Not once had I missed my monthly, and I was protected at all times… until Bruiser, it seemed. Was our relationship strong enough for what this could mean for us?
“Oh, goodness!” Jayne squealed excitedly. “Are you about to have me a niece or nephew to spoil? If it’s a girl, name her Jayne. If it’s a boy, name him Jamie,” she added.
“Do you really think I’m pregnant?” I asked as shock blanketed over me.
“I don’t know, sis. Only you and Bruiser know what you’ve been doing in the bed, but I bet you two have been going at it like jackrabbits. You’re more than likely pregnant, Alise. You’ve never missed a period, and I call first dibs at godmother. I mean, Tameka and Kemara are cool and all, but you already know I’m the BFFF (best frieny-friend-friend). And I spoil babies too.”
It took this woman to pull a laugh out of me at a time like this. “You don’t have to ask, Jayne. You’re the first person I would offer that honor to anyway.” I paused. Naming a godmother wasn’t what I needed to be doing. I needed a pregnancy test. “Well, let me call you back later. I have to run to the store to get a test.”
“Yes, please do call me back as soon as you find out something,” Jayne said. “Or, I’ll be calling you.”
“I will.” I hung up and sighed. A nervous shiver traveled through me. I never really thought about motherhood and all that it would entail. My career was foremost in my mind. The thought of being responsible for another person overwhelmed me.
Bruiser walked into the kitchen and over to me, wrapping his arms around my waist, pulling me close to him. “Damn shame we had to get up this early. Now, what should we do with this extra time we have found ourselves with?” He slid his hand down my backside and over the rounds of my ass, pulling me close to him.
“I—I.” He grazed his warm mouth over my neck. Despite my little predicament—no pun intended—I shivered under his touch. Palming his chest, I pushed him back gently. “Bruiser, baby, stop. I haven’t had a period this month, so we should go to the store to get a test.”
“What?” He took a step back further and looked hard at me. “But, you’re on the pill.”
“I am, but when I was talking to Jayne, I realized I haven’t had a period all month long. Not one time have I had to tell you ‘not tonight’ because of my period, so something is off.” Bruiser gathered me up into his arms and squeezed me as tight as he had the night before. “Don’t break my back, Bruiser! Besides, if I am pregnant, you’re going to have to stop doing that, or you’ll hurt the baby.” How easily I said that was eye-opening.
“Baby,” he breathed. “Hearing that word is music to my ears.”
I threw on a pair of jogging pants and a t-shirt. Bruiser put on his dress pants and a collared shirt. He grabbed his keys, and we headed out the door to the store. After getting the test, I didn’t even wait to get back home to take it. I rushed into the drug store’s bathroom, opened the box, and followed the instructions.
My foot tapped on the tile floor as I waited for the results. A horizontal line appeared first. My stomach dropped.
Bruiser knocked at the door. “Is everything okay, Alise? Talk to me, sweetheart.”
Then a vertical line ebbed into view on top of the other. A plus. Holy fuck!
“Positive.” I gulped in a breath of air. I was having Bruiser’s baby. I walked out of the bathroom and straight into his arms.
“You’re having my baby,” he said, already knowing the results without me telling him.
I nodded. “Yes.”
“Are you ready for this?” he asked.
A part of me had always been ready for this natural evolution between us. The rest of me would have to get ready sooner by putting some fire behind me so that I could finish my album before the baby arrived. Gratefully, I had quite a few months to get things in order before taking an extended break off for maternity leave. Bruiser and I would discuss the details. We were going to work it out. He wouldn’t let me do this alone. At least, that’s what I told myself.
“Yes, I’m ready to have your baby, Bruiser,” I answered.
“I’m glad to hear that because I would have never had unprotected sex with you, birth control pill or not, had I not been ready for you to be the mother of my child. This news was something I knew was a possibility with the way we’ve been making love. Now that I know you’re pregnant, it just raises the stakes of how much I have to be here for you, and now my child. I will live up to it, Alise. We are going to be alright.”
