Saccharine //joshler [✔️]

twenty eight 🍼

"daddy!"

"baby!"

josh drops his bags, ready to catch tyler as the boy jumps into his arms. they hug tightly, tyler clinging to the man as if once he lets go josh will leave again. he chuckles, rubbing tyler's back through his t-shirt.

"missed you so, so, so, so much!" tyler exclaims. "was a good boy for you!"

"oh yeah? is that true, ash?"

"yeah, actually," ashley responds, smiling from a few feet away. "but that might've been because i might've spoiled him a bit..."

"uh huh!" the boy giggles. "ash'ey n' i had lots a' fun!"

"oh goodness," josh smiles. "what'd you do without me, little boy?"

"hmm.. we played dress up, and did makeovers, and played barbies, and got donuts, and watched lion king, and ate chicken nuggets, and ate ice cream, and drank hot chocolate, and made s'mores, and, and..."

"and we made him a surprise," ashley helps.

"oh! daddy, daddy! to the kitchen!" tyler says, pointing with one hand while he pats josh's shoulder excitedly with the other.

"a surprise?" josh questions, following ashley into the kitchen.

"yeah, yeah! look-it!" tyler squeaks, pointing to a batch of cookies on the counter. "they's pumpkin!"

each cookie is decorated with faces, tyler's being easily distinguishable from ashley's. his are more sloppy and silly, and hers are more cutesy and girly. josh loves them.

"holy cow," josh chuckles. "they look awesome, guys."

"yeah, yeah! and we used... uh.. marker thingies?"

"edible marker pens," ashley says. "they have, like, food coloring in them or something. i'm leaving them here for you guys since i never use them."

"thanks, ash. that's really cool."

"yeah, yeah!" tyler giggles, kicking his feet. "yeah, and-"

"hold on, cutie. can you let me talk to ashley for a sec and then you can tell me everything you did?"

"uh-huh! i go wait on couch?"

"sure, bub, that would be great," josh says, finally setting tyler down. he kisses his forehead before the boy runs off, still giggling. "okay," he says, turning back to ashley. "how was he for real?"

"he really was good," ashley chuckles. "i had to keep him distracted so he wouldn't think about you and cry, though. he missed you a lot. he called me daddy on accident a few times."

"aww," josh grins. "he's so precious."

"yeah, the only thing is i don't think i'll ever be able to watch lion king again. do you want to know how many times i watched that movie, joshua? at least five times a day. i never thought a disney movie could be used as a form of torture."

"that's his favorite," josh replies, his heart swelling. "god, i wanna go cuddle the crap out of him. here, take this."

he pulls a one hundred dollar bill out of his pocket, holding it out. ashley is quick to shake her head. "no, dude. i don't want your money. i had just as much fun as tyler did. well, except for that damn movie."