You pull into your driveway, smiling as you see Calum untangling a few strands of lights before draping them over the bushes in front of your windows.
"Look at you!" You chime as you get out of your car, grabbing your purse and a few grocery bags. "The house is going to look great!"
Calum smiles, rushing to your side to help you with the groceries but not before he gives you a sweet hello kiss.
"I figured we could just have some simple lights along the bushes and on the peak of the roof, nothing too extravagant, what do you think, sweetheart?" He explains as he follows you into the house.
"I think that sounds perfect. Do you want any help?" You ask, beginning to unpack the groceries.
Calum sets his bags on the counter top, shaking his head as he smiles. "No, I don't have too much more to do. Would you like any help with this before I go back out?"
You shake your head, opening the fridge to put the milk away. "No, thank you, baby. I'm good. Just finish up your lights and I'll get started on dinner. I'm making your favorite."
Calum's eyes widen with excitement. "You're the best wife in the history of wives." He praises, wrapping his arms around your waist and nuzzling his head in the crook of your neck.
"I know, now go get back to your lights." You chuckle, patting his beanie covered head softly.
He pecks your lips quickly before scurrying back outside. You continue to unpack the groceries, giggling to yourself when you hear Calum singing Christmas songs to himself outside followed by the occasional swear word when he messes up the decorations. You prepare the meal, setting the table while you wait for Calum to come in from outside. You sigh in frustration as the time continues to tick by with no sign of him coming back inside. You grab your jacket, slipping it on and stepping onto the front porch, looking left and right for your six foot tall husband. When you see no evidence of him, minus the few scraps of light clips spread along the sidewalk, you walk further down the path.
"Calum?" You call out, your eyes raking all over the yard.
"Up here!" He answers, his grey beanie poking out from behind the tip of the roof.
"Dinner's ready!" You state, rubbing your hands together as a chilly breeze blows by.
"I'll be right down, sweetheart! Just one more light to staple down!"
You watch as you wait, moving your legs back and forth swiftly as you try and warm your body.
"Done!" Calum beams, carefully climbing down the ladder and joining you on the sidewalk. "Would you like to do the honors, my beautiful wife?"
"You did all of the work, Cal, it's okay if you do it."
"Let's do it together?" He holds out one side of the plug in for you to take.
"When did we become one of those couples that we mock in romantic comedies?" You tease, grabbing one side of the electrical cord.
"The day we met, but it's okay. It works for us." He grins, bumping your hip with his. "On the count of 3, okay? 1...2...3!" He exclaims, the two of you slightly fumbling at first to get the electrical plug in the socket.
"Woah" The two of you whisper in unison.
"It's so beautiful, Calum." You kiss his cheek softly, admiring the lights on the house.
"It better be. I worked forever on it." He mumbles sheepishly, grabbing your hand and kissing your knuckles softly.
You open your mouth to say something only to be cut off by your neighbor.
"Hey Hoods! Nice lights! We're about to turn on ours too!" Your neighbor, Jeff, shouts, flipping on his lights. Calum grips your hand tightly as he observes your neighbor's decorations. The whole roof is decorated to look like a gingerbread house, bright lights wrapping around the whole house and feeding into the bushes and trees near the front, green and red rope lights tightly wound around the pillars in the archway, the windows each adorned with a delicate wreath wrapped in white lights, and a large, inflatable Santa and Frosty on either side of the sidewalk leading up to the house, complete with a blow up mailbox designed for Santa.
"It's nice!" You smile.
"Thanks! Guess some people just are natural born decorators!" He smirks before going back inside.
"It's not even that great." Calum mumbles, his jaw tightening as he grinds his teeth subtly, his grip on your hand tightening as his free hand forms into a small fist, his arms flexing from the sudden tension in his muscles, his neck vein prominent as he slowly leads you back inside.
"Are you okay, Cal?" You question carefully, walking into the kitchen as he follows.
"Mhm" He mumbles, sitting down quietly as you set the lasagna on the table, dishing some onto his plate.
"You don't seem okay." You reply timidly, watching him with careful eyes as he takes a sip of his water.
"I'm fine, okay?" He snaps, setting his glass down a bit too harshly causing small water droplets to splatter across the table.
"You don't have to be an ass." You mumble, playing with the food on your plate.
Calum sighs, reaching across the table to grab your hand. "I'm sorry, sweetheart. I'm just tired from being outside in the cold all day and putting those lights up. I didn't mean to take it out on you."
"You're sure it doesn't have to do with Jeff's lights?"
"His lights aren't even that great. Our house is going to look so much better, just you wait, sweetheart." He smirks, a playful yet determined glint in his eyes.
"Just don't go all Christmas Vacation on me, okay?"
Calum chuckles, reaching across the table to kiss you softly. "I'll try, sweetheart. No promises."
-
You pull into your driveway, sighing when you see Calum up on the roof once again. You grab your purse, exiting your car and stopping in your tracks when you see the roof and ground littered with boxes of new decorations along with a few already up and running including a large, inflatable snow globe with Santa on your right and three light up, mechanical reminder on your left.
