It was the best surprise opening up that bathroom door to find Tessa standing there with a towel. I thought I was dreaming, that she was some sort of hallucination my mind made up, but she was really there. I missed her so much it's not even damn funny. I still feel a little uneasy about being with her in Washington again, since the last time we were here together, we had a different type of relationship: a more toxic one. What I was more surprised about is that she ran into her old friend Robert at the craft store. Now, I am not one to usually believe in coincidences. For example, I don't view Tessa's freshman year roommate being my close friend, plus her becoming best friends with my future stepbrother as a coincidence. Tessa and I were meant to meet, and meant to be together. Just as I don't believe Robert being in town the same fucking week as Tessa to be a coincidence.
I join Tessa and Karen in the kitchen. The cakes aren't done, but Karen is describing to Tessa what she wants to do with the cake.
"I was thinking, since you said she likes art, to make it look like a color palette, so have a whole bunch of different colors here and then maybe add some flowers and hearts?" Tessa notices that I enter, but keeps her attention focused on Karen.
"That sounds great, Karen. Thank you."
The attention is suddenly moved towards me.
"So Hardin, have you written anything new yet?" Ugh. The literal last fucking thing I want to talk about.
"Um yeah... A little bit. It's a work in progress." Yeah, a huge piece of work with absolutely no progress at all.
Karen smiles. "Well I am sure whatever you come up with will be brilliant."
I thank her and glance at Tessa, who is staring at her phone with a concerned look on her face. Before I get the chance to ask her what is going on, Abby comes running into the room.
"Hardin!" She screams and tugs on my sleeve.
"Hi Abby." I give her a small smile. She is pretty damn adorable, and I see some of Ken's features in her face, but then she has Karen's eyes.
"Abby, sweetie, are you hungry? We have some extra strawberries here from the frosting."
She nods and goes to sit at the table.
"What are you making, Mommy?" She asks Karen as she puts a plate of strawberries in front of her.
"Tessa and I are making a cake for Tessa's sister."
"Can I have some!?" Abby yells and nearly knocks her strawberries onto the floor.
"I'm afraid not sweetie, but don't worry. I'll make you some cake another time." Abby frowns in sadness, but just goes back to eating her strawberries.
"How about you, Hardin? Are you going to the birthday party tomorrow?" Karen asks as she wipes down the kitchen counter.
"Yeah..." Even though I really don't want to.
"Tessa told me Vance, Kim and Smith will be there, it will be nice to see them."
I just nod and start picking at the holes in my jeans, a nervous habit I have seemed to pick up recently.
"Well, I for one am excited to see everyone and show them my awesome baking skills." Tessa joins the conversation. They both laugh, but I can't even let out a fake one even if I fucking tried.
"Hardin, I thought I heard you in here. What time did you get in last night?" Ken walks over and gives me a pat on the shoulder.
"Pretty late." I try and shy away from his touch, but he still keeps his hand on my shoulder.
"Well I am glad I got to see you, how's the writing going?" He walks over and sits next to Abby, who crawls onto his lap and finishes her strawberries.
Tessa pales, knowing that talking about my writing is a sensitive subject at the moment, but I nod and assure her that it's fine.
"It's fine." I don't say more than that.
"Well, that's glad to hear. You got to send your old man here a copy when you're done." He laughs and bounces Abby on his lap, causing her to giggle.
"Okay, Dad, I will..." If I ever finish anything at this point because I haven't done shit.
Seeing how Ken is with his daughter doesn't make me feel mad anymore. I'm happy he can give Abby the love and dedication that I never received from him. He is great with her, and I can tell she loves him and he loves her. Abby must get so confused on why I call him Dad, but we are not related. Karen tried explaining it to her, but I can tell she still doesn't get it. Even though Ken Scott is not my biological father, he did 'raise' me to a certain extent, and I have called him Dad my entire life, so it's a hard habit to break. I will never get to the point of ever calling Vance my father.
"I think the cakes are done!" Karen says with glee, and her and Tessa go over to the oven to take out the pans. Suddenly, Tessa lets out a sharp yelp of pain, and the pan drops from her hands to the floor, cake spilling out of it.
"Tessa, are you alright?" Karen puts the other pan down on the counter and examines Tessa. I rush over there and do the same.
"My hand... I burned it on the pan..." I take her hand to assess how bad the burn is, and by the fact that it's already blistering, it's pretty bad.
"Here..." I lead her to the sink and run cold water under her burnt skin. "Does that feel good?"
She nods, tears forming in her eyes.
"Here are some bandaids and vaseline." Ken hands me the box. I take Tessa's hand from out of the running water and place some vaseline on it. She sucks in a harsh breath and squints her eyes shut as I apply the vaseline. I put the bandaid over the burn and give it a soft kiss.
"There. Are you okay?" I ask her.
"Yeah, I'm more mad about the fact that I dropped the cake pan on the floor." She points down to the pile of crumbled cake on the floor.
"It's okay, our cake doesn't have to be two-tiers." Karen tries to make Tessa feel better.
Tessa nods. "I'm just gonna go to the bathroom real quick, and then we can start decorating it."
Karen gives her a small smile as Tessa walks out of the room. I sit back down on the table.
"Daddy? Mommy said I couldn't have any of the cake." Abby states, still upset.
"That's right, the cake is for someone else." Ken grabs a napkin and wipes Abbys mouth.
"So Hardin can't have a piece either?" I shake my head at her and she laughs.
"Is something funny?" I ask her, smiling a little.
"Noooooo." She stretches the word and giggles some more.
Karen begins cleaning dishes that she used, and my father and Abby are playing some weird game at the table. Tessa's been gone for a while.
"I'm gonna go check on Tessa..." I announce to the room.
Just down the hall, I notice the bathroom door open. Where did she go?
"Tessa?" I call down the hallway.
"In here." She responds as I pass by the living room. She is standing in front of one of the massive frames with like a million pictures in it.
"I was just looking at all these pictures."
There are pictures of Ken and Karen before they got married, there are baby pictures of Abby and a lot of pictures of Landon in his primary school years. There are even some of me from when I was a kid, before my dad was a total fuckup. Tessa points out a couple embarrassing pictures of Landon when he was in his awkward braces phase in middle school and laughs. I join her, I can't even help it.
"Look..." She points to one of me and her at my father's wedding.
"We look so young." I comment. This picture was taken only months after Tessa and I met for the first time. It's the only picture on the entire frame that I am smiling in. Even as a kid, I never really genuinely smiled for pictures.
"We were young." She states.
I snake my arm around her back and she rests her head against my shoulder.
"I want this for us. To be able to hang up pictures of our family, our friends, our kids..." I squeeze her a little tighter.
"It's gonna happen. I promise." I kiss the top of her head and she nuzzles it on my shoulder.
"I know it will.... I know." She nods, but I can tell she is scared that it won't.
We stand there for another five minutes, just looking at more pictures. She tells me I was the cutest baby she has ever seen, but I think otherwise. She also tells me that even though Ken Scott isn't my real father, she sees a resemblance. I see it too honestly, I saw it for twenty one fucking years.
"Should we go back in there? There is a cake that needs some of your expert decorating." I tease her and she playfully nudges me. We walk hand in hand back to the kitchen.