Forever Us

by C C Monroe

  Kingston grumbled and pouted the entire time I got ready, and I took great pleasure in making him moan and groan. He wanted to start baby making tonight, but I had already made plans with Shayla, and this time with my best friend is needed.

  “I know, and we look hot, if I do say so myself, Shayla Adams.” I slap her ass hard causing a high pitch yelp to leap from her throat, and we don’t miss the men staring and paying extra attention to the spanking.

  Shayla looks stunning in a pantsuit style outfit. The black ensemble fits her curves like a dream, the back open to just under her dimples on her lower back all the way up to the string tying around her neck. The bow she’s tied keeps the see-through bodice top up, and only patches of lace cover her breast. She looks incredible, definitely not dressed in her usual attire.

  My look for the night was also one of the reasons Kingston was mumbling a fit under his breath. I went with a stunning emerald green mini dress that hugs my curves and laces up the front. With a deep V neckline, it gives my small breasts a decent amount of cleavage. I went with nude pumps, and my hair is curly on my shoulders, my makeup dark and dewy.

  Making our way through the crowd, we spot an empty booth and scamper to it before any of these other ladies do.

  “Trey and Kingston came here a few weeks back, and Trey hated it. So naturally, I wanted to test it out.” Shayla chuckles over the loud techno beat blaring from the system.

  “Yeah, is that your foreplay, purposely disagree with him until he spanks you into thinking what he does?” I banter, giving her a shrug and a wink.

  “Gosh, you are never not going to say the weirdest shit, are you?”

  “Oh no, call up the priest. Shayla Adams just said a curse word, everybody!” No one hears me; everyone is too busy drinking, dancing, and trying to find someone to take home. Shay rolls her eyes, and a very handsome, tall, and well-built server dressed in all black comes to our tables.

  “Well, hello, beautiful ladies. What can I get you to drink?” His dimples deepen with his cheeky smile and cocky attitude. I can appreciate him and his good looks, but he has nothing on my beast at home.

  “I’ll take a gin and tonic with lime.” I give him a quick smile and nod.

  “Oh! I will have a rum and pineapple!” Shayla cheers, clapping her hands. He winks, and with one flirtatious smile, he goes on the hunt to get our drinks.

  We take in the surroundings for a minute, watching clubbers before I strike up a conversation. “Is Mama excited to drink or what?” I acknowledge her enthusiasm earlier.

  “Oh my gosh, yes! I have been dying to drink since the babies have been off breast milk. I am ready to drink until my jokes get as dirty as yours!” She whoops, throwing her hands in the air and letting her hair fly about as she waves her head side to side.

  I chuckle. “Careful, you have too many drinks and you just might find me pretty enough to mack on, baby girl.”

  “Ladies, your drinks.” The waiter comes back, and alongside our drinks are two shot glasses.

  “These are on the house. Consider them a gift from me to the two most stunning women in this room.”

  Tilting my head slightly, I give him a dimpled smile. I’m sure he uses that line on everyone. “How many girls does that work on?” I inquire curiously, intrigued by this man’s game. He’s got it and he knows it.

  “Never the ones as fucking gorgeous as you two.”

  “We’re taken. My husband’s a jealous hottie, and her man is a psycho caveman. In fact, you might run and hide. I’m sure your little pickup line just sent a shift in the air. They probably felt it and are already on their way here,” Shayla interrupts, and he accepts defeat. I watch him bow out with one more look, and laugh alongside Shay.

  “You are bold tonight. I like this Mommy-Shayla. Maybe you should drink more. I can handle a kiss or two!” I take the shot from the table and we raise a cheers.

  “Oh, baby, the night is still young! Woohoo!” Clinking shot glasses, we chase down the shooters with our drinks.

  “Yuck, shit that burns. I think that was straight patron.”

  “I know. But hey, at least he thinks we’re hot. We still got it!” My hell, I have missed her. We never really had this part of our lives together, the clubbing and drinking. We maybe did it for a few months after we turned twenty-one, but that’s around the time things picked up with Trey and Kingston, and the partying and going out happened less and less. Sure, we’re only twenty-four, but it feels like we’re much older than that. Between babies, life, owning a business, and Shayla being married, we’re like old maids.

