After zipping the last of the luggage up, Hanna stood up and grabbed the handle of the case, before walking it slowly down the stairs. Caleb was keeping Madelyn occupied by reading a book to her, but she was beginning to get fidgety, and it didn't help when she heard her mother's heels clicking around the hallway. She jumped from the couch in the living room, and speedily found Hanna huffing by the front door. She was trying to remember whether she'd put in enough pairs of shorts for Madelyn without having to go and look in her bedroom, but she just couldn't remember at all.
"Mommy!" Madelyn called as she ran up to her mother. Hanna sighed slightly: she was also trying to do this without a toddler running around her feet distracting her. Luckily, Caleb followed through and managed to catch Madelyn before taking her back through to the living room.
After concluding she had put enough shorts in for Maddie, Hanna moved on to checking her carry-on. She made sure she had her phone charger, phone, money, passport, a pack of gum and all the other essentials for a short flight.
"Caleb, I'm done," Hanna yelled as she placed her bag on the stairs and started walking through to the living room. She heard Maddie let out a little squeal and her bare feet padding against the kitchen tiled floor. As Hanna enter the kitchen, Madelyn grinned and jumped into her mom's arms. "Hey," Hanna laughed as she was bombarded with the toddler. "What's up, baby?"
"New York!" Madelyn exclaimed excitedly. Hanna tickled her daughter's stomach before heading through to the living room, where she found Caleb clearing up toys.
After readjusting Madelyn on her hip, Hanna slowly bent down and picked up a book that had fallen from the shelf. "Can we leave in a minute?"
"Sure," Caleb answered, nodding. He put away the remaining toys and followed his wife and daughter through to the hallway. After shoving on a pair of Timberlands, Caleb grabbed the keys to his Land Rover and collected as many pieces of luggage he could hold.
"I'm going to miss you this week," the brunette said as he drove down the highway. Madelyn was in the back singing to herself as she 'read' her book, and Hanna was in the passenger seat. "I hate it when we have to be apart."
"Caleb, it's 3 days. 3 days and I'll be back here with you. Anyway, it's not like New York is a million miles away, right?" Hanna replied. She took a sip from the water bottle she had put in her purse before leaving, and cleared her throat, which was feeling oddly scratchy. Come to think of it, Hanna realised she didn't quite feel herself. She really hoped she wasn't going to be sick for the interview.
Caleb nodded, as if to say, I suppose so. He took a right turn, and suddenly the car was in the airport's parking lot. After pulling into an empty space, Caleb opened the door as Hanna stepped out, and then proceeded to unload the cases from the trunk as Hanna dealt with Madelyn. One of one, Caleb loaded the cart he had found up with Hanna's million and one bags. Before meeting Hanna, Caleb had never known someone who needed so many items just for a short vacation, but now it didn't even surprise him when she took four pieces of luggage on a weekend stay in Montecito.
"New York now?" Madelyn asked as Hanna placed her on the ground and took her hand. The blonde nodded and smiled at her daughter before she started walking over to her husband. Maddie was still holding her book, but Hanna didn't have the energy to have an argument with her two-year-old about leaving it behind. If Madelyn lost it, it was her loss, not Hanna's. It might not have been the best way of going about the situation; the young mother just had other things on her mind. As the family headed inside the busy airport, the toddler was chanting, "New York," over and over again. It was all Hanna and Caleb had heard for the past 24 hours, and it was doing both their heads in.
It took a lengthy hour to reach the check-in desk after the long queue had taken a while to die down. Luckily, it was a speedy process to hand over all the luggage, and soon, it was all headed for the airplane. Caleb now had a very wriggly Madelyn in his arms, and was trying to calm her down as Hanna wandered off to grab some food. She returned with a few pretzels, and after giving Maddie half a one, the toddler quietened herself.
