It was raining. And not the light, drizzly kind of rain. But the hard, soak-you-three-seconds, run-for-shelter kind of rain. Anyone with a hint of common sense would stay in, or at least use a car if they needed to get anywhere. But not Hanna and Caleb. They were on their way to a doctor's appointment, a pretty important one, too, and were walking. Well, they weren't really walking. It was more like a sprint. The rain was battering against the cars parked on the street, and Hanna was trying her hardest to weave in and out of people with umbrellas to keep herself and Madelyn dry. Approximately five minutes before the family had to leave, the trusty Land Rover had decided to break down. It had completely died. To make matters worse, Hanna's car was currently being fixed after she popped a tire on her way to visit her mom back in Rosewood. So, Hanna, Caleb and Madelyn had no way of transport other than foot.
"I hate the rain," Hanna growled to Caleb as she ducked under the canopy of a bakery. Despite the weather, there were still a few New Yorkers bustling along the sidewalk, but many looked like they were trying to get to their office building, not the doctors office that was three miles away.
"Just stay under shelter and you'll be fine," Caleb replied, swinging Maddie into his arms. Maybe they'd be able to move a little faster if they didn't have a dawdling two year old going at a snails pace.
"I can't stay under the shelter if there's no freaking shelter to stay under!" Hanna exclaimed, turning her head around to glance at Caleb. Her face was turning fifty shades of red, as if she were angrier than the time she found out her mom had accidentally canceled her Vogue subscription. As if the day wasn't bad already, it seemed Hanna had received a fresh load of pregnancy hormones this morning.
"Calm down, Hanna," Caleb sighed. "We'll be there in, like, ten minutes."
Hanna rolled her eyes. Ten minutes? In ten minutes, Hanna could be splashed with dirty rain water by a cab at least three times; she could fall in a puddle; she could ruin her shoes even more than they already were. A lot could happen in ten minutes.
As the blonde passed a high-end fashion store, she stopped. There was an odd sensation in her stomach, specifically the baby bump.
Caleb had to suddenly grind to a halt and nearly bumped into his wife. "Whoa, Han. Don't just randomly stop in the middle of the sidewalk. Keep moving!" Hanna didn't move. She kept her hands on her belly, her jaw hanging open. Caleb shuffled around her. "What's wrong?"
"The baby," she mumbled. "I felt the baby move."
"You what?" Caleb spluttered. Everything seemed to stop; the rain that was turning into a torrential downpour; the cab drivers with harsh New York accents that were cursing as they poked their heads out of the car's window; the bustling people rushing to and from work. Caleb stared at his wife, who was cupping her hands around the bottom of her belly. Slowly, a smile started to spread across Hanna's face. That smile turned into a grin, and that grin turned into a laugh.
"I felt the baby move!" she repeated, proclaiming the words as if she wanted all of Manhattan to hear. Caleb's eyes grew to the size of the sun in an instant. He lunged forwards and grabbed Hanna's stomach, moving his hands all about in an attempt to find the baby. Caleb suddenly stopped.
"I feel it," he whispered, shellshocked. Hanna grinned and chuckled. The rain continued to chuck out of the dark, almost-black skies. But Hanna and Caleb stood there, all four hands attached to Hanna's belly.
—
"There's your little one," the doctor said, pointing to the screen. Hanna was lying back on the bed, her head resting on her right arm behind her. Caleb was next to her, sitting on a plastic blue stool, his hand intertwined with Hanna's. They were both staring intently at the screen, eyes fixated on the small baby.
"Oh my God," Hanna whispered. She had the same reaction every time she saw it; she was struck for words. It was the same with Maddie, and it would be the same with every child Hanna would ever have.
"It's so small," Caleb mumbled.
"You're 19 weeks tomorrow, right?" the doctor asked Hanna. She was a friendly brunette, with dazzling green eyes. When Hanna had walked into the appointed over ten minutes ago, she let out a small gasp. The doctor—Marie Stiller—was jaw-droppingly beautiful. Hanna hadn't ever thought of OBGYN's being so perfect.
