The First Steps (A Hunter Hayes Fanfiction, Book 1 of the Hardships Saga)

Chapter Forty-Eight

❝fix (pronounced fɪks or fiks), adverb
to repair something or someone❞

Hunter walked into the kitchen and noticed a box of pills on the table. "Honey, I'm home!" he yelled.

"Sorry, Hunt, I'm in the garden!" she called back. "Gimme a moment!"

He picked up the bottle of pills and read it carefully. "Fertility... fertility pills?" he whispered to himself, feeling a ripple of disbelief. "But why?"

"Hunt, sorry. I was just gardening, I got my daffodils tod-"

He didn't say a word, but held up the pills in question. Her eyes widened. "Oh. I was meant to put those away before you got here."

"Are we trying again for a baby, darling?" he asked.

She took a deep breath. "I... yeah. I want kids, Hunt. And... and since I'm almost fixed, I want to try again."

"Tonight?"

"Yeah. I, um... dug out the ovulation charts. It's ovulation day."

He lifted her up and spun her around, much to her laughter, and he kissed her. "That's great, hon," he said. "Give me a minute to get changed, and we'll go somewhere. Where are my fertility pills? Won't there be a better chance if I take mine too?"

"Yeah, they're in the cupboard. And... go somewhere?"

"Let's go somewhere... somewhere crazy. I want to see you smiling again. A date!" He grabbed his pills out of the cupboard and quickly swallowed them down with a glass of water, while Lilly looked at him disapprovingly.

"Hunter, no."

"Hunter, yes!" he said loudly, running off somewhere.

"Hunter!"

"Yes, my darling?"

"We're not going on a date tonight!"

"Says you!"

She rolled her eyes. "Have you fed Cole today?"

"No, have you?"

"No," she said, quickly getting out his food. "Cole, come eat!"

He ran into the room and skidded a little, crashing into the wall, and Lilly laughed. "Here, boy!"

Hunter came back in and started playing with Cole. "C'mon, Cole, let's go outside! C'mon boy!"

Lilly sighed. "Hey, Hunt?"

He looked up, smiling. "Yes?" When he saw the serious look on her face, he frowned. "What- what is it? Is something wrong?"

"No, nothing's wrong, I just... I'm sorry for how I treated you that night."

"That night?"

"You know, when I got drunk? Three weeks ago, I got angry because you forgot our-"

He looked confused. "Yes, I understand that bit, but what do you mean?"

"I shouldn't've hit you," she mumbled. "I shouldn't've hit you, or been so angry with you. It was an honest mistake."

He chuckled a little. "Ana, it's fine. I mean, it wasn't necessary, I'll give you that, but you were angry. I understand."

"Would it have been socially acceptable if you had gotten angry with me and hit me instead?" challenged Lilly. "I'm not about to bow down to society. I'm sorry I hit you. And I should never have done it."

Hunter had a strange look on his face. "You're honestly the most fascinating woman I've ever met."

She blinked. "Is that a good thing?"