"Hey sweetheart! How was work?" Calum asks, smiling so widely at you that his eyes crinkle at the sides.
"It was good...Why does our front yard look like a recycling plant?" You ask, watching as Calum staples a few more lights to the roof.
"Just wanted to get some more decorations." He states nonchalantly.
"Calum, there's a difference between a few more and enough to light up our entire neighborhood."
"Sweetheart, just trust me on this. I know what I'm doing." He explains, wiping the sweat from his forehead with his glove covered hand.
"Alright, well I'm going to go make dinner, so please don't hurt yourself, baby." You shake your head as he waves you off, grunting softly as he staples a few more lights.
You begin to make dinner, a quick recipe for spinach tortellini alfredo, when Calum bursts through the door, shaking off his boots before he makes his way into the kitchen.
"Smells great, sweetheart." He coos, pulling you in for a side hug and kissing your head.
"Tha-What's that?" You cut yourself off as Calum takes off his jacket, revealing a dark green sweater with a reindeer, presumably Rudolph based on the bright red nose, covered in Christmas lights.
"What?" He looks down, smiling widely. "Oh! I bought us matching Christmas sweaters! Yours is in the room!"
"Does that thing light up?" You question through a giggle.
"It does! Look the reindeer's nose lights up and so do the Christmas lights around his body!" He presses the small button by the sleeve, lighting up the sweater, a soft giggle escaping his lips. "Come on!" He exclaims, dragging you into the bedroom to show you yours. "Try it on!"
You giggle, slipping your shirt off before putting the sweater on.
"Beautiful!" Calum beams, pressing the button on yours to light it up.
"I can't believe you went this far." You tease, looking down at the sweater.
"It gets even better, sweetheart!"
You groan, watching as he hurries to the closet.
"Close your eyes!"
You obey his command, closing your eyes as you feel him place a hat on your head. "Okay open!"
You open your eyes to find your head adorned with a santa hat that has "Hood 2" embroidered along the front. You look to Calum to find "Hood 1" embroidered along his, a loud laugh leaving your lips when you look at the two of you in your full length mirror.
"Calum, this is way past romantic comedy cheesy. I'm beginning to question the danger those lights have possibly done to you." You tease.
Calum pulls you into his side, admiring the two of you in the mirror.
"We look like the most festive people on our street."
"Is this about Jeff?"
"No" He answers rather quickly. "I mean, no. I just wanted to be festive with my wife." He shrugs, trying to play off his sudden Christmas festivity as nothing.
You cock an eyebrow. "Mhm, so are you going to stay inside or are you going to just shovel food into your mouth on the way to the door to get back to your decorations?"
Calum chuckles, scratching his neck. "I'm actually not that hungry, so can you just put my plate in the fridge for later? I'm almost done with the new roof lights and then we can reveal my masterpiece!"
"Anything for you my competitive little puppy." You tease, pinching his cheek playfully.
"I'm not competitive." He defends, crossing his arms.
"Baby, you're literally in a Christmas light decoration contest with our neighbor."
Calum hums, waving you off before scurrying back outside.
-
"Calum? It's getting dark, don't you think you should come inside now?" You call, looking up at the roof, squinting to see his large silhouette in the darkness.
"I'm fine, babe!"
"Calum, at least come in for a few minutes to warm up! It's freezing out here!" You shiver involuntarily, rubbing your palms up and down your arms.
"Fine." He huffs, reluctantly climbing down the ladder.
You open your mouth to speak when your neighbor pulls into their driveway, honking to get both of your attention.
"Getting cold, Hood? I suppose this is only for the big boys." He laughs, smirking as he unloads a few more boxes of decorations.
Calum clenches his jaw angrily, narrowing his eyes at your neighbor. He quickly pecks your cheek before storming over to the ladder.
"Sweetheart, I need you to go pick up more decorations." He states without looking back at you.
"How will I know what you want?" You ask, looking up at him as he sits on the roof.
"Just tell Jason we need more stuff." He explains, unboxing a few more lights and stapling them to the roof.
"Who's Jason?" You ask, your eyebrows furrowing in confusion.
"My light guy."
Your face contorts in confusion as you stare up at your husband. "You have a light guy?"
"SWEETHEART, WE HAVE NO TIME FOR QUESTIONS JUST GET TO LOWE'S!" He exclaims, quickly stapling more lights to the roof.
You shake your head, grabbing your purse before you get in the car. You watch Calum up on the roof, his determined and competitive nature shining through, his face furrowed in concentration as he looks at what he should do next to top your neighbor. You smile to yourself as you pull out of your driveway, determined to help your husband beat your annoying neighbor in a Christmas light off no matter how much work it takes, and no matter how cheesy the two of you end up looking, because if it makes Calum happy then it's worth it.
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A/N: I just wanted to say thank you to all of you who are reading this and thank you to those who vote! Don't be a silent reader, guys! I hope you guys are enjoying this as much as I am writing it!