don't forget to comment as you read! i'd love to hear your thoughts on this one x

HUNTER

White walls never looked so plain.

Especially when I struggled between the two options in front of me.

"Still can't decide?"

"I don't understand why you had to leave me with the decision," I said, eyes darting between the two paint canisters. I knew why - it was our agreement - but I always hoped the artist in her would take over and make a choice for me. "Why do they pick the weirdest names for paint? How is sea salt green? Am I missing something here?"

"Hunter."

"And this one? Touch of a lemon?"

"Hunter," her voice repeated.

"What the fuck is a touch of a lemon? How is that even-"

She reached out her hand, resting it on my cheek. "Hunter! Just breathe. Everything is going to be okay - it's just a colour."

"What if I pick the wrong one?"

"I don't think she's going to care."

My eyes widened - hearing that was enough to pull my attention away from the paint name fiasco. "She?"

"What?"

"You said she."

The colour instantly drained from her face, turning a matching shade to the walls surrounding us as she pulled her touch away from my cheek. "N-no, I didn't."

"Angel, are we having a girl?"

There was a painfully long beat of silence before she spoke. "Yes," she admitted, letting out a sigh. "I know you wanted to wait, but the doctor called, and I couldn't resist not knowing. Please don't be mad at me."

My brow furrowed at her words. "I'm not mad at you, Angel."

"You're not?"

"Of course not!" Stepping forward, I raised my hands to cup her face and leaned forward for a kiss. "I can't believe we're having a girl."

Angel must have noticed how my eyes watered as she was quick to say, "Don't cry. My hormones are making me crazy, and if you start crying, I don't think I'll be able to hold myself back."

"I'm sorry, I'm just... excited."

She pressed her lips against mine. "Me too. I can't believe we're doing this again."

"I can't believe I'm getting this emotional the second time around!"

"I love how excited you get," she said, a smile crossing her lips as she wrapped her arms around the back of my neck. "You're such an amazing Dad."

"Does this mean we'll try for number three after?"

"No, Hunter! We agreed on two!"

"But if we have a third, I'll get to complete my band!" I knew the idea alone of a kid drumming in the house drove her insane, yet I couldn't stop teasing her. "I said you could be our lead singer, but you turned me down!"

Swatting my chest with the back of her hand, she rolled her eyes and said, "You're an idiot, you know that?"

"Mmhm," I hummed, pulling her in for another kiss. "An idiot you love."

"Unfortunately," she managed to get out before her mouth was smothered with mine.

"And agreed to marry," kiss, "And have a baby with," kiss, "And another...."

Angel pulled back, attempting to conceal her amusement by sinking her teeth into her bottom lip. "What can I say, Mr. Grayson? You won me over with all that charm of yours."

"I knew I would, Mrs. Grayson." Even after all these years, I never tired of hearing Mrs. at the beginning of her name. "I fell in love with you from the moment I met you at that club and when you put me in my place when you ignored my texts immediately after."

"I never got an SOS from you! I didn't know I had to respond!"

"You didn't, but that's how I knew you were the one for me."

"That's all it took?" She knew it was, but she could never resist asking again - as if she was double-checking that my answer was the same after all this time.

"That's it, Angel."

Her cheeks flushed with colour, the same way they did every time we had this talk. "Thinking about back then... it's quite amazing to see how far we've come, isn't it?"

"I was never one to believe in fate, but that night when we ended things so you could focus on school... I remember thinking to myself... We're going to cross paths again. And when we do, I'll never let her go."

She smiled proudly. "And eighteen months later, we did exactly that."

"I remember it just like it was yesterday. Seeing you from across the bar, finally getting the courage to go say hi." I couldn't hide the grin that crossed my lips over the memory. "Shit - I even remember that summer dress you had on and where every smudge of paint was." Tucking a brand of her golden blonde hair behind her ear, I continued, "I was worried you hated me from how we ended things. It didn't seem bad at the time, but I feared after all those months, you resented me. But the moment I said hi, it was like nothing between us had changed."

