by V Vee
Merlina glanced up at Valerie and smiled at her. She gripped her hand. “Hey, are you okay?” she asked softly.
Valerie nodded. “Yeah. I’m fine. Just hoping that the Alphabet Smythes have what we do when they get older.”
“What, being extremely smart?” Ella asked.
Valerie snorted. “Some of us are just intelligent, while some of you take it to the levels of genius. But no, that’s not what I’m talking about.”
“Being incredibly sexy?” Duan suggested.
“Being focused, driven, and ambitious?” Merlina offered, lifting her eyebrows.
Valerie laughed. “No!” she responded waving her hands back and forth to get them to stop.
“I think I know,” Leon said, a soft smile on his face. Valerie turned to Leon where he sat next to her on the couch. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders and she settled beneath the familiar weight of his brotherly affection. “You are hoping they have the bond that is formed between siblings who love, respect, encourage, pray for, cry with, and support each other. Brothers and sisters who can laugh together, have fun with each other, and push each other to become better versions of themselves. Your wish is for your children to be as blessed with their relationships with each other as we are with ours.” He squeezed her and Valerie wiped away tears she didn’t even realize were streaming down her cheeks.
Duan stared at Leon before shaking his head. “Damn, big brother. That was some fucking deep shit.”
Valerie bobbed her head up and down as she swallowed thickly. “Yes it was, but it was exactly what I meant. Thanks L.” She kissed his cheek.
The Hall siblings sat for a moment in silence, looking at each other and smiling with genuine affection, before Merlina’s loud clap broke them out of their sentimental bubble.
“Right. Now that the tender moment has passed. Can we please get back to work? I have a maternal obligation to fulfill,” she said with a grimace.
“Maternal obligation?” Valerie questioned with confusion looking around at her other siblings.
“Blind date,” they chorused.
“What?! No way. Mom would never,” she shook her head.
Ella huffed in agitation. “The hell she wouldn’t. Dad has been staying out of it for now, but with you being married and giving them so many grandbabies, they are now determined to marry the rest of us off so that we can set about giving birth to the new generation of Halls.” She held up her hand when Valerie opened her mouth. “And don’t even mention the fact that Duan has two children as well. That is an entirely different can of worms right there.”
Duan rolled his eyes at them and Valerie bit her lower lip to stop herself from asking more questions.
Merlina pointed at her iPad, before lifting it to gain their attention. “I was just researching online and the gift for the thirty-ninth anniversary is lace. So perhaps we should incorporate that into the planning?”
Valerie hummed in agreement. “We can put white lace tablecloths over the tables. We’ll separate the tables by silver and green…” she started.
“Again, Val, why those colors?” Merlina asked.
“I overheard Mom talking to Aunt Lovette about her and Dad’s favorite colors, which we all know that growing up, Dad’s favorite color has been what he calls: Bajan Blue. And Mom’s has been—”
“Purple in honor of Purple Rain,” they all recited. They’d all been told the mentally traumatizing story of their mother’s sexual reawakening with the release of Prince’s critically acclaimed and timeless masterpiece of film and the soundtrack that accompanied it. Lorraine Hall, nee Robinson, had married at the age of seventeen, the beautiful, dark brown-skinned, Caribbean boy she’d met during Fleet Week after bumping into him and his group of fellow Seamen on the street as they caroused and admired the different landmarks of Harlem. Lloyd Hall had been twenty-two, and in 1979, while many of his friends were sleeping with women indiscriminately, he'd gone to the home of the woman who’d captured his heart. Asking Lorraine’s parents, especially her father, for the right to court and woo her properly had at first gotten the young Bajan Naval sailor looks of incredulity and stares of confusion. When Lloyd had proven to his future in-laws that he’d meant to marry Lorraine as soon as they knew each other well enough and he’d acquired lodgings for them wherever he was stationed, the Robinsons agreed.
