by K, S
“Uh, ladies, I’m gonna leave you to your girl talk,” he said as he took careful, measured steps backwards to get to the door. The four of them never even heard him, and he released a relieved sigh as he made his escape.
He was still grinning when he got to the living room. The grin disappeared as he came face to face with Marcus, Darrell, and Dominick. He tensed as he looked from one of them to the other.
“Look. I don’t want any more trouble.” His tone made it clear he wouldn't run from it either.
Marcus stared at him for several tense seconds. “You love my sister, don’t you?”
Amir eyed him cautiously, keeping his stance loose and ready in case Marcus wanted to pick up where they’d left off. “Yes. I do. And you might as well know that she’s agreed to marry me.”
Marcus surprised him by nodding, as if he’d already been ready for that. “The only thing I ask is that you treat her right. So for her sake, I think we should try to start over. I want my sister to be happy. And if you make her happy, I guess that’s all that matters.” Marcus stretched out his hand and offered it to Amir.
Some of the tension left Amir’s body as he slowly shook Marcus’ hand. He did the same with Dominick and Darrell, who said, “No hard feelin’s, man.”
Amir nodded. “It’s cool.”
“Good. Now that that’s all settled, you can come and help us finish cleaning up the mess we made,” Marcus told Amir with a grin.
The rest of the weekend passed pleasantly. The tentative truce Amir and Marcus struck up showed signs of becoming a solid friendship given time. On Alexis and Amir's last day in Vegas, Marcus and Aleesha hosted a dinner for them. As the sun began to set, they moved the party outside by the pool and continued the friendly, easy conversation. The men were huddled a ways off from the women, who sat at one of the patio tables and resumed their talk about the subject that had been their main focus the last two days: babies and weddings.
Suddenly Alexis remembered the double fudge chocolate cake she’d seen in the kitchen earlier “Leesh, can we please cut that cake now?? It looks delicious!”
“Sure, girl, you should’ve said something. We could’ve cut it a long time ago.”
“Oh, I don’t even want to think about cake. I’m stuffed,” Jerra moaned.
Hearing Alexis' statement about the cake, Amir looked at her and grinned. “Baby, I’m surprised you have room for anything else the way you demolished those ribs. I was almost ready to guard my food. You sure we’re not having twins?” he teased.
Alexis had been eagerly on her way inside to get to that cake when she paused. The look she delivered should've been a warning. “Excuse me?”
The three men tried to catch Amir’s attention to head him off, but he was oblivious to the fact he was joking himself into a shitload of trouble.
“I tell you what, though. I bet you’re going to enjoy having a license to eat as much as you want, babe. Fine with me. I love the extra meat on your bones.”
Alexis’ mouth dropped open. “Are you saying that I’m getting fat??”
“Awww, fuck….” one of the men muttered under their breath.
The smile fell from Amir’s face as he realized she was taking what he said the wrong way. “No! Baby, no! You’ve gained a little weight, but that’s normal…”
Alexis' folded her arms. Her eyes narrowed and drilled a hole sharp enough to go straight through Amir. Jerra and Keisha moved to her side, glaring at him and folding their arms as well.
Amir looked at Darrell and Dominick for help but Darrell suddenly found the label on his beer bottle extremely interesting, and Dominick seemed as if he had found the most fascinating star patterns in the sky. They knew when to choose their battles with their spouses; Amir was on his own with this one.
Amir turned to Marcus. “Right? I know she’s only a couple of months pregnant, but she’s supposed to be big. I mean…”
Alexis screamed in outrage. Amir quickly took a few steps towards her to apologize, but Aleesha blocked his way as the women led Lexie inside with comforting words. Amir heard the term ‘idiot’ and ‘insensitive jerk’ tossed into the conversation.
“I think you should give her a few minutes, Amir. I can’t believe you would even say something like that to her at a time like this.”
