by Tina Martin
“Ava, why are you crying?”
“Because I don’t like what you’re doing...trying to pretend everything is okay...trying to convince yourself that the inevitable is not going to happen? Well, it is. I am going to die,” I say, tears rolling down my face to my ears.
“Well, if you want to keep making me aware of that, then guess what, baby. I’m going to die to. One day, right? We all die, Ava. That’s the cycle of life. But we all don’t get to experience the love you and I share, sweetheart.”
Andre brush tears from my face and says, “And you are my wife. You will have my name and so will Andrew. I love you and that’s the bottom line.”
He takes a kiss from my lips – a soft passionate one.
My lips part automatically as if they know they’ve met their true match. We reconnect, mouth-to-mouth and I feel my body yearning for him.
“I will never let you go. Never again, Ava,” Andre says, kissing me more, running his fingers through my hair.
While we kiss, I strum my fingers across his beard. I miss this. I miss him on top of me, loving me. I miss his smell. The way his body holds me hostage. The way he’s looks at me like I’m the only woman on the planet.
He stops kissing me abruptly and says, “I thought I lost you, baby, but I have you now and I promise I will love you, and take care of you if you’d let me.”
I feel tears slide down my face, running into my ears.
“Do you hear me?” he asks.
“Yes.”
“I love you, Ava.” He sucks in a breath, brushes more tears away from my face and asks, “Do you love me?”
“Yes.”
“Then say it. I need to hear you say it.”
“Andre...”
“Say it. Please.”
“I love you, Andre.”
“Oh, baby,” he says, kissing me more. “You don’t know how long I’ve wanted to hear you say that.”
I close my eyes and feel this incredible charged energy between us. We might as well be back on Paradise Island, up in his villa, with candles burning everywhere. My full-size bed is not big enough for us – for him.
“I miss you so much,” he says.
“I miss you too,” I say barely, surprised I was able to say anything at all. I gasp again, trying to control my heart rhythms.
“Do you need me to stop?”
“No.”
I close my eyes and pull in a breath when I feel our bodies connect. He finds my hands and threads our fingers together.
“Are you okay?” he asks.
“Yes,” I say, and I am okay. Being with him makes me okay. Makes me complete. “I love you, Andre. I love you so much. I loved you then, and I love you now.”
Staring up into his handsome face, I watch him smile. And I’m instantly and completely overwhelmed with feeling.
“I love you, too, baby.”
And we make love for the first time in two years, rekindling our love and remembering each other. He’s gentle. Compassionate. He takes his time, ensuring that he’s not hurting me. He loves me and doesn’t want to rush this.
* * *
Later, he holds me close to him, our bodies folded together under the covers. This is perfect. He’s perfect. Our lives together would be perfect, especially if I didn’t have any health concerns.
“Ava,” he says, squeezing my hand again.
“Yes.”
He plays with my fingers for a moment, then says, “I want you and Andrew to move in with me.”
I take a moment to think about this. Moving in with him seems too permanent. I want him to be able to back away from me at any time, and that would be hard to do if I packed up all my belongings and moved into his house.
“Tell me what you’re thinking,” he says.
“Um...I don’t know, Andre.”
“What don’t you know?” he asks, kissing my lips, making my body jerk. “Talk to me, baby.”
“You don’t think it’s too soon?”
“No. It’s not soon enough in my opinion.” He threads our fingers together. “Give this place up and move in with me.”
“I think Drew and I will be too much of a distraction for you. I mean, you got this merger going on and—”
“How do you know about the merger?”
“I read it in the paper.”
“Okay, well let me put your mind at ease, sweetheart. You and Andrew are my first priority...not my company, not this merger or anything else you can think of. Is that clear?”
“Yes,” I say, but I’m frightened, scared to death of moving in with him. However, this is the exact same way I felt while I was boarding my flight to Nassau two years ago. I was nervous, anxious and scared out of my mind, but I did it. Now I have to take that leap of faith once more.
“Okay. I’ll do it. I’ll move in with you.”
“Good. Now I have a few more requests of you.”
“There’s more?” I ask, smiling.
“Yes,” he says, taking a kiss. “I need you to quit your jobs.”
“Andre, that’s how I make a living. I need to support myself.”
“I’m the man in this relationship. I support you and Andrew. Everything that’s mine is yours.”
“But—”
“Ava,” he says, interrupting me. “I need you to trust me, okay?”
“Okay.”
“Also, I want us to make an appointment with your doctor because I need to know details about your condition and discuss all viable options on what we can do to make it better?”
“Okay,” I say.
“We’ll get through this together. Do you trust that?”
“Yes. I trust that.”
“I’ll do whatever it takes, Ava.”
I smile because I know he’s a man of his word. He will do whatever it takes to help me. But with my condition, I don’t know if that will be good enough.
Andre
. ~ .
OVER THE NEXT week, Andre spent more quality time getting to know his son. He took Andrew to the park, read to him, even took him to the office a few days when he had to attend some critical meetings, introducing him to his staff.
