No one knew how to help him. No one had any ideas on how to get Shawn to calm down. His voice is completely shot to hell, he can barely form a single word without having to cough or clear his throat. It was painful for those who watched, imagine being him.
On top of it all, no one could get the cell phone out of his hand. He’d just posted that he has to cancel the show, which was heartbreaking in itself to watch Shawn admit. Now he was torturing himself by reading through the comments of those were supposed to attend the show. Some are supportive, but the ones he is reading are the ones that show disappointment and anger.
He keeps sniffling, and shaking his head, his poor curls are wrecked.
Skyla sits with Brian at a table in the catering room, drawing pictures for Uncle Connor. She’s humming ‘Never Be Alone’ while drawing in what her camera with purple marker.
“He’s destroyed because of this. I’ve known the kid for almost a decade now. I’ve watched him go through heartbreaks. I’ve watched him grow and mature into a young father, but never once have I ever seen him so broken. Cancelling a show has always been his greatest fear, the guilt of it all. Now it’s hear, and he doesn’t know how to handle it.” Andrew says from the next table over. Him and Cez are making arrangements for paying each and every ticket holder back.
Brian watches the two older men and sighs. The last he’d heard was Shawn was being rushed to a local clinic for a check up. His small cold was getting worse and Manny had finally gotten Shawn to agree to be seen.
“Uncle Brian?” Skyla asked, tugging on his sleeve.
“Yeah?” He looks down, smiling at his niece.
“Is Daddy back? And Grandpa?” She asks with excitement in her eyes. She’d missed Manny more than Shawn did, so with him with them for the final leg of tour was exciting for the duo.
“I think so.” Brian nods. “But Sky,” He grabs her hand before she can run off to find them. “Dad-” He starts, not knowing how to explain this to her.
“Is Daddy okay?” She asks with worried brows.
“Dad’s sick.” Brian says slowly. “He doesn’t feel good, and because he feels so yucky we had to tell everyone we can’t have the concert.”
“We cancelled?” She asks with wide eyes, looking to Andrew.
“It was gonna hurt Dad even more if he did the concert.” Andrew explained.
“Where’s my Daddy?” She asks, scrambling off her chair, forgetting completely of her picture for Connor.
Before anyone can answer Skyla has taken off down the hallway in a mad dash to get to her Dad.
When the three men start to follow they run into Manny.
“Where’s Shawn?” Manny asks in a rush. “I lost him. He told me he was going to call Karen, but I just got off the phone with her. He hasn’t called her, and he’s not in the dressing room.”
“What?” Andrew screeches. “Where is he then?”
“I’m asking you,” He says turning to Brian, noticing that he’s not toting his granddaughter. “Where’s Skyla Rae?”
“She took off to find Shawn.”
“Shit.” All the boys say at the same time, splitting up to find them.
**
After searching the green room and his dressing room Skyla went to the stage. It’s somewhere her Dad usually is, so she thought if she could stand on stage and see the whole world like he does then maybe she could see him.
She does, she spots him in the stands, all the way in the last row. It’s a trek but she finally makes it to him. She’s never heard or seen her Dad cry, but he is. He’s got his face in his hands as he sobs uncontrollably. His shoulders shake with each sob.
She takes a few more steps until she’s stopped right in front of him.
“Daddy?” She whispers, touching his hair and pushing it back off his forehead.
Shawn jumps at her voice, having not heard her approach, and peeks up from behind his hands to see his worried daughter standing in front of him. It makes him want to cry even more.
Would his daughter think he was a failure because he couldn’t do the one thing he was meant to? Sing?
“Daddy.” Skyla says again.
“Hi Princess.” His rough voice growls out.
She frowns at him and all but throws herself into his arms. He catches her easily and nuzzles his face into her neck as she squeezes her arms around his neck.
“How are you feeling Daddy?”
“I feel yucky.” He mumbles.
“We need to get you soup.” She nods, remembering everything he’s done for her when she’s felt yucky. “And that gross medicine that will make you feel better.”
“I have medicine to take later.”
“Good, and rest. You need rest.”
