Wives and Champions

by Tina Martin

  “What’s that, dear?”

  “Marriage.”

  “Well, this isn’t your first rodeo, Emily. You were married once before.”

  “But things were different with Melvin. We didn’t have children.”

  Antoinette chuckled a bit and said, “Oh, now we’re getting to the root of the problem.”

  Emily stood up, taking a cup of tea with her to the window as she stood there, staring out into the yard, admiring the palm trees. She took a sip, turned to her mother then said, “Don’t get me wrong, mom. I love Dante. It’s just that I didn’t expect life to be so demanding, especially after Ezra.”

  “Are you and Dante okay?” Antoinette asked, concerned.

  A few seconds passed before Emily answered. “I think so.”

  “But you’re not sure?”

  “I’m sure. I love Dante, and he loves me. But it’s not as simple as that. It’s hard.”

  “You’re still dancing around the issue. Just tell me exactly what’s going on.”

  “I don’t want to put our business out there, mother.”

  “How can I help if I don’t know what the problem is?”

  Emily thought long and hard before she said anything more. She remembered the happiness then instant sadness in Dante’s eyes when she told him about the baby and how she wasn’t ready for another child. He had a right to be upset. She knew that. He cared about her, and the baby. She did, too, which is why she wanted to keep all of her feelings to herself until she could come to terms with having another child. But after a line of intense questioning by him, she ended up telling him prematurely.

  “Okay, well, the issue is, Dante wants another baby. I do, too, but not right now.”

  “Why not? Don’t you want your children to grow up together?”

  Now you sound like Dante. “They will grow up together.”

  “So, ideally, you want to wait until Ezra is what–three, maybe four–before you have a baby?”

  “Yes, but Dante wants another child right now and we got into a huge argument over it.”

  “Well, honey, that’s something you two have to sit down and come to an agreement on. It’s not like he can make you have a baby when you’re not ready. This is where teamwork and communication come into play.”

  Emily nodded. “I don’t think I’ve ever asked you this, but why was I an only child?”

  “I had so many complications with you, your father and I decided it was best if we didn’t try for more.”

  “Oh. I guess you wouldn’t fully understand my perspective then, only having one child and all.”

  “Try me.”

  “Well, right now, my life is completely full,” Emily said walking back over to the table to sit next to her mother. “I’m a wife, mother to the sweetest little boy on the planet, I run the boutique and I try to manage a household. With that being said, we have help. Our nanny is a blessing but I’m jealous that she gets to spend more time with Ezra than I do. So, now, I’m at the point where I’m like, do I give up the boutique and become a stay-at-home mother to my children or continue to work and—”

  “Wait a minute…did you say children?”

  Emily nodded. “I did.”

  “Is there something you’re not telling me, Emily?” Antoinette asked, glancing down at Emily’s stomach.

  Emily sighed heavily. Here we go again, she thought. She hadn’t planned on telling her mother she had another bundle of joy on the way. Now, she didn’t have much of a choice.

  “Emily?”

  Emily looked at her mother and said, “I’m pregnant.”

  “That’s wonderful news, Emily!” Antoinette said, hugging her daughter. When she released her, she said, “Now I see the full picture. You’re pregnant, but you’re not sure how you can make it work with another baby when you’re already stretched thin with Ezra, the boutique and being a wife. Right?”

  “Right,” Emily said, pinching tears from the corner of her eyes.

  “Oh, sweetie, you don’t have to cry. Everything is going to work out.”

  “I know,” Emily said, but knowing that did nothing to resolve the way she felt right now. So, dismissing herself, she said, “I’m going to go check on Ezra. Can we pick this up later?”

  “Sure, honey.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  Melanie got up early on Monday morning to make a pot of coffee. She fixed Dimitrius a cup, just the way he liked it and filled his canteen, something she hadn’t done in weeks. Besides, they had coffee at the office. He didn’t need coffee from home. Still, she hoped her kind gesture would buy her some time to talk to him, especially after they hadn’t had a full conversation for the last few days – ever since their argument at the restaurant about Scott.

