"i don't know, abigail, now isn't really a good time..." josh sighs, his eyes traveling to tyler.

the blonde boy sits in the center of the living room, snuggling jim against his chest. "baby puppy!!" he exclaims. "look-it chuuu! cutie wittle puppyyyy! wuv youuu!"

"because it–it just isn't," josh whispers into the phone. "no! it's not that i don't want you to come over, it's just-"

"daaaadddyyyyy!" tyler yells. josh is quick to cover his phone's microphone.

"i'm on the phone," he says, shooting the boy a warning look.

"oh, sowwy," tyler smiles, then turns his attention back to jim. "wittle fwuffy cutiehead!"

"abby," josh starts, but gets cut off by his sister. he sighs impatiently. "okay, okay! fine. how long will it take to get here? twenty minutes? jeez, okay. yeah, that's fine. i'll see you soon. love you too, bye."

after slapping his head a few times, josh tucks his phone into his pocket and joins his little on the living room floor. "hey, ty..."

"look-it! sooooooo cute!" tyler giggles, squishing jim's face between his palms. "lil baby puppy, daddy."

josh laughs softly, watching jim let tyler treat him like a stuffie. "baby, daddy has to tell you something very important. can you listen?"

"am wistenin'!" the younger responds, making kissy-faces at the dog.

"my little sister is on her way here. i tried to tell her no because, well, you've been little all day. well, i didn't tell her that, i just said no. she insisted, though. so she'll be here soon. how do you feel about that?" josh asks slowly, now having tyler's full attention.

the boy's eyes squint as the new information soaks in. "sissy nice?"

"yes, she's very nice," josh assures, soothing a hand over the boy's short hair. "she just... doesn't know about everything. jordan does, and he's fine with it obviously, but he's the only one who knows. do you want to tell abigail, too? or do you want me to help age you up before she gets here?"

"but daddy!" tyler whines, lower lip jutting out as he gives the man puppy-dog eyes. "wan' be small."

"okay, bub. it's totally up to you. if you wanna be small, you can be small. i'll just have to talk to her about it when she gets here."

tyler nods, smiling. he goes back to playing with jim, leaving josh to watch him in complete adoration. the latter swears that sometimes his heart feels like it's going to explode with how much love it carries. never in his life had he imagined he would love somebody as much as he loves the little blonde.

🍼🍯🍼

a knock on the door sends jim into a frenzy. tyler pouts, upset at both the dog leaving him and the commotion that ensues. jim thrashes in his arms until the boy finally lets go, then both the dog and josh go to the front door.

"hey, sis," josh greets abigail, pulling her in for a hug.

she hugs back with a smile, bending down to also greet jim. "oh my gosh, he's so freaking cute!"

yeah? wait until you see tyler.

after jim finishes wagging his tail and sniffing abigail like a madman, he trots back into the living room to be with tyler. josh watches a bit anxiously as abigail takes her shoes off and hangs her coat by the door.

"i like your hair, it looks nice. is tyler home?" she asks, looking around curiously.

"yeah... yeah, he is. uh.. um–but can i talk to you about something really quick?" josh doesn't know why he feels so nervous. he knows abigail isn't going to be a jerk and have some irrational response. fear of judgement, maybe? although he thinks his and tyler's lives are perfectly fine and completely normal, he knows a lot of other people think it's weird.

"what? yeah, of course. is everything okay?" abigail frowns.

"yeah, it's just-"

"jimmy timmy wimmy! soo cute!" tyler squeaks, ecstatic giggles following. josh laughs, shaking his head. abigail looks a bit confused, but smiles nonetheless.

after a very long explanation and josh making things way more awkward and complicated than they needed to be, abigail's only response is, "okay, can i see him now?"

josh breathes a sigh of relief, glad abigail didn't have any questions aside from that one. "yeah, come on."

he leads her into the living room. tyler is now sprawled out on the floor, laying on his tummy and giggling as jim attacks his ears. he's wearing one of josh's shirts, the article bunched up across his waist and exposing his lower back. one leg of his sweatpants is around his ankle while the other is pulled up to his knee. he has on mismatch socks, both of different colors and lengths. he looks so darn cute, and abigail must think so too given by the little "aw" that she ushers.