“I am resting. Because I feel so yucky I had to-”
“I know.” She rests her cheek against his shoulder. “I know.”
He doesn’t know how he got so luck with a daughter as smart as his, but it’s moments like this that he thanks the lord. Skyla just knows. She just knows everything she needs to know. She knows that he had to cancel. She knows that he doesn’t want to admit that he did. She knows what it means to him.
“I think,” She pulls back to look at him. Taking her chubby hands and wiping the tears off his cheeks. “I think that if you feel yucky and playing will make you feel yuckier then you did the right thing.”
Shawn stares at her for a moment and lets her words settle.
“I think that everyone will know that you feel yucky.”
“Some people are mad I had to cancel.”
“Then those people are mean. You always tell me that you have to be healthy. Yucky isn’t healthy.”
Shawn nods and hugs her again, kissing her cheek and holding her tight.
He pulls his phone from his pocket as it rings for the 6th time. “Grandpa’s calling.” He says giving Skyla his phone to answer since he’s on vocal rest.
“Grandpa?”
“Skyla Honey? Are you with Dad?”
“Yeah.” She nods, staring at Shawn who’s smiling at her.
“Where are you?”
Skyla looks around and leans back into Shawn when she answers; “We’re looking at the world.”
Shawn closes his eyes and lets a few more tears fall before kissing the top of his daughters head.
“Oh.” Manny answers, confused.
“Dad’s okay Grandpa. I got him.”
With that she says goodbye and hangs up, giving Shawn his phone back.
“We’re looking at the world?” He whispers as he turns Skyla around on his lap so she’s leaning back into his chest, staring at the stage with him.
“Yeah, every night you say you can see the world from the stage.”
“Where do you see the world from Princess?”
“The stands.”
Shawn’s heart melts and and he lets himself sit and stare at the stage from the stands. Allowing himself to not feel guilty anymore. He needs to be healthy for his fans, yes. Most importantly he needs to be healthy for the little girl in his arms.
One look, and you know that she’s Shawn’s daughter. There was no question about it. From her curly locks to the sassy attitude, there was no mistaking her. Skyla Rae Anne Mendes, was a Mendes through and through. Living her life on the road, along for the ride on her Dad’s world tours was where she belonged.
She fills the hole in the touring team that they didn’t even know they had. Sure, having a five year old on tour with a bunch of boys was rough. The things Shawn requested because she was with him made for more work, but at the end of the day everyone loved Skyla Mendes more than they loved her Dad.
“Shawn, really?” Cez asks as Shawn turns to speak to Mike about his solo.
“Okay, so if we have to break after Mutual I want you to go into a solo.” He explains, waiting for Mike to scribble down this scenario. “Like literally go all Tommy Lee on their asses, leave them exhausted from your energy.”
“Okay and what’s the plan if we need to break after Bad Rep, or Fallin, or Youth?” Cez remarks.
Zubin turns and shakes his head at the tour manager, “Were you not at the meeting last night? We literally went over it all.”
Cez rolls his eyes, frustrated with the extra amount of work Shawn is requesting from the band. It adds for more situations of failure and mishaps. The band on the other hand? All hands on deck. They understand Shawn’s need to make sure that he can get off stage at any moment in time, in the rare case scenario that Skyla might need him.
“Daddy!” Skyla cheers, running from the wings where Brian had her, onto the stage to her Dad.
“Princess,” He grins, picking her up and resting her on his hip. “How was lunch?”
“It was so yummy, Uncle Brian let me have ice cream.”
“But you ate all your lunch first right?”
“Sure,” She giggles, looking at Brian to make sure she answered the way he coached her to. The thumbs up she receives from the redhead makes her proud that she remembered.
Shawn rolls his eyes, turning back to Cez and the band. “I just wanna go through like a practice of what could happen if I’m needed after any song, okay?”
The band nods, getting set.
“Okay I guess to do this in a fast motion kind of way, let’s just play the last few chords of each song and pretend I’m running off and transition to each time block.”
Boss Shawn is kind of hard to take seriously when Skyla is tugging at his curls, trying to fix his hair up. Shawn moves her around, hauling her up onto his broad shoulders so he can have both hands free to direct people around. Skyla now has full reign to his curls, pulling them back and watching as they flop back into place.
