Tensions

An awkward silence and a blinking pair of eyes were the only movements Blaze could produce.

“…What?” she stared blankly, the words not yet registering inside her head.

“Blaze, ju—“ Tre began.

“Please don’t tell me you believe this Tre.” Blaze interrupted.

“What?! Why would I make this up? Have you SEEN their faces?” Serenity spat.

“Why would you make it up? Who wouldn’t make it up?! You’d get thousands in child support every month!”

“Excuse me!” Serenity spewed, not believing the audacity of the strange woman in front of her. The strange woman, whose face she suddenly wanted to claw at. “I don’t want his fucking money! Are you serious!? Who the fuck do you thin---”

“OKAY” Terrence loudly interrupted, rubbing his palms up and down his girlfriend’s arm, “If you don’t believe her, then you guys can always take a paternity test. There’s no need for yelling and accusations.”

“No need for yelling?” Tre mused, pushing Blaze a little out of the way so he could stand face to face with Terrence. “You have MY kids thinking that YOU’RE their father, and you expect me not to get fucking upset.” he yelled, pointing his finger into Terrence’s now angry face.

“Dude, you need to get your finger outta my face.”

Serenity and Blaze both were quick to stand between both men, pushing them apart incase fists began to fly.

“Everyone just chill for a second.” Serenity said, making note not to ever leave these two men to themselves.

“They could be Billie Joe’s for all we know.” Blaze snarled.

And Serenity was astonished. What right did anyone have to air out her dirty laundry to Blaze or anyone else for that matter

“You told her about me?!” she exclaimed.

Tre’s eyes darted awkwardly at his ex-girlfriend, not really knowing how to defend himself. Of course he had told his fiancé about Serenity.

“She’s my fiancée, of course I told her.” He explained. “It’s not that big of a deal.” He added softly.

“I can’t believe you told her my business! And it’s not a big deal? Are you serious right now, Tre?”

“WE don’t hide things from each other.” Blaze added.

What the drummer failed to say was that Adrienne actually revealed this piece of information to Blaze. Whenever she tried to pry, he’d simply give her nonchalant answers. It wasn’t his business to gossip about anyone. And frankly, he never was one to kiss and tell.

And even more frankly, he simply didn’t want to think about the woman.

*

The group bickered back and forth for a couple more minutes before Blaze and Tre excused themselves from the house. It was an astonishing surprise that neither of the children had managed to hear all the commotion and not wake.

“Walking away doesn’t solve anything…” Serenity called out to Tre as he and Blaze fumed from the house and into his rental.

Huffing something beneath his breath, Tre slammed the driver’s door first before shouting back “I’ll call you.”

*
*
*
*

The next morning was bitterly silent in Serenity’s house. The only noises that arose came from the twins during breakfast. Terrence was obviously mad and frustrated about the night prior and decided to give his girlfriend the silent treatment as punishment. After all, it was her fault that this mess had escalated to the point where it now was.

“Go get the brush so I can fix your hair, Bianca.” Serenity called to her daughter through the hallway as she tried to lotion her son’s arms and legs.

When she heard the front door slam, she figured that Terrence had left in a heated rush.

He hadn’t said a word to her when they woke up this morning and was pissy and silent the entire time as he prepared to go to work.

She didn’t know why HE was upset in the first place! If it wasn’t for him, then none of this mess would have happened. If Trevor and Bianca wanted to find out who their biological father was, then they could’ve done it on their own time…when they were older.

She was supposed to be the upset partner, not him!

*
*
*
*

Meanwhile, back in suburban Oakland, another couple was on the verge of dispute.

Blaze was tying her shoelaces, tired of listening to Tre’s barkings all week long. Running not only kept her body in great shape, but also gave her ears and mind a break from her sometimes obnoxious fiancée.

“Maybe if you hadn’t been all chummy chummy and invited them to dinner, none of this would have happened.” He snarled in her direction from the bed. He was randomly flipping channels, not even paying any attention to what was on the screen.

“You mean having the opportunity to meet your potential children?” she raised her eyebrow. “Wow, I can’t wait to have your kids!” she sang sarcastically.

She really didn’t need him bearing out his frustrations at her. And with that, she gathered her iPod and slipped out of the bedroom with Tre’s fuming becoming only a dull whisper.

As his fiancée fled from his presence, Tre continued to fumble through the mindless channels on television. So many emotions were stirring through his body and he simply couldn’t put a handle on them. After all, men weren’t supposed to be this emotional.

He was confused, shocked, and frustrated. His usual days consisted of toying around with his brilliant son, jamming with Mike and Billie Joe, and ending the day alongside his fiancée. Discovering that your ex-girlfriend had twins that belonged to you most definitely was not in the equation.

