Chapter 9
“So y’all finally came up forair?” my mama asked as Gentry and I walked through the door.
I giggled as Gentry smiled then hugged her. “Hey, Doctor King.”
“Boy, if you don’t call me Solé, I’m gonna hurt you. Do you want me calling you Doctor Fleming?”
Gentry smiled slightly. “I see your point, but my parents raised me right. I’ll have to call you Missus Solé.”
“Well, I’ll take that any day over Doctor King. Y’all, come on in.”
It was Sunday, and we were here for dinner. My body was tired as hell. I knew I would end up falling asleep after I ate. I’d gone back to work Tuesday and went to Clayton’s to see my children every day. When I got home, I had to take care of my husband, although he had said that he understood I was tired. There was no way I would start pushing him to the back burner already, especially over some shit I created.
I went to the dining room to see my daddy setting a casserole dish on the table. “Hey, Daddy.”
“Hey, baby girl,” he said as he looked up at me.
I went to his arms and hugged him, then Gentry shook his hand. “Hello, Doctor King.”
“Hello, Doctor Fleming.”
Unlike my mother, my dad didn’t try to get Gentry to call him anything other than Doctor King. This was our second time visiting since we’d been back in town. We came here Friday night. Gentry met me here after I left Clayton’s, then we went to a late dinner. He insisted I didn’t cook on weekends. I was grateful that he was looking out for me, but I felt like I wasn’t doing enough for him.
We were barely spending any time together now. All my free time went to my kids. By the time I got home, I was exhausted. We’d moved all my things to his home yesterday and this morning and got it organized. The movers had put my furniture in storage, although I was seriously considering selling it.
Gentry pulled out my chair for me to sit at the table, then he sat next to me and grabbed my hand. “So how has it been, getting to know each other?” my mama asked as she entered the room.
I glanced at Gentry, and he smiled. “It’s been great, Mama. A lot smoother than I expected. We have so much chemistry.”
“That’s so amazing. I’m so happy for you, baby.”
I lowered my head and smiled slightly, but it quickly left my face when my daddy asked about the kids. “They’re okay, Daddy. Just wondering why they can’t go home.”
My lip quivered, and my tears were threatening to fall. I took a deep breath and changed the subject. “What did you cook, Mama?”
She cleared her throat. “Grilled fish, steamed vegetables, and mashed potatoes. I hope that’s okay, baby.”
“It’s perfect, Mama. Excuse me, everyone.”
I stood from the table and made my way to the front door. There was no way I would be able to hold in my emotions. I missed Kizzie and Dakota so much. As the tears streamed down my face, I pulled my phone from my pocket. I wiped my tears and FaceTimed Clayton. Kizzie answered with a huge smile on her face.
“Mommy, did you forget to say something?”
I’d seen them this morning, and I had FaceTimed them before I left home. We were on the phone nearly an hour. “No. I just miss y’all.”
“We miss you too, Mommy. Are you done moving? I’m ready to see our new house.”
I smiled slightly. “Almost, baby.”
I hated lying to her. I didn’t know what I would come up with after so long. That lie would no longer work with her. I was surprised she hadn’t asked to see the house. There was no way I would have the audacity to tell Gentry to stay hidden in his own house. This shit was crazy. Clayton was acting like I was the type of mother to put my children in danger.
I took a deep breath as I noticed my brother driving up and Gentry walking out of the door to look for me. “Well, baby, I have to go. I’m about to go get something to eat.”
“Are you coming back over before you go home?”
I swallowed hard as Gentry stared at me. “Yeah, baby. I’ll come over before you go to bed. I love you.”
“I love you too, Mommy.”
I ended the call, and I could no longer hold the tears. I broke. Covering my face with my hands, I cried like I never had. When the swing moved and arms encircled me, I buried myself into his chest. I knew it was Gentry. His smell was my greatest obsession. His embrace felt like a warm blanket on a cold day. His kiss on my forehead always felt like it was the first… exhilarating and passionate.
“Shh… It’s gonna be okay, baby. I can’t imagine how hard this is for you.”
I was seeing them every day, but it just wasn’t enough. It wasn’t like it was when they lived with me… when they would come crawl in bed with me because they couldn’t sleep or had a bad dream. This was torture. I lifted my head and quickly wiped my face. “I’m sorry, Gentry.”
