Holy haleb guys, 14 reviews for the last chapter, thank you so much! As long as you all keep reading this I'll keep writing it and as long as Tyshley keep providing us with these amazing snapchats I'll keep getting plot seedlings.
Hanna's outfit in this one... Haleb at a wedding.
Enjoy Part I below, Part II to follow relatively soon!
To Kill A Bride - Part I
Logan Nathaniel Rivers felt like he was having the best day of his short life so far. His Aunty Ari had come over earlier that day and given him some serious lovin' and at the present moment in time, he was sat on the kitchen island countertop with a huge bowl of chocolate cupcake mix in front of him. "Mommy," He called to Hanna, who was pacing at the other end of the island, on the phone to someone. He really, really wanted to dip his fingers in and then lick them clean.
"One minute baby," She responded, holding her finger up as she continued to listen to whoever was on the line. Logan continued to stir the mixture diligently, his little tongue poking out as he concentrated hard on the task at hand. Hanna walked over to him and rubbed his back to indicate he was doing a good job, "Aria," She snapped, "Why are you not listening to me?! Everything is ready for tomorrow," Hanna repeated, pinching the bridge of her nose as Aria continued to freak, before she finally hung up.
Trying to forget about the bridezilla one of her best friends had turned into, she focused back on her toddler. "Hey, good job goober," She cooed at Logan as she looked into the chocolately bowl. "You wanna help Mommy scoop the mixture into the holders?" She asked, bringing the baking tray over.
Logan nodded, taking the spoon Hanna handed him, before letting her guide his hand between the bowl and cupcake cases. "You are doing such a good job," Hanna praised, looking up as she heard the door to Caleb's office open. She caught glimpses of Caleb showing Ezra out, baby monitor in hand, before he disappeared up the stairs.
He reappeared 5 minutes later, just as Hanna and Logan scooped the last dollop of cupcake mixture into the final case. "Look who I found wide awake," He announced, holding almost three-month-old Mila with her back against his chest so she could take in all of her surroundings.
Logan held his hands out for his baby sister and Caleb duly obliged and brought her over, letting Logan place a gentle kiss against her cheek. "Mimi," He said as Hanna came over with a spoon for him to lick the bowl with.
"Caleb look," She said, grabbing her iPhone to snap some pictures of her two babies interacting, "Her whole face just lights up when she's with him," She grinned, watching as Mila reached her arms out to grab at Logan.
"Momma!" He exclaimed as she grabbed onto his finger.
"She's loving you Logi," Hanna added, flipping her iPhone to video to record the sweet moment between the two – only made sweeter when Caleb ran his hand through Logan's hair and pressed a kiss against the back of Mila's head.
In that moment, Hanna didn't care about recording this moment forever; she just wanted to be a part of it too. She put her phone down next to Logan's forgotten spoon and walked over to the three of them, hopping up on the counter next to Logan. He promptly scooted over onto her lap, still holding his hands out for Mila to grab as Hanna reached around and cupped the cheeks of her baby girl before giving her a big fat kiss.
"Where's my lovin'?" Caleb smirked, forcing her legs open to allow him to stand in between them, the two littlest Rivers squished between them.
"Right here," Hanna whispered, her hands running up to tangle in his hair as she placed a hot, open-mouthed kiss on his lips. He grinned at her as she pulled away, before being unable to resist and pulling her in for one more.
"Daddy you squidgin' me," Logan giggled, forcing Caleb to pull away. He bit his lip as she moved Logan off her lap, jumping down to load the cupcakes into the oven.
"How was Ezra?" Hanna asked as she grabbed the spoon she'd gotten for Logan and handed it to him.
Caleb sent her a look, wrapping an arm around her and pulling her close. "He's making me use my daughter as a stress-reliever," He complained, snuggling Mila up against his neck before breathing in her precious baby scent.
Hanna grinned at him, "She's pretty good at that," She replied, smoothing down the ridiculous amount of blonde hair on Mila's head. "I need my time with the doctor," She added, scooping Mila up out of Caleb's arms, "Aria has called me 5 times today to ask me where her bridesmaids dresses are!" She exclaimed, pressing a kiss against Mila's head. "I literally want to kill her,"
Caleb sighed, dipping his finger into the mixture bowl to try some before Logan tried to stick his head in and physically lick it clean, "Try sitting with Ezra for 2 hours to discuss how the graphics on the video don't scream To Kill A Mockingbird,"
Hanna placed a comforting hand on his arm as he took the empty bowl away from Logan and placed it in the sink. "Were we this bad?" Hanna asked, turning Mila around in her arms so she could look at Logan as he showed her his toy car.
Caleb moved behind her and wrapped an arm around her; "All that mattered to me was seeing you at the end of the aisle,"
She tilted her head and smiled up at him, "Charmer,"
"And how quick I could get you out of your pretty dress," He whispered against her neck.
