Cailen was exhausted to say the least.
He just wanted to go to sleep but the chairs were not comfortable at all and William's fidgeting- who couldn't seem to sit still long enough for Cailen to rest his head on the man’s shoulder- was not helping.
It's been about two hours since Hazel arrived and Cailen had got Matthew all scrubbed up and into the delivery room.
Cailen didn't stay because technically, only the husband was allowed in there and although he could probably get away with it if he helped out in some way, he figured it'd be best not to push his luck. That, and he didn't particularly want to see Hazel in that state, where he could be seeing most of her everything.
Cailen had called Asher after getting Matthew into the delivery room, explaining what was going on.
Asher of course wanted to rush down here and be here for Matthew and Hazel but Cailen reminded him that Ezekiel had to eat and that there wouldn't be any news for a few hours.
They both agreed that Asher would feed Ezekiel and get him to do his homework before they come down to the hospital. That way, everything would be done and if they needed to, they could go home a bit late.
After that, he called William and Noah. William had rushed down here immediately while Noah said he was still having problems with Camille and that he didn't know if he could get away.
Cailen made a mental note to ask Noah about that later because this was kind of an important moment and if Camille couldn't understand that, or if things were that bad between them, Noah would probably need someone to talk to.
Since then, William and he had been just sitting here, watching as people came and went.
It was kind of odd being on this end of the situation.
Usually, Cailen would be the one to come every hour and let the friends know that there weren't any changes and suggest they go home and come back. Now, Cailen understood why people refused to.
He'd be going mad at home, wondering if the baby had been born yet or if there were any problems. He was kind of going mad right now but at least here, he got an update every hour.
William had asked if there was any way Cailen could get them in there but Cailen reminded him that even if he could, they'd just be in the way because those rooms weren't that big.
"Gosh, I feel like I'm the father." William mumbled, chuckling slightly as he looked to Cailen.
"Yeah, I can tell Mr. Fidgetty." Cailen replied, glancing to his fingers where they continued to pull at his jeans or at each other.
William smiled sheepishly and stilled his fingers for all of two seconds before they were back to pulling at his jeans.
"Calm down, Wil. She'll be fine, the baby will be fine and everything will be fine. It just takes time." Cailen reminded him.
"Yeah, but this long? She's been in there for forever." William complained, gesturing down the hall that led to the labor ward.
"Some women are in labor for over twelve hours. It's normal." Cailen shrugged, attempting to rest his head on William's shoulder again.
Cailen could tell William had purposely stilled himself so Cailen could maybe relax a bit but now, it was just awkward because he could tell William wanted- no, needed- to move so he lifted his head again with a sigh.
"I just wish Asher would get here already." Cailen said, attempting to change the subject and maybe distract William.
"He'll be here." Was William’s reply and then there was silence again.
Cailen searched his brain for something to talk about because he could tell William was thinking of all the different ways this could go wrong and normally, Cailen would probably be right there with him because that's what Cailen did.
But Cailen knew these things take time and rarely went wrong. He's helped with enough of them to know that.
"So, what's new with you?" Cailen asked. "We haven't talked in a while."
"That's your fault." William teased. "You just had to go and get all mature and shit, getting a kid and then, not letting me meet him."
"You met him." Cailen defended.
"Yeah, after I broke into your flat."
"We just wanted to get settled, you twat." Cailen smacked William in the chest, grinning at his younger brother who grinned back. "Seriously, what's new with you? Any development with the whole band thing?" Cailen asked because the last time Cailen checked, William was going from pub to pub, performing with his band that Cailen couldn't remember the name because it changed every now and then.
"Not really. We've got a gig on Friday but we've played there many times." William said with a shrug.
Cailen took a deep breath and decided that it was time to be a big brother now.
"You ever think..." Cailen began, knowing he was opening an old sore but knowing it needed to be said. "That maybe... it's time to think about getting into a serious career?"
"This is a serious career, Cai." William said, already sounding annoyed. "Why does everyone think that I'm just goofing off? I'm serious about this. I like doing this."
