After All The Hardships (Hessa fanfic)

4

Hardin's POV

Fuck. 

Fuck it's so hard. 

Tessa really had to put on that red dress I bought for her birthday. I bought it so I could enjoy her curves and tits only to myself. And now she wore it to the family reunion. Although I am thankful she's wearing a cardigan over it. Or else it would have been inappropriate for this occasion without it. 

I keep my hand on her thigh, caressing it and digging my fingernails into it to keep myself entertained during the dinner. Little "ooh's" fall from her lips every time when I pinch her, but it's quiet enough that only Heather, who is sitting next to Tessa, hears it. Heather grins savagely at me. I swear, if she glances under the table cloth...

"Hardin," Tessa looks at me.

"Yeah?" I answer grinning. She tries not to laugh.

"Ken asked you something." 

I was distracted with distracting Tessa that I didn't notice anyone else. "Oh, um, I'm sorry, what did you ask?" I say, turning to Ken, who was across the table.

"I asked how you two were coming along to this new environment. I know that you two moved out of that apartment for a couple of weeks."

I don't see why he could have asked Tessa, since I know she's polite enough to answer. "We're doing okay. Emery's already making a mess everywhere and I go clean up after her. Imagine two young kids at once," I sigh, taking a drink of champagne.

"Well," Landon joins in the conversation, "Hardin supervises Emery and Tessa supervises Auden. Or the other way around." We all laugh, except the four girls, Addy, Emery, Emmitt, and Abby, who were off to the side doing pancake patacake or whatever the hell cliques do, and Smith still holds that expression he always has on ever since I met him. 

He looks more like a dead corpse than usual. Christian really needs to start paying attention more to his kids than his 20 or more years younger wife.

"Now that I realize it, none of us has ever had two small kids all at once," Tessa's mum says. "I guess Hardin and Tessa would have to find help from other people then." 

"We have," Christian speaks. "But I wouldn't count it because Smith was always very easy. He was like an adult trapped in a child's body."

Tessa looked discouraged. "It won't be hard with 2, right? I mean, it's not like we're out numbered or anything..." I take her hand under the table and rub her fingers to ease her worries.

"Oh, I'm sure it'll be nothing. Carol doesn't know what she's talking about," Karen responds. I swore, I expected Carol to go ballistic, but she didn't say anything. 

After some more conversating, Tessa, with the help of the other women, clear the table while me and Smith do the dishes.

"How you doing lil bro?" I ask.

He laughs. "Good. And don't ever say that again."

"I'm surprised you didn't bring any of your train tracks and that Thomas the Train figurine thing."

"First of all, I'm 17, and second, I've never had any 'Thomas the Train figurine.'"

"I'm just messing with you." He scrapes the extra scraps on the plates and I wet them and load them into the dishwasher.

"Hardin," he begins.

"Yeah?"

"Uh, I need your help with something."

"What is it?" I ask, still facing the sink.

"It's about a girl."

I turn dramatically. "Continue."

"She, um, is really pretty and asked me if I wanted to go to the museum with her."

"And..." All of a sudden I see a 5 year old Smith Vance again, quiet and still, small and short.

I can tell he wants to get out of this conversation, but it's too late. "I don't know why she asked me though. I'm one of those guys that no one knows I'm there, like a floating ghost, and here she is all of a sudden asking me to go somewhere with her. I can't help but feel that she's using me."

"Or, she actually likes you. You have that mysterious vibe, she might like guys like that," I say. From experience, girls did like me because of my mysterious appeal, but some turned away because of how rude I was. My girl tried to, but I didn't let her.

Smith chuckles. "Dad has lots of money, which means I got lots of money. If I somehow 'magically fall in love with her' she's just using me to pay her trips to the plastic surgeon."

"Just go to the god damn date man. If she gives hints that she will play with you, call me and I'll beat her ass. I'll also bring Emery once she masters taekwondo." We both laugh. 

"She'll really kick ass," Smith jokes and we laugh even harder.

I think it's the alcohol making me feel easily laughable but it's a good feeling. 

We go back inside the living room where everyone else is.

Before sitting down, I kiss Tessa's cheek. Carol smiles at us. I'm glad I proved her predictions wrong about me breaking her heart. Well, I did, but I still stayed and fought for Tessa.

"And then she had her phone right beside her during the test so I took it away from her and she had to take it all over again. I heard her mumble 'bitch' but it was funny as hell!" Landon says, practically yelling loudly. 

Addy looks at him frightened. I don't think she ever heard him cuss before. I think everyone is almost close to drunk.

"Come on kids," Sophia tells the small kids, mostly Emery and Addy. "Let's go in the kitchen where we can't hear the adults saying bad things." She glares behind her but Landon doesn't notice. Someone's gonna get a huge talking to tonight.

"I'll come with." Tessa rises.

I stand up with her. "No, baby, stay here and rest," I whisper in her ear. Usually, that's what gets her to listen to what I say, but she knows my trick too well.

"I'm fine Hardin. The baby's not due till 2 months and I'm not in any pain yet."

"I hate seeing you in pain," I sulk. Her yelling in pain when Emery came out made me wanna fucking pull the baby out of her.

"And I'm not in any so I will be fine. Really." Her eyes and eyebrows rose to persuade me to let her walk to her own kitchen to watch over the kids. I can't believe how stupid I'm becoming.

"Fine. Okay but if anything goes wrong, then yell for me."

She giggles. "What could go wrong in the kitchen?"

"Anything."

"Tell them to keep their shouting and cussing to a minimum because children are present," she tells me before she leaves.

I wait until she walks into the kitchen, the swinging kitchen doors closing behind her.

"Listen here you loud bastards," I tell drunk Landon, David, and Christian, "Tessa doesn't like your screaming and cussing in front of kids. So dear god, please stop. She's pregnant!" I'm overreacting, I know.

"Hardin!" Tessa calls for me.

Shit, I run over to the kitchen as fast as I could.

"Yes? Is everything okay?" Tessa seems fine, nothing out of place or anything.

"Yeah. You didn't finish the dishes though." I look behind her.

Shit, I forgot we hadn't finished cleaning the dishes yet. 

(NOTE:

I don't really like this chapter because I feel like it wasn't good.)