Seven years later…
"Alright," Cailen heard 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 Asher just coming up from the basement.
"The basement is officially 'Teen-Proof'." Asher said around an exhausted sigh.
Cailen fully 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.
Cailen still 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 needed and how long it was going to take.
It's been three years since they started on the renovations, working on them slowly when they had the time and money to do so, which neither was easy to find a lot of.
"Are you sure? Is anything ever truly 'Teen-Proof'?" Cailen asked, quirking an eyebrow at the man.
Asher smiled, his eyes crinkling at the corners like they always did, though now, the lines were a little more prominent with age.
That wasn't to say Asher was old and wrinkly, no... Far from it, but there were small signs that showed his age. Small signs like the bit of scruff that was his beard, Asher finding that it took up too much time to shave regularly.
He was now teaching a bunch high school students for P.E. classes. Asher realized that he enjoys it despite his refusal of the idea at first.
There was also the very tiny amount of 'Daddy fat' that came with always sitting at a desk grading papers and not having the time to work out regularly- running after students apparently wasn’t part of that- it wasn't noticeable unless he had his shirt off and you looked closely, but since Cailen is so used to seeing Asher with nothing but toned muscles and hard abs, he could tell.
However, he was still Asher and the question of whether these changes affected Cailen's love for his husband was non-existent.
He just loved him more than ever.
"Well, I've moved everything breakable, put down plastic on all the tables, and I'm just hoping they stay away from the couches with their drinks." Asher explained.
Cailen snorted at this.
"You're dreaming, Ash." Cailen told him but went ignored.
At least the couches were dark in color.
"I closed all doors and locked the ones they're not to go in, and I tied a string to the television so if it does get knocked into, it won't fall to it's death." Asher finished, taking a seat on one of the plastic covered stools that sat at the island in the middle of the kitchen.
Plastic covered because they had painted the walls a light brown yesterday, almost a tan mixed with beige colour and with darker trimming, and they just hadn't removed the plastic yet.
It still smelled of paint fumes.
"They'll still find something to damage, I'm sure." Cailen teased, earning an agreeing nod from Asher.
Cailen stepped over to where Asher sat, reaching out to run his fingers over the small tuff of hair he cropped his hair into on the top. In doing so, he ended up pushing Asher's head back enough so he was looking up at Cailen with a lazy smile on his lips- a smile he couldn't help but to kiss.
Cailen placed a soft kiss to Asher's lips. Asher pulled Cailen, grabbing his thighs and carefully placing him on his lap. Cailen laughed as he moved a bit to straddle Asher properly and avoid the two of them toppling over.
He placed his hands around Asher’s neck as they stared at each other’s eyes, the promise of forever still evident in them.
Asher’s hand squeezed Cailen’s thighs before moving towards his hips and holding him tightly in a hug after kissing Cailen’s forehead and his nose. Cailen smiled to himself before placing another kiss to the top of Asher's head.
Asher nuzzled his face into Cailen's neck with a small hum of content followed by a short moment of silence.
"I can't believe he's fifteen already." Asher mumbled against Cailen's neck.
Cailen let out a little chuckle as he pulled away to look down at Asher, seeing a small sad smile on his husband's lips.
Cailen nodded in agreement, not able to believe it either.
Ezekiel turned fifteen today and since he was lucky enough for it to fall on a Saturday, he was having his party today in the basement.
It took a lot of convincing on Ezekiel's end to get them to allow him to throw an actual party in the basement, mostly unsupervised- instead of the usual eating at a restaurant with everyone- but somehow the kid managed.
Cailen had been the first to give in, saying that if Ezekiel could convince Asher, then he supposed it would be okay.
In his defense, he hadn't been expecting Asher to cave. He's gotten quite good at saying no…
He had to with another addition to the family.
"Yeah... just think, a few years from now and he'll be off to college." Cailen mumbled, his fingers now playing with the collar of Asher's shirt.
Asher groaned.
"Don't say that." Asher mumbled, a sigh leaving his mouth.
Cailen smiled down at him, amused at his husband's reaction. It's not as though Cailen didn't understand where Asher was coming from.
The time had flown by and he couldn't believe Ezekiel was fifteen and would soon be getting ready to start looking into Universities, looking at different brochures for different ones and there was always the possibility of him choosing one far from home, but Cailen knows he's going to cope with it all a lot better than Asher will.
Maybe it was because Cailen’s been to University and he knows what it's really like and not just stories he's heard like Asher, he knew there wasn't really as much partying as everyone thought, but he couldn't blame Asher for thinking there was.
"Don't worry, you've still got a bit of time before that." Cailen assured, leaning down to place another sweet kiss to Asher's lips.
He didn't care how long they've been together or how 'old' they were getting, his stomach still did a flip flop whenever Asher kissed him or even just looked at him with that look in his eyes.
And the best part? The same goes for Asher too.
Asher hummed against Cailen's lips in acknowledgement before he pulled away, sending Cailen a small smile before dropping his head back onto Cailen's neck again.
Cailen was just enjoying this moment of being with Asher in peace and quiet.
They didn't get it very often anymore, but even this moment didn't last long.
"Papa! Daddy!" Came an eager voice from down the hall along with the sound of thumping footsteps.
Cailen pulled away from Asher and stood up from his lap, Asher letting him go reluctantly. They turned towards the entrance of the kitchen, both of them knowing what was coming down the hall.
"Zeke left!" The voice added as Maddison rounded the corner, her blonde hair pulled back into a messy ponytail.
Asher must have put it up at some point, Cailen could tell because it didn't matter how many times Asher did her hair, he never got better at it.