Sooo this was supposed to be up a couple of days ago but my ff wasn't working. But it is now yay.
Glad you all liked the last chapter, hope this ones lives up to expectations what with the fight and all.
Haleb ~ yes you may request that as it is already mostly written
Guest ~ aw thank you! I'm not actually from Costa Rica though, I just went on holiday there and did some uploading and I guess it's stuck?
Guest ~ yes, Closer is such a Haleb song. Maybe I'll do something with it
pleasedonthateme ~ I don't hate you, everyone is entitled to their opinion. I've always thought that the main reason Haleb clashed and had their fights was because of A or Caleb not knowing about A, so I genuinely think that once that problem is removed and they've got each other, there's not that much for them to argue about! I dunno though, what do other people think?
Hi Bengy.
Anyway, enjoy below...
The D Word
Hanna smiled as she heard the doorbell ring twice. After a rather demanding week, she had a date night with her husband and now her Mother was here to allow her to relinquish all child responsibility. If the week hadn't been tough enough, trying to get herself ready with three attention-demanding children had just about tipped her over the edge and the evening with Caleb would be welcome relief. She felt like she'd hardly seen him recently and she missed him. And the sex.
He'd been working super late for the past handful of days, only getting home after she was in bed to mumble about strategy and Ryan, his new contractor, in his sleep, before being out of the door first thing every morning when she was barely awake enough to give him more than a sleep kiss. It had left her to look after two hyper children and one baby who was refusing to settle through the night as her teeth came through. To say she and the kids had been missing him was an understatement and whilst tonight would be for her and Caleb to get some precious time together, it would also be about Logan.
Before they were going out for dinner, they had their second ever parent-teacher conference at Logan's school. Hanna never worried about her little boy, but there seemed to be a small recurring well of nervousness that simmered in her stomach right before they met with his teacher. She knew she'd be proud of her son no matter what, but it was always reassuring to hear he really was as amazing as she thought he was.
"Hey," She grinned, pushing those thoughts to the back of her mind and pulling open the door to reveal her Mom. "Right on time."
"Am I ever late?" Ashley asked, reaching out a hand to strike Everly's cheek as she gnawed on her fingers and clung onto Hanna. "How's she doing?"
Hanna sighed and ran a hand across the back of the baby's hair, "She's still grouchy," She pouted, ducking her head down to kiss her forehead, "I think we've got three teeth coming in all at once," She explained, "And Daddy's not been around to make it all better."
"Caleb still working late?"
"Yeah," Hanna sighed again, "I feel like I haven't seen him for a month."
"What's he working on, or can't you tell me?" Ashley asked as they made their way down to the kitchen where Hanna had set Logan and Mila up for the evening with her Mom.
"Some big strategy project," She explained as Logan and Mila rushed forward to greet their Grammy. "I'm not sure what it is, but he's brought in this new guy called Ryan who's helping him."
"Mommy's going to my school," Logan interrupted them, tugging on Ashley's hand to tell her excitedly. "To talk to Miss Georgia."
"I know," Ashley grinned, "That's why I'm here."
"I should probably get going," Hanna remarked, glancing up at the clock on the wall. "We can't be late for a conversation that's all about you," She murmured, leaning down to pull Logan into her before pressing a kiss against his cheek.
"Let me take her," Ashley held her hands out for Everly.
"There are two more teething rings in the freezer," She explained, "There's a bottle for her in there too."
"I know," Ashley reassured her as she handed her the baby.
"I just worry."
"Trust me sweetheart, I know all about that feeling and raising a child."
"I know, I know." She conceded, grabbing her car keys off the kitchen island. "Okay," She breathed, heading over to give Logan and Mila a kiss and a cuddle as they settled back down to watch the film she'd put on for them. "Be good for Grammy," She murmured as Mila tilted her head up for one more kiss. "I love you."
"Bye honey," Ashley smiled as Hanna finally stood. "Enjoy your evening."
"We will."
As she headed towards the door, she quickly typed out a message for Caleb who'd been unusually quiet that day. Leaving now, meet you in the car park at Logi's school xxxx. It was time to go hear about how great her son was.
