how little it matters, how little we know

[hadleyfraser]

Hadley and Hunter were making things work. They'd been together for a while now, and apart from their usual spats, everything had been perfect. Hadley, much to her gladness, had not had a difficult pregnancy thus far. Yes, she'd battled morning sickness, but who didn't? She had read on the internet that Avisaille women who carried the children of Humans tended to have very difficult pregnancies and a high rate of miscarriage, do simply to the fact that the baby's biology was incompatible with that of the mother, but Hadley was convinced by now that everything would be fine. After all, today marked the first day of her third trimester. She was in the home stretch! She would meet her little nudger in a matter of weeks.

At the moment, Hadley and Hunter were walking hand in hand along the Pier, enjoying a beautiful day together by the water. One hand was cupped in Hunter's, and her other hand rested on her very evident baby belly. Thank god Scriptor Bay had one of those great maternity stores, because Hadley had shown early and couldn't fit into her own jeans after about eight weeks. She had joked to Hunter that she was going to give birth to a small whale. Sometimes, she wondered if this was possible, given the size of her bump.

"Youu're awfully quiet," Hadley observed to Hunter as they strolled. "Anything bothering you?" She had always been tuned in to Hunter's mood swings, but even he could be hard to read at times. She suspected he might just be tired, but she wanted to make sure that nothing was wrong. She squeezed his hand and smiled over at him reassuringly. "I love you," she reminded him.

They had reached a part of the pier where there were lots of people milling about, also enjoying the good weather. Hadley recognized some faces, but not others. For one terrifying moment she thought she saw Mr. Baby Daddy himself, but when she looked again, she didn't see him after all. Thank heavens.

"I really want cotton candy and pickles," Hadley announced to no one in particular. She'd been having the weirdest cravings during her second trimester. The worst had been ice cream with ketchup. Ew.

[HUNTER BLACKTHORNE]

Life with Hadley was... incredible. It had its ups and downs, it had good days and mood swing days. But Hunter was crazy about the girl and that's what made it all worth it. They walked down the pier hand in hand, a cigarette pursed between his lips and his head turned away so that the smoke blew over his shoulder and away from Hadley. He tried not to smoke around her too much but when they were outside he found that his chance to get his nicotine hit.

The more Hadley's belly grew the more he was reminded of the fact that the baby inside wasn't his. Not that he wanted kids anytime soon since he was still an immature little kid himself, but being with someone who was going to give birth to someone else's child was tough at times. He wondered if it would look like the drunk bar owner or if it would look like Hadley. He hoped that it would look like Hadley more than anything else because he wasn't sure how he felt about staring down at a baby that looked like Kit.

"You're awfully quiet," He knew he had been but he didn't say anything just yet. He sucked on the end of the filter, getting the very last bit of nicotine before he tossed the remains on the pier grown and blew the smoke over his shoulder once again away from the girl. "Anything bothering you?"

He turned his head to look at her and shook his head in response. "I love you." He never got tired of hearing her say it and each time he wondered why she did. He was just a lowlife degenerate after all. "You too," he loved her, but the actual words were hard for him to say on a daily basis. There were times where he could tell her for hours how much he loved her but then other times he just couldn't say the words.

"I really want cotton candy and pickles," Hunter made a face at what she was craving this time. The cravings were sometimes gross and sometimes the combinations sounded weird but then after he tried it with her he found it was actually good! "I want a million dollars but we can't all get what we want." He said in a teasing voice and even smiled at her. One thing that didn't change in their relationship was the smart ass remarks that they would make to one another from time to time.

"I don't think there's a pickle vendor here but would you settle for cotton candy and a hot dog?" Another thing about relationships? They were expensive. And although Hunter usually hated spending money he didn't mind doing it when it was on Hadley. He liked making her happy and if she was happy when he bought her things then that was good enough for him. He reached into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet, opening the bill fold and plucking out a couple of bucks. "Going once, going twice.." He held out the money and waved it around playfully for her to snatch up if she wanted it.

