The Road Ahead (A Hunter Hayes Fanfiction, Book 4 of The Hardships Saga)

Chapter Two

❝London (pronounced lʌnˈdˈɒn or luhn-duhn), noun
a metropolitan city in Great Britain; the capital of England.❞

A couple of weeks later, Ryan woke up to a phone call, feeling groggy. "Ryan Hayes-Lockhart speaking," she said, answering.

"Hi, Ryan."

"Oh, Jenny! Good morning!" Jennifer, Spencer's babysitter, coughed violently, and Ryan frowned. "Oh. I suppose not, then."

"I'm sorry, ma'am, I've-" (she sneezed), "-come down with something."

"You poor thing," she said sympathetically. "I assume you can't come in to look after Spencer?"

"No, ma'am. I'm sorry, I would have told you last night, but I only just woke up, and it only got this bad just now."

"No, of course. That's entirely understandable. Don't worry about a thing, my darling. Stay at home and get some rest, alright?" said Ryan kindly. "Call me later on tonight and let me know how you're doing. I'll bring you some gumbo or something."

"Thank you, Ryan." She hung up, and she heard Spencer fussing from his room. "Spence?" she called, walking into the room. "Are you awake, pumpkin?"

"Yes, Mama."

"Are you hungry?"

He nodded. She quickly fed him, before calling around. No one was able to look after Spencer on such short notice. She should have known, but now she didn't know what to do. If only Hunter were here, she thought to herself. Or Lucky, or Mel, or Jessie... damn it.

So, she walked into class holding Spencer, though she knew he hated coming into class. There wasn't much she could do- she wasn't about to leave him alone in the apartment. She had brought some non-noisy toys for him... hopefully that would keep him quiet.

He hadn't had enough sleep and he was extremely cranky. She sat him down in the seat beside hers, and her friend, Becca, sat down on the next seat. "Why'd you bring Spencer? Doesn't he hate coming here?"

"Babysitter came down with something," said Ryan tiredly. "I didn't have a choice."

Spencer was already fussing, and she gave him a gentle kiss. "Honey, behave, and I promise, we'll go and get fish and chips after class, okay? Pinky promise."

"But Mama, I'm bored," he whined. "I wanna go park."

"I know, pumpkin. We'll go to the river and have fish and chips, how does that sound?"

He sighed. "I'm hungry now."

"I brought you snacks," she said, opening her bag. "I made you lemon slice!"

"Yummy!" She gave him a piece, and he ate it with his fingers. The professor walked in, and Ryan cursed silently. It was Professor Sutton, the strictest one that Ryan had. How would she react to an annoyed three year old sitting in on her class of almost-graduates?

Becca looked worriedly at Ryan. When they had first met, Ryan had been cold to her- she looked so much like Mina. Too much like Mina. When Becca finally got her to talk to her, they discovered that she and Mina were cousins. No wonder they had looked so similar. They ended up sitting together in all the classes that they took with each other. "What're you going to do?"

"This is an important lesson, isn't it?" she said quietly, sighing. "Look, if he acts up, I'll go out of the room and tend to him. Can I use your notes?"

"Sure." She got out her phone. "Shall I record it too?"

"Yes, please, that would be lovely."

Professor Sutton clapped her hands together very suddenly, and the entire class jumped. "Now," she barked. "Open your books, turn to Chapter 21. This will encompass the methods of..."