(no subject)

[five_steps_back]

Name: Kelly and Nikki
Colors: Fluorescent Pink 16. Sometimes I get the feeling that we're all just a bunch of clowns standing on our tiptoes at the edge of a great abyss, and Cotton Candy 11. play house for Kelly; Chocolate Brown 1. Three Musketeers
Styles and Supplies: Eraser (TOWNOID), Interactive Art, Mosaic, Collage, Acrylic (Photograph Prompt), Pastels (my current gen+romance card for origfic_bingo, G1. a favorite relative for Kelly; my gen card, G2. The usual suspects for Nikki), Brush (abstruse), Modeling Clay (#150: Love), Glue (Be certain that you know what you want before you make a move that cannot be undone.), Glitter (- "You can't deny laughter; when it comes, it plops down in your favorite chair and stays as long as it wants.“ - Stephen King in Hearts in Atlantis)
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 5,288
Story: Phase and Polyfaceted (Index ~ Timeline); the title of this piece is 'Baby Makes Four.'
Summary: Calum wants a baby, Jakob wants a baby. Oz really, really wants a baby.

Calum took the time to hang up his coat and toss his bag in his office after he got home before going on a hunt for either Jakob or Oz; it took some time, but he found Jakob on the roof, lying on a blanket and staring up at the stars.

"There you are." He sat down beside Jakob, leaning in to kiss him. "Enjoying yourself?"

Jakob smiled up at him. "Even more now," he answered. Calum saw him glance at the sky over his shoulder before those blue eyes were back on him. "Were you looking for me?"

"I was. You or Giant." Calum ran a hand through Jakob's hair. "I was thinking about something at work."

Jakob made a lazy noise of contentment, rolling onto his side and closer to Calum. "About what, libeling?"

"I'm ready to have children." Calum shifted to let Jakob use his leg as a pillow. "I didn't know about you or Oz, though. What do you think, buachaill deas?"

Jakob rested his head on Calum's thigh and curled a hand around his knee. The soft smile he gave Calum was all the answer he needed. "What would they call us?"

"I don't know," Calum said thoughtfully. "I could be Da. What would you like to be?" This was, of course, pure dreaming until they both found a woman willing to help and talked to Oz about it.

Jakob hummed in thought. "I think Oz would want to be Daddy… "

"Do you think Oz will want children?"

"I think so." Jakob leaned up to kiss him quickly. "What about Papa?"

"Papa would be perfect for you," Calum agreed. "We'd need to find a woman to help us with this."

"We can think about that after we talk to Oz. He should be getting home soon." Jakob sat up, still smiling when he kissed Calum again. "There's always a chance that I might be wrong."

"You'd know better than I," Calum said wryly, and bent to kiss Jakob more firmly. "I'm starved. Is there anything in the fridge?"

"We have some leftovers from last night I could warm up. I meant to have dinner made by the time you were home." He blushed, looking up at the stars. "I lost track of time."

Calum shrugged. "It's all right, love. I can get something, if you want to stay up here."

"If I have to choose between the stars and you, it should be an obvious choice." Jakob gathered the blanket up before they made their way back inside and downstairs to the kitchen. "If you can wait, I can try and make a proper meal?"

Calum smiled, sliding his arms around Jakob's waist and kissing his neck. "You're wonderful, and that would be fantastic. Thank you."

Jakob blushed again, so pretty. "I never mind cooking, Calum," he told him with a smile. "Do you want something specific?"

"No, whatever you'd like to make." Calum settled in one of the chairs at the kitchen table, facing toward the fridge and stove. "If you make it, it's going to be good."

Jakob gave him a kiss for that before he started on supper, something he promised Calum wouldn't take long. That was fine with him.

Jakob talked to him about his current classes, but he didn't seem to be able to stay on the topic for long. "How many do you want? Children?"

"Not near as many as my parents had," Calum said firmly, which made Jakob laugh a little. "Probably two or three. What about you, love?"

"Two or three what?" Oz asked from the front hall.

