New Beginnings: A Hessa Story (2)

Chapter 97: Tessa

"I want to see each one." Hardin orders as he sits on the loveseat outside the changing room. Whenever we go shopping together, Hardin always demands to see each outfit I put on, but now that I'm pregnant and trying on motherly dresses, I don't see why he wants to.

I pull open the curtain to reveal a modest looking dress that I could possibly wear to Noah and Shannon's wedding. It's a dark blue, knee length dress that accentuates the size of my stomach. It is nice to wear a tighter dress that is actually meant to be tight.

"What do you think?" I twirl in a circle so Hardin can see the full dress. I can tell that he's not impressed.

"It's... nice." He forces his mouth to say something positive.

"Not the one?"

"It's a Valentine's Day wedding. I don't think blue is an appropriate color for the occasion."

"Since when did you become such an expert on wedding attire?"

"Since I began dating your ass." He rolls his eyes. "Now next!" He shouts, and shoos me back into the dressing room to change.

The next one is a longer dress that goes right below my knee. It's dark red with big poofy sleeves. As I put the dress on, I begin to reconsider choosing to try this on. What was I thinking?

I open the curtain once more, and Hardin's eye's bulge as he takes in my appearance.

"I love you, but that's possibly the ugliest dress I've ever seen."

I turn back around and glance into the mirror. He's right. These sleeves are so unattractive, especially with my large, pregnant stomach. It's all too much.

Without responding, I go back into the changing room to try on one final dress. It's a floor length off-the-shoulder dress. It's light pink with flowers, and unlike the other two, it flows and it's not restricting. I think this is the winner because not only is it super comfortable, but it doesn't make me look huge. I still look pregnant, but not to the point of showing it off.

"Need help in there?" Hardin peeks his head through the curtain before I can even stop him. His mouth immediately opens as he takes in this dress.

"You look..." He stutters. "You look absolutely beautiful."

"I really like this one." I twirl around the room like a ballerina. "I can't get over how comfortable it is. I just want to run through a field of daisies in it."

Hardin laughs at my absurd behavior. "That dress was made for you. Is there anything else you want to try on?"

"No, I think this is it." I look at the price tag, cringing at how much it costs.

"How much is it?" Hardin asks.

"$110." I shrug, not wanting to spend all this money on one dress. "It's kind of a lot for a dress."

"Don't worry about it. Now take it off so I can pay for it." He rushes me. I don't like shopping, but Hardin hates shopping even more than I do.

I laugh right in his face. "You're not paying for it, Hardin."

"You bet I fucking am, now take it off."

"Hardin..."

"No, Tessa. I'm paying, end of discussion. Now. Take. It. Off." He shuts the curtain forcefully. He just can't control himself when it comes to paying for my things. Thank goodness I already gave the women at the register a hundred dollars before even looking at dresses. Take that, Hardin.

A few minutes later, Hardin re opens the curtain and throws a pair of jeans into the room.

"Here, I got these for you. Since you already have a pair at home, I just got the same size." He has a smirk on his face as he tells me this. He knows I don't enjoy when he pays for things, but he always fucking insists.