there are no words for this

Late Night

July 28th, 2019

"I can stay up with her," Josh says for the umpteenth time.

"Josh, it's fine," Tyler says again. He grins slightly. "Come on, dude. If she spends any more time with you her first word is going to be 'Papa' instead of 'Daddy.'"

Josh laughs a little. "Tyler, you need sleep," he insists anyways. "You don't get enough as it is."

"You stayed up with her the past few days," Tyler says.

"So did you!"

"You need sleep too, Josh," Tyler says, taking AJ from his arms. "I'm staying up with her."

Josh groans, scrubbing a hand over his face. "Ugh, fine," he relents. "I'll stay with her tomorrow, okay? And wake me up if you want to sleep, or if you need anything, all right?"

"All right," Tyler tells him.

AJ makes a cooing noise around her thumb, sighing tiredly. Josh kisses the top of her head. "Goodnight, baby," he murmurs before leaning up and kissing Tyler's forehead. "Goodnight, baby," he tells Tyler, winking.

Tyler shifts AJ so she's only in one arm. He then uses his free arm to push Josh in the direction of their room. "Sleep," Tyler says sternly before blowing him a kiss.

July 28th, 2019

"Sweetheart, I know you're tired," Tyler tells his daughter, who's fussing in her crib. "I'm tired too. I'm so, so tired."

AJ makes a frustrated noise, whimpering. With a sigh, Tyler leans in and picks her up.

"Don't cry, baby," he tells her softly, pressing a kiss to her forehead. "Please, just go to sleep. Sleep, remember?" he says, rocking her slowly. "You need lots of sleep. You have a long life ahead of you, okay? A long life where you can be anything you want to be. You can do anything."

He sits down in the rocking chair beside her crib, and AJ whimpers again, albeit quieter this time. She burrows herself further into Tyler's arms.

"You're going to have an amazing life," he tells her quietly. "You're going to be beautiful, and smart, and kind. You have two parents who love you, and grandparents and aunts and uncles and cousins who are utterly smitten with you."

He slides one of his fingers into AJ's hands, and she instinctively grabs it in her little fist, holding tightly. He marvels at her tiny hand.

"Look at you," Tyler says. "You can move on your own. You're your own person, AJ. You have your whole life for yourself, and it's going to be better than mine." He strokes her arm with his thumb, watching her breathe. "And that's saying something, because in all, my life has been pretty sweet."

AJ makes a soft cooing sound, her eyes fluttering shut.

"You're so beautiful," Tyler tells her. "You look like your Papa, did you know that? But you have my lips, and my nose, and I think that's the most amazing thing."

AJ's gone quiet now, and the only movement from her Tyler can see is her chest moving.

"Did I ever tell you about the time your Papa tried to take me to Taco Bell for our anniversary?"

July 29th, 2019

It's five o'clock when Josh wakes up, and before he can lament about the early hours he now wakes up at, he's putting on his glasses and stumbling out of bed.

He cracks the door to AJ's room open. Tyler's sitting on the rocking chair Josh's mom bought them, smiling down at AJ, who's in his arms. His lips are moving, and Josh strains his ears to hear Tyler humming. AJ's cooing, reaching up to Tyler's face.

They both haven't noticed Josh yet, and as quietly as he can, he closes the door and goes downstairs to start breakfast.