by Tasha Blue
Jackie had complained for three months that Deonna got so much attention for being pregnant. She really wasn’t ready for a child and she didn’t want to change her schedule to take care of a baby that wasn’t really hers. When Warren told her he was going to start sleeping with Deonna during the last half of her second trimester and throughout her third trimester, Jackie had yelled and thrown the biggest temper tantrum he had ever seen her throw. She had called Deonna a whore and a slut. She had been so mad that she had threatened divorce.
Warren was deep in thought when Deonna came back from her appointment with the doctor.. She looked tired and yet she was smiling. There was a glow about her that he didn’t want to see leave her. He knew that telling her how Jackie felt would hurt her and make her doubt this. Warren smiled at her and looked her in the eyes.
“So what did she say?” Warren asked.
“Everything looks good. They had to run a few tests so they had to draw blood. We get to see the baby in three weeks. They will also tell us if it’s a girl or a boy. Do you think Jackie would like to come for the ultrasound?” Deonna said as she walked to the door with him.
“Slow down, baby girl. I’ll talk to Jackie and see if I can get her to take time off to go to the ultra sound with you. I’m glad everything is well with you and the baby. Is there anything you need me to do or help you with during this part of your pregnancy?” Warren said.
They drove to her apartment. He was glad to just feel like he mattered. He was still waiting for her to answer his question. There was so much he wanted to do for her but what he really wanted to do was make love to her.
Deonna and he had agreed that they wouldn’t have sex again until after she was well into her second trimester. While he didn’t want to agree with it, he saw the reasoning she used. She hadn’t wanted him to stop sleeping with Jackie. What she didn’t know was that they hadn’t slept together since they had found out she couldn’t have kids. Warren realized that he was falling in love with Deonna and had fallen out of love with Jackie.
When they made it to her apartment, she turned to him and said, “I’ll see you and Jackie tomorrow. I’m going to go in and take a nap.”
Warren was taken aback; she had never said this before. Usually they talked about the baby and hung out watching movies and since Jackie hadn’t had the time to talk with either of them today he had figured she wouldn’t be there for dinner. He smiled and turned to leave, then turned back around and said, “I don’t know if Jackie will be able to make it but if you want to invite Kathy again I’d like that. We have a table at Nikos’ bistro. If we can have another person with us maybe we won’t have to reschedule, just in case Jackie can’t make it out again.”
They parted ways and Warren left for home. The whole time he drove, his mind was on Deonna. She seemed to be pushing him away. Maybe this was because he was married but he thought there was another reason. He was slightly glad he hadn’t gone into the apartment with her. He would have probably kissed her and made love to her. She was beautiful even when she was pregnant.
Warren pulled into the drive way and saw that Jackie was there waiting. There was trouble brewing - he could almost feel it in the air as he walked into the house. He hadn’t said a word to her and still he knew she was ready to fight. This had become his life since Deonna had found out she was pregnant.
“So what did they say at the doctor’s office?” Jackie asked as he sat down in the den.
“Everything is fine with the baby and with her. They are running the necessary tests that were scheduled for this stage in the pregnancy. She also wants to know if you would like to go to the ultrasound where they tell her what the gender of the baby will be.” Warren said as he started up his laptop.
“Well, I guess I can do that if you’ll let me hire a nanny for our child. Oh don’t, we have that dinner with this woman tonight. I don’t want to go but I guess I can go if it will make her feel more comfortable. She texted me this morning after she finished with the doctor. She wanted to know if I was going to come to dinner. She said she would like to talk to me about the baby. I don’t know if I can take care of her while she’s pregnant. My schedule is busy and I don’t want to lose out on the work. Besides, you’re there for her and as long as one of us helps her out while she’s pregnant it should be enough,” Jackie said as she looked out of the window. “Are you two still sleeping together?”
Warren sighed in frustration, looked at her and said. “No, We haven’t slept together since she found out she was pregnant. While we’re talking about sleeping with someone, when are you and I going to start sleeping together again or even spending time together? You’re never home and when you are, you’re arguing with me. I want my wife back. When is that going to happen?”
“Warren, don’t start with me right now. I’ve been busy and you haven’t been here either, so get over it. We will sleep together again when you finish sleeping with your new baby momma,” Jackie said as she walked over to the couch and sat down. “Don’t be so cross with me darling, it makes you look old. Can you blame me for being jealous of her because she can give you the one thing I can’t?”
Warren thought about what Jackie said. Could she really be jealous of Deonna because she was able to give him a child? She shouldn’t be. If anything, she should be grateful that Deonna had decided to have their child. Jackie was just being childish and she should know better than to blame Deonna for the problems they were having.
Warren looked at his wife, smiled and said, “Dearest, you are the woman that I love. No one can replace you. You are my wife and the only person who makes me happy.”
Jackie smiled and said, “Warren, I understand that you like her and that you love me. Your heart was in the right place but I don’t trust her when it comes to you. She appears to be sweet and kind but she means to steal you from me and I can’t have that, now can I?”
