"You just have to be careful, okay Park?" Ashton said nervously as he took his three week old daughter from Parker's arms.

"I am careful." Parker pouted as he handed Riley off, scooting closer to Michael on the couch. Michael chuckled softly and wrapped an arm around his son, tugging him closer.

"Ashton..." Emily laughed softly as she walked back into the living room from the kitchen, sitting down in the chair next to the couch.

It was around dinner Michael had decided to take Parker over to Ashton's apartment after school because Melissa and Katie were busy and Michael didn't feel like doing anything else.

"I'm sorry, Parker." Ashton said, giving the four year old a small smile. He turned back to Michael, who was watching intently as Ashton held Riley. "I'm just nervous, you know? I don't want anything to happen to her."

"Yeah, I understand." Michael nodded.

Parker whined and rubbed his eyes, crawling onto Michael's lap and hiding his face in his dad's chest. He was tired and just wanted to go home, but Michael was enjoying himself here with Ashton and Emily and didn't think that Parker would mind staying for a little while longer.

"It's so crazy." Ashton said, a big smile on his face. He walked over to where Emily was sitting and leaned up against the arm of the chair, gently rocking his daughter back and gory in his arms. "Like, this is my baby here, I made her."

"Hey, I made her too." Emily joked, reaching over and poking Ashton.

"I know." Ashton giggled. "But you know what I mean, right Michael?"

"Yeah." Michael said, nodding again. He understood completely what Ashton was feeling at the moment, it was exactly what Michael had been feeling after Parker was born. There was just something so wonderful about holding a little baby in your arms that was actually yours, that you actually helped create. Michael could barely even describe how special that feeling was.

"I just - the moment I held her I knew, I knew that I loved her and that's just so weird to me. I barely even know her yet and I love this baby girl more than anything." Ashton went on, smiling down at Riley, who was either asleep or not paying much attention to anything at all. Like Michael had told Parker many times before, newborn babies didn't do much.

"Is that why you cried?" Emily laughed, looking up at Ashton.

"I did not cry." Ashton argued.

"You totally cried." Michael sided with Emily, only because he had seen Ashton a few minutes after Riley was born and he definitely had tears streaming down his cheeks.

"I didn't!" Ashton raised his voice and then Emily quickly shushed him, pointing to Riley.

"I was right there." Emily said quietly. "You were crying."

"Oh, shut up." Ashton groaned, rolling his eyes. He passed Riley off to Emily, who was already holding her arms out for her. "You cried when Parker was born, didn't you Michael?"

"Well maybe I got a little emotional, but I don't think I cried nearly as much as you did." Michael chuckled, subconsciously reaching down and running his fingers through Parker's hair.

"See, I didn't get to see you or Beth until a while after Parker was born, so you could have cried your eyes out and then cleaned yourself up before anyone could have time to realize." Ashton pouted, annoyed that everyone was making fun of him for crying.

"Hmm, I guess we'll never know." Michael said, shrugging innocently. Really, Michael had cried quite a lot when Parker was born, he just made sure to do it in private, so no one else saw him.

Parker whined again, tugging on Michael's shirt to try and get his attention.

"What's wrong?" Michael sighed, finally looking down at Parker.

"Sleepy." Parker said quietly and rubbed his eyes again.

"We'll leave in a little while, okay?" Michael said, still not paying much attention to Parker as he spoke.

"Okay." Parker nodded and rested his head on Michael's chest again.

"So how's Melissa, Michael?" Ashton asked, clearly not seeing that Parker really didn't want to stay here any longer. Emily stood up and quickly kissed Ashton on the cheek, mumbling something about going to put Riley to sleep.

"She's fine." Michael shrugged. He'd seen Melissa earlier that day and everything was okay with her, things were much better now that they'd figured this whole baby thing out.

"Really? Everything's good?" Ashton questioned, almost like he didn't believe Michael.

"Yeah." He nodded. "Things were a bit rough for a while but we're fine now."

"That's good." Ashton said, nodding as well. He leaned back in his seat, fiddling with his hands as if he didn't know what to do with them now that he wasn't holding his daughter. "I think you guys makes a really great couple, you're good for each other."

