"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.
