Harry: 35
Camryn: 35
Darcy: 18
Lennon: 16
Auggie: 15
Bowie: 13
Morgan: 13
Calum: 11 turning 12
Bindi: 9
Grandkids:
Penny: 4 months
Okay so you might remember I let you guys choose what this chapter would be about for Calum's birthday and since the answers were so varied I couldn't include them all, but I tried to include all of them that I could!! Thank you SO much for your input, I love getting it <3333
January 10 2030
"Bindi Belle can you sit still for a second?"Camryn laughs, taking one of the fresh cheese toasties off of the stove as she places it on a plate and cuts it in half. "Your lunch is ready, miss."
"Thank you,"Bindi sings as she jumps out of the kitchen chair she was sitting in, her knees banging against the table as she runs over and grabs the plate that Camryn was holding out for her as well as the small bowl of tomato soup.
"Pen, look at that, who's that?"Lennon coos as he walks into the kitchen with four month old Penny attached to his chest, her little cheek resting there as her tiny fingers grip onto his shirt, her big blue eyes blinking all around as she continues to suck on her pacifier. "Is that nana?"
"Well hello, beautiful girl,"Camryn coos, leaning over to press a kiss to Penny's cheek as Lennon walks closer. "Is uncle Lennie being the best babysitter while mummy's in class?"
"We're best buds, huh?"Lennon grins, pressing a little kiss down to the top of Penny's head that's dusted in hazel hair, a big bow wrapped around the circumference of her head.
"Yeah, you love your uncle Lennie, huh?"Camryn grins, reaching the tip of her finger over to rub against Penny's cheek, making the corner of her mouth pull upwards in a little lopsided smile. "Oh big smiles! Look at you, pretty girl."
"Are you smilin' for nana,"Lennon giggles, tucking his chin to his chest to try and get a better view of Penny's cute little face. "You're such a cute girl."
"Why don't you let me take her while you eat your lunch, lovey,"Camryn offers, holding her hands out for her little granddaughter as Lennon shakes his head and cuddles Penny tighter.
"No, I've got two hands for a reason,"Lennon grins, swaying his hips as he walks over towards the table and sits down next to Bindi who's chowing down on her lunch.
"We're home!"Harry calls out as he follows behind Calum, walking into the hallway as they both lean down to take off their shoes as Bowie and Morgan follow behind them.
"Hi guys!"Camryn calls back, scooping out a bowl of tomato soup for the four new members of the house as she feels two arms snake around her waist.
"Hi buggy,"Harry whispers, turning his head to press little kisses against her neck, Camryn's cheek dropping to the top of Harry's head.
"Hi baby, how are you?"Camryn asks as she nudges her face against Harry's, pressing a kiss to Harry's lips.
"I'm doing great,"Harry smiles, pulling his arms away from Camryn so that he can help her scoop more soup into the bowls. "Thanks for making lunch."
"Mum will you tell Mo that I liked orange way before she did when we were little,"Bowie groans, walking into the kitchen with a smiling Morgan behind him, both of them with their kneepads and elbow pads still on from the skatepark.
"Um sorry bud, but Mo's favorite color was always orange, but you wanted to be just like her so you copied her,"Camryn laughs, shaking her head as she cuts another cheese toast and hands it to Harry to bring to Lennon who's still holding Penny.
"that's not true,"Bowie groans dramatically with a heavy sigh as he rolls his eyes at Morgan who cheers at Camryn's explanation.
"See?! I told you! I told you I liked it first!"Morgan exclaims, swatting Bowie on the back of the head before running over to sit next to Lennon at the kitchen table. "Hi Penny Peach."
"Say hi MoMo,"Lennon coos, taking Penny's little wrist between his fingers and making her tiny palm wave towards Morgan.
"Hi mister,"Camryn greets as she watches Calum trudge into the kitchen, barely picking up his feet with a little pout on his lips. "What's up with you? Did you not have a good time at art?"
"No, it was fun,"Calum concedes, shaking his head as Camryn walks away from the stove and towards him, wrapping her arms around his upper shoulders and pulling him in close, hugging him tight as his cheek falls to her stomach.
"What's up, lovey? Do you wanna go and talk about it?"Camryn inquires, pulling slightly away from Calum as she reaches out to cup his cheeks, finding out that his big green eyes are beginning to water.
Calum tearfully nods as Camryn does as well, pulling him back in towards her stomach and reaching down to press a kiss to the top of Calum's head, shooting a worried glance at Harry who was quietly watching the interaction while trying to pretend he wasn't, his brows pinched in concern.
"Alright, let's go talk about it,"Camryn whispers, pressing her lips to the top of Calum's curly blonde hair before looking over at Harry, "will you go get Auggie and tell him that his lunch is ready, babe? He's upstairs studying."
Harry quickly nods as Camryn takes Calum's hand and guides him outside, opening the big glass sliding doors that lead to the backyard as they venture out, finding one of the hanging chairs as Camryn sits down in it before holding her arms out towards Calum and motioning for him to join here. "C'mere, lovey."
Calum climbs in behind Camryn, turning his body just slightly so that he can curl up against hers, his arm wrapping around his shoulders as he drops his cheek to Camryn's chest, wrapping his arms around her middle.
"What's going on with you, hmm? Tell me all about it,"Camryn hums, resting her cheek down on to of Calum's curly head as he sniffles against her chest.
"I don't want to do art anymore,"Calum admits, feeling Camryn's fingers begin to comb through his dirty blonde curls.
"Why not?"Camryn carefully inquires, her brows furrowing a bit at the statement. It was the last thing she expected, honestly. Art has been Calum's thing since he was three years old. "You love art."
"Boys don't do art,"Calum whispers so quietly that Camryn has to strain herself to hear, "it's a girl thing."
"Hey, that's not true,"Camryn hums, rubbing her fingers against Calum's bicep, "there are no 'girl things' and 'boy things', you can do whatever you want, babe."
"My friends were teasing me because I do art,"Calum admits, his voice getting a bit thick with tears, but only slightly, so slight that the average person probably wouldn't be able to hear it, but Camryn hears it. She's his mum, she knows him better than she knows herself. "They said it was girly, but I like it."
"And that is perfectly fine, baby,"Camryn promises, squeezing Calum tighter, wanting to squeeze all of the hurt out of him. Of course she never wants any of her children to hurt, but Calum is so much more sensitive and cares so much more about what people think than the other Styles kids. She feels an extra duty of protection over him and Auggie since they're by far her most sensitive and easily walked over children. "I love that you like art, and you're so good at it. You're an incredible painter and drawer."
"They all like sports, but I don't,"Calum whispers, the back of his throat beginning to ache with tears as Camryn reaches out to grab his hand that was wrapped around her middle, interlocking their hands and rubbing her thumb against his knuckles soothingly.
"And that's okay, they're allowed to like sports and you're allowed to like art,"Camryn counters softly, keeping her cheek pressed against the top of Calum's head, "hey c'mere, look at mumma,"she takes Calum's chin in her hand and tips it upwards, looking in his green eyes that are swimming with tears that are threatening to fall over the rim of his eyelids, "you seem to have been having a lot of trouble with your friends, do you think maybe it's time to start spending time with other people?"
"But they're my friends—"Calum quietly fights, his voice cracking despite his best effort to make it not.
