Chapter 22
Layla
Hours later, I’m still basking in the sex glow. It took me thirty minutes until my breathing returned to normal, and I was able to get up. There was blood on my thighs, I was sweaty, and my pussy hurt from Wakowski’s huge dick. After a hot shower, I wrap one of his plush towels around me and step out. He’s in nothing but his boxers and is putting new sheets on the bed. He sees me and smiles. I find myself smiling back at him. He takes the towel off me and dries my body. He orders me back to bed and to lay on my stomach. Once I do, he massages my back.
“Are you okay?” he asks.
“Just a little sore,” I admit. I thought I’d be embarrassed, but I’m not. Laying here naked with him rubbing my back feels like the most natural thing in the world.
“Get under the covers. I have a surprise for you,” he says.
“Put it away, Whorekowski. I’m sore.” I pretend to be annoyed and shoo him away.
“Oh, please. I know you can’t handle any more of this. Just get under the covers and relax. I’ll be right back.” He slides out of the bed.
I get up to stretch, and I already know I’m going to hurt in the morning, but for now, I climb back on the bed and get under the soft down comforter.
Seth returns a few minutes later carrying a tray. There’s water and a fruit bowl. He gets in bed next to me and feeds me strawberries and kiwi slices. Once we’re done, he puts the tray on the nightstand, and we go into the bathroom together to brush our teeth.
There are double sinks and he points to one and says, “That one is yours.” It doesn’t feel strange for him to say that to me. When we’re done, we go back to bed. I turn to my side like I always do, and to my surprise, he gets in bed and spoons me.
“Jesus,” I mutter as I grab my vibrating phone.
The room is still dark, but according to my phone, it’s after nine o’clock in the morning. I rub the sleep from my eyes and blink twice. There are about a dozen missed calls from my mother and June Bug. There are several text messages demanding that I call immediately.
The bed is empty and Seth’s side is cold, but the house is quiet. I don’t even hear Jasmine’s gibberish or footsteps. I let out a yawn, then my heart drops at the thought of something happening to Gaga. I hit my mom’s number, and she answers immediately.
“Layla Jackson,” my mother says into the phone. I relax at the tone of her voice. This is the voice she uses when she’s mad at me. If she’s upset with me, that means Gaga is okay. “Where the hell are you?”
“I’m with a friend,” I say, letting out a yawn. Mom was never strict about where I went as a kid, and she sure as hell doesn’t try to control or monitor my whereabouts now.
“Friend my ass,” I hear June Bug say in the background. “You went and married that fool.”
My stomach drops. I planned to tell them today. My phone vibrates in my hand and it’s a text from my mother with an article titled ‘Is the leader of the Sethheads taken?’
I put her on speaker and open the article. There’s a picture of us going inside the courthouse, a couple taken of us from the back and one of us coming out holding hands. There’s another picture zeroing in on my left hand, and the huge rock on my finger is circled.
My phone suddenly goes crazy with incoming calls and text messages.
“You have two seconds to start talking because the last thing you told me was that he wasn’t your boyfriend when we all knew you were lying. My question is, how did he go from non-boyfriend to husband?”
“You better talk, girl,” June Bug says before I get a chance to open my mouth to respond.
“June Bug, you’re not my father so shut the hell up.”
“Don’t talk to him that way,” my mother says. “And answer my damn questions.”
“Yes, we got married, but—”
“Nope. You are not going to tell me over the phone.” I want to tell her she’s the one who asked me over the phone, but she speaks first. “Get your ass home and bring your husband with you. You have one hour.” She ends the call before I can ask her ‘or what.’
“Fuck,” I mutter.
I roll out of bed, sore and a little delirious from all the sleep. I don’t remember the last time I slept so well. I put on a pair of shorts and a tee. After brushing my teeth and hair, I leave the bedroom searching for my husband. That should seem strange, but it doesn’t. I made my decision. I entered this freely, and I’m not going to pretend it was a mistake or that I don’t want it.