"Yes," Hanna replied, grinning. Her next question had been burning on her tongue throughout the morning. She was ready to burst with excitement. "Is it possible to find out the gender?"
Marie smiled softly and nodded. "Of course."
There was a little squeal from Hanna and she beamed as she glanced over at her husband. Caleb had the same expression plastered to his face.
"Let me just have a look," Marie said, focusing back on the computer. Hanna and Caleb gripped each other's hands in anticipation. "It's a…"
—
Hanna stepped outside of the huge building, her cheeks aching from smiling so much. Hanna was thrilled—and was ready to start skipping down the street. If it wasn't for Caleb pulling her back before she stepped outside into the storm, Hanna probably would have skipped all the way back to the apartment.
The rain hadn't eased at all. In fact, it was even harder than before. There was a flash of lighting as Hanna opened up her umbrella, and she jumped back in fright. Madelyn was hanging from Caleb's neck and whimpered. Caleb took his wife's hand in his own and stepped out from under the shelter of the doctor's office.
"Can we get a cab?" Hanna asked Caleb just seconds after stepping into the rain. There wasn't a chance any torrential weather was going to dampen her ecstatic mood, but Hanna wasn't risking it. Plus, her shoes had already been ruined enough on the way there. She didn't need them covered in even more dirt.
"Sure," Caleb replied quickly. He was trying his hardest to keep Madelyn sheltered from the rain, but despite his best efforts, it wasn't working. With the added problem of Madelyn being absolutely terrified of thunder and lighting, a cab was just what he was thinking.
After carefully passing the toddler onto Hanna, Caleb waved for a taxicab to stop. It was New York, and yellow cabs were flying past every minute of every day, but not one wanted to stop for a small family standing in the pouring rain. Caleb began to curse at them, but stopped when Hanna nudged him hard in the side.
"We have a child here," she hissed, bouncing Madelyn onto her hip.
Caleb held up his hands as if he were surrendering. "Sorry, sorry." He turned back to the street, where a cab was just pulling up to the sidewalk. The cab slowed into a deep puddle that seemed to be pure mud, and it splashed all over Caleb's pants. Hanna immediately burst out laughing.
"Oh my God!" she laughed. "You look like you've peed yourself!"
Caleb's nostrils flared and he gave Hanna a death glare. "Get in the cab," he said simply, gesturing to the yellow car that was parked beside them. Sitting in the driver's seat was a middle-aged man, dressed like he was homeless. Hanna slid into the backseat and noticed the holes in the driver's sweater. She cringed.
"He looks like he's poor," Hanna whispered as Caleb clipped his seatbelt around his waist. Hanna pushed Madelyn off of her lap and onto the seat in between herself and Caleb, before doing the same.
"Hanna!" Caleb exclaimed a little too loudly. The driver looked back, thoroughly unimpressed. Caleb faux-smiled and quickly gave him directions to their apartment building, eager to get home.
"I'm just pointing out that he might not be a real cab driver," Hanna explained. Her voice was still in a harsh whisper, but Caleb was convinced the driver could hear every word. "What if he's a murderer or something?"
It was clear Hanna had no previous experience with cabs in New York. "It's fine, Hanna," Caleb assured, lightly slapping her thigh. Hanna wasn't sure, though. She had grown up in Rosewood, where everyone was guaranteed to be 100% safe. New York was so, so different.
—
Unlike the journey to the doctors office, the journey back wasn't long at all. Caleb had hoped he would see more of New York in a cab, but unfortunately, he didn't. He couldn't see a thing out of the steamed-up and raindrop-covered windows, and Madelyn was being too much of a distraction anyway. The toddler decided it would be a good idea to scream the whole way home, much to her parent's horror.
"Please be quiet," Hanna pleaded as she handed Maddie over to Caleb. She swung her legs out of the cab and heaved herself out, using Caleb to pull herself up. Maddie continued to wail…and wail, and wail, and wail.
"What's wrong, bug?" Caleb asked, bouncing the toddler up and down. Usually, that would stop the crying instantly, but today, it didn't. He began walking towards the large glass doors at the entrance to the building, and Hanna was quick to follow. Caleb walked inside, continuing to bounce Madelyn up and down. But Madelyn continued to scream, and was seemingly getting louder and louder by the second.
