Welcome to my sequel, "Forever a Hardy"! This is just a recap chapter :)
I recommend reading that story first.
What happened last in "Always A Hardy"...
Four days later, everything was completely settled in the Hardy house except for the dramatic truth about Joe being Xavier's son. The tension in the air was more deafening then Xavier could ever imagine. Nate Caine had been killed in self defense at the business office and Evan was in prison. There was nothing in the newspapers or on the TV about Joseph Hardy who really was a millionaire's son. Everything was completely natural for Bayport but the Hardys life was not.
Xavier was thinking on the Hardy's front porch as he sat on the rocker chair. He didn't know what to do. He wanted to have a son, he knew he had a son. His son was Joe Hardy, his real name Shaun Stevenson. Didn't he have the rights of a parent to claim the young man? Shannon just gave the baby away to the Fenton and Laura with no proper documents saying that Joe was legally theirs. Technically Xavier was the kid's real parent, legal parent.
He had been waiting so long for his child to reappear in his life. The man was so caught up in his thoughts that he didn't hear the stomping of footsteps come up the porch steps. He looked up and gasped. He got to his feet and suddenly he felt something hard collide on the back of his head.
Xavier was out like a light.
Joe was sulking, brooding, pouting, you name it. He was just angry. He loved his family. He had trusted his family to tell him the truth but in reality he shouldn't have trusted them to tell him the whole truth and nothing but the truth. They had lied to him all his life. Frank had said he hadn't even known about it until four days ago when Dad-Fenton-Dad-Mr. Hardy had confessed that the two weren't real brothers. He sat on his bed holding a framed photo of him, Frank, and his parents with a sulking Aunt Gertrude from four years ago. The corners of his mouth tipped into a smile but disappeared when the bedroom door opened.
"Go away," Joe ordered harshly as he shoved the picture underneath his pillow. He snapped his head to see the person inside the room, but he gasped at the man who was holding a gun at him.
"What do you want?" Joe asked looking at the gun and back at the man who was frowning at him.
"Look, Joseph," The man began, "Don't you remember me?"
"...No..." Joe shook his head. "Am I supposed to?"
"Yes," The man stalked closer to the end of the bed, making Joe scramble towards his closet. "I'm your father."
Joe's eyes widened and he groaned hoping that this was just a cruel joke. "This is getting insane."
"What? I am your father and you're coming with me!"
"I'm not coming with you! I'm not going anywhere with anyone!" Joe nearly shouted as the man reached for his arm. "Let me go! Let me go!" He could definitely not have three fathers total! He only had one!
The man sighed and pulled out a cloth from a jacket. "If you're going to struggle, I'll have to use this, son,"
Chloroform.
"FRAAAAAAAAAAAAANK! " Frank heard Joe yell for help, he sat down the book he was reading and ran up the stairs as fast as he could. Joe had said that he needed to be alone for awhile and think about things. He opened his little brother's bedroom door to see a man with a gun pointed at Joe's head.
"HEY! Don't mess with my brother!" Frank glowered.
"He's my son," Frank held back a irritated groan. Why was everybody claiming that Joe was their kid? It was getting overly annoying. Frank took in a deep breath and tried to calm down. "Now if you let me through, I won't hurt him, okay?" Frank saw the fear in Joe's eyes. He really wanted to live.
"Its okay, Joe, I'll save you." Frank said with confidence in his voice. The man smiled and motioned for the older Hardy to get out of the way. He did. Frank watched his brother dragged away by a maniac before calling out simple words that his little brother probably needed to hear.
"You're Always a Hardy, Joe, remember that!"
The first chapter of "Forever a Hardy" is coming soon...this week hopefully! Love you! ~VRT