They all ate in the living room because their table just wasn't big enough for seven people plus a baby.
They put Ezekiel on the floor infront of the coffee table, pulled in a few chairs from the kitchen and everyone else just held their plates in their hands.
Of course before Hazel and Matthew could eat, they had to feed Aariyah but that didn't take too long and now she was in Asher and Cailen's room taking a nap in a make shift crib they had made with their blanket so she wouldn't accidentally roll off the bed.
It was nice, sitting here on the couch with Asher by his side, Ezekiel at their feet eating dinner and their friends spread out in the living room.
It felt normal again, and Cailen wasn't only talking about Asher and his accident.
It felt normal to be sitting here with Matthew and Hazel having to worry about the little girl asleep in the bedroom.
It felt normal to have a child at their feet and have to remind him not to talk with his mouth full.
It all felt normal, like it was finally sinking in for everyone that this was it, this was their family.
This was how it was going to be from now on and Cailen couldn't be happier.
"So, Wil, what did that label say about your demo?" Asher asked as he leaned forward to set his empty plate on the coffee table.
They were all pretty close to finishing their meal, Matthew and Hazel being the farthest.
"Oh, uh..." William mumbled, looking down at the few noodles still left on his plate.
Cailen had forgotten that William had told them they had given a record label a demo CD and the fact that William had to be asked about it didn't exactly make Cailen think it went well.
If it went well, William would have called them before he even left the building.
"Well, we're apparently not what they're looking for." William said, shrugging his shoulder and frowning down at his noodles.
There was immediate apologies all around accompanied by sympathetic looks and a few pats on the leg for comfort but William dismissed it all.
"I didn't think it would be easy from here on out or anything just because we have a manager. It's not a big deal." William shrugged again but everyone could tell it was a bigger deal than William was letting on.
"Don't focus on the rejections, William. You guys already have quite the following here in the city." Hazel said, her tone full of support. "A friend of mine is actually quite the fan, she goes around asking the pubs when you'll be performing next." She said with a smile on her face, a smile that was slowly matched on William's.
"Yeah?" William asked for confirmation, looking up at the blonde girl.
Hazel nodded before scooping up some spaghetti and putting it in her mouth.
Cailen was about to add to that, something cheesy about how he had seven more fans here in the room, but he was cut off when Noah's phone started to ring.
Noah set his plate down and dug into his pocket, pulling it out and sighing at the screen.
"Hey." He answered quietly, his tone soft but also filled with uncertainty and a hint of dread.
Cailen could guess who it was. The room fell quiet so Noah could hear properly, but Cailen had to assume they could all guess who it was as well, except maybe Ezekiel.
"No, I'm at- Camille, are you drunk?" Noah asked, his tone surprised but quickly slipping back to uncertainty. "Camille, I- No. I- I miss you too, but-" Noah said in a sigh, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his lap.
Cailen thinks he's sort of forgotten where he was because he was fairly certain Noah would have gotten up and left for some privacy already.
"We can't. You're just drunk right now but in the morning you- You'll see why. No, Camille, I'm not coming over. Because. No." Noah went on, sounding as though he were arguing with Camille because she was probably drunk and missing him, and she wanted him to come over but Noah knew that was a bad idea.
He knew it was probably only the alcohol talking and he wanted to stay strong for them both, but Cailen could see how hard that was for him to do.
He could see how badly Noah wanted to give in by the frown on his face and the way his hands seemed to be shaking slightly.
"I know. I- I love you too. Goodnight, Camille." Noah sighed dropping his hand from his ear and hanging up the phone.
Noah stared down at his phone for a moment, seeming to be a little lost.
It wasn't until Asher cleared his throat- reminding Noah that he wasn't alone- that the blonde looked up.
There was a shine of tears on his blue eyes but he quickly blinked them back and sat up properly, pushing a smile to his lips but it wavered slightly and then Noah was wiping at his eyes hastily.
It was hard to watch, Cailen almost never saw Noah cry, he was just such a happy person that it didn't happen often, so when Noah did cry, it was kind of heart breaking.
Cailen could tell he was trying desperately to pull himself together, though Cailen hoped he knew he didn't have to.
They were his friends and they were here for him when he needed, just like he's been here this whole time for Cailen and Asher.
Cailen kind of feels like a shitty friend for not trying to help Noah more with this, but he knew if he even tried to apologize for it, Noah would only brush him off and tell him that Asher getting better was more important.
That's just who Noah was.
"Papa?" Ezekiel asked quietly, turning around and climbing to his feet infront of Cailen.
