Chapter 18 Work hard
“What are you going to do?” Elena asked as Tessa prepared to start cooking in the kitchen.
Tessa sighed, feeling defeated. “I don’t know, Mom. I think Harry would make a good father. I’m trying to lovel him back.”
The thought of opening her heart to someone left Tessa’s stomach in a knot. But if dating again would guarantee her kids a complete home, she was going to try her best.
“What really happened between you and the triplets’ father? Who is he?” Elena inquired.
She had been asking this question for five years but Tessa always avoided answering it.
“It’s my former boss. Mom. I didn’t tell you because I was ashamed of myself. I thought he loved me. It turned out it was my wishful thinking.”
Elena sighed. She recalled how her daughter had returned home with a forlorn look five years ago. Her heart ached knowing the man didn’t love her the way she was supposed to be loved.
“Did he tell you that he doesn’t want to be the children’s father?” She questioned.
Tessa frowned as she cleaned the meat in the sink. “He didn’t know about them until today. He seems to want to be in their lives. But I’m not sure if I want us to have that connection.”
“I don’t see why you should deprive your kids of experiencing their father’s love. You were wrong when you kept it to yourself in the beginning. If you told me you had told him about them and he refused to take responsibility, I would support you. But you had kept their birth a secret. He may have wronged you but he had a right to know he had impregnated you. The children deserved to know who their father is. I had kept quiet all this while because I thought he had refused to take responsibility.”
Tessa pursed her lips into a thin line. A part of her knew she was bitter about how things turned out with Aaron. After all, she had loved him so much, giving him her all. Only for him to trample on her heart like it was nothing.
She was blinded by hatred that she selfishly kept the kids to herself. Thinking about it, it was wrong of her to do so.
Although she didn’t want anything to do with Aaron, the kids had the right to know who their real father is. However, she would not be surrendering them to him knowing he was going to marry someone else.
At least she knew and saw how Harry treated the children so she was sure he would be good to them. Serena on the other hand was a stranger to Tessa. She didn’t know if she liked kids and if she would be good to them if Aaron fought for custody.
“I know, Mom. I’ll properly introduce them but that doesn’t mean I’ll be ok with them getting close so soon.”
Elena nodded approvingly. “That’s the right thing to do.”
Suddenly, the doorbell rang. Elena saw that Tessa was busy so she offered to open the door.
“I’ll check who’s at the door,” she said.
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A few seconds later. Tessa heard the children squeak happily. “Daddy!”
Willa then called for her from the living room.
“Mommy, Daddy is here! He has brought so many gifts. Come Mommy, hurry!”
Tessa’s stomach twisted. She wiped her hands with the hand towel and left the kitchen. Her jaw dropped to the floor when she found Aaron giving mini bouquets to Willa and Nia. He gave Willa pink roses and Nia purple roses which were accompanied by little gift bags.
It seemed he had learnt what colours the girls preferred. Aaron then took out a transformer figurine and gave it to Reagan.
When the kids saw Tessa looking at them, they smiled and showed her the gifts. Willa waved the mini bouquet at Tessa, saying, “Mommy, Daddy bought us flowers. Are we princesses, now?”
Tessa was about to respond when a deep baritone voice beat her to it.
“Yes, you’re both daddy’s little princesses,” it was Aaron who responded and then he got to his feet and approached Tessa.
Enock just happened to enter the house at that moment with a very large bouquet in his hands. He gave it to Aaron who then stretched his hands out to Tessa.
“These are for you, Tessa.”
Tessa quirked up an eyebrow, her eyes falling on the roses in Aaron’s hands. “What are these for?”
Aaron gulped. He took a step closer and peered into Tessa’s green eyes. He inhaled sharply as if he was bracing himself for what he was about to say. When Tessa left his office earlier, he quickly left to arrange the flowers and gifts so that he could follow her home. He could see from the way she reacted to him finding out.
about the kids that she hated him so much.
Although he felt like someone was squeezing his heart, he was very determined to attain her forgiveness knowing her hatred was justified.
“I got you a thousand roses because I can’t stop thinking about you each and every day. Would you please accept them?” He muttered gently.
Silence befell the place as Tessa didn’t know what to do. All eyes were on her, waiting for her response. She was about to refuse when her kids egged her on.
“Mommy, get the flowers!” Willa said.
“Yes, Mommy. Get the flowers. They are so pretty!” Nia added.
“Mommy, you said it’s rude to ignore Someone. Daddy is giving you flowers because he loves you,” it was Reagan who said this time.
With the children on his side, Aaron felt more confident and hopeful that he would win Tessa’s heart soon.
