“Yeah. Let’s roll,” Drew replied, chancing a glance at the closed door to the judge’s chambers.
Pierce froze.
“We’re coming with you. I want to see my sister.”
Pierce looked at Janetta who shrugged. “I don’t think she’ll want to see me.”
He weighed that thought. “You might be wrong about that. Let’s make moves, people. I’ll call for more tickets.”
Pierce put up a hand to stop T. J. from following. “Now that I think about it,” he said to Janetta, “this’ll work out even better—we’ll put you in a rehab spot in New York.”
“But I wanna stay in Chicago!” Janetta protested.
“You won’t get to see anyone for three months anyway, so what’s the difference? This way you won’t run into anyone you know or anyone you owe.”
T. J. blasted Janetta with a string of profanity that would’ve made Red Foxx and Richard Pryor blush.
Drew came to stand in front of Pierce. “What’s up with Eric?”
“His wife is with him right now. He’s still in surgery.”
“He’s married?” Drew asked, shocked. “Isn’t he like—seventeen or something?”
Pierce nodded, mumbling, “Or something.”
“Were they in an accident?”
“No. It’s a long story.”
Emerging from the judge’s chambers, Kayla and Manny rushed toward them for hugs.
Manny pulled on Pierce’s sleeve. “Auntie Rav’s gonna be okay, right?”
“I believe she will.”
“Tell her we miss her,” Kayla said.
“You can tell her yourself,” he replied, then explained the current game plan on the way to the elevator.
Kayla shook her head. “I don’t think I can go to a hospital. That’s where Grandma…” Her hand curled around her brother’s.
Pierce turned to her. “If you don’t want to come into the hospital, no one’s going to make you, okay?”
“Okay.”
“But unless Dina’s willing to take you all home, you’ll still have to make the trip to New York.”
Dina frowned at him, shaking her head. Kayla grimaced and nodded.
The limo driver’s forehead furrowed as Pierce informed him, “We have guests.” Then, calculating an uncomfortable thirty-minute drive to the airport, Pierce decided to put Janetta up front next to the driver. No sense making everyone suffer.
Several minutes later, Pierce had secured plane tickets for everyone, but the limo pulled off to the side of the expressway. He lowered the partition, and said to Pierce. “My man, we need to talk.”
Pierce scrambled out of the car and met the driver halfway as cars whizzed past them speeding up the Kennedy.
“We gotta change some things if you want to make it to the airport.”
“More money?”
“Seating arrangements.”
Fighting the point was useless. He walked to the passenger side. “Janetta, come on and sit in the back with your children.”
She huffed, then switched seats, much to Drew’s alarm. If the situation weren’t so serious, Pierce would have laughed. “At the airport, I’ll pick up some new clothes for you and you’ll take a fast—and I do mean fast—but thorough shower before we board. Do you hear me?”
“But I—”
A look silenced her. No way in hell was he subjecting himself to just under two hours of torture and embarrassment.
“Don’t make no sense,” the driver muttered on the way to the front of the limo. Pierce totally agreed.
As they took off, he whipped out his cell to call Ava for updates.
“They had to go back in a second time to get the rest of Eric’s tumor and then went in a third time because the bleeding was so bad.”
Pierce’s heart sank.
“Eric’s in a coma, but he’s fighting to come out of it—brain activity’s registering, but it’s going to be a while before they know anything for sure.”
“How’s Raven?”
“She’s waiting for you.”
“Her family’s coming back with me.” Then he added, “And I’m not leaving her again.”
Ava lowered her voice, “Let’s hope you won’t have to.”
Forty-Three
“Hey, li’l sis.”
Raven’s eyes opened, which instantly filled with moisture at the sight of Drew. “Hey, big brother,” she whispered in a scratchy voice.
Janetta moved forward. “There’s gotta be a better way for your lazy ass to take a day off from work.”
Raven gave them a little smile. “I was thinking the same thing.”
“So when they letting you outta this joint?” Janetta touched the bed railing, reached for her sister’s hand and clasped it in her own.
“I’m not sure. They’re still running tests. I might have to go in for more surgery. I stopped asking after the third one.”
Janetta surveyed the room before her gaze landed again on her sister. She couldn’t stop the few tears from falling. “All you artistic types love that drama.”
Raven’s fingers curled around her sister’s pudgy ones.
“I got some new clothes.” Janetta gestured to her outfit. “The big guy here says he’s going to send me to some fancy spa.”
Raven managed a low, throaty chuckle. “Pierce, you’re going to get this woman hooked on spas? Do you realize what you’ve done?”
He grimaced hard, trying to rein in his emotions. Lord, he loved this woman. He could only nod.
“And I’m going to rehab, too—on the big guy.”
Raven’s lips trembled as she looked at Pierce, who winked. My sister getting some help? The man has more than handled the business. “That’s cool.”
“Warm bed, three squares, someone to poke around in my business. You know those little group talks. What more could a woman ask for?”
“Where’s T. J.?”
“Had to leave him behind,” she said with a shrug. “Wasn’t happy to see me leave but, hey, like I had a choice.”
“He’ll get over it,” Drew told her, wrinkling his nose in disgust.
