Wow, I didn't expect such a response to the last chapter. One of my best friends if dyslexic and I've seen first hand the effect it can have, yet it can also be completely misunderstood. Hope I did it justice.
Halebxxx ~ you could never ever tell, you go girl, that chapter was for you
Guest x2 ~ aha a lot of you thought it was a different d word... it was deliberately misleading
Syd ~ yesssssssss but in a different fic, see my note below
My most recent Guest ~ thank you for your beautiful review, honestly it's because of readers like you that this fanfic has become what it is
In other news... I have posted a short and sweet Growth prequel called Christmas & Chill. Whilst it starts off with teenage Haleb, our very own baby Logan will make an appearance towards the end, so if you want to read about Haleb through the years at Christmas, go check it out.
This one picks up a couple of weeks after the last chapter. Enjoy below...
The Househusband
Caleb blearily blinked his eyes open as the sound of whimpering permeated through his ears. Glancing over Hanna's body at the clock on her bedside table, he let out a small groan before his eyes deviated to the video baby monitor on the side. His baby girl was wide-awake at 4am with a face scrunched up that told him all he needed to know.
"Evvy," Hanna mumbled beside him, reaching a hand up to rub at her eyes.
"It's okay," Caleb stopped her, pushing himself up, "I got her."
Hanna didn't fight him, smiling behind half-closed eyes as she watched him traipse out of the room towards Everly's nursery. Their little baby, after having three teeth finally peek through a couple of weeks ago, was nursing more sum gums as another tiny white tooth tried to reveal itself. Hanna had spent most of the week soothing their daughter as Caleb finally wrapped up removing himself from his Company and to say she was exhausted was an understatement – she was more than happy to let him get out of bed as she lay there and tiredly watched him appear on the screen of the baby monitor.
"Hey baby," He murmured sleepily, leaning over the railing to scoop Everly up. "Shh," He comforted her, "It's okay," He whispered in her ear, cradling her head against his shoulder as she whimpered and clung onto him. Holding her with one arm, he reached into the crib for her binky and blanket before he decided he really didn't want to sit with her in the rocking chair for an unknown amount of time. There was nothing like cuddling in bed with one of his kids.
When he walked back into his and Hanna's bedroom, he was unsurprised to find Hanna sat up with their bedside table lamp on low – he knew how busy the week had been with his wife bearing most of the pain of him finally extracting himself from his company and he thought she'd be straight back to sleep as soon as he'd gotten up. But he should have known by now that as much as she complained about being tired, she always put their children ahead of herself.
"What's up?" She asked tiredly, reaching a hand out to cradle the back of Everly's head as Caleb settled back down in bed.
"Considering she's trying to chew my top off, I'm guessing it's her teeth," He murmured, turning his head to press his lips against the baby's skin.
"Where's her Sophie?" Hanna asked, curling up close to both of them. "We love Sophie the Giraffe don't we?" She whispered as Everly looked up at her, her whimpering stopping until she blinked heavily and scrunched her face up. "Shh," Hanna tried, stroking her back as both her and Caleb fussed over their baby. "It's okay," She whispered, "We're here and we know it hurts."
"Teething sucks, huh pixie?" Caleb whispered, doing everything he could to soothe Everly.
"Let me go get Sophie," Hanna murmured, pressing a final kiss against Caleb's arm before she pushed herself out of bed and followed the path Caleb had taken back to Everly's nursery. She paused at the bathroom door and debated whether or not to grab the baby Tylenol but decided against it. It was only natural that she peeped into Mila and then Logan's room on her way back before she was climbing back into bed where Caleb was still doing his best to comfort a grizzly baby. "Evvy," Hanna started, drawing the baby's attention, "Is Daddy making you feel better?" She smiled slightly, handing her Sophie.
"I hope so," Caleb said softly, kissing the baby's ear as she immediately shoved the toy giraffe in her mouth and started chewing.
Hanna smiled at him and cuddled up to the both of them again, stroking Everly's back as she stared at her with her big blue eyes, "We love you," She whispered to the baby, "We do," She grinned as the baby paused her chewing and smiled up at her. "You know we do," She said softly, moving her hand up to stroke her cheek. "But you can't sleep in here," She murmured, "Even if Daddy is really comfortable."
"She can't?"
