Chapter 20
Tired
Hayden's P.O.V*
I heard my bedroom door open and immediately woke up. I looked at my clock and saw that it was just after 12:00. I sat up a little and looked to see Drake with his back to me. He slipped off his shirt and began to unbuckle his pants.
"How did it go?" I asked him with a tired voice.
"Alright I guess." He simply answered.
"Are they finished questioning you?"
"I don't know."
He slipped off his pants so he was in his boxers and came to get in bed next to me. I turned to face him.
"Is everything okay?" I asked him.
"Can you quit with the questions?" He snapped. "I don't know, Hayden. Now can I please just go to sleep? I have work in the morning."
He turned so his back was to me. I laid back down and stared up at the ceiling for a moment. What has him so upset? Did something happen? If so, why won't he just tell me? I hate when he keeps secrets.
The next morning I woke up and found Drake gone. I checked my clock and saw that he should already be at work. I got up and made my way downstairs. I made waffles and eggs and ate them quickly. I put the dirty dishes in the sink and began to clean up the house a little.
I picked up Brandon's toys and returned them to his toy box. I cleaned the kitchen and a vacuumed the living room. I washed clothes and then took a break.
"Mama." I heard Brandon say. I saw him coming down the stairs.
"Hey Brandon." He came over to me and I picked him up. "Are you hungry?" He nodded.
I took him into the kitchen and fixed him some eggs and bacon. I sat him at the table and gave him a juice box.
"There you go." I said.
Once of the babies began to cry and I sighed. The day has officially started and I can tell it's going to be rough.
Drake's P.O.V*
I cleared a table of dishes and placed the bin in the kitchen. I'm not in the mood to work today. I'm pissed off still after the questions I was asked yesterday. I can't believe they really think I could be guilty. They're idiots for believing what Paul says. I'm not going to let them take me away from my family. And I am not going back to jail.
"What's up?" Haley asked me.
"Nothing." I answered.
"Come on. It's obvious that you don't want to be here What's wrong?"
"Personal stuff."
"Is everything okay with you and Hayden?"
"Yeah. We're fine. It's other things that I don't want to discuss right now."
"Oh, okay. I hope everything works out."
"Yeah, me too."
"Drake!" I heard my boss, Ms. Jane, call.
"Yes?" I turned to face her.
She wore grey slacks and a red shirt. Her graying hair was pinned back and she wore too much makeup.
"Today is your lucky day. You're being promoted to waiter."
I smiled. "Are you serious?"
"Yes. You've been working hard and I know it hasn't been easy with three newborns. You start today. Haley, help him out."
"Yes ma'am." Haley answered.
Ms. Jane left and I pumped my fist in the air and brought it back down. I finally got promoted. That means a larger paycheck.
"Congratulations." Haley said. "Now, let me show you how this works."
Hayden's P.O.V*
I walked through the grocery store looking for the items on my list. Darren was in the baby seat connected to the cart. Alyssa was in a carrier on my back, and Brooke was in a carrier to the front. Brandon sat in the larger part of the cart playing with a box of cereal. I'm not used to having so many babies while grocery shopping. I feel a little crowded, but what can I do?
I grabbed something for tonight's dinner with Ashton and Fiona. I hope everything turns out well. I haven't seen them in a long time.
"How cute." I heard a woman say. "Are they newborns?" I realized she was talking to me. It was an older woman with graying hair.
"Oh, uh, yes." I answered her.
"Triplets. That must be tough."
"As you may have noticed." She laughed a little.
"It'll get easier."
After getting the groceries I needed, I went home and cleaned up a little. Toys were laying all over the floor and baby clothes and diapers were everywhere. The kids were all down for a nap so it's the only free time I have.
After I cleaned up, I started on dinner. There's a lot to cook and I don't want to have anyone waiting. Especially Fiona. She'd probably complain about making her wait. I'm sure she doesn't even want to come tonight. This dinner is really to just catch up with Ashton.
Drake's P.O.V*
I took the orders of a family of four. I tried to keep the orders separate so they wouldn't get mixed up.
"I'll be back shortly with your orders." I told them, giving them a smile. I went to the kitchen and placed their orders.
"Good job so far." Haley said.
"This is harder than it looks." I said with a sigh.
"Just remember that you get tipped afterwards."
Two girls came in and sat at one of my tables. I grabbed two menus and brought them over to them.
"Hi, I'm Drake and I'll be your waiter for the night. Can I start you off with something to drink?"
"Drake Burton?" The girl with long blonde hair asked. I examined her. She doesn't look familiar.
She has almond shaped brown eyes and an oval face. Her blonde hair fell to her waist in waves. She was thin and curvy, and wore revealing clothes.
"Do I know you?" I asked her.
"It's me, Marcie."
I then remembered. She was the slut of the school. She slept with anyone and everyone. I hate to admit it, but I even slept with her in my sophomore year. She was a freshman then. It was before I met Hayden.
"Oh yeah. I remember you. You look... different."
"I'm taller now and everything is proportioned now. Anyway, I'll take bubbly water, and Courtney here will take a lemonade."
"Alright. I'll be right back with those."
I left their table and went to get their drinks. Haley came up beside me as I poured their drinks.
"Do you know them?" She asked me.
"Yeah, they're some people I used to go to school with. I used to have a... thing, with the blonde one."
"That's awkward. Does she know about Hayden?"
"Of course she does. She knows our story."
After I had their drinks I brought them over to them. I placed them on the table with their straws.
"Are you ready to order?" I asked them.
"Hey, did you and Hayden ever get back together?" Marci asked me.
"Yeah. We have three newborns at the moment."
"She got pregnant again?"
