Checkmate 3: Playtime's Over

by Tiece

  “Love you babe,” He said.

  “We love you too,” Mona responded as she watched him leave the house.

  She sighed because she wanted to trust him, but a part of her was saying that he was still having private conversations behind her back with Monica. She didn’t want to believe it, but sometimes her gut feeling was just too strong.

  Now that Caylin was born she knew that her decisions from this point on was and had to be beneficial for the both of them. She had a little one to look after and she was going to do that to the best of her abilities.

  She walked down the hallway to go lay Caylin down. She had fallen asleep just that fast. She walked in the bedroom laying Caylin across their bed. She wondered if the washer had stopped.

  “I need to put my baby clothes in the dryer.” She started out of the room and turned quickly to go back and get her cell phone. As soon as she touched it to pick it up the phone rang. It was a number she didn’t have saved.

  “Who could this be?” She asked then quickly she thought if she should answer it or not. “Hello,” she answered.

  “Hey pretty lady,” the deep sexy voice responded. Mona quickly looked at the screen on her cell phone as the butterflies danced happily in her stomach.

  “Ross,” she said.

  “The one and only baby,” he commented. A smile quickly came across her face.

  “What have you been up too Ross?”

  “Still thinking about you baby girl.” He said making her blush. She lay back on the bed beside Caylin looking up at the ceiling as she talked. This feeling took her back to being a freshman in high school and talking to the guy she had the biggest crush on.

  “It’s been awhile.” She softly said.

  “Yeah it has. Ever since you told me that you were pregnant,” he responded. “By the way, how’s the baby girl?”

  “She’s doing great. Laying her lil butt here beside me sleeping,” she said. Ross smiled.

  “I bet she’s a doll just like her mom.”

  “She is,” Mona commented while looking in Caylin’s face.

  “How’s your love life?” Ross questioned.

  “My love life,” she paused. What am I doing? I’m engaged and shouldn’t be on the phone cheesing and having a conversation about my love life with my ex.

  “I don’t know if you’ve heard, but I’m engaged now.”

  Ross was quiet for a moment. “Naw, actually I hadn’t heard about that.” He said. “Well congratulations.”

  “Thanks Ross.”

  “You know all I want is for you to be happy.”

  “I know.” She commented.

  “Are you happy?” He asked. Mona was quiet for a moment. She should have been able to answer that question immediately, but was she really happy?

  “Uh… Yeah… I am happy,” she said.

  “Come on baby girl. You should sound way more excited than that.” Ross always called Mona out on her feelings since she always played hard to get. He knew that her feelings for him were deep and he felt the same way about her.

  “I am happy. So what are you digging for?”

  “The truth,” he said. Mona was silent because Ross knew all about her conversation with Monica and finding out that they possibly shared the same baby daddy. She would never forget how she made her way over to his house and cried on his shoulder while allowing him to make passionate love to her to ease her pain. It was one of the most gentle and avid love sessions she had ever had. The sad thing was that she couldn’t move on with Ross without telling Rico that she was pregnant with his baby. She had to know if Rico really loved her and he proved it by stepping up and asking her to marry him.

  “Ross, why are you doing this to me?”

  “Doing what?”

  “Calling me after all this time,” she responded.

  “Because I keep thinking about you and feeling like your little girl should have been ours, not you and that nigga’s.” Mona was quiet. She could hear the sincerity in Ross’s voice. “We’ve always had something special. You can’t deny that.” The truth was that she wasn’t trying to deny it, but she wasn’t trying to face it either.

  “Ross I gotta go. Caylin is waking up.” She lied. Caylin was still asleep, but she didn’t want Ross to get inside her head. He had a way of doing that and most times he was on point with his accusations about how she really felt.

  Ross shook his head in disappointment. He knew Mona would run from the truth. “Alright baby girl. Take care of yourself and your little one. Save my new number and call me if you ever need me. I’ll always be here for you.”

  “I know Ross and Thanks,” Mona softly said and ended the call. Ross had a way of making her smile and feel good about herself, but he also had a way of making her face reality and reality wasn’t always what it was cracked up to be.

  **********

  Rico knocked on the door. He figured that Monica had some sort of surprise for him and nine times out of ten it included sex. He was committed to making things work with Mona and he didn’t need any distractions from Monica. Monica opened the door, fully dressed.

  What is she up too? He quickly thought.

  “Don’t just stand there. Come in.” She said. He followed her into the entertainment room. Aiden was already strapped in his car seat sleeping and Monica had begun to put on her coat.

  “Okay, obviously you’re headed out. Is there something you wanna tell me? You can jump in at any time.”

