Unexpected Chapter 7
Mommy and me

"Morning son, so glad to see you are still alive." William said, looking up at a grouchy looking Caleb who was dressed in joggers and a black hoodie which was pulled over his head, the name of a grunge band displayed on the front William never heard of.

Caleb mumbled something back without looking at William. If he hadn't seen Caleb's mouth move he wouldn't be sure Caleb had actually spoken.

"Okay then." William sighed slightly defeated, not really sure how to deal with his teenage stepson sometimes. Especially when he was in a mood like he was today. It reminded him of the first few months that Caleb came to live with them. Claudia was more in tune with Caleb and knew without a word how to deal with him. He kept wishing he would be able to manage the same thing with Caleb, he'd love nothing more than to get closer to him if Caleb would ever let him.

"Hey morning guys." Claudia said cheerfully breezing into the kitchen like a breath of fresh air. Caleb only grumbled as a reply as he munched on his cornflakes. She pottered around the kitchen for a while before sitting down next to Caleb, giving him a look over. She knew something was bothering him, yet making Caleb open up about his feelings was as easy as making a T-rex touch it's shoulders.

"So the gardener just came to talk to me." She started. Glancing at William before looking back at Caleb who gave no indication he heard her speak.
"He charged an extra 45 minutes to his work because he had a retrieve quite a few tennis balls from the garden."

"So?" Caleb grumbled with his mouth full.

"So? Well first of all, please stop using all the RF legacy tennis balls when you hit them with a baseball bat. At least use the cheap ones to wreck when you're angry."

"And second, I hope you do realise you have replaced hitting balls across the yard with smoking a pack of cigarettes a day."

"So? What the fuck is your point?" Caleb asked angrily, needing a scapegoat for his anger and his mother was the perfect target to release it against.

"Hey, that's no way to speak to your mother!" William said angrily. He understood Caleb was dealing with a lot, but he would never allow any of the kids to disrespect their mother.

"Don't tell me what to do, you're not my father!" Caleb shot back and got up from his chair in anger. It fell to the floor with a loud clang. Caleb stepped over the chair and strode outside into the garden. He would have gone to his room, but he was pretty sure his mother would follow him there and all he needed now was to get away from it all.

Caleb walked the long way around the house and to his car, needing to clear his head. Without much purpose he drove to the one place that he knew would provide him some solace.

"What was that about?" William asked Claudia, who had placed Caleb's chair back without a word and sat back down staring at her breakfast.

"I don't know William, I think something must have happened yesterday." She said worryingly.

"I know he asked Hanna to come over so they could talk. Do you think something bad happened between them?"

"Like what?" William asked curiously. Ever since Caleb had been able to see Aubrey, he had been happier than William had ever seen him. He had even become more open about his feelings to his mom and William. He had told them how Hanna seemed completely okay with him seeing Aubrey, so it probably wasn't anything like that.

"I have no clue Will, everything he ever told me about Hanna was always so positive, except for the fights they had previously. But I thought all was perfect between them now. They seemed to have talked about some things the last time he saw Hanna and Aubrey, so I can't imagine them having another fight."

"He's pretty upset though." William commented with a concerned look on his face.

"I was going to talk to him about… the thing, but maybe I should leave that for later."

Claudia looked at William, one hand on her hip, the other one holding a cup of coffee in mid air. She thought for a second. She didn't agree with her husband on this issue, but she knew he'd raise the subject with Caleb nonetheless.

"I really wish you didn't Will, at least not right now. He doesn't need you to upset him even more!"

"Claudia, I have to protect our financial assets. I know you told me Hanna was very special to Caleb when he lived in Rosewood, but you just can't blindly trust the words of a 17 year old girl and assume that Caleb is Aubrey's father. He needs to ask that girl for a DNA test, at least before I officially adopt him." He tried to explain calmly, but he count ignore the way she tightened her lips, just like Caleb did when he was trying to hold in his anger.

She looked at him long and hard before speaking again, a light edge in her voice.