I had been crying a lot since the dinner with Clayton, but this was the first time he’d really seen me like this. Most times, I waited until he was asleep or cried when I went to the bathroom. Although I knew he could tell I wasn’t happy without my babies, he didn’t know just how bad I was suffering through this.
“Why are you apologizing, baby? I’m here for you.” He put his hands to my face and gently wiped my cheeks with his thumbs. “This is hard for me to watch, so I know it’s ten times worse for you. You don’t have to apologize for something that would devastate any mother as devoted as you. Okay?”
I nodded then kissed his lips as Daniel made his way to the porch. He was frowning, probably thinking Gentry had done something to cause what he saw. “Hey, baby girl. You okay?” he asked as he glanced at Gentry.
“Yeah. I just miss my babies.”
He frowned more. “You haven’t seen them?”
“Yes, but Clayton won’t let them come home until he gets to know Gentry. I swear he thinks Gentry is gonna cook them for dinner. As if I was a horrible judge of character. I would never put my children in danger. But it is what it is. How are you?” I asked.
I only gave him that much of an explanation so he would know Gentry hadn’t done a thing to cause what he saw. “I’m okay,” he said as Jream ran to the porch.
“Hi, Aunt G.”
“Hey, baby.”
She kissed my cheek then shyly said, “Hi,” to Gentry.
“Hi, Jream. How are you?”
She blushed as she responded, “Good.”
I chuckled. The man had that effect on women. I saw that when we went to dinner Friday night. Jream was six years old now. She was a year older than Kizzie. However, that didn’t stop her from recognizing a handsome man when she saw one. When Daniel’s wife joined us, she said, “Hey, y’all.”
“Hey, Jorie.” I turned to Gentry. “Baby, this is Jorielle, Daniel’s wife. I didn’t know if you remembered her name. Jorie, this is Gentry.”
She smiled politely and shook his hand. “Hi, Gentry. I remembered your name. You had so many names to remember, so I am not offended if you forgot.”
“I didn’t forget. I’m pretty good with names. But nice to meet you again,” he said with a smile mirroring hers.
I realized that Gentry could be different versions of himself, dependent upon who he was around. With Daniel and my dad, he was short and serious. He gave Jorie his friendly side because that was what she gave him. “Well, let’s go eat,” Daniel said. “I’m starving.”
Jorie rolled her eyes playfully. Daniel was always hungry. It was no secret why he was a big guy. He ate his fair share of food and someone else’s fair share as well. “Okay. I’ll meet y’all in there in a minute.”
Once they went inside, I turned to Gentry. “This is crazy, but I’m falling for you already. The tenderness you’ve shown me has been so overwhelming. I don’t have a choice but to fall in love with you. It won’t be long at all because I can feel it now. I just want to be sure before I say it.”
He stroked my cheek with his thumb. “Well, let’s just start practicing. I’m falling too, so we may as well start saying it now. It’s inevitable, and I don’t have a problem expressing myself. I love you, Elle.”
My heart fluttered. Although he wasn’t quite there yet, knowing that he would eventually get there, right along with me, gave me chills all over. “I love you too, Flem.”
He leaned over and kissed my lips then grabbed my hand. His eyes stayed on mine until we began heading to the door. When we were back at the table, I could see the concerned look on my mama’s face. I knew we would be talking before long. She would be able to help me through this.
My mama had the ability to help me through anything I was going through. Between her and Jorie being my sounding boards, along with Yunique and Keke now, there was no reason for me to sink into depression. I had plenty of support. While Keke wasn’t here, she said it would be nothing for her and Vegas to hop on a flight to get here for me if I needed them. While I was getting close to Alexz and Skyler since they were my sorors, I wasn’t at the point where I would let them in on my personal shit.
After we were seated, Gentry held my hand, rubbing it between his, then lifted it to kiss it. It seemed everyone was watching us. Finally, my dad said, “Let me bless the food.”
Everyone grabbed hands, and he prayed for a minute or so. Once he was done, everyone started passing the casserole dishes around the table to fill our plates. All that could be heard was the clinking of utensils on plates until Daddy said, “Gentry, I can tell that G is extremely calm around you. Thank you for that.”
