Tensions

All was terribly silent as Serenity stayed 5 steps ahead of Terrence, completely drenched in hurt and fiery anger as they walked out of the arena and into the busy parking garage.

How could he have possibly betrayed her so by inviting her ex and his FIANCE to dinner at THEIR house?!

"Serenity." he called her name, walking at a brisker pace to try and catch up to her.

He could hear her angry mumbles from behind his girlfriend as he clamored to catch up to the furious woman in front of him.

"Will you wait up." he said breathlessly, finally managing to latch onto her elbow.

She immediately whipped her arm away from his touch. "I can't believe you." she seethed, still walking briskly to the car. He was lucky she had given him the keys earlier, because if she still had them, he would definitely be taking a cab home tonight.

Terrence sighed as he opened up the doors several minutes later and hopped into the driver's seat. He knew he was seconds away from receiving a very lengthy and unpleasant tongue lashing from his girlfriend.

"I don't fucking believe the nerve of you." Serenity fumed quietly as she buckled her seatbelt.

"At least let me ex--"

"I DONT WANNA HEAR YOUR DAMNED EXPLANATIONS!" she yelled. "I KNEW I shouldn've never came here with you. I just fucking KNEW IT!"

Terrence angrily drove out of the huge parking garage as Serenity went on a tirade.

"How could you do that?! Wait no, WHY would you do that?!"

"I did it so the man could meet his blasted kids!" he finally answered back, somewhat angrily.

"What?"

"Look. I thought it was the best opportunity for you to introduce him to Bianca and Trevor. When else are you going to do that? When they're grown up and go to find out who their REAL daddy is?!"

"I thought YOU were they're real daddy, but I guess I thought wrong."

"You know what I mean. I mean their biological fa--"

"I don’t even care Terrence! Those are MY children, not yours. So I don’t appreciate you setting up shit with their dad when it doesn’t involve you. When I think the time is right to tell him, then I will! I don't need your fucking help when it comes to that!"

And then her mind went blank as a light bulb clicked on in her head.
"Please don't tell me this is why you wanted me to come." she mumbled, staring right at her boyfriend. "Did Jordan even get his arm broken?"

"Don’t be a fucking idiot. This wasn’t a fucking plot. I didn’t lure you here to do this. Just don’t ask me for any help next time, because you sure as hell wont get it." was his brutal answer.

After driving for what seemed like centuries, the frustrated and not to mention anxious pair returned home.

"Look at this place." she mumbled, putting her hand to her brow. "Now I'm gonna have to hurry clean AND cook."

"Do you want me to just call them and cancel?" Terrence softly suggested, feeling a tad bit guilty over his previous invitations.

"No." she replied huffily, "I think you've done more than your share for tonight." she added as she went to check on her sleeping children.

Rolling his eyes, Terrence walked passed his significant other and into the bedroom to shower and change his clothes for dinner. He didn’t know why Serenity was making this such a huge deal. Honestly, he wasn’t even expecting her ex-boyfriend and his fiancé to come. After all, he didn’t exactly see a gleaming smile on Tre’s face when he invited the two.

Meanwhile, Serenity cleaned up the house as clean as possible. She didn’t want her ex-boyfriend and his girlfriend to come over to a dirty and unkempt place. So after dusting, sweeping, and mopping, the vixen practically ran into the kitchen to prepare a light dinner. She wasn't going to make a HUGE dinner, with a million sides and fancy wines, but she definitely wanted to impress Tre...and his lady. You know, make him know what he was missing…and what Terrence was having.

"Need any help?" Terrence asked, emerging from the confines of their bedroom about an hour too late.

"Hmph" was all she puffed out at first. "Now you offer to help, when I'm nearly done."

"Do want my help or not?” Terrence asked once more.

“No, I don’t want your damned help.”

“Fine. I’ll just set the fucking table.” He mumbled bitterly as he stepped passed her to grab plates and glasses from the wooden cabinets above their heads.

Ignoring her boyfriend, Serenity wiped her brow before garnishing the baked lasagna with a small ration of fresh parmesan cheese. The entire kitchen smelled so wonderful that the vixen grinned to herself. Rummaging around in the pantry, she found a bottle of Chardonnay and placed it atop the counter.

After a hot shower, she began to dress herself, putting on a simple pair of dark jeans, and a tight red blouse. She flung her hair back into a tidy bun, and smeared on a berry shade of lipstick. She looked pretty hot.