"What should we tell him?" Calum asked Jakob, much more quietly.

The corners of Jakob's lips twitched before he called, "Oz, do you want a baby?"

Giant nearly crashed into the kitchen to answer, looking delighted. "Two or three babies?"

"Not at once!" Calum said hastily. "Hopefully one at a time. But yes, babies. We were talking about it." He got up to kiss Giant. "Hello."

Oz returned the kiss somewhat absently. "I love this idea. I really love this idea. Was it yours, Jakob?"

"No, it was Calum's."

"Thank you," Calum added wryly.

"You're welcome," Oz cheekily answered, before kissing Calum harder. "One baby at a time is fine too."

"Now we all agree." Jakob still looked amused.

"I want a girl." Oz said, before he screwed his face up. "I think that's the first time I've said that in any way."

Calum laughed and took a stool instead of his chair, turning so he could see the both of them. "It's a matter of finding a woman who'd trust us with a baby," he pointed out.

Oz walked over to Jakob and kissed him deeply before he took a seat next to Calum. He tapped the fingers of one hand against the table, and kept his other on Calum's knee. "I could ask Annie about it," he said after a moment.

"Would she?" Jakob asked.

Oz shrugged. "Can't hurt to ask."

"Not like Cait could," Calum agreed, "and if I could even ask her, Liam would kill me for it." That earned a snort from Oz, who was completely terrified of Calum's oldest brother. "And Colleen's a bit young."

"Fifteen is more than 'a bit'," Oz said dryly. "If Annie agrees, which of you would be the father?"

Calum waited for Jakob to respond; as he expected, Jakob didn't. "I have plenty of tiny relatives," he said. "I think it should be Jakob."

Jakob looked up at that, wide-eyed. "Really?"

"I agree with him," Oz said. He grinned as Jakob started to blush. "I don't know why you're surprised, Gorgeous."

"I thought…" he trailed off with a shrug and a shy smile. "You're both sure?"

"I am," Calum said firmly. "Besides, imagine kids you and Annie would have."

Jakob's smile widened. "All right. As long as Brianna agrees to it."

"I'll call her tomorrow," Oz said.

"Okay," Jakob said, still smiling. "Dinner should be ready soon."

"You're wonderful, my pretty boy."

Jakob blushed a bit at that, but didn't say anything.

"What's for dinner?" Oz asked.

"Stir fry, salad. I meant to have something else ready by the time you both came home." Jakob shrugged. "I thought stir fry and salad would be fine, and it doesn't take long."

"It sounds wonderful." Calum turned to Giant. "Jakob said he'd like to be called Papa by the child, children, whichever, and I'd like Da. What do you want them to call you?"

Oz looked delighted all over again. "Daddy. Dad. Whichever. I just want babies."

Jakob laughed softly.

"Should have known," Calum said fondly. "I'm seen you with Cait's kids. And Conor's. And Aidan's baby."

"They're adorable," Oz said firmly, "and Mona lets me carry her and tries to tickle me. We need a daughter like that."

"I don't think we can promise you one exactly like her," Calum said, and pulled Oz down for another kiss, "but we'll see about a daughter. I think we'd all be happy with one."

"When can we have more?" Oz asked.

Jakob laughed again. "We should see how we do with one before we seriously talk about a second, Oz," he pointed out as he started to set the table. He kissed the both of them when he walked around to their seats.

"There's three of us. And we have you. We'll be fine, Gorgeous."

"None of us are Cait," Calum pointed out, "or my mam, and they're the only two I know who can manage two close together easily. Not that I doubt you, buachaill deas, but I think one right after another's a bit much for first-time parents. And," he added to Oz, "there's the matter of Annie wanting to go through pregnancy again, especially that soon."

"Yeah…" Oz conceded, almost pouting. "I just want babies."

"And we aren't even sure if Brianna will agree or not." Jakob hesitated, something that was rare for him now. "Are…are you sure you want me as the father?"

"Yes," Calum said, instant and firm. "I want you as the father. You can be on the birth certificate or certificates. Besides, love, you and Brianna would have a beautiful baby. Why do you ask?"

