Hunter's POV
"See I told you my parents were going to be ecstatic to see us together." I whisper in Liddy's ear, after my mom takes Harper from my arms and carries her into the living room, followed by my dad.
"Let's hope they feel the same way when they hear that we're engaged."
"Why are you so nervous? They're going to be happy for us."
"I'm scared that they'll blame me for everything that happened."
"Why would they do that?"
"Because I broke our engagement. Even I though I thought I was doing the best thing for both you and Harper, they may not feel the same way."
"Trust me I know my parents. They won't judge you for that."
"I pray you're right."
I pull her into my arms and hug her. "I am. Don't worry."
She pulls back and looks me in the eyes. "I'll try."
"That's all I ask."
"Thank you."
"For what?"
"For taking the time to calm my nerves."
"I love you that's what I'm suppose to do."
"But you have too many other things to worry about. You don't need to add my silly insecurities to your list." She sighs. "I'm sorry."
"You and Harper are my life. If either of you are unhappy, scared, worried or sick I'm going to try my hardest to be there for you. That's the type of guy I am."
"I know you are. That's one of the many reasons why I love you so...."
"Hey, is everything okay out there?" My dad calls from the other room.
"Ah yay, we'll be right there." I reply.
"We should go talk to them, about Harper. They're waiting." She grabs my hand and starts to lead us towards the living room.
"Wait. Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. You don't need to worry about me."
I pull her into my arms and kiss her lips. "I'll never stop worrying about you. I love you too much to do that. So you better get use to it."
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Liddy's POV
"Do you think Harper has leukemia?" Lynette asks as I help her make lunch for everyone.
"I'm not sure. I don't want to believe she does. I know her symptoms are different than what my nephew's were, but he had Non Hodgkin's lymphoma."
"Do you know anything about leukemia?"
"A little bit. In college I took a class that did a quick overview of childhood diseases. Leukemia was one of them."
"Oh."
"I was actually the one that noticed my nephew Austin's symptoms and told my sister to have him checked."
"So you learned about Non Hodgkin's, too?"
"Yes."
"Does Harper have many symptoms of leukemia?" She asks nervously.
"She has a few I won't lie. But from what Dr. Fields said children, as young as Harper, rarely show all the signs of any of the conditions he thinks she may have. I guess their immune systems behave differently because of their age."
She takes a deep breath and slowly releases it. "Well, if she does, I'm just glad you'll be there for Hunter. He will need you."
I'm surprised by her admission and it must show on my face.
"Oh no, did I jump to the wrong conclusion? I'm sorry. I just assumed that since you came here with Hunter that you two were back together. I probably shouldn't have done that. I'm sorry."
"No, don't be. We are back together." I showed her my engagement ring.
"Thank the lord." She says before pulling me into a hug. "Thank you for forgiving my son. I know he hurt you terribly."
"He isn't the only one to blame for our break up. I had a lot to do with it."
"You did?"
"Yes, I ah I broke up with him, remember?"
"I know. Hunter told Leo and I all about the things he did. It sounds like he didn't give you much choice."
I can't stand that she thinks Hunter is to blame for all our problems. "He did do some things that hurt me. But the real reason I broke the engagement was because I wanted to give him the chance to ...."
"To raise Harper like he was raised."
"Yes, but how did you know?"
"I didn't know for certain, until right now. " She says as she cuts the last of the sandwiches in half. "I just know how much you love my son and because of that I always wondered if you might have intentionally called off the wedding. He must have shared with you how guilty he felt about letting Harper down when he couldn't hold his marriage to Renee together."
"Yes, he did. He blamed himself so much. I tried many times to help him see it wasn't his fault, but it didn't do any good. So when he told me that Renee still loved him and wanted him back...."
"You saw it as an opportunity for him to give Harper the childhood he always wanted her to have."
"Exactly." I sigh. "I thought I was doing the right thing."
She smiles. "I know you did. But you didn't take into consideration how deeply Hunter loves you. You weren't around when he and Renee were together, so you wouldn't know this, but their relationship was always difficult even from the start. Hunter always had to bend to try and make Renee happy. He sacrificed a lot when they were together."
"I know he did at the end. He told me so. But I wasn't aware it was like that from the beginning."
"I'm not sure he even knew how one sided the relationship was. He was young. They both were. Renee was his first real love so he didn't have a lot of experience to draw from." She pauses as she places the sandwiches and ice tea on a tray. "What he feels for you is so much more than what he felt for her. You two have the real thing. You're both willing to put the each other's happiness before your own. He's never had someone love him like that before."
"So you don't blame me?"
"Of course not. How can I blame you for wanting to try and take away one of my son's biggest regrets?" She hugs me.
"But I hurt him. I didn't mean to, but I did. I hurt him so much more than I thought I would. I...."
"It's okay." She pulls me into another hug as I start to cry. "Hunter forgives you. We forgive you. Now, you need to forgive yourself. We all know you were trying to do what you thought would make him and Harper happy in the long run."
