Hardin's POV.

"He better not touch any of my shit." I warn Tessa while we wait for Kimberly to drop Smith off here.

I still don't understand why they can't take him with them to the hospital.

"Would you stop griping, you are behaving worse than he will and he is five." Tessa scolds me and I roll my eyes.

"I'm just saying, this is all you. You agreed to this so he is your problem not mine.: I remind her.

Of course she ignores me and walks into the kitchen. A knock at the door tells of their arrival so I take a seat on the couch and let Tessa be the one to open the door. She glares at me but doesn't make the guests..her guests wait long before plastering on her biggest and brightest smile.

"Thank you so much! You have no idea how much of a life saver the two  of you are right now, I have no idea what we would have done if you couldn't watch Smith. Christian is so sick, he is throwing up everywhere and we.." Kimberly practically shrieks.

"It's okay really." Tess interrupts her, I assume because she doesn't want to hear the gory details of Christian's illness.

"Okay, well he is in the car so I better get going. Smith is pretty independent, he mostly keeps to himself and he will let you know if he needs anything." She moves to the left, revealing a small boy with dirty blonde hair.

"Hey Smith! How are you?" Tessa speaks in a strange voice I have never heard her use before. This must be her attempt at baby talk even though the child is five years old. Only Tessa.

The boy doesn't say anything, he just gives her a small smile and walks past Kimberly into the living room.

"He doesn't talk much." Kimberly tells Tess, lessening the sad look on her face caused by him not responding to her.

As humorous as it is that he didn't respond to her the way she had assumed, I don't want her to be upset so the little shit better knock it off and be nice to her.

"Okay, I'm really leaving this time!" Kim smiles and closes the door after giving Smith one last wave.

"Are you hungry?" Tessa asks him.

He shakes his head no.

"Thirsty?"

Same response, only this time he takes a seat on the couch opposite of me.

"Do you want to play a game?"

"Tess, I think he just wants to sit here." I tell her and watch as her cheeks flush.

I flip through the channels on the television, hoping to find something of interest to keep me occupied while Tessa is babysitting.

"Sorry Smith, I just want to make sure you are okay." She apologizes and he nods.

He looks an awful lot like his father, his hair is practically the exact color, his eyes are the same shade of green-blue and I suspect that if he were to smile he would have the same dimples as Christian.

A few minutes of awkward silence pass during which Tessa stands next to the couch and I can see her plans unraveling. She had assumed he would come in here full of energy and ready to play with her. Instead, he hasn't spoken a single word nor moved from his spot on the couch.

His outfit is as immaculate as I figured it would be, his small white tennis shoes looks as if they have never been worn. When I glance up from his blue polo shirt, his eyes are on mine.

"What?" I ask. He looks away quickly.

"Hardin!" Tessa groans.

"What? All I did was wonder why he was staring at me." I shrug and turn the channel. The last thing I want to watch is 'The Kardashians.'.

"Be nice." She glares at me.

"I am." I roll my eyes.

"I am going to make dinner, Smith do you want to come with me or sit with Hardin?" Tessa asks the boy.

I feel his gaze on me but I choose not to look, he needs to go with her. She is the babysitter here, not me.

"Go with her." I tell him.

"You can stay in here Smith, Hardin won't bother you." She assures him.

He stays silent. Surprise.  Tessa disappears into the kitchen and I turn the television up louder to avoid any possible conversation with him, not that that is likely to happen anyway. I am half-tempted to go in the kitchen with her and make him stay put in the living room.

Minutes pass and I begin to grow uncomfortable with him just sitting here. Why the hell isn't he talking or playing, or whatever the hell it is that five year olds do.

"So what's the deal? Why don't you talk?" I finally ask.

He shrugs.

"It's rude to ignore people when they are talking to you." I inform him.

"It's more rude to ask me why I don't talk." He fires back.

He has a slight accent, not strong like his father's but not completely watered down either.

"Well at least now I know you are able to speak." I say. His response threw me off guard and now I don't know what to say to him.

'Why do you want me to talk so bad?" He asks, seeming much older than five.

"I..I don't know. Why don't you like to?"

"I dunno." He shrugs.

"Is everything okay in there?" Tessa calls from the kitchen. For a second, I consider telling her that the kid is dead or injured but the humor is lost with the thought.

"Everything is fine." I yell back. I hope she is finished soon because I am finished with this conversation.

"Why do you have those things in your face?" Smith asks, pointing to my lip ring.

"Because I want to. Why don't you have any?" I turn the tables on him, trying not to remember he is a kid after all.

"Did they hurt?" He asks without answering my question.

"No, not at all."

"They look like it." He half smiles.

He isn't so bad I guess but I still don't like the idea of babysitting him.

"I am almost finished in here." Tessa interrupts.

"Okay, I am just teaching him how to make a homemade bomb out of a soda bottle." I tease and she poked her head around the corner to check on us.

"She is mental." I tell him and he laughs, dimples showing.

"She's pretty." He whispers into cupped hands.

"Yeah, she is. Isn't she?" I nod and look up at Tess with her hair pulled back away from her face in some sort of nest on top of her head, her yoga pants still on, and a plain t-shirt and I nod again. She is beautiful and she doesn't even have to try.

I know she can hear us still and I caught a glimpse of her smile as she turned to finish her task in the kitchen. I don't get why she is smiling like that, so what if I am talking to this kid? He is still annoying, like every other child.

"Yeah, really pretty." He agrees again.

"Okay, calm down little dude. She is mine." I tease.

"Your what? Your wife?"

"No, fuck no." I scoff.

"Fuck no?" He repeats.

"Shit, don't say that!" I reach across the couch to cover his mouth.

"Don't say shit?" He asks.

"No, don't say shit, or fuck." This is one of the many reasons I shouldn't be around kids.

"I know they are bad words." He tells me and I nod.

"So don't say them." I remind him.

"Who is she if she isn't wife?" He is a nosy little shit.

"She is my girlfriend." I should have never got this kid talking in the first place.

"You want her to be wife?"

"No, I don't want her to be my wife." I say slowly but clearly so he can hear me and maybe get it this time.

"Ever?"

"Never."

"And you have a baby?"

"No! Hell no! Where do you get these things?" Just hearing them aloud is stressing me out.

"Why do.." He starts to ask but I cut him off.

"Stop asking so many questions." I groan and he nods before grabbing the remote out of my hand and turning the channel.

Tessa hasn't checked up on us in a few minutes so I decide to go into kitchen and see if she is almost finished.

"Tess.. are you almost done because he is talking way too much." I complain, grabbing a piece of broccoli off of the dish. She hates when I eat before the meal is finished but there is a five year old in my living room, I can eat this damn broccoli.

"Yeah, just another minute or two." She answers without looking at me.

Her tone is strange and something seems off.

"You okay?" I ask her when she turns around with glossy eyes.

"Yeah, I am fine. It was just the onions." She shrugs and turns the sink on to wash her hands.

"Okay.. he will talk to you too. He is warmed up now." I assure her.

"Yeah I know. It's not that.. it's just the onions." She says again.

(I will be back to regular updates Friday!! I cant wait, and yes they will go back to normal length too:)  lol. Ilysm please vote and comment tons<3 I am going to sleep because I am basically on a road trip back home and I am so tired and it's past midnight. I am still reading each comment, i just cant respond to all of them but please still leave them because I love the theories and stuff you all come up with.