"I know, sweetie, I do,"Camryn nods, looking at him with the most understanding gaze. "And if they make you happy then that's completely fine, but I don't think they make you very happy anymore, do they?"
"No,"Calum admits with a little whisper, shooting his eyes down to Camryn's legs feebly.
"Those aren't very good friends if they don't support you in what you want to do,"Camryn whispers, nudging her face closer to Calum's and pressing a little kiss to Calum's cheek. "And you're such an amazing kid that I know people will be just lining up to be friends with you."
This successfully courses a little smile out of Calum, the corners of his lips twitching upwards as she giggles, "I don't think they'll be lining up to be my friend."
"I think they will be,"Camryn insists, scrunching her nose at Calum, "if I wasn't your mumma I'd totally be lining up to be your friend, but I'm glad I'm your mumma because that means I get to be your built in best friend."
*
Camryn and Calum walk back into the kitchen hand and hand as Camryn gently nudges him towards the kitchen table so that he can eat his lunch with the rest of the family as she catches Harry's eye. His face communicates everything that he has to say, they've gotten very good at reading each other over their 22 years of being married and everything about Harry's face is asking is he okay? You got it covered?
Camryn nods softly and shoots him a little grin as she walks over to sit next to him at the table, digging into the cheese toastie that Harry made for her while she was out with Calum, feeling his hand travel to her thigh under the table, giving her leg a squeeze.
"Oh I know, I know you want your mumma, she should be home any second, little lady,"Lennon coos, repositioning a fussy Penny in his arms so that she's cradled in his left arm, her big blue eyes that are a bit teary gazing up at him.
"Do you want me to take her, Len?"Harry offers, shooting his eyes towards Lennon who's trying to fumble with Penny's pacifier in her mouth to help soothe her.
"Nah, I've got her, I think she's hungry,"Lennon explains, leaning down to press a kiss to Penny's forehead, "Darcy said that she'd be fine until she got back from class, but she's definitely hungry."
"D s-s-should b-be b-back a-any m-m-minute,"Auggie responds, clicking on his phone that's laying against the kitchen table and looking at the time flash up on it.
"Daddy, look,"Bindi grins, holding up her cheese toastie in front of her face that she's bitten into a smiley face.
"You're silly, Belle,"Harry laughs, shaking his head at Bindi as he dips his toastie into the soup bowl.
"That's mine you loser,"Morgan rolls her eyes, shoving Bowie in the shoulder as he dips his cheese toastie into Morgan's tomato soup. "You have your own."
"Yours tastes better,"Bowie explains through a muffled voice and a cheeky grin, teasingly resting his cheek against Morgan's shoulder.
"Oop, I think I hear mumma, Penny Lane,"Harry grins as he hears the front door open and close, the sound of shoes dropping against the floor sounding through the hall.
"Hurry up, mum!"Lennon teasingly calls as he looks behind his shoulder, hoping to find his sister in the kitchen.
"I'm coming!"Darcy calls back as she quickly shrugs her backpack off, dropping it on the floor as she runs into the kitchen with a big smile on her face, immediately bolting towards Lennon. "Oh who is that I see?"
"Look at who it is, that's who you wanted,"Lennon coos, holding Penny up towards Darcy who immediately reaches towards her and hugs her little baby close against her chest, melting into the feeling of her baby girl in her arms.
"Oh hello, hello my sweet girl,"Darcy sighs in relief, tipping her head down, brushing the tip of her nose against Penny's hazel hair as Penny's little hands grip at her t-shirt. "I missed you! I missed you so much!"
"She missed you too, I think she's getting hungry,"Lennon informs Darcy, grinning up at his older sister who was just made to be a mum. She's such a natural with Penny and just looks so in her element when holding her and taking care of her.
"Oh are you hungry?"Darcy asks in her baby voice, swaying their bodies side to side as Calum pulls out the chair next to him, offering it to Darcy. "I hope so because mumma needs you to eat."
Darcy sits down next to Calum, holding Penny with one arm who's now fussing and reaching towards Darcy's chest as her pacifier falls out of her mouth, her little lips wobbling.
"Oh I know it, I know, mummy's going so slow, I'm sorry,"Darcy coos with a little pout as she pulls up the hem of her shirt, taking her breast out of her bra before repositioning Penny to be cradled in her arms. She takes her breast in between her fingers and guides it towards Penny's anxiously awaiting lips.
"There we are, there's my pretty girl,"Darcy whispers, keeping her breast in her hand to help Penny get pull from it. She looks up from Penny just in time to watch Harry set a cheese toastie and bowl of soup in front of her.
"Oh thanks, dad,"Darcy grins, looking up at Harry who smiles down at her and rubs her brown hair back with his palm, leaning down to press a loving kiss to her forehead.
"Of course, I love you,"Harry murmurs, stealing a little glance at his granddaughter who's just too cute as she holds a hand against her mum's breast, her eyes falling closed in ecstasy as she continues to suck heartily.
"H-H-Here, D-D-D,"Auggie whispers, picking up Darcy's cheese toastie and holding it up to her lips to allow her to take a bite since both of her hands are occupied as she rocks side to side to soothe Penny.
"Oh thanks, Gussy,"Darcy smiles, leaning forward slightly to take a bite before resting back against the chair and looking down at her little girl as she chews. She watches Penny's little eye lashes flutter against her cheeks that are rumbling with sucks as she makes the sweetest suckling and smacking nosies.
"CalCal, are you excited for your birthday in a few weeks, bud?"Harry asks, looking across the table at Calum who's quietly eating his lunch and looking straight down at his plate.
"I'm excited for the dinner,"Calum responds with a tiny lopsided grin, looking up at his dad who's smiling encouragingly at him, "and for the cousins to come."
For every child's birthday the Styles host a big dinner on their birthday night that all of the One Direction boys (and their families) come to. They make the birthday child's favorite dinner and get them a cake of their choice and all enjoy spending time together as family, and of course if the child also wants a party with their friends that's always an option as well, but the dinner is reserved especially for family.
"Oh yeah, Gem and Liam's crazy bunch will be there definitely,"Harry laughs, eating another spoonful of soup as he widens his eyes over at Camryn who's giggling quietly.
"And guess who I got a call from today?"Camryn wiggles her eyebrows, leaning forward to look at Calum who breaks out into a bigger grin.
"Nana?"Calum guesses, raising his blonde eyebrows at Camryn who giggles and bows her head, shaking it as she snickers.
"Well yes, you cheeky thing, nana did call me today, but there was someone else too,"Camryn leads on, raising her eyebrows at Calum with a smirk, "I got this call from someone named Zayn who said he was making a special detour in his tour to come and celebrate his favorite buddy's birthday."
"HE CAN COME?!"Calum gasps in utter amazement, his jaw physically dropping as Camryn giggles and nods.
"He's coming and he said he got a really cool present for you too,"Camryn confirms, winking at Calum who practically bounces out of his seat at the news.
Each of the kids naturally gravitated towards one of the boys when they were little, and they've all remained that way as they've grown up. Darcy and Liam have always been tied at the hip as have Louis and Lennon. Niall and Bowie are thick as thieves and love to get into mischief with each other, and Bindi loves to join along with them. Zayn and Auggie were always so similar in disposition and gravitated towards each other and Calum and Zayn have always been together as well because of their similar interest in art.
