All That and a Bag of Chips

by Darrien Lee

He smiled, kissed her, and said, “Women aren’t the only ones who have things they want to save for their wedding night.”

  “I can’t argue with that, baby. Thank you for making me feel so…loved. I thought I was going to cry.”

  “You are my life, Niecy.”

  You also might have another baby on the way, sweetheart.

  He pulled her over to him and wrapped his arms around her. She buried her face into his neck and they quietly fell asleep in each other’s arms.

  Fifty

  The next morning, Jarvis and Venice found themselves still cuddled under each other. The Andersons planned a family brunch at eleven o’clock. Jarvis turned to look at the clock. It was already past nine. Venice was still unconscious, but Jarvis had no problem waking her up. He began to push his aroused body against her hips and without saying a word, they found themselves going at it again.

  Venice felt like she was on top of the world as she rode his body like she had never done before. Jarvis turned his attention to Venice’s firm breasts as he cupped them with his hands. She was with the man she loved and it felt wonderful. Jarvis’ head was spinning as he tried not to wake the neighbors with his moans. He was unsuccessful and hollered out as Venice finally finished her assault on his body. Jarvis gripped her hips as he unleashed into her heat. Venice had to scream herself as she felt him explode inside her.

  The morning seemed to fly by and they finally started to get dress for the breakfast.

  “Jarvis, I am so sore.”

  “Sorry about that, baby. I’ll fix you up later.”

  Venice had invited Craig and his family to join them. As they continued to dress and get their luggage together, Venice solemnly sat down and said, “Jarvis, I have something to tell you.”

  He stopped what he was doing and asked, “What’s up?”

  “My period’s late.”

  “What! How late?”

  “Six weeks!!”

  “Six weeks! Is that why you’ve been so sick lately?”

  “I don’t know. I don’t think I’m pregnant, but something’s wrong. I didn’t want to worry you.”

  He angrily said, “Venice, don’t ever hold anything back from me again. We have to be able to talk.”

  “I’m sorry. I have a pregnancy test to take, but I haven’t gotten around to it yet.”

  Jarvis sat down on the bed next to her. “Don’t worry about it. If you are, we’ll just have to deal with it. Okay? At least it won’t be the first time.”

  “Is there anyway Craig could be…”

  Venice strongly replied, “No! I’ve always used protection with him. There’s no way!”

  “I hope you’re right.”

  “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner. But, if I am pregnant, you’re my baby’s daddy.”

  “I’d better be.”

  Jarvis gave Venice a comforting hug before they left the room and headed for the restaurant for breakfast. The newlyweds entered the reserved room and found that almost everyone was there. The only ones missing were Bryan and Sinclair. While they waited on Bryan, everyone hugged and talked about the beautiful wedding. Venice greeted Bernice, J.T., and Craig with warm hugs.

  She gave Craig a kiss and he whispered, “I’m happy for you, girl, but I’ll never get over you.”

  “I’ll always have a special place in my heart for you also, baby. I love you.”

  Craig gave Venice another kiss as Joshua and Jarvis watched from across the room.

  Joshua asked Jarvis, “You cool?”

  “I’m cool.”

  Within ten minutes of the newlyweds’ arrival, Bryan and his family entered the room. Once everyone was seated, Jarvis’ dad stood up and gave a short speech on how elated he was to have Venice as a daughter-in-law and how blessed Jarvis was to have found someone as special as her. Jarvis reached over and held her hand as his dad continued to talk. He gave her hand a soft squeeze and planted a kiss on her cheek as they listened to the nice speech.

  Once his dad finished, Jarvis’ mom also offered some words for the couple. She couldn’t finish her speech after she broke down into tears. As Jarvis’ mom tried to regain her composure, Venice noticed Craig staring from across the table. She smiled at him and he winked back at her.

  After all speeches were made, the families enjoyed a wonderful buffet. The breakfast was a success and it was time for everyone to go their separate ways. Venice and Jarvis were going on a four-day honeymoon to a nearby resort, then on to Michigan.

