"What?" Cailen said, maybe sort of squeaked.
"Yeah, I think he should go," Asher chuckled. "I mean, not forever... maybe just a couple months to clear his head and see what he really wants to do. But he always talks about missing home and I think it's kind of mixing with all the Camille emotions... So I think he should go and just sort everything out," Asher said.
Cailen hadn't been expecting this at all. He had expected Asher to be very upset about this, to be begging Noah to stay, not telling him to go.
"Oh, you're not going to miss him?" Cailen asked, confused.
"Of course I am," Asher said. "But... You know, we're always busy with Zeke and now Matt and Hazel have Aariyah. He's only got Wil to hang around and Wil's focusing on his band... I'm sure it gets lonely, he just doesn't want to say anything and make us feel bad," Asher explained.
Cailen never thought
"I have a son," Cailenanswered with a patient smile, still finding it odd but equally exciting when he told people that, no matter how many times he has told her this.Mrs. Cruzsmiled at this, the wrinkles by her eyes becoming more prominent."How old?""He's eight," Cailenreplied, watching as her eyes lit up with joy from his answer."Oh, they're such darlings at that age," she commented but Cailencould tell now that she was lying in her bed, she was getting tired."Yeah, he's pretty amazing," Cailenreplied, double checking that everything on the monitor was correct. "I'll be back in a couple hours with your dinner before I leave, okay?" Cailensaid, heading towards the door."Okay, dear," she smiled sleepily at Cailen, her eyes falling shut as she fell asleep.Cailenshut the door behind him, smiling to himself because he really did enjoy talking to Mrs. Cruz, even if she didn't
"Of course I'm coming back. Even if it's not to stay... I'll always visit," Noahassured. "Look, I don't know what I'm doing yet. You know I'm more of a 'play it by year' kind of guy. We'll see what happens when it happens, yeah?""Yeah," Cailensighed. "Just going to miss you," Cailenadmitted."I'm going to miss you too, but don't act like I'm never going to see you again," Noahsaid, the most stubborn sounding he's ever heard the man sound."Okay. But, I've got to go. Don't just disappear on me. Come say goodbye first," Caileninstructed."Of course," Noahsmiled. "Now get out of here. I'm sure you and Ashhave a special night planned," Noahwinked, nodding towards the door.Cailenchoked out a laugh because they actually didn't. Honestly, they'd probably end up falling asleep on the couch."Yeah, okay. See you, Noah," Cailensaid, backing away from the guy and towards the do
Cailenwas already grabbing the pants off the doorknob and slipping them on, underwear be damned."What's wrong?" Cailenasked, noticing Asherclimbing out of bed as well, going in search of his clothes."Zekehad a nightmare..." Williamsaid, and although it didn't slow his movements any as he searched for his shirt, his heart did calm some because this was something that had happened many times."Yeah... Hegets those. We're coming over," Cailensaid into the phone as Asherhanded him his shirt.Cailenglanced around Asherat the alarm clock and saw that it was nearly two in the morning."Is he still up?I want totalk to him on the phone.""Yeah... he's- he's here, but um, he doesn't want to talk about it. He said not to call you," Williamsaid, his voice turning into a whisper."We're coming,Wil, just try to keep him calm if you can," Cailen
They didn't knock when they arrived at the house.They both climbed out of the car, Asherbarely remembering to lock it and hurried inside.The house was quiet and dark except for the quiet noise of the television and low glow from the screen that was coming from the living room.Cailenand Asherkicked off their shoes and hurried into the living room where Williamsat on an armchair, his attention on the screen though it looked like he was ready to pass out from how tired he was.On the couch that was facing the television,they could see a blonde head poking over the top and as they drew closer,they could see Ezekiel's as well.When they stepped into the living room, Williamturned to them and stood in relief, gesturing to the couch where Ezekielwas."Zeke, look who's here," Williamsaid, smiling softly at the boy.Both Noahand Ezekielturned to see Cailen
"Is everything okay with you and Ash?" Williamasked hesitantly."I thought after tonight-" Noahbegan but he really didn't want to discuss that infront of his father, thank you very much."We're fine... we just-" Cailenwent to explain but then Asherwas coming into the kitchen, a confused expression on his face as he regarded Cailen.Cailenlooked to the ground, suddenly very aware that he sort of did throw a fit when he stormed out of the living room."Cai, I can't-" Asherstarted to say, his eyes taking in the audience they had."Don't," Cailensaid, his blood beginning to boil again because he knew what Asherwas trying to do.He was actually going to try and justify his reasons behind staying a firefighter and Cailenreally didn't want to hear it."How could you do that? How could you sit there and lie to Zeke? Please tell me because I'm going to need a lesson if we're g
