Cailen is startled from his sleep by a sudden weight crashing into him and then a wet nose sniffing at his face.
He knows who it is instantly and groans, not caring if he wakes Asher up at this point.
It's his dog, if Loki is waking Cailen up, then Asher can get woken up as well.
Cailen brought his arms up, having to untangle himself from Asher's grasp in order to do so, and shielded his face from the intruding nose.
It's not like this has never happened before, but it didn't happen often.
Loki was usually pretty good at just sleeping at the foot of their bed, but recently, he's been cuddling up to Ezekiel in his so it was a bit strange.
Either way, Loki was waking Cailen up so he started to sit up, just remembering to be gentle in case Asher's arm or leg was in the right position to get squished.
"Loki, down." Cailen mumbled, his tone firm.
Cailen heard a groan come from behind him and knew Asher was now awake.
Loki gave a small bark and jumped over them to the end of the bed where he sat, looking towards the door.
Cailen followed the dog and was a little surprised to see Ezekiel standing there with tear soaked cheeks, his blanket clutched in his small hands and dragging behind him.
Cailen was climbing out of bed before he could really think about it, noticing Asher sitting up as he spotted Ezekiel by the door.
"Zeke, love, what's wrong?" Cailen asked, making his way over to his son.
Cailen knelt down infront of the boy, reaching out to wipe at his cheeks and run his fingers through his hair, trying to soothe him as best he could.
"I- I- didn't want to- to wake you up." Ezekiel mumbled, glancing between Cailen then Asher then the floor.
Cailen pulled him into a hug, making soft shushing noises to calm the boy.
"It's okay, don't ever be afraid to wake us up if something's wrong." Cailen said, tucking the boy's head under his chin.
Ezekiel's arms came up around Cailen's neck as the boy sniffled into Cailen's chest.
"What's the matter, love?" Cailen asked again, a little confused as to why Ezekiel needed to wake them up.
It sort of hit him before Ezekiel spoke though, his mind finally seeming to wake up with the rest of his body.
"Did you have a nightmare?" Cailen asked softly.
He could feel Asher's eyes on them, could actually tell without looking that Asher wanted to come comfort Ezekiel as well but he wouldn't be able to in the way he wanted.
He wouldn't be able to kneel down like this for any length of time.
"Y-yeah." Ezekiel admitted, sniffling again.
Cailen shushed him again when he could tell he was getting ready to cry, petting the back of his head and running his fingers through his hair.
"Do- do you want to talk about it?" Cailen asked a bit hopefully.
It would be the first time, other than the time he spent the night with William and Noah, that he would be admitting to having a nightmare, so Cailen held hope that maybe he was ready to talk about it.
However, Ezekiel didn't answer, he only gripped Cailen a bit tighter and kept quiet.
"Do you want to lay down with us?" Cailen asked instead, feeling the boy nod slightly.
Cailen shifted his hands so they hooked under Ezekiel's butt and stood, struggling a little with the weight.
He rested Ezekiel on his hip and turned, making his way to the bed where Loki now sat beside Asher, Asher scratching absentmindedly behind the dog’s ears.
"Move it, you." Cailen demanded in a hushed voice.
The dog obeyed immediately, crawling down to the end of the bed.
Cailen sat on the bed, shifting Ezekiel so he sat beside Asher so he could get onto the bed more and find a more comfortable seat.
In the meantime, Ezekiel curled into Asher's side, Asher wrapping an arm around his small frame and pulling him close.
Asher also shifted down a bit so he was more lying down, only his head resting against the headboard.
"Hey, buddy, you okay?" Asher asked, looking down at the boy.
Ezekiel didn't answer though, only cuddled that much closer, his eyes squeezing shut.
Cailen moved up beside them, lying on his side and reaching out to run his fingers through his hair again. He shared a concerned look with Asher, his brown eyes still a bit sleepy but concerned nonetheless.
"Zeke, do you want to tell us what you dreamt?" Cailen asked softly, listening to the boy take a shaky breath.
Cailen heard him give a small whimper that had Cailen frowning, his own chest giving a small pang because he didn't like seeing Ezekiel so scared.
"It's okay, love. It was just a dream." Cailen re-assured, still gently running his finger over the boy's scalp.
"It wasn't a dream though." Ezekiel whispered shakily, as if he was scared to admit that.
Cailen immediately looked to Asher, the concern Cailen felt reflected in his eyes. Cailen could tell Asher was thinking the same thing he was- that Ezekiel was dreaming about the car accident he was in, or something that related to it or his parents.
"It's okay to talk about it, buddy. It might make you feel better about it." Asher spoke up, his voice gentle.
