"Babe!" Hanna called from the living room. She was sitting on the couch with her legs crossed and her computer carefully balancing on her lap. Caleb came running through, thinking something was wrong from the shriek in Hanna's voice.
"What?" he puffed, out of breath.
"Someone's put an offer on the house!" Hanna squealed. "They want to buy it!"
The brunette raised his eyebrows, impressed, and wandered over to the couch where Hanna sat. He read the email over her shoulder, and a smile grew across his face. "Wow. That's so much more than we asked for. They must really want this house."
Hanna twisted her head around and grinned. "Isn't this amazing? We can finally go to New York!"
—
Two days later and the day to announce the pregnancy to everyone had finally arrived.
Hanna awoke early, eager to start getting everything prepared. She had decided only the week before that she was going to decorate the backyard herself, with no help allowed.
"But why by yourself?" Caleb had questioned when Hanna told him. "I don't want you having to stress yourself out over the decorations."
"Babe," Hanna said calmly, resting her hand on her husband's arm. "I'm going to decorate the backyard, okay? Laying out a few plates and hanging a few lights is hardly a stressful job."
Caleb reluctantly agreed. He shrugged it off, knowing he was never going to get through to Hanna. Hanna had happily skipped away, already planning what she would be doing.
On the morning of the announcement, Caleb was dancing around the kitchen as he served up fresh, warm pancakes. The smell wafted from within the kitchen all the way to the bathroom upstairs, and Hanna immediately sprinted through the house to find them. She had been having a craving for pancakes forever. Maybe this would be the food she would be obsessed with this pregnancy…
With Madelyn's pregnancy, Hanna was obsessed with sweet potato. Anything sweet potato would satisfy her craving, but she couldn't go a meal without some…even breakfast. Caleb would cringe every time he saw his wife eating left over sweet potato fries at half past seven in the morning. That was one thing he was glad was over when Maddie was born.
"These smell so good," Hanna said as she walked into the kitchen. After taking a seat next to Madelyn at the table, she dived right in and began stuffing her face full of Nutella-flavored pancakes. They tasted just as good as they smelt, and Hanna wanted more before she'd even finished the first serving.
"Well, I'm glad you like them," Caleb laughed as he watched from the oven. Maddie seemed to like them too, but she ate a little more slowly than her mom. He grabbed himself a plate and joined them both. As Caleb took a bite and swallowed, he looked over at Hanna, who was now taking a sip of the orange juice he had left for her. "So, how are we actually going to tell everyone?"
Hanna gulped and dropped the glass onto the table. "I was thinking before we ate."
"Before? I was thinking after."
"Why after?" the blond asked, sounding almost disgusted.
"I don't know," Caleb shrugged. "Why should we do it before?"
"Because I'm the pregnant one out of the two of us and what I say goes."
The brunette rolled his eyes. That was the same excuse Hanna gave for every nowadays. "Really? That again?"
Hanna smirked smugly and took another bite of her pancake.
10 minutes later and Hanna was busying around the house, trying to find the right outfit for Maddie. The toddler couldn't care less about what she wore, but Hanna wanted everything perfect. Hanna eventually settled on a short, floral-printed jumpsuit and a pair of brown bohemian sandals. She left the toddler's blond curls flow loosely, but decided she would later put on a summery hate on.
Once Hanna was a hundred percent sure she was happy with Madelyn's look, she started to get changed herself. The blond spent over half an hour applying her makeup, carefully making sure it didn't look too heavy. She covered her face in a matte powder before leaving the bathroom, leaving it available to Caleb, who quickly jumped into the shower.
The previous night, Hanna had laid out her outfit on the chair by her dressing table. Before changing from her pajamas into her dress, Hanna suddenly stopped to think.
Since when did I start wanting today to go so perfectly? she thought to herself. It was true. Hanna hadn't expected herself to want everything—down to outfit choices—done precisely. Yes, she wanted to decorate the backyard herself, but that was because she enjoyed doing things like that. The blond put it down to hormones. This pregnancy had been making her do really weird things.