"I was so nervous when I saw you," she admitted, "I felt eighteen again."

"I think we both could have used a bottle of booze to calm our nerves," I joked, earning the sweet noise of her laughter to escape. "Everything became easier the moment we caught up. You told me about how you dropped out of school and how livid your parents were... how they cut you off, and you hadn't spoken to them since, but you didn't care because you were finally happy with making your own decisions. There was this glow you had about you, and it made sense where it came from the moment you started talking about painting and that you were thinking about becoming a teacher."

"You remember all of that?"

"Every word," I told her honestly, pecking her lips. "We talked for hours about everything we missed out on, yet it felt like not a day had passed between us. That's how I knew fate was real."

Angel let out an annoyed sigh. "And after hours of talking and walking me home to my apartment, I felt like an idiot for thinking you would kiss me and never did!"

"I thought I was dreaming, and I feared that I would wake up if I asked you out or kissed you."

"Well, my diary had a few choice words for you that night," she teased. "But then you surprised me the next morning, showing up at my door with breakfast and a bouquet of flowers. And it's been happily ever after ever since."

I kept her close to me, "You know what else I remember about that night? It was the first time we heard our wedding song."

"Was it?" Her green eyes peered into mine. "I thought we heard it on the radio a few weeks after when we drove into the city to go to that diner you liked?"

"No, it was definitely that night."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive." I chuckled to myself, recalling the memory. "You accidentally let it slip that you missed me. And to change the subject, you said you liked the song playing. So we sat there and listened to it."

Cheeks flushing with colour, she allowed her gaze to drop. "I don't think I listened to a word of it that night. I was too embarrassed thinking I made a fool out of myself."

"Hearing you say that you had missed me made my night, Angel. It gave me the courage to come by the next morning."

"And look at us now."

"Married with one beautiful baby and another on the way."

Her fingers fumbled with the collar of my worn-out cotton shirt. "Did you ever expect that this would be your life?"

"Not at first," I admitted, "But I also never thought I would get the chance to fall in love with someone. Or believe in fate. And look at us now."

Taking her hand in mine, I placed the other on her waist. Humming the melody from the first dance at our wedding, we began to slowly dance to the song, swaying from side to side in the empty bedroom. Staring into her green eyes, I was more thankful than ever to have this life I was gifted. Never in my early adolescent years would I imagine myself getting married or having children. But that all changed when I met Angel. I saw those things, marriage and babies, in my future with her and only her. And luckily for me, she decided to give me a chance.

There was no one else in this world that I wanted to fall in love with. Or marry. Or be the mother of my children.

Spinning Angel around, I pressed against her backside, moving my hands to rest on her stomach. We will be welcoming another life into this world in some months' time—another baby. Years ago, before her, that would have sent me running for the hills. But now, it's all I wanted.

A tiny human with a mop of dark brown hair dressed in his superhero pyjamas appeared in the doorway. Holding his favourite brown bear in one hand and rubbing his tired eyes with the other, his little voice squeaked, "What are you doing, Daddy?"

"Just reminding Mommy why she fell in love with me," I teased, pressing a quick kiss to her cheek before releasing my grasp. "Where's my good morning hug?"

Theo ran over, the sound of his feet thumping against the hardwood floor with each step. A large smile was plastered across his face as I lifted him into my arms. Although Theo was a mama's boy, I was glad his look of joy never failed to appear whenever he was around. It was my biggest fear when we found out we were having a boy; that he and I would have the same type of relationship that I grew up with. But from the moment I held him in my arms and every day since, I knew I would be nothing like that man.

"Hungry?"

Theo nodded, bouncing excitedly in my arms.

"Daddy, can we make pancakes?"

