New Beginnings: A Hessa Story (2)

Chapter 25: Tessa

"Well, as long as you feel okay. We can always cancel Christmas." I offer him, but he aggressively shakes his head.

"We can't cancel Christmas, it's your favorite holiday."

"Yeah... it is." I don't argue with him. No matter how much I love Hardin, Christmas is the one day a year I look forward to. Just being with family is the best feeling in the world. The past four years have been great when it comes to Christmas, but this is the first time we are having Hardin's mother come, so who knows if any drama will happen.

"Do you think anything bad is gonna happen this year?" I whisper to Hardin as I finish ironing his shirt. I help him put it back on as he gives me a strange look.

"Why do you ask that?"

"I don't know. It's been a while since you punched your father and ruined a Christmas, so I'm just thinking that our luck of good Christmas' are gonna run out."

"Are you implying that I'm gonna ruin Christmas?" He asks.

"No! Not at all! Not you, just in general. I feel like something is gonna go wrong."

"No, I don't think anything is going to go wrong. I can give Vance a shiner if you want to relive our first Christmas together." He teases.

"No, I'd rather not. Best behavior though, please."

He winks, and I roll my eyes as I finish buttoning up his shirt for him. "See, now doesn't that look better!"

He looks down at his shirt and shrugs. "I don't think it looks any different."

Noticing the sour look on my face, he quickly changes his answer. "It looks great."

The door bell rings, and Hardin lightly pushes me towards it. "I have to go to the toilet, go get the door." He teases.

I open the door with the biggest smile, but I don't recognize the man at the door.

"Hi, is Hardin Scott home?" He says very sternly.

"He's in the bathroom, I'm his fiance."

"Oh okay, well here is the DNA test he requested. Could you give it to him?"

DNA test?

"Oh sure. Um... could I get your name?"

"Fred."

"And when did Hardin ask you about getting a DNA test?"

"About a month ago, these things take time. Well, Merry Christmas." He waves goodbye, and I shut the door. Hardin got a DNA test, and of course it came while his mother is right in the other-.

"What's that, Tessa?" Trish comes strolling in.

"Oh... nothing. Just something I ordered."

"Okay." She moves to sit back on the couch and picks up the bridal magazine she was reading. Hardin walks back out, tucking his shirt back into his pants.

"Who was at the door?" He questions me, but I just grab his arm and drag him to the bedroom. I'm not mad, but I didn't know Hardin was interested in getting a DNA test.

"What's going on?" He asks me once I close the door. I toss the large envelope at him. He catches it, reads the label, and looks back up at me with wide eyes. "Tessa, I can explain."

I hold my hand up. "I'm not mad, but why didn't you tell me you wanted a DNA test?"

He sits down on the bed, patting for me to sit next to him.

"I honestly didn't think it was gonna happen. I ran into one of my old group therapy friends who worked at a DNA clinic and said he could do a DNA test for me for free. I got DNA from both Ken and Vance when we went to Washington a month ago. I gave it to him, then forgot about it honestly. I don't even know what I was thinking."

"Well, do you want... to know?" I ask him, and he looks at me with weary eyes.

"I don't know. I thought I did, but now that the answer is sitting there in that evelope, I don't know if I want to know."

I reach over and grab his hand. "I support whatever decision you make. Just know that whatever that paper says, Ken and Vance are both your fathers and you are their son, no matter what." I comfort him, and he gives me an appreciate smile.

"What do you think I should do?"

"I don't think I can answer that. It's really your decision." I say that because I don't know what I would do in Hardin's position. Would I want to know who my real father is after all of this time? We're pretty sure it's Christian, but there is always that small possibility.

"Could you... read it for me?" He whispers.

"Are you sure?"

He nods, and I grab the envelope, tearing it open using my nail. I can see the hesitation on Hardin's face as I slowly take out the piece of paper.

"Wait!" He grabs my hand, slamming the paper down onto the bed. "I can't."

"You don't want to know?"

He shakes his head. "No. I don't. I don't want anything to change between me, Vance and Ken. I think it'll be better if we don't know."

"If that's what you want, then we don't need to read it."

"Thank you." He sighs. "Could you go grab the paper shredder from my office?"

I rise from the bed, go into his office, and grab the tiny paper shredder on his desk. I bring it back into the room, and plug it in next to the bed. His face looks pale, so maybe it was best that he didn't read it.

"You're sure?" I ask one last time, and he nods.

"I'm sure."

He places the paper into the shredder, and it shreds into thousands of tiny little pieces. He seems a little emotional, so I rub his back to comfort him. I know it's a lot to handle: wanting to know who your father is, but also not wanting to know.

The door bell rings once again.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, go out there. I'll be there is a second."

"Okay." I kiss his cheek, leaving him alone in our bedroom.