"Josh, I'm scared," Tyler whispered, pressed close to his boyfriend's side. The faded pink haired man rubbed Tyler's back reassuringly. He had a good understanding of why Tyler was scared, but he would never let anything bad happened to his baby boy. Not again. Besides he would like to think his parents were rather accepting. They had, after all, put up with him during his early twenties.

"Nana is nice papa! So is pop pop! You'll be okay," Olivia comforted from below, unbalanced in her cast and holding Josh for balance.

"I'm sure they are lovely, but flower," whatever Tyler was going to say was going to say was cut off by the front door opening. Josh held Tyler's waist tighter as the chaos began.

"Oh my poor rose bud!" Mrs. Dun cried, leaning down to lift the young girl off her feet and smothered her with kisses. Tyler watched as Olivia shrieked and gave her nana just as many kisses. Josh kissed Tyler's temple and stepped into the warm house. Tyler stepped in as well, awkwardly closing the door behind him.

"Joshua," a deep voice greeted, pulling Josh from Tyler and into a hug. The man must be Mr. Dun from his greying hair and similarity to Josh. Tyler wrapped his arms around himself, not sure what to do. His 'protectors' were occupied and he was in an unfamiliar home. Tyler breathed heavily under his binder. It was not necessary since he had surgery, but it made him feel safer.

Josh didn't know that he had slipped it on before they left. His boyfriend didn't want Tyler to hurt himself and he meant well, but he didn't understand. Tyler needed to feel safe and his binder gave him that feeling.

"And who is this?" Tyler shrank back from the question, looking down at his feet.

"My papa Ty!" Olivia cheered, Laura and Bill looked at their son, who shrugged. Josh moved to Tyler and tilted his chin back up so they could see the face Josh got to see snoring every morning. Even snoring, Tyler was pretty cute.

"Mom, dad, this is my boyfriend Tyler Joseph. Ty, these are my parents, Bill and Laura," Tyler shyly shook their hands and tucked himself back into Josh's side. Josh had called him his boyfriend, but he wasn't feeling very masculine today. Laura bit her lip, noticing how Tyler was practically hiding in her son.

"It's nice to me you, Tyler. Josh talks nonstop about you!"

"Mom!"

"Hush Joshua," Tyler grinned slightly at the interactions between mother and son, wishing he had gotten that with his own mother.

"Now Tyler, do you prefer to use male pronouns or they? Or should we just call you Tyler? Josh never specified." The brunet let out a small whimper, not expecting them to know what all that meant or that Tyler fell into that category. Tyler tightened his grip on Josh and resisted the urge to hide in his chest. Josh just gripped him back just as tight and reassuringly kissed his head.

"Male pronouns are good," he smiled sheepishly, watching Laura pass Bill Olivia, the toddler shrieking "pop pop pop pop," over and over again. Josh smiled brightly at his family and kissed Tyler's cheek once more. He could tell something was off with Tyler and just wanted to comfort him more.

"Nice to meet you son," Bill finally spoke towards Tyler, easily passing Olivia back to the brunet and heading back to where he came from.

"Lovely! Well Bill is outside with Jordan, the girls should be here any minute, and I'm gonna steal Josh quickly, if you do not mind?" Tyler shook his head, pressing a kiss to Olivia's head. Tyler and Olivia were left alone, Tyler not knowing exactly what to do with himself.

"Papa do you wanna see my room? It used to be daddy's," Tyler smiled and let the girl lead him up the stairs. Olivia knew how to keep him sane.

･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ.

"Joshua William!" Josh groaned when his mother cuffed his head the second they were alone.

"Why is that boy absolutely terrified of us? What have you told him?" Laura practically seethed, glaring at her eldest son. Josh held his hands up in defense, stunned. His mother had not been this over protective since the one girl he dated in high school.

"Nothing Momma! He is just a little worried about dinner..." Josh wanted to leave it there, his mother knew what happened with Tyler's parents after all, but she was still looking at him expectantly.

"He thought you would be like his parents and he just wants to impress you and make sure you don't 'hate me' for loving him," Josh rambled passionately, spewing all of the worries his boyfriend had voiced over the last week. He wanted nothing more than to cuddle his boyfriend and beat up his family at the same time.