Hanna sighed as she looked at the message Caleb had just sent her. She'd been sat waiting for him for 5 minutes already when Just managed to get away, start without me, I'll be there asap had pinged through.
She tried not to let her frustration get the better of her, but in her eyes there was absolutely nothing that would stop her being there to hear how Logan was doing. She got that he was busy and that there was this elusive project going on at his work, but their children were their priority. Well, they were for her.
The meeting's in his classroom was all she sent back before grabbing her bag and heading towards the entrance. Half of her wanted to kill her husband, half of her missed him so much that she didn't care, she just wanted him there with her. She headed past reception and started to wander down the hallways towards Logan's classroom when she stopped to look at some of the artwork that had been put up. A grin crossed her face as she read Logan Rivers in the bottom of the picture she'd naturally settled on; it was a large blob of bright yellow with some black dots at one end. She tilted her head slightly, trying to figure out exactly what he'd painted when a voice interrupted her thoughts.
"Mrs Rivers?" She spun round to come face-to-face with Logan's teacher, Georgia Berry.
"Hanna please," She held her hand out and shook her hand.
"Then Georgia for me," The young brunette smiled, "Have you spotted Logan's?"
"Just trying to figure out exactly what it is," Hanna said wryly, turning back to the picture.
"He said it was someone called George?"
Hanna laughed, "Our dog," She tucked a piece of hair behind her ear, "I can see it now."
Georgia smiled at her, "He loves painting," She remarked as they made their way down the hallway towards the classroom. "And anything to do with art generally."
"We do a lot of it at home," Hanna replied, subtly checking her phone for any message from Caleb. There was none. "Especially with his sister who is even more crazy about it than Logi."
Georgia smiled at her as they sat down, "Are we waiting for anyone?" She asked, "Or shall we start?"
Hanna clenched her phone in her hand tightly, trying to think rationally about the situation. Yes, she wanted Caleb there, but she knew she didn't have an infinite amount of time with Logan's teacher and hearing everything she had to say was more important than waiting for her husband. "Let's start."
Half an hour later and Hanna felt like the proudest Momma there was. Her little boy was exactly what she'd hoped; caring, inclusive and sociable with a penchant for Maths and Art that she knew came nowhere from her side of the gene pool. Sometimes she wondered how she'd managed to have any input in his creation.
"There is one thing I want to talk to you about, though."
Hanna's ears pricked up and her heart started racing at the young woman's words. What was wrong… what hadn't they covered already? Her mind had just started racing when the question was answered for her.
"Reading." Georgia said simply.
"He loves reading," Hanna whispered to herself more than anything as her brain whirred.
"When you're at home, what type of reading are you doing?"
"We read the books he brings home," Hanna explained.
"I mean, do you read to him, do you read together, does he read to you?"
Hanna paused momentarily to chew on her lip. She hadn't thought about it before – they just read at bedtime every night. It was natural; she'd let him choose a book, settle under the covers before she sat down and read to… him. Oh god. She swallowed nervously. "I read to him," She said softly, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear.
"And does he ever read to you?"
"Not really," Hanna paused. "I'll ask him sometimes but he doesn't want to so I'll read it to him instead."
"And what's his favourite type of book?"
"I mean it's not really a book, but he loves when Caleb… his Dad… when he reads his comic books to him," She smiled, "Especially when he does the voices."
"I'm glad he's enjoying reading at home," Georgia gave her a small smile back, "I've noticed in the classroom that he tends to avoid anything to do with words and books."
Hanna's brow furrowed, "What? He avoids them?"
"When we're doing a science activity, or a maths activity, or we've got the crayons out, Logan is at the front of my classroom every time begging me to let him do it," George explained, "But when it's about letters and reading out sounds, he hovers at the back."
"Are you saying he's failing?" Hanna's lip trembled as the words left her mouth. Why hadn't she spotted he was struggling. "That he can't read?"
"I'm not saying that at all," The brunette said as calmly as possible. "Does he ever read out loud to you at home?"