"It's not just her words I can and need to trust Will! Not only does Aubrey look a hell of a lot like Caleb, I don't see any reason why she would lie about it. Just because she is 17 years old, doesn't make her a liar!" This particular jab came too close to her heart, knowing exactly all the judgement Hanna probably had to face every day.

"Have you totally forgotten I was once in the same position she's in now? Just because someone is a teen mom, doesn't make them a liar or untrustworthy!"

"Claudia, I get it, I do. And I am so proud that Caleb is willing to step up to be a father to Aubrey and that he's willing to do anything to support this girl."

"Hanna, her name is Hanna." Claudia butted in, annoyed at her husband.

"That he's willing to support Hanna." He said in an apologetic voice.

"However." He carried on in a diplomatic manner that annoyed Claudia. "I do really want to adopt Caleb and at least make sure he's cared for financially the same way James and Clay will be. I want him to know I care about him just as much as James and Clay, but I don't want anyone to take advantage of him for the sake of money."

"So you think Hanna, who offered him a safe place to stay when he had nothing more than the clothes on his back, is out for his money?" Claudia spat sarcastically.

"I'm just saying that not everyone you come across in life has good intentions Claudia."

"Like me? I mean that's how your family still sees me right? The poor woman who married a rich man so she could live a comfortable life."

"Claudia can we not steer off course and stay on the issue here, which is Caleb? We are on the same side here, I just want to keep him from harm's way, like you do."

"You have a funny way of showing it." Claudia said, walking off to find her son, a small inclination as to where to find him.

XxxxxX

"Mom thank you, this was a great idea." Hanna said excitedly as she looked at all the shops surrounding them in the enormous mall they managed to drag Aubrey to. After yesterday a bit of retail therapy was all Hanna needed, she thought to herself as she eyed an expensive looking boutique.

"We'll see how much of a good idea it was after we leave here again, hopefully within a few hours." Ashley murmured.

"I'm pretty sure it will be." Hanna said, glancing at a happily gurgling Aubrey who managed to stuff her entire fist in her mouth for some reason. Hanna was sure her content baby would start screaming within a few hours. The love for shopping was something else Hanna had failed to bestow upon her daughter, but she could always make her learn to love shopping as she got older. Hanna looked over at Aubrey who she had dressed in a pale pink dress with matching bloomers and a Tiffany's headband with a tiny silk pink bow in the middle that Spencer had bought her.

"You want to check it out?" Ashley asked nodding towards the boutique. She had seen where Hanna had been staring at with a faraway look in her eyes.

"Couldn't afford it of my life depended on it." Hanna said solemnly although she didn't mind one bit, Aubrey had become her number one priority in her life.

"Hanna, it's okay to take a look or even treat yourself to something you'd really like sometimes. You might be a mom but there's nothing wrong with splurging on something for yourself once in awhile."

"Thats sweet mom, but it's not necessary." Hanna replied and made to turn away from the store halfheartedly, a small part of her wishing she still had the opportunity to splurge without a care in the world.

"Stop whining and let's go." Ashley said, pulling her towards the store and surprising Hanna with her actions. Normally Ashley would do anything in her power to steer Hanna away from boutiques like these.

Thirty minutes later Hanna found herself being pushed in a fitting room by her mom, her arms filled with beautiful dresses with price tags that made her feel faint thinking about having to pay for them.

Hanna had tried on several of her mom's pics and soon got to her own picks, but when she tried on the the last dress, her personal favorite. A black chiffon knee length dress that hugged her in all the right places and made her chest look amazing.
Although Hanna had always loved fashion and valued looking like she could walk on a catwalk any time of the day, having Aubrey had put her passion about fashion on a back burner ever since. But now she was looking at herself in the mirror, the love for clothes, mostly expensive ones, came back to her as if things had never been any different. She wasn't aware of how long she'd been staring at herself until her mom pushed the curtain aside and gawked at her for a long moment. A bright smile appeared on Ashley's face as she watched Hanna looking at herself in the mirror, beaming with happiness.

"What do you think?" Hanna asked breathlessly, still eyeing the dress. The heavy price tag no longer on her mind.

"Hanna you look amazing." Her mom said looking at her beautiful daughter who was glowing with excitement. "We should get it."