"No," Hanna sighed, propping herself up so that she could look at her husband instead, "I don't want her to get used to it."
"She won't," Caleb tried, squeezing his baby daughter close as she finally started to drift off again.
"We love having you at home already," Hanna smiled, giving him a tender kiss, "But I'm not letting you mess up any routine we've got going on – especially one that affects my sleep."
"Any?" He raised his eyebrows at her before they both looked down as Everly's chewing slowed.
"Go put her to bed," She shook her head at him, kissing their daughter one final time before she watched him disappear out of their room again. By the time he came back, she'd turned off the bedside lamp and was halfway back to sleep when she felt him climb into bed and wrap an arm around her waist, his lips attaching themselves to her neck. "Mmm," She grinned, "Can I help you?"
"About your sleep…" He trailed off, his hand running up under her pajama top.
"It's important," She refused to give in. "Tomorrow's busy."
"Busy?" His lips tugged upwards into a smile as his hand stopped and then followed a path down towards the top of her panties.
"Busy," She tried to fight any noise escaping her mouth as his fingers delved below the constricting material. "Really busy," She attempted, rolling onto her back as he climbed in between her legs.
Pulling his hand out, he gripped her wrists above her head and placed a hard kiss on her lips, "Let me make it busier."
"I know I'm late."
"You look tired," Morgan stated as Hanna walked into her shop 20 minutes later than they'd agreed. "Hi Evvy," She cooed at the baby on Hanna's hip, "Is your Mama looking tired even though it's almost half past 10?"
"Sorry," Hanna shot her a small smile, handing her Everly so that she could pull her jacket off and place her almost empty coffee cup on the side. "She's teething," She added, "I can't stop thinking about Logan and his reading. And it's Caleb's second day without a job," She shot Morgan a knowing look, "Our routine's been messed up since 4am."
"Oh no," Morgan pouted down at the baby who was still chewing away at her giraffe, "You've got another tooth coming through?"
"Ba!" Everly pulled the toy from her mouth and waved her arm around, smiling at Hanna as she watched her walk towards her.
"It's not me talking to you," Hanna laughed, Everly completely taken in by her as she stared up at her face, "Talk to Aunty Morgan," She encouraged, pressing a kiss against her hair.
"Does this mean you're not going to be doing the Thursday morning shift anymore?" Morgan asked, following Hanna around as she headed towards the stock room at the back of the shop.
"Why wouldn't I do Thursday mornings?" Hanna asked, slightly confused as she pushed the right code in to open up the back room.
"Because Daddy will be at home to distract you," Morgan cooed down at Everly, "He will," She grinned, bouncing the baby in her arms, "He'll be at home with you everyday."
"Not everyday," Hanna called as she riffled through a box for a dress she wanted.
"What else is he going to do?" Morgan pulled a face at Everly, making her laugh. "Mommy doesn't have an answer," She shook her head and whispered.
"I do," Hanna frowned, grabbing another box and heading back out into the store. "He's going to take some time to figure out what he wants to do and then slowly ease back into work."
"That doesn't answer my question."
"Your question was stupid."
Morgan gasped, "Mommy's so mean to me."
"Don't you have customers to serve?" Hanna rolled her eyes and smiled as she placed the boxes in the window. "We do actually need them to pay for their things," She raised her eyebrows, taking Everly back into her arms.
"Your Mommy thinks she's so funny," She reached a final hand out to tickle the baby's tummy. "She's not."
"Ma!" Everly exclaimed before shoving her giraffe back in her mouth.
"She's loyal," Hanna grinned, ducking her head to press a kiss against the baby's hair. "We're going to go dress the windows," She said, leaving Morgan to serve the few morning customers that had trickled in as she headed towards the mannequins in the window. She set Everly up with a couple of her toys and kept one eye on her as she pulled the old clothes off the mannequins.
"Babayaba," Everly gurgled, reaching one of her hands up towards the clothes.
"Do you like them?" Hanna asked, "They're pretty dresses aren't they?" She said, reaching for the jewellery she wanted to layer over the top.
"Ma!"
"What?" Hanna paused what she was doing and grinned at her.
"Mo!" She squealed, waving her giraffe around excitedly.
"More?" Hanna asked as Everly leant forward onto her arms before shoving the toy back into her mouth, "Sophie's so yummy isn't she?" She said, making sure she was content before she went back to finishing up the mannequins.
