Epilogue
Hanna slowly lifted her eyelids. She used a little to realize anything. But soon she saw him. And her life immediately seemed perfect.
She had her head resting on his chest, and his arm was protectively keeping her close to him, lazily resting on her lower back. He was still sleeping, disheveled and relaxed. He looked so cute.
And then she looked at her own hand gently placed over the blanket right above his abdomen. The diamond she had there was sparkling because of the morning light coming from outside.
Yeah, her life was perfect.
Caleb had taken a nice apartment in Rosewood with a little help from his mom and the money earned from his job at the Brew. However, he stayed there just a couple of months before he had to leave for college. And now they both were at their last year at the NYU. They had been living together since the first year. The boyfriend of Caleb's mom had this little old house in New York not too far from the University, and Hanna and Caleb had accepted to take it for their college period.
Caleb had proposed to Hanna just two weeks earlier, in a simple but romantic way.
Just like him. A simple and romantic guy.
They were having dinner on their balcony because it was a beautiful night, and when they had finished eating he had offered himself to take their dishes inside. He had returned grinning, and before Hanna had the time to ask him why he had this huge and sly smile on his face, he was already kneeling in front of her.
Obviously, she had said yes.
However, they had agreed to wait until graduation, but Caleb had told her he just had to propose. He wanted to, he couldn't wait any longer. Because living together —even if technically that was the third time they lived in the same house, but now was clearly different— had made him realize how badly he wanted to spend the rest of the life with her. She was her savior, her angel, the person who had done the most for him in his whole life. She just was the love of her life and he wanted her with him as long as his heart would beat.
It was a Sunday, so they could just lie in bed all day long, as they liked. No classes or anything else... Sunday was for cuddling. They could actually stay under the blankets relaxing and cuddling for hours and hours, it wasn't like they got bored or anything.
Hanna came even closer to Caleb and buried her face into the crook of his neck. His skin had this fresh smell which had such a soothing effect on her. And the truth was that in that moment she really needed to be calmed down... More specifically, that storm into her stomach needed to be calmed down. Unfortunately, though, neither Caleb's scent could do that. Hanna suddenly sat up and then threw the covers of her side of the bed away, running to the bathroom with an hand pressed against her own mouth. She reached the toilet bowl just in time, kneeling down and throwing up.
"Shit." she growled when she had finally given away all she had to give away.
"Hanna? What are you doing?" Caleb's voice came from behind her.
She turned her head slightly to look at him before standing up and flushing the toilet. He had probably woken up by the noises coming from the bathroom.
"What do you think I'm doing?" she replied sarcastically, walking to the sink.
He came by her side and grabbed her wrist to make her turn around and make eye-contact with her. He looked serious and concerned.
"Please tell me you didn't force yourself." he said, almost in a whisper.
Hanna sighed and rolled her eyes.
"Caleb, you know that I would never do that again." she snorted as she put some toothpaste on her pink toothbrush.
"Yeah, yeah, sorry... Are you okay?" he asked, moving behind her and kissing her shoulder.
"Yes... It's probably just the Japanese takeaway we had last night, don't worry."
Caleb had remained silent with his chin on her shoulder and his arms wrapped around her waist.
"Caleb? Could you please let me brush my teeth?" Hanna asked then, raising an eyebrow toward Caleb's reflection in the mirror.
He didn't move or anything.
"Caleb?" she repeated.
He finally lifted his gaze and looked into her eyes through the mirror.
"Are you sure it's because of the Japanese?" he asked softly.
Hanna felt lost for a moment.
"Well, I can't be sure but... I mean, it's possible. That sushi had something that... I don't know, it was weird." she mumbled.
Caleb pulled away and crossed his arms over his chest as she started brushing her teeth.
"What about your period?" he asked suddenly.
Hanna glanced at him through the mirror after spitting in the sink.
"My period?" she echoed.
"Your period. Are you late, maybe?"
Realization grew into Hanna. She parted her lips slightly, and stared at Caleb, this time turning around and meeting his eyes.
"Are you saying...?" Hanna murmured, unable to continue.
"Look, I'm not saying anything. I'm just... Thinking." he shrugged, looking rather nervous.
Hanna took a deep breath and washed her mouth, as Caleb sat on the edge of the bathtub. When she was done, she turned around, leaning by the sink.
"Actually, I'm five days late." she mumbled.
Caleb lifted his head and widened his eyes at her.
"Are-are you sure?" he asked.
"Yes, but I thought it was just because of the stress from college... Sometimes happens... It was just a few days. You know, this semester has been hard and everything, so... I didn't think about... That."