Their age differences didn’t cause too many people grief, since Lorraine would be turning eighteen soon, and the pair were headed for marriage. However, when their own children heard the tale of how their parents met and fell in love, they were distressed by it. It took Valerie and her siblings a while to remember how different things were when their parents were younger.
Having married young and having their first child in their first year of marriage, Lorraine—who’d held onto her virginity until her wedding night—had never had a chance to really explore what it meant to be in touch with herself sexually and not feel ashamed about it. But the release of Purple Rain did for her what it did for many others, it, and the androgynously beautiful star—Prince—gave them the confidence to not only get in touch with their sexuality and desires, but also their truths, and the overwhelming power of love, passion, yearning, and joy. It was no wonder that Valerie and her siblings were all so close in age.
“Exactly,” Valerie said, pulling her thoughts back to the present. “But Mom was on the phone talking about how Dad’s favorite color is mint green now and her favorite color is silver, because purple ‘hurts’ too much.” She rolled her eyes.
“So, she knew you were listening to her conversation,” Leon nodded.
Valerie huffed out a laugh. “What conversation? The phone rang while she was supposedly on the phone with Auntie.”
They all fell out with amusement.
“Oh Mommy, she’s just not as smooth as she likes to think,” Ella said.
“I know right?” Valerie shook her head. “So, they obviously want us to use the colors and silver and mint green. So, I was thinking we can divide the guests up by decades, you know? The people who knew them the first ten years can sit at tables with the green tablecloths with the lace spread over them. Then, the ones who knew them from years eleven to twenty can sit at the tables with silver tablecloths…”
Merlina was nodding her head in agreement, but stopped when Leon raised his hand as if he were still in school.
Valerie chuckled and pointed. “Yes, Mr. Hall?”
“Thank you, Mrs. Smythe. I was simply wondering, what about those after twenty? As you are aware, our parents make friends quite easily, however if those are our only colors. We will have to duplicate the data.”
Valerie narrowed her eyes at her oldest brother. Sniffing haughtily, she tilted her head. “Yes, I know. I am of two minds on that. We can either get two different shades of silver and green and use one shade for one set of decade guests and the other for the later decade. Or, we can simply use those two and let our parents get to know people who have known them at different times of their lives, so they can share stories. Regardless, I think Mom and Dad’s table should have a purple tablecloth with Bajan blue lace draped over it, or vice versa.”
“I think it’s a great idea,” Duan said.
Ella grunted. “Which one?”
“Letting the old people get to know each other,” he said with a smirk.
“Our parents friends are not, and please try to remember this Duan, they are not old. They are experienced and are wise from their experiences,” Merlina said pointedly.
“Oooo,” Duan lifted his hands. “Sorry little Lina,” he said with a teasing grin.
Merlina rolled her eyes. “Okay, all those in favor of Val’s suggestion, and the one Duan seems to agree with, of mixing up our parents’ friends and keeping to only the two colors and not four, raise your hand.”
Valerie counted the raised hands and grinned. “It’s unanimous.”
Merlina tapped away at her iPad and inclined her head. “Good. Now let’s move onto the venue, so
we can get catering, music, and transportation out of the way.”
Valerie groaned with her other siblings at everything they had left to accomplish. She couldn’t believe she’d completely forgotten her parents’ anniversary party. Her mind had been so scattered lately. She just hoped she hadn’t forgotten anything else of import.
Chapter Eleven
Portsmouth, Virginia
The Hall Wedding Anniversary Party
A lgerone was impressed by what his wife and her siblings had been able to create in such a small amount of time. The Royal Social Event Planner of Malvidence could learn something from the Hall siblings. The hotel restaurant of the Hilton Garden Inn Manchester Downtown had been reserved for the “Hall 39th: Love, Passion & Sooouul!” anniversary party. Algerone had been extremely confused by the banner and the theme, until Valerie had shown him a video of her parents on Soul Train dancing with each other while she was pregnant. Algerone had become fascinated at the sight of his in-laws dancing moves that had been described as: The Bump, the Hustle, and The Robot. For as long as he’d known Lloyd and Lorraine, they’d presented an image of being kind, educated, sophisticated, successful people who rarely laughed unless one of the children had done something which was deserving of it. Algerone couldn’t see his in-laws dancing in such a carefree manner. Hell, he could barely see them enjoying music beyond classical and the gospel which were the only two things always playing in their home whenever he and Valerie had taken the kids over to visit.