"Yeah, I think so too." Michael nodded again, gently rubbing Parker's back.

They fell into a comfortable silence and Michael took out his phone, sending a quick text to Melissa just to say hi and that he missed and loved her. Ashton just sat there in his chair, thinking silently to himself. Parker was still laying on Michael's chest, staying quiet.

"Do you have any games on your phone, Daddy?" Parker asked softly, looking up at Michael's phone with a hopeful smile on his face.

"No." Michael said quickly, shaking his head.

"Really?" Parker groaned. He really just wanted something to play with, he'd take anything at this point.

"I don't download games, you should know that, Park." Michael said, taking his phone back and sliding it into his pocket again. He looked over at Ashton, who didn't seem to be paying attention to anything anymore. He was lost in his own little world. "Ashton?"

"Yeah." Ashton looked up, focusing on Michael again.

"When did you know that you wanted to marry Emily?" Michael questioned, not caring that Parker was still right there on his lap.

"Uh... I don't know." Ashton shrugged. "We kind of both decided at the same time that we wanted to get married, it really wasn't a big deal."

"Really? So you didn't have this big moment where you were like 'wow, I really want to spend the rest of my life with her'?" Michael asked, raising an eyebrow at his friend.

"The minute I met her I knew that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her, so no." Ashton chuckled softly, running his fingers through his hair. "Em was kind of like 'hey Ash, when are we getting married?'. It honestly wasn't a big deal."

"Oh." Michael nodded.

"Why?" Ashton asked, even though he should have already known why Michael brought this up.

"I've been thinking a lot about Melissa." Michael shrugged, finally realizing that it might not be a good idea for them to have this conversation while Parker was right there.

"Ah, I see." Ashton nodded. Luckily he got the memo and didn't say anything else that might make Parker suspicious.

"Yeah." Michael said quietly. He wondered sometimes if maybe he and Melissa were moving too fast. It'd really only been a few months but they were already planning on spending the rest of their lives together.

"Oh, Michael, that reminds me." Ashton said, smiling again.

"What?" Michael asked, trying to ignore Parker as he squirmed around on Michael's lap. Michael frowned down at Parker, wishing that he would just sit still. "Can you stop, please?"

"Sorry." Parker pouted and sat up straight, remainging on Michael's lap but trying to sit as still as possible.

"So, anyway, I've been talking more and more time off of work to help take care of Riley and I've realize that I could really use some help around my office." Ashton explained. "You'll get paid for it and everything."

"You want me to be, like, your assistant?" Michael questioned, finally realizing what Ashton was trying to say.

"Yeah, kind of." Ashton shrugged.

"Ashton, I honestly don't even know what your job is." Michael said and let out a small laugh. He needed a job, yes,but he didn't think he would be very good at something like what Ashton did.

"Oh my God." Ashton rolled his eyes. He then explained to Michael what his job actually was, and although Michael was still kind of confused and thought it sounded really boring, he figured that he could manage helping Ashton out a little.

"I guess I could do it, but what if it gets weird?" Michael questioned, afraid that this wasn't going to work out in the long run.

"Well what do you mean?" Ashton questioned.

"Like, what if me working for you gets weird? Or what if you have to fire me at some point, are we still going to be friends?" Michael asked. Parker let out a big groan and rolled off of Michael, landing on the floor. He got up again and walked out of the living room, probbly to go try and find Emily.

"Oh." Ashton said slowly. "Well, I didn't think we really needed to worry about that right now."

"I mean, I'll do it, but I don't know how good I'm going to be at making copies and faxing papers." Michael laughed, watching Parker as he left the room.

"It's really not that hard, I promise." Ashton assured him.

"Okay." Michael nodded, agreeing, He was pretty excited now, he was able to find a job without even having to try very hard. "Do you have to ask your boss about this or anything."

"Michael, I am the boss." Ashton sighed. Michael understood why Ashton seemed annoyed, they'd been friends for their whole lives and Michael didn't even know what Ashton's job was.

"Oh, well that makes things easier." Michael laughed again and rubbed the back of his neck, feeling a little embarrassed.

