From Grief We grew (Only On Wattpad)

Chapter 43 Hayden

“Did you get the Tourtière?” Bea holds out a box and nods. "Okay let's go." I take a step forward but she stays still. I see her looking at the 17-year-old that’s carrying Hope and walking around inside the house. “Sofia will take good care of them. Don’t worry. Plus my parents will be back after lunch.” Bea nods and we leave.
 
   “Wait!” She places her hand on mine just as I’m about to turn the steering wheel.
 
   “Bea, don’t worry-“
 
   “No. No.” She puts her hand into her purse and pulls out a small black bag. “I got this for you.” I take it and open the bag. I pull out a silver chain with a letter H pendant. The pendant is shaped in such a way that one line of the H looks like a guitar.
 
   “Bea this is beautiful. Thank you.” I kiss her cheeks and she smiles. I inhale the scent of the new perfume I got her and Katherine yesterday.
 
   “Oh my- are we late,” I ask as we walk in. Haley and Fiona are already there. They wave at us from the table.
 
   “No. No. We are just laying everything out. You are right on time.” I hand Lucah the paper bag. He thanks me and leads us to join the others.
 
   “Hi. Hi. Hi!” Teagan walks into the living room and places 3 wine glasses on the center table we are sitting at. Lucah places 3 more. Then they bring the box with tourtière and join us.
 
   “Wait! Tourtière? Who is french here!?” Haley exclaims.
 
   “Hayden brought it. Hayden, I didn’t know you were French.” Lucah looks at me.
 
   “Oh no. Not me. Katherine is. My mum. She’s French Canadian. She makes these every Christmas season,” I explain.
 
   “And they are delicious! Especially when she adds sour cream and pork,” Teagan adds.
 
   “That's the one,” I chuckle.
 
   “Oh my.”
 
   “Haley is French Canadian too,” Lucah informs.
 
   “Yes. Yes. Does your mum also make Bûche De Noël or Yule log?” Haley asks.
 
   “Occasionally yes. I don’t have too much of a sweet tooth. Neither does dad.” Zayden did...
 
  “Oh okay. I brought a Yule log. I hope you like them.”
 
   “I’ve had neither,” Fiona comments. So Haley takes it upon herself to serve the French dishes for Fiona. She gives her a brief explanation about it and Fiona listens attentively. I notice Lucah nudging Teagan and they smile. I then divert my attention to Bea to make sure she is okay. “How is the tourtière?”
 
   “Delicious,” she whispers.
 
   The Yule log turns out to be great too. We each compliment the others cooking. Especially Lucah who cooked most of the dishes. After eating, we help clean up and get all the dishes to the kitchen. Bea helps Teagan pack the leftovers and place them in the fridge. Then Teagan tells Lucah to show his room to us.
 
   “Wow.” I lay on the mattress next to Bea while staring at the wall. The painting of UFOs and planets glow when Teagan offs the light.
 
   “Splendid isn't it?” Teagan asks.
 
   “Yes. How long did this take? I could never. Wow,” I ramble as I sit up. I look at the stars on the side and the floor.
 
   “A week or so.”
 
   “You are really talented Lucah,” Bea compliments. The lights go on and he thanks her.
 
  “Yup. My buddy is going to be a great artist one day,” Haley states as she walks in.
 
   “We all are going to be,” Lucah says with a humble smile.
 
   I notice Teagan frowning. I know who she is thinking about. That’s exactly what Teagan used to tell Zayden. Her eyes meet mine and the frown disappears.

   “Oh don’t count me. I’m an amateur,” I say in disagreement. “Music is my niche.”
 
   “Why are you doing arts then?” Haley asks.
 
   “Uhm...” I look at Teagan not sure if she wants us to talk about Zayden.
 
   “He wanted to learn art,” Teagan answers. I nod and add, “Yes. Yes. And my parents wanted their son to be an artist.” Son that wasn’t me.
 
   Lucah looks at Teagan and she immediately says, “Okay. Okay. Now you guys go sit down. Lucah let Lassie out. Poor thing has been locked up all day.” She gestures for us to leave. Fiona and Haley walk out with Lucah. I follow behind.
 
   “Bea. Wait”  Hearing this I stop too. I turn around. Teagan rummages through a bag and then pulls out something. She hands Bea one and one to me. “I bought these toys for Avery and Hope.” I look at the white lamb doll in my hand. Bea has a light pink one.
 
   “Thank you so much.” Bea hugs her. Teagan looks at me in surprise and then hugs Bea. I never told her a word about the child yet she chose to be kind. I feel guilty. I know Bea does too because I see it in her eyes when she looks at me. I nod. She then looks at Teagan. “Can I help you wash the dishes?”
 