"Should we get creamy or original?" Cailenasked, holding up two different boxes of macaroni and cheese to Ezekiel.They were in the supermarket picking up some groceries that they found they were in desperate need of after having gone home from Eden's last night.Cailenhad went to go make lunch and discovered they were quite low on food supplies,so they decided to go out for lunch and go grocery shopping afterwards.Asherwas beside him, leaning on the trolley and looking down at Ezekielas he contemplated the very hard decision."Creamy!" Ezekielfinally decided,so Cailentossed it in the trolley and set the other back on the shelf.They were moving on down the aisle when they heard Ezekiel's name being called.Ezekielturned first, then Asherand Cailen, to see a blonde kid rushing down the aisle after them.It was Tripp, the kid from Ezekiel's school that apparentl
"Okay Mrs. Cruz, get some rest. I'll be back to check on you later," Cailensmiled at the elderly lady lying in the bed, her eyes already falling shut as he closed the door behind him. He made his way down the hall to drop off Mrs. Cruz's information, then he was to head to check on Mr. Bremontbut something told him he wouldn't be going to do that since he saw Madelinewith the Bat Phone pressed to her ear. Cailendoesn't know how he knows, but he does know that something is wrong as he's headed down the hall, just remembering to smile politely at familiar passing faces before meeting Madeline's eyes. He could tell it was something worse than a mild asthma attack or even a broken arm. She was standing behind the desk, the Bat Phone pressed to her ear as she nodded along to whatever she was being told, her eyes never leaving Cailen's. His initial thought was of course that a particularly bad patient was on th
It was all very Hollywood movie like.Everything turned to a blur before his eyes, maybe it was the tears that sprung to his eyes or just the shock messing with his mind, he didn't know.But he couldn't really see much through the blur as Asherwas pushed into the Intensive Care Unit, leaving Cailenstanding with nothing but the wall to hold him up because hislegs certainly weren't doing the trick.He was vaguely aware that he may have screamed, that he had drawn somewhat of a crowd, people all staring at him wondering what his problem was but he didn't care about them.He cared that Asher, his husband, the man he loved, was lying unconscious onagurney in the ICU when he was supposed to be at home, cleaning the flat or watching television.He didn't care if he was making a scene, he didn't care that his knees had given out, buckling underneath him as he slid to the floor, face buried in his hands.He
"Hey, hey, it's the superstar, finally making an appearance!" Matthewcalled out when they entered the kitchen.Cailengrinned at this while Williamlooked a bit sheepish. He knew he was never around much and constantly apologized for it, but they all understood and were all proud of their friend."Shut up, I've been busy!" Williamdefended just as the two girls at the counter turned in their stools and gasped.They each climbed their way down from the stools, Aariyahalmost taking a tumble but she caught herself and then they were each latched onto one of William's legs, the older man chuckling."Uncle William!" Maddisonsquealed, squeezing William's leg tight.Williamawkwardly bent down as far as he could without hurting or squishing the small girls, reaching out to rest a hand on each of them."How are two of my favorite girls?" he asked.It was truly adorable how much they each loved
Cailenonly had to look over the boy's shoulder to see his brother saunter in, but Ezekieland Ellianahad to turn around and Cailencouldn't say he was exactly surprised by the reaction.Ellianagasped in surprise while Ezekieldarted forward and threw himself at his uncle.Williamchuckled and wrapped Ezekielup in a tight hug, rocking him back and forth slightly before letting go."Uncle William, you made it!" Ezekielsaid happily.It had been a while since Ezekieland Maddisonlast saw him."Papasaid he didn't know if you were coming," Ezekielexplained.William mockscoffed."Of course I will! I wouldn't miss my favorite nephew turning fifteen!" Williamexclaimed.Cailentook a peek over at Ellianato see a look of confusion mixed with awe and nearly lost it. He would never understandthe effect Williamhad on teen
Both Matthewand Cailenlooked over to where the girls were sitting.It was instinctive now, whether it was your own child saying it or not, when you heard 'Daddy'or ‘Papa’, you look.Maddisonwas standing from her spot and making her way over to where Cailenand Matthewsat, a sheet of paper in her hands."Look, isn't my flower pretty?" she asked holding up the paper to Cailenwhere he saw a simple flower drawn on it.It was pink with big petals and a small green stem and looked like every other flower drawing she'd ever done but Cailenstill nodded along, smiling at his daughter."Yes, it's beautiful, love," Cailensmiled, his arms still bouncing Mishaup and down on his knee."But- But isn't mine beautiful-er?" Aariyahstood in a hurry, rushing over to them and nearly tripping as she held up her own drawing of an almost identical flower.Cailens