The boys snicker as Shawn starts to hum the last parts to Lost in Japan. When the band doesn’t follow he turns to see them all chuckling.
“Yeah yeah, she’s cute, but we’ve got work to do. I want this figured out and perfect before the show tonight.” He snaps the boys back to reality.
“Sorry.” They all mumble.
They start going through every song, Zubin taking the time block, Eddie taking another, Mike after one, and then Dave. It runs smooth, and in any case scenario he knows the boys would pick up and take over when needed.
“Daddy,” Skyla taps the top of his head, making Shawn look up while Mike and Dave discuss a duo idea.
“Yeah Princess?”
“M’tired.” She rubs her eye, yawning big, Shawn’s hard boss attitude disintegrating at her cuddly complexion.
“Okay Princess, a few more minutes and we can go lay down.” He gives her grabby hands, knowing that she’ll lean forward to he can move her back to his hip. He kisses the top of her head as she hugs him, head tucked into his neck.
“We’re good?” He asks the band softly, getting their attention from the video Brian was showing them.
“Yeah, go ahead.” Mike nodded towards the wings that led to backstage where his greenroom was.
“Okay, see you guys in a bit.” He says before walking off, passing Andrew and Cez along the way, shaking his head when they try to get him to stop. “It’s naptime.”
They both nod in understanding, knowing that when the tour preparations started they all agreed that Shawn had the right at any moment in time to choose being a Dad over the Rockstar, and when he said the word they couldn’t argue with him anymore. This was one of those times.
He walked to the greenroom, closing the door behind him that way the building of the stage and the wildness of his team around him doesn’t wake his princess.
Sitting down on the couch he relaxed against the arm rest, adjusting a pillow under his neck, and then freezing when Skyla readjusted the way she was laying. Her head rest on his chest, small body laying on top of his like he’s her bed.
He smiles, because this was normal, he was used to being her bed when she needed him to be. Living the constant crazy traveling life with a five year old meant that sometimes things didn’t pan out, like her bedtime and a bed being in the same space.
She was already sleeping by the time he got settled.
**
To create some type of normalcy for Skyla during the tour, and to have her avoid the crazy that is her Dad’s fanbase, on performance days she’s goes out with Brian. An outing during the day, that way she’s not caught in the days work of preparing for the show. Meaning Brian takes her out of the arena, usually to lunch and a theme park. That way Shawn can be Shawn Mendes without the constant worry that Skyla is just in the other room and the what ifs that swirl around that idea.
They leave after the first soundcheck, that way Shawn can have a few moments with her before he has to get into his focus. They’re always back right after Q&A and meet and greets so Shawn can see her before going on stage. That way they can be back to watch the show.
Shawn waits by the back entrance doors, like he always does, right foot tapping as he chews on his pinky nail. The door starts to open and he stands up straight, smiling brightly when Brian walks in with Skyla on his hip.
“Princess!” He holds out his hands for her, and she leans away from Brian and towards her Dad.
“Daddy!”
“How was your day out?” He asks starting to walk back to the green room with Brian and Jake in tow.
“It was so fun Daddy, you should have seen it! I didn’t think I could go on the roller coaster, but Uncle Brian told me that I could do anything I’d ever want. So we did it! And I had so much fun!”
Shawn stares at her while she tells her story, smiling sadly at how he wasn’t there to see her overcome her fear.
“That’s so cool Baby, here,” He sets her down. “Can you go change for the show? I’ll be right here.”
She nods, running off to the bathroom to change into her dress for the show. Shawn turns to Brian with misty eyes once the bathroom door latches behind her.
“Shawn,” Brian shakes his head, noticing the little tears in his eyes.
“Thank you,” Shawn hugs him, giving himself a moment to breathe in a safe zone. “Thank you for being there for her when I can’t be.”
“You’re always there for her,” Brian responds. “Always.”
“Daddy! Tiffany told me that this dress matches your shirt! We’re matching!” She runs out of the bathroom, watching the boys push the other away. “Group hug?” She asks, nose scrunching in confusion.