"Your place is really nice. It’s very cozy and quaint." Blaze admired, a half hour later, when her and Tre had finally arrived.

"Thanks" Serenity smiled, not wanting to really pay attention to either man in the room. When Tre had stepped through the door, she had to fight a sudden urge to slam the wooden fixture in his face. She really didn’t want to be bothered with seeing him, reminiscing the past when they were together, and most dangerously; telling him about his children.

He was wearing a simple button up shirt, and a pair of light blue jeans. Blaze was now wearing a beautiful lilac colored halter shirt, with a knee length black pencil skirt.

"You moved right? I thought you lived in Miami?" Tre asked, eyes still wandering around the foreign room.
"yea, I moved in with Terrence here. But it’s actually more convenient, because the majority of my family lives here anyway."

“I hope you all are hungry, Seny made a lot of food.” Terrence said for no apparent reason. He sort of felt like an outsider inside his own house, which was a feeling that he definitely was going to rid himself of.
“Mmmm, what’s for dinner? It smells delicious.” Blaze exclaimed, seating herself around the table with the rest of the gang.

“Thanks. I only made lasagna, I don’t know what he’s talking about.” She faux smiled, causing Tre to grin into his lap at her deplorable acting skills.

Serenity had just seated herself around the table after carrying out the steaming dish of lasagna, when Blaze noticed gorgeous portrait above her head.

"And who are those munchkins?" Blaze cooed, pointing to the portrait of the twins, just a couple weeks after their birth, and dressed in the cutest Winnie the Pooh outfits.

"Oh,” Serenity smiled nervously. “Those are my kids, Bianca and Trevor", hoping that they ignored her say ‘my’ instead of ‘our’.

Tre had just swallowed a small amount of wine when his fiancé had pointed out the photograph. But he wasn’t prepared for the response from his ex, which caused the drummer to choke on his beverage.

Blaze was beating his back as tears came to his eyes from the convulsing coughing.

“Oh my God, do you need water?!” Serenity panicked.

“I-I-I’m fine,” he breathed out in the shallowest of breaths.

“Jesus. You never heard the word kids before?” Blaze exclaimed, rubbing her hand up and down his back.

"Wow, congratulations." He finally stammered, "I would have never guessed."

"Aww, are they sleeping right now?" Blaze interjected

“Yea.” Terrence answered. “I think the babysitter tired them out.”

Chatter about Serenity’s children had taken an indefinite hiatus as dinner was served. With clanks and clink of silverware, the chewing of cheesy things, and the constant sipping and small talk between the couples, the topic of the children had been forgotten. Well, until Tre suddenly remembered.

“Gosh, I still can’t believe you’re a mom now.” He smiled, “how old are they?”

The vixen was startled for a second, she really didn’t want to reveal the age of the twins. Should she lie to him?

“They’re about 3.” Terrence answered for her, placing an arm around the chair belonging to his annoyed girlfriend.

“About?” Tre reiterated.

“Yea, I think he means give or take a couple weeks and whatnot...” Serenity replied, trying desperately to play off the situation.

"Wow. You got over my ass real quick” Tre grinned

Serenity had no reply to his statement, a statement that was incredibly fallacious. So she instead nodded her head a little and braved a small laugh.

“So how is it like to be a mom? Well, to be parents.” Blaze inquired.
“It’s great, a little tiring, but great.” Terrence responded, taking a quaint sip of from his wine glass.
“Yeah,” added. “I just wish we had a little more time to ourselves, but besides that, I pretty much love it.”

The conversation about children eventually again died off yet again. The coupled pairs instead conversed about the upcoming wedding for Tre and Blaze, politics, and other non important matters.

“Hey, can you come help me find some more wine in the kitchen.” Terrence nudged his girlfriend.

And with a curious expression, Serenity excused herself from the dinner table and followed her horribly annoying boyfriend into the kitchen, for what she knew was NOT wine.

“So when are you planning to tell him?”

The vixen sighed. How many times did they have to go over this?
“I don’t know Terrence, maybe after desert when he’s all sweetened up” she replied sarcastically. “I don’t know when, geez.”

“Look, I’m not trying to argue with you. I’m just letting you know that the clock is ticking out there.”