"Madelyn, I'm begging you," Hanna cried as she caught up with her husband. "Please stop crying!"
Caleb passed the reception desk, where he would normally have a quick chat with the doorman, but carried on straight for the elevator. The doorman, who's name was James, gave an understanding smile at a distraught looking Hanna. He had no children, he had told Caleb, but often looked after his younger siblings. Caleb had been explaining what a pain Maddie was being that day because she was refusing to leave the apartment with Bella and Bear. But compared to now, that day had been a breeze.
"Maddie," Caleb sighed as he leant against the gold-colored wall of the elevator, "I swear to God, if you don't stop crying in a minute, I will have to jump out of a window."
The toddler stopped her cries to gulp hard, but soon restarted them. It had all started in the cab when Madelyn had tried to take off her shoes, but Hanna had said no. It wasn't exactly a scold Hanna had given her, but it was definitely enough to start Maddie off crying and screaming. Hanna wished she had just let the toddler take off the damn shoes.
The elevator pinged and the doors opened. Caleb slowly trudged down the carpeted hallway, stopped outside of the correct apartment door—he may have once knocked on the wrong one after returning from work—and waited for Hanna to unlock it. The blonde furrowed through her purse in search of the key, and reemerged with one that had been covered in princess stickers. After leaving her keys and phone out on one fatal day, Hanna had found them covered—from top to bottom—in random stickers.
Hanna quickly unlocked the door, shoved it open and let Caleb burst inside. Both Bella and Bear came tottering up to Hanna and Caleb, barking loudly.
"No," Hanna said firmly when Bear jumped up at her. He left a bright red mark trailing down her leg from where his claw had accidentally dug in too hard, but Hanna ignored it. She was too busy focusing on how to get her daughter to calm down.
Almost twenty minutes later, and Caleb was collapsing onto the couch and letting out a long, exasperated sigh. Hanna laid down the magazine she had just picked up from the coffee table and raised an eyebrow.
"Sleeping," Caleb murmured. "Finally sleeping."
The apartment had been filled with the shrilling screams echoing all around as Caleb stayed in Madelyn's bedroom, begging her to lay down and nap. Hanna was sure the neighbours must have thought she and Caleb were hurting Maddie in some way, but rest assured, they weren't.
"What's going on with her?" Hanna asked. She wasn't expecting Caleb to know, of course, but instead was just thinking out loud. She stood up from the armchair she had been slouched in and joined her husband. Hanna nuzzled into the side of Caleb, and he lifted up his arm to wrap it around her shoulders. Hanna was sure to make herself comfy before adding, "She was so perfect in the doctor's."
"I know," Caleb agreed. He tilted his head to the left and chuckled. "Her face when the doctor said the gender was priceless. She looked so excited."
"Maybe the reality of getting a new sibling hit her in the cab," Hanna joked. She hadn't been expecting for Maddie to have any reaction when it came to finding out the gender; Hanna didn't think two-year-olds understood what it meant. But apparently, Madelyn did. She looked almost as excited as Hanna when they found out.
"Maybe," Caleb chuckled. He fiddled with a strand of Hanna's blonde locks, just as he always did, and smiled. "When do you want to tell everybody?"
"The gender? Oh, I don't know," Hanna replied. "I was thinking we could wait until the birth. That way, it'll be a surprise."
"That could work."
"We already have a name picked out, right?" Hanna checked. She struggled to turn her head, but saw Caleb nod out of the corner of her bright, blue eye. "Good."
—
The next morning was rough. Hanna had been up all night, tending to a very sick Madelyn, and was shattered. It turned out she was coming down with a bug…a bad bug. Hanna had never been very good with illness, but had to overcome her irrational fears. Caleb needed all the sleep he could get—he had his very first meeting the next day. So, Hanna ended up sleeping on a made-up bed of blankets and pillows on the floor of Madelyn's bedroom, ready to jump up and help at any moment, meaning she barely slept a wink.
