#soft!malum

Every single movement she makes has Michael’s heart exploding with love. He experiences that on some level, every single day with the twins, but now there’s another bundle of joy in his life, too and couldn’t be more excited about it. 

If he was entirely honest with himself, he’d been nervous about the arrival of the new baby. He still isn’t sure how the change in routine will affect the day to day running of his household but now that she’s here, he knows that any ‘bump in the road’ will be more than worth getting over.

Just as he begins to contemplate leaving Summer’s side for the first time since she was born, so that he can grab a quick snack, Michael hears Calum’s car pull up in the driveway. “That’s it, Summer.” He chuckles softly, “our peace and quiet is over.”

The faint thudding of car doors closing and the muted excitable chatter from out on the driveway brings a smile to Michael’s face. As much as he’s enjoyed having time alone with his new baby, finally having his whole family together is something he’s been excited for since he first got the news that their surrogate was pregnant. 

He heads out onto the landing just in time to see Calum open the front door. 

“Remember to keep your voices down, kiddos.” Calum reminds the six-year-olds as they scurry into the house before kicking off their shoes.

“Where is she Daddy?” Tama asks, heading towards the living room, almost tripping over one of the cats in the process. 

“Up here buddy!” Michael calls as quietly as possible whilst still ensuring he could be heard down in the hallway.

Three pairs of beautiful chocolate brown eyes snap up to look at him. “Daddy!” The children chorus, causing Calum to shush them once more. 

“Indoor voices, please angels.” Calum sighs, aiming an exhausted grin up to his husband. “Is she sleeping?” He asks as the twins start their ascent towards Michael.

The blonde man nods, stifling a yawn as he greets the twins with a soft cuddle. “Are you two ready to meet your little sister?” He asks, a huge smile taking over his face. 

Tama and Bonnie nod enthusiastically, grinning toothily as they wait for Calum to join them at the top of the stairs.

Once the whole family is gathered on the landing, Michael leads the way into the nursery. It’s a rather small room, but prettily decorated in soft pastel shades of yellow and cream. The twins had helped pick out paint colours and furniture pieces which had encouraged them to feel involved in the whole process and make them excited rather than nervous for the huge change in the family dynamic.

“Okay why don’t you two go and squeeze on the big armchair with daddy?” Calum asks, “and then I’ll bring your little sister over so you can meet her properly.

Michael takes each twin by the hand and allows them to pull him over to the armchair near the window. It fills his heart with love when he notices that his two eldest children are wearing the cute ‘best big sister’ and ‘best big brother’ t-shirts he and Calum brought them for Christmas. He smiles at the thought of the tiny babygro on Summer that says ‘best little sister’ on it.

As soon as all the rest of his family are seated comfortably, Calum gently picks up the sleeping newborn, smiling down at her as he carries her over to his husband. “Remember when we talked about names?” He asks as he lowers the baby into Michael’s arms.

The twins nod simultaneously, but they never take their eyes off of the the little bundle in Michael’s arms.

“Well we had a tough time deciding which one suited her best, but we decided on Summer, in the end.” Calum explains, keeping his voice quiet.

Bonnie’s face lights up in a bright smile. “That was my favourite name!” She exclaims, “She looks like a Summer!”

“She does.” Tama agrees, staring down at his baby sister with wide eyes. “She matches us!” He grins as he notices the words enblazened across the soft cotton babygro. “I think that Summer really will be the best little sister in the whole world.”

The soft sentiment brings a tear to Michael’s eye as Calum perches on one of the arms of the chair. “I think you’ll all be the best siblings that each other can hope for.” He whispers, dropping a kiss to the top on Bonnie’s head and ruffling Tama’s dark curls. 

“I think she will be better at Mario Kart than Tama.” Bonnie giggles, reaching over to stroke Summer’s cheek gently. “She can always be on my team.”

“No!” Tama objects. “She can be on my team sometimes!”

“I’m sure you can take it in turns to be on each other’s team.” Michael chuckles.

Calum rolls his eyes. “This is your fault.” He laughs, nudging his husband's shoulder softly. “I might have known I’d end up with a family of little gaming nerds.”

Grinning so wide that his cheeks start to ache, Michael meets Calum’s fond gaze. “You’re welcome.” 