I didn’t know how much I needed that vow from him until he gave it. The chaotic emotion whirling within settled down as he gripped my face in his palms, dragging my lips to his. We stood in CVS, embracing the moment we found out we created a little one, our little number one, who we would both love and protect forever. It was the best day of my life.
“Come on. Let me take you home,” Bruiser said, his eyes a little too bright.
“Okay.”
He called Dimir on the way home, telling him to meet him at my house because he had something to do, and he needed both Dimir and Limel there within the hour to guard me. As he hung up to call Limel, I opened my mouth to tell him that wouldn’t be necessary. Bruiser shot me a cautionary look. This man was taking protector to another level. It was going to require some time to get over me being taken from him, and I was about to get in his way.
Sinking back into the seat, I didn’t say another word. I didn’t have a case anyway. After what happened with Van, and telling him his baby was in my stomach, there was no way I would ever be left alone again. Not anytime soon, anyway.
We pulled up to my house, where Dimir was waiting. “So, boss man, you want me back on the job, eh?”
Bruiser answered him while escorting me out of the car like I was fragile. “Yeah, but you’ll have some help keeping up with her and the other precious package of mine she carries because Limel is on the way. Plus, she’s not going to try to escape this time, right, baby?” Bruiser asked with eyebrows raised.
I nodded because my safety being a nonissue between us would keep the man sane, therefore me sane. “I’ll be right here, in plain sight even when I’m bathing.”
Bruiser’s eyes bucked, not liking the joke all that much, which was amusing.
“Congrats, guys.” Dimir offered, shaking Bruiser’s hand and pounding his back.
Limel’s red Challenger pulled up right behind Dimir.
Bruiser went inside the house first, checking it out before walking me inside. “I should be back in a few hours. Dimir and Limel will take you to your mother’s house. I’ll meet you all there in a little bit,” he instructed.
“Okay. But where are you going?” I wanted to know.
“You’ll see.” Grinning, he placed a hand on my stomach. We smiled together. He leaned in and held my face into his hands. He was so close to me that I had no choice but to breathe him in. Good thing he was better than oxygen. His lips skimmed mine, and I wanted more, but that would be all I would get. He tipped my chin up. “I’ll see you both soon, baby.” He then turned to Dimir and Limel and said, “You two know what to do. Keep your eyes on her. She has everything that matters the most to me in this world in one body.”
Dimir saluted, ever the clown. “I aye, Captain.”
Chuckling, Bruiser flipped him off then left.
Limel wanted to know what Bruiser meant by ‘in one body.’ I let Dimir explain as I went to get ready for my date with my mother. It was a long time coming.
✦
Bruiser
1:26 p.m.
“Mom, how are you doing?” I asked when she picked up the call on the first ring.
“I’m doing fine. I heard about you on the news yesterday. Your firm was representing that girl that got kidnapped. I tried to call you, and you didn’t answer. I knew you were busy. Did you find her? Are you okay?” Worry laced her tone.
Headed to a nearby jeweler’s, I attempted to put her at ease. “Yes, Mom, we did. We found her last night.”
“Oh
! I knew you would. You have the best security agency in the whole country if you ask me.” I appreciated the sentiment, even if she was a little biased.
“Thanks, Mom. How’s dad doing?”
“He’s fine. He had his doctor’s appointment a few days ago, and the doctor said that he’s just getting old.”
“Well, we already knew that.” It was a beautiful, sunny, cloudless day for good news.
“I told you, son,” Dad yelled in the background. “I told you, I didn’t need a doctor to tell me to take a Tylenol.”
“That wasn’t all he said, Rowe,” Mom said. “They said he needs to cut down on his salt, so maybe the next time you’re over here, you can talk to him about that because he won’t listen to me.”
There was no reply from Dad this time. I imagined him sitting quietly, thinking about how he was never going to stop using salt on his food no matter what a doctor said.
“I will talk to him, Mom,” I conceded, not promising that he would listen, though.
