After Hardin left

Maybe

!IMPORTANT! This story is inspired by one of @Ishawrites_2007 one-shots. Please check her out she's amazing. She's a sweet person and literally my favorite author on Wattpad. Her ideas are the best and to anyone that likes Desi romance she's the one!

Tessa P.O.V

I'm really stressed out today. Don't get me wrong, I love seeing Karen, Ken, Kim, Vance and everyone else! It's just, Hardin will be there.

Hardin was my love. I think you know of our story and I thought that when we had Emery and Auden, it was the end of our story and we would live happily for the rest of our lives. Alas, that just happens in books...

While in New York with Landon when I was broken up with Hardin (After ever Happy) I had met Rachel. She was a sweet girl and we had a lot of common interests. The thing was, she was in a really abusive relationship with a guy named Danny. 

I hadn't known that Danny was in anyway mistreating Rachel because they acted like the picture perfect couple. I was even jealous of Rachel's relationship with Danny at one point but one day she showed up to mine and Hardin's house (while I was pregnant with Auden) with a black eye. I got as much information I could out of her and put the rest of the pieces together myself. I talked her into breaking up with Danny and then, me and Hardin decided to let her move in.

She had a good job that paid really well so, she paid her share in the rent, babysat Emery for us while we were busy and helped with chores. She was truly a gem to have in our house. She had moved out 8 months along. While she was there, I had no reason to suspect that Rachel and Hardin ever had a thing for each other. They were really good at acting so I never got any signs or maybe I ignored them, i don't know! But, I never, in my wildest dreams had I thought that my best friend and boyfriend would have an affair

The rest of my pregnancy and the year following my boy's birth, things were completely normal but then, A few days before Auden turned one, Hardin.... became distant. He would throw himself in "work" and even missed Auden's first birthday and Emmie's fifth. Time after time, we just got fed excuses after excuses and every time I saw Auden crying for daddy or Emmie's hurt expression after he missed important events in her life like the first day of school, her birthday, first dance practice and everything else I started to resent him for putting our children through this.

He hid his phone from me, became cold, no longer initiated, no longer cuddled with me on the couch and everything showing signs of a cheater. I started to become suspicious and we started fighting. I found he did in fact cheat, clicked screenshot after screenshot while scrolling through all the text messages of him flirting with her, them sending each other provocative pictures, making plans to meet up, mocking me together. I was numb as I was reading this. It was as if I was clicking pictures while on autopilot. The other woman was Rachel.

I confronted him the next day and it went just how it does in those crappy reddit stories. He got defensive, tried to deny it, said I was crazy and after everything he admitted to cheating and something much worse. See, as I told you, my brain was on autopilot while I was clicking screenshots meaning I was just mindlessly clicking them not even bothering to read anything. That's how I missed a truly disgusting piece of information that I won't say because I'll throw up but it's BAD.

I immediately separated with him. I told Emmie and she seemed hurt Hardin wasn't there with me to explain her this trivial piece of information. She had a lot of pent up anger inside her and seeing as Hardin wasn't there, I was at the receiving end of her frustration. I think she overheard a conversation between me and Kim about it being my idea to separate and since that day, she viewed me as some villain who took away her loving father wen in fact, it was him who decided to cheat.

I never held that against Emmie obviously but it hurt y'know. Having the love of my life cheat on me and my precious daughter taking his side. I know she didn't know but still......

During this time Hardin started expressing to me that he wanted to give up custody of Emmie and Auden. I shouted at him, cried, begged him not to do this to Emmie she loved him to Auden who needed his father but he didn't listen. He even tried convincing ME to break this news to Emmie but I talked him into having 50/50 custody for a few months and he himself breaking the news to Emmie. We all know how well that went.

When Emmie called me crying I was trying hard not to let my waterworks fall as well. My poor girl was crying because she needed a father and that father refused to do anything. I told her, shaking with fury, to pack her stuff and that I'd be there by the time she was done. She cried on the phone, apologizing over and over but I couldn't say anything to her, not while I was this mad. So, I told her to get in the car as calmly as I could and then I laid into Hardin

I asked how he could do this to us, mentioned everything said above, told him that he was exactly like Vance left seething. When I reached the car, I calmed myself down and talked to Emmie. She still felt very guilty and she got depression when she was 10. I wanted to get her in therapy but she was strictly against the idea. Auden, my little boy, helped so much. He convinced her to go to therapy, she got formally diagnosed at 14 and they gave her some meds and continued the sessions.

My girl had been through so much but she worked through, she pulled through and I am so proud of her. Emmie and Auden are really my pride and joy. They are the only reason I live honestly. I love them. I also got myself in therapy and he helped me understand why I loved Hardin in the first place, how he wasn't just a red flag but the whole red carpet. I was so stupid for ever liking Hardin.... It's okay though, now I know better and have two amazing children and the support of family. That's honestly all I need. Maybe now I have my fairytale ending.

Emmie has hated Hardin's guts since the "incident" and now refers to him as either SD (Sperm Donor) or just Hardin. Auden isn't exactly fond of Hardin courtesy of Emmie but y'know so far so good.

I look over to see what those two are up to and find Auden sleeping in Emmie's arms and Emmie's arms wrapped around him protectively while also sleeping. I smile looking at them and then resume my movie. Maybe it'll me alright. Maybe

HELLO LOVES <3 how are y'all? also don't worry I'm not dead yet and summer break's starting next week so yay for that! And I'll be able to publish more during the summers and more frequently. Just a thought. Anyway, you feeling good? Drank water? Ate? if not grab a bite and drink water. GO! Okay now that you're back, how are you liking the story? Should I do anything to better it? what do you think? Please let me know. ALSO. COMEENT. PLEASE. I. AM. LONELY. 

Okay love you<3 Bye

~Yours truly