Chapter 29 – Moving Forward

Mordecai’s POV.

The word awkward wouldn’t even begin to describe the situation I found myself in.

It’s funny how everyone wanted Beverly and I back together, and yet, now that we were, all that existed was tension and some kind of animosity, especially towards me. Her family members weren’t particularly happy with me, but sadly, I didn’t really care.

I got to hold my kids for the first time.

Kyle ran to me, despite me having ignored him for so long. He ran to me and wrapped his arms around my legs. Surprisingly, Christie followed, and I managed to pick the both of them up before they hugged my neck.

That was an hour ago.

Now they were sitting next to me while I held Preston. Beverly was holding Dakota while our family and friends looked at us in question.

“Are you back together?” Jacob asked.

“Yes we are,” Beverly replied.

“Are you ready to be a father?” Jackson asked me.

I nodded. “Yes I am.”

“Are you going to marry my baby girl in the proper way?” Mr Haskins asked.

“Yes Sir,” I replied.

“Are you sure about this?” Angel asked her sister.

“I am. We worked everything out and we’ve forgiven each other. Please let’s not make this impossible. We finally have what we all wanted. Let’s move on,” Beverly sighed.

“Does this mean I get to do another exclusive?” Whitney asked excitedly.

I scowled. “Do I still have fans?”

“You’d be surprised. They’ve all been on edge, wondering about what happened to you and Bev. Her fans will appreciate this as well, though I’m not the one running her fan base blog,” she replied.

“I have a fan base?” Beverly asked wide-eyed.

“You’re Hollywood’s favourite nurse girl. I run that blog,” Shawna informed.

She and Whitney are both doing double majors in PR Management and Journalism. I didn’t attend their graduations from high school, but I got them each their favourite cars as a congratulatory gift.

Beverly blushed. “I had no idea.”

“Speaking of which – what exactly is your occupation right now? You went from being a nurse, to being an agent and then an author and voice over actress. What exactly is your occupation?” Nellie asked Beverly.

“I actually don’t know, though mom sounds just about accurate,” Beverly smiled, making me smile.

“I still need an agent,” I pouted.

She narrowed her eyes. “Only if I get to work from home and occasionally leave the house.”

“That’s fine with me,” I agreed.

“Good heavens, it’s great to see you both genuinely smiling again,” my mom said.

“Amen to that,” Geronimo, Zebedee, Charlie and the twins said.

Beverly looked to Dr Dickson, who was downright glaring at me. “Dad.”

“I don’t know Bev,” he mumbled.

“Come on dad. You managed to forgive Walter,” she argued.

“Walter left you with one kid. He left you with four,” he countered.

She turned to Mrs Dickson. “Mom.”

“Howard, you’re going to have to let it go. He’s here and she’s happy again. Can you do that please?” Mrs Dickson pleaded.

“No, I can’t,” he refused.

“Come on pops! We believe him,” Jackson attempted.

“Which I’m still trying to understand,” Dr Dickson said angrily.

Mr Haskins sighed. “Howard, I’m just as wary as you are, but if she’s happy, then who are we to interfere with that?”

“I don’t trust you,” Dr Dickson said to me.

I nodded. “I understand.”

I’d just have to prove to him that I’m serious.

“So, what’s the way forward from here?” Kim asked.

“I just had an idea, and it will work out without the need for an expose really,” Shawna said.

“How would that work?” Beverly asked.

“It’s very simple really. The Hart-Tedder’s will go on a vacation and spend time as a newly reunited family, except, they’ll be captured everywhere. We still have that promise to live up to with those reporters from Mordecai’s birthday, so we tip them off about the vacation, and they can report it,” she explained.

Beverly scowled. “Ok, but what else?”

“Charlie and Angel have to debut their twins to clear up the confusion. That will obviously answer the question of the twins when you guys are on vacay. Being together will also obviously confirm who the father of the kids is. As for clearing up the whole Kyle is Kai’s and Christie is Bev’s – well that’s up to you entirely, though I’d suggest you just leave the story with both being yours and not having separate parents,” Shawna added.

“That’s brilliant, plus it eliminates the need for interviews and stuff, even though people will wonder why we’re only coming out now after so long,” I pointed out.

“That was my point exactly, and there’s a way you can eliminate that as well. You can get back to your social networks before the vacation as a sort of starter, and Bev can upload a picture of you with the twins before it goes out that they’re yours. People will probably assume that you’re the godfather anyway since you’re Charlie’s best friend. Once the news is out, Bev can upload like three pictures from that pregnancy shoot of hers, just as a sort of confirmation. That, my dear friends, is what you have to do,” Shawna smiled.

