Chapter Text
It's never too late to get it back.
The sunlight was streaming through the glass in a cascade, illuminating the kitchen and warming the tiles on the window sill. The waxy leaves of the succulents glistened in the sunlight, the drops of water caught on the leaves glittering like diamonds as they swayed gently in the light breeze that entered through the open patio doors.
The burnished gold of Michael’s hair was fading these days, streaked liberally at the temples with silver that stretched like veins of precious metal through the soft waves. The blue plaid shirt he wore was open at the collar with the sleeves rolled back to his elbows, and his tattoos were more grey than black now, his faint scars just pearly white streaks on his skin beneath them, barely visible anymore.
Calum’s chocolate brown eyes were soft as he cupped Michael’s cheek gently, his wedding ring glinting in the sunlight as they sat together at the kitchen table. His eyes crinkled when he smiled, his dimples creasing his cheeks, and Michael’s laugh was soft when he reached to poke Calum gently on the nose.
“What?” the dark-haired man asked, pressing a kiss to Michael’s fingertip as his full lips tugged up into a smile. Michael rolled his eyes fondly, trying to pretend that Calum didn’t make his heart pound in his chest even now, thirteen years after they’d finally admitted their love for each other.
“It’s not fair that you’re still so cute now,” Michael muttered, fighting to suppress his smile as he gave a little shrug like he wasn’t blushing. “Also you’re almost forty five and you’re barely even grey!”
“You say that like you’ve gone white, Mikey,” Calum pointed out but his eyes were twinkling and Michael gave his husband’s shoulder a weak shove, hiding his smile behind the rim of his coffee cup as he took a sip. “You’d be pretty even if you had… I don’t know... waist-length platinum Rapunzel hair - I promise you.”
“You think Rapunzel only had waist-length hair? Really, Cal?” Michael laughed before pretending to consider it. “Well... I guess I could probably pull that off. It might suit you better though, darling. I mean -” The older man faltered, eyes twinkling brighter as he heard a key in the door.
“Uh oh,” Calum said, echoing Michael’s thoughts. “Here comes trouble.”
“You guys still say that every single time!” Georgie complained as she kicked her sandals off in the hall, padding across the wooden panelled floor and leaning casually against the doorframe. Sugar and Liquorice had passed away a few years ago now but Coco still perked her head up from her quilted blanket, woofing sleepily and making a soft contented sound when the eighteen year old girl crouched momentarily to pet the old dog.
“It’s because you’re always causing trouble,” Michael pointed out as his youngest daughter straightened up. Her mousy brown hair was styled into a pixie-cut now and it had long-since been dyed a vibrant purple, and Georgie looked faintly smug as she put her hands on her hips, dressed in a black halterneck crop top and high-waisted shorts. There was a piece of clingfilm sellotaped to her ankle and Calum’s eyes spotted it immediately.
“What’s that?” he asked, pointing it out. Michael’s eyes widened when Georgie’s expression became chagrined. She sauntered into the kitchen like she didn’t have a care in the world, tanned from spending too many hours out in the sunshine.
“So I got a tattoo,” she began casually and Michael jerked upright in his chair so quickly that he slopped coffee onto the worktop. Calum let out a bark of laughter as he reached to snag a piece of kitchen roll and Michael kind of wanted to put his head into his hands but he was more concerned about seeing what Georgie had had tattooed.
“Did your sister know about this?” Michael asked suddenly and Georgie beamed at him, freckly nose crinkling just like it had done when she was a little kid as she jutted her chin belligerently.
“Yep,” she grinned, dropping down into a seat at the breakfast bar and swiping a crisp green apple from the bowl. She leant back in her chair, tossing the fruit up into the air and catching it again. Calum swiped it from her, taking a bite as he gave her a slightly challenging look. Georgie snorted.
“Lily drove me to the tattoo parlour actually,” the eighteen year old explained, running a hand through her lavender-coloured hair and leaving it sticking up even more messily. “She said that if I was going to be stupid enough to get a tattoo done when you’re as indecisive as I am then she was going to make sure I got it done in a place where they actually changed their needles.” Georgie rolled her eyes fondly but her love for her older sister was unmistakeable. “The tattooist was a friend of Hassan’s apparently. I got it done pretty cheaply. God, it was really irritating though, see? Like this guy kept going on about how Hassan and Lil are his idea of a perfect couple and it was totally sickening after the first… I don’t know… maybe ten seconds? The guy was good though. Really neat and stuff. I love it.”
