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

Chapter Fifty-Six

❝penultimate (pronounced pɪˈnʌltɪmət or pi-nuhl-tuh-mit), adjective)

last but one in a series of things; second last, e.g the penultimate chapter of the book❞

It was the 8th of October.

Hunter woke up and found Lilly sitting up, staring at a blank wall. "Hey," he said, sitting up and moving toward her. "What is it?"

"Four more days, and then we'll be parents for real." Her words were barely audible, but when she looked at Hunter, her eyes were glittering. It amazed him how even though there was barely any light in the room, her eyes always managed to catch it.

"You're worried, aren't you?" asked Hunter softly.

She sighed. "Of course I am. Twins, Hunt. How will we handle this?"

"I don't know, Ana," he replied truthfully. "But we're gonna manage. Together."

She tried for a smile, but failed miserably. "Hunt, I..."

He gripped her hand. "What, what is it?"

She took a deep breath. "Something bad is going to happen today. I can feel it."

"Nothing bad is going to happen today," said Hunter gently. "I promise."

Taking another deep breath, she looked Hunter in the eye. "There's something I need to talk to you about."

"Yes?"

"The suicidal thoughts are back."

He froze, shocked by how blunt she was. "What?"

"I- I can't do this anymore. Life. It's too hard."

Hunter said nothing, and Lilly kept talking. "I don't want to- I don't know if I want to- but it's like the world is just trying to destroy you and me both. I can't handle it anymore. I can't take it. It's too hard."

"Ana, stop. You don't know what you're saying."

"I do. I need to stop thinking that way, but I know exactly what I'm saying." Her breathing hitched suddenly, and her hand flew to her stomach.

"What is it?" he asked urgently.

"Nothing," breathed Lilly, a second later. "They kicked. That's all."

"I'm going to talk to them," said Hunter, and before Lilly could respond to him, he sunk down in front of her belly.

"Hey, there," he murmured. "It's Papa. And I wanna talk to you guys about your Ma."

Lilly frowned, but didn't say a word, as Hunter began to talk.

"Your Mama is the most beautiful woman I know. She's kind, and she's strong, and I love her more than anything in the world," said Hunter quietly. "I hope you both look like her. She has this beautiful red hair which she always styles differently, and her eyes are like thunderclouds- they look dangerous, but she's really the most beautiful thing in the world. You're both going to look just like her.

"You know how your Ma and I met? It was a little crazy," he continued. Lilly still wasn't sure what he was doing. "I was alone at preschool, so I just went up to her and started asking her about that song she was singing- it was a song called 'Jambalaya' and I had sung it a couple of weeks before. Isn't that funny? I might never have talked to her if it wasn't for her singing that. We became best friends. We always called each other, messaged, went to each other's parties... we loved each other. And soon, we got old enough to start dating, but your Mama didn't love me like I loved her, so we went our separate ways for a little while. But then your Ma came to Nashville.