[hadleyfraser]

Hadley laughed as Hunter baited her with the cash. She knew he was frugal, and she was always flattered when he offered to buy her something. It always made her feel a little guilty to accept, though. She wrinkled her nose and batted the money out of her face. "It doesn't even sound good anymore," she said a little sadly. The cravings came and went fairly quickly, and often she was just sitting down to a meal when she changed her mind about wanting it in the first place.

Hadley turned and kissed Hunter on the cheek. "You're very sweet to offer. You take such good care of me." She stopped walking for half a beat, her hands going to her belly as a twinge of discomfort radiated through her. The baby was breakdancing, it seemed, and had nudged her just the wrong way. The increase in activity the previous couple of weeks had taken Hadley by surprise, as had the onset of what she learned were Braxton-Hicks contractions. They were apparently completely normal, but they still made her nervous.

Once the sensation passed, she smiled reassuringly at Hunter and took his hand again and began walking once more. "Silly boy," she said with a quiet laugh. She was convinced, for no particular reason other than mother's intuition, that she was carrying a boy. She had thought about a couple of names. She really liked Aiden and Ian, and she really wanted to give the baby Hunter as a middle name, since it was Hunter that had taken care of Hadley during the pregnancy, and Hunter who would be by her side when the baby was an infant.

"I am so exhausted," she confessed. Energy came and went lately. She was used to it after six months and a few days. Hadley sighed and closed her eyes for a minute and let Hunter lead her by the hand. "I am so damn ready to be NOT pregnant," she said with a laugh.

When she opened her eyes again, she stopped dead in her tracks. Not ten yards away, wearing his usual outfit and devil-may-care expression, was Kit Rathbone. Hadley was sure he'd seen her, but she couldn't make her brain work fast enough to make Hunter stop walking by speaking, so she just stood there, looking moderately horrified.

[HUNTER BLACKTHORNE]

"I am so damn ready to be NOT pregnant,"

That makes two of us, he thought to himself and gave her a little grin to show that he was listening. She was getting so close to the end and it just... scared him. He knew it meant that when she was no longer pregnant it would mean she'd have a baby. A baby that pooped and puked and cried all hours of the night. He had a feeling that this was going to put a strain on them but he kept it to himself. He didn't need to tell her these things. Not to mention the cost! Babies were so damn expensive!

Lost in his own thoughts again he didn't notice that Hadley had stopped walking until he practically yanked her along with him. He stopped and looked back at her, noticing she looked almost pale like she'd seen a ghost. "Haddles what's wrong?"

Hunter's brows furrowed causing his forehead to crease and he started to think that maybe it had to do with the baby. Was she having those weird cramps or contraction things again? He just hoped it wasn't gas because that was just gross. "Hey. Look at me, what's going on?" He stood directly in front of her to try and get her attention but she seemed to be looking at something. Or was it someone?

[hadleyfraser]

Hadley was brought back to earth as Hunter stepped in front of her, trying to get her attention. Had he seen Kit? Apparently not, since Hunter was asking her what the matter was. She hated that she'd worried him. She got the idea that she was doing that a lot lately.

"Haddles, what's wrong? Hey. Look at me, what's going on?"

She shook her head and smiled tightly at Hunter, trying to shake the image of Kit from her mind. "Nothing, I'm fine. I just got kicked in the ribs, that's all." She let out a little laugh to lighten the situation, but without explaining she stepped forward and into his arms, wrapping her own arms around him and holding him tight for a brief moment.

"Hugs make everything better," she teased him, recovering her good mood. As they continued to stroll along the pier, Hadley relaxed some more. She didn't see Kit in the crowd, so maybe he'd left.

"Hunter?" she asked at one point. "I don't know if there's a good way to have this conversation, but it's one we need to have before the baby comes," she said tentatively, squeezing his hand and looking sideways at him. "I know you're nervous about what it's going to be like. I am too. But I know it's a different kind of nervous for you."

Hadley had tried to understand what it would be like for Hunter, being with her as she raised another man's child. Would Hunter stick around, or would the strain be too much for their relationship to carry?

"I don't really know how we'll handle all the changes, but..." Gods, this was the hard part. "I'm giving you an out, right now. If this isn't what you want, then tell me, and I promise I will let you walk away without heaping any guilt on you. I love you, and I want you to have a full life. I feel like... I feel like I'm taking that away from you."

