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

Chapter Forty-Six

❝forget (pronounced fərˈgɛt or fer-get), verb

omit or neglect unintentionally❞

Hunter didn't mention the idea of children to Lilly for the next three weeks, and soon, it was their two year anniversary since Hunter had proposed.

Then it was the new year.

Hunter was invited on tour with Lady Antebellum.

Lilly kept going to the science lab in which she worked.

Hunter got them a dog, a retired greyhound named Cole.

Lilly looked after Apollo constantly.

Slowly, but surely, they were growing apart.

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It was a cold January evening, a Saturday night. Lilly was reading 'The Theory of Everything' by Stephen Hawking, and Hunter was having a Twitter party with his followers, chuckling to himself occasionally.

"Could you stop that?" she said irritably at one point. "You just keep laughing to yourself, it's distracting me."

Hunter raised his eyebrows at her. "You know, there was a time when you used to tell me stupid jokes just to make me laugh."

"Those were the times I wasn't reading about black holes from the greatest mind since Einstein," she muttered.

Hunter sighed, as Cole jumped onto their bed. "You know what, I might just go down to the living room and sleep on the couch. I'm obviously not wanted here." He patted Cole on the head. "C'mon, boy. Good boy. Let's go down there. Good boy."

Lilly grabbed his arm, dog-earing the page she was up to and closing her book, sighing. "Wait, Hunt, I'm sorry."

He sighed, sitting back down. "I'm just gonna tell them I'm stopping the Twitter party, hold on." He typed something quickly, then put his phone on silent, leaving it on the bedside table beside him and closing the curtains around their bed. Cole curled up and slept at the foot of the bed, and Hunter lay down, facing away from Lilly. "You can keep reading. G'night."

Lilly looked at Hunter. "Please stop."

"Stop what?"

"Being cold to me."

He looked up at her. "What do you want me to do?"

She looked downcast. "I don't know," she mumbled. "Just act like you still love me." She lay down, and Hunter sighed, propping himself up on his elbow to look at her clearly.

"I do love you, darling," he murmured, coming closer and beginning to kiss her neck. "I've just-" (kiss) "-been a little bit-" (kiss) "-caught up-" (kiss) "-in work."

She closed her eyes as Hunter kissed her deeply, for the first time in a long time. "You are the most beautiful woman in the world, and I'm so lucky to have you," he whispered, barely audible. "And I love you so much but I haven't gotten the chance to show you that in a while, and I'm sorry, I really am."

"Mmm..." she hummed, as Hunter found her sweet spot and kissed it. "Hunt, I know I've been off lately as well..."

"So have I," he said, coming back up and kissing her again. "But you don't seem to see how much I really do love you. Please, tell me what's wrong."

She was silent, and Hunter kissed her persuasively. "Go on," he murmured. "It's just us now. No one can hear us except Cole, and he might tell Apollo, but I doubt it."

She laughed a little. "I want kids, Hunt. But... I don't want to lose them again. And I can't go to an IVF clinic. There's one thing I know for certain, and that's that I don't want my children to be created in a lab with a Petri dish."