You And I: Family Time

Connor I

I had to smile at the expression on Troye's face when he went into the living room. Aiden ran as fast as his little legs would carry him, jumping into Troye's arms when he got close.

"Daddy, I missed you."

"I missed you too, little man." Troye cooed, holding our son close. "Oh, daddy missed you so much."

"Were you good for Auntie Zoe and Uncle Alfie?" I asked, going to join my little family. Aiden nodded earnestly.

"Yes papa. I was good. We watched Spongebob." He explained excitedly, beginning to try and wriggle out of Troye's grip. I could see the mental debate Troye was having with himself over whether he actually wanted to let go. Eventually, he gave in and set Aiden on the floor again, only for him to rush off to his room.

"Thanks for watching him, guys." I turned to Zoe and Alfie who were quietly sitting on the couch, Zoe holding their little baby girl in her arms.

"It was no problem." Alfie assured me. "Especially once Charlotte fell asleep."

"Yeah, that's always a plus when they fall asleep." Troye agreed.

"It's good to see you again, Troye. You look good." Zoe said quietly.

"Thanks Zo." Troye went over to sit beside her, peering at the sleeping baby. "She's adorable."

"She looks like her mom." Alfie said and Zoe frowned at him. Clearly it was a discussion they'd had before. 

"Are you guys staying for dinner?" I asked. I knew Troye probably hadn't eaten anything on the plane and I'd been too anxious to see him to actually eat anything earlier.

"No, we'd better be heading home. Alfie's got to be up early tomorrow." Zoe passed the Charlotte to her husband and stood up, hugging Troye as she did. "It's so good to have you back. We have to catch up properly some time."

"Of course. Look after Charlotte in the meantime." As Troye spoke, Zoe hugged me and I felt her nodding her head.

"We will." I led her and Alfie to the elevator, waving them off and then turning back to Troye.

"Are you happy to be home?"

"Definitely." He looked down to find Sadie sniffing at his feet and smiled. "I've missed all of you."

"I think it's safe to say we've all missed you too." I wrapped my arms around him and pressed a kiss to his lips.

"Daddy! Papa!" Aiden's voice made us break apart and we turned to look at him. He was waving a piece of paper at us. Troye sat down on the floor as the little boy came closer.

"What have you got there sweetie?"

"I made this for you, daddy. Auntie Zoe helped me." He held out the paper and Troye took it, examining it carefully. It was a drawing of three stick-figure people, one smaller than the others. "It's us, daddy."

"I can see that. It's very good." Troye praised him and Aiden beamed proudly. "Shall we put it on the wall in my studio?" I almost laughed at how the little boy's eyes lit up in excitement.

"Yes please, daddy." Standing up, Troye took hold of his hand and they crossed the room to the door of his studio. I followed quietly behind them, watching as Troye taped the picture onto the wall, alongside several other pictures that Aiden had drawn. He might only be four but he was very good at drawing pictures for us.

"Perfect." Troye announced, stepping back to look at it.

"It looks amazing." I agreed. Aiden looked over at me and smiled.

"Papa, can we have ice-cream before bedtime?" I knew he was just playing up the fact that Troye was home but I decided it would be okay.

"Sure. But only because daddy's home tonight, okay?" He nodded at me, eyes wide before sprinting out to the kitchen where we heard him rummaging through the freezer. Troye grinned at me.

"You're good at this parenting thing."

"Only because I've been doing it by myself for two months."

"I wish I'd been here to help. I feel like I missed so much." He wasn't smiling anymore and I pulled him closer to comfort him.

"It's okay. I understand, and I'm sure he will too when he's old enough. Just so long as you're around for some of his milestones."

"I'm going to make sure I am. I've told Emma no more tours until he's eight."

"Eight?"

"I know." He sighed. "I know it's not that far away, but this way I get to spend some time with him."

"That's not what I meant. Troye, he's eight in four years' time. You've been on tour pretty much every year since you were seventeen. Four years is a long time to go without a tour when you've been doing that."

"I'll manage." There was a crash from the kitchen and we both looked up, rushing towards the sound. Aiden was standing in the middle of the room, staring down at the floor where the half-finished tub of ice-cream lay in the middle of a shattered tray of ice.

"I'm sorry, papa. I was just trying to help." He apologised when he realised we were there. His lower lip trembled as his eyes filled with tears.

"It's okay." I told him, carefully picking my way over to him and picking him up off the floor. "I know you were only helping. But how about you let daddy and I get the stuff you can't reach, yeah?"

"Okay." He sniffled a little as I passed him to Troye so I could clean up the mess. "C-can we still have ice-cream?"I smiled at him and nodded.

"Of course. You go into the living room with daddy and pick something to watch. I'll bring the ice-cream in a minute." The little boy perked up as Troye carried him to the living room. As I quickly cleared up the mess, I could hear them discussing what to watch. It was nice to hear them and I knew I was really going to enjoy having Troye home again.

When the mess was cleared, I quickly scooped some ice-cream into three bowls and balanced them precariously on my arm as I carried them out  to the living room.

The next hour was spent, quietly, the three of us watching a couple episodes of Spongebob and enjoying our little family being back together again.