"Da."
"I know," Hanna murmured, "Sophie makes all your teeth stop hurting," She added, fiddling with a chain on a necklace.
"Da!"
"What is it pix?" She asked, glancing at the baby distractedly as she attempted to get the perfect placement. Hanna jumped as she heard a bang on the window, holding her chest as she turned and spotted Caleb at the glass, squatting down so his eyes were in line with Everly's and smiling like the Cheshire cat. "Evvy, did you spot Daddy?" Hanna gasped, stopping what she was doing so that she could watch her baby girl.
"Da!" The baby called excitedly, reaching out for Caleb and shuffling forward, only for her hand to come into contact with the glass pane.
"Daddy's come to see us," Hanna said excitedly, grabbing Everly's attention momentarily before she was spinning her head back round to look at Caleb. Hanna tucked a piece of hair behind her ear as she watched Caleb wave at their baby girl one final time before he was standing up and heading straight for the door, making his way inside.
She fully expected him to appear straight away, but when he didn't, she grabbed Everly and her toys and headed back out onto the shop floor to find him chatting to Morgan near the register.
"Your hubby's brought us coffee," Morgan shot her a grin, reaching for the tray Caleb had placed on the side.
"I thought you were doing stuff at home," Hanna smiled, accepting his kiss before he reached for Everly who was excitedly babbling away.
"I got bored," He murmured, grinning as his youngest daughter flung her arm up at him, "And I missed pixie," He added, kissing her forehead before he swung her round and held her above his head, "When I didn't need to miss her," He puckered his lips and brought her down for a kiss, "Hi," He cooed, cuddling her close as she smiled at him.
"Mo," She squealed, shoving Sophie at him.
"Oh thank you," He grinned, "You're sharing your Sophie with me?"
"She's so cute," Morgan couldn't resist reaching a hand out to squeeze her leg.
"Cute when she isn't waking up at 4am because she wants someone to cuddle her," Hanna corrected her, moving past the pair of them to grab her second coffee of the day.
"But isn't that the best bit about babies?" Morgan tried, moving behind the counter to ring up an item of clothing a customer wanted to buy.
"No," Caleb nuzzled the baby in his arms, "It's getting to see them grow."
"Mo!" Everly squealed again, chewing on her giraffe with one hand as she gripped onto Caleb's t-shirt with the other.
"More Sophie," Caleb laughed and agreed.
Hanna smiled at them and made her way over to press her lips against Everly's head as she stroked her hand up and down Caleb's exposed arm. "Are you gonna take her for the morning?" She asked, tickling the baby's belly.
"Why don't we go to the park?" He suggested, dropping a hand to her waist.
"I'm supposed to be working," She argued, attempting to move past them to help Morgan out.
"No," He smiled, pulling her close, "We want to spend the morning with you," He murmured, dropping his lips down onto hers for a gentle kiss. "Come on," He encouraged her, "Evvy, tell Mommy to come and have fun with us."
"Ma!"
"See, she wants you to come and play," Caleb said gently, stroking her side before he tried to convince her with his mouth again.
"Stop," She tried to fight a grin as his lips captured hers.
"Hanna," Morgan interrupted them, "You're crowding my shop floor."
"Your shop floor?" She asked in disbelief, stepping back as Everly reached her hand out for her.
"Can you please go and have fun with your sexy husband because customers are looking at him rather than the shop floor."
"I love you Morgan," Caleb laughed.
"Hey!" Hanna frowned, giving Everly her fingers to play with, "Pretty sure I'm the one you're married to."
"And the one who I want to spend the day with."
"Hannaaaaaa," Morgan sang, "If you don't go, you're going to spend the rest of the day moping and whining and how you wish you were with them."
"Fine," Hanna threw her spare hand up, "I know where I'm not wanted."
"You've done the windows," Morgan smiled, giving her a hug, "Now go."
"Okay," She agreed, squeezing her close as Everly still clung onto her other hand. She let Morgan step away and turned back to Caleb, shaking her head up at him but unable to stop herself from smiling as he nudged her nose with his and stole a final kiss. She had one thing to say; "You're a bad influence."
