The water ripples from the large swimming pool glistened in the orange and red sunlight. The sun was slowly setting, and it was illuminating Hanna's backyard with various bursts of color. She sat on the step by the door with her knees curled under her chin, watching Caleb and their two-year-old daughter, Madelyn, in the air. The toddler came down with such a splash, the water droplets flew for miles. She shrieked with laughter as Caleb did it again and again, and Hanna couldn't help but smile. There certainly wasn't anything sweeter than a father bonding with his daughter.
"Caleb," Hanna called across the yard. The brunette stopped what he was doing and turned his head to the left, so he was facing her. "It's nearly her bedtime."
Caleb nodded, but not before looking at the tiny blonde, who was still giggling. Her huge armbands covered her face, making it look like they were almost suffocating her. But she seemed to be having a whale of a time. Her little feet kicked up the water as she attempted to swim, using the basic techniques her Auntie Em had taught her last time she'd visited. Hanna and Caleb were always astounded at how much their daughter remembered of swimming: she seemed to forget everything else she was taught, such as picking up her toys when she'd finished with them, or not throwing food across the kitchen when eating. It looked like Madelyn was going to take after Emily.
"Mommy says we need to get out now," Caleb said to the toddler, frowning.
Hanna, who was making her way over to the pool with two towels, said, "Make me sound like the bad guy why don't you."
Caleb sat Madelyn on the side and grinned at Hanna. "If it makes me the favorite parent, I'll do whatever it takes."
"You're already the favorite parent," Hanna sighed. As much as she hated admitting it, it was definitely true. Madelyn had her father wrapped around her little finger; she could get him to do whatever she wanted. Hanna reached the poolside and squatted down. She tickled her daughter's cheek before wrapping a pink fluffy towel around her dripping body. "Maddie, who do you love more: Mommy or Daddy?"
Caleb laughed and exclaimed, "Han, you can't ask her that!"
"Why not?" the blonde replied. Hanna stood up before picking Madelyn up. The toddler was swaddled so tightly, she couldn't move a muscle, and was laughing hysterically the whole way back into the house. Caleb followed, after drying himself with the towel Hanna had left him. When Hanna looked back and saw Caleb was quite a way behind, she moved her face closer to her daughter's and whispered, "Maddie, you need to say you love me more, okay?"
"Why Mommy?" Madelyn asked, a little too loudly. Hanna shushed her, and her version of a quiet voice, the little girl repeated, "Why Mommy?"
"Because it'll be funny," Hanna replied. She heard Caleb's bare feet padding across the kitchen floor and nodded at Maddie. "Say it now."
"Daddy," the small blonde shouted. "I haf somefink I gotta tell you."
Caleb pulled out a can of beer from the fridge and turned around, smirking. Madelyn was now standing by his feet, looking up at him with her big, blue eyes. "Do you now? And what would that be, Madelyn?" He knew what was coming and couldn't help but emit a small laugh.
"I love Mommy more." Maddie, herself, laughed and looked back at Hanna, who was grinning.
"Come on, bug. Let's get you to bed," Hanna said, walking forwards. She placed her hands on the two-year-old's shoulders and pushed her so she'd start moving. Maddie groaned, but didn't try and stop her mom. As Hanna passed Caleb, she said, "You heard it, Rivers. She loves me more." Madelyn was already at the bottom of the stairs, so Hanna had to hurry to catch her before she went any further. After spending almost 10 minutes just getting up the stairs, Hanna directed her daughter into her bedroom. Madelyn's room was painted a pale pink — a color Hanna had wanted ever since she found out she was having a daughter — with various pieces of white and pink furniture. Maddie charged into the bedroom and headed straight for her collection of stuffed animals, which was something she did every night. Without one — or more than one — she couldn't sleep.
"Which animal is it tonight, Mads?" Hanna asked as she pulled out a pair of pyjamas from the white chest of drawers in the corner. She turned around to find the young child holding a dolphin in one hand and a unicorn in the other. "Can't decide, huh?"
"Mommy, what one?" Maddie asked, shoving them both in Hanna's face.
The blonde thought for a moment, as if it were a serious question. "I think the…dolphin! And then I can sleep with the unicorn." Hanna took the stuffed dolphin from Madelyn's chubby hand, taking her by surprise.
"You don't sleep wif a anmal, Mom," the toddler replied, laughing. She snatched the toy back from her mother and threw it into the pile she had retrieved it from. Maddie pulled out her pyjama top that was in Hanna's hand, but immediately handed it back to Hanna. "Put it on," she ordered. Hanna raised her eyebrows at her daughter's order, but did it anyway. She then proceeded to put on a pair of pyjama shorts on Madelyn, before taking her through to the bathroom.
As Maddie stood herself on the stool by the basin, Hanna grabbed her toothbrush and toothpaste. She squirted a bit of paste on, and then held it in front of Madelyn's mouth. "Open wide."
After the toddler was finished in the bathroom, the blonde led her back into her bedroom, laid her in her pink bed and gently covered her with her blanket. It was currently summer in Rosewood, meaning all bedrooms got hot and stuffy at night, so Hanna had swapped the duvet for a blanket given to Madelyn from Aria and Ezra at her birth.
"Do you want a story tonight?" Hanna asked as she knelt by the bed. Maddie furrowed her eyebrows and pouted — something she did every time she had to think. A few moments later, the toddler shook her head. "No?"
"Not tonight," she said. "I too tired now."