Calum snorted with laughter at Georgie’s disgruntled expression - apparently still dwelling on her older sister’s relationship - but Michael was watching her silently.
“That raises an interesting point actually,” the older man said at last and his eyes were glittering faintly as Georgie smiled at him, baring her teeth. “What tattoo did you get?”
Georgie gave this delighted little laugh at that and it sent alarm bells ringing but Michael couldn’t for the life of him guess what it might be. Georgie had always been wilful and spontaneous. It could be just about anything.
“It’s a cat!” Georgie said excitedly, lifting her ankle up awkwardly to show them the black cat curling around her ankle. “Look, dad! Meow!”
Michael’s forehead made a dull thudding sound when it hit the table.
Calum cackled.
“It was your fault, dad!” Georgie accused teasingly and Michael was trying so hard not to - what? Laugh? Cry? Headbutt the wall? - that he simply gazed at her helplessly until she took pity on him, elaborating. “You showed me those old pictures of me the other week! Back when I was like four or something! If you hadn’t told me the story about me actually thinking I was a cat for a good year and a half of my life then this wouldn’t have happened! I just knew I wanted a tattoo up until that point but the cat idea just seemed perfect. I couldn’t miss the opportunity.”
Michael was chuckling quite a lot now but he made his expression as wounded as possible anyway, and Calum was laughing wheezily beside him, head falling to rest on his husband’s neck as he giggled helplessly.
“Georgie the mad cat returns,” Calum gasped out, actually wiping tears away as Michael started to laugh harder, dropping his head into his hands as he remembered how many times his youngest daughter had said ‘meow’ when she was growing up.
The front door opened again as Lily let herself in, blonde hair swept up into a ponytail, sensible denim skirt hanging down to her knees as she fiddled with the hem of what looked like one of Hassan’s old Star Wars t-shirts.
“Why are our dads crying?” the twenty year old asked teasingly as she came up behind her little sister, draping her pale arms around Georgie and settling her chin on one of the younger girl’s narrow shoulders.
“I broke them with my tattoo,” Georgie explained, tilting her head back to give Lily a big grin. “Where’d you leave lover boy? I thought he was coming round with Morgan once they’ve set his new games console up?”
“They’ll be round later,” Lily said, cheeks flushing pink as she thought about her boyfriend. They’d been dating for almost five years now - Mahir and Michael still hadn’t got over their (slightly sarcastic in Mahir’s case) excitement - and Lily still blushed whenever she thought about him. Michael thought it was unbearably sweet.
“Mali’s coming round later too,” Calum said once he’d recovered somewhat. “Tom texted to let me know.”
“Kara will be happy if Morgan turns up for this barbecue then,” Lily said, eyes twinkling. She found it adorable that Mali and Tom’s daughter had fallen for Ashton and Bryana’s son. Michael supposed he had to admit that it was pretty cute.
“Are Ash and Bry coming later?” Lily asked. “And Luke and Will?” Michael nodded and Georgie grinned, apparently thinking about Will’s latest car if the dreamy smile on her face was anything to go by. (Michael and Calum still had Samson the race car sitting on their mantlepiece now, and Georgie found it hilarious that they kept it on display.)
“Apparently Mali’s dug out Kara’s baby albums from the loft too so we’re going to be shown those,” Calum added suddenly and the two girls laughed. “Although surely that’s going to totally mortify her if Morgan’s there… God, why’s my sister so evil?”
“Poor Kara,” Georgie said sympathetically but she was kind of giggling. “Mali dressed her in such weird outfits when she was a baby. I’m so glad you didn’t do that, dad.”
Michael laughed, rolling his eyes fondly as he reached out to ruffle Georgie’s hair. She made a big show of ducking away but she still let him card his fingers through it and Michael was glad of that. Georgie and Lily would never be too old to be his little girls.
“Maybe I’m saving all those outfits for my grandchildren instead,” Michael teased, just because he knew Lily would go scarlet and Georgie would pretend to be sick. He wasn’t disappointed and Calum seemed to find it highly amusing as he drank his coffee, watching his little family with sparkling eyes as they joked together.