Caleb didn't know how he was feeling at the simple thought of a baby. He rubbed his forehead and then, after taking a deep breath, stood up again and walked over to Hanna, placing his hands on her shoulders.
"Okay. You know what we're gonna do now? We're gonna take a breath and not jump into conclusions. It could be just a coincidence. Maybe we should just wait a few days and see—" he tried to tell her gently, but she cut him off abruptly.
"No, we won't wait. I need to know now."
She escaped from his gentle grasp and walked back to the bedroom, putting some clothes on the underwear and bra she had already on. He joined her immediately.
"Han, what do you want to do?" he asked.
"Buy a pregnancy test and then take a pregnancy test. And you need to put some clothes on as well since you're coming to the drugstore with me." she muttered, slipping into a pair of jeans.
Caleb sighed but decided not to say anything. Hanna looked rather nervous and he knew better than anyone that it was better not to tell her anything when she was that way. He started getting dressed as well, and ten minutes later they were in Caleb's car heading to the drugstore.
The ride was totally silent.
He glanced at her a couple of times from his driver seat but she just looked outside of her window.
"Hanna..." he whispered when he had to stop at a traffic light.
"Please don't say anything." she replied sharply.
He sighed deeply.
"I just want to—" he tried again, but she cut him off.
"Go. It's green now."
He sighed again and pressed his foot on the accelerator, speeding down the road. She was still watching outside of her window. She wasn't mad at him or bothered, she was just too tense to talk or do anything at the moment. She had never thought —at least not yet— about having a baby, and now the possibility totally caught her off guard. Actually, she wanted to get pregnant at the right time, after the wedding and everything. But if she really was pregnant now, her plans were screwed, and she didn't feel ready to be a mom yet.
Caleb parked in front of the drugstore and turned to her again.
"We go together? Or... Do you want me to wait here? Or maybe do you want me to go while you wait here?" he asked uncertainly.
Hanna finally turned around to face him.
"Together." she replied softly.
He nodded and the pair got out of the car.
After buying five different pregnancy tests, they returned home. Once again the ride was silent, and Caleb this time he preferred not to say anything. When they got inside their house, Hanna placed the bag on the table and took all the five tests still inside of their boxes before heading to the bathroom, quickly. Caleb waited outside, sitting on the bed still unmade from the morning. He roamed an hand through his hair and looked down at his shoes. After a couple of minutes, Hanna opened the door and crossed Caleb's gaze.
"It will take five minutes, I think." she murmured.
He looked over her shoulder and saw all the five sticks placed on the bathroom counter. He nodded slowly and returned to look into her eyes. He saw them a little watery and puffy and he understood she was about to cry. He raised his eyebrows and extended an arm toward her.
"Hey... Come here." he whispered gently.
A tear fell from her eye and she quickly wiped it before reaching out for Caleb's arm. This time she didn't reject him. She needed him. She held his hand and then he gently dragged her toward him and he made her sit on his lap. He circled her waist and looked up at her.
"Hanna, don't worry. It's gonna be okay." he whispered.
"What do you mean by 'it's gonna be okay'?" she sniffed.
He shrugged slightly.
"That it's okay whether you're pregnant or not. I'll still be here with you." he told her then.
"But... Do you think we're ready for a baby? Because I think I'm not..."
He smiled at her and wiped another tear fallen from her eyes.
"I think no one is ever ready to become a parent. But, I mean... We're getting married, we love each other and we're not sixteen anymore... I don't see why we should worry, after all." he replied.
Hanna took a deep breath and looked down, not replying. Caleb put his head on her chest and closed his eyes, listening to her soft heartbeat.
"Would you rather them to be positive or negative?" she whispered suddenly, resting her head on his, still placed against her chest.
"Well... I'll be fine with it either way. Because if they're positive, then I'm gonna become soon the dad of your child. And if they're negative, it means that I'm still gonna become the dad of your child, just later. Hanna, what I'm trying to say is that I want to have children with you, no matter when. If it's now, then I'll be ready. If it's not now, then it will happen in a few months, or years or whatever, and I'll always be ready. But I want that to happen, sooner or later. You're my life. I love you, and that's all that matters." he replied softly.
Hanna smiled and linked her arms behind his neck, hugging him. She ran her fingers through his short hair as she waited for the alarm of her mobile to ring, which would mean that the result of the test were ready.
"I love you too." she added simply.
They stayed that way until the alarm rang. Then, Hanna broke their hug and stretched an hand toward the nightstand, from where she took the mobile and turned off the alarm.
"Time's up." she murmured.