Hanna's hands shook as she brought them to her lap, "I… I guess," She frowned again. "He's always making up stories and telling them to me or Caleb."
"But he's not reading from books?"
"Not really," Hanna shrugged, starting to feel more and more concern, "We always just read them together." She explained, "Why? Is that bad? Am I doing something wrong?"
"Hanna, ordinarily you'd not be doing anything wrong, but I think Logan might be special."
"Special?"
"I know he's young and it can be hard to tell at this age," Georgia paused before taking a breath, "But I think Logan might have dyslexia."
"What?"
"It's where people find it harder to read and write, but there are lots of different—"
"No," Hanna interrupted her, "I know what it is. But you think that Lo… he might have it?"
"I'm not saying he definitely does, but I can see his reticence to read or get involved with some of the sound work we're doing in class at the moment. And I can see how he compensates – he has this huge imagination and I can see his brain figuring things out to help fill in the blanks."
"Dyslexic," Hanna closed her eyes painfully and murmured to herself; she felt like she'd failed her little boy by not realising it herself. She was his Mommy, she should have been able to seen the signs. But in that moment, as she wanted nothing more than to cry, something else washed over her. Looking up, directly in her son's teachers eyes she said one simple statement, "Tell me what I need to do."
After they'd wrapped up the meeting and clutching some pieces of artwork Georgia had given her, Hanna found herself walking stoically back to the car. What she'd expected to be a simple parent-teacher meeting before a date-night with her husband had turned into a potentially life changing conversation about her son. They'd spoken for a further 15 minutes about what it all meant, how they'd need to think about their teaching styles both at home and in school before it was all caveated with comments that it wasn't a proper diagnosis. But when she slumped down in the driver's seat of her Audi and grabbed her phone to google dyslexia in preschoolers, she saw it all there. Her Logan was written down on a page in black and white.
She closed her eyes and said a silent prayer to whoever decided Georgia Berry should have been his pre-k teacher. Without her, Logan could have continued on down a road that would have left him increasingly frustrated and angry about books and words and letters. Now… now she had a plan. She was going to go home and—
A knock on her car window shook her from her thoughts and she turned her head to find Caleb opening the door. "Han," He started, begging with his eyes, "I'm so sorry, I couldn't get away."
"No," She shook her head, tears welling in her eyes, "I'm sorry."
"What?" He asked, confused. "Why are you sorry?"
"I'm sorry for our son who needed you more than ever to be there for the conversation I just had."
"I know," He dropped his head as the words stung, "And I tried to get away, but Ryan needed—"
"He will always need you more than Ryan."
"She had this urgent document we needed to find."
There was dead silence as Hanna realized what he'd just said. "She?"
"Yeah," Caleb swallowed nervously as his grip on the car door tightened, "Ryan."
"Ryan… is a girl?"
"You knew she was a girl."
"I think I must have been unconscious during that conversation," She leant her head back against the headrest as the bitter words left her mouth.
"Let's go out to dinner and you can tell me about how great Logi's doing," He tried, reaching for her hand, but she yanked it away. "Please."
"Did you fuck her?"
"Did I what?" Caleb's eyes bulged and his mouth dropped open slightly as the question resonated.
"I said," Hanna turned to look him dead in the eye, "Did you fuck her?"
"What are you talking about?"
"Caleb, I am quite clearly asking you, if you fucked her or not."
"Okay seriously, what happened in there?"
"Do not do that," Hanna started to cry, "You do not get to blame something else for how I'm feeling right now."
"What's going on?" He pleaded, ducking his head down to lean into her slightly. "What's happened?"
"I think…" Hanna whimpered, cutting him out and leaning forward to bury her head against the steering wheel, "I think you need to go in there and ask her for yourself."
"I can do that," He agreed quietly, rubbing her back, "I can do that," He repeated, pressing his lips against her forehead.
She shrugged him off and pushed him out of the door, "I hope she was worth it," She sniffled as she turned the ignition on.
"I haven't touched her," He couldn't believe what she was thinking. "Where are you going?" Caleb frowned as she pulled her car door shut and put the window down.