"Morning," Caleb chirped as he wandered into the kitchen. He pecked Hanna's cheek as he swerved past her sitting on a bar stool. Hanna was alone in the kitchen, and had been for the past hour. It was eight o'clock, and after most of the night up and awake, Madelyn was finally dozing.
"Morning," Hanna groaned. She rubbed her temple with her pointer finger and breathed in deeply, shuddering as she breathed back out.
"How's Maddie?" Caleb asked, taking a big chunk out of the apple he had just picked up from the antique fruit bowl.
Hanna shook her head. "Not good. She's sleeping now, but was throwing up until a few hours ago."
Caleb cringed. "Are you sure you're okay to look after her today? I'm sure I can stay off work."
"You have your meeting, Caleb," Hanna replied. "Plus, you had to have yesterday off for the appointment. Anyway, I'll be fine."
Honestly, Caleb wasn't sure. After the way Maddie had acted the previous night, he was worried she would do it again. And Hanna would not be able to cope with that on her own. But then again, Hanna was right. He did have a big meeting today that would be pretty difficult to get out of…
"Fine," Caleb sighed after moments of silence. Hanna gave a weak smile as he bent down to kiss her forehead. "But you have to promise you'll call if you need anything. Okay?"
Hanna nodded. "I promise."
"Okay. I need to go," Caleb said as he glanced at the expensive watch strapped to his wrist. "I love you."
"I love you too." Hanna smiled. She waved gently when Caleb grabbed his bag and headed to the front door. The blonde let out a big yawn and slipped off of the stool. She trudged down the hallway, poked her head around Madelyn's door and glanced inside the bright pink room. Madelyn was fast asleep, her face as pale as a sheet. Hanna sighed quietly with relief; she was worried she'd have to deal with another load of washing the bed sheets. Now she knew Madelyn was sleeping, Hanna was able to go to bed herself. After all, she was ready to fall asleep on the spot.
—
Caleb stood over his desk, shuffling hastily through the piles and piles of paper stacked on his desk. He was desperately trying to find the sheets he had left on the glass desk on Friday, ones he needed for the huge meeting he was about to take part in.
There was a knock at the door and Kenneth West, Caleb's new boss, stepped inside. He cleared his throat loudly, interrupting Caleb's search. "Everything okay, Mr Rivers?"
"Yes, sir. Everything's fine," Caleb replied quickly. He noticed the corner of a piece of yellow paper sticking out of a cabinet draw and lunged towards it. There, tucked inside of a filled-up folder, was the sheets Caleb was in desperate need of. He breathed a sigh of relief and picked them up, turning towards an impatient-looking Kenneth.
"Are you ready to head to the meeting?" Kenneth asked as Caleb flicked through the paper, checking everything was there and most importantly correct.
"Of course," Caleb replied. He fiddled with the striped tie around his neck and gave a nervous smile before walking past Kenneth.
Kenneth firmly slapped Caleb's back in reassurance. "You'll do great, Caleb!" he boomed loudly. The pair headed down the open-plan office and stopped outside of a door, filled with official, smart men and women. After multiple deep breaths in, Caleb gripped the door handle and slowly turned it. He opened it up with a big, friendly smile on his face.
"Phew," Caleb murmured as he left the office room three hours later. The meeting had been long, but it had been worth it. The men and women seemed to love him, and Kenneth managed to give them many reasons why Caleb was such an amazing employee. In fact, when Kenneth and Caleb emerged from the office, he mumbled to Caleb, "I wouldn't be surprised if they offered you a job."
Caleb had been working with Kenneth for just a few weeks—he couldn't believe his ears. Never in his wildest of dreams had Caleb ever imagined job opportunities like these.
Meanwhile, Hanna was sitting on the couch with a very floppy, very weak Madelyn. They cuddling close, both intently staring at the TV in front of them. Since Maddie awoke just a short two hours ago, the atmosphere had been nothing but calm…and Hanna loved it. She didn't love the fact her baby girl was sick, but the peace and quiet she was getting felt like a dream.
"Mommy," Maddie croaked, turning her small head to look at Hanna. "Dink?"