  “That’s why I asked you to come over silly. I have a three week seminar that I’ve been asked to speak at in Daytona Beach, Florida. The seminar is going to be every Thursday, Friday and Saturday evening while I’m there. I figured that I may as well stay down there to avoid the back and forth traveling with Aiden, but once it’s over we’ll be back.” She explained.

  “You know I would’ve watched Aiden for you.” He said. Monica looked over at him and frowned.

  “And how would you plan to do that? You work all the time and Mona just had a baby herself. That would be too much strain on both of y’all.”

  “Well my mama could’ve watched him.”

  “Are you listening to yourself? Your mama has a career that she loves and I wouldn’t burden her with watching Aiden while I’m outta town. Plus, my father is the one who is hosting the seminar. So my family is meeting up at our beach house to spend time with each other while we’re down there.”

  “Okay that’s fair.” Rico stated.

  “Well grab your son and buckle him in the back seat. I’ve already packed everything I’m taking and have loaded it in my trunk.” She grabbed her Louis Vuitton handbag and walked into the kitchen turning the light on over the stove. Rico followed her outside, strapping the car seat down while Aiden slept peacefully inside it.

  “Daddy loves you.” He kissed Aiden on the forehead. “Make sure you bring my boy back home. He said looking over at Monica as he shut the car door.

  “I will,” she said.

  “Uh, where is your friend at?”

  “Who Symone?” She asked before realizing that Symone was the only friend she had around town. “Oh, she’s just out and about.”

  “So she’s holding down the fort, huh?”

  “You can say that.” Monica commented. Rico held his head low. A bit of him already missed Aiden and her. He smiled.

  “Y’all be safe and call me when you make it there.”

  “I will,” Monica responded. Rico shut her door and walked to his car. His thoughts were all over the place. One thing he liked about Monica was her spontaneity and that she was unpredictable. The surprises she kept in store for him weren’t always a good thing though. It had its perks, but uncertainty usually followed. Her leaving to go out of town and take Aiden was unquestionably unexpected because his thoughts were totally on something else… something a little dirty. Just when he thought he had things under control and figured out with Monica she would add more fuel to the fire and more reasons to doubt if he should fully trust her intentions. />
  One thing for sure, Monica had worked her way into his life and if he didn’t get it together while she was gone then she was sure to work her way into his heart. That would be a big disappointment if Mona ever found out and hurting her was not ever going to be part of the solution. He drove around in search of something to clear his mind of whatever spell Monica had over him. Stopping at the red light, he picked up his phone. He knew exactly the place to go for clarity.

  Chapter 13

  Monty sat in the hospital next to Debbie. She had hurried over when Monty called to inform her that he was taking MiKayla to the hospital. Both of them sat worried. MiKayla had already been admitted and was down the hall in another room getting x-rays.

  “So what do you think is wrong with her?” Debbie asked.

  “I think she just has a really bad cold. The only reason I decided to bring her here is because she kept feeling faint and complained of chest pains.”

  Debbie shook her head. “I told her ass to make an appointment about a week ago because she was feeling weak and she couldn’t understand why. She had a dry cough and was running a fever, but you know K… It’s nothing that Theraflu and Motrin won’t clear up.”

  Monty grinned. “Yeah, that’s her. She just wants to be so independent and not need anyone till its crazy.”

  “I know,” Debbie said. “She’s always been like that.”

  The door to the room opened up and a nurse pushed MiKayla in a wheelchair back into the room.

  “Hey Sis,” MiKayla spoke in a soft tone. Debbie rushed over to her side.

  “Are you okay? Debbie asked.

  “Yeah, I just feel weak.” She responded with a nasty cough.

  The nurse tapped her on the shoulder. “Le’me help you up.” She said. MiKayla looked over at Monty as she stood to her feet.

  “I got it, but thanks anyway.” She said. She managed to get in the bed with Debbie supervising.

  “You sure you don’t need any help?” Debbie asked.

  “No Sis. Now just chill, I got this.” She said with a smile.

  “Weren’t we just talking about this attitude of hers?” Debbie asked, looking back at Monty.

  “Yes we were.” He responded, shaking his head.

  “Don’t y’all be talking about me behind my back.” MiKayla cut in while getting adjusted underneath the covers.”

  “Trust me, it ain’t nothing you ain’t already heard before. I’m sure from both of us.” Debbie responded.

  “Well, the doctor will be in with her X-rays and will let y’all know something at that time.” The nurse informed them then left the room.

  “I’m sure I’ll be getting out of here soon.” MiKayla said slowly drifting off as if she didn’t get any sleep through the night. She cracked her eyes open a little looking up at the TV on the wall playing Martin. “I’m so sleepy.” She looked at Monty. If she had wished for anybody to be by her side it would have been him and there he was. Her knight and shining armor standing there stoking her hair and showing her that he really did care. “Thanks for being here.”