"I was."
She passes me a tissue. "I just hope you now realize how much he loves and needs you. You and Harper are his world. He's never going to happy with anyone else."
I shake my head. "I do realize that. It took me awhile, but I finally do."
"Good! So we don't have to worry that something like this will happen again?"
"It won't. I promise." Before I can say anything else Hunter walks into the room.
"Hey, what's taking so long? Dad and I are starving."
"I'm sorry. Liddy and I started chatting. I guess we lost track of time." She says as she lifts the tray and starts towards the dining room.
"Here let me take that."
"No, I'm fine." She smiles. "Why don't you help Liddy find the fruit salad I made earlier? It's in the refrigerator on the second shelf, I think."
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Hunter's POV
Lunch with my parents went well. Harper talked more than she has in weeks. She seemed less tired and actually ate some of her sandwich. My parents took the news about her health far better than I thought they would. Just like Liddy, they're choosing to stay positive and not assume the worse until we know more.
"How's she doing?" I ask Liddy when she returns from putting Harper down for a nap.
"She fell asleep about halfway through the second book."
"Wow, I can't believe that." I say as wrap my arms around her so we can snuggle on the couch.
"I know. I was really surprised that she wanted me to read to her. She's actually had a pretty good day."
"She has. I wish she could be like this all the time."
"She will. As soon as we know what's wrong and start treating it, she'll get better."
"I just wish I knew right now, what's wrong. I hate having to wait."
"I do, too." She says as she lays her head on my chest. "After we cuddle for a bit, I'm going to do some research on Juvenile Arthritis and Lyme Disease. I don't know much about either of those conditions."
"Me either. All I really know for certain is Lyme is caused by a tick bite and honestly I had no idea children could even get arthritis." I sigh.
"Hey, she's going to be okay. We'll figure out what she has. I promise."
"God, I love you so much. I'd be a basket case right now, if not for you. You keep me sane. I don't know what I would have done if you had moved away?"
"I'm glad I'm here, too. But if I wasn't I know you'd be okay. You're far stronger than you think. Plus, you'd have your parents, your faith and the guys from the band to rely on."
"I know. But even with them, I'd still need you. You are my rock. You're the one person that I trust completely, even more than my parents."
She kisses my lips. "I feel the same way. So don't worry. I will be by your side no matter what happens with Harps. We'll make it through this."
"I love you so much."
"I love you, too. More than I can ever tell you."
"September can't get here soon enough. I can't wait to marry you." As soon as I say that, I feel her body stiffen and I get a sick feeling in my stomach. "That is IF you still want to marry me?"
"Of course I want to marry you. I wouldn't have said yes, to your proposal if I didn't."
"Then why did you just tense up when I mentioned it a moment ago?"
"Not for the reasons you're thinking." She smiles and runs her thumb along my jawline. I immediately start to relax. "I want to marry you, honestly. I just don't think we should do it in September."
"How come?"
"A few reasons. One, we don't know what's going on with Harper and incase it is something more ah uhm complicated, I want to be able to concentrate on her and not be distracted by wedding plans. The other reason is I really don't have enough time to pull together a wedding that soon. After we broke up I cancelled everything. We don't have a florist, a venue, or a caterer. I don't even have a dress."
"I'm sorry. I didn't even think about any of that stuff. Of course you would have cancelled everything."
"So you aren't mad?"
"Not at all. I'm a bit disappointed because I can't wait to call you my wife, but I understand completely. I appreciate more than you know, the fact that you want to be available to help Harper, if she needs it." I pull her closer. "I also want you to have your dream wedding so if you need more time then take it."
"I was so nervous you wouldn't understand."
"Is this what was bothering you in the car earlier?"
"Yes."
"Well, you can stop worrying. I'm fine with postpone things. Just tell me where and when and I be there."
She giggles. "I'll want you more involved in the planning than that!"
"I'll do whatever you want, to make you happy. If you want to elope, then we'll elope. If you want to fly to Vegas with a few friends, we can do that. All I ask is that we don't wait too long."
"Oh no. I don't want to wait long either. I was thinking of sometime around Thanksgiving. I know you get time off from touring so it shouldn't be a problem with your schedule. What do you think of that idea?"
"I love it! We could get married around here some place then fly with Harper and my parents to New York City to watch the Thanksgiving Day parade or we could get married there. Do you like either of those suggestions? If you don't we can do something else."
"I do! I love both ideas. Liz and I can start checking into our options just as soon as we know something more about Harper."
"Okay, then. It sounds like we have a plan."
"Thank you so much for understanding."
"There's nothing to thank me for. All I want is to make you happy, every day for the rest of your life."
"Well, you already do that." She smiles before kissing me passionately.
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Sorry for taking so long to update! This holiday season is crazy busy for me.
Hope you liked the chapter, I made it extra long.
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Thanks again for reading! 14.9 K reads!! You're all so awesome!