Warren watched as Jackie walked out of the room. She could be heartless and cruel but she did love him, he had to give her that. His biggest fear was Jackie hurting Deonna because she found out that he now loved Deonna more than her. Warren called Deonna to check on her. He listened to what she was doing and how she felt throughout the day. He couldn’t help but smile.
*
Warren, Jackie and Deonna arrived at the restaurant on time and without any problems. Warren pulled out the chairs of both Jackie and Deonna; he also ordered for them both. While they waited on dinner, Deonna and Jackie talked about the baby and what they wanted to have happen with it.
They asked him what his views were on different things. Jackie was the one who asked him the most questions while Deonna seemed to pretend he wasn’t there. The whole time they talked, she never said a word to him or looked at him. Warren was worried that she was mad at him. There was no way to ask her while Jackie was sitting at the table. God, he hoped she wasn’t really mad at him.
Dinner went by uneventfully; as they were leaving Jackie went to the bathroom and told them she would be right out. Warren took that moment to ask Deonna the question that had been bothering him all night.
“Why have you been ignoring me all night? You haven’t interacted with me all night and you seem to not want to look at me. Did I do something wrong? Are you mad at me?” Warren asked.
“No, I’m not mad at you; I just wanted to put Jackie’s mind at ease. She feels threatened by the new baby and I wanted to make sure she knew that her thoughts and plans were important to us too. She seemed so sad and lonely when I talked to her last week on the phone. I really wanted to go to this dinner to let her know that she is important in all of this,” Deonna said without meeting his eyes.
Warren looked at her and nodded his head. He dropped the matter. There were many more chances for the two of them to spend time together without Jackie being around or feeling like she didn’t matter. Warren knew that he could never tell Jackie want he was thinking or how he truly felt. He couldn’t tell Deonna either. That would make her feel like a home wrecker. She wasn’t
the one at fault, if anyone was at fault, it was him.
He went to the valet stand outside and waited for their car to arrive. By the time he came back in to retrieve Deonna, Jackie was back from the bathroom and standing with her. They were talking about something that seemed important. He let them finish their conversation, and then let them know that the car was ready for them.
Jackie and Warren arrived home after dropping Deonna off. When they walked through the door, Jackie started with her complaints. Warren was tired and didn’t want to hear it but he listened to what she had to say.
“Can you believe the nerve of that woman? Trying to make me feel like a monster since you got her pregnant and not me. She’s the worse kind of skank out there. She’s the kind that makes you think she’s all sweet and innocent when she’s really a monster in disguise. She is so stupid if she thinks I will just sit by while she tries to steal my husband out from under me. She is sadly mistaken. That bitch doesn’t know who she’s playing with. I will destroy her before I let her have you,” Jackie ranted.
Warren sighed and grabbed Jackie, “She isn’t after your husband. She just wants to make sure you will be okay with the baby. She’s genuinely worried that you won’t like the new baby because there isn’t any part of you in it. She also wants to make sure you don’t resent her for carrying my child for us. She only wants to be your friend and you treat her like she is worthless to you. You don’t even see the gift that you are being given. Now please stop talking about her like this and try and be more sympathetic to what she is going through for you,” Warren yelled.
“How dare you talk to me like that! You think just because you fell in love with the stupid twit I would be okay with it? Well you’re wrong! You can hang it up because I won’t be made a fool of by you or by her!”
Jackie stormed out of the house got in her car and sped off. Warren was worried about what she would do to Deonna. He should have never argued with her about Deonna. He should have just let her vent and then walked away. He called her phone several times. When she didn’t answer the last time, he called Deonna.
Warren had called her twice. Didn’t he know that she was comforting his wife? When he called the third time, she answered the phone.
“Warren, I’m busy with Jackie, she came to my door in tears and she needs to be comforted. I’ll have her call you in the morning. She’s going to stay the night here, so please stop worrying and calling so that she can calm down,” Deonna said as she answered the phone.
Warren relaxed a little then began to think about what Jackie had told her that made Deonna so mad at him for just calling because he was worried. He hated the not knowing more then he hated to be told what to do. He hoped Jackie wouldn’t hurt Deonna or do anything to endanger their child.
The next morning Warren was woken by his cell phone. “Hello, Warren Alexander, how may I help you?” Warren said, as he answered the phone.
“Warren, it’s me, Jackie. I’m with Deonna. She and I spent the whole night talking. She helped me understand my feelings and made me promise to call you when we woke up. There is something you should know. Deonna and I are going to have a girl’s day today. We don’t want you to worry - we will call you when we get back home. So please don’t call us. We won’t have our phones and we wouldn’t answer them if even if we did. We are going to be friends. Well, I have to go. We’re going to lunch so don’t worry about us,” Jackie said as quickly as possible.
Warren barely understood what she had said before he was fully awake. He got out of bed and got ready for work. He had a long day ahead of him and he knew that he would have to hurry and get everything done.
