One of Hanna's hands rested in Caleb's, and the other on her bump. Every now and then, he would glance over at her, making sure this was something she wanted. They didn't need to know the sex right away. It would have been nice, for the sake of preparations and baby names, but they didn't need to know. She had caught on by now. If she was counting correctly, this was the fourth time in the past twenty minutes. "I still want to," she said certainly, looking at him with soft blue eyes. Caleb was tempted to close the gap between them and press a kiss to her lips, but the sound of the nurse calling Hanna's name ruined the moment.
He stood up first, and then he helped her up. Then, with linked fingers, they both headed to the back where the examination room was. After checking her weight and blood pressure, the nurse directed her to take a seat in the ultrasound chair and she did. Caleb pulled up a chair to sit next to her and linked hands with her again. "If you don't want to find out—" He begins for a fifth time. Even though Hanna's already expressed her approval several times, he has to be sure. She cuts him off. "I do... Don't you?" she questioned. "Of course I do. I've been waiting to find out since we found out Baby Rivers was a thing." A smile tugged across Hanna's lips when she heard that. She was about to respond, but the doctor's sudden appearance interrupted her train of thought. "Hanna Marin?" the doctor questioned, stepping into the room and moving over to the counter to put on gloves. "I'm Doctor Wilson." She was an older woman, no taller than 5'4", with salt and pepper hair that was pulled back into a bun. She offered two polite nods to Caleb and Hanna before sitting down and turning on the ultrasound machine. "I'm just going to check the baby's heartbeat and measurements. Are you hoping to find out the sex today?" The couple nodded, trying not to look too anxious.
The doctor smiled and reached for a bottle of gel. "This is going to be a little bit cold," she warned, putting pressure on the sides of the bottle and allowing the clear gel to squirt out onto Hanna's stomach. There was a clear look of discomfort on her face, but she knew that this was to be expected. Putting the bottle away, the doctor then reached for the probe and gently pressed it against Hanna's bump. The rapid thumping of the infant's heartbeat filled the room. "Heartbeat's strong," Doctor Wilson commented. "Baby's measurements are good. He or she weighs about a pound and a half, and speaking of which..." She moved the probe around some more, trying to get a good view of the last bit of information. "It looks like you're going to be the parents of a handsome baby boy." She pointed at the defining feature on the screen so that Caleb and Hanna would know where to look. "A boy," Hanna repeated breathlessly, looking at the screen, and then at Caleb. "Caleb, we're having a boy." The male smiled. "I know, Han." The blonde looked back at the doctor, who seemed to be watching their precious moment. "May we please have some prints?"
The doctor nodded and removed the probe from Hanna's bump, putting it back where it belonged. Then, she reached for a clean towel and handed it to the blonde so that she could wipe the gel off of her stomach. "Just ask for your prints when you get to the front desk, and feel free to call me if you have any questions." Hanna nodded. "We'll keep that in mind." She waited until the doctor was out of the room and the door was closed to speak again. "Caleb... We're having a boy. A son. A mini-Caleb." He leaned in for the kiss he owed her from earlier. "He's gonna be perfect," he whispered before his lips met hers. His excitement was palpable, and so was hers. "I know," she replied, pulling away. "I know."
They were still sitting in the parking lot of the doctor's office, even though the appointment had ended nearly an hour ago. He just kept flipping through the scans, admiring his son. He glanced over at his fiance, who seemed to be scrolling through her contacts list. "Alright, who are we calling first? Ashley or Claudia?" Caleb questioned, leaning over to see which section she was on. Hanna shook her head. "Neither. I'm calling Spencer," she replied, tapping her name and hitting the call button. Caleb raised an eyebrow, but didn't protest. Spencer was one of the first people to find out about the baby, after all. It only made sense for her to be the first to know what they were having. He went back to looking at the scans, but listened out for Hanna's conversation. "No answer. Alright, your mom or my mom?" Even though that was the same question he had just asked her, he needed to think about it. On one hand, he knew his mother wanted to be more involved in his life, and that it would have meant a lot to her to be the first to know. On the other hand, Ashley had always been involved, and she hadn't had the opportunity to hear the news directly from him and Hanna. "I think... We should tell both of them at the same time." He reached into his pocket to grab his phone, and pulled up his mother's contact. Hanna followed his lead and pulled up her own mother's contact. "Alright, on the count of three... one... two... three."
