Arabella didn't sleep much, at all. Her mind was racing and her hands were shaking. As soon as Hunter had fallen asleep, Arabella let the tears that she had been holding back fall. Curled up to his side, she cried silently, not wanting to wake him up. She was nervous and scared but also excited and totally in love. After that, she fell asleep for about an hour before waking up again and falling back to sleep a little while later. Finally, when Arabella woke up at about seven in the morning, she didn't bother going back to sleep. Hunter's hand was still on her stomach and seeing it made her heart skip a beat. Not wanting to wake him up, Arabella slid away from him and stood up, walking up the stairs. As she poured herself a cup of coffee, Arabella thought of how she was going to tell Hunter when the time finally came. Hey, Hunter..look, I know you just started having sex after being an eternal virgin for 20 years, but guess what? I'm pregnant! With your child! Congrats! Arabella rolled her eyes at herself and bent down to look for milk in the fridge, her hand resting on her stomach without even meaning too.
Hunter curled up due to the sudden change in temperature. A shiver ran down his spine as he thought the worst possible thing. She left. He quickly rolled over and felt a stabbing pain in his back. He screamed and sat up, looking behind him. He had rolled over on his keys. He grabbed them and hurried up the stairs to see Arabella standing at the fridge. He smiled and sneaked behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist. "It's cold downstairs without you." He said, putting his face next to hers. He looked down at the coffee in her hand. "Hey, don't drink that. That made you all moody yesterday." He said, placing a light kiss on her cheek.
Arabella jumped a little when he put his arms around her and she smiled softly. Everything he did, everything he said was putting images in her mind. She could see herself with a little baby bump and trying to get coffee but Hunter wouldn't let her because of the caffeine and she shouldn't be having caffeine when she's pregnant. Arabella closed the fridge door and looked down at the coffee in her hands. "Yeah, you're probably right" she said softly and she put the cup down on the counter. "How did you sleep?" she asked in the same soft voice.
"Pretty well." He said quietly. "I'm assuming the same can't be said for you considering you're going for the coffee already." He said, swaying gently. It was a cold morning and he wanted to just have his arms around her all day. "I told you that if you need anything, just say it. I'll make it happen." He said quietly.
Arabella looked up at him with big eyes and she nodded softly. She needed to tell him. Keeping it from him was driving her crazy. She turned around in his arms and she rested her forehead on Hunter's chest. Her heart was racing and her hands were shaking slightly from the nerves. Arabella knew that Tyler was going to show up pretty soon and she wanted to tell Hunter the truth before her little brother showed up. Maybe it was like a band-aid. She just had to tell him quickly and get it over with. "Hunter.." she started softly. "I'm pre-"
Suddenly, there was a loud knock on the door and Arabella pulled herself out of Hunter's arms to let who she assumed was Tyler inside. Sure enough, Tyler was at the door and he stepped inside, giving Arabella a questioning look, as if to ask her if she told Hunter yet and she shook her head. "Good morning, Bell" he then said and gave her a small hug. "Morning, Hunter"
"Hey, Tyler!" He said with a smile. He assumed that they could talk about whatever it was later. "How about I make some breakfast and we can get started after we eat? That sound good?" He said with a sigh.
"Sure. Dad doesn't really do breakfast." He said with a chuckle. Hunter nodded and started making bacon and eggs. "Do you guys want pancakes, too? Chocolate chip, maybe?" He said with a grin and a raised eyebrow.
"Not for me, thanks" Arabella said and she poured a big glass of water for herself. She drank the whole thing pretty quickly and let out a little sigh. "I'm going to go get dressed. Could you boil some water for me so I can have some herbal tea? I'm freezing" she said to Hunter and shivered a little. When Hunter nodded, looking a little concerned, Arabella kissed his cheek. "You're the best" she told him softly before climbing the stairs.
Tyler watched her walk away then he looked up at Hunter. "I'll eat whatever" he said with a nod. "Did you have a good night?" he asked.
"Yeah." He said as he stirred the pancake batter. "We kind of just fell asleep in the basement when she got home from dropping you off." He poured the batter into the pan and continued to cook. "How about you?"
"Well enough." Tyler said with a shrug. He looked at Hunter with a discerning look. There was a silence for a while until Hunter finished the bacon and the eggs.
"It'll be a few more minutes on the pancakes. The first one is always the worst, you know?" He said with a chuckle.