“Why are you so intrigued in this? I told you not to worry about me, I’ll handle the situation on my own.”

“I know that baby, but I’m just trying to help you out, because I know if I were in his shoes, I’d want to know about my children. And I just think that this is a pretty good and convenient opportunity for you.”

Serenity only shook her head. “I’m gonna go put out the dessert.”

But then something unbelievably inconvenient occurred.
Blaze came into the kitchen, just as serenity was taking out a small lemon cake from the pantry.
“Hey, I think one of your kids woke up, because we heard them crying. But Tre went to go check on them.”

Her eyes bolted from her skull at Blaze’s words, the small cake nearly dropping to the floor.

She was fucked.

Terrence was speechless himself, finally. He only hoped that Tre didn’t look in a mirror often. Both “parents” knew who the crying child was as well, Bianca. Unbeknownst to their knowledge, they could never understand why the little girl awoke by crying. Unless one of them was by her side as she opened her eyes to a new day, she would ball her eyes out until either Serenity or Terrence came to her rescue. Trevor always stayed fast asleep, thankfully. Her crying spells had subsided as she got older…but NOW, at the most inconvenient moment?!

“Are you alright?” Blaze asked, noticing the deer in the headlight gaze Serenity was currently offering.
She could only shake her head as she breezed passed Blaze, practically shoving the small cake into the other woman’s hands as she hurried off into the kids’ room.

The small lamp light was currently glowing, Tre must have turned it on. She was shaking as she dreaded the uproar that would soon ensue. There he was, the man that broke her heart from three years sgo, with Bianca in his arms as he patted her shoulders so the three year old could fall back to sleep.

He could feel another presence in the room, and when he turned he saw glowing red as he saw the nervous look painted in his ex-girlfriend’s eyes. His thoughts had been affirmed.

“Tell me” he could barely speak “…tell me that I’m out of mind for thinking what I’m thinking right now.” He whispered in a monotone voice.

Shit.

Serenity was completely silent. Instead of replying she walked up to him, extending her arm.
“It’s ok, give her here.”
“It’s fine, she’s already asleep.” He replied a bit forcefully, leaning across the small bed to put the child back to bed.

“You didn’t answer my question, Serenity…” he heatedly continued, tucking the sheets up to the toddler’s chin.

“Look. We cant talk in here, lets g—“

“No.” Tre interrupted her, “I wanna know right now, who their daddy is. Because they sure as FUCK don’t look like that guy out there!” he exclaimed, raising his voice a few decibels too loud.

“You can scream in here all you want, but I’m going outside so that MY kids don’t wake up.” And with that, the raven haired mother stepped out of the room and into the hallway, with Tre right on her heels.

“Ok, you really don’t even have to get all upset about the si—“
“Are you KIDDING ME?!” he burst out. “You just magically reveal to me that I have not one, but TWO kids from you, and expect me to not be upset!”

“I’m sorry Tre.” She muttered dejectedly, on the brink of tears now. “What did you expect me to do?”

“What?!” he yelled, which perked the ears of Terrence and Blaze whom were still in the kitchen. “Calling me would be an option! A fucking letter! Don’t even BEGIN to give me that bullshit, Serenity!”

“Even AFTER we break up, you manage to keep secrets from me!?” He laughed incredulously, “I didn’t even know that was possible.”

“Its not like that.”

“So how is it like? And now you have them thinking that that buffoon out there is their father!?”

Thundering steps belonging to the other pair rushed down the long hallway.
“What’s all the yelling about?” Blaze asked, standing right next to her hubby.

“You okay?” Terrence murmured to his girlfriend, feeling a bit of anger bubble inside him at the sight of his girlfriend on the brink of tears.

“This is unbelievable” Tre kept mumbling back and forth, not even able to tell his girlfriend of the news he had just discovered.

“I need to speak to him alone.” Serenity mumbled to Terrence, loud enough for Blaze to hear as well.
“Uh, excuse me, but I’d like to know what’s going on before that happens. IF…it even happens. Whatever you have to say to him, I can hear too.” His fiancé countered.

“Just…” Tre sighed. “I’ll tell you later. But I need to speak to her alone right now.”

“I’m about to be your wife, Tre! I’d like to be included in what’s going on here, especially if it’s so bad that you’re turning bright red.”

“The twins don’t belong to Terrence, Blaze. Tre’s their daddy.”