Sorry this is late, I had Marching Band and I had to practice a lot after Sectionals. I'm going to be skipping four years after this chapter, (Azaylah will be 5). Sorry that I'm skipping a ton of years, I just want to get her to school, so the plot really starts. Anyway, I hope you like this chapter, it took a while to write but I somehow got it updated anyway.


Azaylah crawled around Jeff's feet as he cooked. She looked up at her dad and latched her arms around his leg, cuddling it. Jeff was careful not to drop anything and looked down and smiled. The little girl saw that one of the cabinets were open and crawled over to it, she pulled it open and pulled out a shiny, silver, pot. Her eyes were wide as she dragged it away from the cabinet and picked up the lid. She reached inside of it and found nothing. She looked up at Jeff who hadn't noticed yet and up her spoon (she had been eating ice cream earlier). As she hit the spoon against the pot she began to laugh. Jeff jumped and span around.

"Azaylah, no!" He scolded, bending over to take the spoon and pot from her. Her lower lip began to tremble as she looked up at him with watery eyes. "Honey, don't cry." He picked her up and set her on his hip. He turned to the stove and set the lid on the pot of pasta he was making. He cradled her and left the kitchen. Nick was supposed to be cleaning their bedroom, but when Jeff got there, he was on his belly looking at something on his computer, Athena sitting on his back.

"Ath!" Azaylah said loudly pointing at Athena. Athena opened her eyes to look at the baby. Nick craned his neck to look at them; Jeff set Azaylah on the bed beside Athena, who immediately grabbed at the cat and set her in her lap. Jeff picked up a shirt that was on the floor.

"Nick, I sent you in here an hour ago, and it looks worse than before," Jeff said tossing the shirt into a hamper.

"I cleaned… the bed." Jeff scoffed. He began to pick up the clothes and books that where on the floor and in less than 10 minutes the room looked presentable.

Jeff set his hands on his hips and frowned, "See how easy that was?"

Nick shut his laptop and turned to lie on his back, "No. But at least I can do this now." He grabbed Jeff by the hips and pulled him forward.

"Nick!" Nick flipped them over and pressed their lips together. Jeff gave in for a minute but then pulled away. "No, you're going to corrupt her," Jeff said pushing him off. He sat up and gave Nick a dirty look.

"Where is she?" Nick said looking around. Jeff got up and looked around the room. He crossed the room and looked under the bed.

"Jeff look!" Jeff got up and looked over at Nick. Across him, Azaylah was on her feet, with one of Jeff's shoes in her arms. She had a determined look on her face as she took a step towards Nick. Jeff gasped and slowly walked over to them. Azaylah giggled as she wrapped her arms around Nick's leg. Nick picked her up and swung her around.

Azaylah giggled again and Nick turned to Jeff. Jeff wrapped them both in a hug. "Our baby took her first steps!"

Ever since that moment, Azaylah has been using her new skills to her advantage. When she got into trouble she was now able to run from her dads, and when they took her outside she could run through the sand or playground.

On the 4th week of Jeff's month off, he woke to a loud crashing sound. He gasped and sat up, making Nick groaned.

"What's the matter?"

Jeff glanced at him, "Didn't you hear it… it was really loud."

Nick pulled him back down and wrapped his arm around his chest, "baby its summer and Chicago, it's going to be loud." Nick nodded pulled the blanket back up and moved closer to Jeff.

The noise happened again this time, Nick heard it too. "Nick, there's someone in the house."

Nick pushed the blankets off of them and stood up. Jeff put his robe on and handed Nick his. They silently crept through the house, Jeff walking closely behind him. There was the sound again, coming from the living room. Nick gasped and turned to look at Azaylah's room, "Azaylah, Jeff!" Jeff put a finger to his mouth and pushed the living room door open.

Standing in the middle of the floor was Azaylah, wearing her yellow pajamas. She looked up when Jeff and Nick entered the room, "Uh- oh, Daddies." All the movies they owned covered the floor. She dropped a home video and climbed up onto the couch and began to cry. Jeff picked her up and set her in his lap and tried to shush her. Nick dropped to the floor and began to pick the movies up and put them back on the shelves.

"Azaylah, you can't be up at this hour, and you made a mess," Jeff said, trying to sound angry.

"S- sow, Daddy," She said, starting to hiccup. Jeff sighed and took her back to her room. He set her in her crib and scolded her,

"Azaylah, you're not to leave this bed again. Or I'm going to have to punish you." Azaylah started t cry louder as she stood up and reached out for him.

"Papa!"

Jeff felt guilty but he left the room and shut the door, only to find Nick outside, "I feel so bad Nicky, should I go back?"

Nick clasped their hands together and led them back to their room, "It's the only way she's going to learn, it's the 5th time this week."

"I know, I just feel bad," Jeff mumbled, shutting their door and climbing onto the bed after Nick. Nick once again wrapped his arms around Jeff and pulled him close. Jeff sighed and rested his head on his chest. It took a while but he eventually fell asleep.