  Dimitrius walked into the kitchen to get a bottle of water, something he did every morning, when he saw Melanie standing next to the counter near the coffeemaker.

  “Good morning,” Melanie said. “I got some coffee for you.”

  He glanced at her. He wanted to tell her he didn’t need coffee, but since she went the extra mile to do something nice for him, he decided to take it. “Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  He opened the fridge, grabbed a bottle of water. “What do you have planned for today?”

  Melanie perked up. Her plan was working. He was finally talking to her. “Not much. I am going to do some grocery shopping though. Why?”

  “Just curious,” he said. He walked her way, kissed her briefly at the temple. “See you later.”

  “Are you going to be home for dinner tonight?” she asked because they hadn’t had dinner together in days.

  “Would you like me to be home for dinner?” Dimitrius inquired.

  “Of course I would. Why would you ask me that?”

  “You didn’t seem to mind that I was missing the past couple of days.”

  “I was trying to give you time to calm down a bit.”

  “I see. Then maybe I should eat dinner alone again tonight.”

  “Dimitrius, no,” Melanie said. “We have to talk. Please.”

  “Not now. I’m on my way to work.”

  “Dimitrius, how long are we going to continue like this?”

  He stopped, turned to look at her sad, reddened face. His heart nearly caved, then and there, but he wouldn’t allow it. If she was in love with her ex, then why did she get married?

  Well, in her defense, it was Dimitrius who had pursued her. He actually walked up to her and told her she was going to be his wife like he’d had an epiphany about it. At first, Melanie wasn’t with it. Now, he wondered if her hesitancy back then had something to do with Scott.

  Coming out of his reverie, he refocused his attention on her. “When I feel like my wife loves me, and only me–not some man from her past–then I’ll feel better about us.”

  “I do love you. No one else, Dimitrius. Only you, and if you don’t know that, if you don’t trust me, then what’s the point?”

  His gaze sharpened. “I’m going to work.”

  “And I’m supposed to just sit here and wait until you’re ready to talk?”

  “Do whatever you want, Melanie.”

  “Wow,” she said. That’s all she could say. She knew Dimitrius had a temper but this was over the top. She hadn’t done a thing to break his trust, and he was behaving like he caught her in the act of cheating, something she would never do.

  Short of touching the doorknob, Dimitrius turned around, walked at a fast, intimidating pace to reach her and said, “Have I ever given you a reason to doubt me?”

  “Dimitrius, you need to calm down.”

  “Have I ever given you a reason to doubt me?”

  “No.”

  “Then why are you giving me reasons to doubt you, Melanie?”

  “But—”

  “You were wearing the man’s necklace. Obviously, you still have feelings for him.”

  “I don’t. Jeez. How many times do I have to tell you that? It’s like you alrea
dy have it programmed inside of your head that I’m cheating on you when I’m not. Do you not trust me, Dimitrius?”

  He glared at her.

  “You don’t trust me?” she asked, narrowing her eyes. His silence gave her the answer she was seeking. “Okay. Well, I’m definitely not going to sit around and wait for you to calm down. I knew you had a temper, but I never knew to what extent…guess that’s what happens when you get married too quickly without really knowing the person first. So, you know what…don’t come home for dinner, Dimitrius.”

  Filled with anger, he knew the best thing he could do was walk away. So that’s what he did, slamming the door behind him.

  “Unbelievable,” Melanie said, resting her elbows on the countertop, burying her face in her hands.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Sherita didn’t want to stop breastfeeding, but she knew it was the best solution for her situation. Surprisingly, the babies didn’t mind the transition to formula milk. They’d only be drinking it for the next five months. When they turned a year old, they would change over to whole milk.

