Mom was in complete awe of both of them. She looked at the one she was holding, and then she’d look at the one I was holding. Babe played with her blocks and did not pay any of us any attention.
“You have Makael, and she has Christopher,” Chyna said.
“How do you know?” I asked.
“Makael has a birthmark on his forearm, and Christopher’s is on his butt.”
Babe ran over to Cinnamon and gave her a block.
“Good girl, Babe,” Cinnamon said with much enthusiasm. Babe smiled, giggled, and went back to her blocks. The boys were sleeping soundlessly in our arms. They didn’t mind the noise coming from their big sister. I imagined they were used to it by now.
“Have you heard from her?” Chyna asked in a small voice. I looked up and shook my head.
“But you had the code to get in; she had to have given you the code.”
“I tried tracking down the postage from the bank. But I had no luck with that. She had the bank send me some papers, and when I went, there was safe deposit box with instructions. She left the kids a DVD and then some personal belongings for me to keep.”
Chyna’s hands went over her face, and Cinnamon wrapped her arms around her. Both of them were trying to keep it together, but it was hard.
“She left strict instructions for us all,” Cinnamon said.
“What did she tell you to do?”
They both looked at me, and then Cinnamon spoke, “We’re not supposed to tell you. She made us swear not to tell you.”
“What about the babies? You won’t see them again?”
“She told us to give you a few years, and then we were to contact you,” Cinnamon said.
I nodded; Cricket had her reasons for everything. I knew I could trust her; she had given her life up for all of us.
We exchanged email addresses and told each other to contact Aunt Nan if there was an emergency. She would now be the intermediary, and she had all of our contact information.
I saw Michael before I left; he was growing like a weed. I saw more of Troy in him, and all I could do was hope he didn’t end up like his twisted fuck of a father. Chyna and Cinnamon kissed the kids goodbye, and we left Aunt Nan’s.
I think of that day now more and more often. Cinnamon and Chyna contacted me a few weeks ago, and we’re meeting here at the house tomorrow. It will be Christmas Eve and Babe’s sixth birthday. Everybody will be here. I can’t wait for them to see the kids. They’ve grown so much since the last time they saw them. We’ve exchanged pictures through emails, of course; but there’s nothing like the real thing.
This morning, I got the kids fed and dressed, and we all piled up in the truck and headed for the market. Every weekend, we go to the market. Mom goes along now, and she normally keeps the boys in the trailer out back while we work. Babe insists on staying out with me; so we eventually got her a high-rise chair, a podium, and a platform to sit on. She plays the music through speakers and would announce when the orders are ready. She loves every single minute of it. During a break, Babe and I go for cotton candy down at one of the candy tents. Babe loves the multicolor one, and I like the blue one. We were heading back to our tent when we met up with Loon. He was murdering a hotdog hoagie, and Babe and I laughed at his facial expressions. Babe tripped over a loose power cord and fell onto the ground, skinning her knee and ripping a hole in her tights. She whined and wailed until I picked her up, kissed her boo boo, and made it all better.
We were getting ready to start back walking toward the tent when I thought I saw someone. The figure must have noticed me as well, because it wasn’t moving fast away from us through the crowd. I handed Babe over to Loon, who wasn’t done eating his hoagie. He dropped it and cursed me while taking hold of Babe.
“I’ll be right back,” I shouted over my shoulder as I started running in the direction the figure had gone. I bumped into, and stumbled over men, women, and even children. I was cursed at and pushed right back until I saw a wide path now and knew the figure must have come through this way because people were facing the opposite direction looking back at whoever had come busting through. I finally saw the figure, and it was almost at the gates. I knew I would never find it once it made it out. It wore dark denim jeans, a black hoodie, and black sneakers. I knew as soon as I saw the black sequins dancing from the light on her shoes, that it was her.
“Cricket!” I yelled through the crowd.
She slowed, and then she stopped completely. She didn’t turn to face me; she just stood there. I walked up behind her. The crowd was still moving, but there were over a hundred eyes on us now.
“Look at me.”
