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

Chapter Forty-Eight

❝end (pronounced ɛnd or as spelled), noun
a final part of something, especially a period of time, an activity, or a story.❞  

A loud beeping filled the room, and Drew groaned. He opened his eyes- why had he left his alarm on?

But it became quickly apparent to him that this wasn't his alarm. Elle was sleeping in his arms, stirring because of the loud beeping, her brow furrowed. "Red's awake," she mumbled. "I'll do it."

"I'll come," he said, passing her his shirt and pulling on his boxers and pyjama pants. She pulled it over her head and took his hand, the two of them walking to Hunter's and Ryan's room, where Red had been sleeping, holding the baby monitor.

Drew pressed the button to turn it off, and picked Red up, calming her quietly. "I'll grab her food," said Elle, leaving the room and going to the kitchen.

He looked down at Red, whose eyes were looking up at him, a dark blue in the dim lighting of the room. Her skin was no longer as blotchy as it had once been. She was... beautiful. There was no doubt that she had inherited both of Hunter's and Ryan's attractive physical traits. Her pink rosebud lips were pursed slightly, and she stared up at him.

It made him wonder.

If Elle were to make it past this, past the cancer, would they have kids? Did Elle even want kids? Sure, she loved her family to pieces, but did that mean she wanted her own? Judging by her own hellish experience with trying to find her family, watching Phoenix going through the same thing... what did she think of the whole thing?

She came back in, gently taking Red and feeding her from the bottle Ryan had left in the fridge earlier. Drew watched her subconsciously, taking in the way her hair fell over her left shoulder, noticing her soft smile. Her lashes, long and thick, brushed her cheek when she blinked, and she looked as beautiful as ever. She was so perfect.

Gently, she placed Red back in her bassinet, and hummed a gentle rendition of 'You Are My Sunshine', rocking the bassinet as she hummed. Drew couldn't keep the gentle smile off his face, and Elle glanced around at him. "What?" she asked.

"Nothing," he said softly. "You're just incredible."

She flushed, ducking her head, and he just smiled. He kissed her forehead, and said, "Come on, now. Let's go back to bed."

They walked back to bed, and Drew said, "Elle, do you ever think about family?"

"We're a bit young to be thinking about that," she said sleepily.

"I suppose," he said. "But I can't help but wonder. Don't you think maybe the two of us would have a big family?"

"To be honest, Beanbag, I don't really imagine I'm living past the age of eighteen at this point."

"But imagine you do," he insisted. "Please?"

She sighed. "We've talked about this, remember? I want one kid, you want three."

"But what about where we'd live? What would we be doing?"

"Maybe we could move."

"We should move to France," he said dreamily. She laughed.

"I'd've thought you'd want to move to Asia somewhere. Like Japan or something."

"Let's visit Japan!" he said excitedly. "Visit Studio Ghibli and catch the original Pokemon-"

She laughed quietly. "You're such an idiot, Drew."

He smiled, before kissing her. "Well, we're both awake, and I have another condom," he said. "What do you say?"