  Everyone gathered in the lobby for their departures. Venice noticed Galen, Joshua, Jarvis, and Craig talking near the checkout counter. Galen and Joshua walked off leaving Jarvis and Craig alone.

  Jarvis said, “Look man, I know it must’ve been hard for you to come here and I just want to say thanks. It meant a lot to Venice that you came.” Jarvis went on to say, “You know, Craig, I realize Venice still has strong feelings for you. She really does care about you. I’m telling you this because I don’t want you to be mad at her and think she was just playing you.”

  “I never thought Venice was playing me. I knew she had feelings for me and I also knew she was still in love with you. I just hate that I didn’t get a chance to get to know her better. I’m not going to lie to you, Jarvis. I love her and I believe I always will. It’s not going to be easy getting her out of my system. I just hope you take care of her and make her happy.”

  Jarvis put his hand out to shake Craig’s hand. “I’m going to do my best. Thanks.” They shook hands and Craig walked away to gather his luggage. Jarvis went to load their bags into the car.

  Venice told Jarvis she wanted to say goodbye to Craig. He told her it was fine with him. She caught Craig walking to the elevator. He was going back up to make sure he wasn’t leaving anything.

  She hollered, “Hold the elevator!”

  “Where do you think you’re going?”

  “With you.”

  He laughed and said, “Your husband’s going to be looking for you.”

  “He knows where I am.”

  The elevator door opened and they walked down the hall to his room.

  As Craig searched the room, Venice sat on the bed watching. He was acting somewhat nervous. Venice asked, “What’s wrong with you?”

  “What?”

  “You’re acting nervous.”

  Craig leaned against the wall and said, “What do you expect? The woman I love just got married and is alone with me in my hotel room. Yes, I’m nervous because all I want to do to is kidnap you.”

  “I’m sorry. I don’t want you to be upset with me. I still love you.”

  “I hope you guys have a great life together. Keep in touch with me. I’d like to know how the Sports Medicine thing is going.”

  Venice walked over to Craig and put her arms around his waist. He reluctantly did the same.

  “Baby, I will never, ever forget all the love you’ve given me. You’re the most thoughtful, sweet and loving person I know and I will always love you for that.”

  “Thanks, baby. That means a lot to me. It’s going to take a while for me to get over you.”

  She grinned at him and asked, “Can I have a goodbye kiss?”

  “Is your husband going to mind?”

  “Come here, Bennett.”

  She leaned into him and they gave each other the sweetest, most sensual kisses. Craig found it hard to stop, but he knew he had to. He didn’t want to let her go.

  As they rode the elevator back down, Venice smiled and said, “You know, our first kiss was in an elevator. How about our last kiss being in an elevator?”

  Craig immediately grabbed her and planted a long, juicy kiss on her lips.

  Venice giggled. “I’ll never forget our last night together, Craig. It was incredible.”

  He leaned against the wall of the elevator and came out of nowhere with the question. “Are you pregnant with my baby?”

  “What! Where did you get that from?”

  Craig calmly walked up to her and asked again,
“Well, are you?”

  Venice felt all the blood leave her face. She stopped the elevator, got off a couple of floors up from the lobby, and walked down the hall to a sofa before she fainted. Craig followed and hovered over her.

  Venice asked, “Who told you that? Oh, you don’t have to answer that. Joshua’s no good ass.”

  “Don’t be mad at him, but I am kind of disappointed I didn’t hear it from you.”

  “Look, Craig, I don’t even know yet. Anyway, if I am, it couldn’t be yours. You know we were always extra careful.”

  He dropped his head and said, “The last time we were together, the condom broke.”

  “What? Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “We were both upset. I felt like it didn’t matter.”

  Venice played back the events of that night in her mind and recalled being emotionally upset.

  “How could you not tell me, Craig?”

  Craig stood up and said, “I was also upset at the time, Venice. I didn’t think it mattered and I would never have mentioned it to you if I hadn’t discovered you were late.”