Jeff kissed Nick goodbye and he shut the door to their house. He sighed sleepily and walked down the hall to the bathroom. He took a quick shower and changed into shorts and a t shirt. He went t Azaylah's room, only to find her, on her back, with red cheeks, as if she had been crying all night. He felt another pang of guilt as he picked out a white dress with sunflowers on it. He woke her up and changed her diaper. He put her in the dress and allowed her to walk halfway to the kitchen. She fell back and looked up at him and held out her arms. He picked her up and set her in her chair in the dining table. He went back to the kitchen, poured her some whole milk and a bowl of Cheerios. She didn't seem to be very hungry so she drank the milk and left the cereal.

"Sweetie, please eat some."

"No, Papa," she said pushing the bowl away. Jeff sighed and tried the sliced bananas; she took two and ate them, but refused anymore.

"Why, don't we go for a walk, we can go to the park," Jeff said cleaning up and picking her up. She began to struggle.

"No!" Jeff held her tightly to his chest. He grabbed his wallet and the folded up stroller and ran outside with her. She had begun to cry as he set her in her stroller and strapped her down. He quickly pushed her to the elevator and bent over to her level when the doors closed and started moving.

"Azaylah, please, calm down. Darling, please." He stroked her hair and then pressed a kiss to cheek. The girl's cheeks were red again but she had stopped crying. She looked up at him with watery eyes. He smiled at her and got up. The doors opened once more and pushed her out. A few people looked at them and smiled at the girl.

Jeff proudly pushed her stroller down the street and started towards the main street. Azaylah was watching people as they passed. They crossed the street and entered Millennium Park. They walked past the Crown Fountain and Azaylah pointed at it and turned to look at Jeff.

"Not today, Azaylah, we didn't bring your swimsuit."

They continued walking until they made it to "The Bean". Azaylah said nothing but stare at her reflection. She looked at Jeff's reflection and smiled. "Papa!" Jeff took his phone out and took a picture of a smiling Azaylah. He sent it to Nick and put his phone away. He pulled the stroller away from the sculpture and continued through the park. He pushed her through the Gardens, she was looking around at the different plants and water. It was a nice day, the sun wasn't too harsh and it was cool.

He felt his phone buzz and he pulled out his phone. Azaylah was examining a sunflower on the way out, he checked it.

You both look beautiful. Have fun! X0X –N

Jeff continued their walk and entered the Theater. He placed a blanket on the grass and set Azaylah on it. She was looking at the metal above them with awe. The band started to practice making her jump and climb into Jeff's lap. Jeff stroked her hair and lay back on the blanket. She snuggled into his arm and played with the buttons on his shirt.

"Hey, how are the two most beautiful people in the world?" Someone said in an English accent. Jeff picked Azaylah up ready to defend them but saw Nick. Jeff rolled his eyes and set Azaylah down. She giggled and crawled over to Nick. Nick sat across from them and leant over to kiss them both on the cheek.

"Nick, you scared me! I thought you were some old perv," Jeff said crossing his arms over his chest.

"Aw, sorry. Will this make it up?" He held out a small takeout box and handed it to Jeff. Jeff raised an eyebrow at him and opened it. There was a piece of blue cake with white frosting.

"Blue?"

Azaylah got onto her feet to peer inside the box. She looked up at Nick and then back at the cake. "Yes, blue cake."

Jeff raised an eyebrow at him and took a fork from him; he took a bite of it and smiled. "Where did you even get this?" He cut a small piece for Azaylah and fed it to her. She sat down, with a confused look on her face, it was unlike anything she had ever tasted. Deciding she liked it, she got up and tried to steal more with her fingers.

"I found a bakery on the way here." Jeff nodded and moved the box away from the girl.

"Azaylah, you're hands are dirty," Nick said reaching underneath the stroller and took out a packet of wipes. He took her small hands and wiped them off. Jeff handed her some more on a fork and she ate it greedily. Jeff took another bite and gave it to Nick. Nick set it at the bottom of the stroller and picked Azaylah up. He cuddled her and laid back on the blanket beside Jeff. Jeff swung a leg over Nick's and shut his eyes.

Luckily they lived in Chicago and there weren't a lot of people watching the Orchestra practice. There weren't a lot of homophobic slurs that where said in their direction, on occasion but they learned to ignore them.

"I have to go soon, I only have an hour for lunch." Nick whispered, watching as Azaylah's eyes drooped. Soon after they shut and she fell asleep at his side.

Jeff chuckled and propped his head up on his hand, "it's like back at Dalton. Remember that day where we had a picnic and fell asleep?"

Nick nodded at the memory, "It's like right now, except we've got a family now." Jeff glanced at Azaylah and leant over to kiss him, Nick used his free hand to run a hand through Jeff' hair. The blond pulled away and smiled at him.

"I love you."

"I love you too," Nick said gently picking Azaylah up and setting her in the stroller and strapping her in. Nick folded the blanket and put it away. Nick hugged him tightly and walked to the exit with him. Jeff kissed his cheek and turned to the opposite direction. Nick watched them turn the corner and disappear. He looked at the floor and turned and started back towards the Aquarium.