"ty, abigail's here."

tyler sits up with a gasp, quickly turning himself around to face the two. he looks a bit scared until josh gives him a thumbs-up. then he just breaks out into the biggest, toothy grin. "hi!"

"hi, tyler." abigail returns the smile. "you looked like you were having fun."

"mhm!" tyler nods, scooping jim into his lap. "jimmy wuvssss my face! he kisses n' licks n' nibbles all over, 'specially my ears!" as for proof, tyler holds the puppy up to his face and laughs when he goes right for his ear.

abigail looks to josh, her mouth hanging open. "why did you not tell me sooner, joshua? he is the cutest thing i've ever seen."

"i don't know," josh shrugs, his eyes trained on his little. "scared, i guess. i thought you wouldn't understand and you'd be weirded out."

"what kind of sister do you think i am?" she scoffs in mock hurt. "as long as you guys are happy, i'm happy."

josh looks to her, smiling. "i realize that now."

they join tyler on the floor and spend some time playing with jim. after about ten minutes, tyler gets bored. next, josh brings out a set of blocks and they play with those. when tyler's sick of that, they all clean up and decide to watch a movie.

the lion king, of course.

shortly into the movie, tyler starts complaining that his tummy is hungry. so, josh leaves tyler alone with abigail to go pick up taco bell. it took a lot of convincing from his sister that it would be fine, but he did eventually give in.

"ab–ab–b–ab," tyler tries to say abigail's name, but grows frustrated when his mouth refuses to cooperate. he whines, tugging on the girl's shirt instead.

"yeah, bub?" she responds sweetly.

"name..."

"abigail," she responds, "or abby."

"can't," tyler shakes his head, frowning.

"aw, you can't say it?" she giggles. tyler notices her eyes get all squinty when she laughs, just like josh's do. this makes him giggle. "you can call me whatever you want."

"ah..b–ab–ah..baby!" tyler giggles mindlessly, regressing to the point where he can hardly speak. but he can't help it! abigail is so nice and pretty, and her hair is so red! tyler knows she has to be part fox, or maybe part mermaid! is she related to ariel, maybe? that would mean josh is a prince! so tyler would be a prince! he gasps, giggling wildly.

abigail laughs along, having no idea what's going through the boy's head. "is everything okay?"

tyler just smiles, batting those long eyelashes at the girl as he considers the possibility of him being a little prince. abigail tries to ask again, probably feeling a little creeped out by the boy just smiling and staring at her.

she pulls out her phone to call josh. meanwhile, little tyler reaches for her hair and twirls it around his finger. he's memorized by its beautiful, bright color.

"josh? hey, yeah, everything's okay i think. he's just... well he's not talking anymore. no, he doesn't look sad. he's just smiling and laughing and playing with my hair. is that normal?"

"god abigail, he must feel really safe with you. listen, yeah, it's normal. he's just too small for words. i'm leaving the drive-through now, so i'll be there soon. just try to get him to watch the movie. he might want to cuddle. i'm driving, gotta go!"

josh hangs up, leaving abigail to watch the little blonde in wonder. it's unlike anything she's ever experienced before, yet it's so unbelievably adorable. although she doesn't really understand what's going on or why, she isn't one to ask questions. "hey ty, are you listening to me?"

tyler looks up from her hair to meet her eyes, blinking innocently. "okay, good. josh is on his way home now."

"dada..." tyler whispers, squeezing his fists in excitement.

abigail doesn't question it. "do you wanna snuggle with me until he gets here?"

tyler responds by cozying himself up against abigail's side. the latter wraps an arm around him, just wanting to squeal at how precious he is. tyler turns his attention to the movie, completely forgetting about his fascination with the girl's red hair. his tucks his thumb between his lips and keeps it there until josh gets home.