Deonna and Jackie were eating at Reggie’s, one of the hottest and biggest breakfast bars in the city. Deonna hadn’t had anything to eat or drink throughout most of night. While they were waiting for their breakfast, Jackie asked her a lot of different questions about how the pregnancy was going. They were laughing and joking about possible things that the baby would come out doing. Their conversation went from normal to extremely strange. Deonna soon had to leave the table to use the restroom. While she was in there, several of the waitresses came in and began talking.
“Did you see the pregnant girl with Mrs. Alexander? She’s the whore that everyone is talking about. You know she slept with Mr. Alexander to get pregnant and now that she is, she’s forcing them to adopt the child for an unseemly amount of money. I know because my boyfriend works for Mr. Alexander’s company. He told me that she planned this whole thing weeks before she got fired,” the first waitress said.
“Oh my God, that little slut! I hope Mrs. Alexander beats her ass. You know its girls like her that makes sweet and nice girls like us social pariah. She needs someone to put her in her place,” the second waitress said.
Deonna sat in the stall and silently cried. She really wasn’t what these women thought she was, and yet here they were talking about her like she was nothing but a common prostitute. If only they knew what was really going on, then maybe they wouldn’t say such mean things. Deonna stood up and walked out of the stall. She didn’t say a word as she washed her hands and dried them., As she left out of the bathroom, she stopped, turned around looked at the now silent women that were standing in the bathroom motionless and said, “You may think you know the truth but I assure you, you are wrong. If you want to spread lies then I think you might want to do so about yourselves.”
Deonna walked out of the bathroom with her head held high. She sat down at the table with Jackie. She tried to pretend their words hadn’t hurt her, and smile. But deep down inside she was dying. Jackie picked up on the fact that something was bothering Deonna.
“So what happened in the bathroom that makes you look so sad? You know you can tell me,” Jackie said.
“It was nothing, really it wasn’t,” Deonna said.
“It was obviously something that hurt you a lot. So please tell me. I will do whatever I can do to make you smile again.” Jackie said softly.
“There were some waitresses talking about me in the bathroom. They called me all kinds of names without knowing I was in there. They said things about what I am doing for you and for Warren. They made me feel like I was a monster and a whore. You don’t need to worry about taking care of them, they are not worthy of your time or either of our thoughts. Today is about us having a good time so let’s put this behind us and finish our breakfast,” Deonna said.
“If you say so, I will let it go this time but you are my friend. The first I have made in a very long time,” Jackie said as she looked at Deonna.
When Deonna looked away, Jackie smiled and thought about how she had ruined Deonna’s day so far. Now there were so many other things that she could do to break her and show her that she could never be the woman that Warren needed or wanted.
They left the restaurant and went shopping. This was going to be a long day. By the time they reached Deonna’s apartment again, both of them were tired. There were several bags that they carried in and they quickly checked everything and put things up. Deonna sat down on the couch. Within minutes she fell asleep.
While Jackie didn’t really like the girl, she couldn’t do anything to her to make Warren mad at her. So she left her on the couch asleep and went home. She had barely made it in the door when Warren came in. She knew he was going to ask questions and so she answered them first.
“Hi darling, your little pet is at home asleep on her couch. We had fun shopping, brunch, and then more shopping and finally we went to the movies and a late dinner. She is a hungry girl but I guess that’s from the pregnancy. Why is she always so tired, anyway? I mean it’s not like she’s really doing anything. She just sleeps and sits there,” Jackie said.
“Well, I’m glad you had a good day my love,” Warren said.
Warren walked past her and headed into his study. He closed the door and called Deonna. When she answered with that sleepy voice she used so often, he listened to the things that had happened during her day. Then when he h
eard about what had happened in the breakfast bar, he got mad. He didn’t tell her how he was feeling but he knew that this was Jackie’s doing. She was trying to break Deonna’s spirit. . When she had finally told him about everything that had happened that day, he laughed.
“You must be sleepy, my sweet. I will let you go for the night. Dream of sweet things and have a great day,” Warren said as he hung up with her.
Chapter8
Warren was sitting in a board meeting when he realized that his phone was going off. Deonna was in the final trimester of her pregnancy. So much had happened to her in this last month of her pregnancy. She had been on bed rest for the last four weeks and she was miserable. Jackie had stopped arguing with him and was now in the silent fury stage of her tantrum. There wasn’t anything he could do to help the way she felt. He hoped that she was okay. Nothing was going to make him stop worrying about her.
Warren answered his phone. “Warren Alexander, how may I...”
Deonna interrupted him, “Warren, I think my water just broke. I’m leaving puddles of water everywhere I sit and I can’t stop peeing. Warren, I’m worried, please hurry and help me please,” she cried.
Warren jumped up from his seat and ran out of the board room. He didn’t say anything to anyone. He was so shaken up and scared that he didn’t realized that he was leaving one of the most important meetings of the company’s life. Warren’s sole focus was on saving his unborn child and the woman he loved.
Warren called Jackie as he was driving to Deonna’s. When she didn’t answer right away he called the house and asked the maid who answered the phone to put his wife on the phone and that it was an emergency. When Jackie finally answered the phone, he told her that Deonna was going into labor and that she needed them there.
