Chapter Text
Hope closes her eyes for a moment as she takes in the bustling sounds of her little cafe this morning. The place is filled with her typical regulars, eating and drinking their usual items of choice, and business is doing really well. She'd been a little bit worried when she first opened up this place, unsure if it would work out, but it wound up being one of the best decisions she ever made.
Overall, Hope was pretty satisfied with her life right now. Well, expect for one part of it anyway. But she wasn't so sure she was even ready to jump back into the dating pool again. For a handful of reasons. Even if her heart did secretly ache a little whenever she saw two old people holding hands, or couples sneaking kisses over coffee. Romance was just far too messy right now.
Hope exhales as sigh as she shakes off the thought, and turns her attention towards the cafe door. The bell positioned atop it jingles loudly to signify there's a new customer, and in walks a young man with dark curly hair, and the nicest green-gray eyes Hope has ever seen.
"Hi, welcome to Hayley's. What can I get you?" She greets as he approaches the counter.
"I'll just take a medium coffee to go, please. Thanks."
'Nice voice too.' She briefly thinks to herself as she reaches for one of the cups.
But before she can even tell him, 'coming right up', his stomach seems to growl in protest of his minimal order, much too his own embarrassment.
Hope tries to stifle a chuckle, though not with very much success. "You sure about that? Because it sounds like your stomach might disagree."
The young man laughs sheepishly, rubbing at his neck. "Apparently my idea to skip breakfast this morning was not very well received."
Hope smiles in amusement. "Well, we do sell a variety of muffins that I personally make in house, if you care to try one of those."
He lets out a hum of interest as he bends down slightly to get a better view of the baked goods on display behind the glass. “What kind do you have?”
"Today we've got blueberry, chocolate chip, poppy seed, and that last one there is a peanut butter and bacon muffin."
The young man looks up curiously at the last one she mentions. "That's a pretty unique combo, what made you come up with that?"
Hope's face reddens slightly, for reasons he doesn't understand, and she shifts awkwardly. "Oh, um. It was just something my overtired brain came up with late one night." She laughs nervously. "But they've actually been pretty popular, believe it or not."
He smiles as he straightens back up. "I’ll also take one of those then."
Hope grins. "You won't regret it."
She reaches for a marker to label his cup while she gets his order together.
"Name?"
"Landon."
She nods and she begins to scribble his name onto the side of the cup, then proceeds to get him his muffin and coffee.
When he's done paying and she hands him his order, he glances at her name tag before letting his eyes meet her. "Thanks. It was really nice meeting you, Hope."
"Yeah, you too." She smiles.
As he exits the door of the cafe, a petite brunette, Penelope Park, Hope's coworker and longtime friend, approaches the counter to talk to her.
“Hope Mikaelson, did I just see you flirting with a customer?”
"Wh-what? No, of course not." She quickly denies, and Penelope leans forward to get a better look at Hope's face, grinning at what she sees.
"You're blushing!"
"I am not! It's just hot in here."
"Oh, I bet it is." The brunette snickers, and Hope glares at her before exhaling a heavy sigh and shaking her head.
“Besides, even if I did like him, it’s not like anything can happen between us.”
Penelope tips her head in confusion. “What? Why not? What’s the problem?”
“Gee, I don’t know Pen. You don’t think that this is an issue?”
Hope steps out from the tall counter she'd been standing behind to reveal that she is four months pregnant.
Penelope folds her arms over her chest and blows out a raspberry. “Oh come on, it’s not that big of a deal. It’s not even your baby. It’s Lizzie and MG’s. You’re just a giant incubator.”
Hope narrows her eyes at her. “Thanks.”
The brunette sighs. “You know what I mean. It’s not like you’re out there looking for a daddy. Well, unless-”
“Penelope!” Hope quickly interrupts, and her coworker lets out an amused laugh at her embarrassment.
“Relax, Mikaelson. It's just..." Her voice shifts from being teasing to one that's sincere. "I haven’t seen you flirt with someone since your breakup, and that was ages ago. It wouldn't hurt for you to try and get back out there again."
Hope briefly looks away and exhales a deep sigh. She knew her friend was right, though she didn't intend to give her the satisfaction of admitting to that, but now was hardly the time for her to be dating.
“It just wouldn't work, Pen. Yes, he wouldn't have to deal with a kid afterwards, but he’d still have to deal with all the other lovely stuff that comes with me being pregnant though. Not to mention, Lizzie has a very strict no sex rule. And I quote: ‘Nothing is going in you, until that thing comes out of you.’”
Penelope scrunches up her nose in disgust at the mental image. “Gross.” Hope nods in agreement.
"No guy is gonna want to sign up for this, no matter how nice he is, and I don't blame him."
