Hanna was cruelly awoken by the familiar tone of her phone ringing. She stretched across the empty, chilled bed sheets to answer it, not even bothering to check the caller I.D.
"Hey" Hanna chimed in a feeble attempt to cover up her raspy morning voice.
"Hanna, I know you've only just woken up, your never that happy on a morning" She could almost feel the smirk that was sure to be plastered across Caleb's face.
"Foiled me again" She groaned "Are you coming home tonight?" Caleb was currently away in New York with some work colleagues trying to sell some app that in their words was sure to 'revolutionise the world'. Apparently, that wasn't the case.
"I thought we could" He sighed sadly "But now some other companies want to spend six hours picking out the potential problems. I'm probably going to be another two days at least"
"Two days?! You've already been gone three!" Hanna would have shouted if her throat wasn't so dry and if it wasn't nine in the morning.
"I know babe I'm sorry, I don't want to miss our anniversary" Right. Today was their ten years wedding anniversary. It was a tradition that they did something magnificent every single year. Six years ago they spent a weekend in Vermont without any protection, of which Caleb had 'forgotten'. The irony was Hanna had also 'forgotten' to take her birth control, too. Their 'forgetfulness' resulted in an hyper-active fiver year old with Caleb's brown hair and Hanna's blue eyes named Poppy-Rose Rivers, but most people just called her Poppy.
"Well that sucks" Hanna said, holding back her emotions "Me and Poppy really miss you"
"I know, I miss my princesses too" Whenever he called her princess, it still made her stomach flutter in the gentlest of ways "Can I speak to Posy?" Caleb always called Poppy Posy because when she was little, Poppy couldn't pronounce the whole three syllables.
"Well Poppy" She emphasised "Is still in bed, so unless you want to try wake her up through the phone, no you can't talk to her" Poppy was about as hard to get out of bed as Hanna was at six am on a Monday morning, just every day.
"I think I'll pass" Caleb chuckled "When she's up, tell her I love her"
"Ok"
"Crap I've got to go, but happy anniversary beautiful. I love you" He said softly.
"Fine" Hanna huffed "I love you to" With that, she hung up the phone and threw it across the room, ending with it lying face down next to the door to the en-suite bathroom. It wasn't out of anger or spite, more just annoyance that yet again something was determined to get in the middle of them. First it was –A, then Miranda, then Travis, and now stupid work. The universe seemed perfectly content providing hurdles for Hanna to leap over, and waiting for her to fall flat on her face yet again.
XXXXX
It took Hanna nearly half an hour to rouse Poppy from her so called 'beauty sleep'. An incredible amount of persuasion and patience was needed for the task, and it wasn't until Poppy hit her miniature Diva stage at the ripe old age of three that Hanna finally realised how much of a hassle she must have caused her friends during the early morning starts when they were teenagers. Now, she remembered to thank them every day for it. Hanna could only hope that Poppy would grow up to have friends as good as her own were.
"Poppy, what do you want to eat?" Hanna asked as she rummaged through the top cupboards for cereals.
"I'm too tired to eat" Poppy groaned, sprawling her arms across the granite counter top of the kitchen. Ashley moved in with Ted just before Hanna got pregnant, and offered the house to Hanna and Caleb to start their family. Not even doubting it for a second the pair took it, and have resided in it ever since.
"No you're not" Hanna said probably a little too harshly, but she wasn't in the best of moods this morning after Caleb called "What do you want for breakfast?" She repeated slower this time.
"Coco Pops"
"See, that wasn't so hard now, was it?" Hanna mumbled under her breath, quiet enough so Poppy's owl ears didn't pick it up. She made up a reasonable amount of cereal, pouring in extra milk in it, knowing how much Poppy loved to drink the chocolate milk. Presenting it proudly in front of her five year old, Hanna had a smile on her face.
"Thank you, Mommy" Poppy smiled sweetly, wrapping her arms around her Mom's waist before descending her spoon into the deep breakfast bowl. Hanna returned the hug, dropping a small kiss on Poppy's head before sliding around to the opposite side of the island counter, propping herself up on her elbows as she cradled her 'Spencer sized' coffee in her hands. After watching Poppy eat silently for a few minutes, Hanna's phone started vibrating in her pocket. By throwing it across the bedroom, Hanna had successfully smashed the display screen, so only Emily's distorted face flashed on and off continuously.