Marci mumbled something I couldn't make out, but I knew it was something about Hayden.
"You two must be happy together." She smiled.
"Very." I answered. "Now are you ready to order or not?"
I was becoming frustrated. My day became good when I got a promotion. Now it's being ruined again.
"We're ready."
I wrote down their orders and placed them at the kitchen. I then leaned against the wall and waited.
"Everything okay?" Haley asked me.
"Just the same old Marci. She gets her happiness by talking about others."
"Did she say something?"
"It doesn't matter. I just want to get them their food so they can leave."
Hayden's P.O.V*
The doorbell rang I went to answer it. When I opened the door, Ashton and Fiona stood before me.
"Hey." I greeted them. Ashton gave me a hug and I hugged him back. He released me and I let them in.
Ashton's hair was longer and it curled up at the ends. He more muscular now and it seemed like he was taller. Fiona was thinner and her hair was shorter. She wore a smile on her face and I had the feeling it was fake.
"How are you?" I asked. "You've been awol."
"Sorry about that. We had our honeymoon, then I had a lot of practicing. It's been an exhausting few months."
"I bet."
At that moment crying came through the baby monitor. The kids had been napping for almost two hours. I guess the doorbell woke them up.
"Oh that's right. You had the triplets. Mind if we see them?"
"Of course. Follow me."
Ashton and Fiona followed me upstairs to the nursery. Darren was the one crying so I picked him up and began rocking him.
"Here's Alyssa." I pointed to her.
She wore a cute pink onesie and a hat. Her little hands were balled into fists up by her face.
"And this is Brooke." I pointed to the crib across from Alyssa's. Brooke wore a purple onesie and she laid wide awake, opening and closing her hands.
"They're so cute!" Fiona said, looking down at Brooke. "How old are they?"
"Three weeks." I answered her."
"Can I..." She wanted to hold her.
"Sure, just be careful."
She slowly picked up Brooke and cradled her in her arms. Fiona cooed and made baby noises. I examined her. I could see it plain in her face that she really wanted a baby. But Ashton doesn't want kids right now because of his career. Although she really wants kids, she's willing to wait for Ashton to be ready. It's sweet.
"Dinner is almost finished and Drake should be home soon."
"How is Drake?" Ashton asked.
"They could be better. He just got out of the hospital last week. He's going through some things and I'm trying to be strong for him. This morning he wasn't in such a good mood. Hopefully he feels better by the time he gets home."
We sat downstairs for a while before Drake came home. He came inside looking tired and worn.
"Hey." I greeted him. "How was your day?"
"Not the best." He answered.
He looked at Fiona and Ashton who sat on the couch. He then sighed. He must have forgotten about the dinner tonight.
"Hey." He greeted them. "I'm sorry. I forgot about dinner. Let me get cleaned up."
Drake ran upstairs, leaving us alone again. Drake looks absolutely exhausted. I feel bad.
"Work seems to be kicking his but." Ashton said.
"We're both tired. We're both constantly up during the night. Then we have to wake up early to start our day. It's hard."
After dinner was finished and Drake was cleaned up, we sat down at the table to eat.
"I got a promotion today." Drake told me.
"Really?" I asked excitedly. "Waiter?" He nodded. "I'm so happy. That's means you get to keep tips."
"I know. I made a few today."
"You're a waiter?" Fiona asked. "That doesn't seem like a very well paying job for a family man."
"Something is better than nothing. And considering my last job, this is far better."
Drake's bad mood returned. Talking about his promotion momentarily took him out of it.
"So was it hard?" I asked him. "The new job."
"Extremely. I actually ran into Marci."
Memories of Marci came to mind. She bullied me up through my senior year. When I confessed about my knowledge of her pregnancy, she left me alone.
"How is she doing now?" I asked.
"She's the same. Annoying." I laughed.
After dinner and a few hours had past, Ashton and Fiona left. Drake helped me clean up.
"I'm really glad you have your promotion now. We could use the extra money right about now."
"Yeah. I was surprised when I got it. I wasn't expecting it at all. Ms. Jane just loves me."
"Of course she does."
After we cleaned, I checked on the babies. They were all fast asleep. They'll probably all wake up in the middle of the night. Including Brandon.
I went to my room and changed into my pajamas. Drake stripped down to his underwear and we climbed into bed. Drake wrapped his arm around me and pulled me close, allowing me to rest my head on his chest. I once again found myself tracing the scar where he was shot.
"I hate seeing you hurt." I said. "And I hate seeing you caught up in all this legal stuff."
"My decisions are coming back to bite me in the a**." He said. "I'll manage. I've been through worse."
"Do you want to talk about why you were so upset this morning?"
"I'm sorry for snapping at you." He apologized. I was just frustrated. They asked me stupid questions like, am I in contact with Duke and they asked if I was still selling for him. I'm sure Henry will be over to check out the place."
"Don't they know that Paul has a serious record? Why do they believe him?"
"I don't know. I just wish they'd leave me alone."
Drake doesn't deserve any of this. He may have sold drugs and gone to jail, but he really isn't a bad person. He's really sweet and caring. And he has a family that he loves. If he was how they think he is, he wouldn't have us. Drake lost his father when he was just a boy. That's why Drake is the way he is. I accept that and I wish others would too.
Drake kissed the top of my head and I slowly closed my eyes. Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day.
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Okay, I'm sorry about this chapter. I know, it absolutely sucked and nothing happened. Hopefully the next chapter will be better. And you can expect something special to happen in the next chapter or so.
Please comment, vote, and/or fan (follow). Thanks!! ;-)
P.S. If you haven't already, check out my book 'Hunted' if you like vampires, romance, and action. It's just getting started so go check it out. Thanks!