Our Time Will Come - An After Story

51

Tessa

"Mommy" my little boy calls as I retrieve my peanut butter cookies from the oven. "Yes, baby?" I answer Auden. He is full of curiosity today. "Why did swear words get invented if we aren't supposed to say them?" He chimes and I cover my mouth to stifle the giggle that is escaping. "I don't know darling, maybe you should ask your daddy that one" I tell him, laughing slightly harder at the thought of Hardin trying to handle that question. "But mom, Daddy says a curse word in almost every sentence" Auden questions. The kid has a point. "Exactly" I add, while placing my cookies on the counter to cool.

"The twins are up" Auden sighs as the two of them scream in unison. "Hey, we'll have none of that" my husband soothes them as he enters the room. He is holding a twin over each shoulder. My heart sings at the way their tiny bodies cling to their father. I take baby Miller from him and place him into my arms while taking a seat at the kitchen table. Hardin joins me, as he cradles our baby girl. Auden greets his baby siblings before shooting off to his room.

Hardin has dressed the babies today and boy, can you tell. Miller is wearing a set that is miles too big. I'm sure he forgets that the babies are almost small enough to fit in the palm of his hand. "Babe can I just ask you something? Why is Miller wearing Auden's clothes?" I mock, proud of my joke.

"Oh Ha, Ha. It's not not my fault he's such a small fry" he rolls his eyes. I must admit, he has done a good job with dressing Saffron. He has learned since the other days incident when he dressed her in a pair of leopard print leggings, paired with a polka dot T-shirt and i terrorised him for the day. Today, he has dressed her in a pink, corduroy pinafore dress, with a polka dot long sleeved t-shirt and white tights underneath. He even made the effort to pair the outfit with a pink, floral headband. This man makes my heart melt. I'm in newborn heaven and I'm indulging everyday of them being this small.

We're full of conversation until the atmosphere changes and the air becomes thicker. Our eldest daughter has entered the room without saying a word, she has her headphones in as she heads over to the fridge and pours herself a glass of orange juice. It has been a couple of days now since the graduation party incident and Hardin still hasn't said a word to her since he told her how disappointed he was in her.

Em has been taking her meals up to her room and avoiding contact with all of us, even Auden and the babies, which can't be good as she loves her siblings to pieces. Charlie is staying at his aunts house on the other side of town while his parents are on vacation, so she hasn't even been able to see him and she just seems miserable. It breaks my heart.

"Hardin" I mime to my husband. "What" he mimes back. "You know what" I tell him. "You need to talk to her. Please" I whisper, desperation is in my voice. He rolls his eyes, before nodding in agreement that enough is enough and he needs to make peace with our daughter. "Okay, I'll talk to her, but I want you to be there too" he admits. I'm quick to head into the sitting room and place Miller into his bassinet, Hardin does the same with our baby girl.

"Emery" Hardin calls our daughter before she can head back up to her room. She pretends that she can't hear him and he has to repeat himself three times before she finally turns around. "What!" she snaps. "We need to talk" he takes a deep breath. "I'm busy" she huffs, while continuing to walk away. She's definitely not busy, she hasn't even showered in days.

"Emery please, you're breaking my heart" my voice wobbles as I call for her attention. I know that I've tugged on her heart strings as she turns around and her eyes are full of sorrow. "Please, talk to us" I beg her and she slowly makes her way down the stairs. She glares at me for a moment, before I open my arms to pull her in for a cuddle. My heart breaks a little more as she begins to cry. I run a hand through her hair before I take her hand and we walk into the sitting room.

"It's about time we talked, darling" Hardin breaks his silence while taking a seat opposite Emery and I. "I know" our daughter admits while drying her eyes. "I'd like to start by saying that I'm sorry for not making the peace sooner. It's been torture, us not talking and all" Hardin stutters. He appears to be nervous and I give him a reassuring smile, for him to carry on.