Loki had now crawled up between Cailen's legs and nestled himself nicely there, his head resting over Cailen's knee.
He didn't mind as long as he wasn't licking his face.
"We don't have to say anything if you don't want us to, we'll just listen and be here when you need us." Cailen added, his fingers still gently playing with the boy's hair.
There was silence, a long silence that was only filled with the odd sniffle from Ezekiel and then Ezekiel was speaking.
He started off a little unsure, stuttering and mumbling a lot, but as he went on, his words became more sure and a little louder, though every once in a while, he would pause and take a shaky breath before continuing.
He told them how he couldn't see anything at first, that it was mostly flashes of light and loud noises, Cailen assumed that was the accident.
He then went into another scene where he explained that he remembered this from when he woke up in a white room beside a lady he didn't know.
He went on, with a bit of a shakier voice, to explain that the dream wasn't exactly the same because his parents were there but when he tried to touch them, they disappeared.
He told them he'd had the dream a few times and every time he went to speak to them or reach out to them, they just vanished and then he would call out to them, scream for them, but they never came back.
He said that's when he usually woke up and by the time he finished, Cailen was nearly in tears because Ezekiel sounded so hurt and lost.
"Sometimes, you're there." Ezekiel added after a moment, surprising Cailen and Asher both.
"You're standing right beside them, but- but you disappear too." Ezekiel sniffled, a fresh wave of tears springing to his eyes.
Cailen cuddled a bit closer placing a gentle kiss on top of the boy's head. He wanted to say something, he wanted to assure him they wouldn't be vanishing and that his parents hadn't wanted to leave him, but he had promised they wouldn't speak so he kept quiet.
When Ezekiel didn't continue, only sniffling every once in a while, he took that as an okay to talk.
"Zeke, love, I want you to know something." Cailen began softy, propping himself up a little so he could look down at the boy, his brown eyes shining with tears.
"No matter what happens, we'll always be here, we aren't going to disappear. That's just a dream. We'll always be here for you and I want you to know something else. Your parents... they didn't want to leave you, nor have they left you. They're still here, love." Cailen spoke, reaching out and placing his finger over Ezekiel's heart.
"They'll always be right here, whenever you want them." Cailen said, sending him a soft smile. "Okay?" Cailen asked, just to make sure he understood that.
"Okay." He replied softly with a small nod of his head.
Cailen leaned forward, placing another kiss to his forehead, feeling a set of fingers running through his own hair, knowing it was Asher.
When he pulled away, he sent Asher a small smile that he returned and puckered his lips when Asher leaned over to give him a quick kiss.
"Can I sleep here tonight?" Ezekiel asked quietly.
"Of course, buddy." Asher smiled, shifting slightly. "Let's get you under the covers." He said, reaching for the blanket and wiggling it out from underneath Ezekiel, the boy wriggling about as well and lifting his bum off the bed.
Cailen did the same, pulling the cover out from under him and giving them another yank to get Loki to get up and move to the end of the bed so he could get his feet under.
"Aw, Cai... look at him." Asher mumbled.
Cailen's first thought was to look at Ezekiel but when he did, he saw them both looking towards the end of the bed and Loki.
"He looks so sad, you're mean." Asher pouted, looking over at Cailen.
Cailen rolled his eyes and settled a bit more down into the bed.
"He's fine." Cailen grumbled.
It's not that he didn't like Loki, and Asher knew this, Cailen just liked pretending he didn't like him just so he could pretend to be annoyed at having to look after him when Asher couldn't.
He was being a ‘Tsundere’, Noah once said. Acting and speaking like you don’t like something or someone when you actually do.
"Come here, Loki." Ezekiel called happily, sitting up and patting the space near his feet.
Loki happily got up again, clumsily making his way over to where Ezekiel had patted and plopped ever-so-gracefully on the spot, his body covering Ezekiel's feet and his head resting on Cailen's leg again.
"You happy now?" Cailen asked, peeking over Ezekiel to see Asher smiling sleepily at him.
Cailen gave an overly dramatic sigh and settled back down into bed.
"Alright, now we all need to get to sleep. We're all going to be tired tomorrow." Cailen told them, watching Ezekiel cuddled into his side a bit more.
Cailen couldn't help but smile at the sight.
"Goodnight," Ezekiel said quietly, pausing before continuing. "I love you." He said even quieter, in almost a whisper.
Cailen glanced up to meet a smiling Asher, grinning at his husband.
"We love you too, Buddy." Asher replied softly before placing a quick kiss to the top of Ezekiel's head.
Then Cailen’s eyes were falling shut, Ezekiel's not far behind.