"Dude, she'll be here soon," Trippsaid, leaning across the island in the kitchen to reach for the bowl of crisps that Cailenhad put out. "Calm down or you'll start getting sweat stains," he added, scrunching up his nose in distaste.Tripp, if possible, had grown up to be even bigger than Ezekiel, though that wasn't much of a surprise with how much taller he's always been than Ezekiel. He still had his blonde hair,though it wasn't quite so golden anymore-more of a dirty blonde, and has acquired glasses over the years.Cailenremembers the first day he had come over with them on, the boy had been mortified but he's grown to love them, claiming the girls were really into the 'nerdy' look these days."And no girl likes sweat stains," Aireneadded from her spot at the island.Airenehad grown up to be quite the beautiful girl, her hair still a fiery red and her green eyes bright and enchanting.Ezekie
Cailenstopped a ways back, pulling his coat tighter around him as the fall breeze blew and made him shiver.He was always surprised sometimes when he really looked at Ezekieland saw how much he's grown.Up until last year,it seemed as though he had missed the puberty bus until one day,Cailenreally looked at him and noticed he had grown about a foot and was stealing his cologne to wear.It was a bit of a shock that he quickly got over and went out to buy Ezekielhis own cologne along with some shaving supplies since he had noticed the boy had also started growing some scruff.It was something he never had a problem with in the first place because until now, he never had a single hair grow on his face, well aside from his eyebrows and his head, of course.Cailenknew he was going to be one of those teenagers that looked way olderthan they really were just because puberty decided to randomly
Maddison rushed over to them, throwing herself into Asher's legs hard enough that her feet left the ground and she was able to crawl into Asher's lap, with his help of course."What do you mean ‘Zekeleft’?" Asherquestioned as he wrapped his arms around his daughterso she wouldn't fall off.She had nestled herself nicely in his lap so her legs dangled over the edge but she was able to look up at them both with her big blue eyes.They adopted Maddison out of the orphanage when she was six years old, soon after Ezekielhad come up to them one day and asked if they were ever going to adopt another child.It was completely random and out oftheblue and had taken them both by surprise so much that they didn't know what to say.They honestly hadn't thought about adopting again, but when Ezekielexplained that he was only wondering because he thought it might be nice to have someone to play w
Seven years later…"Alright," Cailenheard come from down the hall.It was only a couple steps further so he made the small venture to poke his head around the corner and into the hall to see Asherjust coming up from the basement."The basement isofficially 'Teen-Proof'," Asher said around an exhausted sigh.Cailenfully stepped into the entrance of the hallway, crossing his arms over his chest and waiting for his husband to meet him at the end of the hall and proceeding to follow him into the kitchen.Cailenstill cringed slightly whenever he walked into the kitchen, more so when he had company following him.They were in the middle of renovating the kitchen, the last of the house's renovation, thankfully.When they purchased the house four years ago, they had gotten it pretty cheap because it needed so much work done to it. They just hadn't realized how much work it ne
"Yeah, I love you too," Cailensaid with a small smile before hanging up his phone and slipping it into his pocket.He went to turn around but paused as a man in a suit rushed by him, obviously in a hurry.They were at the airport saying goodbye to Noahbefore he got on a flight to Scotlandand apparently,he was not the only one planning a trip that weekend.You could barely move without bumping into someone and Cailenhad to step away into a corner in order to answer his phone because it was so loud.Once the man had passed,Cailencontinued back towards the small group that was gathering outside the gate Noahwas to go through to get to his flight.They were all there, Matthew, Hazel, and of course Aariyah, William, Asherand Ezekiel, all hugging Noahgoodbye before his departure.He had been in the middle of saying goodbye when his phone rang and he excused himself to answer
Cailen is startled from his sleep by a sudden weight crashing into him and then a wet nose sniffing at his face.He knows who it is instantly and groans, not caring if he wakes Asher up at this point.It's his dog, if Loki is waking Cailen up, then Asher can get woken up as well.Cailen brought his arms up, having to untangle himself from Asher's grasp in order to do so, and shielded his face from the intruding nose.It's not like this has never happened before, but it didn't happen often.Loki was usually pretty good at just sleeping at the foot of their bed, but recently, he's been cuddling up to Ezekiel in his so it was a bit strange.Either way, Loki was waking Cailen up so he started to sit up, just remembering to be gentle in case Asher's arm or leg was in the right position to get squished."Loki, down," Cailen mumbled, his tone firm.Cailen heard a groan come from behind him and knew Asher was now awake.