"So what do you say? Do you want the job?" Ashton asked, even though the answer was pretty obvious. Michael was desperate for a job, at this point he would take anything.

"Yes." Michael nodded quickly, almost like he was scared that if he didn't respond fast enough Ashton would change his mind.

"Cool." Ashton said, giving Michael a big smile. "I'll text or call you about all the details later."

"Great, thank you so much Ashton." Michael said, even though he was still hesitant about the whole thing.

"Oh it's no problem, really." Ashton shrugged. "I know that you've been looking for a new job for a while and I just thought I could try and help out."

"Yeah, things have been kind of hard lately but I think they're all beginning to fall into place." Michael said, hoping that he wasn't jinxing himself.

"So are you actually serious about wanting to marry Melissa?" Ashton asked, figuring that they should talk about this now while they had a few minutes alone.

"I think so, yeah." Michael nodded.

"Do you think that she'd want to get married too? Like, have you guys talked about this?" Ashton questioned further, seeming very interested. "You're both still young, you know, you don't have to get married right away."

"I think she'd want to get married." Michael shrugged again, not seeing why he had to think about this so much. "She wants a baby, if she thinks that she'd ready for that I'm pretty sure she'd be ready for marriage."

"Yeah, that's true." Ashton nodded, but she still didn't seem like he was sure about this.

They were interrupted by Parker running into the room again, his little feet padding across the floor. Michael and Ashton immediately stopped talking, not wanting Parker to overhear.

"Hi." Parker smiled, seemming to be in a better mood now. He climbed onto Michael's lap again, not realizing that he'd gotten in the middle of a conversation.

"Hey, Park." Michael sighed, running his fingers through Parker's hair again. "What's up?"

"Nothing." Parker shrugged. "I'm tired, Daddy."

"We can get going soon." Michael said, even though he really didn't see any point in leaving right now. They were having a good time and it was still pretty early, Michael didn't know why Parker wanted to leave so badly.

"Can we go now, Daddy, please?" Parker begged, looking up at Michael.

"Michael, if you want to go then that's fine..." Ashton trailed off, but Michael ignored him.

"What's wrong? Why do you want to go home right this second?" Michael questioned Parker, beginning to get frustrated with him.

"I just want to go home, I don't know." Parker shrugged innocently. Michael didn't believe him, he knew that there had to be something up.

"Yeah, right." Michael scoffed. Even though he didn't want to leave he got up from the couch anyway, carrying Parker with him.

"Can we watch a movie?" Parker asked as Michael stood up.

"Is that why you want to go home?" Michael groaned, rolling his eyes. He knew that Parker had some reason for wanting to leave.

"Yes." Parker nodded quickly. "I just want to watch a movie."

"What movie?" Michael sighed. He looked around on the couch, trying to find Parker's coat. Once he got it, he successfully put it back on Parker while keeping him in his arms.

"I don't know, anything." Parker said, shrugging again.

"Okay, then, I guess we're going to head out now." Michael said to Ashton, who didn't seem to mind that they were leaving. He probably wanted to go spend some time with Emily and Riley.

"Oh, okay, I'll walk you out." Ashton said, following behind Michael as he headed to the door.

They said their goodbyes and Ashton reminded Michael that he would text him soon about this whole job thing. The car ride home was shirt and relatively quiet, the only time they spoke was when Parker asked Michael to turn up the volume on the radio.

"So can we watch a movie?" Parker asked again when they arrived back at the apartment, not seeing that Michael was kind of irritated.

"Sure, what do you want to watch?" Michael asked again.

"What do you want to watch?" Parker asked, giggling to himself.

"Well I don't really want to watch anything, so you can choose." Michael shrugged again. He walked over to the couch and waited for Parker to pick something out of the bin of DVDs they kept under the TV.

"You don't want to watch a movie with me?" Parker asked, turning around and facing Michael with a pout on his lips.

"No, Park, I do want to watch a movie with you." Michael said, realizing that he'd hurt Parker's feelings. "I was just thinking about asking Melly to come over and bring Katie."

"No." Parker shook his head, folding his arms across his chest.

