"Hey, Zeke, guess what?" William asked excitedly, looking down at the boy who grinned up at him."What?" Ezekiel asked, looking between Noah and William for the answer."I have a surprise for you," William said in a sing-song voice, turning on his heel and beginning to march back up the stairs. "Come on," he said, gesturing for Ezekiel to follow."William," Cailen warned because he didn't know what this surprise was and he wasn't sure he wanted to find out."Don't worry, it's nothing bad. No sweets or anything," William said, making Ezekiel pout before following William up.Cailen was about to protest but a pair of arms wrapped around his waist and he shut up."Let them go. Wil's just trying to win him over," Asher whispered in his ear. "You know, trying to be the 'cool uncle’ type... thing," Asher explained, making Cailen snort as he lifted h

 Cailen had been shuffling his way forward on the couch, getting ready to stand to go to bed, but froze with Asher's words because, this has never happened before."What?" Cailen asked stupidly."I- I'm just going to sleep here tonight," Asher repeated, shrugging his shoulder as if this wasn't a big deal.Cailen looked at him a second longer, the man unable to meet his gaze, before scoffing at the situation."Okay," Cailen said angrily and disbelieving, standing up from the couch and heading to their room, trying not to stomp in anger because Ezekiel was sleeping and there were people living underneath them.Again, Cailen suppressed the urge to slam the door shut, opting to not touch it at all in case he couldn't control himself.Maybe he was actually hoping Asher would come to bed anyway and didn't want him to think he wasn't welcome by the door being closed, but he wasn't

 "I'm sorry," Asher apologized, never breaking eye contact. "I've been acting like a twat lately," Asher admitted and as much as Cailen would like accept the apology and leave it at that, he knew Asher wasn't totally in the wrong."So have I," Cailen admitted, running his hands up Asher's arms and looking down at where their bodies met. "Why can't we figure this one out?" Cailen asked, knowing it's what Asher's been thinking as well."I don't know, because we're both a little stubborn and think we're right?" Asher suggested, half teasing but half serious.Cailen gave him a half smile, his hand resting on Asher's shoulders."I want you to know, I do support you. I know it might seem like I don't... But I just worry, Ash," Cailen explained, continuing before Asher can interrupt and he can't get his point across."I love that being a firefighter makes you happy, and all I want is for

 "I have a son," Cailen answered 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. Cruz smiled at this, the wrinkles by her eyes becoming more prominent."How old?""He's eight," Cailen replied, watching as her eyes lit up with joy from his answer."Oh, they're such darlings at that age," she commented but Cailen could tell now that she was lying in her bed, she was getting tired."Yeah, he's pretty amazing," Cailen replied, double checking that everything on the monitor was correct. "I'll be back in a couple hours with your dinner before I leave, okay?" Cailen said, heading towards the door."Okay, dear," she smiled sleepily at Cailen, her eyes falling shut as she fell asleep.Cailen shut the door behind him, smiling to himself because he really did enjoy talking to Mrs. Cruz, even if she didn't

 Cailen was already grabbing the pants off the doorknob and slipping them on, underwear be damned."What's wrong?" Cailen asked, noticing Asher climbing out of bed as well, going in search of his clothes."Zeke had a nightmare..." William said, 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... He gets those. We're coming over," Cailen said into the phone as Asher handed him his shirt.Cailen glanced around Asher at the alarm clock and saw that it was nearly two in the morning."Is he still up? I want to talk 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," William said, his voice turning into a whisper."We're coming, Wil, just try to keep him calm if you can," Cailen