To Have, To Hold, and To Leave: A Bryce Hall FanFiction «completed»

15

We met at the cafe, and a fan recognized me immediately. "Kate Hall! Oh my gosh! I can't believe that this is happening."
I took a selfie with her as Bryce pulled up. "Oh my goodness! What are the chances that you and your ex-husband are here at the same time?"
Well, shit. She took a few selfies with Bryce as I headed into the restaurant. I sat down at a table, and I laughed at Bryce as he finally came in. 

"What are you laughing about?" he asked, sitting down and letting out an exasperated sigh.
I laughed again, picking up a menu. "'What are the chances that you and your ex-husband are here at the same time?' she said. That is what I'm laughing about," I explained. 
He also flipped through a menu, ignoring what I had said. "Mmm, what are you stuck between?"
"The chicken caesar wrap or the veggie alfredo," I replied, not looking up from my menu. 
"Me, too. You get one, and I'll get the other, and we'll split them," he suggested. 
Like it had in the parking lot, my heart skipped a beat. We had done this throughout our entire relationship, and it brought back the warm feelings that being married to him always had. 

We spoke, mostly about the kids, as we waited for our meals. It felt good. It almost felt like I was falling in love with him all over again. I couldn't read his expressions, but the only bit of my mind that was still even remotely sane continued to remind me that this was just a friendly lunch. This wasn't anything more than that. 
"What are you thinking about over there?" he asked, twirling some noodles around his fork. 
I shook myself out of my trance, getting ready to respond. "Um, nothing. Just about what we should name this baby. What are you thinking?" I asked. 
"Oh, God, I don't know. We already named one kid after my mom. Isaiah is named after Jaden. Owen isn't after anyone, but he's still got my middle name. We could go with not after anyone, or we could pick someone?"
"Well, we can't let Owen be the only one of our kids that isn't exactly named after someone," I joked. "I think that we should stick with the vowels thing, though. Which ones do we even have left?"
"E and U," Bryce replied quickly. 
I laughed. "U is completely out. Not a chance. What names even start with U?" 
"Hell if I know," he laughed back. "E it is then. I don't want anything basic, though. Not like an Emma or an Elizabeth."
I pondered his conditions before speaking. "So, what about Everleigh? I like it," I finally said. "Everleigh is cute. Let's do it," he murmured thoughtfully. "Everleigh Marie Hall?"
"Everleigh Marie Hall," I agreed. 

Bryce's phone rang, and he looked at me apologetically. "This is Addison. It might be about the kids. I have to take this."
He answered the phone, and I could hear her yelling through the receiver. "Where are you?"
"Babe, please calm down," Bryce replied to no avail. It didn't stop her screaming. 
"I saw all of those pictures of you with Kate! I thought that you were just going to her ultrasound. What happened to that?"
"I asked her to discuss baby names over lunch. I was hungry, and you and the kids had already eaten. I don't understand why this is such a big deal to you."
She sighed loudly in frustration. "Because that's still technically your wife! Why don't you understand why that's so upsetting to me? Are you with her right now?" 
"What?" he asked, prompting her to repeat herself. 
"Are you with Kate right now?" His lack of an answer was enough for her, and she sighed again. "Unbelievable. We will discuss this when you get back home. I expect it to be very soon. Like within the next twenty-five minutes."

He looked at me apologetically again. "I'm really sorry that you had to hear that. Lunch is on me. Keep me updated if anything changes with the baby."
"Yeah, of course," I replied, watching him throw down a stack of bills on the table and leaving the restaurant quickly. I knew that it was definitely too good to be true, and I hadn't let myself get my hopes up too far. Maybe it was the damn pregnancy hormones. 
I left the restaurant heading home. As I pulled into the driveway, I noticed that Nessa was outside with JJ and Jasmine, so I headed over to their house. 

"What's happening over here?" I asked, sitting down on the porch steps next to Nessa. 
"We are running off all of the energy that they have unfortunately pent up today. Mama cannot handle any more yelling in this house today," Nessa explained. 
"Solid plan. That's probably what my three are doing over at Bryce's right about now. Unfortunately, I don't think that it's because they're yelling," I laughed.
"Oh, yeah? Who would be yelling then?" I looked back over at her, and it was like everything clicked. "Oh my, God. What did you do?"
"Bryce invited me to go to lunch with him," I explained. "I went, and a fan saw us, and we took some selfies. Addison saw, and she called him, and she was pretty upset."
"Jesus," she sighed. "How are you guys doing together, though?"
"We're fine," I murmured, watching Jasmine run around the yard. "We've picked out a name. It didn't take that long, actually. I was surprised. Much quicker than any of our other kids," I chuckled. 

Josh pulled into the driveway, and I watched him as he chased Jasmine around, playing with her. 
"God, I miss that," I sighed. 
"Miss what? My husband?" she asked, confused. 
I shook my head. "Not your husband specifically, just like, having a husband in general. You know, watching him chase our kids around the front yard. If I had realized that eventually, I would be watching my kids run around with no husband in sight, I wouldn't have taken it for granted."
"Don't beat yourself up about it," Josh sighed, stepping in between Nessa and me. 
"Shit, you heard that?" I asked. 
He nodded. "Yes, I did, and yes, I promise not to say anything to Bryce."
God, I really, really had to stop getting myself into these situations.