Jakob shrugged, blushing. "I just thought that you would want to be," he answered. "It was a surprise."

"I don't know why," Oz said, mimicking himself from earlier. "And it's certainly not like I could be the father with Annie as the mother. Even if it's not Annie, I'd still pick you."

Calum thought about it for a moment. "I'd like my last name on the birth certificate, yes," he said after a moment. "Hyphenated, perhaps, but I want your name as the father, and I want you as the biological father. I want a child that's part of you, Jakob."

Oz grinned. "What he said."

Jakob blushed wonderfully. "All right," he said, smiling softly. "I can never argue with the both of you."

"Of course you can't." Oz frowned thoughtfully. "Though, I don't really want to add my last name to the mix. Three last names would be horrible, and I don't really care if my name goes on."

"No. You just want a baby," Jakob teased. His smile widened. "Dinner is ready, by the way."

Calum got up from his stool. "Heiderich-Kilpatrick?" he suggested, and kissed Jakob on his way to his chair. "It smells wonderful, love."

"Thank you," Jakob said, smiling.

"Or we could do Kilpatrick-Heiderich," he continued. "What do you two think?"

Jakob hummed in thought as he grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge. "I'm fine with either. What do you two want to drink?"

"Beer, please," Oz answered, following Calum to the table. "And I think Heiderich-Kilpatrick. Keep it alphabetical."

"Beer for me, too," Calum said. "Then that's settled. Before we've even spoken to Brianna." He grinned. "A bit tempted to ask you call her over tonight."

"I could. I talked to her earlier today and she didn't mention that she had any plans for tonight." Oz kissed Jakob after he set down a bottle of beer in front of both him and Calum. "Thank you, gorgeous. Do you think I should call Annie after we eat?"

"Do you think you'll have the patience to wait until tomorrow?" Jakob asked as he took his seat between the two of them.

Oz grinned. "Probably not."

Calum grinned too. "Even I don't think I have the patience. Call her once we eat, Giant. Unless you mind, buachaill deas."

"I can't see how waiting until tomorrow would make much of a difference," Jakob answered, smiling softly. "I know it's not as fun to talk about, but what will we do if she doesn't agree? We don't know that she will."

"We'll go to America or England or even Germany and hire a surrogate," Calum said promptly. "I was leaning toward that a bit before Giant offered up his sister's uterus."

Oz made a face. "Calum," he whined. "I'm trying to eat."

Jakob glanced at Calum, half-amused and half-admonishingly. "Don't tease him too much, libeling," he chuckled. "He's been in such a good mood so far."

"It could have been worse," Calum said unrepentantly, and turned his attention to his food. "But you'll call her? That way, we can talk about exactly what we want to do if she says no."

Oz stuck his tongue out at him before answering. "I'll call her as soon as we eat."

After they finished, Calum helped Jakob clean up while Oz called Brianna. When Jakob refused to let him help with dishes, Calum slid behind him, wrapping his arms around his waist and kissing the back of his neck. "We could have a baby soon," he murmured. "Can you imagine?"

Jakob started running the dishwater before he turned around to face Calum. "I have before," he answered quietly. He wrapped his arms around Calum before he kissed him slowly and deeply. "Thank you," Jakob said once they parted.

"What for, pretty boy?"

Jakob blushed and lowered his eyes. "For letting me be the father."

"Of course, beautiful." Calum kissed him again. "I want you to be. I want a bit of you running about." He smiled. "Or two bits, if there are twins, though I think Brianna would murder us all if that happened. Could be a second later, though, if we all want and she agrees." He brushed his thumb across Jakob's lower lip. "When you thought about it before, who did you think would be the father?"

"Either you or Oz. Sometimes the both of you, if I thought about us having more than one." Jakob kissed him softly one more time before he turned around to start the dishes. "I would be happy raising children with you and Oz. It wouldn't matter to me whose they were."