Aleesha continued to stand there as if making sure he didn’t follow Lexie in the house. Again, Amir looked helplessly at the other men. Marcus shook his head before finally taking pity on him. He put his arm around Amir and walked him in the other direction away from Aleesha’s wrath.
“Brother-in-law to be, let me explain some things to you real quick about pregnant women. This a very sensitive time for them. See, Darrell had to learn the hard way, but I‘m gonna help you out, a'ight?” Darrell and Dominick joined them as they walked towards the pool.
“And while you’re at it, explain to him about the united front those women can put up at a moment’s notice,” Dominick threw in.
“Now they’ve added Alexis to the pack, so they gonna be even more difficult than before. Damn!” Darrell grumbled.
Satisfied, Aleesha rolled her eyes at the four of them and went inside.
Later that night, Alexis and Amir lay in bed at the hotel. He'd thoroughly apologized for his insensitive comments and managed to get back into her good graces. He still didn’t know what he’d said that was so bad, but as long as she wasn’t mad anymore, he guessed it didn’t matter.
Amir rested his hand on her stomach. “I think I should pick out the name. You picked Michael’s name, so this time it’s my turn. You can do the next one.”
“The next one?” Alexis said as she leaned up on an elbow and stared at her fiancé. “Just how many times do you think we’ll be doing this?”
Amir pretended to ponder the question. “Oh, ‘bout five, six, maybe seven more times - at least.”
“Amir!” Lexie hit his shoulder as he burst out laughing.
“What?”
“You’d better be joking, that’s what.” She laughed as he lay back and pulled her down to his chest. Alexis yawned as she snuggled closer, her eyes finally losing the battle to stay open.
“Tired?”
“Mmhm…” She yawned again.
Amir kissed the top of her head and rubbed her back. “Get some rest, then. Our flight leaves early in the morning.”
“'K. Love you baby.”
Amir’s arms tightened around her. “I love you, too.”
Seconds later, he heard Lexie’s steady breathing as she quickly fell asleep. Amir was too wound up to sleep. He and Alexis had decided to have a small wedding in a couple of weeks. He was going to start moving his things to her house as soon as they got back.
Amir thought back to how just over a year ago, he’d been running wild and out of control, not caring about anything or anybody except himself. He hadn’t been ready to accept responsibility for a lot of the things that had gone wrong in his life until he’d met Lexie. However, he had no doubt he was ready to be a husband to the woman in his arms and a father to his son and unborn child.
As he finally began to drift off, his last thought before he succumbed to sleep was that first moment he’d laid eyes on Alexis ten years ago. He didn’t know what had possessed him to race up those flights of stairs to get to her, but even then he’d realized she was someone special. He couldn’t wait to see what else this game of life would throw his way. He was up for the challenge.
BURIED SECRETS NO MORE…
Chapter 25
Jerra drove up to the restaurant with a feeling of anticipation flowing through her veins. She glanced in the rear view mirror and smiled at DJ, who was entertaining himself with one of his favorite toy trucks. When he looked up and saw his mother staring at him, a wide, toothy grin covered his face. At eighteen months, he favored Darrell more and more every day. He had such a good disposition and was the joy of their lives.
The valet came around and opened her door before opening the back door for her to get D
J, who jumped up and down and kicked his legs in his excitement. She laughed and spoke softly to him as she unbuckled the seat belt and helped him get out of his car seat.
"You're such a good boy, D. Yes you are. Momma's baby is such a good boy." DJ squealed and hugged her tightly around the neck. Jerra laughed again and turned to the valet, startling him when she caught him looking at her ass. "Could you get the gift bag that's in the front for me, please?"
He stared at Jerra with his mouth agape for a moment, entranced by how hot she was. The Seven jeans she wore lovingly cupped her backside and showed it off to perfection. When she drove up, he and the other valet had quickly tossed a coin to see who would be the one to assist her, and he'd won. Their job could be extremely tedious and the tips were not always good. Eye candy like the woman who'd driven up just now was few and far between. She was absolutely beautiful. She had smooth, mocha skin, long dark hair that, while she cursed the wavy texture which made flat ironing a chore in itself, was healthy, shiny and bouncy. Her curvaceous body would've put a bikini model to shame.