Hanna's face dropped instantly and looked at her mother. "Mom I can't, I mean I love it, but I can't buy this." She said in shock. She glanced at Aubrey and thought about all the thing she could and should buy for her baby with all this money.

"I got this. Her mother said, looking at her determinedly. "You deserve this."

"But mom.." Hanna protested, although her heart leaped a little at her mother's offer and she didn't dare to challenge her mother too much. Deep in her heart she knew she wanted the dress.

"No buts, let me do this for you."

Hanna hesitated only a second before she caught another look of herself in the mirror.
"Fine." She agreed as she tried to contain her enthusiasm and caught her mom sending her a warm smile.

"How are you even going to pay for it?" Hanna whispered to her mom as they went back to the checkout to pay, not wanting the snooty clerks overhearing in case they thought they shouldn't be there.

"Hanna let me worry about that and stop asking questions." Ashley said with a massive smile on her face, ushering Hanna to the checkout, pushing the stroller where Aubrey was happily observing the twinkling lights on the ceiling.

Hanna couldn't stop smiling as she watched her mom approach the counter to pay for the dress. She was so caught up in her thoughts of wearing it and showing it to her friends and thinking off all the special occasions she should make up, so she could wear it as much as possible, that she had missed the girl behind the counter who had been talking to her.

It wasn't until her mom poked her painfully in the ribs that she was shaken from her thoughts.

She looked at her mother questionably and glanced at where her mother was nodding towards. It only took her a split second to recognise the beautiful face smiling broadly at her with perfectly straight pearly teeth.

"Hi Hanna." Kira said cheerily, in a very high voice. It sounded very fake to Hanna.

"Hi." Hanna managed to squeak, unable to imitate the very high notes Kira had reached.

"This is very beautiful Hanna! She said nodding at the dress she was wrapping. Is It for a special occasion?"

"It's a gift from my mom, but I'm sure I'll wear it on a special occasion."

"Well it's a good choice for you because it's very flattering, I'm sure it will make you look great." Kira said. Hanna was sure none of it was actually meant as a compliment and she could feel her insecurities bubbling to the surface. Especially as Kira's eyes wandered to Hanna's tummy as she said it.

Before Hanna could do or say anything, Kira had noticed Ashley and finally Aubrey who was giving her one of her bright smiles, much to Hanna's dismay.

It was like yesterday never happened, when Kira had walked in on Caleb and Hanna fighting about Aubrey. Hanna knew Kira overheard them and knew Caleb was Aubrey's father. It didn't seem to bother Kira one bit the way she was acting.

"So this is your daughter?" Kira asked and gave Aubrey a big smile back as Hanna got more annoyed watching the interaction between her daughter and Kira.

"Yes, mine and Caleb's," she snipped. "Her name is Aubrey."

"Well she is very beautiful, just like her daddy." Kira replied, smirking at Hanna and handing her the bag with Hanna's dress.

Hanna shot her a big fake smile as she took the bag from Kira and made her way out of the boutique as fast as she could, her heart hammering in her chest out of annoyance and anger.

"Kira? As in Kira-who-comes-over-for-movie-night, Kira?" Ashley asked the moment they stepped outside.

"How many Kira's do you know?" Hanna asked aggressively. "What kind of a stupid name is Kira anyway? It's a cat's name." She seethed.

"A cat's name?" Ashley asked amused. "How do you figure that?"

"It's just is." Hanna huffed, needing to vent off some of the anger she felt towards Kira. she was sure she had made fun of her on purpose.

"Is that why you suddenly had the urge to tell her you and Caleb have a child together? You never like to talk about it." Ashley asked glancing sideways at Hanna.

"It just slipped." Hanna said without regret. "Besides, she knows Caleb is her father anyway. I told you how she overheard me and Caleb talking about it. And even if she wasn't sure, I am sure Caleb told her after I left."

"After you fled you mean?" Ashley chuckled. Which earned her a massive eye roll from Hanna.

"You should really try and find other ways to leave that house Hanna."

"Who says I'm ever going back there?" Hanna shot back.

