[to all blessed with having what you've wanted to protect for so long, avidly cherishing it with every fiber of your being.]
• • • •
"Hunter."
Cassandra's lips pursed at the possibility, her eyes fixed aimlessly up at the ceiling in deep consideration for the name Ryan mentioned. She breathed deeply as she thought to herself, all while a coy smile flourished upon her lips. In fact, the soothing touch of Ryan's hand caressing her bare belly did its job in making her heart leap, and there was no other place she'd rather be than comfortably laying next to him during the later hours of the morning. Bare limbs were surrounded and wrapped around a sea of bed sheets as they both basked in each other's company, and it was evident both were overjoyed with the mere fact of caressing the very same belly that had been serving as a home for the unborn baby boy. It'd been a whole year since the beginning of their marriage, which only came with new lessons and blessings. In fact, Cassandra felt rather pleased with all that the marriage brought forth as it included a new start in her artistic career and overall changes in what she thought her life would consist of.
"Why does your last name make every newborn baby sound like a lawyer in the making?" she finally mumbled with a hearty laugh following shortly after. The artist rested her head atop of Ryan's bare chest as he let out an airy chuckle.
"Oh, please. I've heard of worse last names," he countered. "At least he'll have a name of a professional." Ryan continued the instinctive task of grazing his hand across her soft skin, incredibly overwhelmed each time he truly focused on his wife's stomach. It was now protruding to a greater extent than it had been months ago, solely responsible for the miraculous fact that his future son was inside. He understood it'd only been several months, and it would surely take patience to wait for the 3 other remaining months of the pregnancy before he could meet the small human evidently carrying his genes. Nevertheless, he honestly didn't want to wait any longer.
"Okay. I do like the name, so that one stays on the table," the artist mused. "How about Sean?"
"Sean Eckhardt," Ryan echoed with a growing smirk on his face. "You do realize that Sean sounds a lot more official than Hunter does, right?"
"Well, if we're going for the fact that he's going to be a big hit might as well give him a name made for the books," she laughed. "I don't know, the name sort of screams don't mess with me or my family."
Ryan shook his head as her laughter enveloped the room completely, which painted yet another grin upon his face. Truth be told, he would've never thought any of it could be possible just 2 years ago, back when the dream of having a life of his own seemed to be exactly that: a dream. It took a lot for him to realize the fact that all he had currently was indeed his own. He did have a wife; a wonderful woman who he could honestly consider to be the love of his life— the type of luxury he didn't remember having back when his entire life was ruled by image and convenience. And not only was his wife the rightful owner of a pure engagement ring with no hidden agendas, but she was also the safe haven of the child he would soon call his own. None of it made any sense if he considered the odds stacked against him, and yet no circumstances stopped the chain of events that evidently looked to be a future far beyond his control.
"Okay. So, we've got Sean and Hunter so far, and as usual the occasional options made by the rest of the world," he remarked jokingly, only to then intertwine his fingers with Cassandra's as the ring adorning one of them glimmered. He'd always thought of how it would feel so see that, a ring worthy enough to become Cassandra's property. It seemed as if not one single ring could compare to what he thought was rightfully perfect for her. Nevertheless, it was obvious the quality of the ring wouldn't matter as much to her than a ring at all. But that fact never stopped him in finding the one he envisioned. He peppered her shoulder with light kisses, which only caused the brunette to shift her body closer than ever towards his own as soothing refuge.
"By the rest of the world I'm assuming you mean Betsy and Emilia," Cassandra ventured.
"Don't be surprised, Shay wanted in on this too."
"No way," she mumbled with awe, propping herself up with an elbow against the mattress as she met his gaze. "Shay Eckhardt wanted to be part of the official name for the baby?" she asked incredulously. "That's so sweet!"
"She actually gave me about 5 names," Ryan chuckled. "And insists many could be used as middle names anyway."
"That's so cute," Cassandra gushed, "I actually cannot wait for her to be an aunty. He's going to love her," she beamed. It didn't take long before the smile remained etched on her lips, except her gaze seemed to drift off into her own thoughts. Her hand continued to rest on top of Ryan's chest as she allowed silence to linger between them.
"What is it?"
Cassandra matched the same soft smile displayed on Ryan's face as he asked that curiously, and the more the artist stared at him, the more she could feel as if her dreams and reality had suddenly intermingled. It wasn't as if her frequent dreams brought her any sort of happiness, after all, they were just consisting of strangers. Yet when she woke up, sudden realization came to her each morning that she was now living a dream she couldn't have concocted herself. Everything seemed to fall into place. For the first time in a while, swift content radiated from her at the very thought of what her life had become.
"I'm just really happy," she murmured, only to then stoop her head down and plant a soft kiss on Ryan's cheek. The smirk never left the man's lips as she remained quiet, only to nudge him once again. "I'm just savoring the moment. Let me be cheesy for a second."