"Why not?" Michael asked. Usually Parker liked to have Katie come over, sometimes he even asked Michael to call Melissa and have her bring Katie to the apartment.

"I just want to watch a movie." Parker said and stomped his foot on the ground.

"Well, we can watch a movie with Melly and Katie, can't we?" Michael questioned.

"No, Daddy." Parker whined. He walked over to the couch and sat down next to Michael. "I just want to watch a movie."

"Yeah, Park, we can do that but - "

"I want to watch a movie with only you." Parker said and crawled across the couch, climbing onto Michael's lap again.

"Oh." Michael nodded can finally getting it. "Okay, Park, fine."

"I need to get my lion." Parker said quickly and climbed off of Michael again, running out of the living room and down the hallway.

Michael sighed and leaned back into the couch, taking his phone out from his pocket so he could text Melissa and tell her that he was going to stay home with Parker tonight.

A few seconds later Parker returned with his stuffed lion and a blanket. He hopped onto the couch again and cuddled up close to Michael.

"What movie are we going to watch, buddy?" Michael asked.

"Oh." Parker sighed. "I forgot to pick one."

"Well, what did you want to watch?" Michael asked quietly. He figured that he could just put the DVD in himself, even though Parker knew how to do it on his own.

"I don't know, Daddy." Parker giggled again, because they'd been through this more than once already.

"I'm going to turn on a Disney movie or something, okay?" Michael asked and stood up from the couch, going over to where the movies were and searching through them.

"Lion King!" Parker blurted out. Michael should have known that Parker would want to watch The Lion King, that was always his top choice.

"Okay, I'll put on The Lion King." Michael chuckled.

"Thank you!" Parker said excitedly. Michael set up the DVD and got everything started before going back over to the couch and sitting down next to Parker, wrapping an arm around his shoulders.

"Are you okay, Park?" Michael asked after a minute, thinking back on what had happened throughout the day and realizing that Parker was acting a little strange.

"Yes." Parker nodded furiously, like he was trying hard to prove a point.

"You sure?" Michael questioned. He didn't totally believe Parker, he still thought that there was something wrong.

"Yes." Parker said, continuing to nod. He scooted closer to Michael and rested his head on his chest. "I love you, Daddy."

Michael felt kind of bad for Parker, he'd been acting weird lately and Michael didn't know why. There was clearly something wrong, but Michael didn't know what to do about it.

"I love you too." Michael said and ruffled Parker's hair, kissing him on the top of his head.

*•*•*

"Parker, come on, it's bed time." Michael said, trying to get Parker up off of the couch.

"No, I'm staying here." Parker mumbled, covering his face with both of his hands.

"You can't sleep on the couch, buddy." Michael laughed softly. They'd finished the movie about 10 minutes before and Parker had no intentions of getting up from the couch.

"Yes I can." Parker insisted.

"I mean, you can, but it won't be very comfortable." Michael shrugged, because he knew that eventually Parker would give in and want to get up.

"Can you sleep on the couch with me, Daddy?" Parker asked sweetly and looked up at Michael.

"No, I'm not going to sleep on the couch." Michael said and shook his head. He sat down on the couch next to Parker again, hoping that this wasn't going to last for very long.

"Please?" Parker begged.

"Sleeping on the couch would be really uncomfortable, Park, I don't want to." Michael sighed, running his fingers through his hair.

"But we slept in the bathtub once." Parker argued.

"That was a special occasion." Michael countered, even though it wasn't true. They only slept in the bathtub because Michael had made Parker cry and he felt bad.

"No it wasn't." Parker pouted. He sat up again, still rubbing his eyes.

"Well... It was just a one time thing, Parker." Michael said, sighing another time. He was tired, it was late, and all he wanted to do was go to sleep.

"I don't want to get up, Daddy." Parker said quietly. He grabbed his blanket and wrapped it around himself, getting comfortable.

"Okay, I'll just carry you." Michael shrugged and reached out for Parker, who screamed.

"No!" Parker yelled, trying to push Michael away from him.

"Alright, Park, what's up?" Michael asked, not sure why Parker was being so stubborn all of a sudden.

"Can we make cookies?" Parker giggled again, ignoring Michael's previous question.