"Yeah.." Tyler said then shook his head. "Actually, no..we never made pancakes. Dad just got some from the fancy breakfast place around the corner" he said with a shrug and he forced himself to chuckle. He watched Hunter cook for a moment then let out a sigh and looked away.
Arabella looked into her closet and she eventually found a pair of sweat pants and her Camp Half Blood shirt. She didn't really have it in her to wear anything else. A small sigh escaped her lips and she wrapped a blanket around her shoulders before walking back downstairs. When she walked into the kitchen, a pot of water was almost boiled and Hunter and Tyler were sitting in an uncomfortable silence. She looked at them for a moment then poured the water into a mug with a peppermint tea bag and a spoonful of honey. "What are you two doing first?" she asked softly, trying to make conversation.
"Well, I'm going to eat." He said with a nod. "Your plate is on the table. Oh, and the pancakes are done." He plated the pancakes and handed some to Tyler who sat down and began eating. The three of them sat down and ate in relative silence. This wasn't the comfortable silence that he was used to with Arabella. There was something that he was missing. Maybe it was just the cold. "We'll probably set up the computer first, right? I won't have internet until next week, but that's not a huge deal." He said, biting into a piece of bacon. He glanced at Arabella and stood up. He grabbed his sweatshirt and put it around her shoulders. "Here. Don't bother with the blanket." He said before kissing her on the cheek.
Arabella looked up at Hunter and she gave him a small smile then looked down at her plate, picking at the eggs. Her stomach was a tangled mess of nerves and anxiety and eating didn't really seem to be on the agenda. She took a sip of her tea and looked at Tyler who gave her a meaningful look. Arabella sighed softly, giving him one back. He wanted her to tell Hunter, to talk to him. But she was too nervous to tell him. After Tyler had walked in on her telling Hunter, it kind of ruined it. She looked down at her plate and pulled his sweater tighter around her.
Hunter continued eating, glancing up at Tyler and Arabella on occasion. He was becoming frustrated. He didn't like being left out of the loop, and if it had to do with Arabella's well-being then he wanted to know. "So, how's your dad?" Hunter asked, trying to see if that was the reason.
Arabella flinched a little bit when Hunter said the word 'dad'. She had kind of zoned out and she thought that he was asking something about himself. Tyler looked at Arabella for a quick second then turned to Hunter. "Oh, he's doing good. Nothing really special going on" Tyler said with a shrug and he ate some more of his breakfast. Arabella glanced at Tyler then nodded in agreement and looked down at her plate.
Hunter sighed and let out a little grumble as he continued to eat. "Good. Good." He said quietly. He finished eating quickly and put his plate in the sink. "Well, I'm going to get started. Come down once you're done eating." He said, looking at Tyler. He looked at Arabella with hurt eyes, but she couldn't see because she was hiding her face. He sighed again and started toward the basement, his mind racing. Was she having second thoughts about being together? Hunter wasn't sure if he could handle her breaking up with him again. He felt a lump form in his throat and his heart ached. What was wrong?
"Bell, you have to tell him" Tyler said once Hunter had left the room. Arabella nodded and she took a sip of her tea but she pushed her plate of food away. She wasn't too hungry at that moment.
"I will, Ty. I'm just..working up to it" Arabella said softly and Tyler sighed, finishing up his breakfast.
"He knows that there's something wrong. He's not stupid and he's not blind. If you don't tell him soon, it'll just make it harder to tell him later on" Tyler said and Arabella nodded again.
"Let's just..get the basement set up, okay? I'll tell him later tonight" Arabella said and she took Tyler's plate over to the sink. Tyler looked at her for a moment before turning and walking down the stairs. Arabella grabbed her mug of tea and followed him down the stairs. As nervous as she was at that moment, she really didn't want to be alone.
Hunter was opening boxes when Arabella and Tyler came down. He didn't bother looking up. He didn't want to see Arabella's sadness and he was a little upset with Tyler for not telling him. He opened the computer and put it by the desk. He carried the monitor over and everything else, setting it messily on the desk. "There. You can start hooking that up, Tyler." He said quietly. He walked over to the boxes and started to open the TV. The silence made him hurt. He closed his eyes and sighed, stopping what he was doing. This was the loudest silence he had ever encountered.