Laura held up a hand to pause her son's rambling.

"Those vile people... calling their son names for how he was born? Telling him his place was as a wife at home," his mother had a disgusted look on her face. She had majorly been a stay-at-home mother and it wasn't a punishment or role because she was a woman. It was her choice as a mother to stay and care for her four children so they never felt forgotten. To hear people refer to it as if it was a role or punishment made her angry because she was not staying home because her husband demanded to. Her children needed her.

"I know Momma, and he knows you are nothing like that, but he worries too much for his own good and I just want him to be happy and at least have a family to spend Christmas with since Thanksgiving was a bust. He needs more than just O and I," Josh confided in his mother, leaning back against the counter. It smelt like his mother's famous meatloaf and it made his stomach growl in anticipation. He missed his mother's cooking.

"Then we'll be his family baby," Laura said confidently, moving forward to wrap Josh in a hug. Even though he has been on his own for almost a decade, she still missed him living with her. The selfish part of her wished that he would move back home and let her take care of him, but now he had Tyler to do that.

"Thank you Momma," Josh whispered, wrapping his arms around her tightly. He missed his mother greatly. Their hug was cut short by a heavy footfall above them. Olivia was walking by herself... Josh was about to go up and scold her, she needed to stay off her foot, when a blood curdling "Daddy!" sounded from upstairs.

Josh spared no second before he flew out of the kitchen, looking up the stairs at where his daughter was about to step down them.

"Woah, woah hey, stay there!" He called up the stairs, racing up them and almost knocking his daughter over since she was at the top of the flight. Her face red with tears. He was instantly in concerned 'papa bear' mode and made to scoop her off the floor, but she was tugging at his hand insistently instead.

"Hey, hey calm down flower. What's going on? Where is papa?" The mention of Tyler struck a chord in Olivia and she tugged at him harder, almost knocking him off. Josh looked at down his mom in worry before allowing his daughter to tug him in the direction of his old bedroom. She hobbled over the Barbies on the floor and to the bathroom that connected to the room. Tyler seemed to like hiding in bathrooms.

"Baby?" Josh whispered to Olivia, but she simply pointed at the door, clutching Josh's leg.

The older man carefully knocked on the door, pushing it open when he got no answer. Josh scrambled to push Olivia behind him as Tyler dry heaving came into view. He had gotten his shirt off and Josh sighed inwardly at the sight of the binder constricting his chest. Tyler coughed once more into the toilet before letting himself fall back against the wall, his breathe ragged. On each exhale, Josh could see the red marks were the binder was too tight on Tyler.

"Flower go sit on the bed," Josh ordered, making sure his daughter still couldn't see Tyler. None of them wanted that.

"But papa," she tried, stamping her good foot on the ground, wobbling a bit from holding herself on her bad foot.

"I know Rose, but daddy has to help papa first and then you can see him," Olivia nodded sadly, hobbling her way to the bed. Josh closed the door behind him and quickly moved down to help Tyler.

"Jesus baby boy what were you thinking?" Josh hissed, helping Tyler to his feet and working on the binder. Once he managed to get it off Tyler, the man let out a shuddering breath, his lungs finally able to expand fully. Josh held Tyler as he coughed into his chest, rubbing the man's back tenderly.

"What happened Ty?" Josh whispered, pressing his lips to Tyler's cheek.

･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ.

"And this is my doll house that Abby got me," Tyler nodded his head, listening as she showed him each of her dolls, explaining their names to him. He would hum at appropriate times, holding each doll when she passed them over.

"And this is Hans," she concluded, passing the Frozen doll to Tyler beaming happily.

"What about that one love?" Tyler gestured to the one still in the bin. It looked like it had never been touched, only thrown at the bottom of the bin. Olivia turned to look at the doll before turning back to the ones that she had pulled out.

"Don't like tha' one," she mumbled, messing with the hair on the Barbie in her hands. Tyler moved the dolls out of his lap and scooted closer to Olivia.

"Why?" He questioned, pausing her hands so she would look up at him. Olivia bit her lip, just like her father, and shrugged her shoulders.

