Chapter 11
Once Leah, Matt and the kids were back in North Carolina, Leah threw herself into her work and taking care of the kids. Matt headed back to the wrestling school and tried to figure out where his current class stood. Matt hated knowing that his wife, the love of his life, wouldn't talk to him about what was going on with her.
After spending the afternoon at the wrestling school, Matt thought that on his way home, he would stop at the market and pick up Leah's favorite flowers and decided have Jeff and Krista watch the kids while they have a romantic dinner alone.
"Hey, Matt! You wanted to see me?" Jeff asked as he walked into Matt's kitchen.
"Yeah. Could you and Krista take the kids tonight for a while?" Matt asked.
"Sure. Is everything ok?" Jeff answered.
"I hope it will be. Leah hasn't been herself since we got back from Houston. I just want to surprise her with flowers and a romantic dinner alone." Matt responded.
"Got it. We'll be more than happy to take the kids tonight. Does it all have to do with her step-mother?" Jeff asked.
"I think so. It's been 15 days and still no word as to if they have found jobs or not. And they only have 15 days left to do so or they will be kicked out of the house and forever out of our lives." Matt answered.
"Wow. I never knew people could be so lazy." Jeff stated. "When do you want us to get the kids?"
"As soon as possible." Matt responded. "They are at home with the babysitter. Leah is on her way back from Raleigh."
"Ok. I'm leaving now." Jeff stated.
Jeff left to pick up Matt and Leah's kids and Matt called the babysitter to let her know that Jeff was going to be picking them up. Matt did exactly was he planned to do. He picked up Leah's favorite food and flowers on his way home. When he got to the house, Leah was still not home, so he put the flowers in water and started on dinner.
The dinning room table was set up with two candles, two wine glasses, place settings and the flowers. It was nearing 5:30pm when Leah finally walked through the door. Matt greeted her at the door with a long stem red rose.
"What is this for?" Leah asked.
"Just for being you." Matt answered.
"Thank you, baby, but why is it so quiet and dark in here?" Leah responded.
"All the kids are at Jeff and Krista's house. Tonight is just about you and me." Matt stated as he lead her into the dinning room.
"Awe, sweetie this is just perfect." Leah stated as she started to tear up.
"Leah, what's wrong?" Matt asked.
"I don't know why you are doing all this after the way I have been acting the past few weeks." Leah stated as a tear rolled down her cheek.
"You are under a lot of stress, and I understand that. That is why I made this surprise for you. I want you to have a relaxed, stress-free, kid-free night with me." Matt responded.
"Thank you so much, Matt. I love you." Leah stated as she hugged her husband.
"Anything for you! I love you too." Matt stated.
After enjoying a romantic dinner alone, Matt and Leah cuddled on the couch. As they cuddled, Matt turned on their electric fireplace and they eventually started making out. After making out for the better part of the hour, they finally headed upstairs to their bedroom.
Meanwhile at Jeff and Krista's house, Jeff, Krista, Shane and Gilbert were trying to get 9 children to settle down and go to bed. Matthew and Savannah were not being very helpful with their younger siblings and cousins. Once all the children were down for the night, all the adults collapsed in the living room to relax and watch some movies.
The next morning, Matt quietly got up and headed down stairs to make breakfast for him and Leah. When he returned upstairs to surprise Leah with breakfast in bed, Leah was just starting to wake up.
"Good Morning, beautiful!" Matt stated.
"Morning. You didn't have to do this." Leah stated.
"But I wanted to." Matt responded.
"You are too much Matthew Hardy!" Leah stated with a smile.
"Can't a husband treat his wife like a queen?" Matt asked.
"Yes, but its not my birthday, our anniversary or Mother's Day." Leah answered.
"I know, but after everything you have had to deal with recently, you deserved every minute of being treated like a queen." Matt responded.
"Thank you! You are the best husband a woman could ask for." Leah stated as she kissed Matt.
Their kiss was short lived as Leah's cell phone went off. She tried to ignore it, but the person kept calling and calling.
"Hello!" Leah stated.
"Uh, may I please speak with a Mrs. Leah Hardy?" the caller asked.
"May I ask who is calling?" Leah asked.
"My name is Sara Jenkins, I used to live next door to Mr. Max Williams. I am looking for his daughter." Sara answered.
"This is Leah. Sorry about that but you never know when a fan might get our numbers." Leah responded.