Yet, the proof was on the video.
He looked around and chuckled softly as he saw his wife moving around the room, rearranging place settings on tables, adjusting the gorgeous decorations of silver, mint green, and white, before heading up to a table sitting up on a raised dais, in the center of the room, that had a purple tablecloth on it. Over the past few days his wife had seem more than a little preoccupied by her parents’ anniversary party, leaving the bulk of their children’s care to him. Algerone didn’t mind in the least. It gave him the chance to make up his lack of presence in their life up to them. He really thought he had made significant progress in that respect, especially in regards to AJ. His oldest son had even invited Algerone to his room to play a video game the night before. Algerone had jumped at the opportunity.
“No! Those flowers go at the head table! Can’t you tell? They’re bigger than the others,” Valerie yelled at the florist delivery staff, who were helping to set up the room.
“She’s going to have to soothe a lot of ruffled feathers,” Duan stated from next to Algerone, before lifting a bottle of Corona to his mouth and taking a pull of the drink in between his lips.
Algerone chuckled. “My Valerie has a very sweet nature until she is stressed. I paid the florist extra because of this knowledge,” he admitted.
Duan snorted. “Interesting that you know that,” he murmured.
Algerone glanced sideways at his brother-in-law. “Why? Because I am hardly in attendance?” He shook his head. “I talk to my family every day as you are aware, Duan. And you would be surprised at the things I know about your sister, my wife… and the rest of you. There is nothing we do not share with each other.”
Duan hummed in denial. “There may be nothing my sister will not share with you, but I am almost positive there are things she would keep from you if she were uncertain of them herself.”
Algerone looked at the other man fully. Duan was almost as tall as he was, there was only about an inch or two that separated them, but their bulk was evenly matched. He was quite sure if they were to ever come to blows that his brother-in-law would give him a run for his money. Algerone would never fight his wife’s brother, of course, even if it seemed as if the man was always spoiling for one. He was certain it had nothing to do with him and Valerie’s marriage and was instead due to a personal matter. Which was the only reason he’d kept his silence for as long as he had. Now, however, Duan was trying to plant seeds of doubt in Algerone’s mind and questioning Valerie’s character and integrity, these were things that Algerone would not allow to go unanswered.
“Is there something you would like to say to me, Duane? Because I find your subtle insinuations regarding my wife’s integrity, your sister’s character, to be reprehensible, and something I would have no problem with dealing with personally,” Algerone stated with a clenched jaw.
Duan raised his hands in a false gesture of surrender. “I would never imply my sister is untruthful or has questionable character. I merely pointed out the fact that if she were suspicious about something, she wouldn’t bring it to you, or talk to you about it without proof. Valerie has always been like that. She may be the most creative and free-spirited of the five of us, but when it comes to claiming something as fact, or believing something and telling others that it is real, she has to have proof. It’s why she sends the kids to church with one of us or our parents, but does not go herself.” He shrugged. “She says she has seen no undisputed proof of a higher power.”
He turned his light brown eyes towards Algerone, “So perhaps you should keep that in mind. My sister trusts, but she doesn’t have faith without proof.”
With that last parting shot, Duan turned and walked away from Algerone.
Algerone looked back at his wife who had finally come to a standstill, one hand on her stomach and the other at her temple as she spoke to her youngest sister, Merlina. Algerone’s brows lowered in confusion. He felt as if Duan spoke of more than just Algerone claiming his wife and children in public. Something else was going on with his wife. But what could it be?
