Our Time Will Come - An After Story

65

Tessa

"Emery, I want to have a talk with you before Charlie is back from football practice" I hear Hardin tell our daughter. Oh dear, he doesn't sound happy. I retrieve my cookies from the oven, before entering the sitting room to snoop in on the conversation. "What about?" Emery twirls her hair around her finger while obnoxiously glaring at her phone. "What do you mean, what about?" Hardin snatches her phone from her.

"What have I told you about going into Charlie's room? You're sixteen years old and while you're under my bloody roof, you'll abide by my rules!" Hardin scolds our daughter. "Oh daddy, you're so dramatic" she rolls her eyes vigorously. "Dramatic? I am not dramatic!" He throws his arms in the air in a strop, maybe he is a little dramatic. "I allowed you to go into his room for comfort, when Charlie had just lost his parents, but now you're just taking the piss. You're not doing it anymore" my husband huffs.

I do understand where Hardin is coming from, but in my opinion, they're going to have sex at some point, so if they're going to do it anywhere, I'd rather it be safely at home, than anywhere else. Not that I'd encourage them to have sex at all, at their age... shut up Tessa.

"But why? It's not like we do anything, we just chill" Emery barks. "You can't fool me! I was a teenage boy too at one time, I know how they think!" Hardin raises his voice. "No offence daddy, but Charlie is nothing like you when you were his age, which was a long time ago, by the way" our daughter sasses and I try not to laugh at the anguish on Hardin's face. "Besides, we don't do ..that, we have never.." she struggles to say the actual words and blushes like a dork. "Good! Keep it that way!" Hardin demands and Emery rolls her eyes once more.

"Anyway, now that we have got that over and done with. I was going to ask if you want me to take you out in your car?" Hardin tells our daughter and her face lights up with enthusiasm. It has been two weeks since Emery turned sixteen, and with everything that has been going on, she hasn't even had the chance to test drive her new car. "Yes! Yes!" Emery gushes and is quick to head onto the driveway. Hardin kisses me on the cheek, before following her and my heart melts at the fact that they're bonding. I make my way back into the kitchen, to decorate my cookies and clean, while the babies are sleeping.

It's been a crazy few weeks, to say the least and it's nice to finally be able to spend some time with the children. Ever since that ghastly day at the beach, when Charlie got the dreaded news about his parents, things have been rough. Not only did Charlie find out that his parents had died in a tragic car accident, he then found out days later that he was adopted and he has had the hardest time coming to terms with the fact.

Hardin and I met that horrible Aunt of Charlie's and instantly understood why he disliked her so much, and we also met with Charlie's social worker for the first time. Hardin was hell bent on becoming Charlie's Legal Guardian and I couldn't understand why. I didn't even think that Hardin liked the boy that much. I initially told him no, and that we could not accept the responsibility of another child in the house. But, everything changed when I met that wicked witch of an Aunt. There was no way that I was going to allow Charlie to go stay with her.

Hardin and I now have a date for a court meeting in a few weeks time, and hopefully, from that day on, we will be Charlie's legal guardians. Charlie has been no problem in the house, in fact he helps with chores more than our own children do. I can tell that Charlie isn't going to be any trouble at all and I feel silly for even worrying about that.

His parents funeral was only three days ago. Of course, Hardin and I attended it for support, but it was hard to see Charlie become frustrated when all of the Travers' doctor friends, were approaching him and telling them what wonderful humans his parents were. He just couldn't understand. It took me back to my fathers funeral, when I held so much anger towards him, yet people were telling Me over and over what a great man he was. I felt like screaming in their faces and telling them how wrong they were. The service was simple and though it was a good turn out, the people who attended were mainly colleagues, rather than friends.