"James! Stop pressing all the buttons!" Hannah hissed at her boyfriend as he pressed three extra buttons on the elevator just for fun. He grinned up at her and sent her a wink. "We're never going to make it up to Will and Kate's room if you keep making the elevator stop."
"Relax, babe, you've got plenty of time to hold the baby." James sighed, leaning on the elevator wall across from her.
"Visiting hours are over in thirty minutes." Hannah can't control the tiny glare she sent his way. Technically it was his fault that they were both late to seeing their friends new baby girl. If he hadn't decided to stay an extra hour at the studio, Hannah would have at least an hour to hold and cuddle the baby. She could tell that James was not as pleased as her to be at a hospital to see a newborn, but Hannah had always loved babies. Hannah wanted one so bad, she couldn't stand it. But because James was touring constantly and there wasn't a wedding band, or even engagement ring, on her finger, she knew it wouldn't be happening any time soon.
Hannah had been with James for three years and at 22, she knew he was it for her and she was it for him. He knew how Hannah felt about babies and as much as he wanted to give her everything in the world, he wasn't exactly ready for that yet. His music career was at such a strong force, he couldn't deal with the thought of risking anything just yet. But he wanted a baby and wedding just as much as Hannah…he just wasn't ready to say it out loud…not yet, anyway. His fingers played with tiny ring box in his pocket. He had the engagement ring for a few weeks now, never knowing when the right time to ask Hannah to be his wife would be.
"I already apologized profusely for being late. What else do you want me to do?" James sighed out loud again, this time in frustration.
Hannah couldn't help but roll her eyes, "I want you to stop trying to stall yourself from seeing a baby. It's not like it's going to change your mind," she silently said the last part under her breath, but James heard her loud and clear.
A silent tension filled the tiny box space, but it didn't last long before the elevator sounded with a ding and Hannah rushed out, following the signs to find her friend's room. She found it with ease and put on a huge smile before knocking and going right in the room, not bothering on saying anything else to James.
"Hey, new mommy and daddy!" Hannah grinned at her friend, Kate, as she cuddled with a bundle of pink blankets. Kate's husband, Will, walked over to James and the two began to carry a casual conversation. "She's so precious!"
"Do you want to hold her?" Kate asked, smiling up at Hannah as her eyes widened at the thought of holding the beautiful girl.
"Oh, my gosh! Yes!" Without hesitating, she reached down to take the baby in her arms and cooed at her while walking around to sit in a chair beside the bed Kate was in. "Hello, you cute little girl!" Hannah made baby sounds and goo goo eyes at the newborn for quite a while, turning to Kate every so often to have an adult conversation.
James observed his girlfriend holding the baby and felt a pang of jealously, wishing he would just get over his issues and hold the little girl. Hannah felt his eyes on her and looked up, a big smile still on her face. James knew this little girl was lighting up Hannah's whole world right now, and even though he knew she was mad at him, he couldn't suppress the smile across his lips. He almost got a little teary eyed as he watched her handle the baby so well.
Hannah sensed that James wanted to hold the baby, so testing her gut, she stood up carefully, walking over to him. "You wanna hold her, honey?"
"Uh," James panicked for a second, looking at Hannah then down at the bundle in her arms. "Sure, why not?" Hannah chuckled at him and gently placed the baby in his arms. As mad as she had been before, it all quickly erased when she saw how good he looked with a baby girl in his arms.
"It's not so bad, right?" Hannah whispered to him, feeling too many emotions creep out of her mouth. She placed a hand on the small of his back and leaned around his arms to stare down at the baby. She watched him make silly faces at the baby and make a few sounds.
James looked over at Hannah, shaking his head. "No, it's not so bad."
After 20 more minutes of each of them holding the baby, they both silently walked to the parking deck of the hospital, reaching James' car. "So what did you think?" Hannah asked after a few minutes of silent driving.
James stayed quiet for a minute, contemplating on how to say what he was about to say. "I think…that holding that baby was…kinda nice."
Hannah's head whipped over to look at him. Did he really just say that? "I'm sorry, what?"
He chuckled at her, moving his right hand off the steering wheel and onto her hand that rested on her thigh. "I liked it, Hannah. A lot more than you think." He glanced over at her to see her smiling from ear to ear. "Honey, I've always wanted a baby. That first day I met you, I knew I wanted you to be the mother of my children. I guess something's just been holding me back about saying it out loud, but damn, I want us to have a baby. Like…now."
Hannah's eyes widened, "Wait-now?!" His thumb caressed her hand as she squeezed it. "James, we aren't even engaged. You've never even let us talk about this before."
"I know, but I also know that you've always wanted a baby. We don't need a marriage to tell us that we're fully committed to each other. Although, I probably should have proposed way before asking you to be the mother of my children." James grinned when he heard her laugh. "But seriously," he stopped at a red light and looked over at her, grinning at him. "I want us to be together forever with little me's and you's running around our backyard with Fox. And I want it ASAP, because frankly, I've been waiting for too long and we never know what tomorrow brings." He put the car in park and Hannah got incredibly confused, but gasped when she saw him pull out a box from his pocket.
"James!"
"I've loved you since day one, and I plan on loving you till the last. I want us to have a family together and I was us to start ASAP because like I said, we never know what tomorrow brings. So, Hannah, will you please say yes when I ask you this: will you marry me?"
"Oh, my God, yes! Of course I will!" She threw her arms around his neck across the console of the car and immediately started kissing every inch of skin she could get. His neck, his jaw, his cheeks, his lips. He was laughing the whole time.
"Wait, let's put this thing on your finger." He slipped the diamond on her ring finger and watched as she gawked at it for a moment before tearing up a bit and letting a tear escape her own eyes. "I love you, so much."
Hannah turned herr attention to him and forgot the ring, cupping his face in her hands and kissing him full on the lips. "I love you, too, James." She kissed him again, this time longer and more passionate.
When he pulled away, and leaned his forehead against hers. "Let's go make a baby."