And so, it wasn’t until after a whole two weeks that Tre decided to call his ex-girlfriend; potential mother of his potential children.

*
*

Serenity was at work when her cell phone went off. She instinctively rolled her eyes as her ex-boyfriend’s name appeared on the screen.

“Hello” she muttered, none too enthused.

“Uh, hi. It’s Tre”

“Yeah, I can see that. What’s up?”

“We need to talk. Is there anyway we can sit down and talk about this whole thing? Me, you, Blaze, and that guy you’re with?”

She rolled her eyes. “Sure, and his name is Terrence. Aren’t you touring though? We can’t exactly leave home and jet out to whichever city you’re in.”

“I didn’t ask you to do that Serenity….” Tre murmured, not enjoying her attitude, “I have a break in between some dates that I can stop by.”

“When?”

Serenity could hear papers rustling and the whisperings of a woman in the background. Blaze.
“Uhh, gimme a second” the drummer replied, searching emphatically for the dates he had just circled in red.

“It’s ok, you can just call me ba—“

“Alright, how about next weekend, the 23rd?”

“That’s fine with me.”

Silence consumed the conversation for several short moments. Serenity couldn’t help but feel a little guilty over everything. Terrence was right, and she knew that she owed Tre an immense apology.

She tried to imagine herself in his shoes; discovering that you’re now the father of not one, but two kids!

“I—“

“Alright, I gotta go. I’ll give you a call this weekend” he mumbled.

She’d have to apologize in person.

Great.

*
*
*
*

It was the day before Tre was supposed visit to sort out his life with Serenity. He had reluctantly called her during the week to remind his ex-girlfriend of the visit and make sure he was still welcome. They only spoke for an awkward minute, but it went well. Tre would get to see Trevor and Bianca, this time awake. And he would only have to see her boyfriend’s face for a couple of minutes before he headed off to work.

Although no minutes would have been his preference.

*

Serenity and Terrence were currently preparing dinner.

“Is he still coming tomorrow?”

“Yeah” she nodded, carrying the bowl of carrots to the sink for rinsing.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to stay? What if that bitch comes and they try to gang up on you or something?” He offered whilst pouring his infamous tomato sauce atop the steaming linguini.

“I’m sure I can handle myself babe,”

He slipped a noodle into his mouth, now satisfied with the taste and texture.
“I’m just sayin’. I don’t want to have to break any skulls around here.”

“Terrence, please hush.” Serenity laughed cynically.

“I’m serious!”

“Ok, yeah. Mechanical engineering major from Notre Dame versus Rock n Roll drummer from fucking Berkeley who hurts himself on a daily basis. Hmmm, that’s a hard one…”

A loud crash in the living room interrupted the couple’s conversation.
“Trevor and Bianca Reynolds!” Serenity exclaimed, marching out of the kitchen to see what disaster had taken place.

A broken swan figurine lay on the floor. The two children stood completely still and silent.

“You guuuuuuys” Terrence whined. “I bought that for your mom years ago!”

Serenity grinned at Terrence’s lame reprimanding. If he were the only parent, Trevor and Bianca would be on one of those talk shows where the kids beat up their own parents.

“You two.” She pointed at the small offenders. “Sit on the couch. No toys. No talking. No TV.” And with that she grabbed the remote and shut off the television which had an episode of Bob the Builder playing and proceeded back into the kitchen.

“Damn, when did I get this for you?” Terrence pondered, as he poured the broken figure into the kitchen trash.
“Like a month after we met” she smiled.

He came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist.
“Yeah, and your stomach was like—”, he extended his arms “—this big”.

She couldn’t help but giggle as she slapped at his hands.
“I can’t believe I fell for a pregnant woman. My friends gave me hell over that.”

“Yeah, well look how hot I am without eating for two, I’m sorry, THREE people. I bet they’re eating their words now.”

“Mhmmm” he nodded, kissing her lightly across the base of her neck.

“You smell so good today,” he continued, apparently drugged from the woman he was snuggling.

“Now I can scratch that off my ‘To Do’ list” she teased.

It was getting difficult trying to prepare the fish that had finished cooking while Terrence wrapped himself around her body.

“Will you go get those two boogers so we can eat?”

“Only after you admit that I can whoop his ass,” he said, squeezing her just a little harder.

“Ok sweetie, I think you could do some major damage.”

“That’s my girl,” he grinned, slapping her on the ass as he went to get the two fugitives.

*
*
*
*

It was almost nine in the morning, and Serenity was expecting a knock from her ex any minute now. She had cleaned the house last night and made sure the fridge was well stocked for her guests.

She had received a text message from Tre a little earlier letting her know that he had called a cab and would be on his way shortly.