"Hey Em" Hanna greeted.
"Hi Auntie Emily!" Poppy shouted with a mouthful of cereal. Hanna signalled for her to be quiet, but when she didn't she resorted to covering Poppy's mouth with her own hand.
"Yeah sure, sounds great" Hanna nodded "Be there in an hour?" A few seconds passed "Ok great, see you later" Hanna released her hand from Poppy's face and immediately scuffed up her hair.
"What did Auntie Emily want?" Poppy asked the second she could talk again.
"Well, Auntie Emily asked if we wanted to meet her, Amanda, Auntie Aria, Zoe and Auntie Spencer in town and go shopping and have a nice girls day out" Amanda was one half of the twins Emily and Maya had adopted a couple of months ago, the other half being Austin. They had just turned four a couple of weeks ago. Zoe was Aria and Ezra's daughter, who was the exact same age as Poppy; the two girls shared a birthday, and by no surprise to anyone were completely inseparable.
"Yeah" Poppy agreed happily "Nicky isn't coming, is he?" Nicky. Spencer and Toby's six year old son. Him and Poppy do not get on what so ever, or so they say. Everybody knows that they'd protect each other in the blink of an eye, but neither child will admit it. They held a very brother-sister relationship, except Nicky was 'too nerdy' and Poppy was 'too girly'. You couldn't win with them two at all.
"No he isn't, Uncle Toby is helping him build a cage or something" Hanna laughed "Austin isn't coming either" Poppy's lips sunk. Her and Austin liked each other, and while Hanna, Emily and Maya thought it was adorable, Caleb strongly opposed to it. He'd already had the father-to-boyfriend talk with the poor four year old, and he replied by saying 'What's a boyfriend?' That conversation deeply backfired for Caleb.
"Doesn't Auntie Spencer have to work?" Poppy asked. Spencer worked a lot considering she was one of Rosewood's top lawyers. It wasn't very often that she'd have the full weekend off without any work to do. It wasn't such a problem for the others; Emily worked in Rosewood High's PE department, of which the hours were very convenient with two kids in tow. Aria's a freelance photographer so works from home most days unless she has to go for a shoot. Hanna's clothing line set off with a bang a couple of years again, meaning she worked in her office upstairs nine times out of ten.
"No, she's taking maternity leave next week" Toby had managed to convince Spencer to take her maternity six months into her pregnancy so her or the baby didn't get stressed. "Come on and eat that up, then we need to get you changed"
XXXXX
Thankfully, Hanna was only twenty minutes late to meet with her friends at The Brew.
"Hey stranger" Aria called from a table near the back of the room. Hanna waved and pointed them out to Poppy, who ran ahead and immediately burst into conversation with Zoe.
"Hey guys, sorry we're late" Hanna started "Poppy insisted that I do her make-up since Caleb's away so we can break the rules" She pointed over to her daughter, who had already jumped into the newly installed play area with Zoe, leaving Amanda to cuddle into Emily's stomach. She was a lot less independent than her brother, who if he was here would be running around in the ball pit with the girls.
"Like mother like daughter" Spencer sung, sipping away at her decaf coffee that was rested on her swollen stomach.
"Spence you do know that you shouldn't use your baby bump to rest your mug on it right?" Emily laughed as she twirled ends of Amanda's light brown hair in her fingers. Spencer just shrugged.
"I have it for three more months, I may as well do something useful with it" She pointed out fairly. Only Spencer would balance a coffee mug on her pregnant stomach. Hanna turned her attention to Amanda, feeling rude for not yet talking to her.
"Hi sweetie" She smiled "How are you?"
"Good thank you" Amanda replied quietly.
"Poppy and Zoe are playing over there; do you want to go with them?" Hanna asked, signalling over to the ball pit. Amanda shook her head without even thinking.
"I want to stay with Mommy"
"Well how about we wait for Auntie Spencer and Auntie Aria to finish their coffees, then we can go" Emily interrupted, pulling the attention away from her daughter. All the girls nodded in unison, Hanna calling Poppy and Zoe over from the play area to put their coats on.