Now changed—wearing a loose-fitting, short, pink dress—Hanna wandered into the backyard, telling herself over and over again not to get worked up if Maddie ruined her jumpsuit. The toddler was running up and down yard, playing with Caleb and Bella.
The first thing on Hanna's list to do was to get the table ready. She glanced over to where the table was and noticed how little chairs were should have been at least ten, but there were only three.
"Babe," Hanna called out. Caleb looked up, still with Maddie running around his legs. "Where's the rest of the chairs?"
Caleb furrowed his eyebrows. Where were they? He remembered using them for something, but what that something was was beyond him. "Maybe check the garage?" he suggested, a questionable tone to his voice.
Hanna sighed and stomped away. She found the keys to the garage in a bowl by the front door and walked outside, ready to unlock the garage door.
Inside the garage was a complete and utter mess. "Jesus," Hanna muttered as she gazed around. It was full of old bed parts, a motorcycle Caleb still hadn't gotten around to fixing up, random tools. Hanna thought it was disgusting, but she wasn't going to tidy it. It was Caleb's mess, it was Caleb's job. Seven chairs were in the corner, rags and sheets hanging over them. From what it looked like, Hanna guessed Caleb had brought Maddie in here to build a fort.
One by one, Hanna carried the chairs through the house—carefully as to not knock any of the vases on the floor—and into the backyard. It took longer than planned, but after grabbing a few of the chairs from the kitchen, the table was set up. Now all that was needed was some color.
Hanna laid a dark red runner down the center of the glass table, and matched the napkins to it. She brought out wine glasses, plastic cups, plates and the cutlery and placed a set in front of each seat.
"What do you think?" Hanna asked as she heard Caleb walk up behind her. She stood back, staring at her work. "Does it look okay?"
"It looks great, babe," Caleb whispered, wrapping his arms around her waist. Hanna let out a small squeal as he started kissing the side of her neck, but pulled away fast when she saw Maddie come running over.
"What's up, bug?" the blond said, crouching down to the toddler's height.
"Drink?" Maddie asked.
Hanna stood back up. "What's the magic word?"
Maddie gave her version of "please" and followed her mom inside. "Juice!" she exclaimed, seeing the cartoon of SunnyD lying out on the counter. Caleb had picked it up from the store the previous night, and had obviously forgotten to put it away.
"No, baby. That's for later," Hanna replied gently. She opened up the refrigerator and scanned through the cans and cans of different beverages, hoping to find the CapriSuns she had bought. The CapriSuns were buried deep in the back, hiding amongst the beers and sodas. Hanna grabbed one and showed it to the toddler. "What about this?"
"Mmm," Maddie hummed, thinking. "Okay!"
Hanna found a cup in the cupboard and carefully poured the drink into it, before handing it over to Maddie. She made sure to fasten the lid on tightly, knowing for well the cup would be flung about the yard when Maddie went back outside.
Hanna was absolutely right. The second Madelyn found Caleb by her swings, she threw the cup onto the grass and sprinted over to him.
"You want to swing?" Caleb asked as he swung his daughter into his arms. Maddie nodded excitedly and started pulling towards the swings.
Hanna made sure Madelyn was happy and occupied—she didn't need anymore interruptions. Next on the list was food. After long discussions with Caleb about what to cook, they had both decided on the good ol' classic grilled food. That way, they could cater for the toddlers, the vegetarians, and everyone else.
—
Three hours later, the River's backyard was bustling with people. In one corner, Caleb stood by the grill, talking with Ted, Ezra, Toby and his dad, Jamie. In the other corner, Maddie, Chloe and Spencer's two sons, Elijah and James, chased each other around. Hanna mingled with her mom, Claudia, and her four best friends. She was using all her power to not just spill the news about the pregnancy right there and then, she was that excited to tell everyone.
