“For over three years, we didn’t know the other existed. They didn’t know me and I didn’t know them. I’m going to love on them, spoil them and anything else that comes to mind. As a matter a fact I’ve already made plans to have my will changed. We’ve also got to have their birth certificates changed. I want Micah to carry on the Baker name.”
Jennifer’s eyes widened. “You did? But you just met them the other day.”
“I know that, but after I left here, it made sense to me to have it done. So if anything ever happened to me, they would be provided for.” Simeon felt a responsibility to take care of his children.
Jennifer walked over to the sofa and sat down, with Simeon following her. He pulled her into his arms because he knew that his announcement had caught her off guard.
“Jenn, before I laid eyes on those two beautiful kids, I loved them. Once you told me that they were mine, I loved them. There isn’t anything I wouldn’t give them and that includes my money, assets and holdings.”
He saw tears filling Jennifer’s eyes as he kissed her forehead. “Now, you don’t ever have to worry about a thing when it comes to Micah and Mariah.”
Jennifer moved out of his embrace and got up from the sofa. She walked over to the huge Christmas tree, which was adorned with ornaments, ribbons in pastel colors of pink, lavender and baby blue that they’d decorated together as a family. Simeon was so proud of it and the pretty angel wearing a silky ivory gown and iridescent halo as the topper.
Simeon watched as she fingered the special tiny ceramic angel ornament Jennifer said reminded her of Mariah. He knew that she was processing the information he’d just given her, so he gave her a couple of minutes before joining her. He wrapped his arms around her waist and she leaned into him before turning toward him.
“I don’t know what to say,” Jennifer said, her eyes searching his.
“There’s nothing to say, love,” Simeon responded.
He adored seeing the sparkle in her eyes as their gazes locked. He pulled her even closer. The twinkle from the colorful lights of the tree added to the moment. Jennifer reached up, putting her arms around his neck, snuggling closer. He wanted to taste her, so he did. Her lips felt so good to him that when he released her, he lowered his head once again, capturing hers in a soul-stirring kiss that left them both reeling.
Not wanting to make Jennifer feel as if he were rushing her, he backed off because if Simeon had his way, he would have Jennifer completely. But he had to be patient because he knew she was the one he wanted, but wasn’t quite sure if she felt the same way.
As the house fell quiet later that evening, Jennifer took a much-needed soak in her favorite scented bath oil from Good Scents Aromatherapy and Day Spa, and reflected on the day’s events. She was grateful that her children had a father that cared about them. Just watching the gleam of love shining in Simeon’s eyes as he embraced the children was undeniable. It touched her heart and broke it at the same time because her children might have never known their father. Simeon could have died not knowing he was a father.
He had already proven that he would do anything for them, but there was still a question in her head that nagged her. Where did that leave their relationship? Did he just want to bond with the children or were they simply picking up where they left off in the Caribbean?
For the next several days, Simeon came over or called suggesting that they do something together. One night they watched The Lion King movie and popped some popcorn. He encouraged the kids by singing along with them. The kids laughed so hard they fell over. The next night, he brought over a fish tank and set it up in the kids’ room. They were mesmerized by the lights.
One evening, Jennifer was in the kitchen preparing dinner while Micah and Simeon played with his Leap Frog tablet. She kept seeing Mariah running through the apartment.
“Mariah, sweetie, no running,” she warned her.
Micah repeated. “No running, Riah.”
Jennifer shook her head and continued to stir the sauce she’d made for her spaghetti. A few seconds later, she heard a boom and then a loud wail. Dropping the wooden spoon, she rushed into the living room, but Simeon had already grabbed Mariah. He was kissing her knee and bringing her into the kitchen to retrieve a piece of ice. They cooled her knee until she nodded her head when he asked if it felt better.
Jennifer went back to finishing her dinner when she realized that Simeon was taking care of their daughter.
They did everything together and had settled into a cozy routine. Simeon helped Jennifer with feeding, bathing and getting the twins ready for bed at night.
On Friday evening, Jennifer was on the phone with her sisters discussing the family’s upcoming charity event when Simeon rang the buzzer.
“Hold on guys for one second,” she said, walking over to press the button to unlock the main door downstairs.
“Who is that, Jenn?” Patrice wanted to know.
“Just Simeon,” Jennifer replied standing at the door waiting for him to come up.
She opened the door and he walked inside the room. “Hey guys, I’ll have to call you back later.”
“We still have a lot to discuss,” Renee reminded everyone.
“Why don’t you all come over here then,” Jennifer offered. She glanced at Simeon, who was taking off his coat, but she could tell that he’d overheard her conversation. She saw him hold up his finger, trying to get her attention.
Jennifer went back to her conversation. “Girls, hold on a sec,” she said, removing the phone from her ear.
She turned to Simeon. “You didn’t have plans for us tonight did you?”
“No, nothing we can’t do tomorrow after you’re done at work. Why don’t I watch the kids until you come back?”
Jennifer’s eyebrows lifted as she tilted her head to the side. “Are you sure that’s a good idea?”
Simeon smiled. “Of course it’s a good idea. I’ve got to learn sometime and it seems that you and your sisters need to get together.”
