NYLON ~ 74 ~ I'M LATE
Caleb steered the car into the winding driveway of the Cavanaugh's Hamptons home. It was starting to get dark now and JT had fallen asleep on the drive. He rested his head against the car seat and Hanna smiled at his cute little sleeping face. Caleb finally parked the car and got the suitcases out of the back while Hanna carefully lifted JT out of his seat, making sure not to wake him. They walked up the porch steps and let themselves in. Toby was watching TV in the den and showed them to their room. After placing JT down in a makeshift bed on the floor, Hanna and Caleb crawled under the sheets and went to bed.
In the morning the house was buzzing. Toby and Caleb manned the grill making pancakes and bacon. Spencer was feeding Victoria and JT played with Ali and Ben in the den. Daisy played baby-sitter making sure none of the children fought over their toys and Jeremy was glued to his video game.
After the moms managed to get everyone fed, they all changed into swim suits and went out onto the deck to play in the pool. The dads drank beer while they pushed the kids around the pool in floaties and the moms laid out on the lounge chairs to get a nice tan.
Just as the sun was shining directly above them, Hanna started to feel nauseous. For the third time this week she got up to use the restroom and felt her breakfast come right back up. After wiping her face clean she went back outside and announced she was headed to the store. Once she'd secured Caleb's keys, she rushed to the pharmacy. She grabbed every kind of test she could find and headed back to the house.
"Hey!" Caleb smiled when he saw her walk into their bedroom. "How was the store?"
"Uh, fine," she replied. "Did you guys get tired of the sun?"
"Yeah," Caleb replied. "I put JT down for a nap and I was about to take a shower, unless you'd like to join me."
"I think I'll pass," she said clutching her grocery bag. "I have to take care of something really quick."
"Is everything okay?" he asked her. Then he noticed her bag. "What's in there?"
"Um," she handed him the bag. "I'm late."
"Oh," he smiled looking inside. "Have you taken one yet?"
"No," she said, "but I'm not feeling great and I couldn't bear not knowing any longer."
"Do you want me to go in with you?" he asked.
"It's okay," she said pulling out a liter of water. "I might be a while."
Hanna stepped into the bathroom and closed the door behind her. She looked in the mirror and lifted her shirt slightly. It didn't look any different. Of course it didn't. Last time she'd been pregnant it had taken three months before there was a noticeable change. She opened the box and followed the directions before taking the test. Then she laid it out on the table and set her stopwatch for five minutes.
"What is it?" Caleb asked when she stepped back out.
"I don't know yet," she replied. "It takes five minutes."
"Honey," he got up and pulled her into a hug. A single inexplicable tear rolled down Hanna's cheek. Caleb sat down on the closed toilet seat and pulled her into his lap. She rested her head on his shoulder. Finally, he broke the silence. "Thank you."
"For what?" she asked.
"For letting me be a part of this," he told her. "I wish I could have been there for you the last time."
"I love you," Hanna kissed his cheek. "You're a perfect husband."
"How much longer?" Caleb asked.
"Two minutes," Hanna said looking at her watch. "This is the longest two minutes of my life."
She kissed Caleb and he pressed her closer to him as he kissed back. Her hands wandered through his hair as she opened her mouth to deepen the kiss. Finally they were interrupted by the chime of the alarm Hanna had set.
"Shit!" she said pulling away. She turned off the alarm and then picked up the test. "I'm scared to look."
"We can do it together," he said. Caleb grabbed hold of the other side and they turned it over at the same time. One solitary line was seen in the window. Caleb squinted. "What does it mean?"
"Negative," Hanna told him. "I'm not pregnant."
"We can try again," Caleb said kissing her neck.
"No," she pushed him away. "I'm not really in the mood right now."
"Hanna," he pulled her close. "What's wrong?"
"Maybe this was too much pressure," she sighed. "Would you be mad if we cool it for a while on the baby talk."
"Okay," he kissed her forehead. "We'll just let it happen when it happens."
She shot him a look.
"If, if it happens," he corrected himself.
Hanna kissed his cheek. Maybe they didn't need a big family after all. The three of them were doing okay for now and having another baby was quickly driving a wedge between them. This was good. This was safe.
UP NEXT ~ TOO SOON
Emily approaches Hanna with a new business venture but their conversation is derailed when they opt to catch up over lunch instead.
