Cailen smiled at the commotion, turning to see Asher smiling as well before he too was turning to meet Cailen's eyes.
Asher's smile grew as he reached over, grabbing Cailen by the waist and pulling him in close to give him a kiss.
Cailen rested his hand on Asher's arm near his shoulder so as not to hurt him in anyway as he tip his toes to reach his husband.
Cailen had been expecting a simple peck on the lips, something small and quick before they could be interrupted by anyone but Asher kept his hold on Cailen's waist and kept him close, almost lifting him up against his body as he slowly worked his lips against Cailen's.
Cailen didn't pull away, he let Asher kiss him, returning the kiss as soon as he realized Asher had wanted more than just a quick peck.
Cailen slid his hand up behind Asher's neck, deepening the kiss and sort of getting caught up in it.
He knew what this kiss was for, it wasn't just an 'I'm happy to see you' kiss or an 'I'm lonely' kiss.
It was much more than that. It was a 'we made it through this' kiss, an 'I couldn't be happier than I am right here, right now' kiss and Cailen couldn't help but agree.
The past little while has been a bit of a struggle, even before Asher's accident and they made it.
Sure, it's been a little rocky, but the roads were smoothing out and Cailen knew that even if they didn't, even if they kept getting rockier, they would push through it together with Ezekiel by their side and their friends and family always there to help.
Cailen only pulled away when he heard an overly dramatic gasp come from behind him.
"Cailen! Asher!" William said in a very authoritative tone.
Cailen turned his head, his body still turned to Asher and his hand resting on his shoulder, to look at William with a questioning look.
"How dare you! There are children present!" William scolded and now, Cailen noticed William had grabbed Ezekiel and held him protectively against him, his hand covering the boy's eyes.
Ezekiel giggled, squirming away from the hold William had on him.
"It's nothing I haven't seen before." Ezekiel informed them, Noah throwing his head back in a cackle of laughter.
"Jesus, can't you control yourselves in front of Zeke?" Noah asked around a laugh.
Cailen heard Asher snicker in his ear before he felt a peck to his cheek and then the warmth of his body disappeared, Cailen's arm falling to his side.
"They're always kissing." Ezekiel went on and Cailen actually felt his cheeks getting a little warm.
He honestly didn't think they kissed that much infront of Ezekiel, not that Cailen thought it was bad for Ezekiel to witness innocent little pecks.
"I don't get it. Kissing is gross." Ezekiel added, climbing into his seat at the kitchen table where his homework was still spread out.
"The grossest." William agreed, giving his head a slight nod and smirking over at Cailen.
"Yeah?" Cailen asked, turning to Ezekiel. "Well, I'm going to quote you on that in a few years." Cailen told him, earning a confused look from Ezekiel who eventually gave up on trying to figure out what Cailen had meant by that and picked up his pencil to finish his homework.
Everyone else in the room was grinning from ear to ear.
"Knock, knock!" They all turned when they heard a voice coming from down the hall along with the sound of the door opening again.
Cailen already recognized Hazel's voice and knew who would be standing there. It was a good thing they made lots of spaghetti.
"In the kitchen." Asher called out from where he stood by the sink, mixing the sauce and noodles together.
Soon, Matthew and Hazel were coming around the corner, Aariyah in Matthew's arms making grabby hands for his hair.
"Why, hello uninvited pupils." Cailen greeted, immediately going over to Matthew and holding out his arms, indicating he hand over the baby in his arms.
"Except for you," Cailen said happily, taking Aariyah from Matthew, carefully holding her up in the air before resting her on his hip. "You're always invited."
Aariyah blinked up at him, obviously not having a clue as to what was going on besides the fact that she had just been handed to somebody else which meant new hair to play with.
Aariyah reached up with her small hand, just barely reaching Cailen's head and since his hair was a little longer, she was able to grab it and pull. Cailen grunted in response, squeezing his eyes shut and leaning his head back so she'd let go.
"That's what you get for saying we're not invited." Matthew told him, smirking at Cailen as he stepped further into the kitchen.
Aariyah giggled, reaching for Cailen's hair again but missing this time and ended up slapping her hand to his cheek.
It didn't hurt at all and now her hand was kind of just sitting there so Cailen pulled a face at her, widening his eyes and crossing them, and making her giggle again, pulling her hand back to her body.
"You're always invited." Asher said over his shoulder, flashing Matthew a smile as he sat at the table across from Ezekiel.
Matthew nodded, probably already knowing this and Cailen knew he knew this so that's why he said it, but still. Asher was still Asher, even after all these years with Cailen, he wouldn't want anyone to feel bad in anyway.
"Oh, Asher, let me get that." Hazel said, rushing to Asher's side to take over stirring the noodles, obviously worried about his condition, grabbing the spatula from Asher without giving him a choice.
Asher chuckled lightly, stepping back from the counter to allow her in.
"Hey, he wanted to make dinner." Cailen pointed out so he wouldn't look like a totally crap person for making his injured husband make dinner.
"Yeah, but Zeke mostly made it. I just helped, right buddy?" Asher said, turning to Ezekiel who looked up from his homework and smiled.
"Yup! I'm the cook!" Ezekiel said proudly, grinning up at everyone in the room.
"Are we sure it's edible?" William mock-whispered loud enough for Ezekiel to hear. "Because it kind of smells like someone burned something in here." He went on, Ezekiel looking a bit taken aback at William questioning his skills.
"That was Dad!" Ezekiel defended, slapping his hands on the table. "He burned the chicken and I saved supper by making spaghetti."
"It's a true story." Asher admitted, grabbing his cane from where it leaned against the fridge. "Apparently, I can't cook to save my life." Asher added, taking a seat by Matthew at the table.
Cailen didn't miss the grimace on his face as he did so. He's been standing too long.
"Well, we all knew that." Matthew teased, earning a weak shove from Asher.