She wasn’t about to look like haggard shit in front of her ex-boyfriend either. She made sure her hair looked nice by putting a little gel into it, so that her tight curls popped and fell around her shoulders. And she wasn’t about to dress in her old ‘mom’ clothes either. She put on a white dress that came up a little above her knees and whose neckline crossed and plunged so that just a peak of cleavage was showing.

She wanted him to remember just a teeny tiny peak of what he had missed out on.

"Why are you all dressed up?" Terrence asked with a pointed brow, as he buttoned up his polo in the kitchen.

"I didn’t realize I was,"

Terrence made a scoffing noise in his throat.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing" he smirked, pouring himself a cup of coffee.

"Well would you rather me put on a garbage bag?"

“Why are you always looking for an argument with me?” he pleaded, cupping her chin and giving her a coffee laden kiss.

She succumbed.

A sudden knock at the door disrupted the pair.

Serenity got a little nervous while Terrence got a little agitated.

She quickly slithered from her boyfriend’s grasp to greet Tre. He had on nice pair of dark jeans and a black button up dress shirt. His hair was in its usual messy do, and she noticed he had a bag slung under his arm.

“Hi…” she said awkwardly, looking around for his fiancée.

“Blaze couldn’t make it.” he responded.

“Oh, ok. Well come inside.”

Terrence was now in the living room making sure he had all these different diagrams and papers for work with him, when he saw the copper headed fool.

“Yo” he said, giving Tre a quick nod.

“Hey man” Tre responded, giving the same quick: I-don’t-really-like-you-but-I’m-saying-this-to-keep-the-peace nod:

Tre quickly took for the kitchen, leaving Serenity and Terrence to part ways for the morning.

"You sure you don't want me to stay a little longer?" Terrence pouted.
"Noooo" she giggled, squeezing his hand. “And thank you for behaving.” She said, giving him a thank you kiss on his lips.

And with that, he pecked her on the cheek and left for work.

*
*

Serenity went into the kitchen only to find Tre staring out the large glass patio door where the twins were currently playing.

“Shouldn’t they be in school today?”

“Yeah, but remember I told you I’d have them home for you to meet…?”
“Oh yeah” he whispered to himself, eyes still trained on the hyper toddlers just a few feet away. They were currently playing Red Light, Green Light and running around the small space as if there were no tomorrow.

“Do you want coffee or anything? We have toast, bagels, eg—“

He finally turned to face her and acknowledge her question.
“I’m good. I just stopped by Burger King and picked up something.”

She didn’t respond. Her heart had suddenly fluttered. Not in a romantic way, just surprised that he had given her his full attention. She wasn’t prepared for that.

“Ok,” she smiled. “Well sit down so we can talk”
And with that she sat on the small patio table inside the kitchen. They were right next to the glass patio door, so Trevor and Bianca were in full sight.

"What does your boyfriend do?" Tre asked,

"He's a mechanical engineer." She said, sipping her coffee.

Tre gave her a skeptic look. She almost laughed.
"He builds engines and all sorts of nerdy mechanical stuff."

“Ah, I see.” he laughed a little. “I didn’t know you were into brainiacs. Are you still doing that decorating thing?”

“Yes! And it’s called interior design. I’m NOT a decorator!”

He grinned a little, “Yeah, sorry.”

"Why couldn’t Blaze make it?"

"Work." was all he was willing to supply.

The pair didn’t say anything else for a few more seconds. Tre felt a little uncomfortable. He didn’t really know what else to say.

He had come here prepared to lay down the law and get to the bottom of this woman’s mischief. But as soon as she answered the door, he could barely remember why he had come in the first place.

She looked so different from the last time he had seen over three years ago. He could remember how strung up she looked as if it were yesterday. She had lost a significant amount of weight, and it appeared as if the very life had flown out of her.

Finding a syringe in her bedroom had probably been the worst part of it all. Scratch that, the worst part was finding out about the affair in the first place. He had never felt so betrayed in his entire thirty-something years on this earth. And especially betrayed by someone he loved so dearly.

“Tre, I owe you an apology. And I’m sorry.” Serenity whispered, looking directly into his eyes.
“I should have phoned you or sent letters to you about Bianca and Trevor.”

He did not respond. So she continued.

“And I don’t know what your fiancé was talking about, but I have no intentions of trying to squeeze money out of you. I don’t even want to go to court for a paternity test or anything like that. If you don’t want to be involved with them, then that’s your choice. ”

“I mean, it’d be nice for them to kno—“

“Are you out of your mind?” Tre interrupted her, his eyebrows squirmed in confusion.

“What do you mean…?”

“You honestly think I’d just walk away from my kids and pretend they don’t exist? You certainly don’t remember me well then.”

“I don’t know Tre. And I don’t want you and Blaze to argue or have any troubles because of this. Well, because of me…” She sighed, grasping his shoulder, “I really am sorry though.”

