My Growing Family ('My Baby's Daddy Sequel)

Chapter 28 (Part 2)

Hayden's P.O.V*

After looking through dozens of dresses, Kristie and I decided on a strapless chiffon dress with a layered skirt. The bodice is pleated and the chiffon cascades from the waist to flow loosely. Kristie tried it on so we could see on someone and it looked perfect.

"How many do we need?" She asked me.

"Five." I answered.

"Do you know their sizes?"

"No." I frowned. "I guess I'll have to call them in to try them on sometime next week. I'll have them hold it for me."

Kristie dropped me off at home before she went home herself. Drake was in our room getting dressed for tonight. I walked in and found him just slipping on a pair of jeans. He looked at me and smiled.

"You'd better hurry and get ready. You were out for a while."

"I have plenty of time."

"Says the one who takes and hour and a half to get ready."

"Well sometimes I have to put on makeup, but this time I won't take as long."

I took a quick shower then dressed in a knee length royal blue dress, I applied a little makeup and flat ironed my hair. I looked myself over one last time before heading downstairs. The kids all had changed clothes.

"It only took you an hour." Drake said, looking at his watch."

"Shut up." I said smiling. "Let's go."

We loaded the kids in the car and Drake took off to his mother's house. I know tonight will be filled with a lot of talk about the wedding.

"So did you find the dresses?" Drake asked me.

"Yeah, but since I don't know the sizes of all of the bridesmaids, I couldn't get them. I'll have to call them in to get fitted. Have you dealt with getting the tuxes?'

"Of course. Everything's settle on my half."

"Good. At least one of us is prepared."

We arrived at Drake's mom's house and we went to ring the doorbell. A moment passed before Jeffrey finally answered the door.

"Hey you guys." He greeted us. "Come on in."

We went inside and Brandon ran off into the kitchen. I let the triplets out of their carriers and placed them on the floor.

"Is Veronica still coming?" I asked.

"She's running late." Jeffrey said. "She'll be here soon."

"Good. I haven't talked to her in a while.

***

Soon Veronica arrived and we all sat down to eat dinner. The table was more crowded now that we have the triplets, but we made it work.

"So how's the wedding planning going?" Veronica asked.

"It's going well. I picked out the bridesmaid dresses today. And we chose the cake and we tasted the food for the caterers. It actually took us half the day to do all of that."

"Wow, you've been busy." Ms. Burton said.

"And a lot of that is last minute." Jeffrey said.

"Well we can't exactly drop everything and take care of things right away." Drake snapped. "It gets done when it can. Who cares if it's last minute? As long as it'll be ready for the wedding, it's not a problem."

"I didn't mean it in a bad way." Jeffrey said. "I just meant that you two are working so hard for this wedding."

"Well you should have just said that."

I sighed. I don't think Drake will ever warm up to Jeffrey. I'd hate to see how he acts on their wedding day.

"Drake, there's no need to be rude." Ms. Burton said.

"I'm not being rude."

"Yes you are." I said. "We all know that you dislike Jeffrey, but you don't have to making that known every single time we have dinner here."

"Daddy mad." Brandon said with a smile.

"I need some air." Drake said before getting up and leaving the room. I heard the front door open then close.

"I'm sorry." I apologized to Jeffrey. "He hasn't been himself all week. He's been exhausted from working so hard."

"It's alright Hayden." Jeffrey reassured me. "I can't force him to like me. He has to accept me in his own time, if ever. If he never grows to like me, oh well. I'll grow accustomed to it."

"You shouldn't have to." Veronica said. "Drake's being a jerk. In the past we've just let it go because of the type of person he was. But now he's supposed to be changed and living a better life. He shouldn't be acting like this."

"He feels like Veronica and I don't care about his father anymore." Ms. Burton explained.

"But that's not true." Veronica said.

"That's what I tried to explain to him. But he still misses his father and doesn't want anyone to take his place. I understand where he's coming from but he's 20 years old now. He needs to act like an adult."

***

After a while, Drake came back. He took his seat beside me at the table. We all continued the conversation we were having, ignoring him. He didn't seem to care as he ate his food in silence.

"Hayden, will you let me do your hair for the wedding?" Veronica asked. "I've always loved your hair and I could do so much with it."

"If you weren't a highly praised hair dresser, I'd probably say no." I said. "But since you are, of course you could do my hair. It'll be free right?"

"Of course." Veronica laughed. "You're my future sister-in-law."

After dinner, the kids sat in the living room watching TV. Jeffrey and Veronica sat with them to supervise. I helped Ms. Burton wash the dishes while Drake still sat at the table staring off into space.

"Should I talk to him?" I asked Ms. Burton in a whisper.

"No. It wouldn't make a difference. He's made up his mind about Jeffrey and we'll just have to accept it."

"But it's not right."

"As you know, Drake can be complicated. But that's mostly because he's lived a complicated life. His father died when he was only 12. His father was his hero. He lost a piece of himself that day. Ever since then he's been stumbling through life. He's had ups and downs. Even after he met you he tried to change, but still struggled. I've never forced him to turn his life around. I've never forced him to do anything. So I'm not going to force him to like Jeffrey."

I guess she's right. I just hate that he won't even give Jeffrey a chance. But I guess as long as he holds onto his father the way he does, he'll never like Jeffrey. But it is sweet how much he loves his father. I hope that the kids can have a connection like that with Drake.