   Before Teagan can reply, I intervene, “Yes. You two girls talk and bond over the dishes. I'll go tell Lucah.”
 
   Teagan whispers something to Lucah before she takes Bea away to the kitchen. Lucah and I along with the girls end up watching a show on Tv. We end up barely paying attention to it though as we keep chatting until Tegan and Bea are done.
 
   I look at Bea and she nods. She comes to sit beside me and listens to everyone chattering about where to go. Finally, we settle on taking a walk to the park.
 
   “How did it go?” I whisper leaning close to her. We walk slowly keeping a distance from the crowd.
 
   “She is really sweet. When I told her Avery isn’t your daughter, she didn’t frown. She just nodded. I couldn’t tell her much though. She told that I didn’t have to tell her all this. She trusts in your choices. I insisted I wanted to. So then I told her about my ex and what he did. Then Teagan said that there was no hurry to discuss this. She probably sensed how nervous I got. I was worried some would hear us. So she said we'll talk about it tonight at her house after we cut the cake for Lucah.”
 
   I nod. “Okay.” I squeeze her hand. “We’ll tell her whatever you want together.”
 
   We spend some time in the park throwing snowballs and making angels. After that, Lucah suggests going to an art exhibition down the street. Fiona with her witty jokes keeps the group most entertained while we walk. Lucah and Haley added to it about events at Fanshawe. Bea keeps smiling and chuckling throughout the walk until we stop. Her expression changes suddenly. I look at the building in front of us following her eyes.
 
   “What's wrong?” I nudge her.
 
   “This used to be an instrument store,” she whispers.
 
   “Your dad's?”
 
   She nods.
 
   “Guys Cmon!” Fiona calls.
 
   “Do you want to stay out?” I ask.
 
   “No. It’s okay. Let’s go.”
 
   The others wander off to see the paintings of the artists displayed. I pull Bea to a corner upon noticing two chairs and sit with her. Bea keeps looking around while gripping her skirt. I place my hand on hers. “It has changed a lot,” she whispers. Then her face gets even more serious and she gasps.
 
   “Bea?” I turn to look but she quickly places her hand on my cheeks and leans in to kiss me. I kiss her back for a quick moment and pull away. “Are you okay?”
 
   “Hey, are you guys okay?” I look up and see Lucah. I nod and just as I’m about to answer him, my phone rings.
 
   “I felt a tad bit dizzy is all,” Bea lies.
 
  I pull my phone out. Cake guy. Shit, I can’t answer him here. I show Bea the phone. “I got to take this call. Will you be okay?”
 
   “I’ll be with her.”
 
   I thank Lucah and run out. The guy complains that my handwriting wasn’t visible. So I tell him verbally what I had written to be put on the cake. Then I inform him that I’ll come to collect the cake soon and ended the call.
 
   I rush back to the building when I bump into someone. “I'm so- Bea?” She looks like she saw a ghost. I hold her by her arm. “Are you okay?”
 
   She nods frantically. “Yes. I gotta go Hayden. Tell Teagan I’m so sorry. I need to go home urgently.”
 
   “Babe, what is wrong?”
 
   “Uhm Mira hurt herself. She wants me to come home.”
 
   “Okay come I’ll drop you off.”
 
   She shakes her head. “No. You go carry out Teagan's plan. Tell her I’m terribly sorry.” She pulls her hand away and starts walking.
 
  “Bea wait! What about Avery?”
 
   “I’ll pick her up.”
 
   “Bea let me drop you please,” I insist.
 
   “Hayden it will take time by the time we walk to Lucah's place. Get your car-“
 
   “I can’t rest knowing you aren’t okay. I’m coming with you.” I take my phone out. “I'll text and tell T I'll be back in 30 minutes.”
 
   “Hayden. No!” I ignore her protest and walk away. I stop a taxi and open the door for her. She obeys and gets in.
 
   Her phone keeps beeping with texts on our way. She doesn’t dare to look at it. “Bea, is everything alright?”
 
   “Yes. Mira is just impatient.”
 
   Something tells me she is lying. I can feel the tension. I notice how she grips her skirt.  I don’t ask her anything though. We go pick up Avery and I drop them off by her street.
 
   I grab her hand before she can close the door. “Promise me you’ll call me if anything happens.” She nods and shuts the door. I watch her walk away. I don’t leave. I feel the tension still lingering in the air. Did something happen there? My thoughts get interrupted by Teagan's phone call. I sigh and turn the car around. God, I hope nothing goes wrong.