"Caleb!" She squealed as he nipped at her skin.
"Momma," Logan interrupted, "When we seein' Aunty Ari?"
"We're gonna take the cupcakes over when they're done, baby," Hanna replied.
"Why are we givin' 'em to her?" He pouted, prompting Hanna and Caleb to burst out laughing.
Hanna reached over to stroke his cheek, "Aunty Ari's stressing about her wedding tomorrow and cupcakes would help her feel better," She explained, smiling at him encouragingly as Mila cooed in her arms.
Caleb grinned at him, moving to pick him up. "I'm sure Momma will let you keep one," He reassured him, stroking his hair out of his eyes. Logan looked to Hanna in anticipation.
"Maybe two," She whispered to him, laughing as he threw his little arms up in glee.
Caleb heard Hanna greet their babysitter later that evening as he did a final run through of the video Ezra had asked him to put together for the rehearsal dinner. He saved the final file and emailed it over to Mike who was helping set up, before heading out into the kitchen. As he approached his wife two things crossed his mind – the first was how ridiculously good she looked in her white lacey bralet and blue and silver floral pencil skirt. The second was how much she was freaking out about leaving Mila with someone other than her Mom.
"So they've had dinner and are in their jammies," Hanna said to Sofia, their back-up babysitter of choice, as Logan scampered around at her feet.
"Hey Sof," Caleb greeted the Rosewood High teenager, coming over to rest a reassuring hand on Hanna's back.
"Hey," She replied, giving him a wave. "Are you all ready for tonight?"
"I really hope so," He replied, leaning over to pick Mila up from her bouncy chair on the island.
Hanna grabbed the notebook she'd been writing in earlier and handed it to Sofia, "Okay, so emergency numbers are here. There's mine, Caleb's, my Mom's, Spencer's, Toby's, Em-,"
"Babe," Caleb cut her off, "If there is any problem – which there won't be – but if there is we will both have our phones on us and if for some unexplainable reason Sof can't get through to us, you've written down our entire phonebook for her to call," He said to his wife, trying to soothe the worry away. He took the hand Hanna was trying to chew off and pulled her close. "Have you fed her?" He murmured, squeezing Hanna's side as she ran a hand down Mila's back. Hanna nodded, "Okay, go grab your coat and I'll let Sof know the plan," He instructed, watching her as she walked out the room and disappeared up the stairs.
"Han's fed her, so she shouldn't need any more food before we get back, but there's a bottle in the fridge just in case," Caleb began, holding the back of Mila's head against his neck as she began to whimper. "She's just tired," He explained, "It would be great if you could get her off to sleep, we're trying to get her into some sort of routine," He added, looking down as Logan latched onto his leg. "Lo, you gonna help Sof look after Mimi?" He asked.
Logan nodded his head and stuck his thumb in his mouth. "Lo, shall we go pick a movie for us to watch?" Sofia asked, taking his hand in hers.
"For Mimi too," Logan said, following her over to the sofa as Hanna reappeared, heels on, clutch in hand and coat on.
"Let me say bye before I end up not leaving," Hanna said, taking Mila from Caleb's arms. "Bye baby," She cooed, pressing kisses against the side of her head, Caleb rubbing Mila's back. She walked over to the sofa and despite every maternal signal her body was sending her, handed Mila over to Sofia. "Bye Logi, be good," Hanna said, bending down to give him a kiss. "Love you,"
"Love you Momma," Logan replied, rubbing his eyes as he settled back into the sofa cushions.
"Bye Lo," Caleb said, bending over the back of the sofa to press a kiss against his hair. "Love you," He added, before reaching out for Hanna's hand. "We'll see you later Sof, should be back before midnight," Caleb called as he led his wife out the door to start their evening at the hotly anticipated Fitz-Montgomery rehearsal dinner.
In true Ezra and Aria style, the rehearsal dinner wasn't really a dinner per se. They'd rented out a local art gallery and had pictures of their love story put up on the walls, whilst canapés that supposedly signified special moments were served throughout the evening, alongside the champagne they'd had when Ezra proposed. It was an interesting take on tradition, but that was Aria all over.
Having just been cornered against a picture of Ezra by Bridget Wu, who was desperate to spread some gossip, Emily was in desperate search of her close friends. She sighed in relief when she spotted Hanna and Caleb, his arms wrapped around her waist as she leant back against his chest, showing him something on her phone. "Hey," Emily greeted, downing her champagne before ditching the glass on a passing tray. "Having fun?" She asked the pair as she grabbed another full glass. "Because Bridget Wu just harassed me whilst Ezra watched it all,"
Caleb couldn't help but laugh. "It's not funny," Emily moaned.
"It kind of is," Caleb responded as Hanna continued to flick through photos, not paying attention to either of them.