  During the night, Sherita got up to feed Celeste and, an hour or so later, Desmond was up to feed Nolan. They each only got up once during the night. Progress. Desmond loved the fact that he was able to help out more with the babies, and he was even more elated that Sherita was falling back into her pattern of getting a full night’s sleep.

  In the morning, Desmond watched Sherita twist around, adjusting her body while he eased on the bed beside her, sat there, then lightly stroked her hair.

  Sherita opened her eyes at his loving touch. “Hey.”

  “Hey.”

  “Are you getting ready to go?” she asked.

  “Yes. How are you this morning?”

  “I’m okay.” She yawned. Stretched. “I feel so much better.”

  “Good,” he said, finding her hand, holding it.

  “I have that appointment today,” she reminded him. “The doctor said it would be quick.”

  “If you need me to come along—”

  “No. You suffered through the last appointment. No need to come to this one.”

  “Okay, baby, but just know I would come if you needed me to.”

  “I know. That’s why I love you so much, Desmond.”

  Desmond scooted closer to her, held her close to him. “So you’re not going to the studio today, right?”

  “I’m going to stop in briefly to check on Whitney.”

  “Are you taking the kids?”

  “No. I’m dropping them off at mom’s for a few hours. I want to be here with my babies this afternoon.”

  “I’m sure they’ll appreciate that.”

  Sherita smiled.

  “Well, daddy has to go earn his money, so I’ll see you this evening.”

  “Okay, Des. I love you.”

  He left a kiss on her lips. “Love you. Have a good day.”

  “You too.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  Dante stepped into the fourth-floor break room, poured himself a cup of coffee, then took a sip.

  Phyllis walked in and said, “Good morning, Dante.”

  “Phyllis…what brings you to the fourth floor so early this morning?”

  She grinned. “The coffeemaker downstairs zonked out on us. I already called Centak to check it out. They’ll probably end up bringing a replacement.”

  “Okay.”

  “In the meantime, I figured I’d steal one of your canisters so our visitors can have some coffee this morning,” Phyllis said, reaching for the container.

  “Oh, let me get that for you, Phyllis,” Dante said, grasping the handle of the canister.

  “It’s really not a problem, Sir. I think I can manage.”

  “I’m sure you can, but I’ll take it from here.”

  Phyllis smiled. “Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  Dante followed her out of the break room and down the hallway to the elevators. Once they stepped on the elevators and the doors closed, she asked, “So how’s your wife and son doing?”

  “They’re good,” he told her. “Emily’s out of town this week, visiting her mother.”

  “Jacksonville, right?”

  “Yep.”

  “That’s a nice little getaway for her.”

  “Yeah. It would’ve been nicer if I was there with her.”

  “Go. I’m sure your brothers can handle things around here. And I’ll keep Dimitrius from spontaneously combusting,” she said. Dimitrius’ temperament was well known around the office.

  Dante grinned. “I don’t think you can handle Dimitrius, Phyllis.”

  “Yeah, you’re probably right.” She laughed.

  “But I was thinking about heading to Jacksonville. Emily and Ezra have only been gone for a few days and I miss them.”

  The elevator dinged open.

  “You should go. God knows you work your behind off. You deserve a break.”

  Dante smirked. He followed Phyllis to the coffee bar only a few steps away from her desk.

  “Oh, I meant to ask you about your visitor a few days ago. Harding Champion. Couldn’t help but notice he has a striking resemblance to you.”

  “He says he’s my half-brother, but I never knew I had any half-brothers or sisters.”

  “So you don’t know him?”

  “Well, no, but I did sit down with him over a beer to talk briefly.”

  “Then it may not be a bad idea to have Tennyson from the legal department look into it.”

  “Good idea, Phyllis. Don’t know why I didn’t think of that.”

  “Well, that’s why you pay me the big bucks, Dante.”

  Dante glanced at the main doors when he noticed Dimitrius walking up. He checked his watch. It was almost nine and Dimitrius was just getting here? Odd. His brother hated being late.