"That just made your birthday dinner even more exciting, huh bud?"Harry smirks, looking over at Calum who's bubbling up inside as all of his siblings look at him with big grins. He's never a sad kid, in fact he's probably the most frequently happy and good tempered Styles child, and it's a happy sight for all of the siblings to see him return to that nature.
***
January 20 2030
She catches sight of her two youngest as they're walking out of their primary school, their backpacks bouncing up and down as they trudge down the sidewalk, Bindi's hair swinging side to side in her high ponytail as her little lips move a mile a minute, surely informing Calum all about her day and the latest Year 4 drama going on as he sticks his hands in his pocket and begins to kick at a little pebble on the sidewalk.
They only time they get more than a few inches apart is when they break to climb into the car, Bindi reaching for the back door handle to climb into the black Range Rover while Calum reaches for the passenger side handle and swings the door open.
"Hi babies!"Camryn greets, turned in her seat so that she can look at both of her youngest kids as they throw their backpacks into the car and climb in.
"Hi mummy!"Bindi immediately bubbles, jumping onto one of the leather seats and reaching up for her seatbelt.
"Hi mumma,"Calum greets, stepping into the passenger side seat as his feet rest on top of his backpack that's on the floor.
"How was your guys' day?"Camryn asks as she begins to pull out of the pick-up school line, driving through the school parking lot as Bindi begins to excitedly tell Camryn every detail of her day no matter how small.
"And then Sarah said that Miss Trimble and Mr. Mackey were kissing in Miss Trimble's room when she walked in to pick up her lunch that she forgot,"Bindi rambles on, her little legs swinging back and forth and hitting against the car seats as she rests her head back against the car seat. "But I don't know if I believe her because Demi said that she doesn't always tell the truth."
"Oh really? That's pretty crazy, huh?"Camryn indulges Bindi, smirking to herself at what seems so important to her little nine year old daughter who loves gossip and drama. "What about you Mr. Cal? How was your day?"
"It was good,"Calum shrugs with a small grin, looking over at his mum with a light in his green eyes that hasn't been there for the past week.
"Yeah? That's all? Nothing exciting? None of your teachers were snogging in their classrooms?"Camryn teases, smirking over at Calum and winking at him as he snickers and chuckles to himself, both of them sharing a little joke that will go right over Bindi's innocent head.
"No,"Calum laughs, shaking his head as he begins to pull at the khaki material of his trousers, looking down at his lap as his heart begins to pick up at the question that's trying to break its way through his mouth. It's just an innocent question, surely his mumma won't mind. "Can I bring a friend to my birthday dinner?"
Camryn has to stop herself at gasping at the question. Play it cool, Camryn she mentally tells herself. Calum listened to Camryn's advice as the teasing from his "friends" got more severe during the week and finally stopped hanging out with them, leaving him to eat his lunch alone, although Bindi offered for him to eat with her, but he would rather sit by himself than sit with his little sister and her loud nine year old friends, admittedly. But, he's made a friend. He's mad a friend and Camryn is practically pissing her pants at the moment. Play it cool, Camryn.
"Of course! Who is this friend? Have we met them before or is it a new friend?"Camryn inquires, trying not to seem too excited about this friend. She'd be lying if she said that Calum's friendship troubles hasn't kept her up every night anxiously tossing and turning and worrying about her baby boy. Her kids are her main priority and when she knows that one of them are struggling, it's hard for her to not want to wrap them up and save them, but she knows she needs to let them be independent and figure some things out on her own.
Harry has heard an ear full of Camryn's worried woes at the butt crack of dawn almost every morning after her fourth hour of laying awake in bed, worried that Calum will continue to feel left out or like he has to change to be accepted. Harry, of course, would remind her that this was just a phase, a season of his life and that all kids go through friend changes.
Yes, she'd concede, but not all kids get made fun of for their biggest passion.
No, Harry would agree, but the teasing hasn't stopped him from going to art. What do you want me to do, bug? Go into the primary school and beat up a bunch of eleven year old boy?
...yes Camryn would feebly admit, her mumma bear tendencies coming out full force.
"No, he's my new friend,"Calum explains, swallowing thickly to get rid of the dryness in his throat. A familiar blush popping up on his already notoriously red cheeks. A blush that he's notice always comes around whenever he sees or talks about Ethan, but that's just a coincidence of course. "His name is Ethan."
"Oh perfect, I can't wait to meet him,"Camryn smiles widely, nodding her head as she continues to drive down the road, her mumma heart soaring at the thought of Calum finally having a new friend. She'll finally be able to get some sleep tonight. "Tell him that dinner will be at six but he's welcome to come before so that you two can hang out, okay?"
"Okay,"Calum grins widely, nodding his head rapidly as he leans his temple against the window of the car, playing footsie with himself to try and bottle up the excitement that's coursing through his veins.
He doesn't know it, but Camryn steals a few glances at him on the rest of their drive home as she continues to entertain Bindi who's thought of another completely riveting story that she has to "tell mummy right now or she'll die."
She catches the blush on Calum's cheeks, his feet that are playing with each other and his fingers that are fiddling. She notices the long dazed look he has as he looks out of the window, a little grin tinting his lips.
She notices and she knows. She's known for a while now, years in fact. He was just eight years old when the thought first came to her mind and filled her stomach with a warmth of complete love as she looked at her little boy who was sitting in his classroom that she was working in for the afternoon, two boys drawn on his paper holding hands because it "made him feel happy".
But this? This is just more clarity.
And she's so proud of him. It runs through her veins like an electric shock, the pride she feels. She wants to reach over and hug him, but she can't, at least not for that reason.
Even though she knows, she's well aware that it's only fair for her to wait until he feels right to tell her about everything. Hell, he probably doesn't even understand everything that he's feeling yet, he is only 11 (soon to be 12) after all.
He doesn't need to have it figure out right now, but she knows that one day he will.
And so until then she'll just remind him that she's so proud of him for being him, even if he doesn't quite understand the full magnitude of what that statement means yet.
***
January 28 2030 (Morning of Calum's birthday)
"Cheeky!"Camryn shrieks as Harry walks up behind her and grabs her bare butt cheek, her skin still warm and red from the shower that they just took together.
"Sorry, they were just there and staring at me,"Harry jokes, cupping both of Camryn's butt cheeks in his hands and resting his chin down to Camryn's shoulder as she giggles and reaches her hand up to cup Harry's cheek, scratching at his prickly skin.
"Your hair needs a trim,"Camryn smirks, resting her nude body back against Harry's, a towel wrapped around his waist, as she twirls one of his brown curls around her finger, "it's getting pretty long."
"I was trying to grow it out again,"Harry grins, turning his head to press a few kisses to Camryn's cheek, "bring back twenty one year old Harry and Cam...?"
"Mmm, it was fun while you had it, but it was always so greasy,"Camryn crumples up her face in fake disgust as Harry gawks at her.
"Heyyyyy,"Harry gasps in mock offense, nuzzling his cheek against her neck to tickle her a bit, "okay Raccoon Eyes, very big of you to talk like that."
"I was sixteen when I had raccoon eyes, you were twenty one when you had greasy hair,"Camryn points out, screeching as Harry tickles his face into her neck, tickling his fingers against Camryn's waist as well as she tries to escape his arms.