"It's perfectly fine. I understand. The reason I am calling is that I know that you have taken over ownership of Max's house and that his widow and her two children are still living there. They have been doing nothing but causing trouble around here. None of them work, the kids barely go to school and they sit around drinking and smoking all day and all night. Is there something that you can do, Mrs. Hardy?" Sara asked.
"Thank you for calling me, Mrs. Jenkins. I am deeply sorry for any trouble they have caused you. I will contact our lawyer and see what we can do. If anything happens again, please don't hesitate to call me." Leah responded.
"Thank you, Mrs. Hardy. I will. Good-bye." Sara stated.
"Good-bye." Leah stated as she hung up.
"What was that all about?" Matt asked.
"Apparently they aren't taking my threats seriously about getting jobs and such, so therefore I need to call the lawyer and see what we can legally do about them." Leah answered.
"Great." Matt responded.
Leah called the lawyers office in Houston and told him everything that Mrs. Jenkins told her. Mr. Franklin told Leah that he would make a trip to Mrs. Jenkins's house and see about getting a written statement from her and then he would talk to the local authorities and see what can be done.
A few days went by and Leah finally heard back from Mr. Franklin. He advised her that even though they have a written and verified complaint about them, they needed to wait until the 30 days were up per the agreement. Leah understood the legality of the agreement, but just wanted to make sure she was doing everything legally. At this point there were 12 days left before the 30 days were up.
Over the next two weeks, Leah primarily worked from home to make sure that if anyone called she would be able to deal with them right away and not have to call them back. Shannon and Nicole were busy running the shops and Nicole working full time as a store manager. Both Shannon and Nicole decided that 4 children were enough for the both of them. Nicole decided that since she was completely done have babies, that she would have her tubes tied.
Jeff and Krista had both decided that they wanted one more baby and then that would be it. And so they started trying for their last baby. But what they didn't know was that Krista was already pregnant.
The two weeks went by pretty quickly and soon it was the 29th day. Leah had all the paperwork ready to be faxed to Mr. Franklin. Leah didn't think that this whole situation would be over with come tomorrow evening. Of course Leah waited for her phone to go and screw everything up, but by the evening of the 30th day, she hadn't heard anything from anyone. Leah faxed the papers to Mr. Franklin's office that night.
The next morning Mr. Franklin called Leah and verified all the paperwork. He took the paperwork to the court house and filed it, then after getting the court order, he drove out to the house with the local police department and advised Rhonda and her children to pack up everything that was their's and only there's and to vacate the house. Leah waited by the phone for Mr. Franklin to call her back.
"Hello?" Leah answered her phone.
"Mrs. Hardy, Rhonda and her children are no longer in the house. I have possession of all the keys and such. I would advise you to have the locks changed today. I can be here for that as well so I can mail you the keys." Mr. Franklin stated.
"Thank you so much. I think my husband is calling someone now to get out there and change the locks." Leah responded. "He said that someone will be there in about 20 minutes."
"Great. It was my pleasure working with you and your husband. I will mail out everything tomorrow morning." Mr. Franklin told her.
"That would be great." Leah stated as they hung up.
Two weeks later, Leah and Matt were back in Houston. They had packed up all of Max's personal items and donated the rest to a local charity. Leah decided to rent the house out after it was professionally cleaned. Leah posted an ad in the local newspaper and no sooner did the paper come out, Leah had a slew of phone calls about the house.
Leah lined up appointments to view the house for everyone who called. After spending three days showing the house to perspective renters, Leah finally was able to have someone rent the house. Leah made sure that the new tenets had her address and phone number. They were responsible for all maintenance and repairs. The morning that Matt and Leah were due to arrive back in Cameron, Krista finally took a pregnancy test.
"Jeff! Please come upstairs alone." Krista called.
"Ok. What's up?" Jeff asked as he entered their bedroom.
"I'm pregnant! We're going to have another baby!" Krista exclaimed.
"Really? Are you sure?" Jeff asked.
"Yes. I took a test and it's positive!" Krista answered.
"Baby, that's the best news since the last time you told me you were pregnant with the twins." Jeff responded.
"I can't believe that it happened so quickly." Krista stated. "I need to call the doctor's office and make an appointment."
"Alright." Jeff stated as he headed downstairs where the kids were.
Krista and Jeff found out that Krista was almost three months pregnant. Krista was shocked that she didn't know any sooner than that, but figured there was a good reason. They decided to call everyone personally and announce the pregnancy. Gilbert was first on the list, followed by Matt and Leah, then Shannon and Nicole. Everyone was happy for Jeff and Krista.