"Can we go to the toyshop?" Poppy begged with her puppy eyes Caleb taught her.
"Maybe, it depends if you behave" Hanna teased, even though Poppy knew too well that using her puppy eyes guaranteed her a trip to the toyshop at least, if not a new toy.
XXXXX
The girls all squeezed through the slim door of The Grille with their multiple full bags. A friendly young waitress, one that reminded them all of Emily in her younger years, sat the group down at a table that would manage to seat all seven of them. She gave them all menus and the kids some colouring pencils before leaving them to decide upon their orders.
"Mommy I don't know what to have" Poppy groaned after staring at her kids menu for nearly twenty minutes.
"Well I'm having-" Zoe started, but after receiving a suspicious glare from her Mother from across the table, decided to change her mind "Actually, I don't know. Help me Mommy?" Spencer laughed and pointed some things out on the menu to Zoe, since she was sat next to her and would probably find it easier to help than Aria would.
"Take your time Amanda" Emily said softly to Amanda, who was pretty much sat on her lap. The girls found it incredibly cute how attached she was to Emily. Soon, a waitress came over to take the orders, but Spencer turned her away.
"Sorry, we aren't quite ready yet" Spencer smiled, acting about as suspicious as Emily and Aria.
"No problem" The waitress replied "Just give me a shout when you're ready"
"Have you decided what you're going to have yet?" Hanna asked Poppy, who mercifully nodded.
"Chicken nuggets and fries" Poppy confirmed, over-exaggeratingly pointing to it on the menu "What about you Zoe?"
"I'm either going to have the veggie burger or beef burger" Zoe bit her bottom lip as she thought about it, just like Aria did. "I think Mommy wants me to have the veggie burger though"
"And you'd be exactly right about that" Aria said, leaning over to scruff up Zoe's fringe a little bit "And then we can go home and tell Daddy all about how tasty it is"
"Definitely veggie burger!" Zoe nodded, and turned to across at Emily and Amanda "What are you going to get Amanda?"
"Salad" She shrugged quietly, resuming her colouring as soon as she could.
"Looks like we're ready to order then" Spencer said and called the waitress back over, preparing for what was sure to be five minutes of chaos ordering food.
The kids were all silent as they ate there food, a good sign of it tasting good. Finally, the girls could have a proper old fashioned catch up without the kids really paying attention.
"So, how's Caleb? Is he still in New York?" Emily asked with a mouthful of lettuce. She still swum, not often competitively, but the healthy diet stuck with her.
"Yeah, he's stuck there for a few more days" Hanna sighed "And it's our anniversary today"
"We completely forgot!" Aria and Spencer gawked at the exact same time, as if it was staged "What are your plans for tonight?" Spencer continued.
"I was planning on palming Poppy off on one of you guys then going home to eat chucky monkey from the tub and cry to the notebook" Hanna retorted with only an air of sarcasm. This morning she hadn't quite planned of palming Poppy off to anyone, but she figured she may as well. God she sounded like a terrible mother right now, but she didn't want her daughter to see her cry.
"Instead of you spending the evening on your own" Aria proposed "Why don't we all go back to yours after we've eaten and made a stop by the park?"
"I like that idea" Spencer laughed.
"Me too" Emily agreed. Now they just needed Hanna to be of the same mind as well.
"Sure, why not" Hanna eventually said "As long as we can still watch the notebook"
"Great!" Spencer smiled probably a little too enthusiastically "I'll just quickly call Toby, excuse me" She got up and made her way over to the restroom, and didn't re-emerge for another ten minutes.
"Mom" Poppy sung once she'd finished her meal "Can we go to the top shop?"
"I don't know sweetheart, why don't you ask Auntie Spencer if we have time" Spencer Cavanaugh, the queen of time.
"Auntie Spencer" Poppy sung in the same tone, but didn't need to finish her sentence before Spencer could reply.
"Yes we can go to the toyshop, don't rush your meal though or you'll get stomach cramps" Trust Spencer to make sure they wouldn't puke up their lunches.