"Don't forget to feed Bella twice a day," Hanna reminded as the thought popped into her head. She chomped on the last bit of her pretzel and Caleb nodded, although rolled his eyes simultaneously. Hanna was acting as if Caleb hadn't ever been left alone before. "Oh, and there's a big pile of clothes that need to be washed in our bedroom. But I can't remember if we have any detergent left. You might want to check that."
"Okay Hanna," Caleb sighed. He scrunched up his napkin and threw it into the nearest trash can, before pulling out a packet of Extra gum and popping one into his mouth. He offered one to Hanna, subtly so Madelyn didn't see, but she declined. "You need to remember to phone me the second you arrive in New York, okay?"
The blonde nodded. "I won't forget." She gave a big smile before collapsing into Caleb's arms. Even 3 days was too long to be without him. Her arms wrapped around Caleb's neck, although Madelyn was in the way slightly. The toddler tried to wriggle free of her father's grip and dropped to the ground. After quickly making sure she was alright, Caleb returned back to hugging his wife. "I love you."
The brunette placed a kiss on the top of Hanna's head and replied, "I love you too."
An hour later, the plane touched down in New York. Hanna and been staring out of the window for the entire flight, but Madelyn had fallen asleep 5 minutes in. The blonde gently picked the toddler up the second the seatbelt sign was lifted, and let her flop over her shoulder. Madelyn seemed completely out of it, and didn't even awake when people kept barging into Hanna and knocking her.
Standing in baggage claim, waiting for the pair, was Aria. She spotted her friend and gave a big wave, which Hanna found slightly embarrassing, if she was honest. "Hanna!" Aria called. Hanna hurried over and was immediately engulfed in a hug from the tiny brunette. "I've missed you!" Aria peered around Hanna's shoulder to check whether the toddler was awake — which she finally was — and gave her a little tickle under the chin. "And you, my little Maddie bug."
"Thank you for letting us stay with you," Hanna said as the three walked through the busy airport. She was pushing the cart full of luggage, and Aria was being dragged along by Madelyn, who had definitely benefited from her nap on the flight. The toddler was as energetic as ever, and was babbling away as she gripped Aria's hand tightly. "I really appreciate it."
"You don't need to thank me, Han," the petite adult replied. She turned her head back to smile at Hanna, but Madelyn suddenly speeded up her pace and started running off, pulling Aria with her.
"Maddie calm down," Hanna called firmly. Her daughter ignored her, containing to barge through crowds of people. Both Hanna and Aria were apologising as they followed through. "Don't ignore me, Maddie. Madelyn Ava!"
Eventually, Aria managed to stop the hyperactive toddler and ceased the running. She picked her up, swinging her onto her hip. "You're one crazy kid, Maddie."
Madelyn giggled and poked Aria's cheek whilst repeating, "Crazy."
Hanna caught up with her daughter and friend, slightly out of breath. She had had to push her way through dozens of angry passengers, and was even forced to break into a run when she suddenly lost sight of the two. "Jesus, Madelyn. You can't run off like that!"
"Han, it's alright," Aria reassured. "I wouldn't have let her do anything stupid."
The blonde sighed and nodded. "I know. I'm just…I don't know. I just got worried that I'd lost her."
Not long after the incident in the airport, Aria pulled up outside of her Manhattan apartment. After she and Hanna unloaded the trunk of the blonde's luggage, they all headed inside, only to find the elevator was broken.
"Crap," Aria muttered as she read the sign. She turned to Hanna and pointed to the stairway behind her. "The stairs it is, I suppose." Hanna groaned and threw her head back, but followed her friend over, simultaneously making sure her daughter wasn't getting into any more mischief.
It felt like 4 workouts in one to Hanna as she heaved her's and Madelyn's suitcases up the floors and floors of stairs. She reached the floor that Aria's apartment was on, and let out the biggest sigh of relief, in amongst all her panting. "Well, I'm not going to have to go to the gym for a year after that."