"Stop, stop, I need to get ready,"Camryn laughs, trying to push Harry's face away with her palm as he continues to try and nudge his face towards hers. "We need to get ready so we can wakeup Cal."
"Our baby boy who's now twelve,"Harry shakes his head in disbelief, pressing a kiss to Camryn's cheek before finally letting her go as he grabs for his shaving cream while Camryn reaches for her lotion.
"Don't say that,"Camryn whimpers, shooting a look over at Harry with a prominent pout as he laughs. "He's still my little chubby baby who loved snuggles and was the most outgoing little guy."
"He still loves snuggles,"Harry points out, puckering his lips downwards as he begins to spread the white shaving cream onto his cheeks and chin. "He's a bit shyer now, though."
"That's true, he's still my little snuggle bug,"Camryn smiles, bending at the hips to begin rubbing her lotion onto her freshly shaven legs. "Oh, I forgot to tell you, Cal's friend Ethan is coming to his birthday dinner tonight."
"Oh yeah?"Harry questions with a little smirk, beginning to shave at his cheeks, "does he seem like a nice kid? Have you met him?"
"No, I haven't met him, but Cal seems to really like him,"Camryn explains, taking another pump of her lotion and beginning to rub it on her stomach and over her chest.
"Like him or like like him,"Harry questions, looking over at Camryn slyly with a raised eyebrow as he watches a grin cross Camryn's lips.
"I think the latter,"Camryn wiggles her eyebrows at Harry as he breaks out into a bigger smile and nods proudly, "he got very giggly and blushy when he was telling me about him.'
"Good for him,"Harry chuckles, wetting his razor under the bathroom tap, "look at Cal go. I can't wait to meet this kid now, is he—"
"Mummy!"Bindi's voice screeches as she bounds into the Master bedroom, the door swinging and banging against the wall as she bolts towards the bathroom door.
"Towel, towel,"Camryn hisses, holding her hand out for a towel hanging on the towel rack that Harry is standing right next to to cover her naked body. Harry quickly grabs a towel and throws it at Camryn who catches it and wraps it around her body just in time for Bindi to crash through the bathroom door.
"Hi mummy,"Bindi greets with a big cheeky smile, her two top teeth missing and her pajamas a bit twisted from tossing and turning in her sleep, her hazel straight hair falling out of the French braids that she fell asleep in.
"Bindi belle, what have we said about knocking,"Camryn laughs, shaking her head at Bindi with a laugh as she clutches the towel tighter around her body, looking at her littlest baby girl with wide eyes.
"That I need to do it,"Bindi sighs, her shoulders slumping a bit as Harry tries to bite back his laugh at her little reaction and annoyed voice.
"Uh huh, so where was the knock,"Harry asks, raising his eyebrows up at Bindi who rolls her eyes with another heavy sigh.
"Not there..."Bindi admits, a strand of her hazel hair falling in her cute and freckled face.
"Uh huh, can you add a knock?"Harry laughs, raising one eyebrow at Bindi who rolls her eyes yet again.
She leans over to the door she's standing beside and taps her knuckles against it, looking at Harry and Camryn to make sure they're seeing what she's doing as she puts on a fake cute and high pitched voice, "knock knock."
"You're going to give daddy and I grey hairs you cheeky bugger,"Camryn grins, holding her arms out for Bindi who skips forwards and wraps her arms around Camryn's waist, nuzzling her cheek into Camryn's upper stomach. "I love you."
"Love you,"Bindi hums as Camryn leans down to press a kiss to the top of Bindi's messed hair.
"Are you ready to wake Cal up, babe? Is everyone else up too?"Harry asks, tilting his head to the side as he stares in the mirror as he continues to drag the razor down his cheek.
"Just me, but I heard Penny crying too,"Bindi responds, walking over to Harry and watching as he shaves his cheek, "can I help, daddy?"
"Well I suppose so,"Harry teases with a dramatic sigh to make Bindi giggle as she reaches her hands up for Harry.
"Hoah! You're getting too big for me to pick up since you're almost ten,"Harry huffs as he lifts Bindi from under her armpits, setting her on the bathroom counter as he smirks at her, "once you're double digits, I can't hold you anymore, that's too old and big."
"That's not true,"Bindi giggles as Harry squirts a bit of the shaving cream into her hands as she rubs them together to make it foam.
"Now put it on my cheeks,"Harry instructs, turning his face side to side as he feels Bindi's little palms rub against his cheeks. "Perfect, now just drag the razor down really gentle, okay?"
"I'm so good at this,"Bindi whispers proudly, her brows pinched in concentration as she continues to drag the razor down.
"You are so good at this, and you're really cute too,"Harry grins, quickly turning his head before Bindi can register what's happening and pressing a kiss to her cheek, getting the shaving foam all over her little cheek as she giggles and squeals, leaning away from Harry's lips.
"DADDY!"Bindi screeches as she shakes her head at Harry, reaching up to swipe her palm against her cheek. "That was silly."
"You're silly, Bindi Belle,"Harry smirks, squeezing Bindi's little hips that are between his hands.
***
"Hey DD,"Harry asks, tapping his knuckles against Darcy's door, knowing it's safe to do so since he could hear her voice from the other side of the door, singing quietly to Penny which she surely didn't want the rest of her family to hear since she's always been very self conscious about her voice.
"Yeah?"Darcy calls back quietly, picking her head up from looking at Penny and shooting her gaze towards the door. "What's up? You can come in."
Harry opens up the door to Darcy's childhood bedroom and finds her laying on her side on her bed, her shirt pulled up to reveal one of her breast, Penny also on her side with her mouth sucking at Darcy's nipple as Darcy keeps her arm around Penny to keep her on her side.
"Hey, just whenever you're ready we're going to wake Cal up and sing happy birthday to him,"Harry grins, looking at his daughter and granddaughter with the biggest heart eyes. It's such a surreal thing to see his daughter be a mum right before his eyes and since Penny and Darcy live with them he gets to see it even more often, which of course he adores. Darcy is so much like Camryn that it honestly amazes him sometimes. He's never seen a better mother than Camryn, but Darcy definitely resembles everything that Camryn was.
"Okay, we'll be out in a second, she should be slowing down anytime,"Darcy explains with a grin before looking down at her little girl who's still lazily suckling. "She is taking her time, though."
"Did she sleep good last night?"Harry checks, folding his arms across his chest and leaning up against the doorframe.
"Yeah,"Darcy yawns with a nod, rubbing at her eyes with the heel of her palm, "she only woke up once to feed which was nice."
"Finally stopped her sleep regression, huh?"Harry chuckles, watching as Darcy widens her eyes and rolls them, nodding her head softly.
"Finally,"Darcy sighs, leaning down to press a little kiss to Penny's forehead, "good thing too, she was killing me with how bad of a sleeper she was becoming."
"At least she's cute, huh?"Harry chuckles, looking at the back of his little granddaughters' head, her hazel hair swirled as Darcy's fingers lovingly massage against it.
"She is very very cute,"Darcy agrees, grinning down at her little girl who truly taught her what love was. "I'm pretty in love with her."
"She's pretty amazing,"Harry agrees, pushing himself off of the door and beginning to walk out of the room, "just let me know if you need anything."
"Can I go hold Penny?"Bindi bubbles, running over to Harry as he shuts Darcy's door behind him, all of the Styles kids (except Calum and Darcy) standing out in the hall, tiredly awaiting the moment where they have to wake up their brother for his birthday.