I looked down and saw an ass I would recognize in any pair of jeans from anywhere. She had the hood over her head, but I had seen her face back in the market and knew it was her instantly.
“Don’t you want to see the babies before you run off? Come with me. The boys are in the trailer with mom.”
“I can’t,” she whispered.
She took two steps, and I caught her arm.
“Don’t walk away from me…not like this. Turn around, and tell me goodbye,” I choked out. She turned slowly toward me. Her red eyes met mine. She looked exactly the same, and she was as beautiful as ever. I wrapped her up in my arms and buried my face in her neck. She whimpered, and then I yanked her arm and forced back the tears and halfway drug her with me. She didn’t speak a word.
There were still a few people looking at us from the spectacle a few minutes ago; but the majority of the now new crowd didn’t pay us much mind at all. I pulled around the outskirts of the market back toward the trailers. She jogged, keeping up with my long steps. I gripped her forearm tightly. I knew she would never get loose unless I released her, and I did not intend to release her. I heard the speakers blasting, and Babe was announcing someone’s order. The crowd was too thick for us to see the tent. We walked around the back, past the trucks, and right in front of the trailer.
“Jyme, don’t do this to them,” she whispered quickly.
“Why not?”
“I can’t stay, and it’s not fair to them if you do this.”
“It’s not that you can’t…you won’t stay.”
“I can’t stay!” she shook her head.
I looked up toward the door, still debating whether or not I should drag her into the trailer and force her to meet the boys. I turned to the right and then left, and then back the way we came. I took out my cell and pulled her back the way we came, but I b-lined toward the back of the trailer. Mom answered, and I told her I was getting something out of the luggage cabin if she heard something under the trailer. I hung up the phone, pressing the unlock button from my wireless entry. The luggage cabin was empty, and there was a light switch inside.
“Get in,” I said.
I yanked off my sweater and threw it in. She slid in without a word, and I climbed behind her; switching on the light. I pulled the hatch shut, and my lips made it to hers immediately. She didn’t fight me. She kissed me back, and I slid my hand down her pants. She unbuttoned and unzipped them so I could have more room.
She breathed in my ear, “Yes.”
I yanked her hood down with my other hand and kissed the side of her neck, and she put two of my fingers in her mouth and started sucking them. I slid three fingers inside of her, and she gasped from the pain.
“Cricket.”
She gave me a small smile, and I smiled back at her. “Sorry, it’s been a while.”
“A while?” I asked. I hoped she hadn’t been with anyone but me.
“I haven’t been with anyone else in any kind of way.”
“Neither have I.”
She kissed me softly, and I moved my fingers fast inside of her.
“I make love to you every night in my head,” I told her.
She smiled.
“Me too.”
She slid her fingers through the back of my hair, and then she sniffed me long and hard. “Don’t stop until I cum.”
“Have I ever?”
I could always tell when she was about to cum; her breath quickened and she gripped me tighter. Then she squinted her eyes right before the explosion. She flexed her feet, and I knew she must have been feeling her tingles that she would always tell me about.
As soon as she gathered herself from the explosion, I slid my fingers out and sucked them at once. I hummed when I tasted her sweet liquid. She gave me a fiery look and pushed me back onto my back. She unbuttoned and unzipped my cargos. She pulled him out and took him into her mouth. My head fell back immediately from the sweet pleasure of her magical tongue and mouth. I’ve never figured out how she did it, but Cricket had a true gift at sucking someone off. I felt favored for being able to experience it. I slid one hand in her hair, and I punched the bottom of the cabin, releasing myself inside of her mouth. She swallowed every single drop and moaned in pleasure from it. She slid on top of me in the not so roomy cabin. She laid on my chest, and I patted invisible circles into her back. She always loved this part.
There was a pounding at the cabin door and I heard, “Daddy, are you there?” It was Babe.
Cricket slid off me, trying to right herself; I put him back into my pants and buttoned and zipped back up. There was another pounding at the door, “Daddy?”
Cricket giggled and covered her mouth, trying to be quiet.
“I’ll be right there, Babe,” I called out.
“Daddy, what are you doing?”
“I’m looking for something.”
