Chapter 20
Twenty
I reached for my glass on the table as Carver sang playfully with outstretched arms, “And we are a happy ass family!” He laughed.
Shit. The whole table cackled, including Hayden, curled next to me in her chair. We were in a private dining room at a restaurant in the resort. I couldn’t gather everyone because of the timing. Also, I didn’t want to overwhelm Hayden. But this worked.
“A happy, dangerous family,” Hayden quipped then peered over to me. “Lynn, how do you keep up with these guys?”
Lynn’s head tossed back, causing her silk beach blonde tresses to cascade behind her shoulders. “Well, remember, I’m a nurse. I keep vials of ‘don’t forget I’ll kick your ass’ in stock when we work.”
As the table laughed, Hayden pointed her index finger at Lynn. “ Ahhhh! You’ve got to hook a girl up.”
Lynn’s wife, Shren, used her shoulder to nudge her although she found the shit funny, too. Lynn plucked Shren from her homeland of the Philippines about eight years ago while on assignment. The two women have been together since. I was sure she could understand Hayden’s concerns.
Kell, holding a beer bottle over the table added, “Senior gets most of those shots, by the way. She doesn’t let him get away with shit!” He cracked the hell up.
Next to him, his girlfriend of twelve years, Kim’s, eyes blossomed, and a distinguished smile opened on her face. “Oh, bullshit, Kelly!”
“What?” he barked defensively.
“Every time Lynn has to vaccinate you for specific countries, you’re crying real tears leading up to her puncture!”
Laughter burst over the table again.
Lynn pointed. “Don’t fucking lie, Kell!”
“Hell, yeah. You do.” I nodded.
“Of course, he does!” Kim shouted over Kell’s denial.
“Okay! Let’s knock it off,” Kell pretended to be upset. “Senior invited us to meet his lady and you’re saying shit to make us look weak. She’s gonna think we aren’t bad-ass, Kim!”
Even I had to laugh at that. The two talked over each other as the last of our plates were being removed from the table.
My hand reached for Hayden’s shoulder. Trying to follow them, she couldn’t stop laughing. I was happy. Hayden seemed to enjoy herself.
“Well, thanks crew. This one’s on me.”
“Hell yeah, this is on you, motherfucker!” Carver spat. “You wanted the ladies here. You pay for that shit! Fucking bigshot.”
Chuckling with the table at that, I was reminded. “It was needed. Hayden thinks I’m high risk.” I gently yanked at her ear. She tried playing it so cool, ignoring me. “My job concerns her.” I turned to the table. “I thought it would be great for her to see the women who hold my team down. See, baby? We do come home at night.”
“Oh, Ishaan’s coming home,” Kim scoffed. “Kelly wouldn’t have it any other way. Heaven forbid something happens to any one of these people at the table.” She pointed.
Hayden’s beam my way tightened my damn chest. “Well, thanks, ladies. Seeing you all does feel fraternal. It helps. And to Lynn and her men, thanks for all you do to keep folks safe while they’re being entertained.” She peered down at my bandaged hand before looking me in the eyes during those last words.
“Okay!” Carver shot to his feet. “Senior is being fucking weird. He likes a girl. And she’s pregnant!”
Hayden and Kim laughed.
“At least we know why he was moving so fucking slow over the summer,” Kell teased as he stood.
“Couvade syndrome is a real thing for some expectant fathers.” Lynn slipped the strap of her purse over her shoulder. “They come and go like with women.”
“They better!” Carver teased.
He went around the table giving goodbye hugs and bidding everyone a goodnight. We all did the same. The dinner with my squad and their loved ones was a good time, even for me. Once we said our last goodbye and offered a final wave, Hayden announced she had to go to the restroom.
“Okay. You know where it is. Right?” She’d gone on our way in.
“Yes.”
“I’ll hang back here and request the dessert menu.”
Her forehead wrinkled. “We’re not done for the night? I had plans for you back at the villa.” She winked.
I hope you keep them after dessert …
“We have one more guest, and then I’m all yours, Boo-baby.”
Rolling her eyes, Hayden turned away, unable to hide her girlish grin.
She placed the spoon onto the plate.