Arabella watched as Tyler went to work on the computer, clearly in his element. With a sigh, she looked over at Hunter and the way that he was holding himself. She was hurting him, she could see it in his back and his arms and the way that he held his head. With a small sigh, Arabella walked over to him and she put her chin on his shoulder. "Hey" she said in a soft voice, almost a whisper.
Hunter glanced over and stood up straight, stopping her from putting her head on his shoulder. "Hi." He said quietly as he started to work on the TV again. She started to walk away again, but Hunter closed his eyes, sighed, and stopped her. "Ellie. Tyler." He said, opening his eyes. "I don't know if you guys think that I'm blind or just plain stupid, but I can tell something is going on." He said quietly, but firmly. He looked at Tyler who opened his mouth to speak, but Hunter put his hand up toward him in a sign of 'let me finish'. "I don't know your reasoning for not telling me. I don't know if this is something that I even need to know, but someone is going to tell me. Now." He said, finally putting his hand down and looking from Arabella to Tyler and back. They looked at each other. He knew that they weren't going to be telling him the truth. He shook his head. "Never mind. Good work today, Tyler." He said quietly before walking upstairs. He walked all the way to the bedroom and slammed the door behind him. He flopped down on his stomach with his face in the pillow, clenching his jaw in an effort to not cry.
Arabella watched Hunter walk away and she huffed, sitting down on the floor. She felt horrible about everything. It was a big mess and she didn't know what to do about it. Tyler looked around a little uncomfortably and cleared his throat. "Should I go home?" he asked and Arabella shook her head, wiping a tear from her cheek.
"Finish setting up and I'll drive you home" Arabella said softly and she laid back on the floor, looking up at the ceiling. Not getting any sleep was really starting to bug her. She was tired and sore and felt very out of it. Maybe once she dropped Tyler off, she would pick up some food for supper and her and Hunter could talk it over. She could explain herself to him and hopfully he wouldn't be too mad.
"Alright, done" Tyler said and Arabella sat up, a little shocked. The time had gone by so fast, she didn't even realize that she had dozed off lightly. She nodded and stood up, grabbing her purse and her keys. They walked up the stairs and out of the house. Soon enough, they were parking infront of the apartment.
"Thanks for helping us set up, Ty" Arabella said softly and he looked at her.
"You're going to tell him, right?" Tyler asked and Arabella nodded lightly. Tyler smiled at her and hugged her before getting out of the car. Arabella quickly made a call to the Chinese take out place then drove towards it. She parked and got out of the car, walking towards the building. At this point, she felt like she was just going though the motions. Her nerves were taking over. When she walked into the restaurant, Arabella ordered an extra egg roll to eat on the way home. She was hungry from not eating anything for breakfast.
As she drove, she chewed on her egg roll. It tasted a little funny but she figured that it was just from the fact that she had jsut brushed her teeth and she still had a bit of mint taste in her mouth. Arabella was nervous about telling Hunter but she knew that once she got it out, they could talk about it and move forward. She hoped that Hunter was as happy as her about it. she was starting to really look forward to being a mom. Arabella parked the car and walked inside. "Hunter? I brought home some food!" She called to him and started walking upstairs with the bags under her arms. Her stomach was starting to feel a little queasy and she assumed it was from nerves. She popped her head into the bedroom and bit her lip. "You okay?"
Hunter had shifted into a sitting position. He had his feet on the ground, his elbows on his legs, and his face in his hands. He looked up when she walked in. "Yeah." He said with a sigh. He held his hand out to her and she reluctantly walked toward him. He pulled her onto his lap and kissed her lightly on the lips. "Why?" He whispered. "I told you that you can tell me anything. Absolutely anything. Why can't you tell me this? Did I do something wrong?" He asked, putting his face into her shoulder. He rubbed her back and gently kissed her arm. "You can trust me."
"I know" Arabella said softly and she leaned into him. She felt so bad for the stress and the worry and the hurt that was clear in his voice. She just wanted everything to be so much easier and simple. Her arms wrapped around her stomach and she closed her eyes. "You didn't do anything wrong, you've been totally perfect and amazing. I just..maybe we could eat and then we'll talk, okay?" she said and opened her eyes to look at him. Suddenly, she felt a tug in her stomach and she flew off of Hunter's lap, faster than she ever thought she could move and ran towards the bathroom. Arabella just made it to the toilet in time for her to cough and start thowing up. This wasn't good. This wasn't good at all. Arabella started crying as she knelt over the toilet. Was there something wrong with the baby?