Luckily, just when Michael feels like his eardrums might burst, Calum sweeps into the room leveling the twins with the stern ‘daddy’s getting annoyed’ look he’s mastered so well over the last six years. “Daddy just told you two to go and get your pyjamas on, didn’t he?” He asks, his voice level and firm.

The twins stop in their tracks, looking over at Calum as though they’re contemplating how far they can push their luck. It’s only when Calum raises his eyebrows at them, that the children quieten down. “We were just playing a game, Daddy.” Tama smiles innocently, his little round cheeks glowing pink as he realises he’s close to getting into trouble.

Bonnie is much bolder than her brother and she simply shrugs. “I don’t want to go to bed yet.”

“Well maybe I don’t want to let santa bring you lots of presents later.” Calum counters easily. “If you don’t go and put your pyjamas on right now, I’m going to eat Santa’s mince pie and take all of your Christmas presents for myself.”

Michael just about manages to stifle a giggle. Calum’s weak little threats of punishment seem to work though. Tama immediately runs off up the stairs, he hates getting into trouble and will avoid it whenever possible. Bonnie, on the other hand, is a defiant little girl and attempts to stare Calum down, her dark brown eyes strangely intimidating beneath the loose strands of curly black hair falling over her face. “Do I need to start a countdown, young lady?” Her father asks, refusing to let her stubbornness get the better of him.

After what feels like an uncomfortably long moment, Bonnie finally backs down and heads off into the hallway. 

“If she’s this defiant now, what’s she going to be like as a teen?” Calum huffs, as he flops down on the sofa next to his husband. “I’m dreading those years.”

Michael shrugs, snuggling into Calum’s side. “Can’t we just enjoy tonight, before we start worrying too much about the future?” He asks, “By the time next Christmas comes around, everything will be different…”

Wrapping an arm around Michael’s shoulders, Calum nods, a soft smile gracing his face. “It will, I’m excited for it, though.” He whispers, pressing a kiss into Michael’s soft blonde locks. “I just hope the kiddos take the news well.” 

“We’ll find out in a few minutes, won’t we?” Michael smiles nervously. As excited as he is about the special gifts hiding in the shiny boxes under the elaborately decorated tree, he can’t help feeling a little anxious at how the twins will react to the contents.

Calum nods, hugging his husband a little tighter to reassure him. “We’ll cope with whatever they throw at us, angel.” He mutters quietly. “We always do.”

Giggling again, Michael nestles his head into calum’s shoulder. The couple lapse into a moment of silence, each of them reflecting on the past year and the new one that’s about to begin. Their thoughts are interrupted by the booming footsteps of the twins, thundering across the landing and down the stairs.

“I’ll get Santa’s mince pie and milk.” Calum sighs, reluctantly getting to his feet before disappearing into the kitchen.

Michael’s relieved when the twins scurry into the room, each dressed in cute seasonal pyjamas. Even when they’re excitable little terrors, it’s hard to deny how adorable they are. Their dark, curly hair, plump rosy cheeks and friendly brown eyes make them appear like miniature versions of Calum. Not for the first time, Michael wonders whether that’s part of the reason why he’s so soft with them sometimes. 

“When can we have our Christmas Eve presents?” Bonnie asks, clambering up onto the sofa next to her dad. “We did as we were told…”

Michael smiles fondly, tapping the seat on the other side of him to invite his son to join him. “Daddy’s just gone to fetch the stuff for Santa, once that’s all in place, we can see about your Christmas Eve boxes, yeah?”

Tama claps excitedly as he settles into Michael’s side, a beaming smile on his face. “Have you and Daddy got something to open, too?” He asks, glaring up at his father curiously.

“Not this year, buddy.” Michael replies carefully. “We’ve got, something extra special for you two, instead.” He looks from one twin to the other, grinning at their excited expressions. 

“Come on, you two.” Calum chimes as he carries a tray full of various goodies to leave for Santa and the reindeer into the room. “Let’s get everything ready.”

“Can we open our presents first?” Bonnie asks curiously, “Daddy says we have something extra special this year.”