"No, bud, we can't make cookies tonight." Michael shook his head. "We don't have the stuff to make them and it's too late to start baking cookies."

"I really want cookies, Daddy." Parker said and let out a small sigh.

"It's time for bed, Pac-Man, come on." Michael said and this time he successfully reached out and grabbed Parker, picking him up off of the couch.

"No! I don't want to go to bed!" Parker yelled, wiggling around in Michael's arms and trying to get down.

"You have to go to bed, Parker!" Michael yelled back. He carried Parker down the hall and into the bathroom, because Michael knew that if he just continued on with their normal nighttime routine Parker would eventually go along with it.

"But I'm not even sleepy." Parker said softly as he rubbed his eyes, clearly tired. Michael set him down on the bathroom counter, going into the cabinet and getting Parker's medicine out.

"Yes you are." Michael insisted.

"I want to stay up with you." Parker said, making a disgusted face as Michael passed the little cup of medicine to him.

"I'm probably going to head to bed too, Park, you're not going to miss anything." Michael said. He got Parker's toothbrush out and also handed it to Parker.

"Do I have to sleep in my bed?" Parker asked. He started messily brushing his teeth, getting toothpaste all over his face.

"Yeah, buddy, you do." Michael nodded. He knew that Parker liked sleeping in the same bed with him but Michael knew that Parker was never going to want to sleep alone if Michael let him stay with him every night.

"Well that's not fair." Parker said, his mouth still full of toothpaste. He spit into the sink, still getting toothpaste everywhere.

"Yes it is, Park." Michael sighed. He rinsed out the sink, sighing because Parker always made a mess no matter how many times Michael told him not to. "You have to sleep in your bed and I'll sleep in mine."

"No." Parker shook his head, taking a towel from Michael to wipe his face off.

"You're so stubborn." Michael said, chuckling softly to himself.

He had Parker stay sitting on the counter while he got himself ready for bed, brushing his teeth and washing his face and all that. When he was done he grabbed Parker again and carried him into his room.

"I really want to sleep in your room, Daddy." Parker pouted as Michael set him down on the bed.

"Not tonight." Michael said. He pulled down the covers for Parker, trying to get him tucked in quickly so Michael could just go to sleep.

"But why?" Parker whined, finally giving in and getting under the covers, even though he was upset about it. "You're all alone."

"Yeah, I am..." Michael trailed off. He felt that it was impossible to just say no to Parker, he always had to give Parker what he wanted.

"So why can't I sleep with you?" Parker asked.

"Because." Michael said, not wanting to come up with a better reason.

"Can you sleep in my bed?" Parker asked sweetly. Michael really admired how smart his son was, he seemed to have an answer for everything.

"I don't know, Park - "

"Please!"

"No, Parker." Michael sighed.

"Fine." Parker pouted again, pulling his blanket higher up so it was covering just about everything except for his eyes.

"Buddy, I'm sorry." Michael said softly, sitting down on the edge of Parker's bed.

"It's okay." Parker said quietly, and Michael knew that Parker was just saying that so he'd leave.

"I love you, Park." Michael said, deciding that it would be best to just leave Parker alone. He leaned over, leaving a small kiss on Parker's forehead. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight." Parker mumbled.

Michael sighed once again and left the room, shutting off the light. He went to his own bedroom, changing into some sweatpants and an old t-shirt. He got into bed, trying to ignore how bad he felt about making Parker sleep alone.

After only a few minutes of laying in bed and staring up at the ceiling Michael got up again, slowly making his way out of his room and down the hall.

"Park?" Michael whispered, knocking softly on the door.

"Yeah?" Parker asked as Michael opened the door, finding Parker sitting up in bed.

Michael walked over to the bed and laid down, pulling Parker down so he was laying too.

"It's late, go to sleep." Michael said quietly, getting into a more comfortable position and wrapping an arm around Parker.

"Okay." Parker said, sounding a lot happier and a lot more awake than before. "I love you, Daddy."

"Yeah, I love you too." Michael nodded, letting Parker curl up into his side as he slowly drifted off to sleep.

-

hi

I thought I had something to say at the end of this but I really don't lol

bye