Chapter 20
The next morning brought no change to Andrea's demeanor and despite Brandon's best efforts she gave him no chance to explain his words last night and fully ignored him. It was not long before Hannah and Isaac picked up on the tension between them which naturally upset them and that was the proverbial last straw for Brandon.
After coming back from a very quiet breakfast he asked Hannah to watch Isaac for a few minutes, before quickly following his wife who disappeared in their bedroom minutes earlier. They had to clear the air and for the sake of their children they had to do it now.
Closing the door behind him Brandon was not wasting any time. "Andrea you got to stop this. If you have problem with me that's fine, but there are two children out there who are now upset because the two adults in their lives are not behaving like adults at the moment." He let out waiting for any kind of reaction from his wife and he did not have to wait for too long.
"Perfect, yesterday I was not a good mother, today I'm not even an adult. What's coming next Brandon?" She turned around eyeing him, still visibly angry.
"That's not what I said yesterday, I think you are an amazing mother and if we get blessed with another baby I'll be over the moon. We just have to think how to handle the change when it comes. We both love our careers and as we both know they are time consuming, both Hannah and Isaac have their hobbies and adding a baby into the madness will change everything. Is the help we are getting from Maria enough or do we need another pair of helping hands? That's all that was on my mind yesterday." Brandon explained finally.
"Oh…" Andrea said slowly dropping down on their bed, it looked that she completely missed the point yesterday and got mad at him over nothing.
"Oh…" Brandon echoed Andrea's words, crossing the short distance and sitting down next to her.
"I blew it out of proportion, didn't I?" Andrea asked softly.
"Nah, just a little bit." Brandon wriggled his nose happy that she was at least listening to him again.
"I'm sorry, I just…having another baby has been on my mind for a while and before we talked about it I could simply push that dream away knowing we agreed that Isaac was going to be our only one. After we talked about it and you said yes, the reality of another one suddenly sank in and it scared the crap out of me. It's easier to say you don't want another one, when in reality I'm having my doubts as well." Andrea admitted.
"What kind of doubts?" Brandon asked his arm slipping around her shoulders.
"Very much the same as you, how are we going to handle adding another one to this crazy busy family? What if I will be unable to get pregnant again? What if I do get pregnant and go into labor early as I did with Hannah? What if work becomes crazy and I'll barely see my baby as with Isaac?" Andrea let out.
"What if it turns out to be the most uneventful pregnancy ever? What if the little one just perfectly fits in our crazy bunch?" Brandon asked with a smile on his lips.
"That's a possibility too." Andrea smiled up at him, both of their heads turning towards the door when they heard it open and saw Isaac peaking in.
"Mommy, daddy can we go to the pool now?" He asked eyeing his parents.
"Sure." Andrea smiled at her son. "Go put your swimsuit on and tell Hannah to do the same."
"Hannah's not here." Isaac said slowly.
"What do you mean, she's not here?" Brandon jumped in. When he was leaving the room he asked her to watch Isaac, leaving him alone was just so not Hannah.
"She told me to play in the room that she will be right back, but she is still not here." Isaac explained clutching to his bunny.
Andrea looked up at Brandon, both of them feeling sheer panic.
Stopping his car in the visitors' hospital parking lot Dylan couldn't quite recall the last time when he felt so anxious. He was honestly surprised that not hearing from Kelly since the previous evening could have this effect on him.
Giving her his diary to read and maybe understand seemed like a smart idea, now he couldn't help but think it was probably the dumbest move he could have made. Getting out of the car he headed towards the building and elevators still deep in thought.
What was he thinking? Despite everything that happened since he returned, all the words they said, they were still far away from the point where she would be ready to read what was written there. Sleeping with him was one thing, but fully trusting him again was another one. He had not noticed the deep breath that he took before he pushed the door open, putting on his best smile. "Good morning ladies, I heard that someone was calling for their designated chauffeur."
"Daddy!" Ava shrieked in excitement when she spotted him, it was clear that she has been feeling much better that morning.
