I'll Meet You There

Chatper seventeen

-three months later-

"When can we see dada again...." Issac hadn't seen cal in over a month and he missed him like crazy.

"We're going today."

Cal waited. He was excited and kinda anxious. He was officially getting discharged today. It had been four months since he used anything and he honestly felt great. All he could think of was getting home to issac and hazel and finally being the best dad that he knew how to be.

Once he heard a little voice yell his name he spun around just as Issac crashed into his legs. Hazel smiled and cal picked up his son.

"Hey baby...today's the day." Cal smiled and nodded and opened his free arm to pull hazel into a hug. She entered his arms and the three of them hugged tightly.

They made it home safely that afternoon and while hazel made dinner cal and Issac snuggled and watched a move on the couch. It felt so good to Calum to finally be back home. He would get to spend every second of every day with his two very favorite people on earth and he would never have to be apart from them for a very very long-

"Will you take me to kindergarten tomorrow??" Issac crawled into cals lap and looked up at him.

"Kindergarten?" There goes those plans of not being apart for a very very long-

"Yeah I'm almost three now!!!" He started jumping on the couch.

"Issac get down its nearly dinner time." Hazel walked into the room with a smile on her face. Her smile soon faded when she realized that cal was zoning off with sad eyes. "What's wrong?"

Cal shook his head and Issac ran off to the dining table. "Nothing...I'm okay." He tried his best to smile.

He wasn't ready for Issac to go to kindergarten...he hadn't any time to get to know him or to enjoy him. He hadn't gotten to raise his baby before some stupid underpaid teachers were gonna get to do it. Some strangers he'd never met we're gonna get to see his kid more often then he was and it was all his own goddamn fault....

He never should have let haze get away. He should have been there when Issac was born. He should have held him for the first time. He should have gotten to change his first dipper and he should have gotten to hold his hands while he learned to walk....dada could have been his first word...hell it probably was and he probably said it to Luke fucking hemmings....if he had just stuck around and watched his baby grow up, the baby he knew to be more than impossible, then he wouldn't be feeling this rn. This empty feeling. This feeling that everything wrong with your life is your own goddamn fucking fault and you can't change it for shit...

Cal was silent that night at dinner while hazel and Issac talked about issacs third birthday and all the things he wanted. It was so close to his birthday and cal had missed yet another 6 months of his year wasting away in rehab while hazel got to have the time of her life with their child.

"Calum come here..." hazel walked out of the dining room and gestured for cal to follow which he did. "What's wrong? And don't lie Bc something clearly is."

Cal sighed. "He's going to kindergarten?"

"Yeah." She nodded. "He starts tomorrow."

"Yeah...."

"So why is that hard for you?" She put her hand in his arm and gently brushed some dust off his shoulder.

"I wanted to spend time with him...and now I won't be able to..." Calum sniffled

"He comes home every day cal, you'll see him often."

"I know. He's gonna be busy tho and he's gonna forget me and..."

Hazel gently cupped cals cheeks. "he won't forget about you as long as you don't leave again. He won't be busy, i mean what could he possibly be doing? yeah sure he goes to his friends house every once in awhile but eventually he comes home. And besides, i'll be here with you."

Calum nodded and then looked at the floor and tried to hold all his anger and tears back. "I missed too much..."

"and? you're gonna see him on his first day and i couldn't be more thankful for that. Please don't leave us again calum."

Cal shook his head. He didn't wanna leave again but he just wished he could turn back the clock and do every single thing over again.

Suddenly hazel was crying into his chest and cal asked what was wrong. "I just- we just missed you to much!" Cal rubbed her back gently.

"I'm here now."

"I love you."

"I love you more." He loved her most.

Issac ran over and held his little arms up. "UP!!" Calum picked him up and then hazel asked if cal wanted to do his bedtime routine with him.

"I..I don't really know how..." he whispered to her.

"That's okay. How about a bubble bath Issac?" She smiled kindly

"If daddy washes me!" Cal smiled a bit and then whispered to hazel again.

"I don't know how..."

She pecked his lips. "How about I leave out all the stuff you need and you take it from there?" He nodded slowly. Hazel ran off to run issacs bath. She added bubbles and fun toys and then told Calum that everything was ready. She went to clean the kitchen and Calum took Issac up to take his bath.

Issac took off his shirt but had trouble with his pants so Calum helped. He wasn't really sure how to do any of this but this was the time he had with Issac and he wasn't gonna wast it Bc he was too scared to learn how to bathe his own kid. He put his little boy into the bath and then watched as he played with the toys in the water.

Every move Issac made cal watched closely and got super nervous. What if he drowned or died or something while cal was in charge of him!?

Issac tried to wash himself but nearly spilled soap everywhere so Calum decided to take over even tho he'd never washed anything besides himself and dogs. He put some soap on his hand and looked at it for a second and Issac looked at him like he's never seen a dad who didn't know how to dad before...

"This one goes in your hair right?" Issac shrugged. "Oh...okay..." for a second he contemplated calling hazel but decided he wanted to do it. He grabbed the soap container and read it and found out that it was indeed shampoo and yeah it went in his hair.

After another hour Issac was washed and dried and in his bed asleep.

Cal liked being a dad :)