The Best Years

10

"Holls? What are you doing?" Calum asked as he descended the steps to their kitchen, a yawn escaping him as he stretched and then rubbed his eyes.

"I'm stress cleaning." She replied as if it were obvious.

"Love, you scrubbed the whole house before my parents got in. I don't think it's gotten dirty again in less than twenty four hours." He said stepping towards her and wrapping his arms around her stomach pulling her back against his chest and peppering the side of her neck with kisses. "What's wrong?"

"I'm just nervous to tell everyone." She admitted.

"Why?" He asked simply.

"I don't know. I'm just scared they won't be happy or that something will go wron—" "why are you so convinced that something will go wrong?" He interrupted her.

He stared hard at her and she had to take a deep breath to clear her head.

"Bad things just have a way of happening to me. I mean, my first Olympic trials, the car wreck, my senior season."

"Yeah, but Holls, your first trial made you want to be better than good and made you great before Tokyo, that fender bender led to us, your senior season getting cancelled is the reason our relationship even survived, and you're a fucking two time Olympic Gold Medalist. Some bad things may have happened to you but don't let yourself believe that good things don't happen as well."

She offered him a half smile.

"I know you have the tendency to fall down this 'the world is ending' mentality but you can't let that be how you view the world baby. Good things happen to you, to us, and this, our baby, is one of those good things. Okay?"

She nodded and he pulled her back to his chest, removing the tub of Clorox wipes from her hand and replacing them in their spot on the counter.

"Now come on, let's go back to bed. It's disgustingly early and my folks were up late as hell for people who swore they were exhausted."

•

"What are you making? It smells great in here." Mali asked as she entered the kitchen.

Spaghetti but it's gonna be a "make your own". We have a bunch of different diets so I figured a buffet was easiest for everyone. Three kinds of pasta, one regular, one gluten free, and one protein; white sauce, red sauce, and meat sauce; and then a smorgasbord of toppings."

"Damn." Mali said simply, her eyes drifting over the spread.

"Too much?"

"No, no. I think you've outdone yourself."

"I hope it's enough Cal and my brother eat like they haven't been fed in days."

"Hey! Is that a fat joke?" Cal asked stepping into the kitchen from the stairway, a frown on his face as he teased her.

"Never." She promised kissing his lips softly.

"Ew, PDA." Mali fake coughed.

"Fuck off." Calum said against Holland's lips as he flipped his sister off. "Lovingly of course." He added as he ended the kiss and pulled Holls against his chest, his chin resting on the top of her head.

"Knock, knock!" Holland's dad Aaron said loudly as he entered the front door.

"Dad!" Holland's face lit up and she moved quickly towards the sounds of her family's arrival.

She hugged her mom, dad and brother in greeting.

"Something smells good!" Evan commented.

"It's ready too, come on." She waved them into the kitchen and her family and Calum's intermingled as he stepped to her side, his arm casually wrapping around her shoulder.