They traded glances while they waited for their mother's to pick up. Ashley was the first, but before her mother could utter the traditional telephone greeting, Hanna told her that she would have to hold on for a moment. Then, Claudia finally answered the phone, and they could finally share the news. "Okay, so we know you've both been anxious to find out whether you'll be having a grandson or granddaughter," Hanna began, giving Caleb a look that said to pick up where she left off. "And we just got back from Hanna's OB, who told us..." He looked towards her, signaling for her to finish his sentence. "It's a boy. You're gonna have a grandson." Both mothers cheered and congratulated their children, clearly excited by the news. "Have you thought of names yet?" Claudia asked once the excitement died down. "Not yet, but I think we've ruled out Tom, Jamie, and Charles," she replied, causing Ashley to laugh. "But we'll let you know when we decide on something." Hanna nodded in agreement, even though she knew they couldn't see her. "Yes, definitely. Okay, we're gonna let you go now, but we'll call you back later, alright?" Both moms responded at the same time, making it awfully difficult for them to decipher a single response. "Love you," the couple said, almost in unison, before hanging up the phone.
"That went well," Caleb commented. Hanna nodded. "Yeah... We need to think of names." She'd thought of a few over the past few months, but none that she would actually give her child. Caleb was struggling to come up with something other than Caleb Jr. "Why don't we head up to the bookstore and see if we can find one of those name books." He had a feeling that that book would be their best friend for the next couple of months, or until they decided to give up and name the kid something generic. "Sounds good. Can we get something to eat afterwards? Baby's hungry," she replied, gently caressing her bump. He reached over and rubbed it as well, and then pressed a kiss to her cheek. "Of course. What's baby craving?" The truthful answer would have been anything. At this point, she was just hungry. She didn't want anything in particular. But, to narrow down the list, she made something up. "I could go for a burger from The Grille." He nodded. "The Grille it is." He put the car in reverse, backed out of the space, and then set off for the restaurant.
They were seated fairly quickly, in a booth close to a window (as per Hanna's request). Caleb was flipping through the menu, trying to figure out what he wanted to order. Hanna was looking at something over his shoulder; a couple playing with their infant son, who was sitting in a takeaway high chair at the end of the table. She couldn't stop thinking about how that would be them in a matter of months. Of course, their son would be better dressed. She was so focused on the other family that she didn't even realize Caleb was trying to talk to her. "Han," he said, grabbing her hand. That snapped her out of her dazed state. "Huh?" He gestured towards the waiter, who was standing there, waiting to take her order. "Oh, uh... Can I get a Grille burger and fries please?" Her eyes went back to the other diners the minute she finished speaking. Caleb looked over his shoulder to see what he was looking at, and then looked back at her. "That's a cute kid." She nodded slowly. That was when the child started to cry and Hanna's every desire to focus on him and his parents disappeared. "Our kid will be cuter." Caleb nodded in agreement.
Hanna looked down at her bump. Four months. In four months, they were going to be holding a baby boy in their arms. "I hope he looks like you. Tall, beautiful brown eyes, great hair..." He grinned. "I hope he has your eyes. Height and great hair will get him far, but eyes mean a lot more, and yours are much more beautiful than mine are." That struck a chord with the blonde, and tears started to roll down her cheeks. Curse those hormones. Caleb reached across the table to brush the tears away from her face. "Thank you," she said, almost breathlessly. "No problem." She took a quick swig of her water and set it back down on the table. "Maybe that's how we'll pick the name." There was a confused look on his face, so she continued. "It'll be easier to give him a name once we see him, right? So, why don't we narrow it down to like... four that we like, and pick when we see him for the first time." It would definitely put Hanna's monogramming plans off, but at least their son would have a fitting name. Caleb chewed on the idea for a moment, before nodding. "Alright, fine," he replied, clasping his hands together and then pulling them apart again. "Two for you, two for me, and the names that we're definitely not gonna pick are... Charles, Tom, and Jamie, right?"
The blonde nodded. She felt bad, outlawing Jamie from the mix, but Jamie to Caleb was her to Tom. The only difference was their current terms. Jamie was flighty in the past, but he was trying to get better about it, and he and Caleb were working things out. Tom, on the other hand, was too wrapped up in his new family to pay attention to Hanna. They hadn't actually spoken since Christmas, and that call was extremely brief and awkward. But neither Caleb nor Hanna wanted to name their child after someone flighty, whether their elusive nature existed in the past or the the present. As for the name Charles, they both agreed right off the bat that their child wasn't going to share a name with such a depraved villain. Never in a million years. "Any other names you want out of the running?" she questioned, taking another sip of her drink. "Nope, I think that's it." A small grin tugged across the blonde's lips, and she reaches into her purse to grab the new book of names and begins to flip through it. "Good. May the best four names win."
Author's note: Thanks for waiting patiently for this update, guys. I was stuck on the first paragraph for a long time, but I finally figured it out. You can probably count on two more updates throughout the next two weeks as well, to make up for the couple of weeks that I didn't update, since I'm on Spring Break and don't have much else to do with my time. As always, let me know what you think!