“Please, Tessa. Don’t reject me in front of the kids,” he pleaded.
Tessa rolled her eyes and relented in the end. She reluctantly accepted the flowers from Aaron and the kids
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Chapter 18 Work hard
cheered.
“Yay! Mommy and Daddy love each other!”
Tessa’s lips twitched. She looked for a vase and put the flowers in it before returning to the living room.
Aaron had already made himself comfortable on the couch. Nia and Willa were seated on each of his thighs
while Reagan was seated on the carpet in between his legs, playing with the figurine.
This scene made Tessa’s eyes water. How could she not see how much her kids craved to have a father?
Sighing internally, she decided to let them bond.
“You can only be here for an hour. Nothing more, nothing less,” she announced and Aaron glanced up at her,
smiling.
“An hour is good for a start.”
What mattered to him was that Tessa’s heart had softened a little and she allowed him to be in his children’s
lives.
As for their relationship, he will keep trying until she lets go of the past and accepts him into her life.
He watched as she returned to the kitchen, his eyes full of longing. Elena and Enock had left to give the family
some privacy.
A few minutes passed and Aaron was fully engrossed in playing with his kids. Deep down, he hoped Tessa wouldn’t pay attention to the time so that he could stay for hours.
Suddenly, Reagan looked up at his father and said, “Daddy, Mommy is making dinner in the kitchen. Go and
help her.”
Nia nodded in agreement. “Yes, Daddy. Help her wash the tomatoes and cut the meat. That’s what Uncle
Harry does.”
Aaron’s heart dropped to his feet. Alarm bells went off in his head as he recalled that Tessa had received a
call from Harry the last time he saw her.
He furrowed his brows as he looked at the two kids. “Who’s Uncle Harry?”
“He is mommy’s friend but if you don’t work hard to win mommy’s heart, he might become our Daddy,” Reagan remarked seriously.
His little face was flushed and he had a twinkle in his eyes after meeting his father for the first time.
Aaron narrowed his eyes at his son. “Are you sure this Uncle Harry wants to be your Daddy?”
Reagan nodded. There was a cute pout on his lips as he stated, “Even Mommy wants him to be our Daddy. Daddy, pull up your socks! I don’t want another Daddy.”
Willa’s eyes watered when she heard that and she wrapped her arms around Aaron’s neck. “Daddy, are you going to leave us again?”
Jealousy had crept into Aaron’s heart when he heard his son’s words but seeing that Willa was about to cry. he softened his gaze and stroked her hair lovingly.
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“I will never leave you. I’ll always be around. I might not stay with you right now but one day, your mother will marry me and we shall live as one big happy family.”
“Really?” Willa asked, her large doe eyes gleaming with happiness.
“Yes,” Aaron affirmed, lightly pinching Willa’s chubby cheeks.
Willa smiled and hugged her father. “I love you, Daddy. You’re the best daddy in the world!”
Aaron’s eyes blurred with tears. He didn’t expect his kids to love him even though he had missed out on raising them.
“I love you too, Willa. Reagan and Nia, Daddy loves you,” he declared, not forgetting to ruffle Reagan’s hair to give him equal attention.
“A minute later, he stood up and followed Tessa into the kitchen. He found that she had done most of the
cooking but there were some dirty dishes in the sink so he decided to help her wash them.
Rolling his sleeves to his elbows, he walked to the sink and began to wash the dishes..
“What are you doing?” Tessa asked coldly when she noticed his presence in the kitchen.
Aaron ignored the tone of her voice and responded while soaking the dishes. He glanced at her over his
shoulder, saying, “I’m helping you do the dishes.”
Anyone would have been thrilled. The most powerful man in the City was helping to wash the dishes!
However, all Tessa felt was irritation and anger.
“Mr Wentworth, don’t be funny. Please leave,” she uttered curtly.
Tessa was at a loss for words. Why was he doing things he never used to do before?
“It’s only fair that I help out. You work hard every day and also have to cook for our kids. Since they are mine too. I need to do my part and help out.”
Tessa scoffed. She stopped what she was doing and pointed at the door. “Please leave, Mr Wentworth. Just focus on seeing your children. I can handle the rest on my own.”
In her mind, Aaron was doing all this to please her and lure her into another web of lies. She didn’t want to give him the opportunity to lie to her again.
Aaron noticed that Tessa wasn’t yet comfortable with being alone with him so he decided to give her some space. “Why is it so hard to make her fall for me?”
He sighed and left the kitchen but when he returned to the living room, he found a person he didn’t expect to see in Tessa’s house.
His eyes narrowed dangerously at the man who was holding a bouquet of roses and anger rippled through his chest. “What are you doing here?!”