Hunter hurried over to the bathroom and looked at her with wide eyes. "Oh, gods. Ellie." He said as he knelt down next to her. He put his hand on her back and pulled her hair out of her face. She coughed and sobbed again before throwing up again. "What's wrong?" He asked quietly. She just cried and threw up again. He closed his eyes for a moment and when he looked up again, she was limp and slumped over, her face in the toilet. "No! No! No!" Hunter shouted as he pulled her back against the wall. "Ellie, Ellie, Ellie. Wake up!" He shouted, lightly patting her face. He pulled her phone out of her pocket and stared at it in confusion before giving up. He slung her over his shoulder and hurried out to his car. He put her in the passenger seat and buckled her in. "Ellie! Come on!" He shouted. She was unconscious still. He backed out of the driveway and raced to the hospital. He messily parked outside and carried her in where he was met by a nurse.
"Sir, tell me what happened." She said calmly. Hunter set her on a bed and turned to the nurse, tears falling down his face.
"She...She...We were talking and-and-and uh...gods...She ran to the bathroom and she threw up. Then she passed out." He said, breathing heavily. She excused herself and walked to the nurse's desk where she got some more people to bring her to a room. Hunter followed close behind, feeling more helpless than he had in a long time.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Arabella could hear machines beeping and people walking around. In the distance, she could hear a few women chattering. Something about a vacation. The air felt stiff and clean and she didn't know where she was. A small moan escaped her lips when suddenly, everything came rushing back to her. She remembered thowing up. She remembered Hunter's voice and she remembered feeling afraid for the baby. The little life inside of her. Her eyes flew open and she looked around, wondering where she was and how she had gotten there. Her eyes focused on Hunter's worried face and her eyebrows knitted together "What's going on?" she whispered in a raspy voice.
"Ellie. Thank you, gods." He said, pressing her hand to his lips. "You threw up and you passed out." He said quietly. "They think it's food poisoning." He said with a nod. He rubbed his cheeks that had become red with tears. "No more take out for you, huh?" He said with a weak laugh. He stood up and peeked his head out of the hallway. He caught a nurse and told him to tell someone that Arabella Foster was awake. He sat back down and took her hand in his again, walking his fingers up her arm, unable to express how grateful he was that she was okay.
Arabella looked up as the nurse walked into the room and looked at a clipboard for a moment before giving Arabella a warm smile. "Looks like everything is fine. Just a bad case of food poisoning in a very squeamish person" she teased. "Once you feel up to it, you'll be able to go home" she said with a nod and turned to leave. That was it? What about the baby? Wouldn't they say anything about that? She turned her head away from Hunter to look at the nurse. She didn't know how Hunter would react but she had to ask.
"Wait. What about the..the.." Arabella said softly and looked at Hunter with nervous eyes before looking back at the nurse. "What about the baby?" she finished, her voice filled with fear.
"What baby?" Both Hunter and the nurse said with furrowed brows. Hunter looked at her and saw the pain in her eyes. "Oh gods...You...We?" He muttered in confusion. He turned to the nurse who looked at the clipboard.
"You're not pregnant." She said, shaking her head. "It doesn't even look like you've ever been pregnant." She said with a shrug. "Don't always trust home tests. To get an accurate reading, it's better to come to a doctor who try several tests over extended periods of time." She said with a nod. Hunter sat there, mouth open and eyes wide. He finally looked at Arabella, but couldn't find the right words to say. "As I said, you're good to go as soon as you feel up to it. Have a good day." She said before leaving the room. Have a good day. Hunter thought to himself. How can she drop something that large on two people and then leave like it was nothing?
"Uhh...I don't...Ellie, I'm..." He said confusedly, hoping that she would speak first.
Arabella couldn't look at Hunter. She could hardly breathe, let alone turn her head to look at him. She rested her arm on her face, covering her eyes and she started to cry. Everything that he had been dreaming about, everything that she had been thinking about..it was all gone. The baby names that she had been thinking of, the design for the baby's room, the books and the toys and the clothes she was going to buy...all gone. Arabella took a breath and hiccuped, sobs shaking her whole body. "I want to go home" she managed to whisper.