"No, she's eating, but I'm sure D will let you hold her after,"Harry responds, putting his palm against the top of Bindi's head and ruffling her hair.
"Okayyyyy..."Bindi sighs dramatically, slumping down the hall to sit next to Bowie who's practically falling asleep sitting up, his head sleepily lulling to his shoulder.
"Wait, c'mere, Gussy,"Camryn requests, motioning her hand towards herself as Auggie walks by her, turning around at her request and walking towards her with a furrowed brow.
"You've got a little something..."Camryn murmurs, licking her finger and then bringing it to the corner of Auggie's mouth to wipe at it, "a little dried drool."
"Oh m-m-mum,"Auggie complains, crumpling up his face as he leans away from Camryn, taking the job into his own hands and swiping at his cheek, "t-t-that w-was g-gross."
"You know he's awake already, right? I head him drawing in there earlier,"Lennon grumbles tiredly, pointing his hand towards his Calum's closed door as he slumps over to sit next to Bindi and Bowie, not picking his feet up from the floor as he sighs heavily.
"It's all about the tradition, ass,"Bowie mocks what Camryn told him when he too grumbled about Calum being awake already so the act of "waking him up" to the Happy Birthday song was really useless, he claimed.
Of course none of the kids are really asleep when the family comes in to wish them Happy Birthday since it takes a while to get all of the family gathered, but like Camryn said, it's all about the tradition, in fact they've had the tradition since Darcy was a year old. The first thing out of Harry and Camryn's mouths to all of the kids on their birthdays is Happy Birthday, just like it was on Darcy's first birthday.
"Hey, you two, shut it and put some smiles on your faces,"Harry hisses, pointing his finger at the two boys with a narrowed gaze. "It won't kill you to sing Happy Birthday to your younger brother, so stop acting like it."
"I just want all of you to know that you don't have to do this for me on my birthday,"Lennon sighs, leaning his head back against the wall and banging it there a few times, remaining true to his angsty teenage attitude that he's held onto for the past year, giving Harry and Camryn a run for their money.
"Mo will want to sing happy birthday to you,"Bowie teases, turning his head against the wall as he smirks devilishly at Lennon whose face scrunches up.
"That's so gross,"Lennon gags, shaking his head and throwing up his middle finger in Bowie's direction.
"Hey, what did I telly you two about teasing Morgan for liking Lennon?"Harry warns, his arm slung around Camryn's shoulders as she rests her cheek on Harry's chest. "Stop it, you already had her in tears the other day, I don't ever want that again, you hear me?"
"You h-h-h-have no r-room to t-t-talk, L-L-Len, you l-l-liked Morgan f-for y-years,"Auggie joins in, leaning back against the wall with his arms crossed as he raises his eyebrows up at his older brother who death glares him.
"When I was five,"Lennon points out, shaking his head at Auggie before rolling his eyes and sighing, knocking his head back against the wall again, "she's thirteen, it's weird."
"Lennon, I'm not gonna tell you again,"Harry warns sternly, shaking his head at his oldest son who has definitely taken the cake so far for being the hardest Styles teenager, although he's sure Bowie and Bindi will easily beat that record when the time comes.
It's not much of a competition so far, actually because Darcy was an angel...well that is until she got pregnant at 17, but Harry and Camryn are the last people on earth who would be able to reprimand her for that... And Auggie? Oh, well he's just an angel child. He follows every rule and is always so sweet to Harry and Camryn, he's the perfect example of a golden child.
"Say hello everybody!"Darcy coos as she walks out of her bedroom with Penny laying back against her chest, her arm cupped under Penny to allow her to sit in a seat-like position as Darcy nuzzles her cheek against Penny's, raising her in her arms a bit.
"Oh hey, beautiful girl,"Camryn greets, chuckling quietly at Penny who's a bit milk drunk as she rests her head back against Darcy's chest, her chubby cheeks rosy with little white milk droplets clinging to the corners of her lips.
"Say 'good morning nana! I'm such a happy girl this morning',"Darcy coos in a mock voice as she pretends to be Penny.
"Oh are you so happy? Did you sleep well? Is that why you're happy?"Camryn smiles, reaching her hand out to hold onto Penny's tiny hand.
"Say 'yes I did! Mummy is so proud of me! I only woke up once!'"Darcy exclaims, nuzzling her nose and lips against Penny's little cheek and smacking a few kisses there as Penny gurgles and breaks out into a big smile.
"Oh yay!"Camryn cheers, raising Penny's little hand that she is holding onto up in the air and shaking it slightly. "Oh my gosh look at that smile!" Camryn giggles and smiles widely at her little granddaughter who's face is scrunched up in the biggest happy smile, "yay! Yay!"
"Oh is nana so silly?"Darcy grins, pressing a kiss to the top of Penny's messed hazel hair. "You love your nana, huh? She's the best."
"Alright, now that we're all here we can go sing to the birthday boy,"Harry announces, grabbing Camryn's hand and walking down the hall towards Calum's door that's the last door to the left.
"One, two, three,"Harry whispers, turning his head over his shoulder as he holds onto the door handle.
Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday dear Calummmmmm! Happy birthday to you!
"Thank you,"Calum giggles with a little blush on his cheeks, his curly hair all over the place, his body sat up in his bed and leaning back against the headboard of his bed with his sketchbook open against his bent thighs.
"Happy birthday CalCal!"Bindi bubbles, running over to Calum's bed and jumping on top of it, splaying her body across his as he giggles and leans over to hug Bindi back. "
"Thanks, Beenie,"Calum grins, looking up at his mumma who walked over to the side of his bed.
"How are you twelve, huh Mister?"Camryn gawks, shaking her head in disbelief as she leans down to wrap her arms around Calum, pressing a kiss to the top of his curls, "who let you get that old, huh? Who said that was okay?"
"I did,"Calum grins cheekily, looking up at Camryn who combs her fingers through his blonde hair.
"C'mere, I need some Calum hugs too,"Harry smirks, pretending to trip and falling onto Calum's lap as Calum squeals out and laughs, trying to push Harry off of his lap.
"Dadddd..."Calum laughs, shaking his head as he reaches for Harry who's still laying on Calum's lap on his stomach, his arms spread out wide.
"I think I broke a rib, Cal,"Harry teases, turning his head to look to the side at Calum who laughs and shakes his head, putting his palm against Harry's face and pushing him away.
"A little human wants to wish her Uncle Cal a Happy Birthday,"Darcy coos, holding Penny outwards, her hands under Penny's tiny armpits as her little legs kick in the air, one of her fists in her mouth.
"Hi Penny Denny,"Calum smiles widely, holding his hands out towards his little niece as Darcy hands her over.
"Can you give Calum kisses?"Darcy coos, watching her littlest brother hold Penny under her armpits, making exaggerated faces at her as she continues to suck on her fist, the left side of her mouth slightly raised up.
"Kisses? Can I have kisses?"Calum asks, pressing a kiss to Penny's cheek, "mwah! Thanks Pen."
***
(Later that day)
"I'm so excited to paint with you, bud,"Camryn bubbles, her arm wrapped around Calum's shoulders and a Starbucks in each of their hands as they walk down the sidewalk where Calum's art studio that he takes lessons from is positioned.