Coming out of his trance, he swung around to do Jerra’s bidding like an eager puppy. He bent down to get the bag she indicated and bit back a curse just in time when, in his haste, he hit his head on the top of the car. Jerra hid her smile and thanked him again before handing him a generous tip. She turned to walk away but paused when she heard the valet clear his throat nervously.
"Are...are you a model?" he squeaked out.
Jerra flipped her hair out of her face with the hand that held the gift bag and hoisted DJ up on her hip with the other. The young man, who couldn’t have been more than twenty years old, kept his eyes on her while at the same time half-twisting his body to get into the car.
"What?" It took a moment before she realized he was serious. The dimple at the corner of her mouth peeked out temptingly at the thought of such a notion. "Umm, no. No, I'm not."
The valet ducked his head in embarrassment and mumbled, "Enjoy your lunch, ma'am."
Jerra thought about how special today was. She was finally going to meet her daughter. Quieting the butterflies fluttering around in her stomach, Jerra nodded. "Thank you. I will."
Her heart raced as she walked inside the restaurant. Once there, she followed the maître d' to the fairly secluded table she'd requested when she made the reservation. Jerra knew she was early, but had been too nervous to sit around and wait any longer before leaving. Settling DJ in the high chair that the waiter provided, she asked for an unsweetened iced tea and informed him she would wait until her party arrived before ordering lunch. While DJ played with his truck and crunched on the cheerios Jerra had placed in a small bowl for him, Jerra tried to relax. Just as quickly, she blew out a short puff of air and shook her head.
Relax?? Who was she kidding? She was a nervous wreck!
J
erra looked down at the outfit she'd decided on and wondered for the umpteenth time if she should’ve worn something dressier. She'd changed clothes about five times before she finally settled on the fitted designer jeans and black, fashionable, high heeled booted sandals which were all the rage at the moment. She wore a black tank top under the white tunic which was made to slip down and bare one shoulder, and completed the look with silver jewelry. Jerra hadn’t wanted it to seem as if she was trying to dress "cool" for her daughter - which she was - but she didn’t want to come off as too stuffy either.
"Maybe I just should've played it safe and worn my black pantsuit," Jerra mumbled to herself as she straightened her necklace. Still trying to mentally come up with clever conversation to talk about over lunch, she was startled when she heard Giselle's father softly call her name.
"Jerra?"
She lifted her head and saw Robert Valentine standing by the table with a smile on his good looking face. Robert was tall, bald, and dark with a neatly shaped goatee. Jerra had found him to be an intelligent and kind man the couple of times she’d met him, but most importantly, he loved his daughter enough to want to help her through the transition of meeting the woman who gave birth to her.
Jerra acknowledged Robert with a quick smile before her eyes were magnetically drawn to the beautiful teenager beside him. Jerra's breath caught midway between a gasp and a cry when she saw the child she'd given up what seemed like a lifetime ago.
Blinking furiously and taking a large gulp of air, she stood up on trembling legs. She had envisioned this moment a thousand times over, wondering what she would say, what she would do. But it was nothing compared to the reality of the actual experience.
Glancing up at her father, the young girl took a hesitant step forward and extended her hand. "I'm Giselle. It's nice to meet you."
A shaky smile twitched at Jerra's lips as she enclosed Giselle's hand in hers. Mother and daughter studied each other with curious, eager eyes before breaking into identical smiles.
Jerra reached out and lovingly touched Giselle's hair. "You're so beautiful."
Giselle smiled and shyly looked down. "Thank you. So are you."
"Like mother, like daughter," Rob said softly, his gaze lingering on Jerra's face before turning to his daughter. "It's amazing how much you two look alike. You're almost a mirror image of each other."