Hunter closed his mouth and blinked, shaking himself back to reality. He nodded and scooped her into his arms. He didn't care that he was carrying her in public. He didn't even know how to react still. Did he want to have a kid? Of course, he did, but did he want a kid right now? He wasn't ready. When he was ready, would he want children with Arabella? Absolutely, he would. He carried her out to his car and put her in the passenger seat. He got in the car and started toward the house. It felt like a long time, the drive. The only noise was Arabella's sobs shaking her entire body. Hunter felt a tear fall down his cheek, not even knowing why. "Ellie, I'm so sorry." He said, putting an arm around her.
Arabella let herself fall into Hunter and she buried her face in his side. She hiccuped lightly and tried to take a deep breath but it was nearly impossible. All Arabella wanted to do was go home, change into her pajamas and curl up on the couch with Hunter, her teddy bear and some tea. She felt empty and lost. The mothering instinct had hit her so fast and so hard, it was insane. She never thought that she would have kids but now, she wanted it with her whole heart. She felt like she had lost her baby. Even though there was no baby in the first place. "I-we-I just-" Arabella wanted to say something but she didn't know what. Her voice cut off when another sob rocked through her body and she tried desperately to take a deep breath.
"Shh..." He said quietly as he drove. He was still unsure of how he felt. She is upset that she didn't have a baby. His baby. Hunter was going to be a dad. Did he want that? He finally drove into the driveway and put it in park. He didn't want to feel like he was hurrying her out of the car. He looked at her and kissed her head. He loved her. He wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. There was no doubt about it. He wanted to marry her. He wanted to start a family with her. He wanted to grow old with her.
Arabella curled up and she rested her head on her knees, working on taking slow, deep breaths. She needed to calm down. She didn't want to be a sobbing mess anymore. Arabella wiped her eyes with the backs of her hands and took a shaky breath. "I'm sorry, Hunter" Arabella whispered into her legs, not looking up at Hunter. She didn't really know what she was saying sorry for. For scaring him? For not telling him the truth sooner? For crying like this? She didn't know, but it felt like the right thing for her to say.
"Don't be sorry." He said, brushing the hair out of her eyes. "You didn't do anything wrong." He said, putting his head on hers and closing his eyes. At this point he wasn't sure if he preferred her to be pregnant or not. "Come on. Let's get you inside." He said as he shut off the car and got out. As he walked over to the other side it began to rain. He pulled open her door and scooped her up, closing the door with his foot. He brought her inside and up the stairs. "I'll be back up in a minute." He hurried down and heated up some water. He made tea and hurried back up to see Arabella in her pajamas. "I made you some tea." He said quietly as he handed her the mug. "Do you need anything else?" He asked, feeling a little too restless to sit just yet.
Arabella took a small sip of her tea before placing it on the table beside the bed. She was exhausted and worn out and rather upset over what had happened. Arabella picked her teddy bear off of the floor and hugged him to her chest as she leaned back on the pillows. "No..thanks for the tea" she whispered and looked up at him with wide eyes. She didn't know if he was going to stay with her or not. She hoped that he would because she didn't want to be alone. But she didn't have the energy to get out of bed and go anywhere with him.
Hunter looked down at her and bounced on his toes a minute. He finally slipped his shoes off and got into bed next to her. He didn't know what to say. He always knew what to say. The perfect thing to cheer someone up. He could always see things in a positive light, but now...He was clueless. "I..uh..I don't know what to say, Ellie. I'm sorry." He said quietly. "I wish I knew what to say, but..." He took a deep breath and let his voice trail off. "What were you going to do?" He said quietly. She looked at him with discouraged eyes. "I mean to say...What.." He rubbed his forehead briefly. "Boy or girl?" He asked.
Arabella looked down, blinking back more tears that threatened to spill over. Her arms wrapped around her teddy bear tighter and she took a little breath. "Girl" She whispered "I thought it would be a girl" she added, her voice breaking off. After a few moments of silence, during which, Arabella thought over his questions she gave a little sob and she looked back up at Hunter. "I wanted her so bad" she confessed, not sure how he would react to that. "I thought that I would tell you and you would hug me and we would start planning a wonderful life with the baby...our baby..." she whispered before her voice was cut off by another sob.
"Shh..." He said, putting an arm around her and rubbing her arm lightly. He was a little shocked. He didn't think that Arabella would be the kind of person to want a baby that badly. He wanted kids too, but he wanted them when they were settled down. They have a wedding to go to and they plan on driving. They've only been together a few weeks. He doesn't even have a job. He didn't want to talk about that right now though. He wanted to talk about their future daughter. "What's her name? What's our daughter's name?" He asked, kissing her temple.