“So hurry up and visit me so I can whip your ass at some spades.”
“Ha! You wish,” Raven croaked.
Looking again at Pierce, then to Drew and Janetta, Raven asked, “Can we have a minute? I have to talk to Pierce about something. In private.”
Janetta ushered Drew to the door. “Uh oh, that doesn’t sound good. Time to go.”
Pierce stepped forward. “Everything okay?”
“No, everything’s not okay!” Raven shot back, with an angry glare at him. “I’m angry as hell at you.”
“Me? What did I do.”
“You lied to me,” she whispered.
“Lied to you?” He moved forward, taking her hand. “Baby, I’ve never lied to you.”
“They tested me when I first got here. You swore to me that you were sterile.”
“I am! There’s less than a one-percent chance that I…” His eyebrows drew in as he scratched his head. “Raven, what the hell are you talking about, woman?”
“The reason that the surgeries have been so harrowing, and that they can’t do everything at once, is because they’re trying to save the baby.”
Pierce blinked twice, eyes widened with shock, before his expression went blank and he asked, “Is it—”
“If you purse your lips to ask if it’s yours,” she growled, “I will raise up off this bed and whip your ass.”
“I was going to ask, is it all right?” Pierce went suddenly still, staring at the monitors next to her bed. “My baby? My child?”
“That you said you couldn’t have.”
“Raven, I swear to you…there’s no way…I tried with…” He scratched his head again. “Even had acupuncture and heat treatments and pills and...” He closed his eyes, realizing that this is the reason she had sent him away. “Raven, I love you, and this child would mean the world to me, but having you alive and well means so much mo
re.” He leaned in, resting his chin on the silver rail. “We still have ome more week to spend in Hawaii.”
An overwhelming sense of love filled her as she stroked a hand over his bare head. “There’s a chance that this won’t happen again. It’s damn near a miracle that it happened this time. I can’t take that risk, Pierce.”
“And I can’t risk losing you, baby.” He pressed her palm to his lips. “Every time they take you into surgery, there’s a chance you might not come back to me.”
“I want to keep your child,” she murmured softly.
A myriad of emotions played across his face as he struggled to say, “We can adopt, two, three, four—”
“Two—”
“Okay, two,” he conceded with a grin. “The point is, baby, we have options for another child. I don’t have options for another you.”
His impassioned plea tore her heart. She stroked his face with weak fingers. “You really don’t want this child?”
Dark brown eyes filled with a look that she couldn’t describe. “Yes, I want the child, but what I’m saying is that I want you more.”
Raven reached out, cupping his cheek with her hand.
Pierce gingerly placed a hand on her stomach, as if communicating his apologies to their unborn child. His unshed tears made her decision. She would do everything in her power to keep this child. The Creator had to know she wanted to be around to enjoy raising it with Pierce.
“What if this child is a female Eric?” she teased
Pierce was instantly somber. “That’s not funny, Raven. I don’t think we could handle more than one in a lifetime.”
Raven laughed as he lifted her bandaged left hand, then sighed with relief when he saw that her right hand had a few bruises on the knuckles, but was in otherwise good condition. Her writing hand.
She lowered her gaze for a moment, then focused on him.
He looked into her eyes, seeing the determination in them. “You’re going to defy my wishes, aren’t you?”
She didn’t pretend not to understand what he meant. “I want this baby, Pierce. I want your baby.”
If Pierce had any doubts that this was his child, which he didn’t, the fact that she was going through so much to keep it, quelled them. If this had been anyone else’s child, she wouldn’t hesitate to let the doctors take it. The enormity of her sacrifice was not lost on him.
“You also lied to me about how serious Eric’s condition was.”
He shut his eyes tightly, before locking gazes with her. “I had to. You would’ve gotten up off the operating table, and right now he needs you in top form, baby.”
“They went in to remove the tumor? You know he—”
“He said that he didn’t want them cracking open his skull, so they performed a different procedure. They went through his nose. It’s supposed to be safer. He’s still in critical condition, but they think they got it before it could cause permanent blindness…or worse.”
She smiled. “Thank you for dealing with my crazy-ass family.”
Pierce stroked gentle fingers across her cheek. “No different than dealing with their crazy-ass sister.”
She chuckled.
“How in the world did I fall in love with such a remarkable woman?”
“I’ll guess I’ll just have to write about it sometime.”
Pierce got up a little, leaned in and kissed her forehead. “Make sure you tell the story right.”
“How would you say it happened?’
He settled in the chair next to the bed. “Once upon a time there was a queen who made a short trip to New York to meet her king.”
“I didn’t come to New York to meet you,” she quipped.
“That’s not what Prince Eric said,” he whined playfully.
“I was tricked, bamboozled, hoodwinked, and—”
“Are you going to let me tell this story?”
She blew him a kiss.
“Regardless of how you got there, I’d like to think that we were both in the right place at the right time.”
“Yeah, it was something like that,” she whispered, giving him a weak grin.
“Now about putting things in proper order. Eric will kill me if I don’t make an honest woman out of you.”
“I think it’s a little late for that.”
