Best Friends to Lovers

Chapter 20

After Mason leaves, Hayden calls the guys at the gate and tells them to call in reinforcements that the threat to the family may still be out there. They have his permission to engage Tanner if he is seen on the property.

We sat and watched movies, trying to take our minds off of Tanner. I was sitting on the couch dozing off when one of the babies started to cry. I stand and go to the babies. Rex stands by the kids' beds, growling at a room corner cast in shadows. I yell for Hayden when I see Tanner standing in the corner. Hayden and Brenden run into the room. Hayden has a gun and Brenden has a baseball bat. 

"Looky there; the b***h had to call for backup. I see that you were so fat due to carrying twin bastards," Tanner says. Rex growls louder and stocks toward Tanner. "Call off the mutt. He needs to learn his place,"

"Rex here knows his place and knows that his job is to protect our boys. You are the one that came into our home. So, if my lovely dog decides to make you his chew toy, it is your fault. Now, state your business here or I will give Rex the go head to tear you from limb to limb," Hayden snarls.

Callie was in the room with Maddi, Brenden whistled and she came out. She takes a look around and goes into attack mode. As the dogs take a step forward, Tanner starts shaking. "What the f**k? You got two of them,"

"Well, you see, one is our and the other is Brenden and Maddie's. They are very protective of their humans. You came into their home uninvited. They know this since they know we didn't open the door to let you in. Now, state your business or I will give them the command to attack."

"I came here to take my woman back,"

"Too bad! I don't want your disease-infested ass back. I am a happily married woman and mother," I say, taking my phone out of my back pocket. I look for Mason's number then call him. 

The phone rings twice, "Mel, why are you calling me this late?"

"We have Tanner here. He broke in and Rex and Callie had him cornered in the babies playroom,"

"Keep him there. Let the dogs take care of him if he tries to pull something. I am on my way. Mel, thanks for the call,"

"I will see you when you get here with your buddies, Mason,"

"What the hell did you do? You called the police on me, didn't you? You stupid b***h,"

"Of course I did. You are a wanted man. I have children to think about."

"f**k you!" 

"No, thank you. I have been there, done that. It wasn't any good. I have a real man now,"

"Thank you, my lovely wife," Hayden says, pulling me into him for a kiss.

"What in the hell happened to you, Mel? You used to never act like this." 

"That is where you are wrong, Tanner. She has always been this way to people she doesn't like. Only this time, you are on the receiving end," Hayden laughs. "You don't know her as well as you think you do,"

"Tanner, if you keep pushing my buttons, you will see what happens when I am pissed. I have repeatedly told you I am over and done with you, but you don't listen. So I think you need to clean your ears out so you can hear better," I say, smiling at him.

"How dare you insult me, you b***h!" Tanner yelled and leaped at me.

As Tanner leaped, Rex launched himself at Tanner. Rex grabbed him by the throat. Tanner falls to the ground, trying to get away. Instead, Rex growls, causing Tanner to cease his moving.

"Get the mutt off of me," Tanner cried. 

"He will get off after Mason and the officer get here," Hayden says.

"Babe, I am going to take the boys up to their bed. I will be right back,"

"Okay, kitten," Hayden says as I pick up the boys and walk out of the room. As I was heading up the stairs, I heard, "Good boy, Rex. Keep him there until Mason comes in. Callie girl, if he moves, grab his d**k," I chuckle to myself.

After laying the boys in their bed, I come back downstairs with the baby monitor and see flashing lights outside. I opened the door right when Mason was about to knock. "Come on in, boys. Rex has Tanner pinned in the playroom. If he struggled, Callie might have him by the balls,"

"What did Tanner do? Did he try to attack?" Mason asked.

"Yeah, although he may be regretting that right now," I say, leading the way.

"Can't wait to see this," an officer says.

"At least now we know he isn't dead. I don't think he realized we had dogs that were protective of us,"

"After he's in custody, he'll be hogtied whenever out of his cell. He will have a guard on him at all times while in the cell,"

"If he escapes again and comes here, I will let Rex use him as a chew toy without hesitation. I mean it, Mason," 

Mason laughs, "I would pay money to watch it," 

Mason and the officers who joined him laugh as we walk into the room. Rex still had Tanner by the throat. Callie had Tanner by the balls growling. "Hey babe, what happened here. When I left to put the boys in their bed, Callie was watching,"

"Well, Tanner decided to try to attack Rex and Callie grabbed his balls to stop him,"

"This is very entertaining, but to get him in custody, I need to be able to cuff him. Can I do that with the puppy on him like that?"

"Yeah, Rex Mason is going to cuff him now. Hold on until his hands and feet are tied. Callie, after Mason has the cuffs on, you can release your hold," Haydens says, then tells Mason to go ahead.

Mason cuffs Tanner, Callie releases her hold on him. Tanner decides that this is the time to start fighting again. Rex growls and increases the jaw pressure on his throat. "Get this f*****g mutt off of me," Tanner yells. Rex roars louder and shakes his head.

"Mason, I think that you should hurry up before Rex does some real damage," I say. 

"Maybe, but I think that Rex is still upset that Tanner had the nerve to break into his home where his humans were," Mason says, smiling at Hayden. He continues to get Tanner tied up. Finally, Rex let Tanner go and followed the officers carrying him out to the awaiting cruiser.

Mason laughed, "Rex acts a lot like a police dog. He has the instinct to protect and stay with a person that he feels needs detained,"

"He is the best. If it wasn't for him, I don't know what Tanner would have done to my kids or me," I say, petting Rex and telling him he was a good boy.