"Of course, we can, kiddo. Hold on, let me tidy things up here," I said, placing him back down on the ground and turning around to the canisters of paint. "This will only take a second. What do you want on your pancakes, Theo? Chocolate chips?"

Theo's silence took me by surprise. The child always squealed over the chance for chocolate at breakfast. Considering we made it together every Sunday morning, one might think he would come to expect it now. And yet, every Sunday, his face would light up when he heard pancakes with chocolate chips.

"Theo?"

Turning my head, I was met with an empty room. Strange. Theo always waited for me. But maybe he got far too excited and hurried off, and Angel followed after him. Although, I was sure I would have heard the two leave the room.

Rising from the floor, I dusted off my pants and exited the bedroom. I couldn't help but admire our wall of family photos as I made my way. Framed images from our date nights, when I proposed, and our wedding night, all the way to the days when Angel was pregnant, when Theo joined us into this world, and every year he grew up. I hoped we would have enough space when our new bundle of joy joined us. I'd build another wall for all her photos and memories if I had to.

Theo's giggle, followed by sounds of cabinets opening and shutting and utensils pulled out from the drawers in the kitchen, pulled my attention. I guess the little guy was too hungry to wait for me. As much as he looked like a spitting image of me, aside from those adorable green eyes, his personality matched his mother perfectly. And that meant when he was hungry, he was determined to begin organizing all the ingredients needed to make his meal.

"Alright, who's ready for pancakes!" I announced as I entered. Silence fell quickly upon me as I looked around the empty room. "Angel?" Eyes darted around every inch of the small space. "Theo?"

That was odd. I could have sworn they were in here.

Maybe it was the family room?

I was quickly met with the same answer - an empty room. The television was still on, playing Theo's favourite morning cartoons, but no child was in sight.

I ran around the house and checked every room, frantically calling their names. The silence was causing my chest to tighten. Where were they? Playing hide and seek? A prank? Oh god - if Theo was getting into pranks like this, I wasn't sure how I would cope. This was torturous.

I began shouting their names like a mad man as I walked outside. My voice was strained from yelling, full of fear. I was sure I would alert a neighbour or two. Maybe every house on our street. I was sure Angel would make her appearance and scold me for the way I was behaving. But I didn't care. I needed to find them.

Every passing second without them made the tightness in my chest worse. Where on earth could they have gone? I checked every room and space in the house and every inch of our backyard. And yet, there was no trace of them. How could two people vanish within seconds?

Maybe Angel noticed we were out of pancake mix and went to the store. I had to find my phone and call her. I knew we would laugh about my crazed antics the minute she returned. But for now, all that mattered was knowing where she and Theo were and confirming they were safe.

Walking back inside the house and passing through the family room, I stopped in my tracks as my eyes fell to the television. The image of Theo's cartoons was replaced by grey static. Was the cable out?

That's not important right now, the voice in my head scolded me. Find them first!

Where was my fucking phone? Probably still on my nightstand.

Breathe, Hunter. It's going to be okay.

I ran to the bedroom with haste. A small amount of relief filled my lungs. At least my phone was where I had left it.

Dialling her number, I went back to the hallway. The photos would calm me down - they always did. Being reminded of the good always did the trick. Every picture of Theo had one of his famous wide, toothy grins or him erupting into a fit of laughter. If sunshine were a person, it would be him.

Theo. My happy little boy.

The dial went dead, and I tried calling Angel again.

Stay calm. Keep looking at the photos.

Except for this time, when I looked at the frame, Theo was nowhere to be found in the photos. My eyes frantically searched each image; I knew each one had pictures of him only seconds ago. 

Now, the frames were empty.

Theo vanished.

What the fuck?

I looked at our wedding photos. Angel was still there. Thank god. My mind was just playing tricks on me. That had to be the reason. All the photos were the same because having them disappear from the frame would be crazy, right?

But as I glanced back at the wedding photos, Angel was nowhere to be found.

Angel vanished.

Theo vanished.