  Hanging out with her like this for even just a night feels more than much needed.

  “Okay, can we please dance?” Shayla nudges my hip with the back of her hand and I slide out of the booth.

  “Yes, please. I have the looks, but let’s see if I still have the moves.”

  Heading out to the dance floor, we find a small amount of room, and for the first time in a long time, I let my inhibitions go. I don’t think about therapy, about Joel, about the shit that happened with Hilary, and I sure as hell don’t think about anything other than me. Selfishly, I think of only myself in this moment, my body growing damp with a light sheen of sweat, my hips moving and swaying to the beat, my hands lost behind me, holding my hair so the sweat doesn’t ruin my curls.

  I feel the beat in my chest, the rhythm of my heart syncing to the music. I feel wild and free, young and careless, reckless, and one hundred percent the Lana James I have been searching for in the dark. Finally opening my eyes, I see Shayla doing her thing in front of me, her smile infectious and her mama troubles out the window. We are enjoying this time together as best friends, and I love every minute of it.

  Twirling around, I look at the ground below me, biting my lip as the beat fades into another upbeat song. I let my gaze roam up and take in everything my eyes catch, like seeing something for the first time. When my head lifts fully, I smile, my lips sliding from my teeth. My brain feels a little fuzzy from my drink, but not enough to have me lose my footing.

  A girl squeals excitedly in front of me, and I watch her throw her head back, laughing against the handsome man dancing behind her. But just on the side of her thin neck, I see a face I have only seen in my nightmares these past years. A mirage, I’m sure, or even a trip from the alcohol.

  Joel?

  I stumble back, and my heart beats out of my chest, spiking in fear as the sweat on my body starts to boil, not from heat, but from complete and utter fear. I drop my head and blink rapidly a few times. With a quick shake of my head and a deep inhale, I peer back up with as much strength as I can, and like he was there, he isn’t anymore.

  “Lana?” Shayla calls out to me as my eyes dance rapidly around the bar, looking for him. That had to be the alcohol, the consequence of me being careless and not thinking about him for a split second. When I see he is nowhere in the club, I know it was in my head. He couldn’t have disappeared that fast, and not only that, but he would have no idea where to find me. And if he had, he would have come to me. Joel would never walk away from me if he had the chance to get to me.

  “Lana! Hey, what’s wrong? You’re freezing and shaking!”

  I turn to face Shay, letting my body settle as I tuck my hair behind my ear and shake my head repeatedly. “Nothing, I just had way too much to drink. Maybe we should have pre-gamed.” I laugh, trying to throw her off my trail. I’m starting to get better; I don’t want to tell her I’m seeing Joel because of my alcohol consumption. The last thing I need is her telling Kingston I’m not getting better. I just got him back, and I am not losing him again over some mirage.

  “We had one shot and one drink. Oh my gosh, we are old!” She laughs, and I do too, but it doesn’t reach my eyes.

  “Yeah. I’m gonna take a seat and get a water.”

  “No, I will grab some from the bar. I’ll meet you at the table. Don’t fall!” She giggles, while the shell shocked version of myself stumbles back to the table. Once I sit
down, I take a few deep, soothing breaths and dig out my phone from my clutch.

  I unlock the screen and go straight for Messages, ready to text Kingston so I can find my normal again, but he beat me to it. His name in my phone is changed again, and I roll my eyes with a soft chuckle, his presence already working.

  Kingston, yo one and only baby daddy: All right, hear me out. I know my sister is wicked fucking awesome, and like, I love hanging out with her as much as you do, but like, look at this.

  Attached is a picture of him shirtless in our bed, pouting with my pillow in his arms. Rolling my eyes, I keep reading.

  Kingston, yo one and only baby daddy: Knowing you, you rolled your eyes at me, so I brought some back up to convince you. Fucking look at us, Mama. Look how fucking cute we are. Come home and spoil us!