Hanna raised an eyebrow and said, "Okay then." She gave her daughter a big kiss on her forehead before wandering over to the door, where she paused. As she switched off the lights, she said, "Night, baby." Caleb was walking up the stairs as Hanna was gently shutting the door. Hanna looked at him and immediately knew why he was upstairs. Without saying anything, she reopened Madelyn's bedroom door and let him in. She heard the blonde's voice pipe up as Caleb walked into the room, and then heard Caleb tell her to settle down.
"Night night, bug," Caleb called before he walked back out. Behind him, Hanna quietly pulled the door shut and headed down the carpeted hallway. "She'll be out like a light, she was so hyper today."
Hanna nodded, agreeing. "She didn't even want a story. She always wants a story, unless she's too tired." As the couple reached the bottom of the staircase, she added, "Hopefully this means we can get a lie in tomorrow morning."
The blonde and brunette headed through to the living room, where they sat on the couch bought at Pottery Barn. Hanna snuggled into Caleb as he flicked the listings of TV shows. Hanna pointed at one: The Real Housewives of Orange County, but Caleb said no. He then suggested watching Games of Thrones, but Hanna said she'd rather stick pins in her eyes. They finally settled on watching a pre-recorded Orange is The New Black.
Bella, the young family's Shih Tzu, came bounding over and hopped onto the couch, joining Hanna and Caleb. She padded across Hanna's lap and onto Caleb's, where she proceeded to lay down and rest her head on his knee. Hanna looked over and giggled: Caleb was such a manly man, but Bella was such a famine breed of dog. To Hanna, it was a funny sight. To Caleb, not so much.
"Why are you laughing?" he asked as he stroked the dog's head. "Have you never seen a man and his dog bond before?"
"I have," Hanna laughed as she sat up. "It's just normally not a man with a Shih Tzu with a purple bow in her fur." The blonde reached over and picked one of Madelyn's hair bows from the fur by Bella's ear and held it up to Caleb. With it, a big clump of fluff was pulled out. "We have got to stop letting Maddie do this."
"Can we get another dog?" Caleb asked, taking Hanna by surprise. The blonde looked at him, confused. "You got to choose Bella. Can I choose one?"
Hanna shrugged. "I suppose so. Wait, you aren't thinking about getting one of those Great Danes are you? Because I really don't think they go well with two-year-olds."
"No, Han," Caleb laughed. "I wasn't thinking about getting a Great Dane. I was thinking maybe more of a Husky sort of breed."
The blonde nodded, liking that idea. "Husky's are cute. Plus, they have the most amazing eyes," she sighed happily. "Can we wait until after we've moved, though?"
"Sure."
Unfortunately, Hanna and Caleb didn't get the lie in they both desired. Madelyn decided it would be a good idea to wake up at 6 o'clock, more hyper-active than ever before. She was jumping on the bed, yelling and screeching when Caleb walked in, and she had Bella barking beneath her. Hanna, who was pretty much still asleep, followed her husband and gasped when she saw what Madelyn was doing.
"Madelyn Ava Rivers, get your ass of that bed right now!" Hanna exclaimed, suddenly fully awake. Caleb stood to her right, laughing. Bella was frightened by the yelling and whimpered before trotting out of the room. Maddie frowned and stepped off the bed, but fell before she got her balance. She let out a cry, but Hanna wasn't sure if that was because she had been told off or if she'd hurt herself. The blonde sighed and padded over to her wailing daughter, bent down, and then looked her in the eye. "What's wrong, baby?"
Madelyn was only a toddler — two, nearly three — meaning her speech wasn't quite perfected yet. She started pointing to her arm and mumbling something, but between her cries and the fact she couldn't talk well, Hanna had no idea what she was saying. As Maddie continued to complain, Hanna looked back at Caleb worried. "What if she's hurt herself?"
Caleb walked over to the pair and crouched down, resting his hand reassuringly on the blonde's shoulder. "Madelyn's fine, babe. She's two, she's going to fall and bump herself."
"But she keeps crying and pointing to her arm," Hanna said in a groan. Her inner mother was definitely coming out. "What if it's broken?"
"Maddie," Caleb said, grabbing his daughter's attention. Madelyn sniffled and ceased her tears. "Is your arm okay?"
The small blonde shook her head and pouted. "It hurts."
"Let me see." Caleb gently took a hold of Maddie's tiny arm and peered at it. There was no bruise, no swelling, just a tiny scratch. Caleb pointed it at and asked, "Is this what's hurting?" Madelyn nodded in reply. "Baby, this is the smallest cut I've ever seen."
"Cut?" Hanna exclaimed. She peered over Caleb's shoulder, and let out a sigh of relief when she saw it was so small. "Oh thank God," she breathed.
"Should Mommy and I give it a kiss better?"
"Yeah," Madelyn replied, a tiny smile growing on her face. After both Hanna and Caleb had bent down and given her arm a kiss, she suddenly perked off and skipped out of the bedroom.
"Well, that pain didn't last long," Hanna said as she stood up. She looked down and realised she wasn't wearing any pants, but instead was wearing one of Caleb's old — well not really old as such; it was just one she had worn once and then claimed as her own — baggy shirts that barely covered the top of her thigh. Even though Madelyn was now in the room at the end of the hall, which was her playroom, Hanna pulled it down, hoping it would cover more.
"Babe, what's wrong?" Caleb asked, noticing what she was doing. He put her arm around her shoulders, but the blonde shook it off and stepped away.
"Nothing, I just need to put some pants on." Hanna rushed out of the room, leaving a rather bewildered Caleb standing alone.
A/N - yay a new haleb story! I've just realised all of my stories are about haleb, but who cares. HALEB ARE ENDGAME, OKAY?
anyway, i really hope you all enjoy this new story! i'm currently working out the whole plot, but hopefully it's going to be a good one :))
leave your reviews!