  Venice sat down and covered her face with her hands. “How can I tell Jarvis? I promised him there was no way you could be the father.”

  “So when will you know?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Will you call me?”

  She stood up and started walking toward the elevator. “I’ll think about it. I’m kind of in shock right now.”

  Craig grabbed her arm. “Venice, don’t play with me. I’m serious. That could be my baby.”

  Venice was practically a zombie when she replied, “Okay. I’ll let you know.”

  Craig thanked her before they got back on the elevator and continued the quiet ride back to the lobby.

  When they got off the elevator, Jarvis and Joshua were sitting in the lobby talking. Venice walked over to Joshua and stated firmly, “Get over here! I want to talk to you.”

  Jarvis asked, “What’s wrong, Niecy?”

  “Nothing!”

  Joshua shook his head and immediately knew what was up. “Damn!”

  They went outside to the parking lot where Venice lit into him. She got in his face and said, “Why in the hell did you tell Craig about me? I thought you were my damn friend? It wasn’t his business to know that. Now he tells me his condom broke our last night together. Now I have no idea who the father is if I’m really pregnant. Thanks for nothing, Joshua.”

  Joshua reached for Venice’s hand. “I’m sorry, Niecy. I didn’t mean to upset you. I guess I had a little too much too drink last night and spilled my guts to Craig. But, I’m a man and I just think Craig should know what’s up. It’s not like it was impossible for him to be the father. He was hitting it on a regular basis, Venice, and you just never know. First, I hope you’re not pregnant. You and Jarvis need a fresh start. Can you forgive me?”

  “What I need to do is to kick your ass.”

  Joshua hugged Venice and asked, “I know and I’m sorry. Do you want me to talk to Jarvis?”

  “No, you’ve done enough talking. I’m not telling him anything right now. You just pray I’m not pregnant.”

  “That’s a bet.”

  They walked back to the front of the hotel and Jarvis had put the last of their possessions in the car. She gave Bernice, J.T., and Craig one last hug as they got into the car. Craig looked at her, smiled, then drove away.

  What have I done?

  As soon as they got to the house, Jarvis asked, “Where’s that pregnancy test?”

  “In my bag.”

  “You need to go ahead and take it. Why were you’re pissed at Joshua?”

  She slammed the kit down. “Because he ran his damn mouth and told Craig that I might be pregnant.”

  “So, what did Craig say?”

  Venice solemnly said, “He told me the last time we were together…his condom broke.”

  “What! Damn, Niecy! Go take the test!”

  She went into the bathroom to take the test. Jarvis was understandably upset as he started packing his clothes for their trip. Venice took the test and the results came out positive. They didn’t know how to react to the results. She wouldn’t be able to get to the doctor’s office until they got back from their honeymoon. She was hoping this news didn’t ruin the trip. She was going to do what she could to make their honeymoon a happy one. They would just have to wait and worry about everything else later. Venice still could not forget the dream. Should she have waited to get married? It was too late to worry about that now. There was no doubt that she loved Jarvis, but it would take time to stop thinking of Craig.

  Once at the beach, they put all their worries behind them and were able to really enjoy the trip. They spent a lot of time walking in the sands, especially for sunset walks. The days flew by and before they knew it, they were back home. Venice didn’t waste any time getting to the doctor’s office. Jarvis went along with her to find out the results. Once the blood test was conducted, it revealed that Venice was indeed pregnant. Jarvis and Venice didn’t want to stress their parents out about the news, so they decided to keep the news to themselves for a while.

  They finally said their good-byes and were on their way back to school. Venice couldn’t imagine what life was going to be like from that point on. She was married to the love of her life and possibly pregnant by the other love in her life. Jarvis and Venice jumped back into their classes without skipping a beat. The situation did put a lot of stress on her marriage. Venice wished that she could change things, but she couldn’t. Weeks later, they finally told their parents about the baby. They decided not to divulge the possibility of Craig being the father.