“You good with that?” I asked Beverly.

She nodded with a smile. “I’m more than ok with it.”

“Well then, I guess this is the part where we leave you to bond as a family. When will you be leaving for your vacation?” my mom asked.

“Probably Monday,” Beverly and I replied concurrently.

“It’s lovely to see you two in tune again,” Mrs Dickson smiled, making Beverly blush.

Everyone left soon after, and I was left with my family. The twins had fallen asleep, so we took them to their room. We stayed there a while, just watching them sleep, until we heard a crash in the lounge. When we got there, there was a broken vase on the floor.

“Who did it?” Beverly asked, hands on her hips. Christie’s bottom lip quivered, and I knew it was her.

“Come here princess,” I said, squatting so that she could walk into my arms, which she practically ran into.

“I didn’t mean to. I tripped and it fell off the cabinet,” she sniffed.

“She hurt her elbow,” Kyle added.

“Let’s see,” I requested. She showed me and she was bleeding. The glass had cut her.

“Let’s get you sorted out,” I said.

“Can I come along?” Kyle asked.

“Sure thing bud,” I smiled.

“I’ll deal with this,” Beverly smiled before pecking my lips.

We headed to the bathroom where I cleaned Christie’s wound. She and Kyle were extremely quiet, and I was wondering why. I cleaned the wound and let Christie choose a band-aid. She chose a princess themed one, which I put on before kissing her elbow.

“There! All better,” I smiled.

“Thank you daddy,” she said quietly.

“Daddy, are you going to leave again?” Kyle asked me nervously.

“Never! I’m not going anywhere,” I replied strongly.

Christie pouted. “Pwomise?”

I nodded. “I promise.”

“We love you daddy,” they both said as they hugged me.

“I love you too,” I said before kissing their foreheads.

For the rest of the day, we watched animation movies and ate pizza. The twins woke up during one of the movies, so we moved off to Bev’s room since she has a King sized bed. We all cuddled up and continued watching the movies there. I hadn’t even realized that I’d fallen asleep, until I heard the distinctive sound of the click of a camera.

“Definitely the picture that will get people talking,” Beverly smiled.

I was wondering what she was referring to, until I realized that the kids had all somehow ended up cuddled into my sides. Both twins’ heads were on my chest, while Kyle and Christie were cuddled onto my stomach, with each of them draping a leg over mine.

“How long have I been out for?” I questioned.

“Four hours now. It’s eleven o’clock,” she giggled.

“Where’d you go?” I asked.

“I figured I’d let you rest, especially since you’re the choice of comfort in this situation. I just went to clean up the lounge and kitchen, and then I booked our holiday,” she smiled.

“Oh? Where’d you choose?” I asked.

“Thailand. I think they’ll enjoy the sea, and I really want to go there,” she blushed.

I raised an eyebrow at her. “Anything for you, but tell me you used our money.”

“See, it’s a good thing I knew you’d want that of me, so I did,” she smirked.

“Good!” I chuckled.

“Let’s get these to bed so that I can also have my daddy time,” she giggled.

After carefully removing myself from the situation, Beverly carried the twins to bed, while I carried Kyle and Christie to their respective rooms. Kyle’s room is Avengers themed, while Christie’s is female superheroes themed.

She’s so much like her mother.

Speaking of Beverly, I was on my way to her room when I heard her singing. I followed the sound of her beautiful voice and found that she was singing a lullaby to the twins. Preston was stirring, while Dakota peacefully slept away.

“Sleep my baby. Daddy’s home and everything will be ok from now on,” she said softly before kissing his forehead. He stopped stirring and slept away as peacefully as his sister.

Before I could get caught, I made it back to the master bedroom and took off my shoes. We really needed to start looking for a house. Thinking of this room as Beverly’s room wasn’t sitting well with me. I needed a room that was ours.

“What are you so deep in thought about?” she asked when she walked into the room.

I didn’t say anything at first. I just looked up at her and really looked at her. It had been eighteen months and she’d grown even more beautiful. Motherhood just added a glow to her that only made me fall in love with her even more.

It made me want to see her pregnant even more.

“What?” she giggled as she came to stand between my legs.

“I love you,” I smiled, looking up at her.

She ran her hand through my hair. “I love you too, but that’s not what you were thinking about.”

I love it when she does that.

“I was just thinking about how we need to find a house. I want a master bedroom I can call ours,” I informed her.

“We could always move back home,” she suggested. I’d told her that I wasn’t living there anymore.

