#ch.

“We finished up the first song for the fifth album and we started on the fourth one. It’s exciting stuff. You should stop by sometime and listen in.” He suggests, pulling away to move to the fridge, grabbing a beer and cracking it open before leaning against the counter, watching you work. “Yeah, maybe. I’ll have to see what tomorrow is looking like.” You shrug, moving the vegetables into a pan as he snickers. 

“Don’t you find yourself doing the same thing every day?” He questions with a slight head tilt. He’s not wrong. Every other day changed, tomorrow was a workout day and lunch with someone you set up with and laundry and a Soul Cycle class. It was... repetitive to say the least. “I mean... don’t you?” He gives a nod as he finishes a sip of his drink. “Going to studio, writing, recording and coming back after everything, doing a workout, watching a movie and going to bed sounds pretty standard if you ask me.” 

The two of you find a comfortable silence only before Calum moves to his office to take a phone call. You scroll through Instagram as you sauté the start of your meal. You see dogs, clothes, ads for another product you didn’t need, another wedding you weren’t invited to and the cutest baby photos. You linger on the post, admiring the cute decor in the nursery, the clothes and the wide grin on the child’s face. 

Both of you had always wanted kids. It was on the radar, but life wasn’t lining up for that right now. After the craziness of the past year, and things finally getting back to normal, you were easing back into routine. You’d thought that maybe you needed to wait a while... but what if you didn’t need to?

Dinner came and went without a hitch. It was well received and the two of you cleaned up so you could watch the next episode of your current binge. Snuggling into the couch with Duke at your feet, Calum on your left, you start the next episode, seeing your boyfriend snickering at something that came up on Snapchat. You ignore him, curling into him as you watch the TV. 

About halfway through the second episode, you’re on your phone again, Cal paying attention to what’s going on. You’ve lost interest by now, and throw your just as boring phone onto a pillow beside you. You watch his face and see how invested he is at what’s on the television. “Hon.” A whisper leaves you, and his head turns just slightly, not enough to fully face you, but enough to indicate he’s listening. “You tired of this yet?” He shakes his head, facing the screen again, letting you wrap your arms around his middle, one of your hands sliding across the skin of his stomach under his t-shirt. “Ok, well I am.” A sigh leaves him and he pauses the show, turning to look at you. 

“And what do you suggest we do instead? It’s not like you’ll play FIFA with me.” He teases, leaning into the couch, a hand on your back gently moving up and down. You get an idea and smirk at him. He matches it before laughing. “What?” You sit up, moving closer and lean into him so your lips are against his ear. 

“You could put a baby in me...” Your fingers are trailing along the bare skin poking out from his sweater, lips beginning to trail down his jaw. You feel him tense next to you, the hand on your back freezing, fingers gripping the fabric of your shirt. 

“You- you’re kidding.” He can barely get the words out of his mouth, looking at you with surprise. “I mean - I’m not going to turn down the offer - but you’re... serious with that?”

“Well.. yeah. We’ve talked about it before - and we both have such a dull day to day now... we could change it up. For the next 18 years.” You taunt, leaning back as your hand finds the back of his neck, fingers slowly drifting through dark curls. “Babe... that’s... a big commitment. We sure this is what we wanna do?” He’s letting his hand start to move against your lower back again, much slower this time. “It might not even happen the first time... but... you’ll never know if you don’t try.” A small smirk fills your features, a devilish one matching the male’s features.