twelve
Nolan is so adorable. You and Matty make adorable kids. I follow Matty on Twitter and he posts pictures of him all the time. It's adorable. Everything is adorable.
Sorry I keep forgetting to tell you more about my fam. It's been busy with some personal stuff.
I moved to a typical suburban neighborhood about a year and a half ago, and Calum was across the street. He's a professor at a local college, he's a music major and education minor.
Calum is one of the most kind people you will ever meet, but he's a very busy guy, too. He's raised the girls almost all alone, he doesn't have time to think about the things he says or the things he does. He just does it.
The eldest is Juli. Juli is a pretty normal big sister. She gets mad when the younger two steal her stuff. She's thirteen but acts much older. She looks a lot older, too. She doesn't know what she wants to do when she's older. She's a lot like Calum and just floats through the days. She gets through school and does what she's supposed to do.
Next is Joey. She's a really cool person. After you moved away, I picked up a lot of outdoorsy things. My therapist said it was 'good for the mind'. Whatever bullshit he says, whatever. Joey will go into the trails with me and go on runs with me. She likes being outside but she also likes laying in bed watching Netflix all weekend long. She opened up to me about a lot of things pretty quickly. I know I'll never really be her father, but I sure as hell am going to be that second fatherly figure.
Last is June—she's the one that reminds me of you. She's scared of the entire world, I've told you about her before. I know that she has some mental issues going on, but she's only six right now. Calum is hoping she'll grow out of it, but Calum hopes for a lot of things.
Michael went through the photo album on his phone, trying to find a family photo. He picked one from their last trip to Kansas City—the biggest city near them.
Calum was next to Michael, a hand resting on Mike's lower back. Michael can remember the feeling of his warm hands creeping underneath Michael's shirt. June was on Calum's hip, looking concerned. Juli and Joey were in front. Juli was grinning and Joey was looking annoyed.
It was a normal Hood family photo. Hood and Michael.
Joey is the one with short hair and Juli is the one with straight her. Juli naturally has really, really curly hair, but she gets up at, like, five in the morning to straighten it. I don't even get to bed until five in the morning, you know me.
June called me 'Dad' the other day and Calum and I both kind of freaked out. We didn't know how to react.
I'm not married to Calum and even if I was, there is always a chance we'd break up. Their dad walked out on them pretty early on, I don't want that to happen to them again. No matter how much I love them, there's always a possibility it'll come to an end.
Sorry to leave everything on such a sour note. I hope to see you soon, too.
X, Mike.
Michael put his phone down, rolling over in bed. He put an arm around Calum, pulling him back to the other side of the bed. They laid on the same pillow, their bodies as close as they could possibly get.
Michael's nose was pressed against the back of Cal's head, his fresh scent filling his nose. "I love you, Cal," he whispered, even though he knew the younger boy was deep asleep.
Calum grumbled something in response. He rested his own hand on top of Mike's, entwining their fingers and going back to his sleep.
Mike smiled to himself. He finally found his place in the world, his reason to be.
How do you think Michael //really// feels about Luke and his family?
Can Calum be Michael's cliché forever?