Shawn laughs, “Yeah Princess, come on.” He hauls her up and the three have a group hug.
**
Before Shawn puts his in ears in to hear the call for him to go to stage he has his ritual moment with Skyla.
It’s become his good luck charm.
“Princess?” He crouches to her level, smiling when she looks at him with her wide chocolate brown eyes.
“Hi Daddy,” She smiles, stepping closer to him.
“Give me some luck?” He whispers, eyebrows raised.
She nods, leaning in to plant a small little kiss to his nose then jumping up into his arms, squeezing him tight.
He holds her just as tight, cautious not to squeeze her too much.
“Thank you Princess.” He hums, eyes fluttering shut as he takes in the moment.
“Shawn, in ears!” The stage hand calls.
He pulls away just enough to see her face, “Be good for Brian, stay where he and I can see you.”
“Yep!”
“I love you, have fun okay?”
“You too!”
He smiles, and leans in himself, letting his nose brush back and forth across hers.
With that he lets go, watching her walk to Brian before standing and slipping his in ears in.
**
“Keep this on your forehead okay? I need to call Andrew.”
“But it’s cold Daddy, it’s cold.” She whines, tears freshly running down her redden cheeks. She coughs, her whole body racking with the movement.
“I know Princess, but you have a fever which means that your body is too warm, and we need to cool it down.”
She frowns at him, still crying. “I don’t feel good.”
Shawn’s heart breaks as his babygirl cries, and he can’t do anything about it. Whipping his phone out of his pocket he clicks on his speed dial and is ringing Andrew up within seconds.
“You can’t leave Shawn, it’s not safe,”
“But she’s got a 101 fever, I can’t keep her here.” Shawn protests.
“I’ve got a pediatrician on the way, should be here in a few minutes, best in the town.”
Shawn’s looking at his baby who’s falling asleep in the hotel bed, hugging Elphie, her plush elephant.
“Best?” He chews on his lip.
“Only the best for Skyla, you know that.”
Shawn sighs, slumping against the wall, “How far away is she?”
“Should be here in ten minutes.”
“Okay, okay.” He nods, hanging up with Andrew and sitting beside Skyla, brushing his fingers through her hair.
He stews on his life for a moment, so utterly frustrated with the fact that his five year old daughter is sick, and the crowd of fans is so large outside the hotel that he cannot get out to take her to the hospital safely.
“I’m sorry Sweetheart,” He whispers, leaning over and kissing her burning cheek. “I’m sorry that my job put us in this position.” He continues.
She rolls into him, curling herself around his leg, resting her head in his lap.
In no time there’s a knock on his door, and then Andrew and a woman entering slowly.
“She’s asleep,” Shawn whispers as they walk in.
“Hi, I’m Doctor Kimberly.” The woman smiles, extending her hand to Shawn’s. “I heard we have a fever.”
“Yeah, she’s had it all day. I gave her some Motrin but it never broke.” Shawn blurs out.
“Okay, can I check a few things?” She asks, pointing to Skyla.
“Of course.”
After checking her up, taking her fever and testing for strep she’s come to the conclusion that it’s just the flu and an ear infection, prescribing some antibiotics.
Shawn thanks her as she leaves, closing the door and turning back to Andrew and Skyla. “Cancel the promo with Armani tomorrow.” He states, taking the bottle of liquid medicine to the bathroom, placing it on the counter next to their bathroom essentials.
“Shawn, it’s a live event.”
“And I don’t care.” He walks back into the room, shrugging as he checks the temp of the rag on her forehead, taking it in his hands and flipping it to the other cooler side.
“The fans-”
“She’s sick!” He whisper yells. “My daughter is sick, and you want me to go to some stupid watch event? No, cancel it. It’s not up for debate.”
**
It’s been about a week and Skyla is practically back to her usual self. She’s got a few more days on her antibiotics and that’s about it. Which means that the routine of tour is back on, and Shawn’s slowly getting back into the swing of working.
Because of some last minute changes flights have been rearranged which now leaves the team to a 5 am flight.
Skyla didn’t sleep well the night before, waking up twice from nightmares. So she’s been extra grumpy this morning. Clinging to Shawn, making it near impossible for him to do anything.
