Fighting Fate

68. Standing Up

"Hang on, give me a second." I place my hand on Aaron's shoulder and lean into him while I pause for a moment to catch my breath. He places his hand below my elbow and holds me upwards. 

"You're so unfit Hayes. This is the fourth time we've stopped and we left home only a kilometre ago." 

"You try carrying two and a half kilos on you at all times."

He laughs at me while giving me a confused facial expression. "Have you seen what I lift at the gym? Hailey, I could carry two and a half kilos with my little finger." He holds his little finger up at me and wriggles it like a worm. 

I push at his chest and start walking again. I can see my dream home ahead of us. It's 200m ahead, but I'll purposely make a pit stop again, just so I can have a look at it. The night sky doesn't do its beauty justice. I haven't seen it in the daylight in weeks. I can't wait to walk past here on morning family walks with Harry and our girl. It brings a smile to my face just imagining walking her in the pram whilst Harry is beside me. Knowing him, he will fight me for dibs on who gets to push her. 

"What are you smiling about?" Aaron asks me. 

"Life. My future. I can't wait for her to get here."

"You won't be saying that when you're running on two hours of sleep over three days. And wait until you get to the four month sleep regression. Fuck me." He pauses when he sees a worried expression on my face. "Na, I'm kidding. I mean, I'm not kidding - that really does happen. But it's all worth it. When you're exhausted and covered in vomit, a little smile or even the tiniest yawn will brighten your mood."

"Will you and Rach have a third baby?"

He lets out a deep sigh while pondering the thought. "I don't know. I'm happy with my family now. All I ever wanted was a boy and a girl and I am lucky enough to have both. Of course, adding another member into the family would be great, but I really am content now. Besides, Tori's got enough personalities to cover four children, so..."

I hit his arm and laugh at him. "Her multiple personalities can be a handful at times, but we love her to death for it. I seriously love her so much that it hurts my heart. I love little Tyde too, he is my gorgeous little man, but it's impossible to be in a bad mood around Tori."

"Yeah, she's nothing like Rachel and I. We're both reserved, meanwhile Tori is really out there. Even more so than you."

"Yeah, T is next level. What do you think she will do when she gets older?"

"The question is, what won't she do? First she said she's going to be a fireman, then work at the supermarket checkout, a professional lawn mower, a singer, a dancer, back to a fireman, a hairdresser, a professional pooper, a singer again and currently she's going to be a puzzle doer because she finished her Barbie puzzle and claims that she is the best in the world at it."

"Honestly, whatever that girl does she will succeed. I really think she would be good in acting. She loves being in front of the camera, she's bubbly and also outgoing. She is great at telling lies which means she can act pretty damn well."

He smiles while shaking his head. "

We reach my Hampton's dream. The most gorgeous house in this street. I stop walking and Aaron scoffs. I stare up at the beautiful home and notice that one of the lights is on upstairs. I can see boxes in the room. Lots of boxes. 

"You aren't seriously stopping again are you? When is Harry coming back so that I don't have to wake up at midnight to come and walk with you?"

When I don't answer, Aaron continues speaking.