  The next picture is him in our bathroom, shirtless in his sweats, with Prince’s fat little body in his huge arms. Kings is looking in the mirror with elation on his face, and our son’s chubby cheek is smushed against Kingston’s, with his hand gripping his dad’s wild, curly mane and the other holding onto his lip. His little smile has my heart melting like putty in their hands.

  Now, I’m homesick.

  Kingston, yo one and only baby daddy: So moral of the story is, I’m good looking, you’re fucking good looking, and we make cute looking babies, so get your sexy little ass home and come give me more good looking babies. Please?

  I practically snort and feel the slight sting of happy tears behind my lids.

  Me: You’re killing me. He is so perfect. I can’t believe we made that! Ahh. You’re right. Give me a few more dances with the handsome bartender, and one more drink with Shayla, and then I’ll come home and let you knock me up.

  I swear he responds faster than I had time to form a complete thought.

  Kingston, yo one and only baby daddy: Oh, that’s cute. You think you’re funny, don’t you? You know what happens to funny girls who like to basically give their cavemen heart attacks?

  Me: No, I don’t. Why don’t you tell me...Daddy?

  Kingston, yo one and only baby daddy: You get fucked hard, and you get to do all the work and ride my cock till it’s tired. And we both know I can last all night, my queen.

  Me: Mmmm, challenge accepted. Ruin me like a bad girl.

  Kingston, yo one and only baby daddy: Fuck.

  Accepting the gauntlet of victory, I render him speechless and I rev the engine to my beast. The alcohol wears off finally, and I down a glass of water when Shayla comes back. We dance a little more, and I forget about my little daydreamed nightmare and think about my messages to Kingston. Knowing I’m going home to Kings and Prince puts everything out of mind—where it belongs.

  Dragging my ass out of bed Monday morning was a shit show and hard to do. Yesterday was my dad’s day with Princeton, so me and Lana played Naked Sunday, and I spent the day fucking her dirty, rough, gently, fucking lazily—any way I could have her.

  My body doesn’t even need a workout, ‘cause the dainty little minx with her limber body worked me out like no one’s business. It’s 7:00 a.m. and I need to be at the studio today, so I head right into the shower, noting Lana isn’t in bed. She’s most likely feeding Prince.

  Today, he turns seven months old, and I about lost my shit when I thought of how fast this is all happening. Lana and I have been parents for seven whole months, and though it hasn’t been easy, it’s been worth it to watch our son grow together. I want more babies, so many more babies with L, and we have not been lazy at trying. I swear she’s got to be pregnant already. We’ve been having sex for over a month now with no protection, and it’s constant, our sex. We’re making love morning, night, in my office, in the kitchen, in the shower, and any other place we have time for.

  I go through the motions of getting ready, showering, throwing on my jeans and black tee with my black snapback, and top it off with some of Lana’s favorite cologne. I make my way downstairs and find Lana at the table fully dressed in some sexy skintight jeans and an off-the-shoulder tee with her hair and makeup done.

  Prince and she are eating breakfast, and my plate is made with bacon and pancakes, and to the side is some fresh orange juice.

  “Good morning, my queen.”

  “Morning, handsome.”

  Leaning in, I give her a quick peck and join her. Squeezing Princeton’s little feet, I grin as he makes a small noise around his bottle.

  “You’re all dressed up. What plans do you have today?”

  “Well, I was thinking.” She pauses, putting down her bacon. “I’m going to go back to the boutique two days a week. Dr. Moore said it could help me get back some normalcy. It’s definitely getting a little easier to leave Monkey for longer periods of time.”

  I’m proud of her for putting in the effort to slowly get back to her routine before Prince.

  “That’s a big step.”

  “I’m excited to try it. Kathy is all moved into her new house, and she’s gonna watch the twins and Prince.” Taking a mouthful of pancake, I agree with just a nod. “Oh, and don’t forget we have a session with Dr. Moore today at 1:00. I will meet you there?”

  “Yes, I have Ben in the studio until 12:30, then I’m free.”

  “Perfect, can you drop Prince off? I have an 8:00 a.m. meeting at the shop with some new staff members.” Lana stands, bending down to give Prince a goodbye kiss, and I watch her with a proud smile. Look at my girl go.