His smile disappeared. “So you’re saying you won’t marry me?”
“Well, I—um,” she teased.
“Woman, don’t even play.”
“Finish the story.”
Pierce pulled his chair closer. “Well, unlike most queens, she didn’t leave a shoe, she left a tablet.”
“Correction—I didn’t leave it, it was stolen.” She managed to punch him. “And I still don’t have it back!”
Pierce leaned over and kissed her once again.
Hot damn, she thought when she returned to earth. I need to complain about that tablet more often.
Epilogue
Six weeks later, Maui
Raven and Pierce boarded the bus for the promised trek into less familiar areas of Maui. On their heels, the members of the wedding party climbed in: Eric and Marie; Anita and Lorrie; Ava with her husband and children; Drew and Dina with Manny and Kayla; Roberto and his children; Steve; a few Macro staff members; and Sesvalah. Making travel arrangements for so many had not been easy. Pierce had managed to fly in Roberto, along with Raven’s Latino siblings, as a surprise for Raven. When she saw her brothers and sisters for the first time, Raven was surprised to see how much she looked like them in all their varied forms of handsomeness and exotic beauty.
Pierce pulled her close. Trying to lighten the mood, he said, “I regret that I won’t get to see you in that bathing suit.”
She grinned. “I’m sure you’ll lose lots of sleep over it. Maybe I won’t have to listen to your snoring.”
He straightened, indignant. “I don’t snore.”
“Tell that to the neighbors.”
Pierce pursed his lips. He’d never before had anyone sleep next to him long enough to know or mention snoring. “Do I really?”
Her lips twitched. “I wouldn’t know, honey. I was too busy snoring myself.”
Pierce roared with laughter. She rested her head on his shoulder.
They came to a long stretch of lush greenery, then started a steady spiral climb, winding along steep cliffs with views of breathtaking valleys filled with trees that extended to the high heavens and bursts of vibrant flowers strewn throughout.
From there they ventured past small waterfalls and from the high road looked down on a stretch of beach where a red Jeep was lodged nose down in the black sand.
Pierce looked at Raven. “Don’t ask,” he instructed.
“This trip is more treacherous than last time,” she muttered.
“Don’t worry,” Inoke said with a mild laugh. “I’m also a minister.”
“And that’s supposed to reassure me?” Raven said, just low enough for Pierce to hear.
Pierce stroked her hand gently. “We’ve been through worse.”
And they truly had. Eric was still recovering, albeit slowly. He was a bit less talkative, more pensive than before, but his mind was as sharp as ever. Raven had conceded that Marie was a wonderful match for him—if Eric had to be married. And the moment he actually turned eighteen there was another small ceremony in New York to make sure he was married—the proper way this time. Marie’s father was a little concerned at first when Eric told him the truth and the reason why another ceremony was in order. Finally the man conceded with a small chuckle as he said, “My daughter must be a special woman if a man wants to marry her twice.”
Janetta, who did not have nearly the physical challenges as Eric, was having a much harder time in rehab. Raven was incensed at how ungrateful her sister could still be at times, but “the big guy” reined her in. Pierce seemed to have a connection with her sister that Raven never would. One word from him and all griping and moaning stopped.
Raven’s three Latino brothers, a
ll varied ivory-to-mocha shades and handsome like their father, had accepted Raven with open arms the moment they laid eyes on her. Her sisters, however, seemed more reserved and hadn’t quite yet seen their way to being warm or receptive in any regard. That hurt a little, but Raven realized they might feel threatened in some way. Although she couldn’t see why. They’d had Roberto most of their lives. She, on the other, hand, had only known him for a few months. And despite how they felt, she wasn’t giving him up quite so easy, or giving up on the beautiful women that were now her sisters.
The guide’s gaze connected with Pierce’s. “If you want to see some authentic Hawaiian dances, why don’t you let me take you to a real luau. I can shake it with the best of them.”
Pierce chucked as he looked at the burly man attempting to shake his hips in the seat. “You? In a grass skirt?”
Inoke nodded.
“You’re on,” Pierce said with nod. “Tour guide, dancer, minister. Is there anything you don’t do?”
“Weddings,” he said with a chuckle, wiggling his hand to show his bare ring finger.
“That’s why I brought my own minister,” Raven replied smoothly, giving Sesvalah a wide grin. The golden skinned, bushy-haired woman smiled back.
“I didn’t say I couldn’t do yours,” the older man protested with a frown.
Pierce didn’t care who performed the ceremony. Raven, to his surprise, had insisted on getting married right away rather than wait the six months that Pierce thought would give everyone time to recover. “There’s no way that I’m strolling down the aisle with a belly that turns corners before the rest of me,” she had declared.
Pierce had concurred, but wanted to first go to Hawaii for the vacation days he’d promised. Raven had agreed to that, sort of.
“While we’re there, let’s do the wedding. We can have another one when we get back.”
Unfortunately, that idea did not fly with Eric. Or Ava. Or Steve. Or anybody else. So now they were all here, except for a sputtering Janetta. “We’ll just have to go without her,” Raven had said. “The baby might be walking by the time she gets out of rehab.”
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