Two hours later and Hanna was grateful for her middle child's nap schedule. Caleb had suggested going out to lunch once they picked Mila up from the preschool she went to a couple of mornings a week, but Hanna had put her foot down and insisted their toddler would only cause havoc if her tiny body didn't get the sleep it needed to function for the rest of the afternoon. But she couldn't deny that once both their girls were asleep for an hour, it felt special that she got to sit on the sofa and eat lunch with her husband. Especially when he insisted on opening a bottle of wine and then proceeded to kiss her silly. It had started as gentle nudges, her legs swung over his lap as their mouths tenderly met, until somehow she was lying back on the sofa and he was hovering over her, running his hands up and down her side.
She'd just about let him start to tug her top off when crying from the baby monitor broke them apart. "You're a distraction," She murmured, pulling the material back down. "I got nothing done during their naps."
"You had lunch?" Caleb tried, sitting back against the sofa.
"And did no laundry."
"Does it matter?" He asked as she stood up and took their plates to the kitchen.
"We have three kids," She shook her head, "It matters."
"I can help now," He followed her, pressing a kiss against her forehead. "You go get pix and I can put a load on."
"Do you even know how to put a load on?"
"I'm seriously insulted," He said, squeezing her waist.
Hanna grinned at him and wrapped her arms around his neck, "Are you going to become my househusband?" She murmured, her fingers tangling in the back of his hair.
"Depends," He replied, kissing her gently, "On the perks."
She pretended to think about it for a few seconds, "Sex?"
He laughed and captured her mouth with his again, pushing her against the kitchen island countertop. "I'm sold," He rubbed her side, smiling even as she peeled herself out of his arms and headed towards the stairs to grab their baby daughter.
His eyes followed her until she disappeared out of sight and he decided he really wanted to prove her wrong, even if he knew deep down she was right and he had absolutely no idea what he was doing in the laundry room. He was just about to turn the machine on and hope for the best when he heard three voices talking, all behind him.
"What's Daddy doing?" Hanna whispered, a sleepy Everly on her hip and a bleary-eyed Mila clinging onto her hand. "Shall we help him?" She asked, leading them into the room that was on the side of the kitchen.
"Mila," Caleb squatted down and held his hands out for her as she brushed her hair from her face before rushing over with a smile on her face, "Don't tell Mommy," He said, "But I don't know if it's right," He murmured in her ear as she settled on his hip, clinging onto him as she came round fully.
"You're sweet," Hanna watched him from the doorway, her head tilted to the side as she took him in.
"Will you still pay me later?" He tried, walking towards her and stopping right in front of her.
"Depends," She teased him. "You gotta prove your worth."
"We can prove to Mommy, can't we?" He bounced Mila, tickling her side as she looked up at him and giggled.
"Daddy, play."
"We can play," He agreed excitedly, "What shall we do?"
"Paintin'," She squealed.
"The paint's under the kitchen sink," Hanna said, leading them back through to the kitchen. "Can you take Evvy too?" She asked, kissing the baby's hair before handing her over, "I can get on with some stuff."
"Painting's more fun with sissy, isn't it?" Caleb murmured, holding Everly close.
"Daddy," Mila called from where she'd already buried herself in the cupboard under the sink, "Hep!"
"I'm coming," He reassured her as Hanna headed straight back off in the direction they'd just come from. "Okay crazy girl," He said, helping her pull out some paint bottles, "Let's go paint until Mommy goes out to get your brother," He grabbed a bottle with his spare hand and guided her towards her mini table, "And then," He sat her down and pulled out some cardboard stars he'd cut out that morning, "We've got a secret project to work on."
"Pwetty!"
"They are pretty," He agreed, sitting himself opposite her and placing Everly on his lap, "Let's get painting."
Caleb found himself pretty impressed with the amount of stars Mila managed to get through – some were more slapdash than the others, but nonetheless she was creating a plethora of metallic and pink stars that would no doubt come in handy for what he had planned. He was grateful that Hanna seemed too busy to really ask what they were doing – she was rushing around the house and he definitely heart her on the phone to Morgan more than once.
They all got a quick kiss as she was leaving the house to go and pick up Logan before they were left to their own devices to do as much damage as possible. "How long do you think Mommy will be gone?" Caleb asked Mila, leading her by the hand to the playroom where he'd dumped some old bedding that morning.
"Where go?" Mila frowned up at him.
"Mommy's gone to get Lo," He explained, placing Everly in her playpen. "Shall we make her a surprise?" He said, reaching out to stroke the toddler's hair.
