You And I: Family Time

Connor XIII

Dark had come by the time Troye and I finally got up and headed over to Zoe and Alfie's to pick up the kids. We had to take Troye's car since mine was still there but I didn't mind. I didn't actually spend much time in his car so it was nice to sit in the passenger seat, holding his hand as he drove.

"Are you excited?" I asked as we got close.

"I am. I've missed them so much. Nearly more than I missed you." He teased.

"Right."

"I'm kidding. I missed them as much as I missed you. You guys are my family. Nothing could ever change that."

"I know."

"What did you tell them, anyway?" He looked at me funny when I started laughing, remembering the story I'd told them. "What?"

"I told them we couldn't go home because you'd been naughty and were having a time-out."

"You said what?" He laughed too.

"Alfie came up with it. I didn't really know how else to explain to them that we weren't going home."

"I guess it's fair." He sighed. "But seriously? A time-out?"

"Come on, they know what time-out is, and if you look at what happened from a kid's point of view that's exactly what you were doing."

"Remind me to tell them that next time we fight and I don't want to talk to you."

"I hope we never fight again." I told him.

"In a perfect world  I'd never fight with you but this isn't a perfect world, is it?"

"Unfortunately no. But we do have a perfect family." He pulled into a parking spot and grinned at me.

"That is something I can definitely agree with you on."

"You ready? I told Zoe we were on our way so she'll make sure they're both awake."

"I'm ready. Let's go." We got out of the car and I waited for him to join me before heading to the elevator.He laced out fingers together on the way up and was practically bouncing on his toes when we got to Zoe and Alfie's floor. They'd given me a key for while I was staying with them so I didn't bother knocking, just opened the door and pulled Troye inside.

"Dada!" Tori spotted him first and practically threw herself off the sofa where she'd been sitting with Zoe to run over. Knowing she couldn't go very far yet, Troye moved closer before kneeling down to catch her.

"Hey princess."

"Daddy!" Aiden was quick to join his sister and poor Troye was nearly bowled over. "Daddy we missed you. Papa said you were naughty and that's why we couldn't see you." Troye looked at me, eyebrows raised but I just laughed.

"I missed you too." He said to both kids. I looked up to see Zoe and Alfie standing in the living room, just watching.

"Thanks for watching them this afternoon, guys. And thanks for letting us crash here." I said to them.

"You're welcome, Connor. Any time." Zoe replied and Alfie nodded.

"Yeah, if you ever need to crash here again, just let us know."

"Thanks. But I'm hoping I never have to sleep anywhere other than home again."

"That's the plan." Troye said and I saw that he'd managed to stand up now, holding Tori while Aiden clung to his legs.

"You right there, babe?" I asked, laughing and going to take Tori. "Come here, sweetie."

"No papa. Want dada." Tori tightened her arms around Troye's neck.

"Tori, you're hurting daddy." Troye said, trying to pry her hands open.

"Dada..." She whined but let me take her.

"It's okay, you can have cuddles with daddy when we get home. But you need to let go now, yeah?" I said to her, sitting her on my hip.

"You guys don't want to stay for dinner?" Alfie asked but I shook my head.

"No, I think it's time we have dinner as a family at home again."

"Okay. It's good to see you guys are okay again." Zoe said. Aiden looked up at her.

"Auntie Zoe?"

"Yes sweetheart?"

"Is daddy out of time-out now?" Troye, Alfie and I burst into laughter as Zoe answered.

"Yeah. He's out of time-out."

"Good." Aiden smiled and hugged Troye's legs tighter.

"Alright, time to go home." I said. "Aiden, can you go and get your things? Daddy can help you okay? I'll get Tori's stuff."

"Okay papa." He let go of Troye, leading him to the guest room. I took Tori into Charli's room and sat her on the bed while I picked up all her things that had somehow ended up spread across the entire room. Zoe stood in the doorway, watching.

"You sure you're ready to go home?"

"Yeah. I'm ready."

"You only made up today, a few hours ago after barely talking for two weeks. Con, this isn't like high school. You're living together, making a life together."

"I know. But I realised that I really overreacted. I made a huge thing out of this for no reason. I need to be home with him. I don't want to drag this out any more than it already has."

"Okay. As long as you feel like you're ready for this."

"I am. I can't thank you enough for everything you've done these last few weeks, Zo. You and Alfie have been so amazing."

"Anytime. We're always here for you."

"And we are for you." I hugged her tightly before picking up Tori and her bag, heading out into the hallway where Troye was already waiting with Aiden, bags in hand.

"Let's go home." He said and I grinned.

"Let's go home.

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A/N: So this is the end. There might be one more bonus chapter tomorrow, a future-based epilogue to wrap things up but otherwise, the trilogy is done.

Thank you to everyone who's read the stories, you guys are amazing. And thank you to my amazing friend who's helped me fix up mistakes that I haven't noticed [you know who you are ;)]. The stories are that much better because of it.

I love all the support and love I've gotten since starting the trilogy and I hope I can come up with plenty more for you guys in the future.