Calum rolls his eyes. “Did he now?” He fixes Michael with a warning glare before turning his attention back to the children. “Well they’ll still be extra special in a couple of minutes when you’ve laid out the treats for Santa.”

Bonnie sighs as though leaving the goodies on the mantelpiece is a great inconvenience to her. She slides off the sofa and heads over to Calum anyway, reaching up to take the mince pie from the tray before stepping over to the fireplace. Michael helps Tama back to his feet before they both join Bonnie and Calum at the mantelpiece. 

Once the mince pie and milk are displayed clearly on the shelf, each of the twins place a carrot on the hearth, ready for the reindeer. 

The little family take a minute to check that everything’s ready for Santa Claus's arrival before Tama tentatively broaches the subject that he and Bonnie are most excited for. “Presents now?” He asks, soft eyes searching both of this father’s faces.

“As long as you promise to go to bed with no fuss, as soon as we tell you to.” Calum stipulates before gesturing towards the sofa. The twins squeal with delight as they skip back over to the sofa and climb onto it. 

Opening a Christmas Eve box has been a family tradition for the Hoods since Michael had moved in with Calum almost ten years ago. It was something they’d happily continued to enjoy once the twins were born. They usually contain little treats like candy canes, fancy or flavoured hot chocolate, fluffy socks and sometimes even a little novelty festive gift. This year, the two fathers had included some of those things for the twins, but there was one special item hidden at the very bottom of each of the boxes. 

Michael’s excitement is almost at the twins’ level, as he picks up the two identically wrapped parcels from beneath the Christmas tree. He hands one of them to Calum, sharing a nervous but fond look with his husband before they both head over to the twins.

“Okay, kiddos.” Calum smiles, checking to see who’s gift he’s holding. “We want you both to open these at the same time, okay?”

The children nod enthusiastically as their fathers place a box in each of their laps. “Can we do it now?” Bonnie asks, her brown eyes glimmering as she stares down at her prettily wrapped parcel.

Calum takes a deep breath, intertwining his fingers with Michael before he gives them the go-ahead. Michael can practically feel Calum’s anticipation as the two of them watch the twins tear off the wrapping paper.

Bonnie is the first to open her box, pulling out a little bag of chocolate coins and licking her lips.

“Those are for tomorrow, young lady.” Calum giggles, stroking Michael’s knuckles with his thumb gently. “You know the rules.”

“We can have this tonight, though, right?” Tama asks, holding up a little sachet of hot chocolate and a snowman shaped mug. 

“Of course, sweetheart.” Michael grins, “I’ll go and make it for you in a minute.”

Tamma smiles gratefully as he turns his attention back to the box.

“I like my snowman mug!” Bonnie exclaims, “he has a red scarf on!”

Both of the fathers chuckle at the twins’ reaction to each of the other little treats in the box. They each pull out their traditional pairs of fluffy, christmas themed socks and a tiny cuddly reindeer. Michael shuffles closer to Calum, his anticipation at an all time high as Bonnie and Tama pull out the last item in their Christmas Eve boxes. 

The twins exchange a slightly bewildered glance as they pull out the t-shirts. They never usually receive clothes on Christmas Eve, so their confusion is understandable. 

“Why don’t you see what’s written on them?” Calum prompts, tightening his hold on Michael’s hand.

Tama unfolds his red t-shirt carefully until he can see the writing on the front. Bonnie does the same with her green one and they both stare down at them with befuddled expressions before checking out each other’s.

“‘Best Big Sister’ and ‘Best Big Brother’?” Bonnie ponders out loud, turning her confused expression onto her dads. “But we’re the same age.”

Michael laughs as he and Calum both kneel down on the floor in front of their children and hold out their free hands to them. 

“That’s right.” Michael smiles apprehensively. “But the new baby will be quite a bit younger than you.”

“New baby!” Tama exclaims, a bright smile brightening his features. “We’re getting a little brother or sister?”

Calum nods as Michael fights back happy tears. Bonnie shrieks with excitement as she and her brother lunge forward to hug their dads tightly.

“The baby’s already very lucky.” Michael sniffles, placing a kiss to each of the twins’ foreheads. “Because they’ll have the best big brother and sister in the whole world.”