Garbling around my food, I asked, “That’s it?”
Hayden nodded, still nestled next to me, as close as the barrel dining chairs would allow. “It’s good, but…”
“But?” I grabbed my glass of Chateau Blevin ’s Cabernet, being sure to go light tonight, considering the agenda.
“The tiramisu at DiFillippo’s has had me in a chokehold for a while now.” She sat back, rubbing her belly. “Plus, I’m full. I don’t wanna get stuffed. Tonight’s our last one in paradise. I want to get in the water.”
“The pool or ocean?”
She shrugged. “Either. I can’t believe it’s been almost a week. Feels like two days ago when I was being escorted to your ‘job’ when, in fact, it was two days ago that my cousins left.” She pouted. “I don’t wanna leave.”
“We can come back anytime you want,” I assured her. “Shit. We can be back next week if you want.”
Her eyes fell to the table. “It sounds tempting, but I have to finalize the A.D.J. grant in a way I haven’t been able to do out here when I’ve worked. I have to speak to H.R. about my maternity leave, too. I don’t even know how much time I can expect to have off. Then there’s the basement of my house.”
When she left it there, I asked, “How’s that going?”
She shrugged then swayed from side to side and quietly sang, “Money, money, money!”
I swiped a braid over her shoulder. “I can help you out with that.”
“Help me out or pay for it?”
I snickered. “Help you out.”
“How?”
“We can agree to a manner in which you can work it off.”
Hayden’s head fell back, and she howled.
Chuckling while shaking my head at her, I took another sip of my wine.
“Oh, my!” a feminine voice carried, catching our attention. “I’m feeling like the third wheel already.” Her beam was set and radiant as she clutched her strapless purse beneath her breast and inner arm.
I stood. “Welcome. Thanks for coming.” Rounding the table, I extended my arms to offer an embrace. I could feel the heat of Hayden’s exacting gape at me.
“Of course,” Ebonee purred as we met. “Thank you.” Her eyes dazzled and shoulders lifted. She was in her representative mode.
When we released one another, I was able to confirm my boo-baby’s uncomfortable gaze. She stood, herself, forging a smile. “Hello again. What a surprise!”
The two women shook hands.
“A surprise?” Ebonee croaked, fighting to maintain her radiance. I pulled out a chair for her.
“Yeah. I didn’t tell Hayden we were expecting you.”
“No.” Hayden giggled, gently rubbing my lower belly as I returned to my chair. “You didn’t.”
Ebonee’s dark irises traced Hayden’s touch on me. I could see a flip happening in her mind.
I kissed Hayden’s shoulder then gestured for her to have a seat. “I didn’t and will explain later.” I took to my seat. “But I did feel the need for the three of us to meet formally for a knowledge exchange. It seems we have a bit of a quandary on our hands. And my father used to tell me, ‘Emotions are temporal. Task-mastering is a better investment.’ I apply that in life when it doesn’t feel good addressing a difficult…thing.”
Ebonee’s smile was gone when she uttered, “Okay.”
“Well, first, Ebonee, I’d like to make it clear to Hayden, with your help, how I visited you last Thursday in L.A. Correct?”
Her eyes swung over to Hayden then back to me. “ Yu —yes.” She cleared her throat. “Yes. You did.”
“And you told me then you wouldn’t be coming to Red’s Island . Is that correct, too?” She nodded. “And did you tell me you were coming once you changed your mind?”
“I’m sorry. I’m so confused by your line of questioning here, Ishaan.” Ebonee giggled nervously.
“Well, esquire, I’m in a pickle here. Your presence at the resort may bring some things into question for Hayden. I’m attempting a timeline here. You can appreciate that.”
Again, her eyes rolled over to Hayden who sat motionless next to me. “Okay.” Ebonee shook her head. “No. I didn’t tell you I was flying out.”
“And when did you hear from me once you arrived?”
Massaging her fingers, she scoffed, “I tried contacting you Tuesday evening. I finally got you yesterday morning when you invited me to meet with you and…” She tossed her head to gesture. “…Hayden.”
“Okay.” I turned to a placid Hayden. “Do you have any questions about what Eb and I have discussed so far ?” I didn’t want us to get ahead of ourselves. I’d been pacing.
