Epilogue
"Hey, hey, it's the superstar, finally making an appearance!" Matthew called out when they entered the kitchen.
Cailen grinned at this while William looked 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!" William defended just as the two girls at the counter turned in their stools and gasped.
They each climbed their way down from the stools, Aariyah almost 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!" Maddison squealed, squeezing William's leg tight.
William awkwardly 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 William, though everyone seemed to love William.
"Good!" They both echoed each other.
William stood, obviously expecting the two girls to let go but neither of them did. William gave a small helpless chuckle and looked up to his friends for help, but received nothing but amused smiles and small shrugs.
"It's what happens when you're away for so long." Cailen teased, patting his brother on the shoulder and stepping back over to his husband.
"It's not like I'm trying to be away." William pouted, looking down at the girls who were still clinging onto him.
"We know Wil, and we're proud of you." Asher spoke up, coming to defend William like the good hearted person he was. "Saw the album at number five in the chart. That's pretty good, better than your first." Asher beamed and the pride in his voice was obvious and true.
"I know, Drax just told me this morning... I can't believe it, honestly." William said from where he still stood by the entrance, weighed down by a couple of kids. "I mean, I know it's not that big of a deal-"
"It's pretty damn impressive, man." Noah interrupted, everyone else nodding along in agreement.
"Your first didn't even make it onto the charts, and your second is at number five? Soon you'll be headlining a tour in other countries!" Noah said teasingly but you could hear a seriousness to his voice that had William smiling sheepishly.
"We haven't even headlined a tour here, but thanks Noah." William said, his smile sincere.
"Uncle William, will you color with us?" Maddison asked from down below, looking up at her uncle with wide blue eyes.
"Well, I can't really color with you on my feet now, can I?" William said, resting his hands on his hips and looking down at the girls.
"I can't even move!" He declared, demonstrating this by attempting to move his feet but really only ended up shaking the girls one by one.
Of course, he probably could have easily gotten out, but William liked to play along. The two girls giggled and eventually let him go, getting to their feet and both grabbing a hand to drag him over to the counter where they had been coloring.
William went willingly and immediately grabbed for a fresh piece of paper with feigned excitement, though Cailen didn't think it was all that put on. The guy was a kid at heart.
"Everyone downstairs?" Asher asked as Cailen stepped into his arms, Asher sneaking his arm around Cailen's waist to hold him against his side.
"As far as I know, unless more will come." Cailen explained, leaning in to kiss Asher's cheek just because.
"Hey, Noah... when do we get to meet that girl you've been seeing?" Matthew asked from over where he stood with Hazel.
Everyone turned to the blonde with piqued interest, even the two girls coloring at the counter.
This girl is someone they've all known about for months but none have ever met.
Noah claims he didn't want things to go too fast and therefore won't let anyone meet her or even tell them her name.
"Never." Noah answered immediately, taking a seat at the counter and picking up one of the girls' colored pencils.
There was a small smirk on his lips because he knew how much everyone wanted to meet her, yet he still refused to bring her over.
"I'm beginning to think she isn't real, to be honest." Cailen stated, leaning slightly into Asher and narrowing his eyes at his friend.
It wasn't a far fetched idea, the way Noah talked about her sometimes made it seem like she was too good to be true.
"Yeah, no kidding..." Matthew smirked. "A gorgeous girl that likes sports, video games, and pigging out yet still looks like she could walk a runway?" Matthew asked skeptically, arching an eyebrow at Noah.
"Believe, don't believe... I don't care." Noah shrugged again, that same smirk still playing at his lips.
"Well, I'm officially choosing not to." William put in, sending Noah a playful smirk before continuing on with his coloring.
Downstairs, Cailen heard the distinct sound of music starting up, a faint thumping coming from underneath them. Ezekiel must be done showing off his guitar skills.
"But Uncle William, she's real!" Maddison declared, silencing everyone in the room.
Noah sort of grimaced and looked to the counter.
"Wait, Maddie... How do you know she's real?" Hazel questioned and then it was Maddison’s turn to grimace and look to the counter, but not before sparring Noah an apologetic look.
"So, Maddie gets to meet her and we don't?" Asher asked curiously, feigning feeling hurt.
"Maddie met her by accident when I was watching her once," Noah said, getting up from the counter and rounding it so he was standing behind Maddison.
"And she was supposed to keep her little mouth shut." Noah said, his tone playful as he bent down with his hands going to the little girl's sides, his face to the crook of her neck before blowing a raspberry there and beginning to tickle her as punishment.
Maddison squealed, dropping her colored pencils and curling in on herself as she burst into giggles and more squeals.
"I'm sorry!" She managed between squeals even though it was obvious Noah wasn't truly mad.
"I demand to meet her now, no more avoiding it!" Cailen declared. "If my daughter has met her, then its only fair." Cailen went on, Asher nodding along.
"Hang on, we all want to meet her!" Hazel added as Noah stood up, giving Maddison a chance to breathe.
Noah's gaze went from each person in the room before landing on Maddison, the little girl looking up at him with a bright smile on her face.
"What do you think? Do they deserve to meet such a wonderful girl?" Noah asked, his hand going to rest on his hips.
Maddison giggled again before nodding her head.
Noah smiled down at her, then looked up at everyone's awaiting stares. "Fine. I'll talk to her."
*****
After a little more talking about pretty much nothing, their group made their way into the living room where they set up a few snacks on the coffee table and let Aariyah and Maddison decide on a movie for them all to watch.
You could still hear the faint thumping coming from the basement, but it sounded more distant with the movie playing.
Cailen and Asher have been taking turns in going down to check on everything but it seemed pointless.
Cailen went down about ten minutes ago and they were doing nothing more than sitting around talking with loud music playing.
Now, Cailen wasn't an idiot, he didn't truly believe they were just sitting there but he figured if whatever they were doing was easy enough to clean up in a matter of seconds it takes to descend the staircase, it couldn't be too bad...
Hopefully.
He trusted Ezekiel, so he let it be and came back upstairs to return to his seat on the couch.
Maddison had scooted over for him, making room for him to sit beside her and immediately fell into his lap, curling up with her head on his knee facing the television and her feet resting in Asher's lap.
Cailen had noticed Misha had made her way out as well, having taken refuge in Hazel's lap, though it didn't seem as though she was watching the movie. She was mostly just playing with her mother’s hair.
Aariyah sat on the floor between Matthew and William's legs, her attention solely on the movie playing before them, and Noah sat in the arm chair on the end, his attention focused on his phone, a small smile playing at his lips.
He was probably texting that mysterious girl.
Cailen's attention was drawn from the movie when he heard a thumping noise sound from down the hall- someone was coming up the staircase.
A few seconds later, Ezekiel rounded the corner and made his way over behind the couch where Asher and Cailen sat.
Cailen smiled up at his son, curious as to what he wanted but Ezekiel didn't say anything.
Instead, he leaned down, wrapped an arm around each of his father's necks and pulled them into an odd hug.
Cailen smiled and lifted a hand to place it on his son's arm, giving him a slight squeeze as his fingers ran through Maddison’s hair.
He couldn't have been happier than he was in this moment, here with the people he loved most in the world.
Life was not easy.
They faced a lot of challenges, had tons of troubles, and had to solve many problems.
But no matter what happens, as long as they were together, they will always find their way back home.
End.