They both exchanged lively grins at her words, fully aware the feeling of contentment was surely mutual. It was inconceivable to not be overjoyed by the current situation bestowed upon them after so many obstacles and doubts. Nevertheless, they were now left with the reminder of a brighter future. With a sudden ring of Ryan's cellphone, the silence was shattered. Neither of them cared to see who was calling since his phone was over by the living room, prompting them to lay back as the constant ringing came to a stop. Despite their attempts to ignore all outside distractions, it wasn't long before Cassandra's own phone began to ring obnoxiously, which was laying merely feet away on top of the nightstand.
"Ignore it," Ryan mumbled.
The words were evidently muffled as his lips remained on hers, all whilst the artist smiled through the kiss. Both of them were convinced a relaxing day indoors could be done— though maybe certain distractions weren't so easy to avoid. And with that, Cassandra shot back an apologetic glance as the phone revived in a repetitive ringtone for the third time, leaning towards the nightstand with evident disappointment. She glanced at the screen before picking it up and preparing herself to hear the familiar voice of who's name was sprawled across it.
"Are you serious planning on being late to your own baby shower?"
"Oh, my God! I'm sorry!" The brunette rose up instinctively, though as fast as humanly possible with overbearing weight below her chest.
It wasn't long before Cassandra had disappeared over to the closet and tried her best to pick something quick as she remained on the phone. The undivided attention on the call remained steadfast from the artist and prompted Ryan to shrug off the hopes of staying indoors all day. In all honesty, the sudden wave of alertness draped over his wife was quite humorous with each act she tried to make— from washing her face in seconds, to quickly covering it with light makeup with upmost speed before attempting to pass over to the outfit sprawled across her bed. It was an attempt because of Ryan's devious demeanor; nonchalantly standing in her way out of the bathroom, or doing simply anything he had to in an obscenely slow pace with a constant smirk on his face.
"Get out of my way!" She hollered as the young man remained in the middle of the door frame. A new fit of laughter escaped his lips as the pregnant brunette pushed her way out with little concern over all the disheveled strands of hair on her head powering their way through by the side of Ryan's torso. "Emilia is going to kill me, Ryan! She's like a couple minutes away already, oh my God."
"Just cancel it," he shrugged with a grin towards the brunette's immediate glare.
"Are you being oblivious or stupid right now?"
"Whichever one is more annoying."
The artist rolled her eyes, making her way over to the outfit she'd picked out before immediately regretting it. Instinctively, Cassandra had chosen the standard jeans she'd always relied on— after all, the material was pleasantly forgiving and had no problems with stretching due to the softer material that could never be considered to be real jeans. But everything morphed into the worst as her attempts turned out to be futile. She jumped, shimmied, and pulled her way into those jeans before realizing how much of an utterly painful and unsuccessful attempt it was. A frustrated groan escaped her lips before freeing her legs of the horrendous outfit choice.
"What?" Ryan groaned back with a swift backwards tilt of his head in defeat, mirroring her own annoyed tone as he made his out of the bathroom and where the distressed brunette stood.
"I hate this! I really thought these would fit," she whined.
"Wow, you know, I never thought clothes just wouldn't fit during pregnancies," he slurred with blatant sarcasm. With a quick shrug over Cassandra glare, he made his way over to the closet without any protests from her. "How about you try something that doesn't involve too much fitting."
"You mean, go naked?" Cassandra deadpanned.
"I mean, it'll be a first for a baby shower but if all the clothes are that bad..." he trailed over before meeting up with her amused smile, shrugging sheepishly. "You don't have skirts or something?"
"Yeah, I guess," she breathed in defeat. "Wait, not my favorite dress." The artist dismissed her natural instinct in picking every outfit she'd wished to fit in again— no need for unnecessary frustrations. Her eyes trailed to some of the more comfortable and looser skirts before deciding on a red one with a simple black t-shirt. "Fine, I think I found something."
"You're very welcome."
She grinned knowingly, leaning towards him with a sweet kiss. One thing that Cassandra couldn't fathom, was the overbearing love she was truly capable of. In fact, that reoccurring revelation was more prominent with each day that passed. While there was still minor bumps in the road throughout the whole year together, the artist found herself caring even more about Ryan Eckhardt than she could've imagined— more than the first couple of months in which she'd fallen in love with him, surprisingly. The corner of her lips lifted subtly towards the thought, now standing merely inches away from him as they exchanged loving glances. She remained content with a gentle hand on top of his bare shoulder— a swift smile sprawled across his own face. And as the couple was engulfed in the moment, the abrupt sound of the door bell had reawaken Cassandra to the task at hand.
"Okay. Thank you, thank you," she dismissed quickly with another peck on his lips. "Please tell Emilia I'll be there in two seconds?"