XXXXX
Somehow or another, Poppy, Zoe and Amanda spent three hours in the toyshop. By the time the drive back to Hanna's rolled around, all the girls were pretty much knocked out, but for some reason Spencer, Emily, Amanda, Aria and Zoe all had creepy, mischievous grins on their faces. It was about six in the evening when the group pulled in their own cars to Hanna's house, and the sun was just beginning to set. Just as Hanna was about to push open the front door, a waft of lasagne drifted up her nose. Not wanting to question what was going on a second longer. On opening it, Hanna saw the person she was least expecting. Caleb.
"Dad!" Poppy screamed, leaping into Caleb's awaiting arms "Mommy said you wouldn't be back for two more days!"
"Well, Daddy got to come home a little early to surprise Mommy" Caleb said cheekily, and used his free hand to signal to the very posh tuxedo he was wearing. It even had a red bow tie. "So, how about you have a sleepover with Zoe tonight then tomorrow we can watch some movies?" Poppy thought about it momentarily, then squirmed out of Caleb's arms and ran to Aria. Hanna was still left speechless.
"Did you guys know about this?" Hanna turned to her friends, who all had huge grins taped across their faces.
"Guilty" Her three best friends said in unison.
"There's more" Caleb whispered in Hanna's earlobe. She hadn't even noticed he'd snuck up behind her.
"Yeah, we'll go and leave you two to catch up" Spencer laughed, exaggerating 'catch up'. She shoved everyone out the door, leaving Caleb and Hanna alone. Without thinking, Hanna captured Caleb's lips in her own, pouring every last bit of passion she could scrape form her body into it.
"I've missed you" She mumbled against his lips, not wanting to separate from him just yet.
"I've missed you, too" Caleb replied as he tucked a stray piece of blonde hair behind Hanna's ear, caressing it slightly as he did so "Now, let me show you what else I've set up" Hanna nodded while she giggled like a schoolgirl, interlinking their fingers together as he walked her through to the kitchen.
It was unrecognizable. There were roses in vases peppered across the counters and there was an old record player gently playing a Justin Bieber song. The dinner table was set with a deep red velvet cloth, vanilla candles burning in the centre of it, and heart shaped balloons tied to the chairs. Once again, Caleb had left Hanna speechless.
"Sit down" He instructed, tenderly pulling her over to the table "The lasagne is almost done" Whoa, he'd cooked as well.
"Caleb Rivers cooking a meal? I never thought I'd see the day" She teased, watching him lift a dish out of the oven.
"Well, I may or may not have borrowed the recipe from Spencer" Caleb admitted shamefully "And just because I cooked doesn't mean it tastes good"
"I trust you; I married you ten years ago didn't I?"
XXXXX
The dinner Caleb had prepared was absolutely devein, regardless it being Spencer's recipe. Currently they were curled up on the sofa watching The Notebook, although neither of the two was really paying attention to it.
"Ten years ago today, we were in Spencer's room, and you were on your knee with a ring in your hand" Hanna said out loud, even though it was intended to be just a thought "Who would have thought that ten years later we'd be here"
"I did" He replied instantaneously "Since the day I met you, I knew I wanted you to be the mother of my children. Didn't I mention that in a letter ten years ago?"
"I think you did" Hanna laughed, poking a little fun at her husband "As much as I love this, I feel like Poppy should be here for some reason" Caleb took a long breath out.
"I thought that was only me! I'll call Aria and see if we can go pick her up" Caleb quickly dialled the familiar number on his phone, and following a short conversation with her, ten minutes later Aria announced herself into the River's household with Poppy in her arms.
"She's a little sleepy I think, but she didn't seem to object when I told her I was bringing her home" Aria whispered, laying Poppy down on the sofa in between Hanna and Caleb.
"Thanks Ar" Hanna smiled, kissing Poppy's forehead softly.
"No problem" Aria promised "I've got to get back, I'll see you guys soon" She saw herself out, not wanting to ruin the family moment she had just helped to create. Caleb was staring intently at Poppy's sleeping innocence.
"She's so beautiful" Caleb mumbled "Just like her mother"
"I love you so much" Hanna said quietly, framing Caleb's face with her hands over Poppy, and then leaned to softly kiss his lips.
"I love you Hanna Rivers" Caleb whispered back "I'm going to go put Posy to bed, how about you come join me in the bedroom afterwards?"
"It's a deal, just don't get me pregnant on this anniversary"
"I can't make any promises"