I watched as Hayden swallowed then reached for her glass of water. “Not yet,” she murmured coldly before taking a sip.
“Here’s where we get to where our paths have crossed this year. It’s a very uncomfortable and ugly complication, but something three adults can get through if we process the shit with a clear mind and open heart.” My attention landed on Hayden. “It’s fuckin’ complicated,” I repeated.
Her eyes were shifty, unable to stay on me. My boo-baby was scared as fuck and had every right to be. This shit was about to get ugly. Across from us, Ebonee attempted to get comfortable. She placed her clutch purse onto the table and rested her elbows next to it.
I continued, “Ebonee and I met about…seven or eight years ago at a party in Brooklyn.”
Ebonee’s beam returned. “A formal party in a brownstone! Such a cultural experience.” She fingered the back of her neck.
I nodded. “We exchanged numbers and started hanging out. Ebonee and I took our time but eventually began dating a year or so later. We learned soon into the relationship…it wouldn’t work and broke it off.” I asked Ebonee, “Fair telling of events, Esquire Williams?”
Her long lashes batted successively as she looked away, sporting an unwilling grin. “You’re being graceful. I appreciate it.”
Embarrassed, she was referring to keeping the details of why we didn’t last long, due to her major psychotic blunder, out of the conversation.
“Yeah. Well, we’ve been able to remain good friends.” I turned to Hayden. “I’ve found Ebonee to be one of the most fascinating women I know. She’s always been the personification of the perfect package for me. I’ll always be honest about that. But we have not been sexually intimate in years. Okay?”
Hayden nodded, and I caught a sharp sniffle coming from across the table.
“Thanks, Ishaan.” Ebonee swiped her nose. “You’ve always been so encouraging, painting a compelling and attractive picture of me.”
“Because it’s true. You’re an exceptional woman. I simply want to be honest with Hayden about our relationship. And that when you came to my place in February, nothing sexual went down?—”
Ebonee sucked in a breath. “In no way have I intimated we?—”
“You said you two took a bath together,” Hayden reminded her.
Ebonee’s eyes widened then rolled around as she measured Hayden’s words. Letting go of a breath, she explained, “A jacuzzi is a bathtub. We did soak in a tub.”
I lifted a hand in the air. “But you know, as an attorney, how words can create narratives depending on how you use them,” I interjected. “I don’t want to spend too much time on that. We have more important shit to get to.” I continued, “Back in February, I encountered a wickedly gorgeous woman while hosting an event in Vegas. We…” My head seesawed.
“Did a very adult thing?” Ebonee suggested then her head bounced over her shoulder and her mouth twisted as she hummed. “I remember your words.” I could detect a bit of arrogance in her aura. She thought we were a team of sorts.
“So, you two have spoken about me?” Hayden shrieked.
“Yes, Hayden.” I nodded. “We did a week ago today when I flew in to see Ebonee. I needed to tell her about you ASAP.”
“Why? If you two aren’t fucking?” Hayden’s eyes ping-ponged between Ebonee and me. The V carved between her brows low key intimidated me.
“I’m getting to that, Boo-baby. Please let me finish.” I waited for some semblance of an acquiesce.
Hayden, though, didn’t look at me. Her hard eyes were on Ebonee. “Yes. Please continue so I can make sense of why she pretended to not know who the hell I was on Tuesday when she approached my cousins and me.”
Ebonee’s response was only an eye roll, but her perfect smile remained in place.
“Which is a very valid question holding my curiosity as well. Perhaps Williams can explain once I’m done with what I have to share.” Again, I acknowledged her for a rebuttal. Hayden didn’t have one. Good job, baby. Good job . “Hayden, after you and I parted ways in Vegas, I resumed my life. Some of that included agreeing to a proposal of Ms. Williams here.”
“Which was?” Hayden couldn’t stop looking at Ebonee, though I knew I had her attention.
“Hayden…”
Her eyes shot back over to me. “ Hmm ?”
“I need you to focus, baby. I need your sharp acuity tonight.” With an open mouth, Hayden nodded. “Ebonee wants to have a baby. The night we hung out at my place in Atlantic City, I shared with her how Dr. Patterson had been requesting I make Mehki a sibling.”
