NYLON ~ CHAPTER FORTY-TWO ~ IT'S OVER

Hanna finished the final touches on the first chapter of her memoir and then pressed print. She had been working on this non stop over the last week and had never felt a more cathartic experience. Living with the pressure of A watching her every move had been a burden through high school but finally being able to close the door on that part of her life was an amazing feeling. She was ready for a new era in her life as a mother to JT and a wife to Caleb.

She grabbed the finished pages and sealed them together with brads before dropping them on her desk. Then she looked over at JT who was happily playing on the floor with his mobile.

"What are you doing?" she said sitting down next to him. "Are you playing?"

JT mumbled some incoherent baby jargon in response. Hanna smiled and tickled his little tummy. JT giggled and squirmed until he latched on to Hanna's finger.

"What do you have there?" she cooed. "Is that my finger?"

JT laughed and Hanna smiled at her little boy. She glanced at the clock and realized how late it was.

"JT, it's past your bedtime," she told him. "We need to get you in bed."

She picked him up and got him ready for bed before laying him down in his crib and tucking him in tight. When she was done, she grabbed the baby monitor and headed back to her desk to begin writing the next chapter in her book. She was deep into her writing when Caleb's shadow appeared in the doorway.

"You're up late," he told her.

"Oh wow," she said glancing at the clock which read it was almost midnight. "I didn't realize. I was just sucked into this chapter."

"Come on," he said sitting down on the desk and sandwiching her in between his legs. "Let's go to bed."

"I'll be there in a second," she said turning her attention back to her laptop.

"Sure," a defeated Caleb replied disappearing into the other room.

Hanna finished writing down her thoughts and then turned off her computer before heading into the bedroom. She slipped into her pajamas and then slid under the covers next to Caleb. He slid an arm around her waist and pressed his lips to the back of her neck as his hand traveled down her body.

"Caleb," she groaned, "what are you doing?"

"Fooling around," he breathed. His fingers slowly lifted her top up and his cold touch ran shivers down her body.

"Babe," she reminded him. "We agreed to wait until the honeymoon."

"We can do other things," he told her.

"Caleb, no," she grabbed his hands and swatted him away. "Nothing until the honeymoon."

"Well," he said sitting up in bed, "when is this honeymoon even going to happen?"

"I don't know," Hanna replied. "When do you want it to happen?"

"Do you even want to put a date on it?" Caleb asked. "Every time we talk about the wedding or whatever you change the subject."

"Things are just a little crazy right now," she explained. "JT takes up all my time and when I am free I'm working on my book or making a blog."

"That's my point," Caleb replied. "You don't have time for me anymore. It's like you don't even care if things work out with us or if we get married at all."

"So what are you saying?" Hanna spat back. "You don't think JT deserves my attention?"

"I love JT," Caleb reminded her, "and I love you, but maybe we would work better as his parents and not as a married couple."

"Are you breaking up with me because I won't sleep with you?" she was in shock.

"It's more than that, Hanna," he told her. "We've had no time together in months. It's all about JT all the time and when you aren't focused on him, you're taking meetings with strangers. You make all of the decisions in this house and I feel like a guest who's overstayed his welcome. I proposed because I want to be your husband and your partner but it feels like you don't even care about being married anymore and you don't care about including me in any of your plans."

"I don't think I can listen to this anymore," she said getting up. "I'm going to sleep in JT's room. We can talk in the morning."

Hanna practically threw the comforter at him and stormed into JT's bedroom where she slipped under the covers of the daybed and fell asleep.


JT's cries woke Hanna up and she groggily slid out of bed to pick him and lull his tears away. When he was calm she changed his diaper and fed him before walking out into the kitchen where Caleb was standing in just his boxers.

"What are you doing here?" she asked him. "Don't you have work?"

"I took the day off," Caleb explained, "so we could continue our discussion from last night."

"Let's not talk about it in front of JT," she told him.

"He can't even understand us," Caleb snapped.

"Yeah, but the bad energy isn't good for him," Hanna replied.

"This is exactly what I'm talking about," he replied and Hanna shot him an evil look as she disappeared into the nursery.

"Let's put you in here," Hanna told JT, "while Mommy and Daddy talk."

She set him down in the playpen with his toys and then ran back into the kitchen to talk to Caleb.

"So," she said sitting at the counter, "what do you want to talk about?"

"What's going on with us?" he asked finally. "I feel like I haven't talked to you in months and every time we do talk you avoid the topic of marriage. If you don't want to be my wife just say so."

"I don't know," Hanna sighed realizing how right he was. She hadn't put any effort into their relationship. It was all about JT all the time and now that JT was becoming a little less dependent on her, she was using that time to work on her book. She hadn't even considered Caleb's feelings.

"I think it might be a good idea for me to move out," he told her.

"How is that good for JT?" Hanna spat at him. "To have his dad living across town?"

"Well we won't be fighting ten feet from his crib if I'm not here," Caleb informed her. "I just can't keep living here with you if we're not together, and right now I definitely don't feel like we're together."

"Caleb, are you trying to tell me," she hesitated before she could say the words, "it's over?"

"Yeah, I think it is," he told her.

Please don't hate me! I know it looks bad now, but I promise you won't be disappointed with the ending of the story. Anyhow, I hope you enjoyed this week's update and stay tuned for more next Sunday!