“What?”
“I’ll be right there.”
“Your sweater,” Cricket whispered. I pulled my sweater back on, and she ran her fingers through my hair a few times, then did the same to hers.
“Are you ready to meet her?”
She nodded.
“Prepare yourself. She’s a true diva.”
Cricket giggled and then kissed me softly. I got a good grip on her, not sure if she was about to bolt or not.
“Babe, stand back. I’m about to open the door.”
“Okay, Daddy.”
I pressed the wireless entry button, and the cabin popped opened. I slid out first and then pulled Cricket out with me. I noticed we had a small audience. Babe stood up front, but the twins were behind her, and mom was walking around the side of the trailer. All of them froze. Cricket looked at me, then at them and then back at me.
“They recognize you.”
“Oh, God.”
“I have pictures of you all over the house, and they watch that DVD you made them all the time!”
Makael ran up to her first and wrapped his arms around her legs. “Mommy!”
Christopher ran up next and wrapped his arms around her. Mom ran over and hugged Cricket’s neck; crying and speaking blessings in my native tongue of Umallupi.
Babe ran to me and wrapped her arms around me. She watched Cricket, but she didn’t go to her like her brothers did. Cricket noticed, and I could tell it wounded her.
“You don’t want to go and hug Mommy?” I whispered.
She shook her head. It pained me for her not wanting to go to Cricket. I knew Cricket needed her to come to her, but I couldn’t persuade Babe to do so.
We all piled up into the trailer. The boys hung all over Cricket, and she loved every single minute of it. She kissed them repeatedly; running her fingers through Makael’s loose hair and playing with Christopher’s ponytail. We all sat on the couch, and I begged quietly for Babe to go to mother. She wouldn’t leave my side; she just watched Cricket from my lap. Cricket glanced over at Babe several times, and I knew she wanted to touch her, but was frightened to do so. Cricket reached her hand out for Babe, and she cringed from her. I took Cricket’s hand into mine, and she gave me a teary-eyed smile.
Mom tried to keep her distance in the trailer, but she couldn’t resist staring at Cricket just like the rest of us. The boys talked her ears off, and they showed her all of the battle scars from the beach. Mom sat down on the other side of Cricket, and then they made eye contact. I had a strange feeling they were having a silent conversation none of us knew about. Mom nodded at her and gave her a tearful smile. Cricket placed her only free hand on top of mom’s and held mom’s hand up to her lips and kissed it. Mom patted her face, then stood and walked to the back of the trailer. Cricket hugged and kissed the boys tight and hard. Mom called me to come to the back of the trailer, and Cricket looked up at me. I knew that face, and it wasn’t going down like this.
“Go tell Grandma I’m not coming back there,” I said to Babe. She ran to the back of the trailer, and I stood and walked over to the door. I knew Cricket was planning an escape, and I wasn’t having that; not yet.
“Give us today,” I said.
The boys looked over at me and then looked up at Cricket.
“No, mommy,” they said.
“Just today, that’s all I’m asking for.”
She frowned at me and looked down into her son’s sad faces. She was a goner. She nodded, and the boys pounced on her.
“Come to the house with us, Cricket,” I asked. She nodded with a small smile. The boys went and got their toys and packed them all up. I watched Cricket from in front of the door. My eyes weren’t leaving her; I didn’t trust her right now. She pulled out her phone, sent a quick text, and then slid the phone back into her pocket. She looked at me, and we stared at each other until the boys came back. I called for Babe, and she came back up to the front of the trailer. Then mom came out and Cricket gave her a smile. She placed both hands on the side of Cricket’s face and gave her a tight hug. Cricket kissed her cheek, and then she turned from her. I grabbed her forearm tight and whispered, “Don’t run; don’t let them see you like that.”
“I won’t; I promise.”
We all climbed into the truck, and the boys showed Cricket they could buckle themselves up in their seatbelts. She gave them the enthusiasm they were seeking. We listened to the Disney station all the way home, and the boys made sure Cricket knew they knew every single song. Cricket pulled down the sun visor and watched the kids through it. I knew she was trying to see Babe, but I said nothing. I held her hand up to my lips and kissed her fingers. She looked over at me and smiled. She watched me for a long moment, and I realized she was thinking of something far away; but I wasn’t sure what it was.