“So, I came up with an idea I thought would be wonderful, giving us both what we wanted,” Ebonee spoke up, smiling dreamily. She shrugged. “IVF. I could have the child I’ve been wanting, and Ishaan could make his mom and son happy.”
Hayden’s head whipped to me. “And you agreed to it?” When I nodded, she turned to Ebonee. “That’s what you told Tynisha on her reality show! But you said the guy…your partner was Asian.” As though suddenly hit with a revelation, she shouted with wide eyes, “ You’re pregnant? ”
I gazed over to Ebonee, seeing how sensitive the topic had been for her.
After a beat, Ebonee shook her head with closed eyes. “I am not. No.”
“Then what are we talking about, Ishaan?” Hayden demanded.
“I’ve been going through the IVF process with her. I’ve given my…sperm,” I shared weakly. “It was used to fertilize her eggs in a lab. We’ve used all but one viable embryo.”
“Why?”
“Because I haven’t been successful at carrying the embryo,” Ebonee shared with conviction and a palm clap.
Hayden stared at me, deeply searching for unspoken answers. “So, you two are trying to have a baby?”
“That’s what’s further complicated,” my voice was so fucking soft. So badly, I wanted to reach over and lift her onto my lap. Rub my face in her warm tits. I loved it there . “Baby, I agreed before I found out about you being pregnant in June at Jacobs’ party. This shit is messy but without intent. I did not— have not —slept with Ebonee in years. You and I were unintended. Serendipity. The baby was an even bigger surprise.
“But I gave Ebonee my word and my…specimens a couple of months before the birthday party. It’s been an emotionally and physically gruesome past few months for her not having success with the previous embryos. This last one is her call. I’m sorry. But if she decides to have the final implant and it’s successful…” I couldn’t fucking finish it.
I didn’t want this complicated shit for her. Hayden didn’t deserve it. She’d had too many leading people in her life disappoint her. And shit, beyond feeling sorry for her regarding it, I wanted to be a leading person in her world. I wanted to be Hayden’s man.
So, fuck yeah. I made this meeting happen tonight. With Ebonee playing fucking head games with my lady, I knew I wouldn’t give her another opportunity at it. I didn’t want to keep Hayden in the dark; I simply wanted to secure her.
Hayden’s head whipped across the table. “Are you going to use the last embryo, Ebonee?”
Ebonee snickered, rubbing the nape of her neck again. “Now, as a woman, Hayden, you know how personal of a question that is.”
“Personal? Now we’re expecting etiquette?” Hayden spat, glancing at me quickly before going back to Ebonee. “On Tuesday, you couldn’t keep your eyes off my belly. As an alleged stranger , you asked probing questions, knowing you knew who I was. You played my cousin, making her think you were genuine in your reason for interrupting our breakfast. Our children may possibly be sharing a father…have to divide fucking child support payouts. I have every reason to ask if you’re going to try again!”
Ebonee flashed her palms in the air. “The only thing I can tell you, without a shadow of doubt, is not being pregnant, even artificially, has drained my body and emotions. I meant what I said to you on Tuesday. Not every woman is able to experience what you are right now. I don’t know anything more at the moment.” She dropped her forehead into her palm. “I’m completely exhausted.”
“But not too exhausted to fly out here furtively to play childish mind games with me,” Hayden’s voice was so calm. Then she turned to me. “This is what you refer to as fascinating and exceptional? Well, this pregnant woman is fucking exhausted after this whole soap operatic, flower-giving, lab baby-generated shit-show between you two. Good night!”
She grabbed her purse and thundered out of the private room with one hand cupping her belly. I stood right away.
“Ishaan!” Ebonee called out, angrily.
I turned to her. “You were right, Eb. There is something strange about how I move with Hayden. I’m in some real shit with her. I actually want to make it work. Pulling the shit you did on Tuesday is so fuckin’ reminiscent of why shit ain’t never work with us.”