"I'm going home," She said stoically.
"Can we please just go out to dinner and talk about this. You're upset, Hanna, you're not driving like this."
"No," Hanna shook her head, "I am so pissed off with you right now that you don't get a choice."
"Look, I'm gonna go in there and explain what's happened and get her to update me on Logan."
"Fine."
"Please don't go anywhere. Just wait for me."
"Fine."
It was a blatant lie.
And as soon as Caleb was out of sight in the school, she put her foot down on the gas and headed straight for home.
"Hello?" Hanna yelled as she pushed through her front door. She wasn't supposed to be home just yet and the thought of her missed dinner reservation only served to make her mood more somber.
"Hey," Ashley stuck her head round the corner and frowned at the sight of her daughter. "You're not supposed to be home yet."
"I know," Hanna sighed, making her way towards the living room, "Are they all still up?"
"Miss grouchy's gone down after half an hour of rocking, but the other two are in here finishing up their movie."
"Mommy," Mila and Logan called as Hanna came into view.
"Hi," She grinned, picking Mila up so that she could take her place on the sofa, before settling her on her lap and cuddling her close.
"Where's Daddy?" Logan looked up and asked.
"He's going to be late home."
Ashley's face dropped as she heard Hanna's words, "Did he… make it?" She asked, crossing her legs as the uncomfortable question left her mouth.
"No."
"Oh."
"Is it time for bed?" Hanna ignored her Mom, squeezing Logan and Mila against her instead.
"Gwammy," Mila reached for Ashley.
"Grammy can put you to bed," Hanna agreed, letting Ashley take her. "And I can cuddle with you instead," She murmured to Logan, pulling him half over her lap.
"Did you see Miss Georgia, Mommy?" Logan asked as they stood up and began to make their way up to his bedroom.
"I did," Hanna placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder, "She was telling me how smart and friendly you are." She paused as he grabbed the comic that was lying on the floor next to his bed, "Go pick a book out," She encouraged him. "Daddy's not here to do the voices."
She watched him deliberate for a moment before agreeing and racing over to pick a book out. "This one," He said, handing one to Hanna before climbing into bed. "Will Daddy be home soon?" He looked up at her and asked, "I need to show him my new picture I did."
"You can show him tomorrow," She said softly, encouraging him under the covers as she opened up the first page. "Do you want to read it to me?" She almost didn't say the words, but hey… it was worth a try and she was intrigued to see his response.
"You read it Mommy, I'm sleepy."
"Tomorrow will you read it with me?"
He chewed on his lip before nodding and cuddling into her side as she held the book out in front of them, "Mrs. Wobble was a waitress. She liked her work…"
She only managed to read a few pages before he was fast asleep and passed out in his bed and by the time she kissed a snoozing Mila and Everly, Caleb had reappeared downstairs. "Hey," He snapped, "I thought you were gonna wait for me and we were gonna talk."
"Caleb," She sighed and rolled her eyes, "Don't snap at me."
"Well I'm pissed."
"Pissed at me or pissed at yourself?"
"Hi," Ashley coughed and made her presence known, "I'm just gonna leave you guys to it."
"Bye Mom," Hanna didn't even look at her, heading straight to the fridge to pull out a bottle of wine and then a glass.
"Bye sweetheart."
"Seriously," Caleb started again, "You think it's okay to just leave?"
"You think it's okay to just not turn up?" She took a swig of her wine as she raised her eyebrows at him.
"I had to send this document off."
"With Ryan," She spat, "I know. Did you do that before or after you fucked her?"
They both froze as they heard Ashley coughing again, "I... forgot my keys," She smiled slightly, grabbing them off the kitchen island countertop.
Caleb waited until he heard the front door shut before he opened his mouth again, "I didn't fuck her."
"Right," Hanna scoffed.
"Hanna I haven't been with another woman since I met you." She looked up at him, her eyes wavering. "Seriously."
"First time for everything," She muttered, distracting herself with the label on the wine bottle.
"Are we going to talk about Logan?" Caleb ignored her as he gripped the side of the island.