"Okay. But there's no rush. Let's check the sticks just when we feel ready, okay?" he whispered to her, playing with a strand of her hair.
Hanna nodded briefly before resting her forehead against his. She closed her eyes and breathed deeply in and out.
"I'm scared..." she confessed, finally opening her eyes again.
Caleb stroked her cheeks and rubbed the tip of his nose against hers.
"There's no reason to be scared, babe. I'm right here with you, okay?" he whispered.
"Okay... But what are we gonna do if I'm pregnant?"
Caleb laughed slightly.
"We're still gonna do what we had decided to do. Once college is over, we'll come back to Rosewood and we'll move into the apartment I bought for us before coming to New York." he replied then.
"I don't know if I want to go back to Rosewood if I'm pregnant."
Caleb bit his lower lip.
"Hanna... It's safe now. –A's not coming back. Never again. It's over." he reassured her.
"Yeah, but... What about Ali? If I'm pregnant, I'm going to be fat again, and—"
"Hanna... Stop. You won't be fat. You will be pregnant. It's different. And I thought Ali was not a problem anymore. You guys have both grown up now. That was the past, right? You know I still don't really like her, but I think that after all that she's been through, and she's been through a lot with you as well, she wouldn't try to hurt you again. Anyway, if she really would, I won't let her or anyone do anything bad to you or to... The baby." he cut her off.
Hanna couldn't help but smile at his last word. The baby.
"Thank you." she murmured.
He smiled and gave her a sweet kiss on the lips.
"You don't need to thank me." he added then.
Hanna rested her forehead against his once again.
"Would you rather them to be positive or negative?" Caleb asked her the same question she had made him a little earlier.
"I don't know, honestly. I think I will understand the moment I look at the sticks." she replied sincerely.
He nodded.
"Will you look at them with me?" she asked softly.
"Of course."
Hanna took a deep breath before distangling herself from Caleb's arms and getting up from his lap, grabbing his hand and walking with him to the bathroom. She looked at the sticks from the doorway and turned around to face Caleb.
"Are you ready?" he whispered to her.
Hanna sighed and shifted uncomfortably on her position. Then, Caleb leaned in and cupped her face, crashing his lips to hers with decision. Hanna was caught off guard, and she almost lost her balance as he did so. But then she got relaxed and kissed back, closing her eyes and cupping his face as well. They pulled away for air a while later, and he smiled at her his tipical bright soothing smile.
"What about now? You ready?" he asked again, rubbing his thumb over her chin and lower lip.
This time, she smiled back and nodded.
"Let's do this." she added.
They took the few steps that were parting them from the bathroom counter hand in hand, then they took a deep breath at the same time before Hanna held up the first stick.
A plus sign.
She swallowed and put it back on the counter, then she held up the second one.
A plus sign.
She put it back down and bit her lip as she took the third stick in her hand and held it up as well.
A plus sign.
Caleb squeezed her hand lightly as she put the third stick back on the counter too, grabbing the fourth and holding it up.
A plus sign.
She stopped for a moment before placing it back down and picking up the fifth and last stick.
A plus sign. And on this, there was also a smiley emoticon and the word 'pregnant' underneath. It was the most expensive one. On the box there was written it was also the most accurate... Whatever.
Hanna didn't put the last stick down. She kept it in her hand and turned to Caleb, without letting go of his hand. He had his lips parted, but their corners were slightly arched upwards. It was like he was holding back a smile, probably waiting for her reaction.
"I'm pregnant." she mumbled.
Caleb, then, let the smile cross his whole face and raised his eyebrows. His eyes had this weird sparkle as he nodded.
"I'm pregnant..." Hanna repeated, looking down at the last stick once again.
The stick then fell to the ground as Hanna started laughing almost exaggeratedly. Caleb started laughing with her and circled her waist with his arms, picking her up and then spinning her around as she linked her arms behind his neck.
"Yes, you are!" he exclaimed, hugging her tightly.
And then, suddenly, Hanna's laughs became cries. She started crying, and Caleb immediately felt her sob, so he stopped spinning around and placed her back on her feet.
"Hey, hey, hey... What's wrong now?" he asked concerned.
Hanna shook her head and covered her face with her hands.
"I-I don't k-know, I... I just don't k-know, C-Caleb..." she sobbed.
He took her hands in his and moved them away from her face, placing his forehead against hers.
"It's okay, princess. It's okay. We're going to have a baby and that's the best thing that could happen to us. We're in this together, as always. We'll be fine." he whispered as gently as possible.
She nodded and a little smile appeared back on her face.
