This is a Hardin x Tessa fan fiction, although focuses mostly on their daughter Emery Scott.
Finished writing: March 25, 2021.
Posting schedule: Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday.
It is written in first person, present tense, and has many point of vi...
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Yesterday
NORA.
I slowly and silently fold Landon's jeans and plop them into his pile. It's odd not having any of Addy's clothes to fold. I still can't seem to fill this empty void in my heart no matter how many cakes and cookies I bake or chores I do. Auden really seems to love all the sweets I've made him these last few days. Hardin better come get him quickly or he might gain some unwanted weight.
But Addy. All of my thoughts lead back to Addy. Did someone take her? If so did they... hurt her?
Another possibility is that she ran away... but I'm not so sure if that's better than her being taken. I know, it should be a fucking relief to find out she only ran away than if someone took her. But I can't help but think of the reasons she would run away in the first place.
It pains me to believe she wasn't happy in her own home— her own family. My entire job as a mother is to make her feel comfortable and safe. Apparently she didn't feel comfortable enough to stick around.
I get she is going through some tough shit. A baby is on the way and she really wants to keep it...
But that's too unrealistic. She is seventeen. She can't have a baby hold her back from her future.
And I still believe that wholeheartedly... but I might be a little lenient when— if she returns home. Apparently it was bothering her so much that she had to get away. Maybe she felt trapped in the decision we gave her.
Again, I still fully believe that aborting the baby is the right decision. She might not think it now but she will later in life. She will thank me and her father for getting rid of that obstacle in her life.
I'm just not sure how I am going to act when she finally comes home— if she comes home.
I jump out of my thoughts, the same thoughts I've been having since the day she went missing. I hear a ringing and it takes me a moment to realize it's my phone on the washing machine.
I sigh, hoping that it's Tessa telling me she is perfectly fine and that I don't have to worry about both of my favorite girls. I pick my phone up and hit the green button, not bothering to look at the name. I'm still slightly trapped in my own thoughts. I've been like this for days— it seems to be my way to cope. I don't ever fully jump back into reality until my reality is fixed. In other words, if something is wrong, I'll think up some happy thought until whatever it is is better. Unless something else can replace it. But nothing can replace my daughter. Not in a thousand years. Not in a fucking eternity.
"Hello?" I ask finally, I must've been holding the phone up for a few seconds before speaking.
"Mom?" My eyes go wide at the sound of her voice and tears fill my eyes and I quickly grab onto the washing machine for support.
"Addy?" I breathe, trying to find words. I must've gone through so many scenarios in my head about what'd I'd say when I spoke to her again, but they are all gone now. "You— you're um... Addy?"
"Yeah..." she trails off and I try to regain my composure, taking a deep breath in and out.
It is her. Of course it's her. "Where are you?" I question quietly, sliding down the side of the washing machine and sitting down on the floor.
"Um..." she trails off again and I regret saying anything. She called me. Let her speak. "H-how are you?" She asks, totally disregarding my question. That's okay.
If I'm being honest I'm fucking shit, but I don't think she wants to know that. "I'm okay now." I reply instead, since that is the truth. "How about you? Are you okay?"
It takes her a moment to reply, "yeah, I... I'm with Harry. He's a really great guy." She pauses, "I think I..." she swallows, "brought him to dinner once or something." Her voice is so quiet. She has one of those voices that sounds small on the phone but once you see her in person her voice is brighter and louder— more confident, I'd say.
"I remember him. The one with the long hair?"
She giggles, "how many guys have I brought home for dinner mom?"
I chuckle with her and I don't reply. I don't want to scare her away with my response. It goes silent for a moment, so I continue to ask questions, "How are you holding up? You know, how is the baby?"
She takes a moment to respond. "Good. I'm keeping her." Her.
"Her?" I mumble in awe.
"Yeah," she chuckles happily and I can almost feel her joy through the phone. "We're think of the name Iris."
"That's such a pretty name." I feel my heart swell at the thought of me holding a little baby Iris in my hands, singing to her while her mother and father had a small getaway. My smile becomes huge.
"I know. It's because of the flower. You know how much I love that color purple." I hear her move around and then sniffle a little. "I've been having tons of heartburn which is making me throw up a little. A lot actually." She giggles.
I can't help but close my eyes and press my lips together, my chest filling up with joy and love. "That means she is going to be a hairy baby."
"That's what my doctor told me." She giggles, "I was like 'what?!' My first thought was like a werewolf." There's my girl I know and love. Confident and excited when she speaks. I love when she tells stories. She is so animated.
"Oh don't worry about it. She'll lose all of that hair in a few weeks. Maybe less, I don't remember."
"You and dad should have another one and then it can grow up with Iris." She says as if it's the best idea.
"No! No, no, no. Our baby days are over." I chuckle, "that would be fun though."
"Yes it would." She replies. It goes silent again, it's a somewhat comfortable one. After a few seconds she speaks again, "mom, I'm going to go. I'll call you later though, okay?"
My heart drops into my stomach but I nod my head. "Okay, but make sure you call your father sometime too. He misses you just as much as I do."
"I know— oh and do me a favor and don't tell dad we talked. It'd be nice to call him without him expecting it." I can hear her smile through her words and I do the same.
"Sounds like a plan, girl. I'll talk to you later."
"Okay, bye."
"Bye." The call ends and I immediately let out a small sigh. Holy fuck. I think that small void has been filled halfway. The other half won't be filled until she comes home. Just minutes ago I doubted her even coming back, but now... now I realize that she misses us just as much as we miss her.
◉‿◉
𝙰𝚞𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚛'𝚜 𝙽𝚘𝚝𝚎
This chapter is more of a filler chapter to fill you in on the other storyline.
There won't be much left of this storyline in the book, and we are getting close to the end... gosh I'm not ready to end it :(