  “Good morning,” Dante said when Dimitrius got a little closer.

  “Yeah, maybe for you it is,” Dimitrius grumbled, marching on towards the elevators.

  “Phyllis, I’ll catch up with you later.”

  “Okay. Thanks for bringing the coffee down.”

  “No problem,” Dante said, jogging to catch up to Dimitrius. “Hey, man,” he said, right before they stepped on the elevator. “What’s going on? You good?” Dante asked, looking into his brother’s hard gaze. He wasn’t good. He knew that. Still, he thought he’d ask.

  “I’m fine.”

  “Oh, come on, Dimitrius. You’re not fine. It’s ten minutes ‘til nine and you’re just getting here.”

  “So fire me,” Dimitrius snapped.

  The elevator dinged, doors opened to the fourth floor where Dante followed Dimitrius down the hallway. Approaching Desmond’s office, he stopped following Dimitrius to stop and chat with Desmond. He’d catch up with Dimitrius shortly.

  Tapping on Desmond’s door, Dante pushed it open. “What’s up, Des?”

  “This marketing plan for GHC. I didn’t realize how time consuming this would be, but we’ll get into that later. What’s going on with you?”

  “I’m thinking about flying out to Jacksonville in the morning.”

  “Miss them, huh?”

  “I do. I’m so used to them being here that I don’t like it when we’re apart, even if me and Emily aren’t seeing eye-to-eye right now.”

  “I know what you mean. Hey, did I just see Dimitrius walk by with his briefcase?”

  “Yeah. I’m on my way to his office. Why?”

  “Just wondering why Mr. Prompt is late.”

  “Don’t know. He seems like he’s in a bad mood.”

  “Then everything is normal.” Desmond smirked. “Kurt was looking for him earlier. We need to know the ratio of GHC bookings for fall versus summer, but we can talk about it in the meeting. I just hope whatever is going on with Dimitrius doesn’t affect his work. We need a resolution on this GHC business.”

  “We do. Let me go talk to him.”

  “Good luck,” Desmond said.


  Dante left Desmond’s office and continued down the hall to Dimitrius’ office. He tapped on the door and proceeded inside. “You know we got the G—”

  “I know what time the meeting is, Dante,” Dimitrius interrupted to say.

  Dante took a seat and stared at his brother.

  Dimitrius looked up annoyed. “Can I help you?”

  “What is it, Dimitrius?”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “You’re on a war path first thing in the morning, so you may as well spit it out. What’s the deal?”

  “The deal is, I need you to get out of my office so I can get some work done.”

  “And you’re supposed to be able to accomplish something with that attitude?”

  Dimitrius blew a sigh of frustration. “I certainly can’t work with you sitting there.”

  “Okay.” Dante stood up. “Just in case you didn’t know, the meeting’s at ten. Des and Kurt were looking for you earlier. You might want to give them a call.”

  With that, Dante returned to his office. With time to spare before the meeting, he returned a call from a client, Victor Westwood, who was ecstatic about the success of his new company, Service Swap – a yearly subscription web company that allowed users to swap business services without ever exchanging money. Desmond had put together a flawless, eight-week marketing plan for the business while Dimitrius designed the website and smartphone application.

  As soon as he was off the line with Victor, he dialed Emily. He gave her a few days to relax and to forget about everything that was bothering her. He didn’t want to do it, just like he didn’t want her traveling alone with Ezra to Jacksonville, but she needed a break.

  “Hi, Dante,” she answered.

  “Hi,” he said, sitting up taller. “How are you?”

  “I’m okay…felt a little sick when I first got up this morning, but I feel fine now. I’m in the kitchen with mom and Ezra.”

  “Tell your mother I said, hi.”

  “Okay.” Emily looked at her mother and said, “Mom, Dante says, hi.”

  “Hi, Dante,” Antoinette said.

  “Did you hear her?” Emily asked Dante.