Oz came into the kitchen then, and Calum turned to look at him. "What did she say?" His eyes narrowed slightly. "You didn't tell her what we want to ask, did you?"

Oz gave him a horribly offended look. "I can keep important secrets," he retorted with a whine. "I asked if she was busy, and she said she wasn't, so I asked if she wanted to come over. I didn't tell her we had anything to ask her."

"Why not?" Jakob asked, turning to look at Oz.

"…because I would have told her if I had," Oz nearly mumbled.

Calum laughed aloud, crossing the room to kiss Oz firmly. "God, I love you," he said fondly, "and the fact that you can't keep a single secret."

"Maybe I'm keeping secrets you don't know about. That's the point of secrets," Oz teased, smiling. "I love you too. Especially since you brought up babies."

"Did Brianna say when she would be here?" Jakob asked from behind them.

"In about half an hour, maybe a little longer." Oz slid his arms around Calum's waist, smiling wider. "Can we talk about names?"

"I didn't have anything in mind," Calum said honestly. "Do either of you?" He kissed Oz's neck softly and wrapped his arms around his back.

"If Annie agrees, and it's a girl, I was thinking that Anna might be a nice choice," Oz offered, turning his head to give Calum better access. "Or even if Annie doesn't agree. I like the name Anna."

"I like Anna," Calum agreed. "Jakob-love, what do you think?" He bit Oz's neck just below his ear and looked over his shoulder at Jakob.

Jakob smiled over his shoulder at them. "Anna is a nice name," he answered. "Anna Heiderich-Kilpatrick. I like it."

Oz made a happy sound of agreement, leaning more into Calum. "We could have a baby soon," he said, smiling widely. "Our baby."

"Well, assuming anyone is crazy enough to give us one," Calum said with a grin. "We'll have to do a bit of legal legwork for us to have custody, though. Not like other places."

"Stop being realistic about things," Oz huffed. "It's depressing. We're going to have a baby, and it will be our baby, and it will be the best baby. Even better than Mona."

Jakob laughed. "Don't say things like that to anybody else, Oz."

"My niece is an amazing child, and if you say that round Cait, no one will protect you. And I do mean from her, not from my brother." Calum kissed Oz slowly. "But we'll have a baby, and that baby will be amazing."

"I know better than to say that to Cait, thank you very much."

"I'm not so sure," Calum retorted, grinning when Oz fell into a pout. "You do have a knack for just saying things, Giant.

"Jakob, Calum is being mean."

"Calum is being honest," Jakob corrected him. "You do have a talent for it."

Oz's pout deepened to comical levels, so Calum bit his lip. "The things I'm going to do to you tonight," he murmured, which made Oz grin broadly.

The sink began to drain, and Calum glanced past Oz to see Jakob drying his hands. "Brianna should be here soon, shouldn't she?" he asked.

"Should be," Oz answered.

"Let's go wait in the living room, then," Jakob suggested, before his tone turned teasing. "Calum, you should probably answer the door when she does get here. If Oz answers, she won't be able to say hello before he asks her."

Oz practically whined in answer before he stuck his tongue out at Jakob. "You're both mean."

"And you are incapable of keeping secrets," Jakob said fondly.

"If you keep whining, I'll gag you," Calum mock-threatened Oz as they all went to the living room. He took an end of the couch. Jakob curled up beside Calum, while Oz threw his legs over the other end of the couch and settled his head in Jakob's lap.

"Gag me with what?" Oz grinned when he tilted his head back to look at Calum, waggling his eyebrows.

"Not before Brianna gets here," Jakob warned, blushing slightly.

"Nothing so fun as that," Calum said firmly. He wrapped an arm around Jakob and kissed his cheek. "I'm sure I can find something large enough to shut you up." That was said fondly. Oz still pouted.

Jakob laughed softly and snuggled against Calum, resting his head on Calum's shoulder.

Oz and Calum playfully bickered for a few more minutes until there was a knock at the door. Oz sat up to get off the couch, but was stopped when Jakob grabbed his hand. "I'll get it," he offered, standing. "And don't say anything when you see her, either," Jakob said over his shoulder as he walked into the front hall.