I was surprised he called him Gentry. He and Daniel were so damn protective. Gentry nodded. “Yes, sir. I plan to be whatever and whoever she needs me to be. I want to be her peace just as much as I want her to be mine.”
I leaned against him, knowing I was being everything but that right now. I had been emotionally unavailable this week. We’d had sex, but I wasn’t as in the moment as I had been. It was like I was just there so he could get his. I felt horrible about that too, especially since I enjoyed sex with him so much. My lackadaisical attitude was taking away from the experience for both of us. He didn’t even try to get at me last night. He just held me close.
It seemed after Gentry’s response, the tension eased in the room, and they began talking more, including Daniel. By the time we were about to leave, Gentry was calling my dad DS. My dad refused to answer to anything else. Since Daniel didn’t go by DJ, my dad decided to go by Daniel Senior, which abbreviated to DS.
Jorie and Mama started clearing the table, so I stood to help them. The minute I walked into the kitchen, my mama took the dishes from me, set them in the sink, and pulled me into her arms. Jorie gently rubbed my shoulder. “I know this is so tough, baby. I miss my grandbabies too. When did Clayton become so untrusting of you?”
“I don’t know, Mama. I mean, I understand his hesitancy with the situation. I should have told him, even if I didn’t tell anyone else. He’s making it seem like I would allow my children to be in an unsafe environment though. Arranged Hearts does thorough background checks and prescreenings. They ask your preferences before you’re matched. I’m more than sure if Gentry didn’t like kids, they wouldn’t have paired him with me. They know my kids mean the world to me.”
“What are you going to do?” Jorie asked.
“I’m going to give him time. It’s not like our arrangements are through the courts. Knowing the terms we agreed to in order to create them, he shouldn’t have been shocked as to how I chose a husband. Who has kids with their best friend and it not become more? We weren’t making love; it wasn’t raunchy or anything like that. We had sex for the sole purpose of having kids. That was it. When I found out I was pregnant with Dakota, we stopped and haven’t had sex since.”
“So there was nothing romantic about it?” Jorielle asked. “I assumed the two of you would become a couple.”
“There was absolutely nothing romantic about it. I mean, we did enjoy the moment, but no extra effort was put into it. Most of our encounters were like quickies, if I’m being honest. I hadn’t had sex for enjoyment since Kizzie was a year old.”
“Damn, sis. Gentry probably got that ass all the way right then.”
Leave it to Jorie to make me feel better.I gave her a smirk and said, “Been blowing my damn back out every night. I hadn’t had sex in over two years when we got married. He shattered that shit with gusto.”
My mama and Jorie hollered with laughter. I couldn’t help but shake my head at them. “I’m pretty sure you weren’t in objection,” my mama added.
“No. I was actually the one that initiated things before we came into the reception.”
They laughed again as I slowly shook my head. “Come on! Y’all see him! I couldn’t resist all that chocolate. The things he was saying to me while we took pictures had me at the point of no return. I needed him to put me out of my misery, but it only made me want him more. Had we could have gotten it in on the flight to Hawaii, we would have.”
“Lord, have mercy. Y’all are some nymphos… made for each other,” my mama said jokingly. “I’m happy for you, baby. Clayton will come around.”
And just like her to bring us back to the issue at hand. “Yeah. I hope so.”
After helping them load the dishwasher and put the leftovers away, I made my way to my husband. They’d retreated to the family room and were watching a basketball game. Gentry’s phone rang just as I sat next to him. He pulled it out of his pocket as he put his other arm around me. When he showed me the screen, my eyebrows lifted. It was Clayton.
“Hello… yeah, man. What’s up…? I usually leave the office around six… Yeah, that’s cool. I’ll see you Wednesday,” he said, glancing at me. “A’ight. Later.”
He ended the call and turned to me. “Clayton invited me out to happy hour with him and his boys. Turns out I know one of them. He’s been bringing his dog to me for a couple of years I think.”
“Oh. That’s good, right?”
He shrugged. “I think so.”
I could only hope this meant he would be letting my kids come home soon, because I didn’t know how much longer I would make it without them living with me, no matter how much support I had. I would take his ass to court with the quickness to get my babies. It wasn’t like he didn’t make questionable decisions at times, but I trusted that he would never put our kids in harm’s way. Why couldn’t he offer me that same courtesy?