"I always forget that you paint, mummy,"Calum smirks up at Camryn, a little whipped cream from his drink coating his top lip.
"Where do you think you got it from, huh?"Camryn teases, wiggling her eyebrows at Calum as she squeezes him tighter to her side.
"Dad,"Calum cheekily responds, watching his mum drop her jaw open in shock which makes him giggle quietly.
"Dad?! Dad couldn't draw a stick finger to save his life,"Camryn huffs, shaking her head and scrunching her nose at her little boy. "You're so mean to me, I taught you everything you know."
"No, Mrs. Tyler taught me everything I know,"Calum fights back, watching as Camryn grins at him.
"Well okay, maybe you're right,"Camryn concedes, squeezing Calum tighter against her side. "I always hoped one of you would like to do art, I was so happy when I saw that you liked to draw."
*
"How's yours turning out, lovey?"Camryn asks, leaning over to look at Calum's big canvas that he's sitting in front of and very intently focusing on, holding his brush between his fingers that has acrylic paint on the tip of it as well as paint coating his fingers.
"I like it,"Calum grins, sitting back a little to inspect his canvas so far, biting on his bottom lip as his little mind spins with ideas of how to improve his painting or how to make it more of what he was envisioning.
"Holy crap, sweetheart,"Camryn gasps, looking at Calum's canvas as her jaw practically drops open. She's known Calum was talented ever since he was a little boy, and he's only continued to amaze her. He finishes about two pieces a week, so she's seen hundreds of his paintings and drawings, in fact almost all of them are hanging up on the walls of their house, but still, even after all of those paintings she's seen it never seems to cease to amaze her at how talented her baby boy is.
"Do you like it?"Calum shyly asks, turning his head to look at his mum who still has her attention completely on the canvas, her jaw still agape slightly.
"Honey, you're incredible,"Camryn whispers in amazement, shaking her head in disbelief. How did she make this amazing child? She's asked that question about all of her kids numerous times, and she still doesn't know the answer. "It looks fantastic, baby."
"Thanks,"Calum proudly grins, subconsciously chewing on the tip of his brush, not the side with paint of course.
"Who's the person?"Camryn asks curiously, inspecting the painting harder to try and see if she can recognize who the person on the canvas is.
"Oh, it's no one, I made her up,"Calum giggles, tucking his chin to his chest before leaning over to take a peek at Camryn's painting on her canvas, "can I see yours, mumma?"
"Oooo I like the colors, mummy,"Calum compliments, dropping his jaw agape in the same way Camryn did to support her. "The clouds look so pretty."
"Thanks, buddy,"Camryn smiles at her little boy before looking at her painting again, leaning back on top of her stool and trying to figure out what else she can add to it, "I haven't painted in so long, I'm too busy with you crazy kids."
"When did you start drawing, mumma?"Calum asks, dipping his brush back on his palette before leaning towards his canvas again.
"Hmm, I was probably about four or five? And I started painting when I was eight, but I've always liked to draw more,"Camryn explains, mixing a pale pink color on her palette.
"I like to paint more,"Calum responds, hissing as his brush runs off a bit on the canvas in a spot he didn't want it to as he immediately uses the tip of his fingernail to try and scrape it off.
"Yeah, you're an incredible painter, buddy,"Camryn gushes, reaching over to sip at her Starbucks before venturing into the conversation she's been wanting to have with Calum this entire time. "So how'd you meet Ethan?"
"He just moved into school, he's from Bristol,"Calum simply responds, trying to ignore the butterflies that begin to soar around in his stomach as he hears his mum say his little new best friend's name. "And Mrs. Smith put me in charge of showing him around school."
"Ooo, you know who else is from Bristol?"Camryn smirks, side-eyeing Calum as he giggles quietly.
"You,"Calum grins, dipping his brush into his water cup to clean it, desperately trying anything that will help him take his mind off of Ethan to prevent a blush.
"That's right,"Camryn grins with a little nod, shooting another quick glance over at Calum who she can tell is trying very hard to keep his cool, "tell me more about him."
"He likes to do theatre,"Calum continues, thinking back to all of his many conversations with Ethan about everything that two little boys could ever talk about. "And he especially likes Dear Evan Hansen, he told me Evan was his dream role."
"Oh that's such a good musical, isn't it?"Camryn agrees, smiling over at Calum who's still focused on his painting to try and take his mind off of Ethan. "I can't wait to meet him."
"He's really nice,"Calum adds, everything inside of his bubbling and bursting at the seams, but he's doing an admittedly really good job at keeping everything low-key on the outside. "He said he likes my drawings, and at lunch we sat and I drew for him because he really likes dogs. He showed me a picture of his dog Ralphy and I drew it for him. He said he hung it in his room too."
"Oh I'm sure he loved that, baby,"Camryn beams, smiling widely to herself as she feels her stomach turn with warmness, a joy coursing over herself as she hears her baby boy talk about this boy so freely, even though they both don't really know his true feelings towards him. "And I'm sure you'll love if you ever get to go over to his house and meet his dog since you're always begging daddy and I for a dog."
"I want a dog so bad,"Calum groans, clenching his jaw and looking over at his mum who giggles and shakes her head.
"I love you more than anything, but I think you'll have to wait till you grow up and get your own house to have a dog, okay?"Camryn barters, wiggling her eyebrows at Calum who dramatically sighs and rolls his eyes. "DD and I are a bit too allergic to dogs to have one, I'm afraid."
***
(Later that Night)
"CALUM ZAYN STYLES!"Niall's booming voice calls through the house as he walks through the front door with his 18 month old daughter, Alice, in his arms, her little cheek pressed against his shoulder as she continues to quietly snooze, carrying through on her nap that she fell into on the way here in the car.
"Shhh, don't wake this precious girl up,"Camryn coos quietly, reaching her hands towards little Alice as Niall gently passes her off.
"Oh hello, my love,"Camryn whispers, swaying her hips as Alice's cheek falls to Camryn's chest, her blonde straight across bangs sitting neatly on her forehead as her blonde hair messily lays against Camryn's chest, cut into the cutest bob. "Look at you, you're so gorgeous, I love you."
"I want the baby,"Harry gasps, walking into the hallway and immediately making grabby hands towards Alice as Camryn frowns and shakes her head, turning her hips to try and hide Alice from Harry.
"She's mine,"Camryn fights, hugging little Alice tighter to her chest as she continues to press little kisses to the top of her head.
"Why don't you two just have another?"Lottie teases, walking into the house with her hands on newly turned 10 year old Cole.
"Ha, ha,"Harry mocks, rolling his eyes at Lottie and Niall who are both snickering, "sorry, but I'm pretty sure that factory is closed."
"'Pretty sure' doesn't sound like a 'no',"Niall teases, earning a slap on the bicep from Harry.
"You'd have to triple your kids to catch up to us, so what about you two try a bit harder?"Harry jokes back, watching as Lottie's eyes go wide as she shakes her head adamantly.
"No no no,"Lottie vows, shaking her hands out in front of her and exhaling a deep breath between her lips. "That's an absolute no. Two is plenty for us."
"Move your fat ass outta the way,"Liam grumbles jokingly as he opens the front door into Niall who was standing in the way, making Niall jump out of the way in fright.
"Bloody hell, mate,"Niall breathes heavily in relief, a hand going over his heart to try and calm down his breathing.
