Chapter 1

Chapter 1 - First Day

"Ugh. Cut it out," Liam mumbles irritated as the persistent ringing of his alarm continues.

His hand snakes out from underneath the warm and very comfy cocoon of his blankets, grabbing his phone from the side table. He shuts it off and brings it under the blankets with him. And just when sleep starts to pull him under again, he feels the phone vibrate under his pillow between his hands. Huffing to himself, he pries his eyes open, but makes no movement to actually get out of his bed. But of course, the alarm in his phone is relentless, it starts buzzing again.

"I'm up. I'm up," he groans, sitting up, stretching his arms over his head, rolling his neck around, before grabbing his phone and turning off the alarm once more.

Scratching his bare abdomen, he stands up and groggily walks towards the bathroom to brush his teeth and splash some cold water on his face hoping to be rid of the remaining sleepiness that stubbornly clung to him. Summer is over, but it seems like his body hasn't quite gotten the memo yet; he just wants to return to his bed and continue sleeping.

But he can't.

He starts a new job today. With a brand-new Liam Beau Spencer. One who is not going to mope around like he has done all summer. And one who is definitely not going to spare another second to think about his sleazebag of an ex-fiancé.

This Liam Beau Spencer is over all that, and more than ready to go face his new, bright future.

He glances at his reflection in the mirror. He had finally shaved the beard he managed to grow out during the summer after his mother's unending berating, and he has to admit that small change in his facial features does make a rather noticeable difference.

Liam feels like he looks brighter somehow, and he's definitely taking that as a good sign. God, knows he needs it.

He manages to give himself a frail smile, and bobs his head up and down. Yeah, he is ready to face his new future.

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"Oh, shi- shucks," Liam quickly catches himself from swearing, spotting the two little figures running about the living room, laughing (actually, shrieking more like), still clad in their night clothes.

In him preparing for his new start, he almost forgot about these two little kids, and he momentarily feels bad. He had set the alarm clock for them the previous night, just in case he forgot about them, and it seems like it had been a fair decision. The alarm must have gone off while Liam was too immersed in his run and woken these two up.

"Liiiiii-am," the younger of the two, Tania notices him first and catapults herself towards him, hanging to his leg.

"Ooof," Liam pats her on the head, smiling, and closes the door behind him, pushing himself forward with his four-year-old niece still attached to his leg. "I'm so late," he mutters to himself, and then regards Claude, his nephew who was now sat on the couch going through his mother's phone.

Sighing to himself, Liam pries Tania away from his leg, and then snatches the phone away from Claude, and points a finger at him when he starts to complain, "Come on, little man. First day, you've got to work with me here,"

"Ugh, fine," Claude stands up from the couch and starts towards the stairs, "I'm going to bathe,"

"No longer than ten minutes," Liam calls out after him and picks up the little girl before she can manage to run away from him, "Now, what are we going to do about you?"

"Can we go swimming, Liam?" Tania asks eyes wide.

"I wish, darling," he flicks her nose playfully, walking towards the bathroom downstairs, "But do you know what day it is today?"

"Oh, I know. Sep-bear,"

"No," he chuckles, "And that is Sep-tem-ber, and it's a month, not day," he motions at her to raise her hands so he can help her get out of her clothes, "Today is Monday, and it is-,"

"School day!" Tania yells excited, jumping up and down.

"And who is going to school today?" Liam asks as he turns on the tap to fill the bathtub with warm water.

"Tania," she points to herself.

"Yes, Tania is," he ties her long blonde hair into a bun on top of her head, and checks the water temperature before carrying her into the tub, "And does Tania wants to go to school all smelly?" he scrunches his nose up.

The little girl copies his action, and shakes her head, "No! I want to smell pretty,"

"Let's do the trick then, shall we?"

And that's how Liam's next hour whizzes by; with him tailing after the kids, making sure they are all set for the first day of their school, and also getting himself ready for his first day of work.

The doorbell rings sharp at 8.40 and he knows who it is before he even opens the front door. Anne Spencer has never been the one to be late at any occasion.

"Hey, ma," he smiles, opening the door and giving her a hug, and then turning back towards the house, he yells out, "Come on, guys. Time to go. Nana's here,"

Tania is the first one to appear with her new glittery schoolbag, "Look, nana," she does a little spin, "I have a new bag, and new socks and new shoes, and new hairband and new uniform," she lists off, pointing to each item accordingly.