He sighs, turning to Brian for a minute. “Can you take her, I need to help Andrew check in bags and talk travel.”
“Yeah, of course.” Brian nods, holding his hands out for Sky. “Come here, let’s go get something to drink.”
As Shawn goes to hand her over she starts to protest, shaking her head and curling her little fists around Shawn’s sweatshirt.
“Princess go with Uncle Brian, I need to talk to Andrew.”
“No!” She shakes her head, pursing her lips.
“Skyla, let go.” He says again, giving her his Dad look, a warning that this was not a question.
“You can’t tell me what to do!” She raises her voice, starting to kick a little.
Shawn’s eyes widen, nostrils flaring.
“We’re gonna have a private chat if you don’t lose your tude Miss.”
She grumps, crossing her arms and glaring at her Dad. He sets her down, giving her a stern look before going to hand her off to Brian.
Brian goes to take her hand but she won’t uncross her arms so he leans down to pick her up. The minute her feet leave the floor she starts yelling, Shawn whipping around to see Brian struggling with her in his arms.
“Skyla Rae Anne Mendes,” He snaps, taking her from Brian, walking down the corridor with a whimpering Skyla in his arms until he finds a deserted area.
He sits her in a chair, crouching in front of her.
“Take a breath.” He instructs, taking one with her. “Let’s calm down.” Both of them taking another breath. “Now tell me what’s wrong.”
“No! I don’t want to!” She yells at him, full blown tantrum about to go down.
“That’s it,” Shawn shakes his head. “You’re grounded.”
At this, she freezes. Eyes wide and tearful as she looks up at her Dad, taking in the seriousness of his facial expression. He’s had it with her outburst, over the attitude.
“No, no, no.” She whines.
“7:30 bedtime, no TV and no games on anyone's phone.”
The tears start to fall as she begs for him to not ground her, repetition of ‘I’m sorry’ spilling from her pouty lips.
“Listen to me,” He stops her, taking her little hands in his. “You need to calm down, this behavior is not okay. You know that if something is wrong you can tell Dad, and you decided to not do that and instead throw a fit. Not listening and yelling at Dad is not okay, and that’s why you’re grounded.”
She nods, understanding that she did misbehave and that there’s no going back now.
“Do you need another minute or are you okay?” He asks.
She stares at him and nods, “I’m okay.”
“Can I have a hug?” He asks softly, smiling softly when she jumps up and wraps her arms around his neck, nuzzling into his coat.
“I’m sorry Daddy.”
“Okay Princess, let’s go find the boys.”
At this he picks her up and walks with her back to the group by the Starbucks at security. Brian gives Shawn a look that seems to ask if everything was okay and Shawn responds with a curt nod.
“We board in about 30 minutes,” Andrew says once they’ve gone through security.
Skyla sits next to Shawn, head rested on his arm as she stares at the world around her. Brian seems to notice her bored glance while Shawn and Cez discuss the next show’s arena.
“Sky,” He nudges her arm. “Wanna play a game?” He offers his phone that has since been loaded with games for her to play when they were in these kind of situations.
Skyla pipes up, eyes opening wider as she smiles at Brian. Shawn clears his throat and she looks over and catches his stare. She sighs, slumping back.
“Thanks Uncle Brian but I’m grounded. Maybe next time.”
Brian and the rest of the band turn to Shawn with wide eyes, all minds seeming to ask the same question.
Grounded?
He nods and goes back to his conversation with Cez, eyes planted on a coloring book in the little shop across from the gate.
Excusing himself, offering his hand to Skyla he takes her to the shop, letting her pick out a few books and some colors that way she has some fun things to do on the flight.
**
Dublin, night two, that’s when his requests for time blocks after every song just in case pulls through.
He’s in the middle of Stitches when he hears Brian through his in ears.
“Shawn, crowns fallen.”
Those are the code words, ‘Crowns Fallen’, to let him know that Skyla needs him backstage.
The second he hears those words his heart stops for a second, he looks around, giving the band the Skyla signal. Which is him tapping his nose, ear, nose.