  “Don’t worry about it.” He said continuing to rub her hair. “Get some rest.”

  “You don’t have to stay.” She whispered.

  “Just get some rest.” He insisted. MiKayla’s eyes closed shut and off to Fantasy Land she went. Monty stared in her face. She didn’t have on any lip gloss, eyeliner, or foundation and she still looked beautiful. He looked up as the door opening redirected attention. Debbie walked back into the room.

  “How is she?” She asked walking over and standing by the bed looking at MiKayla.

  “She just fell asleep.” Monty replied.

  “She must’ve been tired. I tried looking for the Doctor but I didn’t see anyone.” Debbie sat down in a chair sitting by the bed. “You don’t have to stay here. You can leave.” She said. “I’ll take care of K.”

  “I’m fine. I just wanna make sure that she is going to be okay.” Monty insisted.

  “I’m not telling you to go, but more like asking you and if you cared for my sister you would. You and K aren’t in a relationship anymore and I don’t want you hanging around here giving her false hope. She’s been through enough.” Monty wanted to snap back and tell Debbie to mind her own business but the truth of the matter was that she was right. He wasn’t with MiKayla and she had been through enough. He didn’t want to walk back into her life and end up having to leave again, because even he knew that he was unpredictable.

  He rubbed the back of MiKayla’s warm hand and leaned down to kiss her on the forehead.

  “Tell her to call me whenever she wakes up.” He said grabbing his coat and walking over to the door.

  “I will,” Debbie said. He looked back before walking out.

  “I’m not a bad guy. Believe it or not, I do care for her.” Debbie never said a word. She just smiled and nodded her head as he exited.

  **********

  Monty drove around in his car with thoughts of MiKayla. He felt bad that he couldn’t be there to find out what was wrong with her, but he was certain that she’d call him.

  He thought about going back to the office but knew that he didn’t really want to do that. He had cleared his schedule for the day in hopes that he would have met up with MiKayla that morning and hopefully would have been able to take her out to lunch that afternoon. Nothing went as planned in his mind.

  He dialed Rico’s number and the phone went straight to the voicemail. He needed a listening ear. He thought about Brendon and dialed his number only to hear it ring until it went to the voicemail. Where were his boys when he needed them? The lonely feeling was depressing and he wasn’t about to go there. He had too much to be grateful for and any problems he did have should not have included a woman. He turned into the parking lot of Bank’s Realty. He sat in silence with his music on mute. He just wasn’t in the mood for anything at that moment. As he stared off into space, the sound of his phone interrupted his thoughts.

  “Hello,” he answered.

  “Hello, Monty,” the soft spoken voice responded.

  “Hey, what’s up?” He asked still not really sure of who was on his line.

  “This is Susan Winters.”

  “What can I do for you Susan?” Monty asked.

  “Are you busy today? I mean do you have an open appointment that I can slide in?” She asked.

  “Sure,” he responded. “I’m available as we speak.” He said.

  “That’s great. Can you stop by the office for a moment? I really need to discuss something with you.” She said.

  “Uh, yeah,” he paused. Right now?”

  “Yes, if you have the time.” She said.

  “No time is better than the present. I’ll be there shortly,” he said then ended their call. For some reason that call already made him feel better.

  **********

  Mona and Dee sat at the dining room table waiting for Candy to arrive home from school. Dee got up and walked over to the bar.

  “I think I’ll go ahead and fix our drinks. Cuz will be here shortly.”

  “That’s a good idea.” Mona responded. “I’ve not had anything to drink since before I got pregnant with Caylin.”

  “I don’t need to put too much Patron in your Margarita then.” Dee commented.

  “Oh yes the hell you do.” They laughed. “Just because I hadn’t drunk anything doesn’t mean I can’t hold my own.”

  “I feel you girl.” Dee laughed while mixing their margarita drinks. She turned gripping the three glasses in between her hands. She sat them down on the dining table, but slid Mona’s over to her.”

  “I just have to sip it. It looks so good.” Mona picked up the glass to drink from it, but the front door opening made her pause. It was Candy walking in.

  “Girl I was just about to drink this shit.” Mona laughed.

  “What y’all got going on?” Candy asked. She walked over giving Mona a hug.

  “Dee fixed us drinks so we could toast to a new beginning
.” Mona explained.

  “Aww, that was sweet of you Cuz.” Candy said.

  Dee smiled at her. “So how was school?” She asked.

  “School was great for the first day. I met some new people.”

  “That’s always a good thing.” Mona commented.

  “It is and it felt good to be putting myself first.”

  “Amen to that shit!” Dee said handing Candy her glass. They each held their glasses up to toast. “To new beginnings,” she said