Aria was holding her son, Caden, and bouncing him up and down on her hip, but he suddenly reached out towards Hanna. Aria gave the blond a look, as if to ask do you want him? Hanna nodded enthusiastically and took the baby into her arms, holding him above her face.
"Hi baby Caden," she cooed as she brought him into a cradling position. She couldn't wait to have her own again. Caden gurgled back at her and smiled a big, toothless grin. "Oh, you're so cute!"
"Han, the foods ready!" Caleb yelled across the yard. The blond looked over at him and nodded, before reluctantly handing baby Caden back to his mom. She directed everybody towards the table and took he own seat at the end. As the adults took their seats and the children squabbled over who was sitting where, Hanna gave Caleb a nervous glance. "I love you," he mouthed.
Hanna smiled and blushed slightly. 7 years together and hearing—or seeing—those words still made her feel fuzzy and melt inside.
"Okay, so these are the burgers," Caleb said as he began placing food in trays up and down the table.
Dozens of burgers, hot dogs and corn on the cobs later, Hanna and Caleb stood at the foot of the table with everyone staring at them. Hanna felt an unnerving sense of pressure—she hated being stared at. She gripped Caleb's hand tightly and held onto his arm, although she knew, deep down, that there was nothing to feel nervous about.
"So," Hanna began. You would never have believed Hanna had already done this once before. "There was something Caleb and I wanted to share with everyone."
Ashley's grin was already forming; she knew what was about to come.
"We're pregnant!" the blond exclaimed.
After a moment of stunned silence, there were bursts of cheer and clapping. Both Ashley and Claudia simultaneously jumped up to give the couple a big hug, and ended up hugging as the four of them.
Next was Spencer, Aria, Emily and Alison, who all hugged Hanna at the same time. Caleb was congratulated by Ezra and Toby, and then Ted.
Maddie, Chloe, Elijah and James had no idea what was going on, so decided to create a conversation of their own, at which they burst out in huge amounts of laughter.
"Oh my God!" Emily squealed as she jumped up and down next to Hanna. "I'm going to be an aunt again!"
—
"Congrats again, man," Toby said, patting Caleb on the back. Spencer gave Hanna one last hug before stepping out of the front door, down the front yard and headed to her car. She was only in town for one more night, and needed more beauty sleep before saying back home the next day. After everyone else had flooded out of the house, Hanna gave a happy sigh and slowly made her way to the living room.
Caleb was already sitting on the couch, waiting for his wife to join. Hanna slumped into the space next to him and cuddled into Caleb's arms.
"We're going to have to clear everything up," she mumbled. Caleb rolled his eyes, but smiled. Trust Hanna to start thinking about tidying up the second the party's over.
"Babe, just relax," he said, stroking the blond's arm. "We don't need to clear it away until tomorrow."
Hanna stared at the ceiling and started replaying the day's events in her head. "Maddie was so hyper today," she suddenly said, laughing. "Did you see her when she was trying to hang upside down on the adventure thing with Chloe?"
"Oh yeah, and then she fell onto her head," Caleb replied, laughing too. Hanna gave one last laugh and sighed. "Babe, I'm so glad we did this."
"Did what?" Hanna asked, twisting her head around to look at Caleb.
"Everything," he said. That answers took Hanna by surprise. She was expecting him to say something about just sitting together, but his actual response was surprising. "Got together. Got married. Had kids."
Hanna smiled. "Where did that come from?"
The brunette shrugged and looked away from his wife, as if he were embarrassed. Hanna laughed and sat up, placed her palm against his cheek, and pressed her lips against his.
"I'm glad we did it too," she whispered.
—
"Oh my God. Look at this one, babe!" Hanna squealed, pointing to a Labrador puppy. The family were in the local animal shelter, finally getting the second dog they had wanted for so long. Caleb scooted Maddie along and joined Hanna. Even his heart melted when he saw the puppy. It was chocolate colored and had the biggest eyes Caleb had ever seen on a dog. "Isn't he cute?"
