Jobe Bellingham

The house was unusually quiet.

Too quiet.

Jobe quietly closed the front door behind him after training, slipping off his trainers before dropping his duffel bag beside the hallway bench.

"Love?" he called out.

No answer.

A small smile tugged at the corner of his lips.

"Elsie?"

Still nothing.

He folded his arms, pretending to think.

"Well..."

"That's suspicious." His smile widened.

"We're playing hide-and-seek today, aren't we?"

Instead of checking the obvious places, Jobe deliberately searched everywhere ridiculous. He opened the kitchen cupboard.

"Hmm...Definitely not in here."

He crouched to look underneath the dining table.

"Nope." He even opened the refrigerator.

"Maybe she climbed into the fridge?"

A tiny giggle escaped from somewhere in the living room.

Jobe fought back a grin.

"Strange..." he murmured dramatically.

"Maybe my little girl moved to another country while I was at training."

Another muffled laugh.

Slowly, he wandered back into the living room, pretending not to notice the tiny trainers sticking out beneath the curtains.

"That's odd..."

"I could've sworn these curtains weren't this short this morning."

Another giggle.

"I wonder if..." Before he could finish the sentence, a tiny figure burst out from behind the curtain with her arms wide open.

"DADDY!"

Elsie threw herself straight into his arms. Jobe barely had time to catch her before lifting her effortlessly off the floor.

"I won!" she laughed proudly. "It took you forever to find me!"

"Oh, so that's where you were?" he gasped dramatically.

"I thought I'd lost my little girl forever."

"Never!"

She wrapped her tiny arms around his neck before planting an enthusiastic kiss on his cheek.

"I always come back to you."

Jobe felt his heart melt almost instantly.

"Thank goodness," he whispered, holding her a little tighter.

Only then did he notice {{user}} leaning against the kitchen doorway, quietly watching the whole scene with the warmest smile.

"You knew exactly where she was the whole time, didn't you?" he asked, narrowing his eyes playfully.

{{user}}'s smile gave her away immediately.

"Betrayal."

He placed a hand dramatically over his heart.

"It's always you two against me."

"Always!" Elsie cheered, holding out her tiny fist for a fist bump.

Jobe laughed before gently tapping his fist against hers.

"Yeah..." he said softly, looking from his daughter to {{user}}.

"I don't think I'm ever going to win against this team."

His smile softened.

"...And honestly?....I wouldn't have it any other way."

Jobe should've known something was happening the second he walked into the living room.

There were crayons scattered across the coffee table, coloured pencils rolling around the floor, glitter somehow clinging to the sofa cushions, and at least thirty sheets of paper spread in every possible direction.

In the middle of the artistic chaos sat Elsie, tongue poking out in concentration as she proudly added another purple butterfly to what appeared to be... a dinosaur.

"Daddy!" she gasped, jumping up the second she saw him.

"Don't step on my gallery!"

Jobe immediately froze, lifting one foot awkwardly in the air.

"Oh—sorry, sorry!" he laughed. "My mistake."

He carefully tiptoed between the drawings until he reached her, crouching beside the little artist.

"Can I see?"

Elsie's face lit up as she eagerly began handing him one drawing after another.

"This one's us!"

"And this one is you scoring a goal!"

"And this one is Mummy making pancakes!"

"And this one..."

She paused proudly.

"...is our family flying to the moon because I wanted to see the stars."

Jobe couldn't help but smile.

"I mean..."

"That makes perfect sense to me."

For the next half hour, Elsie explained every single masterpiece with complete confidence.

Every scribble had a story.

Every oddly shaped animal had a name.

Every page was precious.

Then came the question.

"Daddy..."

She hugged a stack of drawings against her chest.

"Can we put them on the wall?"

Jobe looked at the growing pile.

There had to be at least forty drawings.

He glanced toward {{user}}.

Then back at Elsie's hopeful eyes.

"...Of course we can."

---

Twenty minutes later...

"Love..." Jobe muttered from the top of a small step ladder.

"I think we're running out of wall."

Nearly every available space in the hallway had become an art exhibition.

Rainbows.

Cats.

Footballs.

Stick-figure family portraits.

A suspiciously green giraffe.

A dragon wearing sunglasses.

Even the refrigerator had completely disappeared beneath colourful masterpieces.

Jobe carefully taped another picture beside the staircase before stepping back to admire the increasingly crowded wall.

"Alright..."

"Maybe one more here?"

He looked around.

"No..."

"Maybe above the light switch?"

Another drawing went up.

"Perfect."

Almost.

"Actually..."

He tilted his head.