When Scott saw Andrew for the first time, his mouth fell open, the same way Clara’s mouth had dropped. The boy was a miniature version of his father. A DNA test was not needed, but Andre got one for record purposes that came back, confirming he was indeed Andrew’s father.
He proceeded with filing paperwork to have Andrew’s last name changed to Rockwell. He wanted his son to have his name. He also wanted his wife to have his last name, which is why Ava had her last name changed as well.
Ava Rockwell...
Andre was elated that they were officially beginning their new life as a family unit. This is how it should’ve been years ago, but he couldn’t live in the past. He appreciated the present and looked forward to what the future would hold for them.
* * *
Tonight, Andre was a little anxious because his parents were flying in from Florida to visit. As successful as he was, he still seemed somewhat overwhelmed when his parents came around.
Over the phone, they seemed happy enough about the thought of having a grandson, but they sounded disappointed in his decision to break off his engagement to Michelle. They’d never met her, only heard Andre talk about her, but now, suddenly, the engagement was off and he was married to someone else. Andre knew it was a lot for them to take in over the phone. It would all make sense once they were finally there and could see for themselves.
“Ava, where are you, baby?” Andre asked, home from his meetings, just stepping into the living room.
“I’m in the kitchen,” she said loud enough for him to hear her.
Andre walked in, saw that she was busy putting place settings on the dining room table. He embraced her, told her he loved her, then kissed her lips. “This looks amazing.”
“Thanks,” she replied. “You think your parents will like it?”
“I’m sure they will. Where’
s Drew?”
“He’s sleeping in his crib. I gave him a warm bath and dressed him in that cute outfit you bought. Hey, what time will your parents be here?”
“In the next thirty minutes. The caterers are out front, ‘bout to bring the food in. Is your mother still coming?”
“Yeah. She should be here any minute now.”
“Okay, baby.” He embraced her again. “Are you excited?”
“Yeah. I’m a little nervous, too.”
“Don’t be. This is going to be a relaxing evening.”
Ava smiled, but she was still skeptical.
“I’m going to run up to see Drew and change clothes. Be back in a moment.”
“Okay.”
* * *
Andre’s parents showed up a half hour later. He embraced them, then walking with them to the kitchen, he began introductions. “Mom, Dad, this is my beautiful wife, Ava. Ava, these are my parents, Elena and William Rockwell.”
“Nice to meet you, Ava,” his mother responded, embracing Ava. She was a gorgeous Caucasian woman, seemed nice and in excellent shape for her age. Her hair was sandy blonde and her makeup was done to perfection. Ava could clearly see where Andre had gotten his hazel eyes.
“Nice to meet you, daughter,” Andre’s father said, throwing his arms around her. His father was African-American, towering over six feet tall, about the same height as his son. He was brown-skinned, had black and gray hair that was cut low to his head. “You did good, Dre.”
Ava smiled.
“Where is my grandbaby?” his mother asked.
“I’ll get him,” Andre said, and then he ran upstairs to get Andrew.
Ava kept Elena and William busy by talking about their flight and how nice the weather had been all day.
A few moments later, Andre walked in holding Drew.
“There’s my baby,” Ava said, a wide smile forming on her face.
“Are you talking about me or Andrew?” Andre asked, then winked at her, watching her blush.
His parents turned around to see him, and when his mother locked her eyes on Andrew, tears instantly fell from her eyes.
“Oh, my,” she said. Her hands over her heart. Lips trembling.
“You all right, Mother?” Andre asked.
“Yes, I’m just so shocked. He looks just like you when you were a baby. Oh my...can I hold him?”
“Of course you can. He may be a little squirmy until he gets to know you.” His mother took Andrew into her arms, squeezing and kissing him.
The doorbell rang. “Oh, that’s probably Mom,” Ava said. “I’ll get it.”
“Okay, sweetie,” Andre replied.
Andre felt proud to have his family together – his parents getting to know Ava and Andrew. It felt right.
“Hello everyone,” Maria said, walking in the dining room.
“Hi. You must be Ava’s Mother,” Andre said, keeping up the facade that he hadn’t met her before. “I’m Andre, and these fine folks are my parents, Elena and William Rockwell.”
“Nice to meet all of you,” Maria replied. “This is so nice...and it sure smells good in here. Have you been cooking, Ava?”
“Oh, no. Andre had everything catered. Looks like a buffet over there.”
Maria looked at Andre’s mother, holding Andrew.
“Aw...he’s dressed so cute,” Maria said.
“Andre picked out his outfit,” Ava said. She locked eyes with Andre and smiled.
The doorbell rang again. “I’ll get it, baby,” Andre said, looking at Ava.
He jogged to the door and there was Scott, standing there with a bottle of wine.
“Yo,” Scott greeted him, slapping his hand to a shake.
“Glad you made it, man. Come on in.”
“Yeah. Good to be here,” Scott said. “I like the place. You did your thing in here...made it feel like home.”
“This is all Ava’s doing. My girl has good taste.”
“She sure does.”
