Our Time Will Come - An After Story

42

Hardin

What. The. Fuck! What the hell got into Vance? One moment I'm sat talking to my family and the next, a drunken, angry Vance is attempting to charge through my house. No offence to Ken, but I thought he was the drunk out of my two fathers.

"You're seriously asking if I'm okay?" He huffs, while tugging at his hair and pacing the driveway. "Yes, it's how people start conversation around here man!" my eyes widen. Kim looks bloody dreadful, like she's been crying for days and my siblings are stood in the distance, looking bloody mortified. "Smith, Raya, go inside" I tell the two. Smith is twenty three years old now and Raya is older than Emery, but I still feel an overpowering need to protect them. Raya rushes inside, looking rather frightened by her fathers behaviour. Smith refuses to go inside but i plead with him to go in and look after his sister and he eventually agrees.

"Hardin, I'm scared. I have to go and be with the twins" Tessa whispers. I can sense her sudden need to protect the babies at the sign of conflict. I nod and turn my attention back to Vance. I close the door behind me to ensure that I don't include everyone else in the commotion.

I wave my hand in the air, gesturing for him to tell me who pissed on his cornflakes. "You!" He spits. I glare at him, encouraging him to carry on. "Why did you force your mother to get back with that scrawny fool, Mike!" He yells. Is he for real? "Come again?" I mutter, not knowing what to make of his random outburst. "I called her to congratulate her on becoming a grandma again and she told me that shes's back with him! Why should she be back with him when she doesn't fucking Love him! She loves me!" He throws a fist in the air but I manage to catch it. I glance over at Kimberley and her bottom lip is trembling. Imagine having to watch your husband throw a hissy fit over an other woman, fuck.

"She does not fucking love you! That was a weak moment in her life and she's finally seen sense! She doesn't need me to make any decisions for her, she's her own person and she's finally seen sense!" I scoff. I can't believe the cheek of this fucker. "Don't bullshit me!" He bats my chest. "You could never stand the thought of me being anywhere near your mother! Well guess what Hardin, I had to be near her to fuck her, countless times" his eyes are squinting and he's getting closer and closer to me.

I clench my fist and hold it at my side. Vance is one snide comment away from getting battered like a fish. You're a father Hardin, think of the twins, think of Emery and Auden, think of your career - my subconscious chimes in. I'm starting to breath heavily and I know that what I'll do next if he continues to ridicule me, is out of my control. "Where is your decency? Where are your fucking morals! Your wife is literally standing right there Vance!" I raise my voice for the first time. "Oh don't worry Hardin, he's been acting like a spoilt little bitch since your mother rejected him" Kim chimes in and my heart sinks for her. Fuck, she's annoying but I'd never wish any pain on her.

"A spoilt bitch? She was the one who told me that she still loves me and the reason that Mike and her was getting a divorce was because she realised that!" He's lunging at me and it's taking everything for me to not flip. "Yes, and you rejected her. You told her that you didn't feel the same way and that you're happily married with two children!! So why the sudden change? Does it kill you to see her happy? Does it!" I can't stop the spit from flying from my mouth as I scream. "No! But I fucking lied when I said I didn't love her! I do!" His voice breaks and I'm ready to give him the biggest punch he's ever had.

"You what?" Kim's voice is small and barely controlled by her tears. "I love her" the slime ball repeats. My heart is beating out of my chest and I don't know if the thought of my children can even stop me from kicking off right now. "Yeah? Well guess what! You've fucking missed her, she was here yesterday and now her and her fiancé, Mike, who is a much better man than you'll ever be, is probably flying home as we speak. So you can't do fuck all" I roar and he grabs my jumper, holding me up against the wall with it. He is taking multiple swipes to my jaw and there's something in me that still doesn't want to hit him back. The fuck is wrong with me? Am I losing my touch?

"Christian! Get the fuck off of him. He's your son!" Kim is attempting to yell, but her voice is small. I plead with her to stand back as I don't know what he is capable of in the state that he's in. He's continuously aiming for me and I'm managing to duck, without hitting back. This is fucking growth, I'm telling you. Ten years ago I probably would have punched his daylights out whether he's my father or not. "Bastard!" Vance yells as he thumps me right in the eye. I slump down to the ground against the brick wall, covering my eye and cowering in pain. Fuck, it's throbbing.

"Grandpa!" I hear my daughter yell, she's at our front door and has just witnessed the man she calls grandpa, beat her father. Fuck. "Sweetie, how much of that did you see!" Vance is all of a sudden sensitive. "All of it!! You kept hitting my dad and you wouldn't stop!" She's now sobbing and I collect myself off of the floor to go over and comfort her.
"Fuck" I whisper to myself as I stand and my vision turns dark.

"Come here, baby" I whisper to my Emery while pulling her in for a hug. "What are you doing out here?" I ask, she stares blankly for a moment before speaking. "Charlie is arriving any minute I was waiting for him out front.. why was grandpa hitting you?" She mutters, her eyes flickering between Vance and I. "It's a long story darling. You go and wait for Charlie, I will be fine. Don't worry about me" I reassure her. She is wary about leaving us alone and waits for a moment, before walking to the end of our drive and waiting at the gate.

It appears that Vance has come back down to planet fucking earth as he approaches me, trying to grovel. "Hardin I-"
"Get the fuck away from me! Get the fuck away from my house" I spit, while stalking off. "Kim, come inside, please" I plead with her, I can't leave her with him after what he's done. She obliges and follows me towards the door. "Give me your fucking keys, your wasted!" I demand from my biological father. I'm furious right now but I wouldn't want anything bad to happen to him.

He gives in, almost right away and throws me the keys to his swanky BMW, before storming down my garden path. He walks straight past my Emery, ignoring her in a rage. Fuck knows where he is going, but as long as it's as far away from here as possible, that's fine by me.