"Hi, Avie! Are you ready to go home?" Crossing the short distance he smiled down at his daughter who has been already all dressed and ready to check out of hospital.
"Yes. Can we go to the beach?"
"No!" Dylan and Kelly replied at the same time.
Dylan grinned looking up at Kelly who has been silent until now, he could not miss how tired she looked again. Despite that she gave him a small smile as she joined him at Ava's bedside.
"How about instead of going to the beach we arrange a little movie marathon at home just, you, me and daddy? We can make hot chocolate, popcorn and order pizza when we get hungry." Kelly offered stroking her daughter's hair.
"Can I pick any movie I want?" Ava looked up at her mom.
"Sure." Kelly agreed, already knowing she'd have to watch Madagascar or Beethoven or likely both of them for umpteenth time, but if it was what she had to do to keep Ava inside she was ready to do that.
"Okay." Ava smiled brightly at her parents.
Satisfied with the compromise, Kelly turned around grabbing Ava's overnight bag while Dylan picked up their daughter.
"What was that about?" He asked quietly as they were heading outside.
"You will see." Kelly mouthed in reply, already knowing how entertaining it could be to let a five year old be in charge of the TV.
The drive home was rather quiet as Kelly fell asleep before they even left the parking lot and Ava was occupied with the changing scenery outside.
Once they arrived home Dylan did not have the heart to wake up Kelly so after settling Ava in the living room and asking her to pick a movie to watch he carried Kelly to her bed, silently closing the door behind him on his way out.
"What did you pick Avie?" He asked once he joined his daughter in the living room again.
"Madagascar!" Ava announced showing him the video tape.
"Good choice. Can you put it in?" He asked taking out milk from the fridge to prepare hot chocolate for both of them.
"Yes." Ava agreed putting the tape in before she moved to watch what Dylan was doing. "Is mommy not going to watch the movie with us?" She asked.
"Mommy is tired, she has not slept that well last night. How about we let her sleep for a little? I'm sure she will join us when she feels a little less tired." Dylan offered looking down at his daughter.
"She loves Madagascar, she will be sad that she missed it." Ava said looking at Dylan with her big dark eyes.
Dylan squat down, making sure he was at Ava's eye level before he spoke again. "I'm sure she will, but we can tell her we will all watch it together some other time. Plus I happen to love Madagascar too and I never got to watch it with my little girl. Do you think we can do that today?"
Ava's lips curled up into smile before she nodded her head.
"Good. Want to help me and put the marshmallows into the hot chocolate?" Dylan asked running his hand over her soft cheek.
"Yes." Ava agreed happily. Lifting her up Dylan sat her on the counter top handing her the bag with marshmallows. Pouring the hot liquid into the glasses he waited before she popped the marshmallows in.
Minutes later they were both comfortably seated on the sofa watching the movie; Ava shifted and snuggled into Dylan's side, his hand slipping around her shoulders without giving it a thought. His eyes moved away from the screen looking at his daughter who has been fully focused on the movie, he couldn't help but question his younger self that was so scared of becoming a father. Having his little one around, seeing her smile brightly despite everything she was going through, loving him despite what he put her and Kelly through, he had no idea what he was so scared about and how he could be so lucky.
Three hours that's how long they have been searching for Hannah who disappeared without a trace. It's been the longest three hours of their lives and their daughter was still nowhere to be found. The manager of the resort called the police for them about half an hour ago after they searched pretty much every place where Hannah could have been. The officer that came and was just questioning them was kind and understanding, yet Brandon couldn't help but feel immense amount of guilt for leaving Hannah and Isaac alone and pretty much allowing this to happen and Andrea was just minutes away from having a full blown mental breakdown.
"Hannah!" She exclaimed suddenly and Brandon stopped talking mid sentence quickly following her line of sigh. There just rounding the corner was their daughter. He felt enormous amount of relief.