"When I said I was disappointed, I was telling the truth. I was disappointed at the time. You completely disobeyed me and I just didn't understand why, but I could never stay disappointed in you sweetheart. Your my baby" he tells her and she breaks out into a quiet sob, again. I place my hand over hers to comfort her.

"I'm so sorry Daddy. I've had some time to reflect and really think about what I did. I thought that you were stopping me from hanging out with those people because you were being over strict, when really, you were protecting me. I know I said this last time, but I promise, I'm not going to surround myself by those people anymore" she sniffles, while squeezing my hand. "That's good to hear baby, but what makes this so different than last time?" Hardin quizzes her. I'd also like to know the answer to that question.

"Well... I can't stop thinking about what those kids did to Charlie. He could have died. Charlie once thought of them as his friends and like he said.. he had to learn the hard way that they weren't. Why would I learn the hard way, when I can learn the easy way, by getting away while I can" Emery explains and I couldn't be prouder of the sense that she's speaking. Hardin's smile grows as he realises that Our daughter is still the smart, wise girl that we raised her to be. "You're right darling and I'm proud of you" Hardin tells her stands up from the sofa with open arms. She stands and embraces in a cuddle with her father.

"Please, let's never go this long without talking to each other again, you're my baby girl" He tells her as he ends their hug. "I promise, we won't. But I'm not your baby girl dad, I'm turning sixteen next week!" She begins to giggle, clapping her hands together in excitement. "Don't remind me, I'm not old enough to have a sixteen year old. Plus, you'll always be my baby girl no matter how old you get" Hardin tells her. My heart melts at his lovely words. It's true, no matter how big and independent our children get, they'll always be our babies. How I've kept quiet about Emery's sweet sixteenth surprise, I'll never know. She's one lucky girl to receive such a gift at sixteen.

"Speaking of Charlie, why don't I go and pick him up from his 'gross Aunt Melanie's' as he calls her" Hardin smirks. I know that he's trying hard when he offers to pick up our daughters boyfriend and bring him to our house. That's just so un-Hardin like.

Emery's eyes light up at the idea and it's a beautiful sight, after days of seeing her so upset. "I'd love that" she beams. I know that it will really cheer Charlie up too, Hardin told me about what the poor kid has been going through with his parents. "Tell him to bring his swimming trunks, the weather is far too nice for you to be cooked up in the house on your phones all day. Your brother can join you, it will Get him off that darn IPad for a couple of hours " I tell my daughter and she rolls her eyes at my nagging.

Emery is quick to call her boyfriend, finding out his aunts address and telling him what to bring along. Hardin sets off to go and collect Charlie minutes later. A weight has been lifted off my shoulders as I realise that there won't be any more tension within the house and that we are back on good terms with our first born.

"Oh my gosh, honey. I have an idea" I place my hands on Emery's cheeks in glee. "What is it?" She rolls her eyes once more at my enthusiasm. "Charlie is missing out on a family holiday in the Bahamas right now. So what do you say, we bring the Bahamas to him?" I suggest and she looks at me like I have two heads. "Come again?" She giggles.

"It's going to be at least an hour until he gets here, let's decorate the pool area and make mocktails with the curly straw, it will cheer him up!" I squeal. I'm more excited than Emery at the idea. Saying that, it doesn't take much to excite me these days. "Your dad and brother still have those dreadful Hawaiian shirts from vacation and I'm pretty sure I kept the grass, hula skirts that you and I wore to the lū ' au" I tell her. I know for sure that we have many of those rainbow flower necklaces somewhere. I stashed them in my suitcase as a souvenir for the best family vacation we ever had. I can't wait to recreate those memories with the twins.

"What the heck is a lū ' au?" She continues to laugh at my expense. "You know, the party we went to in Hawaii with the dancers? Remember? They made your dad get up on the stage and he was furious" I reminisce and begin to laugh as I remember the expression on my husbands face.

"Ohh yeah, I remember" the memory eventually comes to her. It was a while back to be fair to her. "So, what do you say. Shall we do it?" I smile in anticipation. "Yes, let's do it" she squeals as I chase her up the stairs to root for the accessories.