Calum grinned and reached over to clamp a hand over Oz's mouth. Oz swatted at his arm, mock-glaring at him, which only made Calum laugh.

Then Jakob came back with Brianna, who raised an eyebrow and asked, "What's Ozzie blabbing now?"

"All sorts of things," Calum said solemnly, and Oz said something muffled that sounded like, "Am not!" Calum ignored him. "How are you, Brianna?"

Then Oz licked Calum's palm, and he made a face, pulling his hand away and wiping it dry on Oz's shirt.

Oz grinned at Calum in victory, and said before Brianna could answer, "We have something to ask you, and that's not me telling, so stop giving me that look, Calum."

Jakob shook his head as Brianna sat down in a chair opposite of them. "Can I get you anything?" he asked her. He took his place beside Calum when she shook her head.

"What do you want to talk to me about?" she asked.

Calum shot Oz a look when he opened his mouth. Oz closed it, looking sulky, and Calum said, "We started talking about having a baby."

"Will you give us one?" Oz interrupted.

"Oz!" Jakob and Calum said at the same time.

"Well, you should have asked her when I wasn't here." Oz rolled his eyes before looking at Brianna pleadingly. It was the same look he gave everybody when he wanted something, but Brianna seemed to be laughing too much at him to really see it. "Please, Annie?"

She pressed a hand against her mouth to stifle herself. "It's no wonder you sounded odd on the phone."

"I did not," Oz protested.

Brianna rolled her eyes herself. "You did," she answered, before looking over Oz's head with a thoughtful look on her face.

After a moment, Oz interrupted again. "Well?"

Brianna silently waved him off.

"If Oz would shut it, we could explain," Calum said, and Oz stuck his tongue out at him. "We'd like to have a baby, but it would be a bit difficult for any one of us to adopt, and the alternative is going abroad, hiring a surrogate, and two of us getting on the birth certificate. It's all a bit difficult and not guaranteed, so we thought we'd ask someone we know, love, and trust. Cait's right out, even if she could, and Con would kill me if I tried to ask Genevieve. My sister's too young, so..." He spread his hands.

"So will you give us a baby?" Oz asked again.

"Besides the one we already have," Calum muttered.

Brianna giggled at the rather unimpressed look Oz gave him in return, before she quieted, obviously thinking. "Who would the father be?" she asked.

"Jakob, of course," Oz answered, and went back to giving Brianna a set of puppy dog eyes.

She ignored him and looked at Jakob and Calum instead. "If I said yes—if, Ozzie—how soon would you want me to have the baby? And what would I be to the baby?"

"Whenever you'd be comfortable," Jakob said. "I don't think any of us would want to push you."

"Definitely not," Calum agreed. He pressed an absent kiss to Jakob's hair. "You'd be a very dear aunt, nearly a mother, but we'd be the parents as far as raising the baby. You'd need to be involved a bit with schooling and such, depending on what the law says. I don't remember at the moment."

"You could be as close as you wanted," Jakob added, and Calum caught him giving Oz a look before Oz could say anything.

Brianna nodded and leaned her elbow against the arm of the chair. She rested her chin in her palm, tapping her fingers against her lips as she thought.

Oz squirmed in his seat, but kept his mouth shut for once. As much as he obviously wanted to ask Brianna again, Calum knew he wanted to stay out of trouble with Jakob more.

"I think," she eventually answered, "that Aunt Brianna has a very nice sound to it."

Oz nearly vibrated in excitement. "Is that a yes?"

She smiled. "Yes, Ozzie, that was a yes."

Oz leapt from his spot on the couch to sweep Brianna up in a hug, and Calum grinned, saying, "Thank you, Brianna."

"If you crack her ribs, she can't do it, Oz," Jakob said, sounding amused. "Brianna, thank you so much. Er, we'll have to do it the turkey baster or syringe or whatever way…"

Calum burst out laughing.