"Audrey. Audrey Grace Reed" Arabella breathed and she sniffled lightly. She didn't really know how Hunter would have reacted if she was pregnant but it was comforting to have him by her side and asking her questions about the girl that Arabella missed. She had never even existed but Arabella missed her. Arabella nuzzled in, closer to Hunter and she took a breath. During the time that Arabella thought she was pregnant, Arabella had dreams about the baby. She imagined everything about her. "She was going to look like you. Beautiful brown hair and dark eyes" Arabella whispered, closing her eyes for a moment.
Hunter's heart skipped a beat when she heard his last name. He barely recognized it. "That's a beautiful name." He said with a nod. "Audrey will have your smile, though. Your beautiful smile." He said with sigh. He missed her smile. It had felt like months since he had seen her smile. Seeing her sad like this made him feel awful. He kissed her temple again and sighed. He wanted this, but he never expected having to face it so soon.
Arabella bit back another wave of tears and she hid her face in Hunter's side. She was shocked at herself, at the reaction she was having to this. She never thought that she was going to want kids. She remembered when her and her friends would start talking about having kids, Arabella always said that she was never going to have kids. She was going to be too busy going around the world with her clothing line. She didn't even think that she would fall in love the way that she has. But here she was, feeling so upset about finding out that she isn't pregnant. Like they had been trying to have a baby. "I'm sorry, Hunter. I should have told you sooner..I was just...I was afraid that you would be upset"
"Ellie," He said with a sigh. "I want whatever makes you happy." He said with a nod. "I don't think a kid is the best idea, right now, though. I don't have a job. We're not married. We've only been together a few weeks." He said, clearing his throat. "Ellie, even if you were pregnant, I would be here supporting you one hundred percent. When we...finally have kids, I will love on them more than I thought was possible, but right now, I'm not ready." Hunter pulled her face to look at him. He wiped her tears with her thumb and kissed her eyes, catching the tears that had built up on her lashes. "We are going to get married. We're going to raise a family. We're going to cry when they go to college. We'll grow old together. We'll play with grandkids. We'll do it all and never will I stop being in love with you." He said before placing a kiss on her forehead. "So, maybe we can wait on meeting Audrey for a while? It'll give you plenty of time to finalize the name." He said with a nod.
Arabella lifted her head up to look at him. He said that they were going to get married and grow old together and raise a family. He wanted all of the same things that Arabella wanted. She placed her chin on his chest a a small smile spread across her lips. Having Hunter in her life was huge and she didn't even want to think about where she would be if it wasn't for him. Well, the truth was that if it wasn't for him, she probably would have died years ago at camp. She stretched up and placed a small kiss against his lips then let her lips brush down his jaw and neck as she rested her head on his shoulder. "I love you" she whispered, not really sure what else there was to say. Arabella agreed with him. They weren't ready to have a baby. That was just crazy. She was still a little sad over all of it but her emotions were on such a high from the last couple of days, she didn't even know what she was feeling, really.
Hunter smiled, glad that she was coming out of this funk. Even if it was a gradual reemergence. "I love you too." He said quietly. The two of them sat there in relative silence. They were back to being in their comfortable silence. No long was it made awkward by hidden secrets and fearful confessions. "So, are we going to have any other kids?" He whispered with his eyes closed. He gently ran his fingers through her hair and kissed her forehead. "Auddie is going to want a younger sibling, right?" He whispered, leaning his head back against the wall.
"You and your nicknames.." Arabella said with a small giggle. She took a deep breath and she let it out in a yawn. The whole day had been exhausting. "Well, she's going to need a brother." she said, like it was obvious "But I'm thinking that two might be perfect. One day" she whispered and looked up at him. He was the most perfect man that she could ever ask for and she was looking forward to spending her life with him and growing old with him. "You are so good to me, Hunter. Thanks for...for being here" she whispered.
"I live here, remember?" He said with a smile. "You deserve it." He looked down at her and kissed her lightly on the lips. "I was actually thinking 3 kids. One boy, one girl, and then let the fates decide the third." He said, pulling her closer. A smile broke across his face as he finally let his fatigue grab hold of his mind. "A nice happy family." He said quietly. With a sigh of happiness, he closed his eyes and breathed in everything that had just happened. She wanted to marry him. And have his children. "Good night, Ellie. I love you." He said quietly as he drifted to sleep, looking forward to the first day in a very bright future ahead of them.