"You want a drink?" Hanna asked. The toddler gave a small nod, and Hanna carefully removed herself from the couch. She padded across the floor, mindful of Bear, who was jumping around like a hyperactive child. The last time Hanna checked, Bella was sleeping in her bed in Hanna and Caleb's room, her small head hanging over the side. Both pups weren't adjusting too well to living in an apartment, much to Hanna's disappointment.
After filling up an orange cup with water, Hanna made her way back into the living room to find Frozen, Madelyn's favorite movie, had ended and the credits were rolling up the screen.
"What do you want to watch now, Mads?" Hanna asked, holding out the cup of water to the toddler. Maddie took it and immediately shoved it into her mouth, gulping downs gallons by the second. Within moments the cup was empty, and Maddie handed it back to her mom, who was standing in amazement. There was a small smirk on Madelyn's face, the first somewhat of a smile Hanna had seen in over 12 hours.
"Frozen 'gain," Madelyn replied to Hanna's earlier question. The blonde tutted, rolling her eyes, but grabbed the remote and hit rewind. If it wasn't for Maddie being unwell, she would not have just sat through two hours of a movie she had watched over thirty times, and would not be about to watch it again.
"The things you do for yours kids," Hanna sighed to herself as she slumped back onto the couch.
—
Late that evening, when the skies were beginning to darken, and the busy New Yorkers were leaving their sky rise office buildings to head home, Caleb was standing in front of his Land Rover, pulling out his phone from his back pocket. Since his meeting that morning, Caleb had been waiting for the dreaded phone call from Hanna, announcing that he would be needed back at home. Luckily, the call had never come, and Caleb was able to complete a full day at work like normal. He was still buzzing with excitement from his meeting. Everyone seemed to love him, even Kenneth had said so when he joined Caleb in the cafeteria at lunchtime.
Caleb slid into the driver's seat and shoved his phone—with, thankfully, no worrying messages from Hanna—into his bag, which he then chucked onto the passenger's seat. The sun was shining brightly, a happy change from the miserable weather the previous day, and had heated the car into an oven. There were cars rushing past the parking lot every second—typical New York. Caleb started the engine and the car roared into life.
Caleb wasn't used to being stuck in traffic every day of the week. He had barely moved a meter in the past hour, after leaving work over two and a half hours ago. The red Honda in the lane next to Caleb's Land Rover rolled forwards whilst Caleb sat drumming his fingers against the steering wheel.
—
It took more than three hours longer than Caleb had expected, but he finally pulled into the lot of the huge, impressive apartment building.
After feeding Madelyn a simple banana, and letting her rest in her bed with Bella by her feet, Hanna was now in the kitchen, leaning over the island with three menus in her hands. She had read each one thoroughly, but now couldn't decide what she wanted: Mexican, Chinese or a burger.
"What do you want, baby?" Hanna said out loud, patting her baby bump. She wandered over to the refrigerator and pulled out an ice-cold bottle of water before taking a long, refreshing sip. As she headed back to the kitchen island and the menus, the front door unlocked and in burst Caleb.
"Babe?" Caleb called out loudly.
Hanna poked her head out and smiled. "Hey!" She hurried over and jumped into her husband's arms. Hanna began kissing Caleb repeatedly, wrapping her own arms around his neck.
"Hey, hey," Caleb chuckled, pulling back. "What's going on?"
The blonde let go and took a large step back, smiling. "I've just missed you today."
Caleb smiled warmly. "I've missed you too. I love you, babe."
"I have a question for you," Hanna said, moving forwards and undoing the tie strapped around Caleb's neck. "Can we order something in tonight? The baby really doesn't want me to cook."
Caleb couldn't help but laugh. "The baby, huh?"
"Mhm," Hanna nodded quickly. "So…Mexican?"
A/N - okay im really not sure about this chapter. i kind of feel like its a bit of a mess ? but i wanted to post something for all of you.
i hope you like it though!
so hanna and caleb found out the gender :)) i haven't yet decided whether im going to wait until the baby is born, or actually write in in the story soon.
be sure to leave a review about this chapter! i really appreciate them!