Aria chuckled, and ushered the two blondes to follow her. She brought them to a green door with the number 563 on it, and proceeded to pull out a key and unlock it. The first thing Hanna heard — besides the creaking of the old door — was a young girl's voice, followed by Ezra's familiar one. The brunette held the door open as Hanna pushed all the bags through. Ezra saw her struggling, and immediately jumped from the couch to help her.
"Maddie!" the young girl called out. She had been sitting on the floor in front of the couch, but stood when she saw her friend.
Madelyn, who had been standing behind her mom's legs, suddenly appeared and ran into the room whilst exclaiming, "Coco!" The two girls threw themselves into each other's arms so hard both nearly toppled over. They were giggling hysterically while they seemingly tightened their grip around each other.
Hanna, Aria and Ezra stood back in amusement. "And the best friends have been reunited," Aria said quietly.
Chloe, or Coco as everyone called her, was Aria and Ezra's eldest child, their youngest being 7 month old Caden. Chloe was three months older than Maddie, and the pair were inseparable when together. They had been best friends since day one, which Hanna and Aria were both ecstatic about. In fact, both women had said, after finding out they were both having girls around the same time, that they believed they would grow up to be best friends.
That evening, Hanna sat in the Fitz's guest room calling Caleb. It didn't take long for him to answer, or even any time at all. It was like he had been waiting for the call with his phone in his hand.
"You said you'd call me as soon as you arrived in New York," was the first thing Caleb said when he answered.
Hanna felt a twinge of guilt. "I know, I know. I'm sorry. But it was so hectic! Madelyn decided it would be funny to run off with Aria, and at one point I lost them and it was just…" she groaned, which was the only was she could describe the whole encounter. "I'm really sorry, babe."
Caleb smiled, although Hanna didn't know that. He was imagining the scene playing out in his head, with Hanna running through an airport in search of the toddler and Aria. He even let out a small laugh just thinking about it. "Oh how fun that sounds! I wish I was there," he replied sarcastically. Hanna rolled her eyes, but smirked. "Anyway, it's okay. At least we can talk now."
"So," Hanna began, changing the subject. "how is Rosewood?"
"Han, you literally saw it, like, 3 hours ago." Caleb glanced at the clock in the living room to check he was right. "Yeah, 3 hours ago."
"Well it might have changed it three hours. There could have been an earthquake or something, I don't know."
"Yes, Hanna. There was a major earthquake the second you left. The whole town is practically gone. I don't know how I survived," the brunette responded.
Hanna tutted at his sarcasm. "You're such a jerk."
"I love you too, babe." Caleb made kissing noises down the phone, and heard Hanna try and stifle a giggle. His sounds awoke Bella, who had been peacefully dozing beside him. He turned to the dog and said, "Hey Bella, do you want to say hi to Mommy?"
"Bella!" Hanna exclaimed. "Aw, my baby Bella. I miss you!" Just the thought of her sweet little puppy made her heart melt. "Caleb, give her a big kiss from me."
Caleb stared at the dog, contemplating whether he should do it or not. A few moments later, he replied, "Sure," but didn't." As he opened his mouth to say something else, there was a loud noise from the other end of the phone. "Han, is everything okay? Don't tell me, the earthquake has struck New York now."
"Nope," Hanna puffed. "It was just Madelyn recking Aria and Ezra's nice guest bedroom." She leant off of the bed, pulling her daughter away from the mess she had made. Hearing the kerfuffle, Aria suddenly burst into the room. Caleb heard her ask what had happened, and then heard Hanna explain. "She pulled the lamp from the table. I'm so sorry!" The two girls picked up the pieces from the shattered lamp before Hanna quickly said to her husband, "Babe, I'm going to have to call you back later. Bye."
A/N - yay hanna's in new york! i hope you all don't mind that aria and chloe might be mentioned quite a bit in the upcoming chapters (but then again, i might choose not to mention them. idk)
leave your reviews on this chapter! did you like it? was there something you wanted to happen in the future chapters? tell me!