XxxxxxxX

The very first day Caleb arrived in California he never would have thought 18 months later he'd still be here. It had to be the longest time he managed to stay in one place. Nor had he ever been able to guess his life would be as crazy as it was now.

The past 18 months seemed ages ago considering how much his life had changed since then, however the past 3 days had been the most life changing yet. Finding out he had a child and having to wrap his head around it and even meeting Aubrey for the first time in these few days had turned his life completely upside down. It was like a tornado had crossed its path and had yet to put him back down.

He smiled as he thought of Aubrey, it had been hard to get to terms of being a father, but the way Aubrey could manage to fill his heart with so much love was a new experience to him that he loved and hated. He was so proud that he had created something so perfect and beautiful as Aubrey, although it wasn't all that perfect to him. All Caleb could think off was how history was repeating itself.

He hadn't been there for Aubrey, just like his mother hadn't when he needed her most. As far as he was concerned he had already missed out on a massive and important chunk of her life that he would never get back, all because he had walked out on the biggest love of his life.

And why?
Even till this day he wasn't sure.
Had he loved Hanna too much? Had it scared him?

Yes it had… of course it had. Everyone who had ever loved him, had abandoned him. He found solace in the knowledge Hanna hadn't actually walked away from him in the end. She had walked away from the pain he had caused her by betraying her trust.

He sighed as he let a tear fall from his eye, blinking a few times as the sheer brightness of the sun reflecting on water nearly blinded him. He laid his arm on the back of the bench he was sitting on, overlooking the ocean. He closed his eyes for a moment to feel the soft breeze bristle past his face and felt one last tear leaving his eye.

He took his sweet time before he opened his eyes again and let out a long breath, trying to clear his head and make sense of the chaos in his life.

He ran his hand through his hair and lifted himself slightly off the bench to grab his wallet from the pocket of his jeans.
He opened it and from one of the invisible compartments he grabbed tattered and creased photo he had managed to keep safe all this time. He held it in front of his face to block out the sun as it was starting to set.

Even though he had looked at it a million times, he could never get enough of it. It was the only picture he had of himself with Hanna.

Considering they had only been together for such a short time, he was happy Hanna had been so addicted to taking a gazillion photos of them together and making other people take their picture. It had annoyed him at the time, but now he was glad about it.

He ran his fingers over the photo and took in the bright smile on Hanna's face that reached all the way to her eyes. His expression mirroring hers, his eyes blazing with happiness.

He couldn't fight the smile that graced his lips as he remembered ever so clearly how happy he had been in that very moment. Ashley had taken that photo of them in the kitchen after she had told Caleb he could stay with them for a while.

After finally meeting Aubrey a few days ago, staying with the Marin's was probably still the happiest time of his life. He felt bad for feeling that way, especially how his mom had outdone herself in finding him, getting to know him and and giving him the very best she could offer him.

He slumped back onto the bench and overlooked the water, the photo of him and Hanna still clutched tightly in his hands. He was so engulfed in his thoughts he never noticed the person behind him coming closer to where he was sitting. The person was about to call out to him, but stopped dead in her tracks when her eyes landed on the photo in his hands, stopping her from letting her presence known. She stood there for a small moment before she made up her mind and turned on her heels, back to her car.

For the first time she knew exactly what she needed to do.

XxxxxxX

With the directions she had been given, it didn't take her long to find the very place Claudia had told her where she could find Caleb.

Hanna had been nursing Aubrey when Claudia had phoned their hotel room. Confused as to why Claudia needed to talk to her, she had taken the phone reluctantly from her mom. Claudia wasn't very clear as to why it was of the utmost importance Hanna had to go and see Caleb, especially as he had a girlfriend who he probably should be talking to.

She made her way straight to Caleb who was sitting so still and calm he could have been asleep. She wondered briefly if he was and started walking a bit faster, nearly walking into the bench itself, which made Caleb look up.

He stared at her for a long moment, lost for words as to why Hanna would be there of all places.

"Han? What what are you doing here?" He asked in shock.