"What I'm about to show you may be the cutest thing you've ever seen," Hanna eventually said, showing Emily the video she'd taken earlier of Logan and Mila.
Emily watched eagerly, grinning as she watched Mila smile at Logan on the video. "Those dimples," She cooed, "Are you gonna bring her tomorrow? I feel like I haven't seen her in forever,"
"Oh yeah," Hanna replied, "No way I can be away from her for that long," She said, raising her eyebrows. Caleb pressed a kiss against her cheek and squeezed her waist in reassurance.
"I thought you went away for your anniversary?" Emily asked confused.
Caleb nodded as Hanna sighed against him, "We did, but my Mom looked after them and its completely different to leaving my babies with some teenager from Rosewood High," She responded, flicking through her photo album to show Emily some more pictures of baby Mila.
"Are those pictures of Mila?" Spencer asked eagerly as she walked over, "I wanna see, I wanna see!" She exclaimed, Toby following right behind her.
"Hey man, how's it going?" Caleb asked, releasing Hanna to coo over their three-month-old, before greeting Toby with a man hug.
Toby took a sip of his beer as he looked around, "Is it just me, or is it kind of freaky seeing one hundred eyes of Aria staring back at you?"
Caleb laughed, "Not just you man,"
"Not to mention the fact that their freaking cat is staring right at us," Spencer added, glancing up from Hanna's phone to point at the oversized picture of Steinbeck, Aria and Ezra's black cat.
"Spence look," Hanna said, grabbing her attention again, "This is her yesterday morning," She continued, showing off a picture of Mila just waking up on Caleb's chest.
"Okay I actually wanna steal her,"
"I know right," Hanna agreed. She felt Caleb reach out to pull her closer, his hand running down her back to rest subtly on her butt. She turned her head to look at him and smiled knowingly as he leant down to press a kiss against her lips.
"Can you guys please stop having eye-sex," Emily complained, rolling her eyes as she tried to down another glass of champagne – talk about fifth wheeling. "Are all the dresses ready for tomorrow Han?" She asked, trying to change the subject. She really didn't expect the death glare she received in response.
"Aria has asked me that 7 times today," Hanna started, clearly exasperated. "She has turned into freakin' bridezilla," She ranted, grabbing a passing glass of champagne and a canapé.
"Jeez Han, when was the last time you guys had sex?" Spencer asked, raising her eyebrows at her uptight friend.
"Sex has not helped the situation, trust me," Hanna replied, her eyes squinting in annoyance.
Emily looked confused for a minute, "Aren't you supposed to wait, like, 4 months after you've given birth,"
"More like 6 weeks," Spencer replied. "And even then, if your doctor says its fine before you're good to go," She added.
"What do you think we did in New York? Sleep?" Hanna retorted, referencing the surprise trip Caleb had planned for their recent anniversary.
"Well, no…" Emily said slowly, still looking confused.
Hanna whipped her head round to stare at Spencer who suddenly looked uneasy and tried to avoid eye contact. "You're pregnant," She stated, shooting her a knowing look. "Why else would you know about how soon I can have sex?"
Spencer spluttered and looked to Toby for help, "It's common knowledge," She tried to justify.
Hanna scoffed, "Yeah, common knowledge if your name's Spencer Hastings and you've read the entire parenting book by week 2,"
"Congrats," Caleb said, holding his hand out for Toby to shake. "It'll be nice to have someone else in our crazy world,"
"Thanks," Toby said, clinking their beers.
"Toby!" Spencer exclaimed, "You were supposed to act normal,"
"Spence, this is so exciting," Emily said, pulling her in for a tight hug.
Hanna joined in and wrapped her arms around both of them. "Surprise babies are the best," She announced.
They pulled away as Ezra tried to grab the attention of the room. Everybody hushed and moved closer to where he stood in front of a projector screen. "Aria and I would like to thank everyone for coming tonight. We really appreciate all the effort everyone's gone to ahead of tomorrow," He said, "Before everyone continues to enjoy the rest of their evening, this is a something I've put together with a little help from some friends for my bride-to-be,"
Hanna interlinked her hand with Caleb's and squeezed it as the video he'd been working on for the past week finally played. Ezra had called on all the Liars to put together some crazy pictures of Aria over the years before ending with their proposal, all set within the theme of To Kill A Mockingbird.
Despite everything they'd said throughout the night, it felt like the culmination of a gorgeous evening, Hanna thought to herself. They could only hope that tomorrow Aria would finally chill out and just take in the moment for what it was… Turning the page to start the next chapter of her happy ever after.
I hope you guys all enjoyed that - baby girl finally made an appearance! Part II, as you probably guessed will be the big day.
I really think Emily needs a love interest, but god dammit Alison is so hard to write, the writers have really screwed her up.
Anyway, please review!