"She'll be out in a bit," Ryan reassured the minute he'd opened the front door. His eyes met with the humored blonde as she walked in.
"You know she never used to be late for anything. Are you sure you're a good influence on her?" The blonde smiled at the young man's chuckle, in which he added a sheepish smile shortly after.
"She's happier, isn't she?" he retaliated with a smirk. "By the way, I hope one of you guys got her some sweatpants or something. She practically threw a fit over not fitting into some stretchy jeans."
Emilia laughed at the thought. After all, not fitting into clothes during both of her own pregnancies was not a foreign memory in her mind. "Already ahead of you. I actually got a whole set of them."
"Am I listening to the gifts I'm getting?"
Both Ryan and Emilia turned towards the sound of Cassandra's voice and watched as the young woman made her way out of the bedroom. In truth, the comfortable outfit she'd ended up being enveloped by was enough to make her feel better about fitting into something at all. She was met with Emilia's bright smile towards her— if she'd been upset over being late, she didn't show it. And when it came to seeing the young artist with her protruding belly more prominent each passing month, Emilia couldn't help but become overly excited for the milestone she'd already gone through and was now watching transpire within Cassandra's own life.
"Maybe. But I'm not telling you anything until we get there. C'mon, Bets and Shay are ready for you!"
"I know, sorry." The artist hurried over to the kitchen counter to get her purse, only to then frown at Ryan as he began to say his farewell. "Wait, babe. What are you doing all day?"
"Jason and I were planning on playing some tennis for a bit."
"Jason? Jason Badal is playing tennis?" Emilia scoffed.
"Yeah," Cassandra chuckled with furrowed brows, "I don't know, Jason playing any sport at all isn't really something I can believe without any proof."
Ryan shrugged. "Well, he told me he wanted to. I'll make him send you a picture just to confirm it."
"Me too, please. I'm very intrigued," the blonde remarked before dragging Cassandra over to the front door. Nevertheless, the artist pursed her ruby lips towards her husband in a gesture for one last goodbye, which he was willing to give without a second thought.
"I'll tell him then. Bye," he said with a quick kiss for Cassandra as the blonde continued the grueling task of getting her out the door. At this rate, the blonde doubted anyone would still be there for the small baby shower by the time they arrived.
"Guess what I got!"
The outburst echoed through the modest home as Cassandra entered, bags full of gifts surrounding her with a fortified smile on her face. Ryan was quite startled by the sudden voice of his wife, but recognized it immediately before coming out to see her with a towel against his damp hair. She beamed towards the sight before kicking the enormous box by her feet that held a new music rocking chair for the baby— her hands still incredibly full with all that was left of the gifts.
"Now I can totally match with you," she gushed with a gestures towards his sweatpants. "I have like 10 of them!"
Ryan smiled before taking the bags from her. "That's awesome. Why didn't you just call me and tell me you were out there, though? Is this everything?"
"Everything but the crib." She wiggled her brows at him— elated at the overbearingly generous nature Betsy Locksmith bestowed. Truthfully, the enormous gift was something she'd expect from the sweet woman, and it seemed like the artist felt as if she'd accumulated an incredible debt that no one could pay for when it came to the elder.
"Betsy?" He guessed, only for it to be confirmed by her nod. "Of course."
"So, how was tennis?" The artist's question prompted Ryan to plaster a mischievous grin on his face. And that very sight made Cassandra that much more excited to listen. "Oh God, what happened?" she prodded with a smirk.
"I might've found out why Mr. Badal wanted to play tennis so bad."
"Spill it!" She begged with lively eyes. Ryan was pretty sure he'd never seen his wife so attentive.
"Don't you remember that I always played tennis with my lovely sister?" he ventured with an arched brow.
"Wait.... He's doing it for Shay?"
Cassandra allowed her own question to echo in her mind. She'd known about the sudden and heartbreaking fact about Jason not really making things work with Victoria. And though it seemed as if they were close to being far more than friends, the choice of moving to another state for the sake of her career fortified the minor strain between them nearly a whole year ago. Despite that, Jason Badal didn't seem too affected. After all, he was one of many that continued to allow immense optimism to rule his life no matter what could be transpiring. Cassandra admired that immensely about him, and after a whole year of seeing the young man as his usual self, the thought of him being interested in Shay Eckhardt out of all people seemed to fill her with unbelievable excitement.
"You never heard it from me." He winked. The artist thought back to the times when Jason would continue his unrelenting teasing over her relationship with Ryan, and it gave her the upmost reason to plaster a grin on her own face.
"Nope, I didn't. But he's gonna hear it from me."
• • • •
why is everyone so darn cute? why do i do this to myself? no idea.
but omg guys!!! pregnant Cassy, domestic Ryan and Cassy, the possibility of Jason liking Shay. I AM LIVING.
next chapter will be the last one and i am going to lose it.
comment/vote and share!
xoxo
-Kayyyy