count your blessings [one shots]

tres // michael clifford

michael

"daddy, how did you and mummy meet?" my precious, little four year old daughter, london asked. we might've named her in the beginning just because of the irony of it, but i had come to grow fond of the name. 

"yeah daddy, tell us!" nathan, london's younger by 7 minutes, twin, added in.

my wife, zoe and i, sat side by side on the white couch with a kid perched on each lap. london on mine, nathan on her's. 

"well, if you really want to know, daddy'll tell you the whole story." zoe sent me a charming smile, that still got me every time. 

"well here it goes, guys.." i said taking in a deep breath

flashback

"wow! no way! you're michael clifford from 5 seconds of summer!" 

these words, michael had heard a million times before and nothing really made this anymore different. he turned to see a different sight than most. he usually saw three types of looks; the slutty crop top showing a large portion of thee belly, with shorts that barely covered their asses. then there was the sweat pants and sweatshirt look, and lastly just the skinny jeans and t-shirt look. 

there was something a bit different about her look, more like a great difference. she was wearing a costume of a hot dog, holding a sign. she stood in front of the hot dog, pizza and hamburger shop michael was about to walk into. 

"hello love, how are you?" michael asked, trying to be polite and proper. the girl, who he could see to be a pretty asian rolled her eyes through the hole in the costume for the face. 

"really." she stared disbelievingly at michael, "how do you think i really am?" she asked, sarcasm dripping through her tone. 

michael was shocked to say at the least, this was probably the most blunt a fan had ever been towards him. and he liked it. 

"it is quite hot out here, isn't it?" michael noticed, as he felt sweat beads rolling down the back of his neck. it was much more than just hot, it was july in a small town in california and it was definitely in the high 80's to 90's. 

"no shit." the girl said to him, her first words of adoration and shock, turned sarcastic and sassy. 

"so when do you get off work?" michael asked casually, passing it off as friendly and as an apology for his behavior. but inside he wanted to get to know this girl better. she checked her wrist for a watch that wasn't there and groaned. 

"could you tell me what time it is?" she asked, her voice sounding sincere for the first time. my hand reached into my back pocket and pulled out my iphone.

"it's exactly 1 pm." i told her and she breathed a sigh of relief, and pumped a fist into the air.

"i'm off, sucker!" she yelled to the boy walking up to her, with a grave look on his face. he was probably the next shift worker. 

she openly stripped in broad daylight wearing black leggings and a white and black striped tank top, to match his current hair.

she had a nice figure, michael had noticed to himself.

"let me treat you to a pizza or something" michael suggested cautiously, offering a hand to the girl, who's name he still didn't know. she nodded and set a smirk on her face as she lead both of them to the two glass front doors. 

"you're paying" she informed me as i caught up to her, walking beside her. 

"of course" i bantered back, a wide smile on my face. 

"by the way, i'm zoe" she said to me with a mischievous smile, as she turned to face me as we stood in front of the glass entrance doors. 

and those were the words that began the change to their whole lives

flashback end

[michael's pov]

"so that's how you and mummy met!" london said, her adorable chubby fingers clasped together in fron tof her face. 

nathan giggled, "that's gross" he said, a hand waving around in front of his face.

zoe leaned into me and rested her head into the crook of my shoulder. i nudged her up and turned to face her. i took my right arm that originally rested around nathan's waist and wrapped it around zoe's shoulders. i puckered my lips exaggeratedly and leaned in for a kiss.

"ew!" both of the kids squealed at the same time. 

our lips met together in the middle as the kids giggled and screamed about their digust.

kissing her was still the same as it was, when it happened for the first time, almost 15 years ago.

even a chap-lipped granny kiss.

zoe was the world to me, including our two precious little twins.

the band stayed together and we steadily rose the charts until all of us decided, it was time to settle down with the ones we loved.

luke had fallen in love with a nice young girl, lisel, and he was actually the first to propose even though he was the youngest. 

ashton was the second. it was all romantic and shit, in a huge field. they were having a picnic, and we were all crouched behind abush in the back. it was to a childhood friend, named june. she's one of the most hilarious people you will ever meet.

then it was me.

i decided that it was time to ask the woman of my dreams, to be with me forever. i'm not the most romantic person you'll meet, or even a romantic person at all. but with her, i was probably the most cheesy guy you'd ever met.

it was a sunday night, i still remember it so clearly, even now. the boys and i had just come back from a tour. 

it was a warm night with a little bit of a breeze. we walked hand in hand, zoe and i.  luke and lisel walked ahead of us, while ashton and june walked in the very front. calum and his 'girlfriend' at the time walked behind us. we were all on our way to a pizza parlor nearby. 

i remember my heart racing so fast, and my palms sweaty. i had just kept rubbing my hands on my jeans, those very very skinny jeans. i called out to zoe and the others that i needed to take a quick detour and i would meet them there. zoe's suspicious stare and the others' winks and head nods. i had gripped the ring box so hard, i'm surprised it wasn't crushed in my fist. but glad it didn't.

it all happened in slow motion, or in fast forward, i couldn't really tell.

but everything was perfect.

i headed to the pizza parlor after i picked up the ring and a special little present. 

after we had finished stuffing our faces with three x-large pizzas (hawaiian and pepperoni with bacon), all of us spilt into our own little couples. i led zoe into a gorgeous riverside, and had us both stand and admire the gorgeous view, while our sandal clad feet walked through soft dry sand.

and then, i got down on one knee, and.... proposed.

obviously zoe said yes, and everyone popped up from behind a large bush and we all cheered, and there were tears and laughter and it was quite possible one of the best nights of my life.

i was with all the people i love, on a beautiful night, with the most beautiful woman in the world.

~ 

omgg zozeebo

im so sorry, this one shot took like 53908209472 billion years to write

forgive me boob

but i hope you enjoy, yay !

love you lots - blessing

ps. late merry christmas