“Ishaan, wait!” she used a tone of authority. No smiling face now. “This is us. Me and you. I appreciate how you, once again, handled this situation upfront and with grace. Yeah, I went about it in a less than dignified way. I’d been told by several friends and associates you were out here with a mysterious pregnant woman.” She shrugged. “I remembered you telling me about expecting a baby. However, you left out being in a romantic relationship with her.”
“Why would I have to tell you that? It’s none of your business.”
Ebonee choked out a breath then grimaced my way with all the Black girl sass she could muster. “Did you forget we also had a right of first refusal agreement in place for romantic relationships, too?”
My face opened with recollection. She was out of her fucking mind. I scoffed, shaking my hand as I fingered my beard, “You’re right, Williams. I lightheartedly agreed to that earlier this year. Consider that shit null and fuckin’ void after you revived your psychotic, jealous ways on Tuesday with Hayden. That was messy as fuck. And I’ll be honest with you. It makes me not want to have shit to do with you, co-parenting wise. A man of my stature doesn’t need that fuckin’ headache, Ebonee.”
Her eyes blew the hell up, quickly reddening. Then the tears flooded and fell. Immediately, I was unimpressed.
“Leave the crying to them.” My father used to say. “Crying can be a tactical act of manipulation.”
Then I was off to deal with my boo-baby.
When I walked out of the bathroom and into the bedroom, I went to the drawer of my nightstand and pulled out my bonnet. I secured it around my head before pulling back the comforter. Immediately, Hayden threw the comforter from over her body and left the bed.
“Where are you going?”
“To bed. But not with you!” I noticed she wore a gown to bed, something Hayden hadn’t done since being out here. She pretty much slept nude or just in panties.
She stomped over to her slippers, pushing her feet into them. When she began tramping toward the door, I shouted, “Stop!” She whipped her body around to face me. I snatched my pillow from the bed and went to grab a blanket from the closet’s shelf. While heading to the patio door, I told her, “Get in the bed. I’ll sleep somewhere else.”
My words lacked power. I felt compromised in a way I never had. And I did something I never fucking do. I conceded. I took my big ass out on the deck, lay my pillow on the patio chair, and arranged my blanket. Then I lay down on my makeshift bed, facing the bedroom just to see what she was doing.
She better not leave that room!
She didn’t. Hayden flicked off the light and crawled back into bed. At around seventy degrees, the temperature outside was ideal for me. I lay there, gazing into the dark room with an unsettled feeling in my gut. My feelings were truly hurt. I was sure I’d laugh at my stupid ass for being unusually soft later.
I was nobody’s fucking softy. It was not in my nature. Sergeant Patterson would never have that in his wake. I’d been teaching Mehki about his natural emotional base. It’s like your core muscles: they should be worked on to strengthen your entire being.
I knew I could have handled sharing the dilemma with Hayden differently, but because of her trust issues, I wanted to go the route of transparency. For me, that meant giving Hayden the details of our complication in front of Ebonee. I didn’t want her to feel there was more between Eb and me than it was. Also, Ebonee needed her wig pushed back as a result of that ploy with Hayden and her cousins on Tuesday. I’d hoped she had learned her lesson years ago when she fucked up my car over a gross misunderstanding.
“Be a thinker, not a feeler, son.” My dad’s voice would always live with me.
Yawning, a string of thoughts bounced around in my head until it went black, courtesy of siesta.
The patio creaked beneath us. Her hips, so damn fluid, rocked and lifted, rocked and lifted. I was so deep inside as she was on top of me, face strained and heaving. My abs were constricted, arms stiffened as I held on to her jiggling ass. One of her bloated tits had escaped the cotton once caging it before her ass went rogue. I wanted it in my mouth so bad as she glared down at me. But I kept my eyes locked on hers while struggling to breathe. And not cum .
It was hard not to when her pussy had my throbbing cock in a fucking vise grip. I was awakened by her footsteps toward the door of the patio. I lay on my back but faced the all-glass door. Wordlessly, I watched her slide the door open with low eyes pinned to me. Hayden lifted the hem of her gown and crawled onto the lounger until she straddled my thighs. She watched me while her hands moved inside my boxers, pulling my flaccid dick out and caressing it to full erection. When she climbed my thighs to plunge down onto me, I was concerned about her being ready: the shit had all happened so fast. So phantastic.