Brianna disentangled herself from Oz, dropping a few inches to the floor as she laughed. Her expression turned serious when she turned to look at Jakob. "No. I want the conventional way."

She sounded so serious about it that she must have been joking, but Jakob still got flustered, and Oz joined in with Calum's laughter.

Calum gently turned Jakob's face toward him and said, just as seriously as Brianna, "I'll protect you from her ruthless advances."

Jakob only blushed deeper, and buried his head against Calum's shoulder. "Stop it, the both of you," he said, muffled against Calum's shirt.

"Imagine how cute the baby will be, Annie," Oz babbled, nearly smiling like a lunatic. "And I want a girl. You better give me a girl."

"It's not something I can just decide, Ozzie."

"We were going to name her Anna," Oz said, like he was trying to bribe her.

"Of course you are," Brianna sniffed. She looked at Oz blandly. "After all, that was what I decided I was going to name my daughter when I was seven, and then you decided you liked it so much that you tried to steal it, until I finally said you could have it."

Calum paused in stroking Jakob's hair to stare at Oz. "Ozmand."

"Calum!" Oz said, sounding highly offended.

"You stole your little sister's intended baby name, Ozmand?"

"I did not steal it," Oz retorted, crossing his arms over his chest. "She just said she let me have it."

"Because you whined at her." Calum resumed stroking Jakob's hair. Jakob was shaking, and judging by what Calum could hear, it was with laughter. "As you are prone to doing. You did it to your seven-year-old sister."

Oz glanced at Brianna, annoyed. She only smiled back innocently in response. He stuck his tongue out at her before turning back to Calum. "Well, she obviously got over it, and we're using it anyway, and technically it's still going to be her baby's name too, so I win."

"Doesn't it tell you something that you're exactly the same as when you were a child?" Calum asked, raising his eyebrows. "And that you're arguing to keep using the name you whined you way into getting? I like Anna, don't misunderstand, but really, Ozmand."

"I don't mind if he uses it, Calum," Brianna said. "Chances are fifty-fifty that I'll have a son of my own one day—not this baby, if it is a boy, but one of my own. I already plan to name him after Ozzie."

Oz looked at her in horror. "No."

"See what happens when you steal my things, Ozzie?"

"Ozwald or Ozmand?" Calum asked Brianna with a grin. He bent his head to kiss the top of Jakob's head, and Jakob glanced up at him, mirth evident in his eyes.

"You're not funny. You're both absolutely evil," Oz declared. "You're terrible people, threatening to do such a thing to a child."

"Brianna, if this one is a boy, do you mind us using whichever of those names you choose to not use?"

"Oh, you can have Ozmand. I think Ozmand Junior has a nice ring to it, too," Brianna answered, smiling in a way that reminded Calum of Cait.

"I hate you, Annie," Oz said miserably.

"Liar," she blithely shot back, not bothered at all.

"Are you planning to live against my shirt?" Calum asked Jakob, who snuggled closer to him. He grinned and looked at Brianna and Oz. "Technically, Brianna and Jakob get to name the baby. For all we know, they'll conspire to name the baby Flower or something."

That made Jakob laugh even harder against his chest, and Jakob didn't even get to see Oz's incredible pout.

"I don't know. Oz would never stop complaining if we named the baby after him," Jakob said, after he had calmed down and pulled away from Calum a bit.

"Bloody right I wouldn't," Oz muttered. He sat down on the couch next to them, still keeping his arms crossed over his chest. "I'd never shut up. Ever."

"I'm pretty sure I could shut you up," Calum said, and Brianna rolled her eyes.

"I don't want to know that, Calum."

"Didn't mean like that. We have other ways of shutting your brother up that sometimes work."

"Wouldn't for this," Oz muttered. "Nothing would."

"You realize you could apologize to your sister," Calum said.

"For something that happened when we were kids?" Oz asked, rolling his eyes.

"It doesn't seem like you act very different," Jakob answered, smiling softly. "It can't be that big of a deal."

"No, he was horrible at apologizing when we were younger, too," Brianna sighed. "He drove our poor nannies bonkers."