"I am going to get back to the office and get Tanner booked. I will talk to you all later. Enjoy the rest of your night,"

"Mason, I have meant to ask if Lisa has made a plan yet about Brittany's baby?"

"Baby doll, that is none of our business,"

"Hayden, it may not be any of my business, but If she decides to take the child, I would love to be able to help her,"

"Mel, she hasn't yet, but I will let you know what she decides," 

"Thank you, Mason, for everything you have done for us since we met you. Have a good night,"

"I will have a blast tonight. I get to have a conversation with Tanner," Mason says, laughing as he climbs in the cruiser and heads down the driveway.

I turn around and wrap my arms around Hayden. "Let's go check on the boys. I am sure I won't be able to relax until I do,"

"Yeah, let's go. I am sure Rex is dying to be with them. I must say that having that dog is a blessing. I don't know what I would have done if Tanner had hurt you or our sons,"

"We will forever be thankful for his protection of us, that is for sure," I say as Hayden opens the door and Rex rushes past me and head to the stairs,

Once we reach the boy's room, Rex looks in the crib, making sure the boys are okay before he curls up on his bed in front of the crib and closes his eyes. I smile as I walk to the crib and see my two perfect little guys cuddled together. These boys have no idea how much they are loved. 

Hayden walks up behind me, wrapping me in his arms, "Just think this time last year, we were just starting to see each other,"

"I still pinch myself at times to make sure that this all isn't a dream. I am living my best life with my best friend turned lover. I love you, Hayden Clark. I love our boys and the life we have created,"

Hayden turns me around to face him. "I love you too. I love our kids. The fact that I get to spend the rest of my life with my best friend is my dream come true. So let's go make love before the boys wake up."

"Let's go," I took Hayden's hand and headed to our bedroom, where we made love and then fell asleep in each other's arms.

***

The following day Hayden and I are woken up by the twins crying. We climb out of bed and head to their room. Once I feed them and Hayden changes them, we head down to the kitchen. We see my parents, Maddie and Brenden, sitting at the table. They look up at us. "Mel, come out with it. What happened last night?" dad asked.

"Tanner somehow got into the house. He was in the room with the babies. One started crying. I went to get him…," I continued to tell them the story and how both Callie and Rex reacted.

"Those dogs are the best. I am glad that you guys got them. They saved you and the kid's life," mom says.

"I know. I knew Callie and Rex would be good guard dogs after seeing how they reacted to the boys after they came home from the hospital," Hayden says.

"I am just glad that we can get back to our routine. I also think we need to figure out how tanner could get in the house with all our guards on duty," 

"I am going to call a meeting with all on duty last night to find out, but first, I want to check the camera," Hayden says.

"You both need to eat breakfast and then you can go to work, Hayden. Plus, we need to throw a party," mom says with a smile.

"Mom, thanks for fixing breakfast. I think that is a great idea. I am going to invite Mason and his sister. Maybe we should invite some of the other officers?"

As Maddie and mom discussed the party. My mind went to how Tanner managed to get into the house. We need to get to the bottom of this. "Please excuse Hayden and me; we need to go check the video from last night. We will be back in a few," I say, taking his hand and pulling him to our home office.

When we entered the office, I turned to Hayden, "I have a feeling we have guards that betrayed us. We need to find them and release them from our crew. So we will check the video and see what we find,"

"I was thinking the same thing. Come here and we can watch it together," Hayden says, pulling me to the chair; he sits down and pulls me on his lap. Then he pulls up the video and we look through the video. We notice that there is a guard that is walking with Tanner. The two walk to the dining room window. The guard pulls it open and allows Tanner to climb in. "Who is that guard?"

"Ty Grave, he was hired by the head of security. Let's call Walter and have him meet us here. We'll show him the video and see what he thinks,"

"I want this Ty guy here as well. I want to find out what in the hell he was thinking," I say, pissed.

After about an hour, we have the guard and the head of security sitting in our office. "Okay, fellows, let me show you a video first, then we will discuss it," Hayden says, then presses play. I watch the face of the guard as he sees himself on screen. When he realizes he helped Tanner enter our home, he stands and tries to run to the door. Walter grabs Ty by the throat, "You son of a fricken snake. I trusted you with keeping this family safe. Instead, you helped the bastard enter a home where there were three babies. I am going to kill you," 

"Walter, we have the police coming. He will be punished. We will let the law do their thing with him. Mason will make sure that he gets what he has coming,"

"Ty, you better be glad that our dog was here and nothing happened to my kids. If they had gotten hurt, I would have killed you as soon as you entered my house," I say, looking him in the eye.

Ty breaks eye contact and looks to Hayden, "What can I do to make this up to you? I don't want to go to jail,"

"Nothing, Walter hired you to protect my family. You failed. My family could have gotten hurt due to your actions. I can't drop this,"

There is a knock on the office door. Walter opens it while still holding Ty. In walks Mason and a couple of uniformed officers. "Hayden, what is it you have for me?" Mason asked, looking around the room.

"Come here; I will show you,"

Once Mason sees the video, he turns to Ty, "You are under arrest for breaking and entering and aiding a felon. You have the right to remain silent…." After reading him his rights, the officers took him to the cruiser. 

"Can I get a copy of that video, Hayden?"

"Yeah, I will email it to you,"

"Thanks, I need to go book him. I will come back after my shift is over,"

"We will see you then. I think I will leave you guys to it. I need to go check on the twins," I say as I peck Hayden's lips.