Hanna couldn't quite get over the first words came out of his mouth and was about to say something as Caleb spoke again. This time in a much softer voice, clearly he had seen the trace of her slight annoyance on her face.

"I meant, how did you find me?"

"Your mom asked me to meet you here." She explained.

"My mom?"

"Yeah…" Hanna trailed off nervously, she assumed Caleb knew she was coming to see him. Now she wasn't so sure he knew why she was there. Worse still, she didn't even know why she was there herself.

"Why, what did she say?" Caleb asked and scooted on the bench, indicating Hanna should join him, which she did.

"She called to the hotel and asked me if I could come and meet you. It sounded quite urgent so I came here as soon as I finished nursing Aubrey."

"How long ago did she call you?" Caleb asked curiously.

"About 30 minutes ago."

He was silent for a while, wondering what could have triggered Claudia to call Hanna a mere 30 minutes ago. He had been there for the biggest part of the day. He rubbed his legs nervously as he tried to understand what was happening, why his mother found it important Hanna would come here of all places, to see him. The one place that was so special to him and his mother. The only place he knew only his mother could find him.

He was still deep in thought when one of his hands ran over his wallet in his pocket and he remembered what he had been doing the past hour. Of course it had been Aubrey and Hanna that had been on his mind most of the day, but he had an inkling his mother might have seen him looking at the photo now safely back in the wallet, and that's why she called Hanna.

"Did my mom at least tell you why she wanted you to come here?" Caleb asked, not really sure he wanted to hear the answer to his question.

"No she just said where to meet you."

"Why?" Hanna asked unsure, she didn't get the impression Caleb wanted her gone. But she was in the dark about this meeting as much as he was apparently.

"I think she knows me better than I thought." He chuckled to himself, his mother understood more than anyone how important Hanna had been to him and how much she still was. Clearly Claudia had seen it before he had.

Caleb finally looked at Hanna who had been silent all this time.

"There's actually a few things I really want to talk to you about." He finally said and he could feel Hanna tensing up at his words, clearly expecting the worst which wasn't a surprise after their fight yesterday.

"First of all, I'm really sorry how I behaved yesterday Hanna. I should have never gone off at you like that. I feel like such an ass being so rude to you, especially after you've been through enough raising Aubrey by yourself."

"It's just, seeing her now and seeing how much I've missed, finding out she didn't even had my last name was another shock I didn't really take well. I just assumed she was called Rivers… you know because you knew I was her father."

"Caleb, she was supposed to be called Rivers." Hanna started apologetically.
"I always planned for her to be called Rivers, but when I was at the midwife's they told me if you weren't there to sign the birth certificate, I couldn't give her your last name."

Caleb was silent as it all made sense to him now, and a rush of happiness filled him as Hanna explained she did want their baby to be called Rivers after all.

"Now I feel even more of an ass about getting mad about it Han."

"It's okay, you couldn't have known." Hanna said silently, still a bit uncomfortable as she wasn't sure what else he wanted to talk about. She hoped beyond hope whatever was next it wouldn't be Kira. she was much happier pretending she didn't exist.

A silence fell between them and Hanna wasn't sure if she wanted to find out what else Caleb wanted to talk about, mainly as most of his questions lately where about all the choices she made regarding Aubrey. Even though she was confident enough in the way she was trying to raise Aubrey.

"So what is this place anyway?" Hanna eventually asked before the silence between them could grow too uncomfortable. "I never imagined Caleb Rivers to be a beach guy."

"I'm not." He chuckled, but then decided that after everything Hanna had told him about her life so far. It was about time she knew about his as well.

"This is actually the place where I met my mom for the first time." Caleb confessed.

"It is?" Hanna asked in disbelieve.

"Yeah, you know after I left…. Uhm left Rosewood."

"I went to Arizona because that's the last place I knew my mom used to live and that's where my aunt used to live. The one she left me with when…" He swallowed for a moment before continuing, the memory of his mother driving away from him still vivid in his mind, her reasons for doing so still filling him with a surge of anger whenever he thought about it. He took a breath trying to rid himself of thinking about… that. He forced himself to focus on Hanna, who had remained silent all this time, waiting for him to continue.