"Maggie Moo!"Harry exclaims, watching as his little three year old niece walks through the door holding onto Gemma's hand, her big brown eyes widening at the sight of her uncle who happens to be one of her favorite people on this earth.
"Haddy!"Maggie lisps, gasping as she toddles towards Harry with her arms reaching up towards him. He squats down and opens up his arms to allow her to run into them, wrapping her up tightly as he squeezes her against his chest.
"There's my baby girl, hi sweetheart,"Harry coos, pressing a kiss down to Maggie's head that is cut into a brown bob with bangs straight across her forehead just like Alice has, a section of her hair tied up with a little red ribbon.
"Haddy, CalCal's birfday!"Maggie exclaims, holding her hands up above her head as she smiles happily at Harry.
"It is CalCal's birthday, isn't it?!"Harry chuckles, pressing a kiss to Maggie's freckled cheek. "Mmm I love you. You're just the best, did you know that?"
"Uncle Haz, look,"five year old Roman grins, running up to Harry and holding the back of his little hand upwards so that Harry can see the Batman pressed onto it.
"Oh look at that mate!"Harry gasps, looking at his little nephew who looks scarily like Liam as he holds up his tattooed little hand. "You're matching with me!" Harry holds out his tattooed arm as Roman giggles and nods, keeping his fake tattoo held up to try and compare them.
"Where's my birthday boy?"Gemma asks, letting go of eight year old Brooks' hand as he runs off with Cole in search of Bindi.
"Were we the last ones you were waiting for?"Liam asks, walking over to Camryn and dropping a quick kiss to the top of Alice's head. "There's no way Tommo beat me."
"I beat you you old b*stard!"Louis' voice booms from the kitchen where him and Zayn were standing and talking, a beer in both of their hands.
"Is that Ethan?"Calum exclaims as he runs into the hallway, trying to find out the reason for all of the commotion at the door.
"Sorry bud, it's just your cousins and crazy uncles,"Harry chuckles, smiling widely at Calum as his face falls just slightly, "but I'm sure Ethan will be here really soon."
"Happy Birthday, Cal!"Roman exclaims, running up to his older cousin and holding up the back of his hand so that his cousin can see his press on tattoo.
"Oh that looks cool Ro,"Calum smiles, giving his cousin a little hug, "I like it!"
"Happy birthday, you old fart,"Niall smirks, holding his arms out widely for Calum and wrapping his arms around his little nephew.
"I'm almost as old as you, Ni,"Calum jokes, grinning cheekily up at Niall who drops his jaw in mock offense.
"Um ouch, I guess I'll just have to take back your birthday present..."Niall hums, raising his eyebrows up at Calum who gasps and shakes his head.
"No no no, I want the present,"Calum laughs, giving his uncle one more squeeze before breaking away and taking the wrapped present out of Lottie's hands.
*
"Go get the door, babe,"Camryn instructs Calum with a big grin, hearing the doorbell sound through the house, surely announcing that their last visitor has arrived which is also the visitor that Calum has been most excited for.
"I got it, I got it,"Calum shrieks, jumping up from his spot at the table where he was drinking a soda and talking with Niall and Zayn with Bowie and Morgan.
He runs through the kitchen and down the hall, practically crashing into the front door as he reaches to unlock it and swing the door open, finding his new best friend standing on the porch with a lady who resembles him.
"Hi Cal,"Ethan greets with a huge smile, holding a wrapped present out towards Calum, his shaggy brown hair falling into his eyes. "Happy Birthday!"
"Thanks!"Calum grins back, his blush deepening on his cheeks as he takes the present in his hands, not paying much attention to it because his focus is only on Ethan. "You can come in."
"Hi, you must be Ethan's mum,"Camryn greets, walking up behind Calum and putting her hand on his shoulder, holding the other hand out towards the lady next to Ethan. "And you must be Ethan! Calum's told me loads about you."
"I'm Courtney,"the woman greets with a kind smile, shaking hands with Camryn, "thank you so much for having Ethan over, he's been so excited this whole week."
"Oh well we're so happy to have him,"Camryn politely responds, "thank you for letting him come over."
"Be good, okay?"Courtney sweetly tells Ethan, rubbing her fingers through Ethan's shaggy hair before cupping his chin and tilting it upwards so that she can press a kiss to his cheek as he groans in embarrassment, trying to pull away from his mum. "You just call me when you're ready for me to pick you up, okay?"
"Okay,"Ethan agrees, pulling away from his mum before she can cause him anymore embarrassment and follow Calum down the hall, practically tripping over his two feet in nervousness.
"This is my house, I can show you my room,"Calum offers, speaking a mile a minute in complete nervousness, his hands practically shaking in his pockets.
"Be really quick because dinner's almost ready, 'kay baby?"Camryn calls, watching with a smile as both of the boys run up the stairs and towards Calum's room.
"This is it,"Calum shows, opening the door and motioning for Ethan to come in. "I put my paintings up because I don't like blank walls."
"Woah,"Ethan marvels, looking around the room in total awe as his eyes grow three sizes, looking at every wall of the room that's covered in some type of painting or drawing, all done in Calum's style.
"I also put them on the ceiling,"Calum chuckles, pointing up towards the ceiling that's covered in paintings and drawings that Calum has done over the years.
"That's so cool, Cal,"Ethan marvels, looking all around the room with his jaw slightly agape, "I like that one." Ethan points upwards towards the ceiling where a painting that Calum did a few months ago on a big canvas is hanging. A portrait of a long twisting road with a little blue truck on it.
"Yeah, my dad likes that one too,"Calum grins proudly before pointing towards his dresser, "and those are all of my legos."
"I love legos,"Ethan gasps, walking towards the figures, boats and trucks and flowers and a castle all built out of legos. He picks up a spaceship and grins widely, "I have this one too! I made it a few weeks ago."
"I got that one for Christmas, it was so fun to make,"Calum nods, reaching to pick up a blue truck he made a few months ago. "I think this one is my favorite, it was really easy to make."
"That one's cool,"Ethan nods, inspecting it closer as they hear Camryn's voice calling for them to tell them that dinner is ready.
*
"And remember how he used to just sit and wave to random people whenever we'd go out to town,"Harry laughs, joining in on the family tradition of making the birthday child's dinner all about stories of them growing up.
"We had to teach him about stranger danger so young because he was so trusting of everyone,"Camryn giggles, nodding in agreement as Ethan and Calum giggle to themselves at all of the stories of Calum from when he was a baby.
"I remember when Gem was pregnant with Brooks I told him that she had just swallowed a watermelon seed and she was growing a watermelon in her belly and he totally bought it,"Liam laughs, earning a chuckle from around the table, "and then when he first met Brooks he was so confused because it was a baby and not a watermelon."
"Yeah, that was a jerk move because he refused to eat watermelons for months because he thought it was like eating babies,"Harry responds with a head shake and a smirk, shoveling more spaghetti into his mouth since it was Calum's dinner of choice.
"I still don't really like watermelon,"Calum admits, grinning over at Ethan who has red sauce all over his lips.
"And remember how much he loved to make little videos with Bindi and Cole,"Niall adds with a laugh, "he had the best moon walk I've ever seen."
"Can you still moonwalk?"Ethan giggles, looking over at Calum who blushes and nods, taking a sip of his lemonade.