“You can forget about that one for possibly the next fifteen years, dad,” Georgie said airily. “I don’t think Daniel and I are committed enough for that.”
“Who’s Daniel?” Calum asked and Georgie’s eyes glittered. Lily was smiling like she already knew.
“He’s the guy I’m seeing,” Georgie explained, making Michael and Calum’s eyebrows rise.
“But I thought you were seeing someone called Freddie?” Michael asked. Georgie shrugged, taking another apple from the bowl and rolling it around in her hands before she finally took a bite, grinning up at her parents.
“Not anymore. But Dan does drama at college too, yeah? And apparently he’s liked me for ages and he wants to go see that new zombie film that’s out at the moment, y’know? The one with the camping trip and the school bus and the flamethrower? And I told him yes if he buys the popcorn… and he said he’d get maltesers too.” Georgie smiled cheerfully up at everyone, glancing towards the garden outside as the sunshine glinted on her numerous ear piercings. She hid the soft smile in her shoulder. “So it looks like I have a date tomorrow night.”
“Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do,” Lily said instantly and Georgie snickered, taking another bite of apple.
“Then I wouldn’t even talk to him,” the eighteen year old said pointedly and Lily scoffed, elbowing her sister lightly in the ribs. Her cheeks were flushed with laughter though and her eyes were fond. Michael had a feeling she was still thinking about Hassan.
“Oh please! I have a boyfriend! I’ve been dating him for -”
“It doesn’t count!” Georgie yelled immediately. “You knew him when you were like three!” Lily gave a dignified roll of her eyes. “Or… or seven or whatever it was,” Georgie amended sulkily and Lily gave one of her trademark, sarcastic thumbs up. Georgie’s eyes glittered like she could keep teasing her sister all day.
“They’re going to be fighting for a while, darling,” Michael muttered in a stage whisper, grinning when his daughters pointedly ignored him, their lips twitching with smiles. “You want to finish your coffee outside instead?”
“Good call, sweetheart,” Calum said. “I’m not sure I can stand the conflict.”
The sun was even hotter in the garden but Calum’s chocolate brown eyes were sparkling as he looked at Michael and it made his husband’s breath catch in his throat.
“I’m so glad I married you,” Michael murmured as they sat down on the same deck chair, thighs pressed warmly together as Michael let his head fall to rest gently on Calum’s shoulder. The dark-haired man set their mugs carefully on the floor before he wrapped his arms around his husband, holding him close and rubbing the skin of Michael’s pale arm beneath his palm as the sun warmed them.
“So am I,” Calum whispered, dropping a kiss onto the top of Michael’s head. “I’m so glad I met you again.”
“You were right,” Michael breathed suddenly and Calum looked up at him with confusion blossoming in his lovely eyes. Michael smiled gently. “You told me once that everything was going to get better, remember? That it would all be alright in the end… and you were right, darling. It is.”
Calum’s cheeks were flushed with blood but his eyes were still shining as he smiled down at their entwined hands, dimples showing in his cheeks, full lips tugging up into a wider grin.
“Thank you, Cal,” Michael whispered, turning his head to press a gentle kiss to Calum’s soft cheek. “Thank you for not giving up on me. Thank you for sticking around and making our lives so much better. Thank you for being you, you beautiful darling. Thank you.”
“It was the least I could do, Mikey,” Calum said and his eyes looked wet with tears but the love blazing on his face was undeniable. “You and your daughters… you’re the best things that have ever happened to me. Loving you was the best choice I ever made.”
Michael’s hand tightened around Calum’s and his heart beat calmly in his chest, free from worry and anxiety and sadness. The sun was warm on his skin and Calum’s lips were gentle as he pressed a tiny kiss to the corner of his husband’s mouth.
“I love you,” Michael promised and Calum squeezed his hand tighter.
“I love you too,” the younger man said and his smile was so beautiful. “To the moon and back.”
Briefly, Michael remembered the lingering melancholy in his veins and the numbness that had once clung to him like a fog but those days were long gone now, and Michael was surrounded by his girls and Calum, and all of their friends and family.
He felt whole and safe and happy.
With Calum and his girls beside him, Michael was finally home.
FIN