They had stopped walking, and Hadley held both of Hunter's hands in her own, and she faced him and looked up into his fathomless eyes. "Just know that, if you walk away, I will understand," she concluded.

[HUNTER BLACKTHORNE]

"I know you're nervous about what it's going to be like. I am too. But I know it's a different kind of nervous for you." Was he that transparent that she could see exactly what he was thinking and feeling? Although Hunter might have been a pretty good thief and could make a ball of fire float in his hand, when it came to his emotions he had a tendency to wear them on his sleeve way too often. And that was a bad thing because it made him a crappy liar when his face revealed the truth.

"I'm giving you an out, right now. If this isn't what you want, then tell me, and I promise I will let you walk away without heaping any guilt on you. I love you, and I want you to have a full life. I feel like... I feel like I'm taking that away from you." Hunter's eyes went wide with both shock and hurt.

The boy stood there in front of his best friend and now girlfriend and his brows knitted together with concern. He licked his lips and then reached out to put his hand against her firm stomach and let out a sigh. He didn't know why, but he'd always been so nervous touching her stomach as it swelled and got bigger, thinking he'd either set her on fire or that the baby inside would know that he wasn't the father and try to kick at him out of anger.

"I'm not going anywhere, Haddles. I'm here for you. I'm here for the baby. It's going to be tough I admit, but we can deal with it just like we deal with everything else." He might not have been great at expressing himself or with words but he figured he'd done a pretty good job right then. He was going to be by her side no matter what.

"Is that what's bothering you?" Was she having doubts about them? Did she want him to leave? That wave of hurt swept over him again and he dropped his hand back down to his side. "Or is it you want me to go? Because if that's what you want, then I will. But otherwise I'm not going anywhere."

[KIT RATHBONE]

Kit had decided to take some advice that an old friend had given him, and start working on his health. He couldn't very well just drink until his liver shriveled up and died now, could he? And how did he expect to do that? By walking around outside of course! Maybe he just wanted to clear his head and needed to figure things out, get his priorities straight in life.

The man had worn a pair of jeans (like always) and a red checkered flannel button up over a grey t-shirt. He leaned up against the side of the dock and looked out at the ocean, listening to the waves crash as the wind blew the saltiness into his face. It felt nice and he had to agree it was nice to get out of the bar every now and then and do something a little different.

At first he didn't notice the person looking at him but when he saw some kid moving around and trying to get their attention he looked over and felt a tightness in his throat. It was her, the one who he had gotten pregnant. She was obviously out taking a stroll just like he was and he swallowed hard before moving. Maybe she hadn't seen him? Maybe he could just get off the docks and go back to the bar? Or, he could man up and just walk over to talk to her.

Although he wanted to just go back to the bar and hole himself up, he decided maybe it would be best to just go and talk to the girl. After all, he'd been avoiding her for a while now and there were a few things that he had to get off his chest. He came up behind the boy who was talking to her and Kit could tell that he was a couple of inches taller than the boy. He looked at Hadley trying to catch her attention when he finally got to them. "Uh, hey," was all that he managed to utter.

[hadleyfraser]

Hadley tried to ignore the presence of Kit at the pier, refusing to let his presence ruin her day with Hunter. Things were going too well to let anything spoil her beautiful day! But Kit seemed to have other plans, as he approached her before long and greeted her with the ever-eloquent, "Uh, hey."

Hadley was taken aback by his sudden appearance in front of her, but she decided on the fly to be polite, if not overly friendly. "Hi, Kit," she said with an attempt at a warm smile. Thankfully, her voice came out sounding normal. That was a good sign.

"How have you been? How are things at the bar?" No reason to be frosty, she thought, so she made polite inquiries and kept a small smile firmly in place on her pretty face. She did, however, squeeze Hunter's hand a little tighter than was strictly necessary without realizing she was doing it.

Hadley wondered what was going through the two boys' minds at that point. She could only assume that Kit was at least trying to make an effort at politeness and interest, while she was almost certain that Hunter wanted to punch a hole in a wall somewhere.