“Good.”
Merging into the traffic on the interstate between their home and Alise’s, I asked, “Mom, can I ask you something?”
“Anything.”
“How would you feel if you had mixed grandchildren?” Our family history could come back to bite us all in the ass, thus the feeling her out.
“Son, I would feel ecstatic. I just said go out and get me some grandbabies, I didn’t tell you they had to be a specific color.”
I breathed easier, no longer fearing I’d have to choose between my child and my parents.
“What are y’all talking about?” Dad asked.
“I’m not entirely sure yet, Rowe, so stop interrupting,” Mom ordered.
He grumbled something.
I snorted. “Put the phone on speaker so that Dad can hear me, Mom.”
“Okay. It’s on speaker now,” she said.
Here goes everything.
“You know the singer that was kidnapped yesterday, the one my firm represented?”
“Yeah,” they both replied.
“Well, we’ve been dating, and we just found out some happy news of our own this morning. I don’t have any details on dates or sex, but she’s pregnant with my child, and I’m going to ask her to marry me.”
My mother squealed with excitement. “Oh, son. That is great news!”
My father’s voice came over the line clear and boisterous. He had taken the phone from Mom evidently. “Congratulations, son. I’m glad you found someone that you love. I know you love her because no one has ever made you sound this happy. Definitely not get you to buy a ring, which is what you’re going to do right now, isn’t it?”
“Yes, I am. I’m taking a gamble with my heart, marrying outside of my race with all we’ve been through, but I trust her. She would never turn her back on me, Dad. I need you to understand that, to trust me.”
“Son, I know what you’re alluding to, but I’ve come to learn that life goes on. Holding on to things like that only make us weaker. I’ve forgiven those people for the way they tried to lynch me, you know. I even talked to the young man I shot. He forgave me and asked for forgiveness for attacking me. We’ve both moved on from the mistakes we made that day. Therefore, you don’t have to hold onto it any longer, either.”
I could respect that my father had faced his demons of being quick to pull the trigger. He had to live with that decision for the past twenty-four years. He had no qualms with telling anyone how much it affected his life and his view on the world. He had gotten over the bitterness that robbed him of his life with us, but in a very deep space inside of me, I had still been holding on to the pain I felt until now.
As the weight lifted off me, I drove into the jeweler’s parking lot. “I hear you, Dad. I started to let it all go when I fell in love with Alise. Like I said, it’s a gamble, but I’m betting big on her. I have no choice. She holds my heart in her hands,” I said, continuing the conversation as I entered the store.
Half an hour later, we’d said so much more that needed to be spoken on the subject. It would come up once more, later on with Alise. Driving to her mother’s, my heart beat wildly in my chest. The next step in our relationship was about to be put in play unless she pressed pause. I didn’t know if my heart could take it if she did.
With my parents still on the line, I glimpsed down at the exquisite engagement ring in my hand. “Well, we’ll be coming by so that you can meet her soon. I have to go.”
After I cut the call short, Alise walked out of her mother’s house with Dimir and Limel posting up on the porch. I was standing by the car door, waiting for her to get to me. When our eyes met, I was glad to see the wide smile on her face. This reunion had been incredibly emotional and hard for her, going home to a place she hadn’t been since she was right out of high school. Her mother could have easily undone the steps they were taking toward a better relationship with still insisting that Alise sing only in the church choir.
After that drove a wedge between them, I had hoped her mother would accept what Alise wanted to do with her life finally. Apparently, she had by the grin on my woman’s face. Now, they were genuinely healing. It seemed we all were after the scare we experienced with the kidnapping. Change of hearts was happening all over the place as well. Today was a good day.
Alise reached me and walked into my arms.
I embraced her because there was no other option for me. “I have something I want to show you.” Retrieving the little black box from my pocket, I opened it. Her eyes grew wide as she looked at it, pulling the ring out of the box. As she admired it, I dropped to one knee and gazed up at the most beautiful woman in the world.