We pulled into the garage, and Cricket’s eyes went straight to her Cadillac, “You still have this?”
“It hasn’t been driven since you drove it.”
The kids got out of the back seat and ran into the house. Cricket sat in her seat, not moving. She was still staring at her truck. “You need to get rid of it, Jyme.”
“Never.”
She smiled and then opened her car door and got out. I followed her into the house as she looked it over.
“Nothing has changed, but the addition to the kids’ rooms,” I said. She looked upstairs and glanced back at me. I gave her a friendly shove.
We made it to the boys’ room first, and they gave Cricket a grand tour of their bug décor. Cricket noticed her name was the theme of their room immediately. There were pictures, posters, and figurines of crickets everywhere. They even had a cricket border tracing the middle of the walls.
“You did all this?” she asked.
“NO! I hired a decorator,” I laughed. She told the boys she would be right back.
She went next door down to Babe’s room, hesitated, and then took a deep breath and knocked. “May I come in, Babe?”
Babe must have nodded at her because I didn’t hear her say anything. I stood right outside the door; I wanted them to have their privacy.
“I love your room and all the sparkles you have,” Cricket said.
“Thank you.”
“I always liked this room. It has the best view in the house.”
Babe giggled said, “That’s what daddy says.”
“I told your daddy that. He stole that from me.”
The boys came running out of their rooms heading toward Babe’s a
nd I stopped them in their tracks.
“Toys, shoes, clothes, and chest NOW!”
They whined and went back to their room, stomping their feet.
“What time do you guys eat dinner?” Cricket asked Babe.
“Um, like six o’clock.”
“Will you help me make dinner?” Cricket asked Babe.
I wasn’t sure what Babe did in response, but she had Cricket laughing. I heard the bed squeak and turned to walk back downstairs. When I made to the bottom, the girls were walking right behind me.
“We’re going to make dinner, daddy,” Babe said as she pushed past me.
Cricket smiled, and I noticed Babe was holding Cricket’s hand and guiding her to the kitchen. I sat at the kitchen table with my laptop as my decoy. I wanted to watch them make dinner. I set my phone into its cradle and pressed record on the video. I knew I would want to see this later.
Cricket asked Babe where everything was. Babe went and got everything Cricket requested. They decided to make spaghetti with meatballs. We had ground beef in the fridge, and Cricket insisted they make their own, instead of the frozen ones Babe handed her.
“We need bread, olive oil, eggs, salt, and paper,” Cricket called out the ingredients to Babe. They already had the noodles cooking on the stove. My girls were beating and smashing the ground beef together. The toaster popped up, and Babe ran over and got the toast. They crumbled their bread crumbs into the ground beef.
Babe kept blowing her hair out of her face. Cricket went and scrubbed her hands and then she came over to me and pulled my ponytail holder out of my hair. She kissed my lips softly and went back to Babe.
“May I pull your hair up out of your face too?”
Babe nodded. Cricket was nervous to touch her. She took a deep breath, then ran her fingers through Babe’s hair and pulled it into a long ponytail. When she finished, she kissed Babe on the top of her head. They went back to making dinner, and I couldn’t take my eyes off of them.
We had Spaghetti with meatballs, green beans, garlic bread, and for dessert…angel food cake with strawberries and cool whip. I normally would have the kids in bed by nine o’clock, but this was a special occasion. We watched ET in the living room. We were wrapped all up into one another. Someone’s foot was in my face, and I had an elbow in my side. We watched the whole movie, and no one fell asleep. Cricket and Babe gave the boys their baths, and they laughed and splashed water all over the place. Then, Babe took a bath with Cricket’s help, and they whispered to each other the whole time they were in there. It was a little after midnight, and Cricket was still in Babe’s room. I peeked in, and there they were, both lying down in Babe’s bed facing each other.
Wounded Love (G Street Chronicles Presents From Love to Loathe Series) Page 24