The boy leaned forward, resting his hands on Cailen's legs in order to balance himself while he tried to talk privately with Cailen, but Cailen was certain everyone could hear him.
"Why is Noah sad?" Ezekiel asked, a frown forming on his lips.
Cailen could tell it upset Ezekiel to see Noah like this, so he reached out and ran his hand up and down Ezekiel's side in a comforting gesture before leaning forward to place a quick kiss to his forehead.
"I don't know, love." Cailen lied in a whisper.
He wasn't certain he could explain this to Ezekiel or if Noah even wanted this explained to Ezekiel.
"Why don't you go give him a hug? I'm sure that would make him feel better, yeah?" Cailen suggested because he could tell the boy wanted to help but he didn't know how.
Honestly, none of them did.
"Okay." Ezekiel said before pushing himself away from Cailen, shuffling his way across the room to where Noah sat on one of the kitchen chairs.
Everyone watched him go, Asher sneaking his hand into Cailen's and squeezing slightly.
Cailen immediately squeezed back, leaning into him a bit more as Ezekiel reached Noah.
Noah glanced at the boy, smiling shakily at Ezekiel like he was getting ready to force himself to calm down because he didn't want Ezekiel to worry or something, but then Ezekiel awkwardly bent over Noah's legs in order to stretch his arms around the blonde's waist in a hug.
Noah was obviously surprised, his brow furrowing in confusion for a brief moment before his arms came down around the small boy and his face softened into a small smile.
After a moment, Noah hugged Ezekiel a little harder, whispering something into his ear that Cailen couldn't hear, but it made  both boys smile and pull away from each other.
Cailen sort of wanted to coo at them but squelched the urge, though he could tell he wasn't the only one with the way Hazel and Matthew were looking at them, and Asher as well when Cailen turned his head to look at his husband.
Eventually, Ezekiel made his way back over to Asher and Cailen, bypassing his original spot to climb in between Asher and Cailen, sitting on both their laps because there wasn't room on the couch with William sitting there as well.
Cailen gave Asher a questioning look to see if he was alright with this, not sure what Asher could and couldn't do with his injuries but Asher nodded and gave Cailen a re-assuring smile.
The burns on Asher's hip and arm were healing, the skin mostly just pink and a bit wrinkled, but Cailen knew it was still a bit sensitive so he didn't want anything touching them just yet.
It was mostly the operation on Asher's leg that gave him restrictions as to what he could and couldn't do- standing too long being one of them.
"Hey, Noah?" Asher asked quietly and a bit hesitantly.
Noah looked over at him, raising an eyebrow in a question. He was obviously still upset but at least he didn't look on the verge of tears.
"Have you... decided?" Asher asked, knowing he didn't need to say much more than that.
Asher wanted to know if Noah was planning on going back to Scotland or not. It had been a long time since he originally said that he was, but Cailen could understand the pause on the decision with everything that went on.
Noah shrugged, looking to his feet.
"It would be better, I think." Noah admitted. "It's just hard here. I- I haven't left yet because... Well, I knew you'd need some help and everything but- I don't know if I can stay." He said a bit sadly.
Silence fell over the room as everyone realized that Noah was really planning on leaving.
"I mean, I just need to get away... Just for a little bit." Noah said, throwing in another shrug.
Although Cailen wasn't happy that he was leaving, Noah had implied that he wasn't leaving for good.
Whether that meant he just planned on visiting every once in a while or that he planned on just going home for a rather lengthy visit, Cailen didn't know, but at least they would be seeing him again.
"If that's what you want, Noah." Asher smiled understandingly at him. "We can always-"
"Where are you going, Noah?" Ezekiel interrupted, his tone curious. 
There was another silence that fell over the room as everyone turned to look and see the troubled look on Ezekiel's face.
"Uh," Noah mumbled, obviously not sure how to answer this.
"He's going to go home, love." Cailen said softly, reaching up to run his finger through the boy’s short hair. "You've heard of Scotland, right?" Cailen asked.
Ezekiel nodded, looking up at Cailen with a sad look in his eyes.
"Well, that's where Noah is originally from and he's going to go back there."
"He's leaving?" Ezekiel asked, a slight panic creeping into his voice.
"Not right now, but soon." Cailen explained as gently as he could.
He could see Ezekiel was not going to take this well, he was expecting the boy to get a little upset.
What he was not expecting was for Ezekiel to jump down from their laps rather quickly, Asher flinching and groaning in pain but not seeming to care as he watched his son flee the room.