“They could come here.”
“Then you would be distracted with the kids and everything else. So why don’t you just meet them wherever and I’ll be here when you come back.”
Jennifer didn’t know how this arrangement would work out, but she admitted that it was sweet of him to offer. “Simeon, I must warn you, it’s not as easy as it looks. Those twins can be a handful.”
Simeon pointed to the cell phone she had in her hand. “Love, I think you’re keeping your sisters waiting.”
As soon as Jenn placed the phone back up to her ear, she could hear her sisters talking about what they’d just heard. “Okay, I’m back,” she said.
“Jennifer Louise McClendon, you’d better let that man take care of his babies,” Faith said.
“I know, right,” Patrice chimed in.
“Uh, mind your business,” Jennifer said quickly.
Renee laughed. “Y’all betta leave that girl alone. Aw right, Ms. Jenn, git ’em.”
Everyone erupted in laughter.
“Where are we meeting?” Patrice asked.
“How about we meet at Bevy?” Renee suggested.
“We won’t be able to hear ourselves in there,” Faith said. “Just come on over to my place. Michael has a photo shoot for an Alpha fraternity event downtown, so he’ll be gone. We can make a girls’ night of it.”
“Sounds good to me,” Jennifer said. Faith didn’t live too far away and if she needed to hurry home, she could get back in a couple of minutes.
Everyone agreed to meet at Faith’s, so they ended the call. Jennifer walked over to the sofa where Simeon was sitting. He’d taken his shoes off, left them at the front door and was now leisurely working on his electronic tablet.
“Do you have work?” Jennifer asked, sitting down next to him.
“Yes, I needed to send Quincy some information
on an acquisition that we are thinking about.”
“Are you sure that you’ll be able to handle the kids too?”
Simeon laid the tablet aside and stood to his feet, pulling her to stand as well. “You go and get dressed so that you won’t be late. I promise you, I’ve got this.”
Jennifer gave him a quick kiss on the lips and started down the hall toward her bedroom. Every couple of steps, she’d turn back to him, giving him a questioning glance.
Simeon made a cross sign over his chest. “Everything will be fine,” he responded, watching her until she disappeared into her room.
Ten minutes later, Jennifer emerged wearing a pair of blue jeans and a burgundy silk blouse.
“You ready to get out of here?” he asked when he saw her go into the kitchen.
“Come in here so I can show you what I was going to prepare for them to eat.”
Simeon got up and went into the kitchen. “Don’t worry, I can do it.”
Jennifer leaned against the counter. “Simeon, Micah is a fussy eater and Mariah is going to talk you to death.”
“I know you’re nervous about leaving them with me, but will you go already? If they wake up and you’re still here it’s going to be harder for you to leave.”
Jennifer sighed. “Okay, I’m gone,” she said, swiping her keys from the end of the counter. She walked over to the coat closet and retrieved her hooded jacket.
Standing at the door, she turned to say something to him, but Simeon reached around her and opened the door. “We’ll be here when you get back.”
“Call me if something happens,” she said, walking out the door.
“I will,” Simeon said. He didn’t give Jennifer a chance to say anything else because he closed the door as soon as she stepped into the hall.
Jennifer wasn’t worried about Micah and Mariah as much as she was for Simeon. She just hoped when she got back her home would still be in one piece.
Chapter Nineteen
Simeon went back to the sofa, lifted his tablet from the cushion and picked up where he’d left off in reading his emails. He didn’t know a thing about taking care of a kid, but so far so good. The apartment was quiet and he got comfortable in his work. “How bad could this be?” he said aloud.
Fifteen minutes after he had made his declaration, Simeon heard crying coming from the kids’ bedroom. He jumped up, rushing into the room seeing both children standing in their cribs wailing. He scooped up Mariah first, holding her close to him, trying to comfort her so that she could calm down.
Finally, he’d gotten her down to a whimper, but Micah was still screaming at the top of his lungs. So Simeon laid Mariah back down in her bed, but she started crying again, so he picked her up again, rubbing her back a couple of seconds. But he really needed to get to Micah, who had tears streaming down his face, slobbering everywhere.
Lifting Micah with one hand while still holding Mariah, he was so grateful that he came to him easily and didn’t shy away. Holding both children close to his chest, he went into the living room with them. Once he bopped down on the sofa, he noticed that he smelled an awful stench coming from Micah. He’d forgotten to ask Jennifer if she was actively toilet training them. He did remember seeing a potty chair in the bathroom, but from the smell of him, it was already too late.
Sitting upright, he slowly sat Mariah up on the couch then held Micah up with both hands, but he didn’t need to go any further. Micah was the culprit and now Simeon had to clean him up, but he didn’t know the first thing about diapering a toddler.
At first, he jumped up from the sofa, leaving Mariah behind, but then he hurried back and picked her up too. He walked swiftly into the bathroom and saw their big yellow tub sitting inside the regular one. Then his eye caught the potty chair.
He looked at Mariah. “Do you have to go potty?”
Mariah and Micah both clapped their hands. “Potty,” they said in unison.
Simeon glanced at Micah. “Really, son? It smells like you’ve already went potty.”