The brunette frowns, placing one hand on her hip, shooting her friend an accusatory look. "I think you're just making excuses to avoid opening your heart up again."
Hope bristles at the observation.
"Alright, that's enough talk of my baggage for one day." She quickly announces, clearly done with discussing her love life, or lack there of, any further. "I don't pay you to be my therapist, I pay you to serve coffee. Now come on, get back to work." She makes a flicking gesture with her wrist to shoo her along, and Penelope throws her hands up with a defeated sigh.
"Whatever you say boss."
It's about 20 minutes before closing time, and Hope is cleaning off some of the tables when she hears the bell on the door jingle as it's being opened. She glances over her shoulder to find Landon standing at the entrance, looking around for something. When he spots her, he grins widely before taking in a steadying breath, and making his way over.
"Landon." She greets in surprise, slowly beginning to turn around and face him.
“Hey, um. This might seem a little forward of me, but I really enjoyed talking with you this morning. So I was kinda wondering if maybe you would like to-" It's at that point his brain finally registers Hope's slightly protruding stomach, and his ramblings immediately cease. If it was possible that a person could actually short circuit, she was pretty sure that's what was happening to Landon right now.
“Oh my God." He finally manages guiltily to utter, eyes as wide as saucers. "I’m so sorry! You were behind the counter before and I-, I didn't realize!"
Landon rubs at his face, clearly embarrassed by his blunder. He feels like a complete idiot, of course he imagined that there might be something there between them. She obviously had someone else in her life.
"Right then. So I'm gonna go crawl in a hole and die. You have a nice evening." He hastily makes a break for the door when something stops him.
“It’s not mine.” She calls out, making him halt in his tracks, and he cautiously turns back around to look at her.
His brows knit together in moderate confusion as he tries to make sense of that vague statement. “Uh, isn’t that usually something that the guy says?”
Hope chuckles and shakes her head, deciding it would probably be for the best if she just explains. “Long story short? My best friend and her husband really wanted to have a baby, but unfortunately, thanks to a medical condition, she’s unable to carry one. So, I offered to be their surrogate. Basically, it’s their bun cooking in my oven.”
“Oh... Huh.” He muses, wandering a little closer, thoughtfully pondering over what she’s told him.
Hope leans forward and cups her hand around mouth. “This is the part where you lose interest and run.” She whispered with a small laugh, waiting for him to make a beeline for the door again.
He tips his head to the side, expression sincere. “Do you want me to lose interest?”
Hope blinks in surprise at his question. She hadn’t been expecting that and it takes her a moment to gather her words.
“Uh. No. Not really.” She admits softly, hands fiddling with the strings of the apron tied around her waist.
Landon smiles. “Well, if that’s the case, do you still want to want to get dinner sometime?”
Hope’s so stunned by his decision to still ask her out, that her feelings of disbelief accidentally slip from her lips without even thinking.
"What's wrong with you?" She blurts out, and Landon can't help but be both confused, and offended by the question.
"I'm sorry?"
Hope's eye widen in panic and she winces at her choice of words. "Uh, sorry. Didn't mean for that to sound quite so abrasive. What I mean is, why would you want to still go out with me?”
Landon shrugs, answering her honestly. “The way I see it, to be willing to do something as big as what you’re doing, to put your body through that for nine months in order to help out a friend... You’d have to be a pretty amazing person, and that’s someone I’d really like to get to know. If you'll let me."
Hope's taken aback by the sweetness of his answer and can't help the warm smile that spreads across her face. That might be the nicest thing anyone has ever said to her. Maybe she should just risk it, it was just one date after all.
“Alright. A couple ground rules then. And if you’re still standing here when I finish, I'll take that as confirmation that you're just crazy enough to still want to give this a shot.”
Landon laughs and shoots her a playful grin. “Bring it on, Hope.”
She holds up her index finger. “Rule number one: there will be no sex between us until after the baby. Which is largely for your own safety, because my friend will kill you if break that one.”
He nods. “Good to know.”
“Rule number two: I have an insane amount of hormones swirling around inside me, so my emotions might not always be as consistent as I want them to be. So don't judge me for it."
Hope takes a deep breath before reciting the last rule, wringing her hands together as a wave of insecurity hits her. "And rule number three: my body is obviously going to change throughout this process, and should whatever this is go any further, this is probably the smallest that you're going to see me for awhile. So I need you to understand that."
Exhaling a short puff of air, she gives him a small shrug. "And well, that's it I guess."
The otherwise empty cafe falls quiet as she finishes, with only the low hum of the appliances making any sound. Landon makes no effort to move.
“So... It looks like you're still here." She observes aloud.
Landon shoves his hands in his pockets and nods. "I am."
Hope stares at him long and hard before finally letting a soft smile grace her lips, as she lightly shakes her head.
"Okay then, it's a date."