Complicated | Calum Hood (Sequel to Unexpected)

21.

An: Warning this chapter is hella soft. Enjoy your feels -Sav🖤

Cal

I hold Jes' hair back from her face and gently run my free hand over her spine as she loses the contents of her breakfast into the toilet. I bite my bottom lip and feel my eyebrows furrow as I wait for her sickness to end. This was the part of Jes being pregnant I hated. She was always sick or in pain.

She rocks back on her heels and falls against me, her body shaking from the effort spent and her skin clammy.

"I did not miss the morning sickness." She says with a weak smile.

"I did not miss watching you experience morning sickness." I offer, bending my neck to kiss the top of her head.

"At least it doesn't last long. It'll all be worth it in the end." She wraps her arms around my waist from her seat by my side and I sit with her until she gathers the strength to rise from the floor and exit our bathroom.

"When's the appointment with the OB?" I ask trying to remember the date she had given me and if I had anything conflicting with the band that I would need to bow out of.

"February 11." She looks up from brushing her teeth, for my reaction and I bite my lip in thought.

"I'm pretty sure I'm free but if something comes up I'll cancel it. You and our kids are my priority." I see the hesitation in her eyes and I try not to let it upset me. I know she tends to doubt herself and feel like she's burdening me. I had hoped that would become a thing of the past when I married her but her anxiety seems to be here to stay.

I wish I could make her truly see how much she means to me. I'd give up anything and everything for her, Paisley and our nugget. I'd spent the whole first twenty something years of my life looking for the kind of love I had found with her and I wouldn't let anything stand between us. It's her and I against the world.

I know that my job and its unique challenges will stop me from always physically being here but it won't stop me from doing everything in my power to be there for her emotionally. Maybe with time she'll finally come to realize that she is my whole world.

"Your birthday's in a few days," she comments and I offer a short "yeah" in reply.

"Have you thought about what you might like?"

"You, in every flavor." I say with a smirk as she hits my chest lightly.

"I meant more along the lines of something I could give you at dinner, with our daughter present."

"But it's my birthday. If that's what I want, shouldn't that be what I get?" I ask with a cheeky grin as she rolls her eyes at me.

"You can have that too, baby. But seriously, I need you to think of things you need because I am hopeless at giving gifts and you're the best, as was seen at Christmas, and I'd really like to give you something you'll like."

I laugh as I think back to Christmas and the hat and socks she'd gotten me. To be fair she had also given me a new XBbox which was actually an amazing gift and I played it a ton, but she liked to be self deprecating. I was actually good at gifts, that was true. For Christmas I had given her a pair of earrings, a sweater, and a shadow box I'd had made with a photo of her mother I'd copied from one she kept in our house, the jewelry Jes had worn on our wedding day, and some fabric leftover from where Jes had used pieces of her mother's wedding dress on her own.

Jes had cried, I had gotten major points with her Dad, and my favorite Christmas present later that night. 

"I don't know babe maybe some new boots for next tour or something. Mine are kind of worn out now." She nods as we step from the bathroom and head back into the living room.

Paisley hasn't woken up yet so Jes and I take advantage of the rare moment alone to cuddle on our couch. I love the way it feels when she's pressed up against me. Her fingers trace over the tattoos that cover my forearm and I can't hide the goosebumps her touch gives me. Her hair smells like vanilla and lilacs and I inhale the pleasant scent as I bend my neck to kiss her.

My ears perk up as I hear paisley wake up, not with her usual happy call for me, but in a mess of tears. Jes and I share a look before both standing and moving quickly to P's nursery.

"What's wrong bug?" Jes asks as she walk to Paisley's crib. Paisley only wails in response reaching for her mum.

"Calum feel her forehead." She says turning to me, her voice laden with worry. I press my hand to P's cheeks and forehead and my eyes snap to Jes'.

"She's burning up."

"Yeah, she sweat through her jammies too." She replies softly.

"You don't feel good do you bubs?" I ask in my high pitched voice reserved solely for her.

Her face contorts into a frown and she looks so pitiful it damn near breaks my heart. I just can't win today, both my girls are sick and I hate it. At least with Jes it's all temporary, who knows what Pais has caught. She buries her face into Jes' shoulder and we bring her back to the living room.

Jes hold her while she cries and rocks back and forth trying to soothe her but Pais is obviously miserable.

"Let me try." I offer extending my arms for my baby, feeling the need to do something besides sit on my hands and watch my little girl suffer.

She falls against my shoulder still a mess of tears. Her clammy skin clings to my T-shirt, Jes and I share concerned looks but neither of us seem to have any idea of what to do. I shush her, bouncing slightly and rubbing small circles on her back. Within a few seconds she's spit up all over me. I'd be grossed out if I wasn't so concerned.

"Let's get you guys cleaned up." Jes says already headed for our bathroom. I hand PK to Jes and let her get her undressed while I get down to my boxers. I turn on the shower and step under the stream cleaning off where she'd gotten me before Jes hands Paisley to me. I hold her partially under the steady stream of warm water hoping it'll help fight off the fever she's fighting and make her feel at least a little better.

She gets sick multiple times while I hold her in the shower and I get more and more worried about her. She's got to be dehydrated at this point. I tell Jet as much and she nods disappearing to the kitchen before reappearing with a sippee cup of pedialyte.

I turn the water off and dry Paisley off before handing her to Jes so that I can dry myself off and change. I throw on a pair of gym shorts and a black T-shirt before rejoining them to see P gulping down the liquid obviously needing the fluids.

"I texted Chrissy. She says it's probably just a 24 hour thing and to just give her sips of fluids. She said she'd probably wanna be held all day and then feel better in the morning."

I breathe a sigh of relief knowing this is pretty common. I grab a towel and throw it over my shoulder before grabbing Pais back and pulling Jes with us to the living room. I throw the remote to Jes letting her pick the movie before making space and gesturing for her to cuddle with me. She slumps her tiny frame against mine reaching up to hold P's little hand as I hold her. We spend the rest of the day waiting on P hand and foot, enjoying her snuggles and trying to keep her pumped full of fluids. It's grueling, exhausting, and heartbreaking to see my baby so sick. I'm ecstatic when she finally drifts off to sleep that night. I flip the light switch off and stand in the doorway with Jes.

"I can't believe we're gonna have two of them soon." I whisper to her. Her face breaks into a grin as she spins to face me.

"I'm so excited. Watching you be a daddy is my favorite thing."

She always makes these comments but it doesn't stop my heart from swelling every time. I remember the original terror I'd felt the first time I'd been told I was going to be a dad, but now I can't imagine life without my baby girl.

I kiss her then. Slow and full of love and affection. I'd wanted to kiss her all day, I always wanted to kiss her all day, but she'd been busy taking care of our baby. Getting to watch her be a mum only made me fall more in love with her everyday. I couldn't wait to watch her grow as a mum with our newest addition.

An: happy happy times in the kingdom still....interesting

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Ily!
Sav 🖤