My family vanished right in front of my eyes.

Hands finding their way into my hair, I pulled on the strands as my eyes squeezed shut. This was a nightmare - I was stuck in a nightmare. This wasn't real. This couldn't be real.

"Daddy?"

My eyes shot open. "Theo?"

"Daddy?" the little voice repeated. "Daddy!"

I ran to the sound of his voice, heading into the bedroom of our soon-to-be baby girl. "Theo?" I called out, looking around the room. "Where are you, son?"

The sound of Theo's giggle filled my ears. He was here. Somewhere.

"Daddy!" his voice squeaked, erupting into another fit of giggles.

My eyes fell to the window, and relief washed over me as I spotted his head of brown curls. Theo! Thank god. I knew my boy was alright.

I turned around, ready to run outside. But the bedroom door was nowhere to be found. My hands ran over the wall. What the fuck? Banging my fists against the wall, I screamed out for help. I had to get to my son. Looking back to the window, I knew there was only one way out. I would fix the mess later. All that mattered was getting Theo back in my arms.

The glass wouldn't break. Everything I tried failed.

I screamed out for him again. I thought I caught his attention, seeing his large green eyes stare into the window. But the child looked like he was staring right through me.

Theo turned his head, and I followed his gaze.

Angel stood behind him. Dressed in a white dress and matching silk ribbon in her hair, she looked like that night on New Year's Eve all those years ago.

Angel! I yelled out to her.

Just like Theo, she didn't hear me. Her attention was on our son, watching him play in the grass.

"Daddy!"

I'm right here, son!

But he didn't say it to me. Theo said it to the unrecognizable man standing next to Angel. The one who had his hands on her stomach. He kissed my wife, picked up my son, and stared back at my house.

I slammed my fists against the window, screaming out for them as loud as I could.

No matter how many times I called out their names, it didn't matter. They didn't hear me. They couldn't hear me.

The walls were beginning to close in around me.

And then, everything went dark.

Beep.

Beep.

Beep.

White walls never looked so plain.

Especially when they were in a room I had never seen before.

Eyes adjusting to the fluorescent lighting, I attempted to make sense of where I was. A slow mechanical beep was evident, but I struggled to find the source of the sound.

Wincing in reaction to the dryness of my throat, I struggled to swallow. Breathing, in general, was a chore. My chest was tight and constricted by unknown sources of pain that stemmed from my entire body.

I fought the urge to close my eyes again. I still didn't know where I was aside from a place with white walls, dim lighting and a distant beep. Fucking hell - that beep was annoying. Beep. Beep. Beep. If it weren't for my inability to make a noise, I would have yelled at someone to turn that fucking thing off. Well, that was assuming someone else was here. I struggled to turn my head entirely to either side, but I believed I was alone.

Alone.

I was alone.

Alone in an unknown room with a distant beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.

I caught sight of the couch pushed against the far wall; a bunched-up blanket and pillow rested on one end, while a notebook and box of coloured pencils were placed on the other. I guess I wasn't alone after all. Someone else was here. That was nice to know - even if they never returned - that I wasn't alone at some point.

A golden glow in the form of an angel appeared in the doorway. Was I dead? No - surely I couldn't be dead. If that were true, it would mean I had to be in heaven - and there was no chance in hell I had made it there.

The angel dipped her spoon into a chocolate pudding cup before raising the plastic utensil to her mouth and indulging in the creamy treat. Did angels eat pudding?

"Holy shit!" Her voice managed through the mouthful as she quickly made her way over. The cup was placed on the side table, and she sat down on the edge of the bed. "You're awake!"

I should have wondered why she sounded surprised, as if she was worried waking up was not my only outcome. But instead, there was only one question on my mind,

"Where's Theo?" 

ch graphics for this one were so cute. check them out on my twitter - normiesandwich

link for graphics ->

aw. poor hunter. imagining what his life could have been like.