They both repeated it again and Simeon just shook his head. Placing Micah over his lap, Simeon put Mariah down. “Stand right there, honey.”
He turned Micah over, pulled off his pajama bottoms and ripped the sides of the Pull-Ups training pants he wore. That turned out to be a big mistake because it was soiled to capacity.
“Uh oh,” Micah said, clapping his hands. His sister repeated it.
Simeon wasn’t prepared for all that and he knew now that he should have started the bath water first, brought in the towels and the items to clean his son up. Now, all he could think of was to take all the boy’s clothes off, get as much of the mess off him and turn on the shower.
“Mariah, honey, come to Daddy,” he said as gently as he could. He pulled off her pajama bottoms then took off her training pants. “Go and sit on the potty, honey,” he said.
He didn’t want her to have the same issue as her brother. He only wanted to deal with one stinky mess tonight.
“Potty,” Mariah said, as she sat down on the little chair.
Simeon was grateful for Mariah’s cooperation because he had to get Micah cleaned up. He got up with his son and the diaper all intact and rushed into the bedroom and picked up a container of diaper wipes.
Back in the bathroom, he leaned over the tub and turned on the water, testing it to be sure it wasn’t too hot. While the water ran, he cleaned Micah’s bottom as best he could with the wipes and wrapped everything into the soiled diaper.
He tested the water with his hand again and then stood Micah in the tub. “Okay, man, let’s sit down,” he told Micah, but Micah only stared at him, so Simeon ended up assisting him.
Bending over, he opened the cabinet under the sink and pulled out some baby wash products. He turned around, got down on his knees, picked up a clean washcloth and squeezed a dollop of the soap on the towel.
“Wow, man, we’ve got to make sure you get to the potty chair next time, okay?”
Micah hit the water, splashing it over the sides of the tub and into Simeon’s face. Simeon wiped it away, then looked around to see how Mariah was doing and she was gone. Jumping to his feet, almost sliding on the water that Micah was splashing all over the floor, he ran out to find her.
“Mariah, honey, where are you?” he yelled, as he continued to search for her. He went into their bedroom and she wasn’t there. He called out to her again as he walked into Jennifer’s room, but she wasn’t there either. He walked into the kitchen and found her sitting on the floor next to the cabinets with her hand in the Cheerios box. He had rushed Jennifer out so fast that she forgot to put the safety lock back on the cabinet.
Simeon stood watching her for a half a second before he walked over to her, crunching sounds under his shoes because of the wasted cereal on the floor. He took the box from her and placed it on the counter before lifting her up into his arms.
“Sweet Pea, you can’t sit on the cold floor without anything on.” He kissed her forehead and then laughed at her while she ignored him, continuing to eat her Cheerios.
Simeon took her back into the bathroom where he hoped that Micah hadn’t tried to get out of the tub. When he walked in, Micah was still splashing the water. Simeon looked over into the tub and there wasn’t much water left. That was a relief because now that he thought about it, he shouldn’t have ever left him in the tub alone.
Wrapping Micah in a bath sheet, he steered Mariah down the hallway the short distance to their bedroom. He walked over to the stack of Pull-Ups their mother had piled near the changing table. He laid Micah on the table and picked up one. “Come here, Mariah, and let Daddy put this on you.”
While standing in front of the table so that Micah didn’t fall off, he assisted Mariah with pulling on the diaper. “Okay, sweetness, let’s get your brother together and we can change both of you guys’ PJs.”
Simeon fi
nished drying Micah off and set him on his feet. The twins followed him over to the armoire so he could get them some clean pajamas. Once he changed their clothes, he was exhausted, but he needed to feed them.
Plopping them both in their high chairs where they couldn’t get into anything, he picked up the cereal box and emptied out some of the contents on the tray of their chairs. It would keep them busy until he made them something of substance.
Peeping into the refrigerator, it occurred to him that he should have allowed Jennifer to show him what she had prepared for them to eat. What did toddlers eat on a daily basis? Would he do it right? He released the door, watching it close securely.
There were several containers of applesauce sitting inside one of the upper cabinets, so he opened that up and let them have at it. He tried to clean up after them as best he could so that he wouldn’t have to change their clothes again.
He had no idea that all of that was going to happen tonight. He didn’t know how Jennifer did it. Picking both children up, he went back into the living room and fell down on the couch with the children lying on top of him.
Jennifer had a good time with her sisters, but she knew it was time to get home. Even though Simeon hadn’t called her, she wanted to hurry back. As soon as she walked inside, she found Simeon sprawled on the couch with both kids covering his chest. For a few minutes, Jennifer just stood staring at them, taking in the image of Simeon with his children.
She walked over to him and caressed his right ear, hoping it wouldn’t frighten him too badly. Simeon’s eyes came open. “You’re back,” he said, holding a child with each hand as he pulled himself forward.
“Yes,” Jennifer said, looking around the room.
“What have you guys been doing?” she asked, taking off her coat and hanging it in the closet. When he didn’t answer right away, Jennifer turned around, staring at Simeon. “Did everything go okay?” she wanted to know.
The Christmas Promise Page 17