"My mommy got it for me," Olivia mumbled sadly, moving closer to Tyler to lean against his side. He wrapped his arm around her, kissing her head. He hummed softly to her, wanting to help her work through this pain. No child should have to feel this way about their parent. Tyler wasn't her mother so he could not take away the pain that Sarah had caused her.

A sniffling at his side caught his attention, Tyler reached up to wipe her tears when the most heartbreaking thing occurred. Olivia flinched back from his hand, her green eyes wide in fear. They were glossed over, telling the rational part of Tyler that she was reliving a memory, but the non-rational part could only focus the flinch. She thought he was going to hit her? Like Sarah?

Tyler could feel his lungs closing, the binder around his chest becoming a cage that wanted to suffocate him. The brunet got off the grow, whimpering when Olivia flinched back from him. He needed to get away before he hurt her more. Tyler made his way into the bathroom, closing the door and clawing at his throat. He would never hurt her.... Just the thought had Tyler bent over the toilet, tears finally burning his eyes.

･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ.

"Oh darling," Josh cooed, rocking Tyler in his arms. The younger man was clinging to Josh, in a way that would normally be painful, but Josh held him just as tight and wouldn't let go for the life of him.

"I'd never hit her J. Never. I would rather kill myself than harm her," Tyler cried into his chest and Josh hushed him, pressing their lips together. Tyler sank into the kiss, fingers tightening on Josh's shoulders. The pink haired man, rubbed his boyfriend's back and kissed him gently.

"I know you'd never hurt her baby boy. You are so good to her," Josh reassured Tyler, leaning their foreheads together so Tyler couldn't look away from him. Tyler opened his mouth, but Josh quickly cut him off.

"No excuses. She adores you Ty. She probably did not realize. You know what she did when she came through?" Tyler shook his head. He hadn't even known she left the room until Josh came in.

"She hobbled to the stairs and almost went down them to get me. I had to order her to sit on the bed and she looked so upset that she scared you," Tyler let out a small noise from his mouth, already pulling away from Josh and heading out of the door. He need to make his love feel better.

"Ty, at least put a shirt on!" Josh tried to reason, but Tyler was already out of the door and half way to Olivia.

"Papa!" Olivia sobbed, reaching up for Tyler and the man lifted her up and cradled her close. He soothed her quietly, letting his body rock her.

"I'm sorry," he shushed her, pressing his lips against her hair and letting his eyes close. Tyler had dealt with abused children in school before, but never had his own child afraid of him. Tyler bit his lip at the thought, but didn't correct it. At this point she was as much as his child as Josh's.

Tyler opened his eyes and turned to look in Josh's direction, the older man leaning against the door frame, grinning at them. Tyler rolled his eyes at his boyfriend. Josh poked his tongue out at Tyler before moving closer and wrapping them both into his arms.

"My perfect family," Josh whispered, pressing a kiss to Tyler's exposed neck and rubbing Olivia's back. Tyler sighed in happiness, leaning into Josh's hold.

"What are these papa?" Olivia's voice broke the silence, her little finger tracing one of the scars along Tyler's chest. He looked at Josh, not sure what to actually say. His boyfriend thankfully took control over the situation.

"Flower, you remember when papa taught you about caterpillars?" Olivia nodded, turning to look at Josh, though her fingers remained on Tyler's scar.

"Well papa was like a caterpillar and to be a butterfly, he got a little hurt, but he is fine now," Tyler was just as confused by Josh's analogy as Olivia, but both just shrugged it off.

"Do they hurt?" Olivia asked softly, her fingers briefly moving away from the mark as if she would hurt Tyler. He shook his head, pressing a kiss to her temple.

"Not anymore, besides you could never hurt me little butterfly," he whispered to her, carefully setting her down. Olivia however did not want to part with her papa just yet and latched onto his legs. Tyler grunt slightly as she practically headbutted his pelvis, but didn't complain as he took his shirt from Josh and begun to button it back up.

"C'mere butterfly," Tyler cooed, lifting Olivia once more and holding her close. Josh smiled at his boyfriend and pat his backside to signal they should go back downstairs. Tyler began walking to the door, taking a brief second to press his lips to Josh's.

"I love you," he whispered, Josh beaming down at him.

