Epilogue
Giselleand I sat in the waiting area for our appointment with Kerri at Arranged Hearts. The past year being a husband and father had been one for the books. Although the beginning was turbulent, I didn’t regret a moment. Those trying times showed me who I was deep down inside when love was in control. The past ten months, though, had been like a fantasy.
We’d established a hell of a routine that the kids were comfortable with and that maximized the amount of time we were able to spend together. I’d even adjusted my Friday schedule to hers, just so we could spend the day together. With the arrangement she had set up with Clayton, most weekends, the kids were with him unless we had plans.
Surprisingly, he and I were pretty cool now. That was what was best for the children. When they saw the adults getting along and on one accord with how they were being raised, it left little room for bullshit. However, when bullshit arose, we handled it immediately and as a unit… all three of us.
Our three-month, six-month, and nine-month evaluations had gone well. I was expecting this one to go well also. It was our last one. The three-month evaluation was the most emotional because we shared all the changes we had been through and how close we were to turning our ‘I do’ into ‘I don’t’. Had Vegas not called me that day, I probably would have filed for an annulment. I would have missed out on all this love, simply because I refused to keep weathering the storm.
What we had now was worth every minute of heartbreak, irritation, and sadness. The Giselle Serenity King Fleming I was currently married to was the most loving, sexy, considerate, and passionate woman I’d ever known. I never thought I could love someone as much as I loved her and the kids.
“Mister and Missus Fleming? Kerri will see you now.”
I smiled as I stood and helped Giselle from her seat. Placing my hand at the small of her back, we made our way to Kerri’s office. When we walked in, Kerri smiled brightly. I swore it was like looking at Giselle all over again. It turned out they weren’t related though. They just had a lot of the same features, which was crazy. They said everyone had a twin, and they weren’t lying.
“Hello! Y’all come on in and have a seat! The two of you look amazingly well. Giselle, how are you?”
“Hey, Kerri. I’m doing okay. Just ready for the next two months to be over.”
I chuckled then rubbed her belly. The baby had been kicking her entire ass for the past month. She could barely keep anything down. Apparently, she was getting what she was supposed to though, because she hadn’t lost any weight since the beginning of the pregnancy and the last ultrasound proved that the baby was progressing just fine.
Kerri chuckled too. “But you look so beautiful pregnant. Your skin is glowing even more than it already was. I mean, the pregnancy even has Gentry’s skin glowing too.”
I twisted my lips to the side, causing them both to laugh. Placing my hand on Giselle’s stomach, I began rubbing in circular motions as my second princess kicked, acknowledging she knew that it was me. Whenever I laid my hand on Giselle’s belly, she would kick. That could have meant she didn’t like me, but we would surely see in the next couple of months.
“Aside from the pregnancy, how has everything been going between the two of you?” Kerri asked.
I glanced at Giselle and decided to be the first one to speak this time, since at the last interview, she was the first to speak. “I honestly feel like I owe y’all some more money. Our love is perfect. Even when we weren’t getting along, I knew that y’all had gotten it right. Things have been amazing. That isn’t to say we haven’t had disagreements, because Giselle is ‘stubbornly confident’ and hardheaded as hell.”
She slapped my arm and rolled her eyes as I laughed. Kerri had to laugh too, remembering my answer to the question about the characteristics I wanted my woman to have. The smile broke out on Giselle’s face as she said, “That’s why we’re okay after we bump heads because your head is just as hard.”
I chuckled as did Kerri. “That is so good to hear. I’m so proud to have played a role in putting the two of you together. When I interviewed Gentry, I knew the two of you would be a match made in heaven. Thankfully, I wasn’t wrong. How are things with Clayton? Are they still good?”
“Yes. The three of us co-parent the kids together. If I’m not available, he and Gentry will talk. We’ve become friends again. It’s still not where it was, but it’s getting there. It helps that I know that wasn’t the real him. He was in survival mode, thinking he was about to lose the most important people in his life to another man that he saw as being better than him. I’m so happy that’s all behind us and that we haven’t had any more issues.”
“I’m happy too! So have the two of you picked out a name for your princess yet?”
“Yes. We agreed to name her Passion. It was our passion for each other that kept us together through the trying times. It was what made me come back for her. Without it, she wouldn’t be here in the next couple of months. She’ll probably get funny looks once she starts school, but we’ll worry about that when the time comes.”
Kerri laughed. “So you’re really gonna name her Passion?”
Giselle rolled her eyes. “Absolutely not. While his words are true, I am not giving my child a stripper name. Her name will be Akia, which simply means first-born. In our union, she is the first-born child. I’m more than sure there will be more. Gentry has a tinge of country in him and wants me to be barefoot and pregnant more often than not.”
Kerri hollered with laughter as I chuckled. I kissed Giselle’s head and began rubbing her belly again. “Y’all are so cute. I love it!”
Giselle turned to me and kissed my lips. “I love it too,” she said in a low voice.
“Don’t start that in here, woman. You know I don’t have a problem roughing you up in public places.”
Kerri shook her head. “The fact that the two of you can play that way speaks volumes. I’m so happy Arranged Hearts has contributed to another successful pairing. Once again, this is a match made in heaven. I’m just grateful He used Arranged Hearts and me as an instrument to make it happen.”
I slid my hand to Giselle’s then lifted it to my lips and kissed it. She was my forever and worth every penny. No matter the emotion I was feeling, passion always outweighed them all. As we were about to stand to leave, I said, “We’ll make sure we come back to introduce Passion once she’s born.”
Giselle rolled her eyes and walked out without me as Kerri laughed. I caught up to her and wrapped my arms around her from behind and listened to her giggle. “I love you, Elle. This still feels unreal. I’m thankful God put us together.”
“I love you too, Flem, but not nearly enough to name my baby Passion.”
The End