"That's the second person in this store that thought we were a gay couple. Zack, can you please just pick out what you need and then let's go!" Brian whined as Zacky dragged him through yet another upmarket store, looking for the last thing on his list: clothes.

Grudgingly, Matt had offered to watch Linzee while Zacky dragged Brian shopping, since it was his suggestion in the first place. The two of them had almost gotten everything that an advice book for new parents suggested getting. Most of it was in the trunk of Zacky's expensive car, but now both of Brian's hands were filled with shopping bags.

"Come on darling, I just need find something gorgeous for my special little girl" Zacky mocked in the campiest voice he could muster, fanning himself over his best friend and acting like the two of them were in a relationship. Zacky was almost wasting his time, aside from finding dresses for Linzee, because he could call up his people at Vengeance University and have them knock up some of the designs for a ten month old girl. Brian rolled his eyes and pushed Zacky away, pointing over at a stack of neatly piled purple baby-gros.
"Why don't you buy her one of these? It's a good colour- she'd look good in purple" he said, shuffling the bags in his arms around so he had at least one free hand to pick up the top one. Rolling it out, the words 'Daddy's Little Girl' were written on the front in white.

"Alright, honey, we'll get the purple one" Zacky replied with a sweet smile, as Brian flipped him off, throwing the purple outfit into the basket his friend was holding.
Suddenly, someone cleared their throat behind the two men, and they turned around.
A short, pretty, brunette girl, around the same age as Zacky and Brian stood there, and before she could open her mouth, Brian announced,
"We are not gay! My friend is just an idiot"

"I wasn't going to ask if you were a gay couple, but for the record, you guys look good together. I was going to say, can I help you with anything? You seem a little lost" she laughed, a sweet British accent shining through her voice. She giggled again when Zacky and Brian looked at each other in disbelief and shook her head. Brian patted Zacky on the back, knowing already that his friend was checking out the assistant and pointed to a pile of shoes.
"I'll grab Linzee some shoes, you can put it on my tab!" he said, and wandered over to the gaggle of single mothers crowding around the pile, probably to hit on one of them.

"Um, let me guess. Single parent?" the assistant said again, bringing Zacky back into the conversation and he nodded. He was a sort of guardian/parent, though the papers Zacky's lawyer was currently drafting said nothing was official yet, and he was single- it made some sort of sense.
"Sort of. A baby was abandoned on my doorstep a few days ago, and I'm looking after her. There's a lot of legal implications, but she was too precious to let go" he explained sheepishly. Telling people he was now a parent wasn't exactly something Zacky told women when he was trying to get them to like him, or even agree to a date if it got that far.

"That's so noble of you! I don't know many guys that would look after a baby, especially someone who has a whole other life outside their private one" she said, and confusion clouded over Zacky until he remembered what his public life was like- and how people spotted him everywhere. He was the guitarist for Avenged Sevenfold for Pete's sake, people were bound to recognise.
"You know who I am?"
"Busted. I'm a big fan of your band, Zacky. I didn't want to say anything, but after seeing all those people ask you if you were gay, I knew I had to talk to you"

Zacky grinned at the girl, glancing over his shoulder at his friend, who was talking a young single Mom with a similar smile on his face. Women fell over his feet to get to Brian- but they wanted Synyster Gates, the dark and devious mystery man, not the man who spent three hours in front of a mirror to get his hair perfect.
"The internet would have a fit if that was true"
"Well, the fangirl's never lie" she replied with a smile that almost made Zacky going into cardiac arrest. She was beautiful- there was no denying that.

"Listen, I'm kind of new to the whole parenting thing. Would it be crazy of me to ask you to come over and give me a few pointers?" Zacky asked nervously, hoping he wouldn't be denied in the middle of a public place, because he had suffered more than enough public humiliation today. The girl smiled at him, and pulled a piece of paper out of her back pocket, writing something down on it.
"Here's my number, give me a call when you need some advice. I'm Keira by the way" she smiled, before turning on her heel and wandering off to help some other customers. Zacky watched her leave, a silly smile on his face, before his trance was broken by Brian, holding a pair of baby sized Converse.

"Good for you, you got a date! Now hurry up- if I spend any more time around hormonal mothers, I might turn into one"

***

An hour later, Brian and Zacky had loaded the last of the stuff from the car into the house, and had found Matt asleep on the couch with Linzee screaming bloody murder next to him. He'd be a great father someday, but Zacky made a mental note to buy him a voucher for parenting classes when he finally became one. Leaving Brian to deal with waking Matt up and sorting out the stuff, Zacky picked up the little baby and started to rock her again, wondering why babies didn't just come with a little monitor that told you what was wrong with them.

"I somehow managed to change her, feed her, and put her to sleep- but then I fell asleep, so she obviously wants something else now" Matt announced from the living room as Linzee began to sniffle in Zacky's arms, her arms clutching around Zacky's neck in a sort of hug. He felt a little choked up at how precious Linzee was to him, even after a few days. He was going to raise her like his own, and soon she would be.

He was amazed at how quickly he could quieten Linzee down, and yet again, her wails had been reduced to little tears as she clung to her make-shift Daddy, her big eyes staring up at him.
"See, baby, there's nothing to cry about. I've got you, it's all gonna be OK. Little Linz, what am I going to do with you, except love you like crazy?" Zacky said with a chuckle, and instantly the girl in his arms responded, laughing loudly, even through her tears. Her smile made Zacky's heart skip a beat, just at the hands of his almost daughter and he grinned back. And for once, he allowed himself to say it. Matt and Brian were occupied in the living room, it was just him and Linzee in the hallway- and for once, he wanted to say it.

"Daddy's got you, sweetheart, and he's going to love you to death. Daddy's here"