As always with epilogues, read chapter 27 first if you haven't.
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December 2020
"Damn." Calum chuckles, sliding his hands around Tilly's tan stomach, kissing her bare shoulder. She'd ran for the ocean as he helped his dad set up the blankets on the sand.
"I love the ocean in Australia." Tilly sighs, leaning back against Calum's chest, as the waves lap against her lower stomach.
"It's the best ocean in the world." He nods, dropping to capture her lips with his own.
"Would you want to move back here? When the band is done, when you're ready to settle down? Or do you think your life will always be in LA. That you'll always be too into the music scene there to come home?"
"I don't know. In my mind, I would love to move home eventually. To live here in Sydney and raise my family. But I also love my band more than anything, and I would stay in LA for that. But if the opportunity presented itself, I would come home, yes."
"I'd like to live here, it's far away from everything in my past. In Australia I think of you. I don't worry about my family issues, I don't think about my past. I relax, I breathe, and I could see myself here. There is so much wildlife that needs help here, there would be so much work I could do close to our home. It would work, I would love raising a family here. I could be totally and completely happy here."
"You would settle down here?" Calum grins.
"I don't think I'll ever be able to live without traveling at least some. But I could live here and travel a couple times a year for trips. I could make this my base. But Band Boy, wherever you are, that will always be my homebase. Be it Sydney, or LA, or London, or some remote island you buy us to escape the world. Wherever you are is home."
"I love you, AG." Calum chuckles, "Wherever we end up, it will be together."
"I like that plan." Tilly smiles, turning in Calum's arms, wrapping hers around his neck tightly.
"Me too." He hums, cupping her cheek, his lips finding hers.
"Oi. No one want's to watch you snog a girl, Calum."
He chuckles into Tilly's lips, kissing her softly one more time before turning. "Hey, Mal! Welcome home." Calum grins, going to wrap his sister in a hug.
"Step aside, little bro, I have to meet the girl you canceled on me for." Mali laughs, barely hugging Calum before pushing around and taking Tilly's hands.
"Oh my gosh! I'm so excited to meet you, Tilly!" Mali squeals, holding her at arms length to examine.
"It's nice to meet you too." Tilly smiles.
"You are so beautiful! We are going to be best friends."
"Can we be sisters instead? I've got friends." Tilly laughs.
"You are officially my favorite person. Of course we can be sisters." Mali yells pulling Tilly into a tight hug.
"Should have introduced you two at the house. Y'all are loud as fuck." Calum chuckles.
"You love us." Tilly rolls her eyes at him.
"That I do. And I'm glad you two want to be friends, and will be friends."
"We are sisters, Cal. I've known her two minutes and I love her completely." Mali smiles.
"I'm assuming since you're here mum is too?" Calum chuckles.
"She picked me up from the airport. I think she was finding a good place to set up her chair."
"Did you see dad? He was holding a place for us."
"I'm sure she found him. She knew he was here already since I saw you guys." Mali shrugs.
"I like that your family spends Christmas Eve on the beach together." Tilly smiles, reattaching her arm around Calum's waist when Mali let's her go.
"We picked up our usual dinner too." Calum grins, "Anyone fancy a picnic?"
"I could definitely eat." Tilly nods.
"You can always eat, AG." Cal laughs.
"A very true statement." She chuckles, letting him guide her back towards the warm sand.
"I like a girl who can eat. Means you're not so worried about being a skinny bitch." Mali nods approvingly.
"I have a physically demanding job, not eating would be detrimental."
"And you love food." Calum chuckles, kissing the side of her head softly.
"Also true. Food is my weakness."
"I feel that. Pasta is going to be the death of me." Mali grins.
"The pasta your dad ordered looked amazing. I can't wait to try it." Tilly grins.
"The shrimp alfredo is amazing. And a Christmas Eve tradition for the Hood's. You better like it." Mali scolds.
"She can stomach raw bugs, I think the pasta will be easy for her. Plus, she loves shrimp, and she loves pasta." Calum rolls his eyes.
"Raw bugs?" Mali's face contorts into a look of disgust.
"I've stomached rat before too. It's a consequence of my job. Normal food is not going to gross me out, no matter what it is." She laughs.
"I see you found them." Joy interupts as the three reach the Hood parents.
"That I did. And for your information, I am on team Cally. I like this girl, and she's good for Cal." Mali grins, plopping down into the sand, covering her wet legs in the granulates.
"Tilly, this is my mum, Joy. Mum, this is my Tilly." Calum grins, his eyes going soft as he turns to her.
"It's nice to finally meet the woman who raised such an amazing man." Tilly smiles.
"And it is so nice to finally meet the girl who stole my baby boys heart." Joy smiles, standing from her chair to pull Tilly into a tight hug.
"He did some stealing too. This wasn't one sided." Tilly laughs.
"And we are all glad about that." David interupts. "Now, we better eat before the pasta goes bad."
"Come on, AG." Calum smiles, pulling her down between his legs as he sits, letting her back rest against his chest.
"Welcome to a real family. You're forever going to be a part of this." Calum whispers into her ear, fiddling with his pocket for a moment before producing a small circle shaped charm, Proud Hood Family Member engraved on it.
"I love you, Band Boy." Tilly chuckles, letting him thread the charm onto her growing bracelet.
"I love you too, baby. Merry Christmas." He smiles, pecking her lips softly before they turn back to the family at large.
CalumHood
Liked by malikoa, littlemissnomad, and 436,729 others
CalumHood: Home spending time with my family and my girl. Happy, healthy, and relaxed.
Hope everyone's holidays are going amazingly.
Malikoa: my photography skills are improving a lot. Also I love you two.
Littlemissnomad: nowhere else I'd rather be. Thanks for letting me crash the festivities. I love you. 🖤
LittleMissNomad
Sydney, Australia
Liked by CalumHood, sierradeaton, and 194,372 others
Littlemissnomad: I love this place and this human. 🇦🇺❤
Hope you are all enjoying the holidays with your loved ones.
Calumhood: I love you 😍
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The end!
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~M =)