"What about him?" She feigned ignorance, taking another swig of her alcohol.
"His dyslexia," He exclaimed, feeling completely exasperated with his wife. "He has dyslexia, Hanna."
Hanna visibly shirked away from him as her voice became quiet. "Don't say that."
"Why not?" Caleb argued, "It's what he has right?"
"What he might have," Hanna corrected him. "It's too early to know for sure."
Caleb huffed and rolled his eyes, "Can you please tell me exactly what you discussed with his teacher. She gave me a two minute overview before the next set of parents turned up and I'm getting seriously pissed off that you won't tell me."
"Do you know what Caleb?" Hanna felt the anger brewing within her, "No. I won't. If you wanted to know you should have been there. I don't care what the fuck or who the fuck you were doing but he is our son and nothing is more important than him," She yelled. "Nothing."
"What do you want me to do?" He argued, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry, okay! I know I shouldn't have missed it but you don't understand what's going on right now."
"And whose fault is that?" She cut in, "We're married Caleb, we're supposed to tell each other everything. There's nothing I keep from you," She choked on her words as the tears in her eyes started to bubble over.
"I don't keep anything from you either."
"Apart from some fucking secretary who's spreading her legs for you."
"Okay," Caleb held up a finger to silence her, "First of all, she's not a secretary."
"Oh great, so it's some fucking Harvard grad who's put on a pair of glasses and made you drop your pants instead."
"Shut up," He growled, charging round the island to grab her waist and walk her backwards until he slammed her into a cupboard door, his lips hunting for hers as she moaned at the brash contact. "I'm so annoyed with you," He warned her.
"And…?"
Caleb pushed his mouth onto hers, swallowing her moan as his tongue aggressively searched for hers. "And that," He breathed heavily, pulling away to catch his breath. God, she had missed him. She stilled for a second before she lurched for his shirt again, tugging his lips back down on top of hers as she angrily tore at the buttons in her grasp.
He reached a hand out to steady himself, knocking some plastic cups off in the process as he lifted her up and propped her on the countertop. "I didn't fuck her," He murmured, reaching for the zip on her skirt to tug it down her legs.
"You lied," Hanna gasped, grappling with his trouser button before shoving them down his legs.
"I never said she was a man," He shook his head, cupping her centre and pushing a finger into her heat as he dipped his head to bite on his neck.
"You never said she was a woman," She argued, wrestling her fingers free to grip onto his shoulders as he pumped his quickly. "You lied."
"Shut up," He rolled his eyes and repeated, covering her mouth with his own as his kiss became wet and deep. He tugged her heels off, throwing them haphazardly onto the floor before reaching for her panties and shoving them to one side.
"Don't tell me what to do," She gasped, throwing her head back as she fought for breath.
"Don't move," He smirked at her, pressing her up against the cupboard with his body as he reached for her hips and pulled her forward.
"You are such a…" She didn't managed to finish her sentence before he was sinking into her and stretching her, making her forget every single thing he'd done to piss her off that night, "Oh."
"Uh huh," He groaned, grabbing her arse and pulling her off the countertop as she clenched around him. He spun them around until it was his back against the cupboard before he slid down, her still in his arms until he reached the floor.
"I'm so mad at you," She moaned, beginning to move on top of him as he held her hips.
"I said I'm sorry," He said, pulling her chest tight against his as he searched for her mouth.
"Caleb," She frowned, burying her head against his neck as he started to move his hips too. This wasn't what she'd expected when she'd left the house; they were so angry with each other and after a week of being two transient beings, it was all bubbling over.
He held her, biting at her neck, her shoulders, her chest, any exposed skin, as she continued to create friction and pleasure for the both of them. Usually he led her, but for once he let her control it and went with it. They were silent, their arguing forgotten until they both started to feel the telltale signs. And then he was pushing her back onto the wooden floor, taking control as her voice started to rise and her legs lifted to wrap around his hips. It was hard and it was fast and it was everything they'd missed from each other for the past week.
And when they finally came undone, they both collapsed in a sweaty heap on the floor – the items of clothing they'd managed to shed lying around them on the hard solid floor.
