After The Truth

Tessa Chapter 19

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I slowly lift my head, it takes me a moment to open my eyes. I look down and see Hardins arms wrapped around me, I look up and see he's still asleep.

We must have moved in our sleep.

I slowly unwrap his arms and crawl out of bed, I walk downstairs quickly and walk into the kitchen. The clock reads 3:30 am, great. I grab a glass of water and sit down by the counter.

"Tessie?"

I turn around and see my mom, she yawns before she walks in and sits next to me.

"What wrong sweetie?"

"Nothing, I just have a lot on my mind."

Not a complete lie but far from the truth.

She places her hand on my back.

"Tessa you can't fool me, I saw your face when he walked in through that door. What's going on?"

"Nothing, we're just........having a bit of a disagreement."

"You're a bad liar Tessie, but if you really don't want to tell me what happened I can't force you."

I lightly pick at my fingers.

"How do you and dad do it mom? You guys are so perfect."

She lightly laughs.

"Oh honey, we aren't perfect. Every relationship has its ups and down, and although fighting is awful and it hurts it is part of being in love with someone. Your father and I had a few bumps in the road before we got to where we are."

"How did you get past it?"

She laughs.

"I don't think you ever stop fighting, we do bicker sometimes. But one of the big things that we did was we promised to be honest with each other, no matter what was wrong we always told each other how we feel. Even if I was upset because he was wearing dirty shoes in the house, communication is the most important thing. Communication and trust."

Yeah....trust. We definitely don't have that.

"Look, I don't know what happened between you two or what he did. But take it from someone who has been with the same man for 30 years, that man loves you. The way he looks at you honey, he's so gentle with his touch and how highly he speaks of you. Sometimes the people you love are the people that can hurt you the most, but you have to remember the earth is beautiful but nothing would grow without a rain storm."

My mother and her metaphors.

"Thanks mom."

"If you love him like you say you do, I think you should give him a second chance."

"But he hurt me mom, not physically but he hurt me."

She stays quiet, she tires to collect her thought.

"You know while I was pregnant with you, I was really stressed because you were my first kid. I was about nine months and you were about to pop out, I was trying on dresses and your farther thought it would be "funny" to call me fat."

I can't help but laugh, my dad is so clueless sometimes.

"And in that moment I got so upset that I threatened that I wanted a divorce, he apologized and said it was a joke but I was hormonal and very very pregnant. I ignored him and sat in the living room the whole day all the way till night. It was almost midnight and I was tired and our bedroom used to be upstairs, I could not climb those stairs for the life of me. I was stubborn and my ego was huge and I refused to ask for help."