Oz threw his hands up in the air. "Oh, just gang up on me, why don't you? How did we go from the baby to this?"

"You stole the first name we decided upon," Calum said promptly. "Why wouldn't we gang up on you, Giant? Your reactions are amazing."

"Annie, we'd be naming her after you," Oz whined. "You can't be mad about that."

Calum buried his laughter in Jakob's shoulder.

"Annie," Oz whined again, obviously desperate for someone to be on his side. "When are you going to want to have the baby?" he asked, again obviously looking for a change of subject.

"Obviously nine months after I get Jakob away from Calum," she answered, grinning at Jakob. She laughed after he mumbled something that sounded vaguely like 'You wish.' "Seriously, I'm not sure. I'll have to check with my professors and see how much a pregnancy would affect my classes."

"I could help you study," Jakob offered. "You're smart, and I wouldn't mind learning a little about law."

Brianna smiled at him. "You're going to be a great dad, Jakob."

"He's going to be Papa," Oz corrected her.

"And you're going to be Daddy and spoil the child as much as the other two will let you," Brianna answered, turning her smile on Oz.

"I can't say either of us would stop him," Calum admitted. "It's going to be our baby. We'll all spoil it."

"So will you," Jakob said to her. "You have to cement your place as favorite aunt, and it's going to be your first niece or nephew."

Calum grinned, planting a kiss on Jakob's forehead. "I think you're right, pretty boy."

"Of course I will." Brianna rolled her eyes, not completely unlike her brother. "But Ozzie will be the absolute worst at it."

"And obviously none of you will stop me, so how is that my fault," Oz retorted. He leaned over and snuggled against Jakob's other side. "I get to buy her car."

"You don't get to call things, Oz," Jakob said, wrapping an arm around him.

Oz frowned up at him. "I call getting to buy the baby a car when she turns sixteen."

"Jakob's right, Giant. You don't get to call it." Calum reached past Jakob to mess Oz's hair. "But you will probably be the best at spoiling the child, I'll grant you that."

Brianna shook her head. "Good luck stopping him."

Calum shrugged. "We can try. He can't call it about seventeen years in advance, anyway."

Brianna smiled before she stood. "Well, I should probably be going. I've got a busy day tomorrow, if I'm going to explain this to my professors." She looked thoughtful, and then she smiled wider. "It's going to be fun telling them that I'm having my brother's baby."

Oz laughed, jumping off of the couch. "I'll show you out."

Once the two of them were gone, Calum looked fondly down at Jakob, who was still curled into his chest. "You had to hide how amused you were, buachaill deas? Leave it to me to deal with the most of it?"

"If I had laughed at him, he would have thrown a fit." Jakob leaned up to kiss Calum deeply. "Do you feel like taking a bath? I want to look at the stars some more."

"That's true," Calum conceded. "He is like a bit biased that way." He kissed Jakob again. "Of course I'd like to, love. We could do a bit more in the bath, if you'd like."

"Of course." Jakob smiled. "We're going to have a baby soon."

"Whenever works for Brianna," Calum agreed. "Up, love. We'll have to take advantage of everything we can do when we don't have a baby. Like me and you in the bath."

Jakob stood and grabbed Calum's hand to pull him up. Oz stuck his head back in the living room when he stood as well.

"I'm going to take Annie home," he said, glancing between the two of them. "Don't wear him out too much, Jakob. He promised to do things to me."

"We're only going to take a bath," Jakob said, and blushed.

"Liar," Calum said affectionately, and to prove it, pulled Jakob to him and kissed him deeply. "I'll be sure to have energy for you later," he added to Oz. "Promise, Giant."

"Better," was all Oz said with a promising grin, and then disappeared to take his sister home.

Jakob called after him, "Thank her again!" and then looked at Calum, already beginning to flush.

"Come on, love," was all Calum said, and stripped off Jakob's shirt before heading for the bedroom. They couldn't do this in a year; they should take advantage of it when they could.

He couldn't wait to not be able to take advantage of it.