Merge // malum

☆ 30 July

"Michael Gordon Hemmings, what in the world do you think you are doing?" Calum asked as he set the two coffee cups in his hand down on the table beside Michaels hospital bed. Calum rushed over to the pale boy who was trying to get out of his bed.

"I'm going to go see my baby" Michael said in an obvious tone. Calum sighed, gently pushing Michael to sit down. The pale boy huffed, too weak to fight against the older tan boy.

"I wanna see my baby" Michael pouted, placing his hands on his stomach and gently rubbing it. Calum grabbed Michaels hands delicately, entwining their fingers.

"You had surgery. Yesterday might I add. Your stitches are not completely healed and if you try to move like that again they could break and you could bleed, a lot. I don't really like the mental image of you bleeding or in any general pain, so I'd rather not see it outside of my head. I will take you to see our baby, who has your eyes by the way, he's beautiful"
Calum scolded, his voice going soft by the end.

"He has my eyes?" Michael asked, tears pricking his eyes.

"Hey, hey, hey, no tears. Happy time" Calum said. He picked Michael up bridal style and carried him to a wheel chair, gently placing him in it. Michael wiped under his eyes as Calum wheeled him out of the room.

"Wait! Go get my sketch book" Michael said. Calum furrowed his eyebrows in confusion but ran back into the room to retrieve the boys book off of the bed anyways. He handed it to the pale boy before wheeling him to the elevator, pressing the button for the children's unit. Michael held a soft, warm smile as Calum wheeled him into the large room with the incubators.

"Here he is. Our first little baby" Calum whispered softly as he stopped Michaels wheelchair in front of Grayson's incubator.

"Oh my god, he's so beautiful" Michael cooed, pushing himself towards the side of the incubator. He opened the small window and slowly pushed his arm inside, gently brushing his fingers against his baby's arm.

"He has your eyes and he does that little thing with his nose that you do when you sleep. The little twitching thing" Calum whispered as sat down on the chair he was sat in the night prior. Michael brought his hand out of the incubator and closed the small window.

"Can you put my feet on your lap?" Michael asked quietly. Calum nodded, gently lifting Michaels legs and placing them over his lap, rubbing the smooth exposed flesh. Michael flipped open his sketch pad, sliding his pencil out from the spine of the book. Calum watched in amazement as Michael began outlining the incubator and the small baby inside.

☆ ☆ ☆

It took three hours, several hand massages, and two cups of tea, before Michael was finished. When he showed Calum the finished product, tears filled his eyes. A beautiful drawing of their baby in the incubator filled the white page, perfectly outlined and perfectly shaded. Their baby was perfectly drawn, every feature and every curve of his small face.

"Jesus, Michael this is amazing. I knew you were really passionate about drawing but I didn't know you were this amazing" Calum exclaimed quietly. Michael blushed, closing his sketch pad as he leaned back in his wheel chair.

"The nurse told me that he should be able to be moved into one of those little plastic cribs and he can sleep in your room soon. If he breaths on his own without any problems they can do it today"
Calum explained.

"He can do it. He's our kid, he'll be fine" Michael smiled, placing his hand on the incubator. Calum nodded, his fingers dancing across Michaels leg.

"Here's what's gonna happen. Grayson's going to breath on his own, were going to spend the next two months in here until Charlie's born, then we're going to spend a little more time here while you heal, then we're going to take our little babies home where we will raise them until we can afford a little home. Maybe one with a little picket fence and a yard so they can play. And every year we'll go to the fair, and take dumb Christmas photos that we'll send to irrelevant family members who don't really give a crap. And we'll have little family movie nights and we'll eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner together. And it all starts here baby. It all starts right here" Calum said. Michael smiled, tears filling his eyes as he nodded.

"I love you" Michael whispered, placing his hand on Calum's. The tan boys breath hitched, his heart skipping a beat. He entwined their fingers and smiled warmly.

"I love you too"