“They’ll have the best Daddies in the world too.” Tama adds, his beaming smile stretching further across his face.

Calum wipes a tear from his eye as he plants a kiss to the top of each twin’s head and then to Michael’s lips. “I think we’re the luckiest ones.” He whispers. 

Michael couldn’t agree more.

“You’ll have to wait and see, precious!” Michael replied, “Your dad’s making sure it’s all ready for when we get home.”

Both of the twins squealed with excitement and Michael couldn’t stop the biggest smile from curling his lips.

The rest of the walk home passed by quickly as they discussed school and which of their neighbours the children thought would have the best sweets for trick or treating.

When they finally reached their cozy little house, the twins ran up the driveway, yelling for their other father to reveal their surprise.

Michael laughed to himself as he took off his coat and boots. The house was so warm and smelt of home cooking. Calum must have started dinner already.

“Woah there, you two!” Calum yelled from somewhere deeper inside the house. “You can see the surprise when you’ve taken off your wet clothes and helped your dad feed the kittens!”

There was a flurry of whining before the two children plodded back into the hallway. “Dad said we have to help you feed the kitties before we can have our surprise.” Tama pouted, kicking off his bright red wellies and shrugging off his blue raincoat.

Michael chuckled softly. “Let’s get you into some clean, dry clothes first, yeah?”

Bonnie was also shuffling out of her own raincoat when Calum appeared in the hallway to help with the post-school operation. “Can we change into our costumes?” The little girl asked, glancing between both of her fathers, her chocolate brown eyes sparkling with hope.

“Fine...” Calum replied, “let me know if you need some help putting them on okay?”

The twins giggled excitedly as they scurried upstairs and out of sight.

“You’re a soft touch, daddy Cal.” Michael smirked. “You say it’s always me that gives into them, but I think we’ve seen enough proof that you’re just as bad.”

“Oh yeah?” Calum snarled playfully, backing Michael up against the wall. “I think you’ll find you’re still the worst, actually. Maybe someone needs a bit of a Halloween spanking to remind them who’s the boss?” He insisted, pinning Michael’s hips to the wall as he allowed his lips to brush the blonde’s stubbled jawline.

“Calum...” Michael whined. “You can’t do this to me now, the kids will be back down in a minute.”

“Oh, I know.” Calum replied, his voice low and gravelly as his breath ghosted over Michael’s ear teasingly. “The wait will be all part of your punishment.”

Michael groaned needily. “Calum!” He gasped. “You can’t do this to me, it’s been weeks since we had time to... y’know...”

Calum giggled, pulling back from his husband before heading back down the hallway. “Well hopefully this will give you an incentive to get the kids to bed on time, for once.” He shrugged, glancing back to aim a wink at Michael over his shoulder before disappearing into the kitchen.

The older man had barely had chance to recover before Bonnie and Tama were scampering along the landing and down the stairs. They both had beaming smiles on their faces as they yelled for Michael to look at their costumes.

When asked what they’d like to dress up as, both of the five year olds had asked if the whole family could be pirates. Michael and Calum had agreed, happy that their ideas hadn’t been too outlandish this year.

To make sure that their costumes stood out amongst the crowds, the dedicated fathers had made each of the four pirate costumes themselves. They’d mostly used old clothing and distressed them using scissors and marker pens.

Of course, Michael had the bright idea of letting the kids make some of the design decisions for their own outfits. This had resulted in Bonnie requesting that almost every inch of her baggy, torn t-shirt be filled with a drawing of a skull and crossbone. Her outfit was completed by a little hat and the biggest sword she could find in the costume shop.

Tama had opted for a stripped t-shirt and bandanna. He’d decided to go for style over size regarding his sword which was much smaller than Bonnie’s but the handle was far more ornate.

“Wow!” Michael grinned proudly. “You look incredible!” He beamed. “Why don’t we go and show your dad, huh?”

The words had barely left the blonde’s mouth before the five year olds had sped off into the kitchen. Michael followed them, still beaming happily. By the time he reached the kitchen, Calum was already grinning from ear to ear. “I can’t wait to get pictures of us all when me and your dad are all dressed up too!” He said, giving each of the twins a huge hug.

The children squealed as they jumped up and down asking when they could have their surprise.