The drummer was still upset. This situation was so complex; he didn’t know where to begin. How could he not be upset with this woman? She had hidden something extremely important from him for YEARS? A heartfelt “sorry” was not going to remedy the situation.

Not this time.

“And this is no excuse or anything, but you didn’t exactly make it easy for me to come to you,” she muttered, putting the coffee cup to her lips.

“And HERE we go,” Tre menaced, now standing up from his seat. There was no way in HELL that he was going to allow her to in any WAY put the blame on him.

“You’re honestly gonna sit there and sip coffee and try to blame this shit on me?”

She put her mug down, but still decided to stay seated and quiet. She didn’t want the kids to hear or come roaming inside to see what was occurring.

“I just said I’m not making any excuses. But you’re not even trying to put yourself in my shoes!”

“Maybe it’s because your shoes don’t fit!” he said, voice slowly rising. “The last time I saw you, I came to fucking HELP you, Serenity! Help you! You could have told me then.”

“See! You don’t even know what you’re talking about and you’re yelling at me” she bit back, her own voice raising a few decibels. “I didn’t know I was pregnant until after that happened. And you think I was gonna go crawling back to you after you basically left me out in the fucking rain?!”

Tre nearly keeled over in his own laughter.

“Oh my God, Serenity” he breathed. “Are you serious?” he laughed one last time.

By this time, she had gotten up from her seat, and was visibly angry. She didn’t even care if her children heard the ruckus that was happening inside.

“You’re such a dick” she seethed.

“I’M THE DICK?” he bellowed. “You’re basically telling me that because I rejected you, you hid my kids from me! What the fuck is that?”

“I didn’t give a shit that you rejected me, you arrogant ass hole! You basically karate kicked me out of your house, scream and curse at me, and then expect me to come on hands and knees that I’m having your children. HA! You would’ve probably thought they were Billie’s and spat on me!”

“I STILL don’t know if they’re his! Maybe we should do a conference call,” he sneered.

“You are unbelievable,” she muttered, almost upon the brink of tears.

Tre could tell that she was visibly hurt from his last attack, and he regretted opening his mouth all of a sudden.
“Look, I didn’t mean to say th—“

“I don’t care. You don’t owe me anything.” She interrupted, any trace of politeness now gone. “I wanted you to come here to see them, not me”

And with that she opened the sliding door to the patio where her children were playing.

“Trevor, Bianca. This is my friend, Tre" she spoke, moving a little to the side so they could get a view of the strange man that had entered there home.

She wasn't about to call him their daddy or anything. The most horrible example she could set for her children were to constantly bring strange men around them. And so, if Tre decided that he wanted nothing to do with them...so be it. At least no one would be hurt in the process.

Neither child said anything. Serenity wasn't surprised. Whenever they met strangers they pretended to be shy angels, when they were actually nothing of the sort.

Tre watched as the toddlers completely ignored the adults in the room and went back to playing with the heap of toys and coloring books on the floor. He had to admit: they did sort of look like him. Their skin color was a gorgeous light caramel, a mixture of Serenity's dark caramel skin and Tre's milky white.

They had their mother's brown eyes, yet they were big and bright like his own. Bianca's hair color matched Tre's a little more than Trevor's. Both had curly hair, with Trevor's cut much lower than his sister's, so that it appeared to be straight.

Serenity had informed there teacher, that both would be absent from school this Friday so Tre could spend Friday and possibly Saturday with his children.

"Hi guys!" Tre smiled at the two children in front of him.

Again, he received no response.

Slowly, the drummer kneeled down to there level, the bag he had brought now in front of him.

"What is this?" Tre exclaimed, slowly reaching into the small bag he had brought. He pretended to be in a state of shock and confusion as he suddenly produced a brand new Barbie Glam Vacation playset!

Bianca's eyes brightened and a smile worthy of Alice’s Cheshire cat erupted across her entire face as Tre handed her the gift.

"Wait a minute ---" he stopped, not letting go of the doll so she could have it.
"I'm going to need a hug first"

There was no hesitation.

Tre almost laughed when he saw what only could be described as a look of complete despair on Trevor's face. How could his sister get something from this stranger and he get absolutely NOTHING?!

"Oh my gosh!" Tre gasped, now sitting completely on the floor. He quickly dug into the bag, only to come up with a new Stomp Rocket!

"How did this get into my bag?!" he exclaimed, smirking when Trevor's eyes lit up.

"I am so not going to enjoy that thing," Serenity quietly mumbled from a few feet away.

Trevor leaned towards Tre, and smiled shyly. "Is it mine?"

"Yeah, but you have to give me a hug first" he replied.

Again, there was no hesitation as the child wrapped his arms around Tre, and his father happily reciprocated.