"When she took off. My aunt no longer lived where I remembered she used to live so I had to sleep on the streets for a night before I found this hostel near Flagstaff that let me work there for a room to stay and free meals." He explained calmly and ignored the sharp intake of breath from Hanna. He wasn't telling her this to make her feel bad, he was telling her this so she knew what his life had looked like ever since he left.

"One day I was having dinner with the owners and we got talking as to why I was there and they were really nice to me. They let me stay in their house from then on, for as long I was working with them so I didn't have to share a room with all the guest from the hostel and we became quite close. They were like the grandparents I never had." Caleb admitted as a smile graced his lips remembering Glynnda and Kenneth.

Hanna was happy to hear that after everything he went through he had met some actual nice people that were willing to help him from the goodness of their hearts, he didn't deserve anything less.

"I was with them for about 2 months when the topic of my mom came up again and Glennda, the wife of the owner suggested I should start looking for my mother again as it was the reason I was in Arizona in the first place."

"She helped me with the logistics of it all and we went to child services to see if anyone could help us, to see if I could find anything about my mother. I remember the woman at the social services office looking at me with this big smile and that's when she told us my mom had been looking for me forever. She told me my mom was even in the process of getting a private investigator because after Seattle I got lost in the system and she couldn't find anything about me after that time."

"Turned out during my move to that family, the jackass foster father I had in Seattle messed up my name and signed me up as Calvin instead of Caleb and that's apparently how my mom couldn't find me anymore."

"Wow Caleb,.. Wow I don't know what to say." Hanna breathed.

"I know." He smiled back.

"I'm really happy your mom had been looking for you all this time." Hanna said and she meant it. She knew how much it meant to him to know he was never forgotten about.

"So to make this story as short as I can." He joked, "Through social services I got into contact with my mom and she couldn't wait to see me. She wanted to send a car to come and get me from Flagstaff but I wanted to give Glennda and Kenneth a proper goodbye and thank them for everything they did for me."

"Especially as all the goodbyes I had in my life before that time were pretty shit." He trailed off, trying not to dwell on the heart wrenching goodbye he and Hanna had, even though that still hurt him to this very day.

"So the next day I was supposed to meet my mom but I wanted to meet her somewhere neutral, so she suggested this place and the rest is history."

"Wait, what do you mean history?" Hanna asked surprised.

"How was it when you met your mom? And your brothers? And William?"

"Wow Hanna, curious much?" He chuckled, loving that she was being the exact same Hanna he had missed all this time.

"I'm just curious, I mean you always wondered about your mother and what happened to her. You've always felt like something was missing from your life." She said.

"And look at you now." She carried on excitedly. "Living in a beautiful place, amazing house, lovely family. You're really lucky Caleb! You have everything and more you ever dreamed off." She said, genuinely happy that Caleb's luck had finally turned around.

"I can't imagine anyone else who deserves it more to be living the good life." She said kindly shooting him a smile which he reciprocated, however it wasn't as genuine as hers.
A smile appeared on his face but it didn't quite reach his eyes. He looked away from her again rather quickly and let out a long breath as he watched the ocean for a bit.

"Caleb?" Hanna Asked tentatively. Every time his mother had come up Caleb had shut down on her and this time wasn't any different.

She reached out for him and tenderly laid a hand on his knee, squeezing it gently to let him know she was there for him. He let out another long breath as he watched the crashing waves, laying his hand atop hers and enclosing her small hand in his, sitting together in a comfortable silence.

All of the sudden Caleb stood up from the bench, pulling Hanna with him as her hand was still firmly in his. She looked at him questionably.

"Can we walk whilst we talk? I can't sit still when I need to talk about shit like this."

"Uhm okay." Hanna said, standing up as well and throwing her small handbag over her shoulder, gently removing her hand from his large one as it felt too intimate to her now that she knew he had a girlfriend. She stuffed her hands in the pockets of her denim shorts to keep herself from making up an excuse as to why she let go of him.

They walked a little in silence, Hanna waited for Caleb to speak first not wanting to pressure him into talking about something he might not want to.