The band jumps into action once they’ve all been given the signal, Zubin steps up, shredding on his guitar, jerking his head to side stage so Shawn gets the hint that they’re good.
And like Forrest Gump, Shawn goes running backstage, heels on his Chelsea boots slipping, causing him to roll his ankle and practically fall down the steps, the handrail the only reason why he caught himself.
“What happened?” Turns to anyone he can see first, the security guard pointing to Brian who is crouched in front of a sniffling Skyla. “Princess what happened?” Shawn slides to his knees next to Brian.
“I was dancing to Nervous,” She hiccups, Shawn’s sweaty curls bopping as he nods with her, “And I didn’t see my shoe was untied,” She takes a deep breath, “And I tripped over my shoelace, and I scraped my knee,” She wails, pointing to her bloodied knee.
Shawn sighs, relief flooding his system now knowing she’s not seriously hurt. “Okay Sweetheart, we can fix it. Let Daddy make it better.” He nods, turning to Brian. “There’s a small first aid kit in the strings compartment of my guitar case in my dressing room. Grab that for me?”
“Of course,” Brian jumps to his feet, sprinting down the hall since he knows Shawn’s on a time crunch.
“Princess can you sit down for me,” He pats the chair behind her. “And you,” He points to the security guard. “Can you get me a wet washcloth or a napkin or something?”
The security guard nods, disappearing down the hall as Brian comes sprinting back.
“Okay,” Shawn takes the first aid kit, opening the lid and looking at the tools he has. He then looks to her knee, noticing it’s just a small cut, nothing a band aid won’t fix right up. “Can you take a deep breath for me.”
Brian inhales a very deep breath, causing both the Mendes’ to look over.
“What?” Brian exclaims, “I’ve never seen her hurt before! And I’m in charge! I’m freaking out!”
“Okay, both of you, can you take a deep breath?” Shawn interrupts.
At this both Brian and Skyla take a deep breath in through their nose and out through their mouth.
By the time they’ve taken three deep breaths the security guard has returned with a wet napkin. Shawn takes it, wiping the blood and dirt away from her cut.
“Honey, what band aid do you want? Anna or Moana?” He asks as he gets the anti disinfectant wipe out.
“Moana!”
“Really? I was thinking Anna, she’s the best Princess.” He looks at her.
“No! Moana is Dad.” She disagrees.
“Oh yeah? Why?” He asks, hoping to get her real distracted before using the wipe that’s gonna sting.
“Well she sings better, and she can move water,” She starts on her list. “And her sidekick is a chicken?” At this Shawn swipes the wipe across her knee a few times, quickly tossing it away and tickling her calf so she won’t feel the sting as much.
“Wanna know a secret?” He asks as he gets the band aid out of it’s packaging.
“What?” She asks, watching him stick the band aid to her skin.
“You’re my favorite Princess.” He grins, looking up at her tear stained cheeks.
She giggles, shaking her head.
“I have to go back on stage, are you okay?”
“I’m perfect, you made it all better!” She stands, twirling around just to show him that she’s better.
“Okay good, I love you.”
“I love you!” She waves as he runs back to the stage, quickly picking up the show where he left off.
**
It can be rough when they’re all stuck on the tour bus, hours upon hours of driving to get to the next destination in time.
Shawn tries to keep it as fun and upbeat as he can, that way Skyla isn’t cooped up and bored out of her mind.
It’s why there are random sword fights, or hide and seek games started.
This morning it’s a tickle fight, and Shawn’s it. He’s gotta chase her around, find her, and tickle till she taps. It’s how it goes.
All that can be heard are two identical giggles, one just a bit higher pitched than the other.
Her little feet carry her to the other side of the bus, Shawn’s bigger frame leaving him to bump into everything, slowing him up as her small frame ducks and slides past everything.
But Shawn’s coming, she can hear the pounding of his feet getting closer to her, so she takes her last resort in her surroundings and climbs up into Andrew’s bunk, waking him in the process.
Shawn cringes, hearing the ‘umph’ come from the surprised Andrew.
“Shh, I’m sorry! But Daddy’s gonna catch me! I have to hide.”