“Will you be Mrs. Rowe “Bruiser” Cunningham? Make us a true family, Alise. Only you can.”
She covered her mouth, but it didn’t help suppress the squeal discharging from it. “Yes!!!” she yelled. “I will marry you!”
The commotion brought her mother to the door. “Alise, if there’s another stalker out here, he’s going to have a big problem with me and my bible today.”
I could envision her trying to beat someone to death with it, but she’d have to get in line to protect her daughter.
“Mom, he asked me to marry him.” Alise ran up onto the porch, showing her mother the ring. Her mother hugged her tightly, bestowing me with a watery smile over her daughter’s shoulder.
Not done with the running yet, Alise raced back over to me, jumping into my arms where she belonged. I held her, and we stood there in the driveway, kissing like I was a soldier that had just come home from battle.
Metaphorically, I was just that. My mind had battled for so long with what the woman I was to settle down with should look like, what her background was supposed to be, that it felt good to finally come home to the one that was meant to be for me, the one who shattered all of the boundaries that were once placed upon me. It took a while to learn and accept that no race was all good or all bad. Van was proof of the former. Alise was proof of the latter. She and I were proof that when good hearts combined, no race, skin color, or the world could stand in our way.
Epilogue
Alise
Merging Eternity
We decided to have our wedding at the club six months later. There was where it all began, and it felt right to commemorate our union here. In the center of the stage was a black makeshift canopy covered in golden flowers that didn’t clash with the white and black marbled décor of Elite. The tables were decorated with black cloth and a golden flower arrangement. Jayne had added little golden rocks on each table. Tameka’s caterers created a seafood feast fit for a king and queen. We had everything we wanted, nothing more, nothing less.
Bruiser and I exchanged our vows before the preacher of my mother’s choosing. I sang my nuptials to him in a melody created just for him. He swiped a tear away from the corner of his eye, then vowed to love me forever. Several sniffles could be heard from the crowd during our vows. Not forgetting about the other person standing with us
, he also crouched down and vowed to always love, honor, and protect our unborn child. We sealed the deal with an earth-shattering kiss that made our growing baby do a summersault inside of me.
The day was made even more special because my mother was there, sitting in the audience, clutching her pearls. She was not happy about my wedding being inside of a club, but she went with it to be there for me. That's all I ever asked, for her to be there for me.
Bruiser’s parents were there too. He was glad to see his father with a pep in his step. His father hugged me just as tight as he had Bruiser, and so did his mother.
I had to remind them I was with child and that they were not only squeezing me but also the baby. “The cuddling a little too hard is a family trait, I see.”
We got a good chuckle out of that. His mother and I had grown close as we planned the wedding together. Hormonal by my second month, I cried just a little when she said she liked me because I reminded her a lot of herself; we were strong women.
It was a family affair with the parents when I learned about Bruiser’s past in the brotherhood a day after he proposed. His father explained his side of things and offered for me to meet the man on the other side of the tragedy. It wasn’t necessary because it didn’t change the way I felt about Bruiser. Pain and life taking unexpected turns sometimes caused people to do things they’d later regret. No one knew that more than me after the kidnapping.
My heart went out to the man Bruiser was when he lost his father for a while and coped the only way he knew how; by finding those he could commiserate with. My heart belonged to the man he was today, the kind who would go to the ends of the earth to defend me, his black wife. He had a good heart now for all people. When he explained why what happened with his father took him down that road—his family had been torn apart unjustly—I chose to understand where he came from and where it led him. That we understood each other was all that mattered. I did suggest he find a therapist next time life snatched a loved one away, though.
Racists were not the answer to anything.
Speaking of hearts divided, Jayne was still trying to get her groove on with Xander as my maid of honor. Tameka and Kemara were my matrons of honor. Jeb was Bruiser’s best man, Xander and Channing his groomsmen. They all looked so handsome, but no one, and I mean, no one looked more handsome than my new husband.
A Dangerous Way to Love (Dangerous Bonds Book 3) Page 13