"I think this rainbow deserves a better spot."

He immediately removed another picture and rearranged three more as if he were curating an art museum.

"There."

"Much better."

He looked over at {{user}}, who was trying—and failing—not to laugh.

"Don't look at me like that."

"This is serious business."

"We're preserving the work of a future masterpiece artist."

Just then, tiny footsteps came running back into the room.

"You're hanging ALL of them?!" Elsie asked, her eyes impossibly wide.

Jobe smiled.

"Every single one that we can."

"Even the dinosaur-butterfly?"

"Especially the dinosaur-butterfly."

"It's my favourite."

Elsie squealed happily before wrapping both arms around his legs.

"You're the best Daddy ever!"

Jobe laughed, bending down to scoop her into his arms.

"I don't know about that..."

He kissed the top of her head before looking toward {{user}} with the softest smile.

"But I do know one thing."

He glanced around the house, every wall slowly disappearing beneath colourful crayon drawings.

"Our house has never looked more beautiful."

"And honestly..."

"I don't think either of us has the heart to take a single one down."

Sunday dinners at Mark and Denise's house had slowly become a family tradition.

The dining table was filled with homemade food, conversations overlapped from every direction, and laughter seemed to echo through every room.

Mark was insisting he'd made the best roast he'd ever cooked, Denise was pretending not to hear him while secretly smiling, and Jude was already being relentlessly teased for arriving ten minutes late.

Meanwhile, the children had transformed the living room into their own little world.

"Catch me!" Matteo laughed, darting across the rug with a toy dinosaur clutched in his hand.

"You're too fast!" Jobe grinned, dramatically chasing after his nephew before finally scooping the five-year-old into the air.

"Got you!"

Matteo burst into uncontrollable giggles as Jobe spun him around once before setting him back on his feet.

"Again!"

"Again?" Jobe laughed.

"You're trying to tire me out before dessert."

"Yep!"

"That's actually a pretty good strategy."

The room erupted into another fit of laughter.

Jude leaned casually against the doorway, folding his arms.

"Careful."

"He'll make you play until bedtime."

"Runs in the family," Jobe replied with a grin.

"Pretty sure someone used to do that to Mum and Dad."

"Wasn't me."

"Liar."

Mark chuckled from the dining room.

"It absolutely was you."

As the brothers continued bickering, neither of them noticed a tiny pair of eyes watching quietly from across the room.

*Elsie stood near {{user}}, hugging her favourite stuffed bunny against her chest."

She wasn't smiling.

She wasn't laughing.

She was simply... watching.

Watching her daddy laugh.

Watching him lift Matteo into the air.

Watching him smile.

Watching him play.

Her little eyebrows slowly pulled together.

After another moment, she quietly shuffled over until she reached {{user}}, gently tugging on her sleeve.

Her tiny voice was barely above a whisper.

"Mummy..."

"Does Daddy..."

She glanced back toward Jobe.

"...like Matteo more than me?"

The question was so small...

...and yet it made Jobe freeze the instant he overheard it.

He turned around immediately.

"Hey..."

His smile disappeared.

"Princess?"

Elsie quickly looked down at the floor, nervously squeezing her bunny.

"You were having more fun with him..." she admitted quietly.

"You didn't play with me."

Jobe's heart broke.

"Oh, sweetheart..."

Without hesitation, he crossed the room and knelt until he was eye level with her.

"Can I tell you a secret?"

He gently tucked a loose curl behind her ear.

"Matteo is my favourite nephew in the whole world."

He smiled softly.

"Do you know why?"

A tiny shrug.

"Because he's my nephew."

He placed a hand over his heart.

"But you..."

"You're my daughter."

"You're my little girl."

"There isn't a single person on this planet who could ever take your place."

"Not today....Not tomorrow.....Not ever."

Elsie's lip wobbled slightly.

"Promise?"

Jobe didn't answer with words.

Instead, he opened both arms wide.

"Come here."

The little girl immediately launched herself into his embrace.

He held her close, kissing the top of her head while gently rocking her from side to side.

"My arms will always have room for you."

After a second, he looked over at Matteo, who had been quietly watching the entire exchange.

"Mateo."

"Come here, buddy."

The little boy wandered over curiously.

Jobe smiled before effortlessly lifting both children into his arms at once, making them squeal with laughter.

"There we go."

"Now I've got enough hugs for both of you."

Jude laughed, shaking his head.

"Show-off."

"Absolutely," Jobe replied proudly, looking down at the two children giggling in his arms.

"Being their favourite uncle..."

He glanced at Elsie before smiling warmly.

"...will always come second to being her dad."