"Bella, sit," Caleb ordered. The dog obediently sat down on the grass and stared up at the brunette. "Good girl," Caleb praised, squatting down to ruffle her head. She barked lovingly and rubbed herself on Caleb's leg as he stood back up. Bella was tied back up in her leash — much to her disgust — and was dragged by Caleb over to the playground.
Hanna was holding Madelyn's waist as she attempted to climb up the slide. "Maddie, you do realise that you're supposed to go down the slide, right?" The toddler ignored her mom and carried on heading up. She reached top, wriggled from Hanna's grip, turned around and sat her butt down on the cold metal. After a few nudges, Madelyn pushed herself down the slide, into Caleb's arms.
"Again, again!" Madelyn squealed as Caleb put her on the floor. The brunette chuckled and handed the dog's leash over to Hanna before grabbing the tiny child's hands and leading her over to the slide. She managed to put one leg on, but the gap between the slide and the ground was too much and she couldn't put the other on, so Caleb had to swing her up. She giggled hysterically.
Hanna was glancing around Rosewood's local park and noticed the gatherings of people coming from the direction of the church. The blonde took a quick look at the time on her phone and noticed the usual Sunday morning service would have ended. "Hey, Caleb," she said. Caleb paused from helping Maddie, and turned towards her. "I think it's over." She nodded to where all the people were, and Caleb looked there too.
"Do you want to do it now?" Caleb asked as he looked back at his wife. Hanna nodded, although felt slightly nervous. "We can wait. We don't have to do it today."
"No, I want to," Hanna replied. She tightened the grip she had on Bella's leash and waited for Caleb to retrieve Madelyn from the slide. As the pair joined her by the gates, all three headed out onto the sidewalk, where Hanna took a hold of Madelyn's right hand. When she saw Caleb had the other, she stepped forwards and said, "Maddie, do you remember what we do when we cross the road?"
"Han, she's two. She can't remember that," Caleb muttered.
"Well if she can remember how to swim, I think she can remember what I taught her yesterday." Hanna looked left and then right across the road, before saying it out loud. "We look both ways, okay? We have to check to see if there are any cars coming."
"Cars coming," the toddler repeated. The family of three headed into the road and walked over to the opposite sidewalk, which was by the entrance to the church. As soon as they reached the walkway, Hanna looked up and saw her stepfather, Ted, saying goodbye to the church-goers. She almost felt bad: her mother's husband was the pastor for her local church, and she didn't even bother going. But then she realised how much of a bore she found the services, and didn't feel quite so bad.
Ted noticed the blonde standing there and gave her a small wave before poking his head around the church's door. He reemerged with Ashley, who was grinning. Caleb pointed Ashley out to Madelyn, who then bounded over to her grandma and jumped into her arms. After a long hug with Grandma, Madelyn threw herself into Ted's arms. Hanna reached for Caleb's hand and intertwined his fingers with her own. She smiled as Maddie start balling away to her grandparents, and couldn't help but laugh when she saw Ashley and Ted nod along, even though they had no idea what she was saying.
When the toddler finally stopped talking, Ashley ushered the couple inside and led them through to the room off of the main church.
"So," the redhead began. Ted wandered in, still carrying Madelyn, and went over to stand next to his wife. "What did you want to tell us?"
Hanna felt her palms become clammy, and her heart rate quicken. At one point, she thought her heart was going to burst through her chest: she was just so nervous. To avoid feeling as guilty, Hanna made sure she didn't make contact with either Ted or Ashley, so kept her focus on Caleb the whole time.
"Well…the thing is…" Hanna couldn't find the right words. "We…uh…"
"Hanna, just spit it out," Ted laughed.
Seeing his wife struggling, Caleb stepped in. "Hanna's been offered a job in New York. And she's taking it."
Ashley's face fell a mile. She had gotten so used to seeing her daughter and granddaughter every day for the past 3 years, she couldn't imagine spending a week without them, let alone longer. Ted seemed upset, too. His smile faded, and even Madelyn noticed.
"We would have told you before but we weren't sure if I was going to take it," Hanna added. She finally looked at her mother, who looked like she was about to cry. "But New York isn't that far away. We can still come and visit all the time. And you and Ted can come and visit us."
Ashley braved a small smile and said, "I'm happy for you both. I know how much you've wanted to move back to New York since college. This is perfect for you, Han." She stepped forwards and wrapped her arms around Hanna's back. The blonde hugged tightly and breathed in her mom's perfume: Chanel. Ashley had been wearing it since Hanna was in seventh grade. Hanna only remembered it was seventh grade because she went with her mom to buy it, and noticed all the store workers staring at the mother and daughter. Ashley was so stick-thin, but had such a elephant of a daughter. Well, that's what Hanna thought, anyway.
"Congratulations on the job, Hanna." Ted gave her a quick hug after Ashley, and his smile seemed to return. Madelyn suddenly perked up again, sensing the change in mood, and started singing. Hanna made the song out to be a rendition of Justin Bieber's song Sorry; a song that Hanna had recently been obsessed with. It was on constantly in the car. No wonder Maddie was singing it.
Hours later, Hanna, Caleb, Ashley and Ted were sitting around the kitchen table in Ashley and Ted's house, finishing their discussion on New York. Madelyn had become bored pretty fast, and was now running around, chasing her grandparents' kitten.
"I just can't imagine not seeing my Maddie baby every day," Ashley said as she arose from the table. She grabbed the plates from the table and brought them to the sink, where she proceeded to place them down. She made a mental note to remember to wash them later. "It's going to be so weird not having you in Rosewood anymore."