“Lina, can you watch out for the kids, and make sure everyone is seated where they’re supposed to?” Valerie asked her sister as she placed a hand to her roiling stomach and her pounding head. Both had only grown worse throughout the day.
Merlina stared at her intently, her eyes narrowed at her older sister as if she were trying to determine what was going on with her. Valerie would have told her to not bother. She wasn’t even certain herself. She had a vague hunch, but she wasn’t absolutely sure about it, and until she was, she wasn’t telling anyone. Not even the one sibling she was sure wouldn’t tell anyone.
“Are you sure, you’re okay?” Merlina asked?
Valerie nodded. “Yeah, I’m fine. I think it’s just the stress of planning Mom and Dad’s party, the kids, this commission, and having Algie home unexpectedly… it all caught up with me. I haven’t been eating like I should be, and I haven’t been getting much sleep. Dahni wants to sleep in the bed with me every night, and apparently whereever she is, the twins wants to follow.” She shrugged. “The perks of motherhood. They don’t talk about this in any of this in the parenting books I read.”
Merlina rolled her eyes. “How many of those are written by actual parents? Much less parents with five children, who are having to raise them with the other parent away most of the time?” She raised a hand in a circle. “Zero.”
Valerie laughed. “There’s probably one or two. I just haven’t found them.”
“Written by a woman of color?”
Valerie pointed at her sister and tilted her head in concession. “You got me there.” She swallowed thickly when she felt herself about to vomit all over her sister, who stood in front of her dressed impeccably in a long white, halter dress with mint green along the hem, and the inside V othat clung to her ample bosom. Merlina was always dressed to the nines. Valerie felt somewhat bad that she wanted her sister to have a stain mar her pristine outfit.
Though, knowing Merlina, she either made sure the dress was stain resistant or she has a back up dress in her car.
“Go, Val,” Merlina shooed her. “You look as if you’re going to vomit all over me, and that’s completely unacceptable.” She frowned and Valerie grimaced, said thank you quickly before rushing off to the bathroom.
She hurried into the sitting room just off the stalls in the women’s restroom and took a deep breath. She didn’t hear any voices, but she had to check. She couldn’t do what she had to do with
an audience. Stepping towards the stalls, she checked beneath the stalls, she found she was alone, and breathed a sigh of relief. Reaching into her silver purse, which was really too large to be called such a thing, but she was a mom with five children, one of whom was a toddler, so she had to have a bag to carry the essentials. Reaching into the front zipper, she pulled out the plastic bag she’d hastily shoved inside when she’d had Algerone stop on their way to the hotel earlier. Walking into the handicapped stall, she sent up a prayer asking for forgiveness for using the facilities when she wasn’t disabled, but she needed the extra space to pace and freak out, just in case. Sticking her hand into the plastic bag, she pulled out the First Response Pregnancy Test and exhaled.
She wasn’t sure why it had taken hanging with her siblings and Ella asking her if she’d gone and gotten a boob job, to make Valerie realize she’d missed her last two periods. Hell, she’d gone through this four times before. And while she’d been feeling a little distracted, and slightly queasy, she hadn’t had morning sickness like with her other pregnancies. Nor had she had the headaches, and the nipple sensitivity.
At least, she hadn’t, until the possibility that she may—indeed—be pregnant with her sixth child from Algerone, all while the rest of the world had no idea they were married, had settled into her brain. Then it seemed as if every symptom hit her simultaneously. Valerie hadn’t even confirmed it yet, and still, she was fairly certain what the results would say.
The timer on her iPhone X went off and she inhaled deeply before walking over to the sink to look at the results. The digital read out caused her heart to pound, her head to throb, and the vomit she’d so successfully held back to come racing up her esophogus. She turned to the toilet, fell to her knees and purged the little bit of lunch she’d had from her stomach, while tears ran unbidden down her cheeks. What the hell was she going to do now? And how was Algerone going to react?
