habits | cake

fifteen.

"I swear to god, calum," luke said through gritted teeth, "if you ever do this to me again, i'll fucking kill you,"

"i know, babe-"

"no, you actually don't know. you have no fucking clue how much this hurts, you-"

luke was cut off when the door opened, revealing a shocked and surprised looking nurse.

"i don't even want to know how you planned on finishing that sentence, mr. hemmings," she said, and calum mentally thanked her for walking in at that moment. he didn't want to know how luke was going to finish that sentence, either. he knew that luke was only saying things like that because of the pain he was in, but it still hurt to have all kinds of nasty words thrown at him, especially coming from the boy he loves so much. he hates that his baby is in so much pain, and he hates that there's nothing he can do about it. when calum suggested an epidural, luke spat back with a, "do i look like the type of person who wants to drug my kids?" needless to say, that was the end of that conversation.

"anyways," she said, laughing at the slight tension radiating throughout the room, "i'm just gonna see if these babies of yours are ready to meet their daddies yet, i have a good feeling about it this time!"

"you said that last time," luke began, stopping when a sharp pain shot through his body. he tightened the grip he had on calum's hand as he tried to hold back his screams. the older boy kissed his knuckles and raked his fingers through luke's sweaty blonde locks in hopes of giving him some sort of comfort.

"it's okay, lu, just breathe," calum whispered softly.

once the contraction passed, luke finished his sentence, saying, "you said that last time, and they still weren't ready, so i really don't-"

"looks like i was right this time!" the nurse exclaimed, clapping her hands excitedly. "get ready, boys. you're finally gonna get to see your girls,"

"oh, thank god," luke said, throwing his head back against his pillow, "i can't do this anymore." luke's voice made it just how tired and defeated he was. he looked like he was close to tears, even, but was holding them back with everything in him.

"i know, i know, but hey, it's almost over, yeah? we're so close, lu," calum said, sending the blonde a soft smile.

luke took a deep breath, smiling at the thought of holding his girls for the first time. he was still nervous, but the previous feelings of terror and anxiety had turned to pure excitement. he knew it wasn't going to be easy, he knew there would be times where he'd probably want rip his hair out, but it didn't scare him much anymore - at least, not like it used to. he had calum now, and that was enough for him to feel safe. he wasn't alone anymore, and damn, it felt good.

- - - - -

"ok, luke, we're giving you some medicine that's basically going to numb you starting from your stomach and all the way down to your toes. so tell me," she paused, poking his stomach a few times, "can you feel this?"

"feel what?"

"perfect. let's begin."

calum concentrated solely on keeping luke distracted from the poking and prodding going on behind the curtain that was covering his surgery, holding his hand tightly and telling him how much he loved him, and how excited he was to finally meet their babies. the younger boy sat with a small, content smile spread across his lips, his eyes focusing on the beautiful chocolate brown orbs staring back at him.