Unexpected | Calum Hood

48.

Calum

A pounding on Jes' front door wakes me up the next morning. I roll off the bed and grab Paisley out of her playpen where she's quietly playing with her hands.

I cradle her in one arm and walk to the front door. I open it to find Lena dressed in sweatpants with her hair up in a messy bun.

"Where's your girlfriend?"

"Upstairs, asleep. Why? What's wrong?"

"She was supposed to meet me at the gym this morning." She says in an annoyed tone.

"She was?" I ask confused.

"Yeah. Y'all's feud is starting to effect others, mainly me, I need you to get your shit together."

"I'm trying." I groan "I think we're making progress. She let me comfort her yesterday and we slept in the same bed last night, so that's a start."

"She just wants to know you're committed to her."

"Fucking hell, Lena. I don't know how much more committed I could get. I did some stupid shit when I was drunk but you know how much I love her." I admit.

"Did you buy the ring?" She asks as our eyes meet.

"Jesus, be a little louder why don't you." I whisper. "Yes, I got it and I have it, but I came back to this shitstorm. I'm not going to ask her now, not while we're like this."

"Maybe that's exactly when you should ask her." She states firmly. "Show her you're one-hundred percent down for her, that you were just drunk and you fucked up."

"I don't want our engagement to feel like a desperate attempt to save our relationship. When I ask her I want it to be spontaneous and perfect. When I ask her I want to be completely sure she'll say yes."

"Then you two need need to figure your shit out. I'll get a head start on that for you, you can thank me later." She says bounding past me and up the stairs to wake Jes.

I bid her good luck with that and take Paisley to the guest room where I find her diaper bag. I search through its contents until I find all of her diaper changing necessities. I place her gently onto the mattress and set to work getting her cleaned up.

"What do you think Pais?" I ask her ask I finish adjusting her fresh new diaper. "You think mummy will say yes to daddy?"

She babbles back to me in baby talk like she's really answering. I hope she's saying she believes in me, believes in her mum and I and our ability to work things out, believes in our love for each other. I know I do. This is just a phase we're in, brought on by my stupidity.

I'm not ready to take the ring from my pocket, where I've kept it for weeks now, just yet. But maybe there were other ways I could show my commitment. I rack my brain for possibilities but struggle to come up with anything. P tilts her head and studies me.

"Have you got an idea? I'm all ears PK."

She smiles and kicks her feet as I grab her up and put her against my shoulder.

"Yeah, yeah, keep all the good ideas to yourself and leave dear old dad to fend for himself. What am I gonna do with you? You're supposed to help me out little one."

•

Jes

"Jessie, get the fuck out of bed!" Lena screams entering my bedroom.

"Fuck, Len you're gonna wake the baby up."

"Jes the baby is up and Calum is taking care of her, so there are zero reasons you should have missed our workout this morning."