Once they made it to the dining room, Scott hugged Andre’s parents and since he hadn’t been officially introduced to Ava, Andre said, “Ava this is Scott.”
“Hi, Scott,” Ava said. Her face lit up because she knew Scott was Andre’s right-hand man and the reason Andre was able to take off from work.
“Hi. Nice to meet you, Ava. Your husband has been bragging about you for as long as I can remember, and now I see why.”
Ava blushed.
“Let me just say,” Scott said, extending his hand to her, grasping her hand. “It is an honor to meet you.”
“Aw, stop it.” Ava blushed.
“I’m serious. You must have some special powers to lock this man down.”
“She does,” Andre said, planting a kiss on her cheek.
“You did an excellent job on the place, too,” Scott told her.
“Thank you.”
Clearing his throat to get everyone’s attention Andre said, “Thank you for coming out, family. If you can get whatever you want to eat and bring it back over to the dining room, we can resume eating and conversation.”
Following Andre’s instructions, everyone took a plate, took whatever food they wanted and headed back for the dining room. Once they were all seated. Andre looked around, reflecting on his journey without Ava. It was painful, lonely and unsatisfying. Now that he had her and Andrew in his life, he was happy. His family was together.
He released a deep breath of satisfaction as he observed everyone around the dinner table. Ava was chatting with his mother, Maria was busy talking to his father and Scott was holding Drew.
For the first time, at this particular moment actually, Andre contemplated how he would function without Ava around – how whenever the family was together like this again, what if she wasn’t with them? What if she took a turn for the worse and died? It was something he wanted to avoid thinking about, but he couldn’t any longer.
Minutes into their meal, after everyone had quenched their watering mouths with the first few bites, Elena looked at Ava and asked, “So how are you, dear?”
It seemed as if the room had immediately gotten quiet when she asked the question. Suddenly, everyone stopped talking. Well, Drew was still babbling and carrying on, but the adults were quiet.
“I’m okay,” Ava responded.
“Andre was telling us a little about your condition.”
Ava glanced over at Andre.
“Mother, can we discuss this later in private?” Andre asked her.
He took a sip of wine and studied the room. Why did his mom have to bring up Ava’s sickness now?
“I’m sorry...just a bit anxious, I guess,” Elena said. “I wanted to know if Andrew had the same...you know...problem.”
“No, Andrew is fine,” Ava said, trying to hold it together. “I’m the one that’s dying. Not him.”
Andre released a heavy, thick breath. He was sick of hearing her say that, and there she was, once again, announcing it at dinner. “Ava, you don’t have to—”
“Andrew was born with his father’s heart,” Ava continued. She took a napkin, dabbed her mouth and excused herself from the table.
Maria stood to catch up to her but Andre said, “I got it Ms. Davenport.”
He searched downstairs for her and when he couldn’t find her anywhere on the lower level, he jogged upstairs, heard her whimpering behind a closed and locked bathroom door.
“Ava,” he said, tapping his knuckles against the door. “Open the door, baby.”
“Go away, Andre. I just want to be alone right now.”
“No. Open the door, Ava?”
She obliged this time and upon opening the door, Andre took her into his arms. “Sweetie, I’m sorry about that, okay.”
“It’s not a big deal, Andre.”
“No. I owe you an apology. I don’t know why she would talk about that at dinner.”
“I do. She wants to know, and she has every right to know.” Ava dabbed her eyes. “Andre, I don’t want to disrupt your family
with my illness. I mean, you have to think realistically about this.”
“I’ve been thinking realistically about this, Ava.”
“Then why am I still here?”
“Because I love you,” he said. “And the bottom line is, the thought of leaving you has never crossed my mind and it never will.”
Ava shook her head.
“I love you too much to walk away from you,” he said nervously. Emotionally.
Ava threw her arms around him and squeezed him tight, inhaling the scent of him. “I love you, Andre.”
“Oh, baby,” he replied, feeling her close to him, where he wanted her. “I hope you come back down and join us. If you don’t want to, I understand.”
“I’ll come back...just give me a moment.”
“Okay.”
Andre rejoined the family at the dining room table.
“Is she all right, Andre?” Maria asked.
“Yeah. She’ll be down in a minute.” He took a breath. “Mom, Dad, I know you don’t know Ava as well as you would like to know her, but I’m asking you to trust me when I say that I love her more than I’ve ever loved anything or anyone in my life. She means the world to me, and to see her cry...” He choked up and couldn’t finish his statement.
“I’m sorry, son,” Elena said, sadly.
Maria was near tears as she heard Andre proclaim his love for her daughter. He didn’t let her illness stop him from loving her.
Later, after everyone had eaten dessert, Andre remained at the dining room table with his father and Scott. The women had since made their way to the living room with Drew.
“I’m not going to pretend this isn’t hard for me,” Andre said. “I’ve gotten plenty of gray hairs worrying about her.”
“I can imagine,” his father responded.
“Yeah...I know it must be difficult, Dre,” Scott said.
“It is, but I’m not the type of man to walk away when times are rough.”
“I know you’re not son.”