Mila nodded, reaching for one of her toy doll's she'd spotted, "Play," She called, holding it up for Caleb.
He scooped her up instead, propping her on his hip, "Can you help me first?" He asked, bumping his forehead against hers. She grinned and nodded, holding onto his top, "Mommy might kill us for using her sheets," He said, "But let's make a reading den."
Hanna thought it was uncomfortably quiet when she let Logan into the house. She didn't know quite what to expect, leaving Caleb in charge whilst she went out, but silence had certainly not been one of the options she'd considered. "Babe?" She called out, kicking her shoes off near the downstairs storage cupboard.
There was no response as she followed a scampering Logan down to the kitchen. It was clear that they'd been there though; the gold paint that had previously only covered the little plastic table was now everywhere. Something wet had clearly been dragged along the floor.
"Where's Daddy?" Logan asked, inspecting the painting on the table.
"I don't know," Hanna answered honestly, "Can you go see if you can find him?" She asked, grabbing him a cup of water.
"Daddy?" Logan yelled, racing off round the downstairs of the house. She frowned when 5 minutes later, he hadn't returned and abandoned his drink to go and find out exactly what had caught his attention instead. She was about to head straight past the door to the playroom when movement through the crack caught her eye.
"Caleb?" She asked gently, nudging the door open further. "What…" Her voice trailed off as she took in the sight before her. Towards the back of the room, out of a mass of sheets and mattresses and comforters, her immaculate playroom had been turned into some indoor tent that contained three tiny bodies and a guilty looking husband.
"Mommy," Mila called, sitting up and holding her hands out for Hanna. "Star!"
"Caleb," She was still slightly lost for words, "What the hell is this?"
"I saw something like it on Instagram," He commented casually, looking up at the stars he'd tied to the top sheet with ribbon, "I thought the kids would like it."
"I…" Hanna frowned, kneeling down at the edge, "These are my sheets."
"I know."
"You saw it on Instagram?"
"You liked a photo last night."
"Mommy, come on," Logan beckoned her in.
"Okay, okay," She soothed him, "I'm coming," She said, crawling into the tent and picking Everly up so that she could take her place and lie next to Caleb.
"Look," Logan shuffled closer to her, pointing up at the stars hanging down.
"Star," Mila called, "Star!"
"They are stars," Caleb agreed, lifting his arm up to hook under Hanna's head.
"I can't believe you were looking on Instagram," She mumbled, looking up at him with concern, "Are you okay?"
He nudged her playfully, "I'm not looking at my emails anymore," He said, "Something has to entertain me."
"Because these three don't?" She asked him knowingly. He didn't respond and a comfortable silence ensued, with occasional mumbles from Logan and Mila as they lay there and stared up at the ceiling of the tent.
"It's for reading," Caleb whispered in her ear, staring into her eyes when she turned her head to look at him, "For Lo," He added, "Somewhere where we can come and read with him."
"Caleb," Her voice trembled.
"His books are over there," He nodded towards the side where a stack of books was propped up near the side of the tent.
"Logi," Hanna whispered, pulling him close, "Do you like the tent?"
He nodded, sitting up, "Daddy said it's for us."
"It is," She nodded, "For us to read in," She smiled at him, reaching out to brush his hair back from his face, "We'd really like it if you read one of your books to us."
Logan turned his head and followed her gaze towards the books at the side. Usually he would have fought her and tried to find an excuse to get someone else to read to him. But he nodded, yes. And whether it was the fact that Caleb was at home, or the fact that they were lying in some crazy tent-den that was made out of her nice sheets that made him give in, she frankly didn't care, because he was actually going to read to them.
She adjusted Everly on her lap before turning to Caleb one final time. Despite her routine being out of whack, her kitchen being a state, her playroom being turned into a tent and her sleep depravation feeling like it was at an all-time high, she never wanted him to work again.
"If this is what you can do in two days," She murmured, "I'm never letting you go back to work again," She smiled, kissing him gently.
"I'll wait for the thank you sex," He whispered just before Logan came and sat against her, his book open to the first page.
"I love you," She murmured quickly, "Househusband."
He squeezed her hand and pulled Mila onto his other side as Logan prepared to say the first word. It was time to hear their son read.
Go check out Christmas & Chill! And please reviewwwww xox
