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Ashton became aware around mid afternoon that the house was definitely too quiet.
There wasn’t necessarily anything wrong with quiet, in fact he’d enjoyed it for most of the day. But all the boys were home and he hadn’t heard a peep out of any of them, which certainly made him a little suspicious.
He got up from the couch and made his way upstairs, under the presumption that he probably would have noticed if anyone had come downstairs. He checked each bedroom, curiosity growing as each came up empty, although he noted that the sheets were missing from Calum’s room, and the pillows had been taken from all the rooms. He then headed back down, down to the practice space where he was met with the site of a rather large blanket fort, supported by mic stands.
The blankets used in the structure seem to have been taken from all around the house, including the fluffy one from the couch that Ashton somehow hadn’t noticed was missing. A soft light was visible from inside, and Ashton could vaguely hear the sounds of a film, although he couldn’t identify it.
He found a gap in the blankets and lifted them up, smiling at the sight that greeted him.
A sort of nest had been made out of all the pillows and Calum’s bed covers. Someone’s iPad was leant against a mic stand, playing My Neighbour Totoro, although the volume was fairly low and the screen brightness turned down. His three boys were cuddled together, Luke in the middle, fast asleep, with Calum on one side, also asleep, and Michael on the side closest to the entrance. Michael yawned and lifted his head, looking at Ashton with a soft smile.
“Hi baby,” Ashton kept his voice low, not wanting to wake the others, “I was wondering what you three were up to.”
Michael shuffled into a sitting position and tugged on Ashton’s shirt, encouraging him into the den.
“Lukey wasn’t feeling too good so me ‘nd Cal built the den to make him feel good.”
Ashton let the ‘door’ fall shut, “it’s a very good den,” he praised. “A very good use of the mic stands.”
Michael beamed, “That was my idea!”
Luke made a soft noise, squirming a little. Michael petted his hair gently, and he soon settled back down again, but Ashton noticed the slight frown on his face, and the way his cheeks were slightly blotchy.
“Kitten, when you say Luke wasn’t feeling good, was it a bad head day?”
Michael nodded, looking slightly guilty, “I know I should’ve told you, but I just wanted to help! Please don’t be mad!”
“Hey, hey,” Ashton shushed him gently, wrapping an arm around his shoulders, being careful of Luke. “I’m not mad. Yeah, you should have told me. But you did a very good job of looking after him yourself, I’m very proud of you.”
This seemed to calm Michael a little, and he nodded, settling down.
The pair of them watched the rest of the film in silence, only interrupted by the occasional sound of the other two shuffling or mumbling in their sleep. When the end credits rolled, Ashton hummed softly.
“How about, we leave these two to nap, and you can come and help me sort out dinner. And then afterwards we can all have ice cream and we’ll make sure Luke’s feeling a lot better.”
Michael beamed, nodding, “Yes please! What’s for dinner?”
“Well I think you get to decide that.”
Ashton carefully got out the den, watching fondly as Michael gently removed Luke from his shoulder. Luke whined softly, but settled again when Calum curled closer, the pair completely tangled together.
“C’mon then,” Ashton helped Michael to his feet, “Let’s go see what we’ve got.”