  Another month passed and Venice began to show. Jarvis got over the initial shock and programmed his mind to believe he was going to be a father. He did his best to reassure Venice that everything was going to work out fine. Venice wanted to believe Jarvis, but she couldn’t. Jarvis noticed that Venice was in a state of depression. He tried his best to keep her spirits up, especially in her current condition.

  A couple weeks passed before it happened. Venice began bleeding and Jarvis had to rush her to the emergency room. Once again, she lost her baby. Once again, Venice and Jarvis were devastated. Jarvis wanted to know if Venice was ever going to be able to have children. The doctor explained that Venice didn’t have any physical problems preventing her from carrying a child to term. She would just have to remain stress free during pregnancy. Jarvis revealed the sources of Venice’s stress and added that college didn’t help the situation any. The doctor asked Jarvis if he wanted to know if he was the baby’s biological father. He said it was irrelevant to the current situation and that his main concern was to take care of Venice. He asked the doctor to reassure Venice that she didn’t have a physical problem. The doctor promised that he would take care of it and release Venice the next day.

  Jarvis called their parents and filled them in on everything. He also tucked his pride away and called Craig. Craig was hurt and asked if Venice was okay. Jarvis told him that she was obviously upset and said Craig could call her tomorrow. Craig expressed sincere gratitude for the call. Jarvis spent the night in the hospital room with Venice, then took her home the next day. They never discussed the paternity of the baby. Venice also never revealed her psychic dream about the situation. They were going to attempt to put everything behind them and get on with their lives.

  Epilogue

  Two years passed and Venice and Jarvis were both in their junior year. Galen and Sidney were doing well raising their two-year-old daughter, Gayla Cheyenne. Galen had been drafted and was playing for the Carolina Panthers. Sidney was busy teaching kindergarten and loving it. Venice and Jarvis were busy with their classes as the year came to a close. Jarvis had excelled even more on the football field that year. Venice had been co-oping with the football team the past season as a team doctor. All of the teammates knew Venice was Jarvis’ wife. At first he had a hard time watching her put her hands on the other guys a
s she taped their ankles, massaged their sore muscles, and much more. It was an adjustment for all of them. Being their first female trainer, Venice was clearly a distraction for the players. The coaches made it clear that she was to be respected as a team doctor, as Jarvis’ wife, and as a woman. Venice didn’t pay any attention to the half-naked men when they walked around the locker room. It was a job and she was good at it.

  Chanelle told Venice that Craig had accepted a job in Philadelphia and even though he was doing well with his career, he was not seeing anyone seriously. Craig traveled a lot and avoided any possibility for a relationship. Venice hadn’t had any contact with Craig in almost two years, but hoped their paths would again cross one day. Joshua and Chanelle were still sharing an apartment at Dawson. Chanelle and Spoonie were also still together and discussing engagement. Joshua was still dating Cynthia, who was back at home running her own beauty shop. They had wedding plans soon after graduation.

  Jarvis was drafted at the end of his junior year in the first round of the NFL draft. He did become the instant millionaire Bryan said he would become and was, fortunately, drafted by the Detroit Lions. This would allow Venice to finish college without transferring. She had another year ahead of her and she was determined to finish. Jarvis promised that he was going to work on completing his degree in the off season.

  It was late summer and before he left for training camp, Venice informed him that he was going to be a father. This time, there were no surprises and this time, Venice was going to make sure nothing happened to their baby. Things were really looking up for them after all the trials and tribulations of the past. Venice often thought of the dream she had on her wedding day. She never mentioned her dream to anyone, not even Joshua. She knew in her heart that she’d made the right choice marrying Jarvis. Life was good and they were more in love than ever.

  Venice, Jarvis, Joshua, and Chanelle had come a long way together. Each of them had a path they were traveling and it seemed they were all on the right road. Good friends are hard to come by. Everyone should be happy to have at least one true friend in their lifetime. When you have three, you are truly blessed beyond life’s expectations. It’s all good because life is all that and a bag of chips.