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

Chapter Fifty-Two

❝bump (pronounced buhmp or bʌmp), noun

a protuberance on a surface level❞

She stared at herself in the bathroom mirror, shocked beyond belief.

It was finally the first trimester done.

And her recently flat stomach was adorned with a bump.

"Hunt?" she called shakily through the bus. "Hunt, where are you?"

"Do you need something?" asked Andy.

"Where's Hunter?"

"I'll go get him for you."

She stood there until Hunter appeared. "What's wrong, love?"

She showed him the bump. "Look..."

He moved closer, staring. "Is... is that...?"

She nodded slowly, and a small smile spread on Hunter's face. "Wow..." he breathed. "You look so beautiful as a mother."

Her laugh was only half-hearted, as Hunter approached her gently. "May I...?"

"Of course."

He touched her bump, and Lilly gasped slightly. "Wow, that's amazing," she whispered.

"Our baby... it's finally happening, sweetheart," he whispered, and she gave him a tiny smile.

"Yeah," she said. "It is."

"Can I talk to it?"

"Yeah."

He got down onto his knees and lifted Lilly's shirt. "Hey, there, baby," he whispered. "It's your Papa. I love you almost as much as I love your Mama."

Lilly bit back a smile, and Hunter kissed her belly. "I love you, my sweet little angel. Papa loves you."

"Are you busy today?"

"No interviews or anything tonight. Why?"

"Can... can we do a scan? And look at the gender of the baby and stuff? I wanna stop having to call it an it."

Hunter nodded. "Are we in the clear?"

"Yeah, we are," said Lilly with a small smile, and Hunter laughed giddily, spinning her around.

"My beautiful wife is going to have a beautiful child. I love you so much, my sweet Lilly petal."

She smiled. "I love you, too. Now come on, I'm gonna go make an appointment. You eat breakfast."

"What about you?"

"I can't, I'm doing an ultrasound, remember?"

"Right. Okay, I'll buy you something to eat when you're done."

She hugged him. "This is good. It's gonna work out, okay?"

Hunter nodded, kissing the top of her head. "Exactly."

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They pulled up at the clinic. "Should I wait in the car for you?" asked Andy. They had come with him, since Hunter didn't have his own car.

"Come if you want," said Hunter, unbuckling his seatbelt.

"Nah," he said, grinning. "I know how important it is."

Lilly climbed out of the car, and so did Hunter. "Buy Lilly something to eat, could you?" asked Hunter quietly, and Andy nodded, before driving off. Lilly hid her hair beneath a cap, and Hunter did the same. "Ready?" he asked her.