“Nah! We need a new home for our new start,” I replied.

“Ok! How about we look for houses tomorrow with the kids? We can pack when we come back,” she suggested.

“What time are we leaving on Monday?” I asked.

“I told Lenny that we’d take off at one in the afternoon,” she replied.

“You booked the jet?” I smirked.

“It is mine as well you know,” she winked.

“By all means – I’m just impressed. I was honestly beginning to think this day would never come again,” I admitted.

“Which day? The day I used our assets again?” she asked.

“Not just that, but the day you referred to them as our assets,” I elaborated.

“I didn’t think I would either, but I’m glad everything is back to normal now,” she smiled.

“No, not normal. We’re starting over gorgeous. We’re creating a whole new kind of normal ok?” I told her.

“Ok,” she smiled before leaning down to kiss me.

The next morning was filled with lots of laughter. We didn’t hide the fact that we were out as a family. Bev had managed to get an estate agent to show us some houses, and they were very excited to be serving us.

The twins were laughing and I got to witness their first walks. Dakota walked to me first, before Preston walked to his mom. From then on, they wanted to walk, so we had them in the middle with Christie and Kyle as we all held hands. It was an overall great morning.

“Daddy, can we please get ice-cream?” Christie pleaded. The twins clapped their hands in agreement.

“But we haven’t found a home yet,” I argued.

“We can look after,” Kyle countered.

I turned to Beverly. “Gorgeous?”

“There’s no arguing with them, trust me,” she advised.

“Well alright then! Ice-cream it is,” I chuckled as I turned towards the ice-cream parlour.

It was relatively full when we walked in, and Kyle and Christie wouldn’t stop bouncing. Bev and I were each carrying a twin, and it took a while before anyone actually noticed us. A group of girls that were there were literally wide eyed and stunned into silence.

“I told you guys that the twins are Beverly and Mordecai’s kids!” the one girl broke the silence excitedly.

“Hey guys,” Beverly smiled at them while Kyle and Christie chose the toppings for their ice-cream.

“Oh my God! So you guys are totally still together?” the one other girl asked.

I chuckled. “Yep!”

“Where did you guys disappear to?” the first girl asked.

“We just took time off from the limelight,” Beverly lied on our behalf.

“What about last week’s article?” another of the girls asked.

“What article?” Beverly and I asked.

“This one,” the same girl said as she showed us the article. It was an article about us, insinuating that we were fighting. The pictures attached were from that day we had the meeting and I’d followed Beverly out to her car.

“It’s a misunderstanding on the media’s part. We were arguing yes, but it wasn’t as serious as this article suggests,” I said.

“Well, we don’t care. We’re just happy to see you together,” the one girl smiled.

“Daddy, which one are you having? We know mommy wants chocolate fudge,” Kyle asked me.

“Uh, get me chocolate mint,” I replied.

“Ok! Do you want gummy bears and sour worms like us?” Christie asked me.

“What do you think?” I asked her.

“Definitely!” she smirked before running back to the counter.

“She’s even more adorable in person,” the girls cooed.

“She’s adorable when she’s behaving,” Beverly scoffed.

“We can imagine. So what are you guys up to now?” one of the girls asked.

“We’re in the process of looking for a house and then we’re heading to Thailand for a family vacation,” Beverly informed. It wasn’t like this information wouldn’t be known by the public anyway.

“Aaaaw, that is so adorable! Are you guys back from hiding now?” they asked.

I nodded. “You could say so.”

“Thank the heavens! You’re our favourite couple!” they giggled.

“Here you go daddy. The nice lady is waiting for you to pay her,” Christie said, handing me a very colourful bowl of chocolate mint ice-cream with a whole lot of sugary toppings.

Attracting rotten teeth much?

“Excuse me ladies,” I said before heading to the cashier, who beamed at the sight of me.

“Hi Mr Hart-Tedder. Your kids are so beautiful,” she gushed.

“Thanks,” I smiled, handing over the money.

With our ice-creams in hand, and after signing autographs and taking pictures, we headed out for more house hunting. It was when we reached the eighth house that everyone came to an agreement that it was the one. It had something we all loved, and it was ultimately the perfect house for us.

“Mrs Hart-Tedder has already mentioned that money isn’t an issue, so I’ll just draw up the papers and have them dropped off at the address she gave me,” Hannah, the estate agent, smiled.

“Thank you Hannah,” Beverly returned the smile.

“Oh, it’s my pleasure! I haven’t met such a wonderful family in a while,” Hannah commented.