Giselle's smile widened as if her father's statement pleased her. DJ, having had enough of being ignored, chose that moment to make his presence known. He'd always been extremely intelligent, but now his language skills were progressing rapidly. He grinned at Jerra and reached his arms up towards her to get him out of the chair.
"Get out, Mommy. DJ get out."
"Okay, baby, hold on."
Giselle and Rob watched as Jerra lifted DJ into her arms. He immediately twisted around to look curiously at Rob then Giselle.
Jerra smiled and ran a hand over his curls before turning to her daughter. "This is your brother, Darrell Jr. We call him DJ for short." Jerra's voice was quiet. She didn’t know how Giselle would feel about the fact that Jerra gave her up for adoption while obviously choosing to raise her second child.
However, she needn't have worried. Giselle's lips parted in delight the moment she laid eyes on DJ. Forgetting her earlier shyness, Giselle immediately stepped closer and touched DJ's hand. Jerra silently watched the interaction between her two children. DJ studied Giselle before his eyes went back to Jerra as if asking what was up with the resemblance. The next thing any of them knew, he leaned towards Giselle with arms outstretched. Giselle readily settled him on her hip and kissed his cheek.
Jerra and Rob's eyes met briefly. They shared a smile of understanding before the four of them sat down at the table. While Giselle held DJ, they all made small talk until lunch arrived. After Jerra got DJ settled back into his high chair, he immediately stuffed a french fry in his mouth and grabbed a chicken nugget in his other hand.
Now that the buffer of DJ being the center of attention was somewhat removed, Jerra expected an uncomfortable silence to follow, but to her surprise the conversation continued to flow smoothly. Jerra asked Giselle about her school and learned she was captain of the cheerleader squad. Her face lit up with excitement as she talked to Jerra about how they were headed to the state championship within the next couple of weeks.
"Maybe you could come and watch the competition," Giselle suggested tentatively. "If you're not busy, that it," she added in a rush.
Without thinking, Jerra reached over and covered Giselle's hand. "I would love to. Thank you for inviting me."
As the conversation continued, Jerra barely ate. She was focused on every single aspect of Giselle and soaked up the minutest of details about her life. Rob remained relatively quiet, letting mother and daughter get acquainted. He only contributed to the discussion when he was asked a direct question. Jerra was so into Giselle that she didn’t notice that his eyes seemed to stay on her the majority of the time.
After about an hour or so, Giselle asked if she could take DJ to look at the large aquarium located across the restaurant. Jerra gave her consent and kept the
m in eyesight, watching as Giselle pointed out the colorful fish to her excited baby brother. Jerra was unaware of the beautiful smile that stretched across her mouth as she placed a fist underneath her chin. Rob's eyes were glued to her face as if mesmerized by the picture she made before following her gaze.
"You make gorgeous children, Jerra."
Jerra pulled her attention away from DJ and Giselle and looked at him with wide eyes. "Thank you. And you've done a great job with Giselle, Rob. She's a beautiful young woman." Her expression dimmed somewhat as sadness, mixed with awe, covered her face. "I still can't believe I gave birth to her. She's...she's perfect."
Rob laughed and took a sip of his iced tea. "Well, people might think I'm a bit biased, but I have to say I agree with you."
As he hoped, Jerra brightened a bit. After a few moments, Rob's expression turned serious. "While Giselle is away from the table, I did want to tell you this, though. The last time we met, I could see you were still struggling with the decision you made to give her up all those years ago. You don't have to go into it, but I got the feeling you'd gone through some things. I've always hoped I’d be able to say this and now that I have the opportunity, here goes: ‘thank you’."
When Jerra tilted her head in inquiry, Rob expanded on his statement.
"I can't even begin to know how difficult it must have been for you, but giving Giselle up for adoption was very brave. You were young and could’ve chosen to terminate the pregnancy. Instead you chose to give Giselle a chance at a better life. My wife and I tried to have a baby for a long time, and after we discovered she couldn’t have children, adoption was our next choice. Although my ex-wife turned out to be nothing like the person I thought I knew, I never regretted our decision for one second."