"I love you too, butterfly boy,"

"I want kissies too!" Olivia pouted in Tyler's arms, quickly giggling when both men blew raspberries against each of her cheeks. She cuddled into Tyler's neck and hid from Josh's tickles.

･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ.

Throughout dinner, Olivia refused to leave Tyler's lap, the brunet man feeding her and himself easily. Abby and Ashley had thought it was the cutest thing ever while Josh's brother was staring Tyler down. The teacher could feel the stare, but didn't want to acknowledge it. He had Josh's hand on his knee, Olivia cuddled to his chest, and all of the rest of Josh's family was very welcoming towards him.

"So Tyler, how long have you and Josh been together?" Ashley asked, happy for her brother and her niece. They both seemed really taken with Tyler and Ashely had not seen either of them this happy before.

"A little over a year, our anniversary was the first," Tyler answered, smiling softly at the memory. Josh gripped Tyler's knee and winked at him. Jordan scoffed at them, but neither man paid any mind to him.

"And you said you teach kindergarten?" Abby smiled, interested in Tyler. She was caught up in her life and hadn't been able to actually catch up with her brother.

"Best teacher there is," Josh answered for him, Tyler playfully hitting his arm, but Olivia agreed with him, bobbing her little head up and down.

"Papa taught us about butterfwies and calls me his butterfwy!" Both sisters and parents cooed at Olivia, Jordan rolling his eyes.

"Problem Jordan?" Josh glared at his brother, annoyed with how he was acting.

"Oh no Joshua, no problem at all. Other than you being careless," Jordan spat, Bill trying to stop him from opening his mouth.

"How so?" Josh shot back, his fingers tightening on Tyler's knee to reassure him. Tyler continued to eat, not wanting to get in this fight. He wanted a nice evening with his boyfriend's family...

"Allowing some random person into your daughter's life, not even caring if he is another Sarah!" Jordan shouted, both of the Dun parents scolding him. Josh just clenched his jaw. Tyler pulled Olivia closer to his chest, covering her one ear with his hand so she wouldn't hear the yelling.

"He has wormed his way into your lives and already has her calling him papa like he deserves that title. He probably is whispering negative about you and going to hurt her like Sarah did." Jordan huffed, Josh making to stand from his seat and knock his brother out. Tyler caught his arm though and pulled him back into his seat.

"I am sorry you feel that way Jordan. I can assure you though, I have not 'wormed' my way into anything with Josh or Olivia." Tyler replied calmly, letting his fingers rub against Josh's pulse point tenderly.

"Children that have been neglected and abused like Olivia," speaking plainly of the situation had everyone flinching at the table, Olivia curling close to Tyler's stomach ( she still couldn't hear anything around her ) "are more likely to cling to someone who they view as safe and will love them. For awhile that was and still is Josh, but a child needs more love than one person is capable of giving, no offense sugar," Tyler pulled Josh's knuckles up to his lips and kissed them gently.

"As her teacher and her father's boyfriend, it was only a matter of time before Olivia grew attached, but Josh was willing to make that leap with me. There was a reason I did not know about her for the first part of our relationship. For you to call Josh's choices into question is kinda of suckish in my opinion. I am here because Josh and Olivia both want me to be. If Josh wanted to wait longer for me to actually know his daughter as his boyfriend than we would have waited. But Josh wanted to take the leap and I was right there with him." Tyler continued, pressing his lips to Olivia's hair and uncovering her ear so she could hear the conversation again.

"And it was the best choice I have ever taken in my life." Tyler finished, laying his head on Josh's shoulder and cuddling Olivia in his arms.

All of the Duns looked ready to cry at Tyler's speech and Jordan looked rather chastised. Tyler had been told that he had that effect on people because he was a teacher. Tyler went back to eating, feeding more to the slightly whiny girl in his lap. It was quiet until Bill decided to break the silence.

"I think you are going to fit in well with our family, Tyler." The brunet hadn't felt more accepted in his life.

  ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ.  

Word Count: 3,339

sorry nothing is tagged.... literally nothing i have done today has worked out and i have twenty fucking things due but not enough brain capacity to do them all and i'm legitimately about to just cry in bed and go to sleep because i am so stressed out.

but anyways, i hope you enjoyed this.

until next time,

stay alive sunshines <3