The Monroe Legacy - G.2. Chapter 13 - Moments of Perfection

Hallie stared at the pregnancy test for a good five minutes before she could move. Then she gently caressed her flat stomach; it was almost impossible to believe that there was a tiny person already growing in there.


Hallie wandered around the house in a daze,she'd barely got used to having Cai there and now, in less that 8 months, there would be a baby too. Despite the suddenness of her pregnancy, Hallie could imagine baby stuff around the place with surprising ease and she was cautiously excited to finally begin her much longed for family.

She wondered how Cai would react, Hallie was sure he wouldn't abandon her but it would definitely be a shock. For a horrible moment she wondered if he would want her to get rid of it, she clutched her stomach protectively, before scolding herself for being so melodramatic.

This would take them both time to process but Hallie felt in her heart that this baby would be as loved and wanted by both its' parents as any child could deserve.

That night when Cai rang Hallie wanted so much to share her news, just to be reassured that she wasn't alone in it but she knew that there are some things which are best shared in person.

Not wanting anyone else to know before Cai did, Hallie kept to herself a lot and began wearing baggy clothes as her belly started to round. She loved to stand sideways to the mirror each night and look for changes, wishing only that the daddy could share these only moments. She snuck Georgia's pregnancy books and read them for hours on the sunny balcony, cooing over the cute pictures and shuddering at the messy bits.

As Cai's return approached, Hallie began to plan a nursery and practice what she would say. The night he was due Hallie's phone rang and she picked it up feeling her heart race - he had landed!

But it was Georgia, panting that the baby was coming and Humberto wasn't picking up his phone. Leaving a scribbled note Hallie rushed out and got Georgia to the hospital just in time. Less than six hours later after Humberto had finally arrived, Chester Pinkerton entered the world.

Hallie held him close and closed her eyes imagining a day, not too far off when she wold hold her own baby. Suddenly she just wanted to be home with Cai and with a last kiss of the newborn and hug of the parents, Hallie rushed home.

As she opened the door Hallie could hear the shower running so she rushed to the bathroom to say hello. Barely visible in the steam Cai tried to drag an ecstatic Hallie in to the shower with him, a temptation she would gladly have succumbed to had it not been for her noticeably swollen belly which would need explaining.

Hallie waited on the sofa for Cai to towel off,  running through her planned speech in her head. But all the pretty sentences were wiped from her mind as she felt warm arms around her, a slightly battered box was offered over her shoulder and the voice she loved above all other whispered,

'I don't ever want to leave you again Hal. Marry me?'

Tears sprang to Hallie's eyes and a thousand yeses to her lips but she knew that she couldn't answer until she had told him about the baby. Not wanting to drag his agony out she quickly rounded the sofa and took his hand.

'I want to marry you Cai, I've never wanted anything more but you need to know something first.' she started.

'I don't care about the past Hallie, there is nothing that could change the way I feel about you!' Cai countered.

Hallie smiled and said simply, 'It's not about the past, this is about the future. Our future.' And she took his hands and pressed them to her little bump.

Cai processed, shock, happiness, fear and amazement rushed across his face in a flash. 'We're having a baby?' he managed.

'That first night I'd been ill, my pill failed, I'm nearly four months along. What do you think - I know it's soon but-'  with a huge smile Cai pulled her close and kissed her hard, a kiss that reassured every doubt Hallie had entertained and replaced them with joy at the family they were beginning.

Cai stopped only to slip the vintage engagement ring on Hallie's finger before pressing his ear to her stomach and chatting away to his baby.

Over the next few weeks they had a lot of announcements to make. First they told their families about the engagement and the baby, Georgia gave Cai the "hurt my sister and I hurt you" speech while Lola told Hallie all sorts of baby stories that made her wonder if they were making a huge mistake!

Cai's book hit the NYT bestseller list and Hallie quit her job after a final assignment - her own nursery! The night she finished it and tucked the plush blankets into the little crib she had a very strange dream, her parents were walking around the nursery and guarding it. When Hallie went to touch them they were no more than air but they whispered words of love and encouragement to her before she awoke.

The months progressed and Hallie got bigger and bigger! If the doctor hadn't assured her there was only one baby she'd have been convinced she was carrying a whole football team! The baby certainly kicked like one!

Cai waited on her hand and foot which was annoying at first but soon became welcome as she approached critical mass. Hallie barely made it to the sofa each morning and as her eighth month wore on she would moan to anyone who would listen that she just wanted the baby out and off her bladder!

Her due date came and went and they were all booked in for an induced labour when Hallie's water broke. The contractions came thick and fast and she was almost cross -eyed with pain. Cai did his panic routine before calming down enough to call the midwife Lola had recommended for the home birth they had planned.

The labour was long but uncomplicated and worth each of its 26 hours when Violet Annabelle Monroe lay in her mother's arms for the first time. Cai cried the tears that Hallie was too exhausted to produce as he wrapped his little family in his arms for the first time.

Violet was perfect, she didn't have much hair of any colour and her eyes were a murky blue green but Cai swore she looked just like her mother.

She was very grumpy when they tried to put her down in her crib for the first time, screaming and screaming until Hallie wound up her old music box. Violet calmed as soon as she heard the music and Hallie knew Belle would be ecstatic to have another virtuoso in the family.

Hallie fell asleep that night smiling, everything had fallen into place.

--------------------------

Hallie and Cai finally set a date in Chapter 14 - Fireside Fairytale