  “Of course. Drive safe, let me know how you like your new car. Oh, and text me when you get there.” She stands next to me, and my hand automatically reaches up and lays against the curve of her ass.

  “I will, baby.” After a gentle kiss to my lips and a wink, she heads for the door, and before she closes it, I call to her.

  “Hey, Mama.”

  “Yes?” She falters, looking at me over her shoulder.

  “You got this.”

  “Thanks, baby.” With a subtle smile, her dimples show and she disappears.

  Life is good, my girl is fucking good, my son is growing, and we’re finally better. And this time, I know it’s going to stick.

  “You boys want to head to lunch? We finished an hour early.”

  Ben and the boys enter from the booth as Trey finishes up on the computer. I still have almost two hours before I meet Lana, and I’m starved.

  “Wish we could, but I need to get back,” Ben passes, and since he drove up with the boys, they all pass too.

  “Sounds good. We’ll work on piecing these together, and then we will send you the EPs so you can pass off on them.” Trey stands first, and we say our goodbyes.

  “All right, fucker, looks like it’s me and you today.” I pat his back.

  “Yeah, why don’t we call the girls and see if they want to meet us?”

  “Four best friends or something like that?” I joke. We used to hang out all the time, inseparable at best, and now we barely have time to spend as couples—let alone as a group.

  Trey nods and calls Shayla, getting them to agree to lunch, and within minutes, the two of us are in a small sandwich shop halfway between both our buildings. Since we get there first, we wait in the semi-long line, browsing the menu in silence.

  “So, you and Lana seem to be doing way better. Therapy working?” Trey breaks the silence as the line moves a little.

  “Yeah, Dr. Moore has been amazing. Thanks for the referral.”

  “She is. I still see her every once in a while.”

  “Oh yeah. How is everything with the whole court case?” Gwen was arrested after she attacked Shayla, and they are gearing up for a court date here soon.

  “We go to trial next week. I don’t want Shay going, but she wants to testify, and I swear I don’t know if I can handle seeing her talk about that night, all while Gwen sits across the room.” I watch his jaw tick and his eyes dilate while he talks, and I feel it. She’s my sister; the attack fucked me up too.

  “I want to be there. Give me a date when you have it, and I’ll m
ake sure I’m there, bro.”

  “Thanks, man. But you know I don’t want to talk about that now. How are things with Lana? What’s new? She went back to work, and Shayla said they had a good night out the other night. I imagine that’s a good thing.”

  “No, really, we are doing great. She’s been open in therapy. She’s been a lot more relaxed around Prince, and yeah, her going back to work and leaving Prince with Kathy is a big step. I know it’s only two days a week, she said, but that is a start.”

  “That’s great, man. Congrats. I’m happy for you two. If anyone deserves a fucking break, it’s the two of you.”

  I nod and a smile comes to my face. “You know she and I are trying for baby number two?”

  “What? Brother, no way! That’s awesome. Dang, Prince ain’t even one and you’re back at it. Poor Lana, she’s never gonna be left alone.”

  “Not for the rest of her damn life,” I state proudly.

  With that, she comes walking in off the street like a beacon of light. Almost like she’s in slow motion, the wind blows her hair and she looks around the café for me. When she spots me, her dimpled smile shows and she heads in my direction.

  Weaving through the small crowd of people, Shayla and Lana get to us, and I wrap Lana in my arms and give her one fucking sweet kiss. Like cotton candy in the summer, it’s sweet with her taste and a little sticky from her gloss. Fuck, I’m a lucky man. Bending down, our lips part, and she wipes away the small amount of shine she left on my lips and whispers an intimate hello.

  “Hey, my queen.” We stay in an embrace for a few more seconds before we part and I all but pull my little brat into my arms.

  “Shay! I miss you, shithead. Come here.” Bear hugging her head, she giggles and buries her face in my chest as I pepper the top of her burgundy hair with kisses.

  “I miss you too, you big goon. How was the studio today?” she asks, but I don’t let up on her. I keep her in my embrace for a few moments longer, swaying her back and forth.