“Okay, shh!” Andrew responds, making Shawn smile.
He waits a beat, playing. “Where did she go? It’s like she disappeared.” He says loudly outside the bunk. “How am I supposed to find her?”
He can hear her giggle, and Andrew shushing her. He counts to ten in his head and then grabs the curtain. “Ha! I found you!”
“AHH!” She yells, crawling over Andrew and right past Shawn’s outstretched hands down towards the kitchenette.
“Sorry about that, tried to keep her up front.”
“It’s okay, it’s time to get up anyway.” Andrew nods, “You better go, or you’ll actually lose her.”
“Shit.” Shawn mumbles, running back towards the front.
**
This show is more stressful than any other show he’s performed. Maybe it’s because he’s at Rogers Centre, or maybe it’s because John is here to perform ‘Where Were You in the Morning’ with him. But he’s overly stressed.
He’s pacing like a mad man when Brian pushes him into the couch.
“Chill out, okay?”
“It’s just-”
“I know,” Brian nods. “I know. But take a seat and breathe, or you’re gonna work yourself up even more. Sit with Sky and breathe okay?”
“Yeah you’re right.” He nods, looking to his girl that sits in the corner of the couch, watching a movie on Brian’s iPad, and drinking apple juice from her sippy cup.
Shawn takes a deep breath, leaning over and resting his head on her shoulder to watch a bit of her movie with her.
“What are we watching?” He asks.
“Incredibles 2.”
“Oh cool!”
He can tell that he favorite part is coming up, and he smiles already knowing that it’s gonna make her laugh really hard. That’s what he needs right now, a good ole laugh from his babygirl.
And right as the scene with Violet snorts the water out her nose, Skyla laughs so hard that she moves her cup to the side, effectively spilling the whole cup onto Shawn.
He jumps in shock as the lid to her cup lands on the ground, Skyla staring up at him with wide eyes.
“Skyla Rae!” He snaps, looking down at his now soaked button up.
“I’m sorry!” She blurts, pausing the movie and climbing off the couch to set the iPad on the table so it doesn’t get wet. She even goes as far as to grab the towel off the love seat and bring it to him.
“I’m literally about to go on stage,” He pushes the towel away, standing up and rushing to the door. “SOMEONE GET ME A NEW SHIRT!”
Skyla stands at the couch, bottom lip wobbling as a rush of people come running.
“I’m sorry Daddy,”
“I don’t have time for this, I’m about to go on stage.” He says again, walking with Tiff to wardrobe to see if they can put something together.
Brian walks in, taking in the dramatics and spotting Skyla with big tearful eyes. “Oh Honey.”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to!” She cries. “I didn’t know the lid wasn’t on all the way. I’m sorry.”
“It’s not your fault.” Brian shakes his head. “Dad’s just really worried about the show, he didn’t mean it. It’s okay.”
With the rush of getting him cleaned and changed, and to stage in time, this show ends up being the first show that he doesn’t do his ritual with Skyla. He doesn’t have time. And that just makes her even more upset, because now she doesn’t have a chance to tell him how sorry she is before he goes on stage.
She watches him walk on, and sits on the ground to watch.
Brian stands behind her, arms crossed as he watches his niece tear herself up over something that wasn’t her fault. She’s right, she didn’t know the lid to her cup wasn’t on all the way, and if anyone is to blame it’s him. He’s the one who got her the cup, and set her up on the couch.
He takes a seat next to her, letting her rest her head against his arm. “You okay Bug?” He asks softly as she takes a shuddering breath.
“I didn’t give him luck.” She looks up at him with pursed lips.
“Want me to get him for you?” He asks, knowing that if he told Shawn she was upset he’d come running.
“No.” She shakes her head.
**
He has no idea why he was so stressed, this is one of the best shows he’s ever had and he’s only three songs in. The crowd is alive and louder than any crowd he’s ever heard before.
The smile can not be erased from his face, and knowing that his family and daughter are there for him is making this show that much better.
He looks over, knowing that ‘Nervous’ is Skyla’s favorite song to dance to, double taking when he doesn’t see her twirling like he usually does. He really has to focus, but he sees her.