Liam leave both the ladies as they continue talking in search of his nephew, "Claude. It's getting late, buddy,"

He lets out a soft sigh when he sees the kid standing by his mother's bedroom. He walks towards him and places a hand on his shoulder, "Go on. Say goodbye,"

"No, it's fine," he shakes his head, stepping back, "She is sleeping,"

Liam closes the door and follows his nephew to the living room where he is picking up his bag, "Hey," he squats down so that he can see him eye-to-eye, "Your mother will get better soon, okay," he pats his cheek, "Now, do you have everything you need for school?"

"You already asked me that,"

"Yes, and I'm asking again. Do you have everything?"

"Yeah, yeah. I do," Claude waves his uncle off, and walks towards the door where Tania and Anne are waiting for him.

"So, are we ready to go kids?" Anne asks them, "Go on, I'll be right behind you,"

"Don't go to the road, guys," Liam calls out behind them, and to his mother, he sighs, "Thank you for doing this, ma,"

"Oh, shush," she admonishes him, "You know I would do anything for those kids and also mine," she cups his cheek, and then peers inside the house, "Is Rylee not up yet?" she asks referring to Liam's sister - Claude's and Tania's mother.

"No," Liam grimaces, "I'll check up on her before I leave; don't worry," he assures her, "I wish I could go with you guys; see Tania off for her first day. She's really excited," he laughs.

"Yeah, she is," Anne agrees, "It's fine. You have to be ready for you first day too. Are you as excited as your niece?"

"Oooh, yeah I can't wait to go," he bares his teeth in a barely convincing smile.

His mother shakes her head, smiling, "It'll be fine,"

"I know, I know," he waves her off.

"I'm proud of you, darling," his mother says almost teary-eyed.

Liam rolls his eyes, "Mom, I'm almost thirty years old, I'm single and I'm living with my sister,"

That robs the smile off the older woman's face and she pinches his ear, twisting and pulling it up, "What have we said about putting yourself down?"

"Okay, okay. I'm sorry," he winces, "I'm proud of myself too," and rubs at the spot when his mother lets him go.

"You are taking care of your sister and her kids with no one telling you to do so. Not everyone does that, Liam. You should give yourself more credit,"

Liam rubs the back of his neck, awkwardly, "Yeah, aren't you going to be late? You should get going,"

It looks like his mother is going to admonish him once again and he beats her to it, "I'm going to run late too. I should go get ready," he puts his hands on his mother's shoulders and turns her around, nudging her forward, "I'll see you later, okay. Bye. Love you," he places a chaste kiss on her cheek, "Have a good day, guys," he calls out to the kids before quickly entering the house and closing the door behind him.

He glances at the clock hanging by the staircase. He really is going to be running late if he doesn't leave soon.

Liam rushes to the kitchen and prepare a tray of food to bring to his sister's room for breakfast. About six months back, his sister, Rylee had unexpectedly lost her husband to a freak accident, and she's gradually lost herself to depression. It requires her to exert a rather huge amount of effort for something as simple as getting out of bed at times.

Liam has always been close with her sister, and seeing such a lively person as her sister wither away, he couldn't stay away. He has been helping out as best as he can ever since then.

He used to travel back and forth from his place to his sister's but since his own fiancé had decided to break up with him; he moved in with his sister for good. They stayed at their parents' house for a month when Liam was nursing his own heartbreak, but he didn't want to impose on them any longer.

He would have gotten his own place, but he decided to put if off until his sister manages to be up and about once again.

Liam goes to his sister's room and places the tray on the bedside table, clearing it off the mess from the previous night, "Rylee, I've got to run, okay. Please, wake up and eat. And don't forget to take your medications. Riley," he calls out once again when he doesn't get any response.

"Yes, okay," she croaks out, pulling the covers further up her already fully-covered body.

"The kids have gone to school with mom and she says she'll pick them up as well," he places a hand on her sleeping form, "Maybe try to wake up and walk around at least inside the house. Just try okay,"

He sighs, when he doesn't get any response and starts to walk away when he sees his sister shuffle from the corner of his eye, sitting up, "Lee,"

"Yeah?" he turns to her.

"Thank you,"

He offers him a small smile, shaking his head, "Call me if you need anything, alright. Bye,"

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a/n: new chapter!!!! lmk your thoughts.

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