"I guess now I understand how it must have been for you when I first met you. He started in a soft voice.

"Hanna when I saw you for the first time, besides thinking you were fucking hot and way out of my league." He joked halfheartedly. "I thought you had it all, nice clothes, nice car, beautiful home and a mother who truly cared about you. At that time it was everything I wished I had, even though your mom hated my guts." He laughed

"I know it was only because she cared about you."

Hanna chuckled slightly, her mom really did have something against Caleb back then. She was glad things changed a lot since that time.

"But then I got to know you better and you started telling me things about your life and let me in, I realised it wasn't as perfect at all. Well not as perfect as I thought it was in the first place."

Hanna nodded as they walked on, understanding where he was getting at.

"So what are you saying Caleb?" Hanna asked, hoping things were at least a little bit more perfect for him than it was for her when she met Caleb.

"It's just…" He sighed, trying to find the right words to explain his feelings to her.

"It's just… I feel like I don't blend in as well as we all would want to. In the first few months me and my mother went to therapy a lot, to work things out. I wasn't really sure if I wanted to trust her this time around. Although she did everything in her power to prove to me she wanted to be the mother I had missed all these years."

"It was just so weird to be thrown into this insta-family, they've always been together, know each other like the back of their hand and work together perfectly. Even after all this time I still feel like the odd one out, like I am only there to watch this perfect little family live their lives from the sidelines but never really fitting in quite well."

He was silent for a moment before he spoke again.

"It just doesn't feel as much like home as to when…" However Caleb didn't finish his sentence.

He stopped walking and looked at Hanna, his hands stuffed in the pocket of his torn jeans, nervously kicking the sand.

"Hanna, I've never felt more at home anywhere or with anyone than when I was living in your basement, when I was with you." He said in a quiet voice, yet Hanna heard every single word very clearly.

The intense look he was giving her gave her goosebumps, part of her wanted to look away from him, but her body wouldn't let her.

"The way you accepted me without a doubt, the way you showed me unconditional love no questions asked, it was something so new to me. All of my life I felt alone, untill I met you. You were the first one who opened up their heart and home to me and saw me for who I really was, accepted me for who I was. I don't think anyone could ever top that." He said seriously, "Not even my mother. " He added solemnly.

Hanna was stunned, she thought about Claudia. The woman who seemed so perfect, who seemed to live a perfect life and clearly loved and cared for her children. If Caleb wouldn't have said anything she could have assumed his life was more than perfect. It hurt her to find out he wasn't as happy as she hoped he'd be.

"She seems so nice though." Hanna eventually said.

Caleb sighed and kneeled to sit down in the sand, Hanna sitting down next to him, hugging her arms around her legs.

"She is Hanna, I know she does her best to get close to me and make me happy. But she can't change the past. She left me when I was only 5 years old, there's things she's done in her past I'm struggling to forgive her for. She might look perfect, but everyone has got skeletons in their closet and my mother is no different, she isn't the innocent suburban mom she portrays to be." He said, and Hanna could hear the anger in his voice. She didn't know what to say to make him feel better. She wasn't even sure if she should ask about the skeletons in Claudia's closet. She glanced at the pained expression on his face and decided against asking any questions.

If anything she knew how he felt. How much it hurt to have a parent who didn't care about them, how much it hurt to feel like you did not fit in with the very people in your family. Becoming a teen mother had not changed anything in Tom Marin behavior, except now he was ignoring the existence of his granddaughter as much as his own daughter.

"I'm really sorry Caleb, I really am."

"It's okay Hanna, my life doesn't completely suck you know, it's a whole lot better than all those foster families I've stayed with."

"Besides, I blame you for setting the bar on happiness so high." He chuckled nudging her side, elevating the tension that came with his confession.

He looked back at the ocean one last time, Hanna following his suit and they took in the sunset and crashing waves in front of them, a soft warm breeze ruffling their faces and hair.

A comfortable silence eloped them.
Caleb leaned back on his elbows enjoying the views, the views that suddenly seemed so much more spectacular now Hanna was by his side.

XxxxxX

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