For the first time since he'd touched her that evening, he placed a gentle kiss against her forehead before collapsing next to her.
Naturally, like any other daily activity she completed, she lifted her head up and settled on his chest, the embers from her earlier fire within her turning into dust. There was silence, both processing and feeling the moment until Caleb spoke. "She's helping me sell my stake in the company."
She was in shock. "What? Caleb…" Her voice shook.
"I know," He felt his own eyes getting wet and looked away to compose himself, "I know I should have told you, but I didn't want you to worry or get upset."
She wiped at her eye to stop a tear escaping. Why hadn't he felt like he could confide in her about this? More importantly, why was he getting out in the first place? "Why?"
"Because…" He tilted his head and looked at her, "You know the expectations that go with it… like going to Cali every other month. After what happened last time I was away, I swore to myself I'd never leave you like that again and I've put them off as much as possible but the pressure's still there. They want me to give them more than I can and I'm not willing to do it."
"It's your company," She sniffled, "You made it."
"And it's not my baby anymore," He sighed, running a hand through his hair, "It never was. You and Logan and Mila and Everly will always be more important than any business or company I work for or own or build. And that's why I was late," He explained, "Because we needed this document that explicitly stated buy-out terms that were negotiated when they first bought a majority share."
"So you aren't fucking her?" Hanna wiped another tear as she sat up and looked down at him.
He pulled her into his arms and stroked her cheek with his thumb, "Even after I saw three babies come through your vagina, I haven't looked at another woman."
"You did not just say that," She growled, gripping the front of his shirt.
He ignored her and held her against his chest, murmuring in her ear, "Now can you please tell me about my son?"
"Georgia thinks he might have… d…"
"Dyslexia," Caleb filled in for her.
"And I googled it," She started to cry, "And I think he does, and I don't know how I didn't see it."
"Hey," Caleb soothed her, "He doesn't have anything wrong with him, he just sees the world a little differently."
"But he hates reading."
"No he doesn't," Caleb laced his fingers through her hair, "He loves reading, he loves stories, he just doesn't like reading to us. Imagine how much he'll love it if we can help him with that."
"I just," Hanna pushed herself out of his arms and stood so that she could start pacing, "I don't know how to help him. I don't understand."
"We'll learn."
"And he's so young. I don't want him to know we're treating him differently."
"Treating everyone fairly isn't treating them the same."
"I don't want him to feel like he can't tell us he doesn't understand."
"He won't. He doesn't."
"I…"
"Hanna." Caleb interrupted her, "We love him. He knows that we love him and nothing will ever change that. So we need to adjust a bit? We can do that. We're always doing that."
Hanna's lip trembled as she took in what he said before she rushed into his arms again. "I'm sorry," She cried, "I'm sorry for saying you were sleeping with Ryan."
"No expletive?" He pulled back and teased her. She bit her lip and shook her head as she looked into his eyes. "Seriously though," He cupped both her cheeks, "I haven't looked at anyone else since I was like 16."
"We weren't together then," Hanna frowned.
"I know," He sighed, "But some weird psychy thing told me you'd be in my life soon and that I shouldn't go looking."
"You've never told me that before," She teased him, stroking his arms up and down.
"Good job you're my wife then."
"I was ready to throw my rings at you," She murmured as he ducked his head and pressed a kiss against her exposed neck.
"I know," He replied, "I could tell. And I promise after this is all wrapped up, I'll never miss another thing again."
"I'm still a bit mad at you."
He sat up straight again, "I'm still mad at myself." He hushed her, "But Lo's gonna be fine, I know he will. He's not dying; he doesn't have some incurable disease. He just approaches his world differently to us and now that we know that, we can support him in the best way possible."
Hanna sighed, feeling her emotions building again. "Dyslexia," Her voice wobbled, "We can do it."
"We can," Caleb reassured her. "We can do anything."
And he meant it.
I was like half ded when I uploaded this and proofed for a final time so if I reread it tomorrow and its rubbish I'm taking it down haha. But if you like pleeeeease review xoxo
