Joey, photo credit: http://caraleecasephotography.com/cake-smash/trycen-idaho-falls-child-photographer-2/

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5

Josh's POV

I woke up the next morning to a cold bed. I sighed and got up, making my way to the kitchen. I was surprised when I reached the bottom of the stairs, there was music playing in the kitchen.

I peeked my head around the corner to see Hayley dancing around as she cooked what smelled like pancakes. I entered the kitchen cautiously. I was expecting Hayley to still be upset with me, not dancing around everywhere?

When she noticed me, she smiled and turned the radio down. She walked right up to me, placing her arms around my neck and kissing my cheek. Okay, seriously, what is happening here?

"Goodmorning, honey!" Hayley said, cheerfully.

"Goodmorning." I replied back, slowly.

Hayley pouted, "what's wrong?"

I sighed, bringing my arms around her waist, "I'm sorry about last night, I didn't mean to snap on you."

Hayley smiled and shook her head, "it's okay, I shouldn't be pushing you anyways."

After that she quickly kissed me, then turned back to the stove, pouring some more pancake batter in the pan. I tilted my head to the side in confusion, that's it? No apology needed?

"So, that's it then?" I voiced my confusion.

Hayley nodded without looking back at me, "that's it," she responded.

"Are you sure because I-"

"Josh, really, it's fine." She interrupted me. "Now, can you please get the kids up and tell them it's breakfast time?" She added.

I simply nodded and went upstairs to get the kids. I walked into Stevie's room quietly, sitting myself on the edge of her bed. For a second, I let myself be boggled by how fast she's growing up, and how beautiful she's becoming.

"Sweetie, wake up." I whispered, gently shaking her shoulder.

She groaned and rolled away from me. I chuckled at how much this reminded me of Hayley. Back when we first started out and had to get up early for interviews and such, Hayley would roll as far away from you as possible in an attempt to stop you from waking her up anymore. It was just another adorable thing she did.

Stevie sat up and looked at me through tired eyes.

"C'mon, kiddo, mom has pancakes downstairs for you guys."

I left and went to Neil's room. He was awake, playing with some of his toy cars on the floor.

"Breakfast is ready, bud." I said.

He immediately looked up at me. He got up, dusting himself off, and ran right past me, out the door. I laughed at his actions. I can only ever imagine being that excited over pancakes.

I walked into to Joey's room, he was also awake, and standing in his crib.

"Daddy!" He squealed, reaching his little arms out for me.

I picked him up and pressed a kiss to his cheek. He giggled and squealed with happiness.

"Goodmorning JoJo!" I said to him in my baby voice.

I carried him downstairs and into the kitchen, sitting him in his highchair. Stevie and Neil were dressed, and eating, and Hayley was still dancing around the kitchen. I had to smile when I looked at all of them. My family.

"The bus is here!" Hayley pointed out, looking out the window in the kitchen.

Stevie and Neil got up, grabbing their backpacks and making their way to the door. After they left, Hayley looked at the clock and her eyes widened a bit. She turned off the radio and went to living room, grabbing her purse off the coffee table. I followed her.

"You going to the studio?" I asked.

She shook her head, "no, I'm going to help Taylor pick out his tie for the wedding."

I shook my head, "Shouldn't Jeremy be doing that? Or one of T's other guy friends?"

Hayley laughed, "nope, everyone else has plans, so he's stuck with me!"

I laughed too, Taylor really needs to make more guy friends. 

Hayley's POV

"No."

Taylor looked at me with a surprised and slightly pleading expression.

"What do you mean no? You don't think I look good?" He asked.

I looked over Taylor again, looking at the bow-tie that he had picked out. It wasn't awful, but it definitely didn't scream Taylor. Especially because it was a horrible, murky green.

"Taylor, it looks disgusting! Are you sure that's the color Baylie picked?" I questioned.

Taylor nodded, handing me his phone so I could look at the picture Baylie had texted him. 

I squinted as I tried to make out the texts between them about the tie.

"Jeez, T, don't you ever turn your brightness up?"

"It kills the battery!" He protested.

I scrolled through his settings, turning his brightness to full, before I went back to look at his texts. It was then that I noticed the problem. I held the phone out.

"Taylor, tell me what you see?" I said.

Taylor leaned forward, examining the now bright screen on his phone. His eyes widened a bit and a blush rose to his cheeks.

"That makes more sense." he said, nervously rubbing the back of his neck.

I couldn't help but to laugh at his mistake. I handed his phone back to him, and we went back to find the right color tie. Once we found the correct color tie, Taylor paid for it. After we left the bridal shop, we went to a cafe to catch a late lunch. 

"So,  you excited about the wedding?" I said, as we waited for a waiter to come to our table.

Taylor blushed, "of course I am, Baylie and I have been together for so long, this really feels like the right thing to do."

The waiter came over, interrupting our brief conversation. We ordered our food and started talking about the album.

"Have you found a drummer yet?" I asked, frowning as T shook his head. 

"T, we can't just keep demoing, we have the music written, we've gotta start recording, it's been 6 years since we released an album!"

Taylor sighed, but then his eyes brightened. He pulled out his phone and began texting someone.

"Who are you texting?" I asked.

Taylor bit his lip, "well, Zac moved back from New Zealand a few months ago, he's been doing shows around Nashville."

 I leaned back in my seat, thinking to myself. Zac is a great drummer, and it would be cool to hang out with him again, but how would the fans react. I don't wanna hurt the fans, but we really need a drummer.

"Ask him." I said.

Taylor nodded, his thumbs moving quickly to compose the text he was sending. After he sent the text to Zac, our food came. We began to eat, and continued to talk more.

"Have you heard from Jerm today?" I asked.

T shook his head and sighed, "No, he's working with that one guy again on their 'project'." He said, putting quotations on project.

Lately, Jeremy had been hanging out with these guys, working on different projects. He's been kind of distant with me and T too. I know we need to talk to him about it, which we'll probably do tomorrow when we're back in the studio.

Just then, Taylor's phone vibrated, signaling he had a new text. He picked up his phone and unlocked it, silently reading the message to himself. I was getting anxious because he wasn't reading out loud.

"What did he say!?" I finally blurted out.

Taylor jumped a little, surprised at my sudden outburst, then began to read the text out loud.

"He said "That would be cool, we should meet up and talk about it though." Should I ask him to meet us at the studio tomorrow?"

I nodded, and Taylor began to type. He received another text not even a minute later.

"He said "okay"." Taylor said.

I nodded. Taylor put his phone away and we finished up our lunch.

~~~~~

Later that night, I asked Josh what he thought about the whole Zac situation. 

"Honestly, I think Zac will say yes to helping you guys. I know he was really sad about not hanging out with you guys until T went to see him in New Zealand last year. He's missed you guys."

I smiled. No matter what happened between the five of us, Zac would always hold a special place in my heart. I really did miss his goofball antics these past few years. 

"He's probably gonna apologize a lot though." Josh said casually.

"Why?" I asked.

"He felt really guilty that he missed our wedding and Neil and Joey because he was in New Zealand working, I've told him a million times that it's okay." Josh explained.

I smiled, I figured Zac would still be the sweet guy I grew up with. First thing I'm gonna do tomorrow is make sure he knows how much we missed him and that he doesn't have to feel guilty anymore.