Complicated | Calum Hood (Sequel to Unexpected)

46.

32 weeks

Jes

"I've got to go soon." Cal whispers against my hair. I groan in reply and lean closer to his chest. We've been cuddled up on the couch since we woke up this morning and I'm not keen on moving anytime soon.

"Babe don't pout, come on it's just a few hours."

"Stay and cuddle." I tighten my grip around him and offer my best pouting face in a desperate attempt to get him to blow off this radio gig he's supposed to be doing today.

"Come on babe, let go. It's only three or four hours tops, I'll be home by dinner and we don't have anything else scheduled until next week."

I reluctantly let him go. He stands but turns back to me. He brings his calloused hand to rest on my cheek, tilting my head up gently so he can press his lips to mine.

"I love you, Jes."

He scoops Paisley out of her toddler chair on the floor and blows raspberries on her stomach until she's howling in laughter.

"Stop daddy!" She yells trying to shove his face away from her belly while giggling.

He gives in to her pleas and sets her back on the floor. He offers me one last kiss before heading to the garage. I stand from the couch and walk to the window watching his Range Rover until it disappears.

"Alright kiddo, what should we do today?"

"Cookies!" She says covering her face with her hands and dissolving into giggles.

"Hmm, I bet daddy would like to come home to some cookies. Which kind should we make?"

"Choc-chip!" She yells, unable to hide her excitement.

"Let's see if we have the ingredients." I reply as she slips her hand in mine and we walk to the kitchen.

I dig through the cabinets searching for everything we need.

"Alright P, I think we have everything, chocolate chip it is."

She grins and crawls onto the chair I've pulled from the dining room so she can see over the counter.

I dump together the first ingredients and let her mix them with the spoon, she makes a bit of a mess but she's such a cute miniature baker I could never be angry about some spilled flour.

"Alright bub, mommy's going to do this next part but you can watch." Her eyes follow my actions as I dump the butter and sugar together and turn on the mixer. She watches curiously as the mixture is spun. After a moment she dares to reach towards it. "No ma'am." I say grabbing her fingers and moving them away from the machine.

I turn the mixer off and crack the egg into the batter before allowing her to help with the vanilla. Once everything is together in the batter and the consistency is correct I turn the mixer off and hand the blade to her, allowing her to lick the excess off.

When she's grinning ear to ear, surely on her way to a sugar high I dump in the chocolate chips and help her fold them in. I wash both our hands before giving her the next instructions.

"Alright P, I need your help with this part. We're gonna take some dough and make little balls and put them on this tray, okay?" She nods and watch as I demonstrate first before attempting it on her own. Hers aren't perfectly round and the cookies probably won't be pintrest worthy but I love that we made them together.

I watch Paisley roll balls of dough and think about when I was younger, when I used to do this kind of thing with my mother. I would give anything to be able to bake with her again. I blink back tears at the memory of my mom. I haven't thought about her in a while and I feel a twinge of guilt with that realization. She's been gone nearly ten years now but when I think of her the pain is still there. I wish she had gotten to know PK, I wish she would have the opportunity to know Ryker.