And fuck, did it feel amazing gliding into her pre-soaked swollenness. And soon into it, Hayden moaned so sexily and not in a romantic type of way. She verbalized each sensation from our copulation. But she made it clear this fluid ride wasn’t for my pleasure. It was for my leveling. I couldn’t fucking breathe, only able to take measured breaths amid her tsunamic activities happening deep inside her femininity.
Hayden’s hands were wrapped firmly around my neck as she rode the shit out of me. Her lips were pursed tightly together, nostrils splayed wide, and the muscles in her slender arms were expanded as she choked the shit out of me. If Hayden possessed the necessary strength, she could have killed me minutes ago before either of us “ended happily.”
“Oh. Fuck.” Her eyes closed and squeezed.
She’d broken first, head dropping backward as her pelvis tucked and vibrated deliciously over me. Hayden’s hips bucked and bucked and bucked, her pussy convulsed grippingly, and ass trembled over me. But her fucking grasp on my neck didn’t let up much at all, fucking up my ability to breathe as an orgasm shot through my ass like lightning. My back shot up and slammed back into the lounger and legs kicked out violently. Shit, this orgasm was scary as fuck. Euphoric, far-reaching in my damn extremities, and never ending. I was overtaken by fucking sensations and emotions.
Finally, “leveled” by a woman.
Dr. Brown rolled the transducer thingy over my gelled belly. My eyes remained on the ceiling as I focused on its heartbeat. At over three pounds, my baby was growing. And based on the galloping sounds of his heart rate, he was strong. Yeah . I’d began thinking it was a boy I’d been carrying. With so much aggressive energy I’d been feeling and engaging in with my wanna-be-baby’s daddy, I had to be carrying a boy. It was befitting of Ishaan’s many personas.
I grunted at the ache I felt when I rotated my hips on the bed. Dr. Brown’s head shifted from the monitor to me. Blinking, I pretended to ignore her.
“How are you feeling, Hayden?”
I hummed, “I’m okay.”
“Are you feeling comfortable in your clothes? What about your feet? Any swelling?”
My face folded. “I don’t think so. I’ve been wearing mostly flip flops, flat sandals, and sneakers this past week.”
“ Ahhhh .” She smiled at the monitor then glanced over at Ishaan just feet away from her, looking at the monitor, too. “The Caribbean. She’s tanned.”
“Yup,” I hummed again, emotionless. “Even got prenatal treatment at the spa by the natives.”
“Of what kind?”
“Stretching and cleansing.”
“The herbal type?”
That’s when I peered down to her. “Yeah. You believe in that?”
“I believe our Caribbean brothers and sisters have a less diluted ancestral memory of our practices back in the motherland. Even the Haitians have intentional postnatal care. As long as there have been no changes in you or the baby’s activities and movements, I have no concerns.”
“Okay.”
I let go of a quiet sigh of relief. It meant a lot to know she was okay with what I’d done—we’d done—courtesy of Mr. Patterson’s provisions.
“How has your mood been?”
Dark eyes were on me. His impassive expression made me want to roll my eyes.
“I’m pretty even keeled unless someone pisses me off.”
“ Hmmm …” was all she gave.
“And your sleeping: does the baby keep you up at night?”
“Other than peeing my guts out?” I shook my head. “He’s a busy one, but nothing uncomfortable.” When I realized the handheld device had stopped roving, I glanced down over my belly. “What?”
“You said ‘he’?” Ishaan’s thick brows knitted tightly.
Oh …
“Well…” I shrugged. “I can feel it.”
“How?” Dr. Brown asked before going back to inspecting my womb.
Shaking my head, I exhaled and shrugged again. “Because that’s the energy I’ve been swimming in. Boyish.”
“Okay,” Dr. Brown chirped. “And how has your libido been?”
Sighing again, I muttered, “Ravishing.”
“ Mmmhmmmm …” she hummed again. “That might explain the burgundy fingerprints peppered around your hips like so.” She pointed. “Unless that herbal stretch treatment was in the past two days, causing this type of bruising, I can tell you’ve been a busy woman.”
Once again, my eyes shot down to Ishaan, inspecting his bandaged hand.