"Hannah!" Andrea shrieked again running in her direction, while Brandon stood in place unable to move, silent tears rolling down his cheeks as he watched Andrea wrap her daughter in a tight hug.
"That's your daughter?" The officer asked Brandon.
"Yes, that's Hannah." Brandon confirmed reaching up and brushing his tears away.
"I guess that means that my job here is done." The officer smiled closing his notebook.
"I'm sorry we've dragged you all the way up here for nothing." Brandon said apologetically, but the officer just waved his hand.
"It's my job, and luckily everything ended well." He smiled before shaking Brandon's hand and disappearing as quickly as he came.
As in trance, keeping his eyes on Andrea and Hannah, Brandon finally moved forward towards them. The fear and guilt he has been feeling from the moment Isaac told them Hannah was gone was quickly gone as he wrapped both his wife and daughter in a hug.
"Can you go and pick up Isaac? I want to talk to Hannah alone." Andrea said quietly seconds later, before his guilt and fear could turn into anger.
"Sure. He will be happy to hear that Hannah is back." Brandon replied leaving them alone, but before heading to pick up his son from the children club, he first returned to the small group that was still gathered there to say thank you to everyone who has been helping them to find Hannah. That all, while Andrea and their daughter headed upstairs to their room.
"I'm sorry mom." Hannah said as soon as the door closed behind them.
"That's good, because you should be." Andrea agreed. "But I'm sorry too, I shouldn't have behaved the way I did towards Brandon, especially knowing how upsetting it's for you."
"I heard you yelling at each other and I couldn't handle that, I just had to leave." Hannah explained with tears threatening to fall.
"Where have you been?" Andrea asked the most pressing question.
"Down at the small beach that we drove by yesterday, talking to Jackson." Hannah said slowly biting her lip.
"Who is Jackson?" Andrea looked at her confused.
"One of the guys we saw at the pool the day before yesterday."
"Han, he is at least sixteen." Andrea said trying to stay calm, but her mind and emotions running wild.
"Actually, he will turn seventeen tomorrow." Hannah said her eyes slipping down to the floor.
Andrea gulped down moving towards her daughter and resting her hands on her upper arms. "Hannah, if anything happened, if he hurt you, you can tell me."
Hannah's head shot up looking straight into her mother's eyes. "Nothing happened, mom…we were just talking and lost any sense of time that's all." She explained quickly.
"Alright." Andrea breathed in and out, she knew her daughter and she was sure that Hannah was not lying, yet the idea of her twelve year old daughter being alone with a boy years older than her that they barely knew made her feel uneasy.
"His parents divorced when he was four, in fact his mom is now going through her third divorce and his dad just married a woman who makes sure he barely sees his father. When I talked to Jackson, he understood me, he knows what I am going through and all the feelings that I'm feeling. It felt nice to talk to someone who understands and who isn't my family." Hannah explained.
"That's nice." Andrea agreed. "But you can't just run away with a boy without letting me or Brandon know where you are going and with whom."
"Dad." Hannah corrected her quickly. "Brandon is my dad."
"Well, I'm not so sure you'd be saying that after the third degree you will get from him once he finds out you've run away with a guy." Andrea joked, brushing the hair away from Hannah's forehead.
"If he is angry at me, I deserve that. He asked me to stay with Isaac and keep an eye on him and I didn't." Hannah said slowly.
"I'm glad you see it that way." Andrea said, surprised by the level of maturity that Hannah was showing. "Han, if you feel like you need to talk to someone about what's going on around you and that someone should not be me or dad, you should tell us."
"You will not send me to shrink like Natalie's parents did when they were divorcing?" Hannah asked.
"No, I don't think you are a case for shrink." Andrea chuckled softly. "But we may look for a therapist for you."
"Great that still makes me look like a head case." Hannah rolled her eyes.
"By that logic both me and your dad are head cases, so you are in the right company." Andrea smiled.
"You're seeing a therapist?" Hannah asked her eyes growing wide.