“We need to feed the cats first, remember?” Michael asked ushering the excited twins over to the little food bowls in the corner of the room. He grabbed the box of cat biscuits from the shelf they were kept on and handed it to Bonnie. “Why don’t you fill up Smudge’s bowl and then Tama can fill up Socks’s one, okay? I’ll fill their water bowls.”

The twins nodded and set about their task as Michael picked up the little ceramic water bowls and carried them over to the sink. As he rinsed and filled the bowl he was aware of Calum watching him and he felt his cheeks heat up under his husband’s gaze. “Why’re you staring?” He giggled, meeting Calum’s eye briefly.

“Just deciding what I’m gonna do with you later.” The younger man replied with a smirk, keeping his voice low enough that the children wouldn’t hear.

Michael bit his bottom lip between his teeth but otherwise didn’t acknowledge the comment. He had some parenting to do before he could get ravaged by his husband.

“We’re done!” Tama announced, holding up the cat biscuits towards his fathers. “Can we have our surprise now?”

Calum smirked at Michael suggestively - silently promising a good night later, before he crossed the room and took the cat biscuits from his son to store them back in the shelf. “Sure, buddy. It’s in the dining room. Don’t touch anything until we get there, though, okay? We’ll be there in just a second.”

Tama and Bonnie grinned widely before scampering off into the hallway without a second glance.

“You’re such a tease.” Michael pouted as soon as the twins were out of earshot. “I can’t wait for later...”

“Well you’ll have to.” Calum shrugged. “We have some serious pumpkin carving and trick or treating to do before I can focus all of my attention on you.” He made sure that his fingers brushed the back of Michael’s hand as he walked past.

“I‘ll hold you to that last part...” Michael grinned, feeling like an excited teenager at the prospect of sex.

The husbands made their way into the dining room to find the twins waiting impatiently by the table Calum had set up earlier. It had four pumpkins laid out on it along with the tools to carve them.

“I’m gonna make mine look like a cat’s face!” Bonnie announced, pointing at the smallest pumpkin of the bunch.

“I want mine to look like a ghost!” Tama added as he shuffled onto one of the chairs.

Calum placed a brief kiss to Michael’s cheek before taking his place at the table before confirming which pumpkin each of the twins wanted.

“Can we put candles in them afterwards?” Bonnie asked hopefully as Michael dropped into the seat next to her. “They’ll make the front garden look spooky!”

Michael chuckled, loving the way that Bonnie’s eyes sparkled just like Calum’s when she was excited or happy.

“Of course we can and they really will!” Calum promised, “but why don’t you two practice drawing out your designs on these pieces of paper whilst me and daddy hollow all of these pumpkins out, yeah?”

The twins nodded gleefully, each of them grabbing a handful of pens and a sheet of paper before scribbling down their designs.

As Michael and Calum carefully hollowed out all of the pumpkins, they couldn’t help glancing up to look at the twins occasionally. It was adorable how much effort they were putting into this and it made Michael melt a little. He almost shed a tear when Tama made a mistake on his drawing, his little face dropping into a disappointed frown before Bonnie helped him fix it. The cute moment brought a thought to the front of Michael’s mind and the words. “I want another one...” spilled from his lips before he even knew what he was doing.

Calum looked confused at first, before noticing that Michael was staring loving at the twins. “Another baby?” He asked, his shocked tone masked a little by the pure fondness he had for his family.

Nodding sheepishly, Michael tried to hide his his blushing face by leaning closer to his pumpkin.

Calum lifted his husband’s chin gently until their gazes met across the table. His eyes were full of some deep emotion but his facial expression was soft. “Mike, do want another baby?” He repeated, needing to hear the confirmation.

“Yeah...” Michael replied quietly. “I know I haven’t said anything before but I’ve been thinking about it and...”

“My too.” Calum interrupted. “I’ve been thinking about it a lot too... We can discuss it more when the twins have gone to bed, yeah?”

Michael’s heart was beating so fast as he leaned across the table to peck a kiss to his husband’s lips. “Really?”

“Yeah.” Calum replied, stroking a strand of Michael’s hair out of his face. “I think it’s about time the Hood family got a bit bigger, don’t you?”

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