through his body.
Suddenly, the knocking at the door was back. Someone was pounding on it with their fists, hoping to get his attention.
"Zacky, let us in! We know you're awake because your damn dogs and whatever woman is screaming in there have shut up!"
That was Brian, subtle as always. Zacky didn't want to let the baby go, especially seeing as he'd just quietened her down, so he pushed her head down to his shoulder and went to the door.

Two tall muscular shapes stood in the driveway, one stood further back than the other. The one nearest the door was Brian, Zacky could've spotted that hair from a mile off. Which meant the other person had to be Matt, unless Johnny was standing on some sort of box. As he opened the door, it revealed Brian with his fist in the air, half ready to knock again. When he and Matt spotted the bundle in Zacky's arms, and the way Linzee whined at the sudden cold, kicking her legs out, their jaws dropped.
"I'm sorry ma'am, we seem to have the wrong house" Brian said sarcastically, tipping his hat forward like he was addressing an old lady.
"Fuck off, Brian, I need your help" Zacky hissed at him and the two men walked into the house, wandering into the kitchen- where all of Linzee's stuff had just been left. Rubbing one hand over the top of Linzee's head in an attempt to keep her quiet, he followed his friends into the kitchen where they were reading the note that had been attached to the baby.

"Shit, Zacky. This baby gets dumped on your doorstep and you take it in? You should've called the police" Matt said, glancing up from the piece of paper in Brian's hand. He could hear Linzee's hands grabbing for something to hold onto, so he held out his fingers again, and let her tiny fist curl around his index finger. Brian glanced up at the two of them at that point and grinned.
"If I didn't know any better, I swear that kid was his own. Was that why you had to get rid of those extra pounds, Zee? Cause you had a baby bump?" he joked, and Zacky glared at him. Now was not the time for jokes, there was a kid here he needed to take care of.

"I couldn't call the police, Matt. Hell, I thought about it, but then she looked so scared...I just couldn't give her to the cops and move on with my life. She's got me under some sort of spell" he replied, chucking Linzee under the chin and planting a soft kiss on her cheek. The girl, who was staring at the two other men in the room with surprise, and suddenly- she smiled. It was small, but it was enough to make Zacky's heart turn to mush.
"Well, you seem to be smitten. But she's a baby Zacky, you don't know the first thing about taking care of a kid" Matt said again, biting his lip. He'd always been the realist out of the three of them, but Zacky knew he couldn't let Linzee go. She was his now.

"Then I'll learn! I've got nieces and nephews, Matt, it's not like learning a new language. I'll get books, take a class or something, but I will look after this child. Every kid deserves a home with someone who'll look after them and love them to death. Linzee just happened to be the kid I got" he declared, bouncing the baby in his arms up and down a little more, in the hope that she would smile again.
"Well, it's your decision. And if you want to become a Dad at twenty six, then that's fine by us" Brian said, pausing when he saw Zacky's attention was still on the little girl in his arms.
"Plus, you two do look pretty adorable"

Zacky grinned, watching his friends' faces light up when Linzee erupted into laughter after he tickled her little palms. She was beautiful, even at ten months. And now, it was up to Zacky to make sure she stayed beautiful.
"So what are you going to do first? This isn't a 'Three Men With A Baby' movie- it's not all provided. None of us know the first thing about taking care of such a cute little girl" Matt said, approaching the two of them, and smiling down at Linzee. She smiled back and looked at Zacky, Brian and Matt, waiting for someone to answer.

"I think we need to go shopping" Brian concluded firmly, joining the strange little group.
She only deserved the best.

And dammit, Zacky was going to make sure that was what his new princess got.