"A bit,"Calum admits with a sly smirk, watching as Ethan's cheeks raise to his eyes, making little crinkles form at his eyes.
***
"Can Cole and I come?"Bindi begs as she watches her older brother push open the sliding glass doors that lead to the backyard, making big puppy dog eyes at Calum since she knows he has a soft spot for her.
"Belle, let Cal have some time alone with his friend,"Harry calls from the sink where he's helping Camryn, Gemma, and Zayn wash all of the dishes from dinner. "You and Cole can go and play in the play room? Or watch a movie in the theater?"
"Fineeeee,"Bindi groans with an eye roll, beginning to trudge through the living room where Lottie is cuddling with a sleeping Penny while Darcy plays peek a boo with Alice who's sitting in her lap.
"C'mon, I'll show you the play set,"Calum motions for Ethan to follow him, beginning to run outside so that the motion censored lights catch him and dimly illuminate the Styles' big backyard.
"My grandma has a play set like that in her backyard,"Ethan exclaims, running after Calum, both of their arms pumping as he follows Calum, beginning to climb up the ladder to the top of the play set.
"C'mon, you can see the stars from up here,"Calum explains, getting onto the third floor of the play set and scoots to the edge of the floor, swinging his legs over the edge so that they're dangling even though he knows it makes his mum anxious when him and his siblings sit like that.
"We're up so high,"Ethan marvels as he sits down next to Calum, swinging his legs off of the edge as their biceps brush against each other, igniting a fire deep inside both of them.
"Yeah, look, that's my favorite constellation,"Calum smiles, pointing up to a gathering of brightly shinning stars as his swinging foot hits against Ethan. Initially they both quickly pull their feet away from each other, the feeling of them hitting igniting sparks of electricity through their veins. But, after a few more times of hitting against each other, Ethan eventually stops moving his foot away and keeps it there, their legs interlocked as Calum's fiddling fingers increase in speed.
"Your little sister is really funny,"Ethan continues the conversation, not liking how quiet both of them got when their legs interlocked, well neither of them liked it, but they also didn't know what to say.
"Yeah, she is, she's pretty crazy,"Calum laughs, unable to stop being consciously aware of the feeling of Ethan's leg against his. "She's fun to hang out with, though."
"And your brother Lennon seems cool,"Ethan continues, no longer looking up, his eyes now focused on Calum and his legs.
"He's cool sometimes,"Calum agrees with a tiny smile, practically jumping as Ethan's arm brushes up against his. "I want to meet your older brother, he seems cool from what you've told me."
"He is, he's at University, but he comes back a lot,"Ethan responds, tapping his fingers against his thigh that is pressed against Calum's, his fingers desperately wanting to travel to Calum's thigh, but he can't do it. He just can't seem to get the guts to.
"Maybe I can meet him someday,"Calum asks, glancing over at Ethan who raises his eyes to look at Calum, giving him a little grin.
"Yeah, he'd like you,"Ethan nods before looking down at Calum's hand that's trembling on top of his thigh, "your hand is shaking."
"It's cold,"Calum whispers, which isn't completely a lie. He is cold, freezing in fact, but that's not the reason it's shaking. There are so many reasons why it's shaking, but all of them come back to one common denominator: Ethan.
"Here,"Ethan whispers, reaching out to put his hand on top of Calum's, cupping it completely since his hand is slightly bigger than Calum's, "mine's warm."
He's not sure what English is anymore. Talking? He has no clue how to do that. The feeling that's running through his body is unlike anything he's ever felt before. It's not a feeling he gets when he looks at girls. It's not a feeling he got when he held Mackenzie's hand last year in the school play even though she's known to be the prettiest girl in his year and every boy was talking about how lucky Calum was to get to hold hands with her. He played along, he was lucky, right? He should feel lucky...but he didn't. He felt normal. He felt normal and he hated that he felt normal because by feeling that sense of normal he was inherently different.
And he didn't want to be different, he just wanted to be normal. He wanted to talk about girls in the way Lennon and Bowie talked about girls. He wanted to be able to sit with his three older brothers and gawk at the actress on the television screen, and he did gawk at her along with them, but it wasn't real gawking. It was just different.
He imagines that the feeling running through his body is how his brothers feel when they talk about girls, and maybe he's known before, but in this moment he truly knows.
He feels the same way about boys that his brothers think about girls. He's different. And that different feels so good sitting here with Ethan's hand on top of his that he wonders why anyone would want to feel normal.
"Thanks,"Calum whispers, moving his fingers a bit to interlock them with Ethan's, squeezing his hand gently to silently let him know that he's willing to be different with him. They're in this together.
"Sure,"Ethan whispers back, smiling softly to himself as he subconsciously rubs his thumb against Calum's hand.
His mum and dad always told him that they hated the word "normal", there is no normal they claimed, at least there shouldn't be. But he loved the word "normal", well no, maybe he loathed it, but either way he just wanted to be that word. He made up his own definition of normal and it was nothing like what he was. It was what his big brothers were, specifically his big brother Lennon. He's so popular and as Bowie would say "could get any girl he wants", and that's Calum's definition of normal. Maybe that's why he's grown so distant from his older brother that he used to look up to so much.
He loathes his big brother just like he loathes the word "normal". He wants to be like him, he always did, but there's something deep inside of him preventing him from doing so, and he hates it. He hates that thing deep inside of him...well he did until today. Because without that thing he wouldn't be holding Ethan's hand, and he wouldn't want to give that up.
And so, no, he's not "normal" to his own definition's standards, and yes, a part of him still wants to be, but it does soothe his confused heart to hold Ethan's hand. To feel his thumb rubbing against his knuckles. To feel their goose bumps on their biceps brushing together. To feel their legs pressed against each other. To share body heat.
It feels right, so right that he questions how this could ever not be "normal".
~~~~~
HAPPY BIRTHDAY (2 days ago) TO CALUM <333
Sweet baby cal 🥺🥺 gosh I just love him so much!!!
And now he's got Flynn and UGH THEY JUST MAKE MY HEART SO HAPPY!!! and we've got tons of exciting things for their story coming up so so soon!!
^^^one of the siblings' books connects very deeply with Cal and Flynn's and I'm so excited for you all to see that!! It's one of my favorite things that happens in the kids' books! <3333
Next week will be a combined birthday chapter for harry and Bowie since their birthdays are just 5 days apart ahaha! I can't wait for you all to read that one!!!
Prepare your hearts for Auggie and Emryn's chapter that's coming out this week...grab your tissues and a spare box as well, heaven knows I've needed them while writing it 😬
I hope you all have an amazing week!
MWAH
-Mel💛
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FOR CAMRYN INSTAGRAM POST THAT GOES ALONG WITH THIS CHAPTER HEAD OVER TO MY OTHER STORY "Family Forever Instagram" AND READ "January 28 2030 (Goes with Calum's Gay Awakening & Birthday)".
For more of the Styles kids in their future lives (including Styles grandkids), check out their spin off books! There's a chapter in this book titled "Masterlist (how to read the kid's novellas) that will give you a list of the order you should read the chapters in!
If you guys have any requests for chapters you'd like to see PLEASE message me! I'd love to write whatever you guys want!
Also, I have a lot of requests right now from people so I'm sorry if I don't get to yours right away, I promise I haven't forgotten about you! I will get to all of them! 💕