"He is," Caleb agreed, nodding. Hanna pulled out her phone and snapped a picture of the pup, ready to send to all of her friends on Snapchat. She wanted to make them as jealous as possible. Madelyn spotted a dog at the end of the row and skipped over to it. As she reached the cage, she decided to sit on the floor and stick her fingers through the rails.
"Maddie, no. Don't do that," Hanna called, spotting what her daughter was doing. "It might bite you." When the toddler didn't listen, Hanna shuffled over to her and was about to pull her way when she saw what was locked up.
Inside the cage was a group of the most beautiful dogs she had ever seen. They were a tiny, fluffy things, with the bluest of eyes, all bustling about, tumbling over each other.
"A golden retriever and Siberian husky mix," Caleb read out loud, standing behind Hanna. "There's three girls and four boys in there."
"I like that one." Hanna pointed to a gray and white spotted puppy right at the back of the litter. There were dark rings on it's face, emphasizing it's colored eyes. Maddie was still sitting on the floor staring, mesmerized. "Mads, which one do you like?"
"Tis one, Mama," she said, pointing to the same one as Hanna had been pointing at. Hanna then looked over to Caleb with a hopeful gleam in her eye.
"Which one do you like, babe?"
"The one you two both said is definitely cute," Caleb said slowly.
A woman came over from the entrance to the shelter, dressed in a khaki green button-up shirt. "Can I help you two with anything?" she said in a friendly voice. Hanna grinned at her husband and turned to point at the puppy.
"Is it possible to see the one at the back?"
"Of course!" the woman replied. She pulled out a large hoop of keys from her back pocket and flicked through them until she found the right one, at which she then unlocked the door and quickly slid inside the cage, careful not to let any of the puppies escape. The woman grabbed the gray and white pup and held it up as she stepped back towards the door. "This litter only came in three weeks ago. Along with their mother, they were abandoned on the streets by their owner," she explained as she came back outside of the cage. "We reckon the pup's are around nine weeks old. This one is the youngest, and he's a boy."
"Oh Caleb, look!" Hanna squealed excitedly. She scooped Maddie into her arms, allowing the toddler to get a better look. "How cute is he?!"
"Have you got any pets?" the woman asked as she let Maddie pat the dog.
"We have dog called Bella. She's a Shih Tzu," Caleb replied. "But we've wanted a second dog for a while now."
And two hours later, Hanna, Caleb and Madelyn walked out of the doors, armed with another puppy. Maddie refused to let go of his leash, claiming he was now hers. Both Hanna and Caleb found it amusing how protective she was of the puppy.
"What are we going to name him?" Hanna asked her husband as they walked down the street hand-in-hand. She gently swung her arm back and forth happily. "Not something beginning with b."
"Damn, I was thinking of naming him Bella number two," the brunette said sarcastically, smirking at Hanna.
Hanna groaned and playfully slapped Caleb's arm. "Come on, babe! Be serious. He needs a name."
"He looks like a Buddy," Caleb announced, completely ignoring Hanna's previous comment. "Or a Bear."
The blond was about to moan again when she realized she actually liked the sound of the names...both names. "Ooh, I actually like them."
Caleb's eyes widened eagerly and he grinned, turning towards Hanna as he stopped walking and stood in the middle of the sidewalk. "Can we name him Bear?"
"Bear. Bear. Bear." Hanna continued to repeat the name in various voices, until making a decision. "Bear. Yeah, I like Bear."
"So he's Bear? His name is Bear?"
Hanna nodded, smiling. She began walking again and carefully picked up the puppy, cuddling him in her arms. "Hey little Bear."
A/N — im so so sorry this has taken a week. i had actually written out the whole chapter before chapter 14 but i then decided i didnt like it, so rewrote it, and then decided i didn't like that either, so rewrote it again. anyway, this isn't the best version, but i really wanted to post something for you guys!
keep reviewing!