"I know you do, I just- you're twenty five, Wil. It was cute when you were nineteen but-"
"I don't want to talk about it if you're just going to bag on me." William interrupted, glaring slightly at Cailen.
Cailen sighed, adjusting himself because his feet were slipping from where they were pulled to his chest.
"Wil, don't do that. I just think you need to have a back-up option." Cailen said.
William was still living at home and Cailen knew that Eden and Dean were getting slightly annoyed and worried that their twenty-five-year-old son was still living in his room.
"Why do I need a back-up plan when I don't want to do anything but this?" William asked. "Not everyone has the brain to be a fucking nurse, Cai."
"Hey, I never said be a nurse. Wil, I just want you to think, okay? That's it. It's great that you want to pursue your dreams, but you also have to accept the fact that it is a very hard industry to be successful in." Cailen explained. "The chances of you getting rich and famous are very-"
"I don't want to be rich and famous, Cai. I just want to make music. I love performing, I love looking out at the crowd and seeing someone bobbing there head to something I wrote." William interrupted. "I don't need money and fame and all that, I'm fine performing in dingy pubs as long as I get to perform and look out into the crowd and see a smile on someone's face because of me."
Cailen sighed at this because he couldn't really argue with that. It's not like Cailen didn't support him- he did because he knew William was good. He actually had a very nice voice and his band wasn't half bad either, but they've been doing this for six years and they weren't getting anywhere and he just wanted William to be independent.
He didn't want to have to worry about him.
"Okay. Okay, I give. Just think about it, okay?" Cailen said, watching as William nodded his head but he didn't look very happy. "Hey... You know I believe in you, Wil."
"Doesn't feel like it." William mumbled.
"William Hart, I believe in you and I have since day one. I want this for you just as much as you do," Cailen said, wanting to remind him about a back-up plan but only sighing in defeat because he knew he's reminded him already and that if he kept poking at him, William would get honestly mad and that wasn't something he wanted. "And I hope you prove me wrong one day."
William grinned at this, his whole demeanor changing.
"Oh, I will. Just you watch." William said.
Cailen smiled at him, pushing aside all his worries for his brother.
"I hope so." Cailen replied and he did mean it.
He really did hope William proved him wrong one day.
"They're here." William said, nodding down the hall.
Cailen turned slightly, looking over his shoulder to see Asher and Ezekiel walking down the hall.
Ezekiel looked a bit unsure, gripping onto Asher's pants as they walked with Asher's hand on his shoulder holding him close. Cailen smiled at them, unfolding himself so that his feet were planted on the ground and holding out his arms as they approached.
Cailen was very pleased that Ezekiel walked right into him, allowing Cailen to give him a hug and a kiss on the head, then tilting his head up as Asher leaned down to kiss him on the lips.
"Aww, you guys are so cute." William cooed, earning a smack to the chest from Asher. "Hey! I was being serious!"
"Sorry, it's hard to tell with you." Asher mumbled. "Have we heard anything?" Asher asked, not allowing William to reply.
"Nope, nothing so far." Cailen told him.
Ezekiel still stood infront of him, watching the exchange between the adults like a Ping-Pong match. When he looked back to Cailen, Cailen noticed a small scratch near his ear that wasn't there this morning.
Cailen's eyebrows furrowed together in confusion as he reached out to hold Ezekiel's head, turning it slightly towards him.
"What happened here?" Cailen asked, meeting Ezekiel's eyes briefly before the boy looked to the ground.
"He wasn't watching where he was walking and walked into a shelf." Asher said, taking a seat beside Cailen with a sigh of exhaustion.
"A shelf?" Cailen asked.
Ezekiel nodded his head but didn't add to the story making Cailen a bit suspicious.
"At school? Did they treat it?" Cailen asked, running his thumb along the now dried scratch.
"It's a scratch, Cai, nothing to treat." Asher explained.
Cailen let go of Ezekiel's head, the boy still refusing to meet Cailen's eyes. Call him paranoid, but Cailen couldn't help but feel like Ezekiel was lying.
He supposed it was very possible for Ezekiel to have walked into a shelf.
He was at that age where he was supposed to get hurt a lot, but Ezekiel refused to meet his eyes and that had red flags going up.