“We’re barely all that,” Beverly blushed.

“You guys are perfect!” Hannah gushed.

If only she knew.

“So, I was thinking we’d stop by the apartment so that I can pick up all my stuff now that I’ve sold it,” I told Beverly as we headed back to her house. The kids were all fast asleep after the lunch they’d had.

“Oh ok! I’m good with that,” she said as she entwined our hands.

The rest of the ride to my apartment was spent in a peaceful silence as classical music played softly throughout the car. By the time we’d beaten the traffic to my apartment, even Beverly had fallen asleep. I managed to get a snapshot of her and the kids all sleeping as well, before I headed inside the building.

I was puzzled when I found the door open, and obnoxious pop music was coming from inside. I walked in to find men moving furniture around. I was confused, until I heard that annoying voice directing them on where to put the different things.

“Darling! You’re home!” she said excitedly before coming to kiss me. I dodged in time and she grabbed air. She glared at me when the workers looked at her like she’s mad.

“What the hell is going on here?” I asked.

“I’m redecorating. What do you think?” she smiled.

“I think you’re making a big mistake. This apartment is back on the market,” I informed.

“Don’t be ridiculous. You wouldn’t do such a thing!” she giggled before telling one of the guys to drill a hole in the wall.

“Mendel, you will be held liable for all of these damages. This is no longer my apartment. It hasn’t been for the past three days,” I informed.

“What? You’re not serious!” she panicked.

“He is so serious.”

I turned to see Beverly standing there with her arms crossed.

“What are you doing here?” Mendel sneered her way.

“Came to help my husband get his stuff,” Beverly shrugged indifferently before leading herself to find my room I guess.

“Husband? What the hell is she talking about? You and I are together!” Mendel snapped.

“We have never been together. I’ve been married to Bev for almost two years now,” I informed.

“That stupid bitch just keeps ruining everything! How the hell am I going to pay for all of this?” she asked.

“Good luck figuring that out,” I said awkwardly before walking away.

“Wait! You can’t just leave me Mordecai. I’ll tell the world that you raped me and that you were abusive,” she threatened.

I shrugged. “Tell the world whatever you’d like Mendel. I’m still not paying for this shit. You got yourself into it. Find a way out.”

“I’ll tell them you made me get an abortion,” she added.

“You could tell them that I drowned a baby for all I care,” I said, deadpan.

She glared at me. “I could ruin you!”

“Bitch, shut the fuck up! Your shit career was over before it even began and you’ve been clinging onto a fairytale. Now, I’m only going to say this once, and you’d do best to listen. Mordecai is my husband and father to our four children. You’re a child in this situation, despite your age. Ain’t nobody got time for your shit, so do yourself a favour and just quit it. Quit being fake. Quit your so called career. Move to the countryside where no-one knows who you are and make a good woman of yourself. You have no life left in California. Forget about this life, and you sure as hell better forget about my husband because he’ll never be yours. Now, with that said, take your little crew and get the fuck out,” Beverly said with a sweet smile.

I was so fucking turned on.

“You can’t talk to me like that. Mordecai, you can’t let her talk to me like that!” Mendel screeched.

“I’m going to punch you,” Beverly threatened.

“You won’t touch me! I’ll get you arr-” Mendel started off before there was a resounding crack in the room. Everyone in the room, myself included, watched in shock as Mendel lay on the floor, knocked out cold.

“I finally got to do that,” Beverly mumbled before walking away towards my room like nothing happened.

“Dude, your wife is the shit!” one of the guys told me.

“Don’t I know it! Please leave and take Mendel with you. There’s nothing to be done here,” I told them.

“Who’s going to pay us?” another guy asked.

“I’ll settle the bill, but send it to her still. I want to freak her out,” I told them.

“Alright man,” they laughed before leaving, with one of them throwing Mendel over their shoulder.

I walked into my room to find Beverly packing away my stuff. She had a scowl on her face, and her hand was bruising. I sighed and headed to my mini fridge and pulled out an ice pack before going to her. I stopped her from moving and placed it on her hand.

“I love you,” I smiled.

“You have no idea how much I love you,” she blushed.

She always looks so immaculate when she does that.

She cupped my cheek with her free hand. “I can’t wait to start the rest of our lives together.”

“Me neither,” I replied before leaning down to kiss her.

“Make love to me here,” she murmured on my lips.

“The kids,” I reminded, my hands around her waist.

“Bumped into Ger and Paris downstairs. They’ve got them covered,” she breathed before bringing my lips back onto hers.

Well then, who am I to disappoint?