It’s like his world stops for a moment when he spots her sitting on the ground next to Brian, head rested on his arm, pout settled on her lips. And it’s like everything hits him. He never got his luck, or his hug. He never even heard her laugh at that scene in the movie.
He gives the Skyla signal to Brian, who pulls out his walkie talkie. He stands, walking a little away from Skyla so she can’t hear him.
“She’s upset,” He says, watching Shawn’s reaction. Shawn turns to the band, ready to give them the signal too. “She said she doesn’t want you to come.” At this Shawn stops, turning back to Brian. “She thinks you’re mad at her.”
Shawn’s giving the signal before he can even blink. No way in hell was he going to allow his babygirl to think that he was mad at her.
He books it off stage, running to her.
“Princess?” He asks softly, watching her look up slowly with tearful eyes. His heart breaks at the sight. “No Honey.” He drops, sitting next to her. “I’m not mad.”
“I’m sorry.” Her trembling lips say.
“Oh Skyla,” He reaches out and takes her into his arms. “I’m not mad or upset Baby. I’m not.”
“I didn’t know the lid was off my cup, I’m sorry I spilled on you.”
“Honey stop, it’s okay.”
“You were upset.” She cries into his shoulder.
“Not at you,” He shakes his head. “Not at you, I promise. Could never be mad at my Princess.”
“Really?”
“Of course Baby.” He pulls back to look at her face. “Now,” He hums. “Give me some luck?”
She smiles, leaning forward to kiss his nose, and give him his big hug. “You have to go back.”
“I love you.” He tells her, brushing her hair back.
“I love you too.”
He sets her on her feet, taking her face into his hands, brushing his nose back and forth across hers and then planting a long kiss to her forehead. “I love you Princess.”
“Go be a Rockstar Daddy.”
He grins, kissing her forehead one more time and then running back on stage. The crowd erupts when they see him again.
“Hi!” He says into the mic. “Sorry about that.” He waits for it to die down. “It’s just, my daughter is here.” He points to his Princess in the wings. “And she needed me for a moment.” He sighs. “And having my daughter on tour with me is the greatest thing, because for me, it puts everything into perspective.
“Because when she says things like ‘Go be a Rockstar Daddy’ it reminds me of who I am. I wouldn’t be a rockstar without you guys.” He points to the crowd, who’s yelling and screaming. “But I wouldn’t be a Dad without her.” He points to his Princess. “And for me, there's a time and a place to be those things. When I’m here, on stage performing, that’s when I’m a Rockstar. But when I’m backstage, like I was earlier today, watching Incredibles 2, I’m a Dad. And her Dad should not have gotten so upset when she accidentally spilled her apple juice on him. But her Dad was in Rockstar mode. So he got upset which caused her to become upset.”
The crowd is aweing, and listening to him completely, taking in every word because it’s not often that Shawn shares stories like this about Skyla.
“So, that’s why, while I’m a Rockstar right now, I needed to take the time to go and tell her that I’m okay, and not upset. And I just wanted to say in front of all you, to her, that Baby I’m sorry. I’m sorry that I got upset, and I’m sorry I didn’t get to hug you before going on stage. And to apologize further I’d like to invite a very good friend on stage, to help me perform one of Skyla’s favorite songs, since she was a baby. Everyone this is ‘Daughters’, give it up for John Mayer.”
Skyla squeals from side stage, watching Uncle John walk on stage with his guitar and starting to play her favorite song.
“Sky,” Andrew taps her shoulder. She looks at him. “Go get your Dad.” He says pointing to Shawn.
She smiles, running on stage, the crowd becoming that much louder when they see her little body. Shawn turns at the sound, eyes widening when he sees his Princess coming towards him.
He smiles, crouching down to catch her, lifting her up so he can sing the next verse.
John gives her a toddler wave, blowing her kiss before taking over the next verse, singing to the Daddy Daughter Duo in front of him.
Shawn nuzzles into her cheek, letting the moment of being a Dad and a Rockstar consume him. All his dreams have come true.
“I love you Princess.” He says into her ears.
“I love you too Daddy!” Echoes throughout the arena.