"Right. I just... I don't know, it feels weird, and... Oh my God, we're going to have a baby!" she exclaimed.
Caleb laughed and hugged her tightly once again, kissing the top of her head repeatedly.
"But, Caleb, you could've waited until the wedding before knocking me up!" she mumbled against his shirt.
Caleb pulled away and smirked, raising an eyebrow at her.
"Oh, so now that's my fault? This happened just because of me, right? I did it all by myself?" he chuckled.
Hanna smiled and shook her head, resting her head against his chest and looping her arms around his waist.
"You've always known." she said softly.
Caleb rubbed the tip of his nose over the top of her head, furrowing his eyebrows.
"What?" he asked then.
"I mean... When you wanted to buy an apartment in Rosewood and you started working at the Brew to earn enough, you... You told me it could be our apartment. Mine and yours. But now I think that you already knew that it wasn't going to be just mine and yours, but... Also someone else's."
Caleb smiled.
"Yeah, you're right. I probably knew." he whispered.
"And I even thought it was a little rash of you, because it was our senior year and we were about to leave for college... Instead, look at us now. When college is over, we will be able to go back to Rosewood and to have an house for... The three of us. Thanks to you."
"I knew that despite everything bad that happened, you would want to go back there when you would graduate. That's your home, Hanna. Rosewood will always be your home. And we're going to live there with our family."
Hanna smiled and pulled away enough to be able to look up at him.
"Our family as in mine and yours?" she asked.
He nodded.
"Right. Mine and yours." he replied smiling as well.
Then, he moved an hand from her back to rest it against her flat belly. Hanna's smile grew at that.
"We're a family now... And here's my little princess." he smiled.
"How do you know that's a girl?" Hanna asked, placing her hand over his, still resting against her stomach.
"I just already know. But, one thing... I won't let her hide any bad guy in her basement when she's gonna be sixteen."
Hanna laughed.
"Well... I'll let her if it'll be a boy who loves her like you love me." she replied then.
He smiled widely before kissing her, merging his lips with hers.
"Can we cuddle all day now?" Hanna asked when they pulled away.
Caleb chuckled and picked her up bridal style.
"Of course we can." he grinned.
He carried her to their king-size bed, lying her on the mattress before climbing next to her. They quickly took their shoes off and then Hanna threw herself into Caleb's strong arms. He hugged her tightly, rubbing his hand gently up and down her back.
"I love you so much..." she whispered into his ear.
"I love you too..." he whispered back.
Hanna pulled away a little and touched his face. She stroked her fingertips over his forehead, his cheeks, his chin, his jawline, as he kept rubbing her back.
"I want her or him to look like you." she told him.
Caleb smiled.
"It's a girl, Han. And she'll be as beautiful as you." he replied.
"Well, then... She'll be lucky to have you as her daddy."
When Caleb heard the word 'daddy' his eyes sparkled, and he had to swallow a lump forming in his throat.
"And you as her mommy." he whispered, but his voice betrayed him, cracking because of the emotion.
Hanna smiled seeing how emotional he looked and kissed his lips. He hugged her again after that and they both stayed like that, silently crying of happiness in each other's arms.
Hanna closed her eyes and once again found herself soothed by Caleb's smell and the warmth of his arms.
Yeah, her life was definitely perfect now.
A/N: So this is another story of mine coming to an end *sigh* But honestly, I'm pretty proud of the way it came out :) Now I know that this epilogue could sound a little random and detached from the rest of the story, but I think that the storyline already ended with the previous chapter. Here I just wanted to go a little further into Hanna and Caleb's future, and then I wanted to mention the apartment that he bought in Rosewood before leaving for New York to college. I hope you guys didn't dislike it :) I also hope it wasn't too cheesy! :D Now, thank you everyone for the support showed me for this story... I enjoyed writing it a lot and your reviews definitely gave me the inspiration to go on. Also, I'm sorry if you all had to wait this much to get the epilogue, but I used a little to decide how to end it and college kept me busy. But a Haleb baby is always a nice way to end a fanfic, isn't it? :) Thank you guys once again, seriously! I hope you keep following me into my new projects :) Check out "I Won't Let This Plane Go Down", sequel of "The Mall", and stay tuned because I'm about to start publishing my new Haleb story *yep* :D It's gonna be an AU rated M, but something a little different from the usual ;) I just tell you that Caleb will be a dentist and Hanna his secretary ;) Sooo... That's all :) Let me know what you guys think of this epilogue, make sure to review! Thank you, thank you, thank you! It's been a pleasure as usual :) Until next time - soon ;) Love! xx -Atramea.