"Not right now, but I did at various points of my life and so did Brandon, I'd do it again if I felt like I needed to." Andrea explained.
"I had no idea." Hannah mumbled, wrapping her mum in a hug. "I'm sorry for running away mommy." Hannah mumbled.
Andrea kissed her daughter's forehead holding her close. "Just never do it again please." She said softly.
It was after 2pm when Kelly finally made her way to the living room. Yawning she ran her hand through her messy hair still feeling barely conscious.
"Here she is, the sleeping beauty." Dylan grinned when he spotted her from his place on the sofa.
"Where is Ava?" Kelly smiled softly turning on the coffee machine and grabbing her favorite cup.
"I carried her to bed about fifteen minutes ago, she has no resistance just like her mamma." Dylan said joining her in the co-joined kitchen.
"I'm sorry for falling asleep and bailing on the movie marathon." Kelly bit her lip.
"You are off the hook, you looked dead tired when I came to pick you two up. Ava was slightly disappointed but we turned it into a daddy and daughter movie marathon. You know, we made the hot chocolate with marshmallows and watched Madagascar and Beethoven before I cooked us lunch." Dylan let out playing with the hem of Kelly's shirt.
"You were cooking?" Kelly raised her brows looking at him in disbelieve.
"Sure, Ava even asked for seconds, but there are still some leftovers in the pan so you can have your belated lunch."
Turning around Kelly looked under the lid. "Pasta?" She asked.
"Not just any pasta, but Fettuccine al pomodoro." Dylan said with feigned offence in his voice. He grabbed a plate serving the lunch for her.
"I see that you put at least some of your time in Italy to good use." Kelly noted taking her well needed cup of coffee and heading to the sofa.
"I took a few cooking classes while I was there, who would have thought that cooking is actually fun." Dylan confirmed setting the plate with food on the end table.
"Who would have thought that cooking will be something that you'll learn to enjoy." Kelly shook her head, taking the plate.
"So, what's the verdict?" Dylan asked.
"It's delicious." Kelly let out, surprised how tasty such a simple meal could be.
"Now when you mention Italy, even if you hate me for making you read it, I suppose you made your way through a few pages of my diary." Dylan said hopefully, the atmosphere changing immediately.
"Not just few pages, I finished the whole thing just before Ava woke up this morning." Kelly admitted staring at the food on her plate.
"Do you want to talk about it?" He asked trying hard to hide the anxiety he felt.
"Talk about what? The fact that while I was eight months pregnant with our daughter, you left to keep us safe, and traveled straight to London? Or should we talk about the fact that while I was raising our daughter alone, you traveled all around the globe before finally landing in Bahamas, all the time trying to forget all about us? Or should we talk about all the women you have encountered during your travel, every single one of them being meaningless because they were not me?" Kelly set the plate back on the table as she suddenly lost her appetite.
Dylan breathed in, unable to look at her properly. "Is that everything you took away you from all those pages?" He asked quietly.
"No…" Kelly shook her head. "I sat there the whole night on the uncomfortable hospital bed reading and crying along with you. I could relate to your feelings, you were hurting, lost and lonely…just as me." Kelly said the last words coming out barely above whisper. "What I mentioned are words and actions that were incredibly hurtful to me even if I know that you never did them or wrote about them because you were trying to hurt me."
"Kel, I'm sorry…" Dylan breathed out.
"I know you are." She said softly cupping his face with her hand, her thumb running along his cheek.
"What I wrote there, London or all the girls not meaning anything to me, I do mean it." He assured her.
"I do know that." Kelly mumbled snuggling up to him, for some weird reason she just needed him to hold her tight and he did just that at least for a few minutes before their daughter woke up and made them watch yet another kid friendly movie their talk over, at least for now.
A/N: Thank you for all the feedback on the last chapter and D/K, I really appreciate it. I'm glad you are enjoying reading the story as much as I enjoy writing it. Sorry about the delay in posting, but life has been crazy lately. I'll try to speed up the updates, but can't really promise anything.
