"Hang on, give me a second." I place my hand on Aaron's shoulder and lean into him while I pause for a moment to catch my breath. He places his hand below my elbow and holds me upwards.
"You're so unfit Hayes. This is the fourth time we've stopped and we left home only a kilometre ago."
"You try carrying two and a half kilos on you at all times."
He laughs at me while giving me a confused facial expression. "Have you seen what I lift at the gym? Hailey, I could carry two and a half kilos with my little finger." He holds his little finger up at me and wriggles it like a worm.
I push at his chest and start walking again. I can see my dream home ahead of us. It's 200m ahead, but I'll purposely make a pit stop again, just so I can have a look at it. The night sky doesn't do its beauty justice. I haven't seen it in the daylight in weeks. I can't wait to walk past here on morning family walks with Harry and our girl. It brings a smile to my face just imagining walking her in the pram whilst Harry is beside me. Knowing him, he will fight me for dibs on who gets to push her.
"What are you smiling about?" Aaron asks me.
"Life. My future. I can't wait for her to get here."
"You won't be saying that when you're running on two hours of sleep over three days. And wait until you get to the four month sleep regression. Fuck me." He pauses when he sees a worried expression on my face. "Na, I'm kidding. I mean, I'm not kidding - that really does happen. But it's all worth it. When you're exhausted and covered in vomit, a little smile or even the tiniest yawn will brighten your mood."
"Will you and Rach have a third baby?"
He lets out a deep sigh while pondering the thought. "I don't know. I'm happy with my family now. All I ever wanted was a boy and a girl and I am lucky enough to have both. Of course, adding another member into the family would be great, but I really am content now. Besides, Tori's got enough personalities to cover four children, so..."
I hit his arm and laugh at him. "Her multiple personalities can be a handful at times, but we love her to death for it. I seriously love her so much that it hurts my heart. I love little Tyde too, he is my gorgeous little man, but it's impossible to be in a bad mood around Tori."
"Yeah, she's nothing like Rachel and I. We're both reserved, meanwhile Tori is really out there. Even more so than you."
"Yeah, T is next level. What do you think she will do when she gets older?"
"The question is, what won't she do? First she said she's going to be a fireman, then work at the supermarket checkout, a professional lawn mower, a singer, a dancer, back to a fireman, a hairdresser, a professional pooper, a singer again and currently she's going to be a puzzle doer because she finished her Barbie puzzle and claims that she is the best in the world at it."
"Honestly, whatever that girl does she will succeed. I really think she would be good in acting. She loves being in front of the camera, she's bubbly and also outgoing. She is great at telling lies which means she can act pretty damn well."
He smiles while shaking his head. "
We reach my Hampton's dream. The most gorgeous house in this street. I stop walking and Aaron scoffs. I stare up at the beautiful home and notice that one of the lights is on upstairs. I can see boxes in the room. Lots of boxes.
"You aren't seriously stopping again are you? When is Harry coming back so that I don't have to wake up at midnight to come and walk with you?"
When I don't answer, Aaron continues speaking.
"It's been sold."
I instantly look over at him, hurting my neck because I moved my head too quickly. "What?"
"You know my cousin Jimmy? He's the agent who is in charge of it. It wasn't even on the market. It was apparently a private listing."
"I could cry right now."
Aaron frowns. "Why, did you know the people who live there?"
"No, I wanted to buy it. I mean, I can't afford it. Especially when I basically threw my career away seven months ago. But I would have loved to buy it."
"I'm sure Harry would help you out."
I shake my head in disagreement. "No, I will never rely on Harry for money. I know full well that he could afford it. He could buy any house in this area that he wants. Multiple houses actually. But I wouldn't discuss that with him yet. We need to focus on the baby, not our living situation. For now we will stay at my parent's place. They can help me out while Harry is still on tour as well. Sure it gets a little hectic living at home, especially when your mother is opinionated and controlling. But my parent's are good to me."
We continue walking again, but I keep my eyes on the house while we pass it. I can't help but feel a small ounce of jealousy of the people who brought the house. I am already blessed with so much, I can't have my dream man, my dream career, my dream daughter and my dream house too.
*
After a short walk that ended a little sooner than I had hoped, Aaron and I return home. I can't walk as far anymore. I got so out of breath that Aaron offered to run home and come back with the car to pick me up.
"Why don't you stay the night at ours? The kids would love to wake up to you being there in the morning. You can come for the school run with Tori."
"You know what, I will." I say as I unlock the front door with my key. Aaron turns his flashlight off. He was shining it over the doorknob so that I can see. He places it in his pocket of his navy blue nike hoodie. "Give me five minutes and I'll pack my bags."
"I'll wait in the car for you."
*
The following morning, I wake up to somebody jumping on my bed.
"Tori, stop jumping right now. Hailey's pregnant." Aaron says in an angry tone while pointing at her from the doorway. "You need to be more careful. Think about these things Victoria Lee Smith."
"My Dad only calls me by my full name when I'm in trouble." Tori tells me as she drops to her knees and crawls over to me. "Sorry Aunty Hailey. Did I hurt the baby?"
I pull down the blankets and lift up my black silk shirt. "She's okay. A little startled because she was having a nice nap, but she's okay."
"You talking about you or the baby?" Aaron laughs. "I'm making waffles. What topping do you want?"
"Myself. And are you melting chocolate like you did last time?"
"No, we're out of chocolate. Rach got stuck into it."
"I'll have maple syrup then please." I look over at Tori. "What are you having on your waffles?"
"Vegemite."
I scrunch my nose and poke her stomach. "Ewww." I start tickling her and she falls back on the bed and tries to push my hands away. I stop attacking her and instead pull her in to cuddle. "Vegemite on waffles is gross."
"It's yummy. And I put sprinkles on it too. And strawberries. And pieces of poo. And cockroaches. And bananas. And-" she looks up at the roof while thinking of what else she would like to add to her waffles."