"Mom, I left Rosewood for New York for four years when I went to college. This is practically the same thing," Hanna replied. She carried her's and Caleb's glasses over to the kitchen counter and paused as she stood in front of her mother. "You know we'll come and visit you as much as possible. Once I've settled into this new job, I should be able to be pretty flexible with my hours."
"I thought you said you were working for a wedding dress design company. I doubt they'll let you be flexible with your hours, Hanna," Ashley said bluntly.
Hanna grinned widely, and looked at Caleb, who nodded in her direction. "Well there was one thing I didn't tell you about the job." Ashley looked at her daughter, confused. "I'm going to be co-owning it."
"What?" the redhead exclaimed. Ted, who had been sitting with Caleb had the kitchen table, scraped his chair back and joined his wife and step-daughter. "You're going to be owning your own store?"
"Co owning, Mom," Hanna corrected. "One of my friends from college saw my latest designs in my job now and offered me the position."
"Hanna, that's amazing!" Ashley seemed a lot more on bored about the idea now she knew Hanna had a stable job. "Does it pay well?"
"Yes, Mom. It pays just fine."
"We're so happy for you, Hanna," Ted said as Ashley squealed to herself. Hanna thanked him, before wandering over to Madelyn. She found her crouching down and petting the kitten, who had sat down, too. The blonde picked her mini-me up, and sat her on her hip.
"Right, bug. I think it's time we headed home. Can you say bye-bye to Grandma and Granddad?" Hanna pointed to her parents and smiled as Madelyn gave them a big wave. The toddler stretched over her mom and gave Ashley and Ted equally big hugs, and even let them kiss her, which she normally hated from anyone besides Hanna or Caleb. The group all headed towards the front door, but before leaving, Hanna turned and said, "We're heading into New York tomorrow for a couple of days, so you won't need to look after Maddie, obviously. But I'll call as soon as we're back in town."
"Okay," Ashley replied simply. She tickled her granddaughter's rosy cheek, making Madelyn giggle. "Bye Maddie. I'll miss you when you're away!"
"Bye Gandma! Bye Gandad!" Maddie called as Caleb opened the door. Hanna stepped out, and Madelyn started waving again. "Love you!"
Hanna, Caleb and Madelyn walked down the sidewalk as they headed for their own house a few streets away. Hanna's hand was interlocked with Caleb's, and Madelyn was happily skipping along a few meters in front of them. She was carrying Caleb's car keys, and was pretending she had her own car. Hanna couldn't help but giggle.
"She's so cute," she whispered to Caleb, although there was nobody else about to hear.
The brunette nodded in agreement and replied, "She sure is."
Shortly after leaving Ashley and Ted's, the young family made it to their large 50s style house. It was the biggest house on the block, and Hanna had never been more proud of it. She'd spent the past 3 years decorating it just to her and Caleb's liking, and it had finally paid of.
Caleb wandered inside, following Madelyn through to her downstairs playroom. Hanna poked her head around the door to see what they were doing, smiled when she saw Caleb was helping the toddler pull out her barbies from the box, and then headed through to the kitchen to grab a drink.
"Babe," Hanna called out as she opened the door to the refrigerator. "Do you want a drink?"
"A beer please," Caleb yelled back. Hanna pulled out a bottle of Corona — which was his favorite brand — for him and a can of soda for herself before making her way through to join Caleb and Maddie in the playroom.
"Mama," the small blonde said sash saw her mom walk through. Hanna smiled and ruffled her hair, then proceeding to perch herself on the basic couch that was positioned by the window. The playroom was painted a pale pink color, similar to Madelyn's bedroom. At one end, there was a a pink and black striped teepee Spencer had given to the toddler for her first birthday, and at the other was a child's kitchen set Claudia, Caleb's mother, had given her. Scattered around the floor were various dolls, stuffed animals and books, but most were stacked up in big, white cabinets that stretched up to the ceiling. Along the wall, there was the alphabet hung up, which Hanna and Caleb both made sure they went over daily with Madelyn.
"Maddie, are you excited to go to New York tomorrow?" Hanna asked as she picked up a doll from the floor. She stroked the hair down, but was stopped when the toddler snatched it from her hands.
"Mine," Madelyn snapped. She trotted back over to her teepee, where she threw the doll inside, joining the hundreds of others she had already put in there. As she wandered back over to her parents, she started repeating, "New York, New York, New York."
"That's right! We're going to New York tomorrow!"
Caleb took a sip of his beer and placed it down on the small table next to him. He got the toddler's attention and ushered over to him, where he grabbed her waist and pulled her onto his knee. "But you don't want to go to New York tomorrow do you because Daddy's not going, right?"
"New York morrow!" Madelyn exclaimed, completely ignoring her father's comment. "New York, New York!"
Hanna chuckled and wanted to say, See, she does love me more, but didn't. Instead, she decided to expand on what Caleb had said. "Maddie, Daddy isn't coming with us to New York, okay? He has stay here in Rosewood to do his stupid, boring work."
"Daddy no New York," the blonde mumbled to herself. "Daddy work."
"Yep, Daddy has to work," Caleb replied. He turned to his wife and said, "And it isn't stupid, boring work. It's the work that bought us this house."
"Are you saying my job didn't contribute to the buying of this house?" Hanna asked. She had a smirk on her face, as did Caleb, knowing that this was a joke.
"Maybe I'm saying that." The brunette took another sip of his beer before turning back to her. "Maybe I'm not.
Although it was a joke, Hanna was a little confused. Was he saying that or not? She decided to just ignore his last comment, and focused her attention back on Madelyn. "Right missy," she said as she got a firm hold of the toddler's arm. "It's time for you to go to bed."
A/N - ooooh haleb are moving to new york!
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