They’re both in the kitchen. He’s shirtless and has his back turned while he cooks something on the stove. Jasmine is sitting in the corner drinking something out of a pink sippy cup.
“Good morning,” I say, announcing myself.
“Yaya!” Jasmine gets up and hugs my legs. That’s all I get because she goes back to her cup and a doll.
Unsure of what I’m supposed to do, I sit at the kitchen island. He leans over and puckers his lips.
“Um, what the hell are you doing? You look like a fish.” I push his face away, and he sighs.
“You’re supposed to kiss me. Do you have any social skills at all?” he asks. He puckers again, and I give him the quickest peck in history feeling a blush spread across my entire body. “By the way, the cat’s out of the bag. There are pictures, and we’ve been outed. I had to shut my phone off it was ringing so much. My dad wants us to visit so he can meet you,” he says.
He turns his back to me again before I can respond to any of what he said. He puts a plate of eggs and bacon in front of me and then puts Jasmine in her highchair before serving her oatmeal.
“That’s too much crap before I have any caffeine,” I mutter. I leave the chair and fill a mug with coffee. “My mom wants us at the house immediately.” He nods as if it’s no big deal. We eat, and roughly an hour later, the three of us pile in his car and he drives to my house.
“My dad’s here,” I mutter when I see his car. “He’s not on any social media, which means my mom called him. This isn”t good. She never calls him, and he’d never show up here this fast if she did.” I put my head back and sigh.
The front door swings open before I make it to the first step. My mother stands there, both hands on her hips. She glares at me like she did whenever I got into trouble as a kid. She angrily gestures to the door.
She slams it once we get in and Jasmine starts to cry.
“I’m sorry, baby,” my mom says. “It’s not you I’m angry at.” She takes Jasmine from Seth and hugs her until she calms down. The house is filled with people. June Bug leans against the wall with his arms crossed as if I’m supposed to be intimidated by him. Donna is here along with my mother’s siblings.
When my dad comes out of the bathroom and sees me, he opens his arms, and I go in.
“Is this my son-in-law?” He looks up at Seth in awe before he kisses my temple. He offers Seth his hand and says, “I’m Leon Jackson. Welcome to the family.”
My mom huffs and I brace myself.
“Of course, you’d do this.” She hands Jasmine to June Bug. She claps and grabs my cousin’s nose. “It would be nice if you would back me up one time. Our daughter went off and got married behind our backs!”
As expected, my dad rolls his eyes at her. “No wonder considering how you act. She wants to get away from your ass, but you’re too dumb to figure that out. By the way, way to prove her point.” He rolls his eyes at her, then he looks around the room and scowls at Donna who scowls back. “Apparently, my type is bitterness and attitude,” he says to Seth with a wide grin while pointing at both his ex-wives. “Ignore them.” He looks from Mom to Donna and waves his hand in dismissal.
“Explain yourself, Layla,” Mom says as if I’m some child who got into trouble at school.
“I married Seth,” I state simply. There’s no other way to say it, and the truth is, there’s nothing any of them can do about it. Seth smiles when I point to him.
“Without telling me? I had to find out about it online.” I can hear the hurt in my mom’s voice, and I want to look away in shame, but I won’t. I made this choice, and I’m not going to apologize for it.
“The plan was to come and tell you today. I’m sorry you found out that way, but I’m not going to apologize for this.” I gesture to Seth and Jasmine, who is now looking at a tattoo on the side of June Bug’s neck. “I made the choice, and I stand by it.”
“But why? You were acting like he wasn’t your boyfriend just a few days ago.”
Seth clears his throat and speaks up. “I asked her,” he says.
“Do you love my daughter?” my mom asks, and I groan. Love has nothing to do with this, and I’m fine with that. If anything, it makes this situation a lot less complicated than being in love. My heart is not involved, and that’s freeing.
Seth rubs the back of his head, and his face turns red.
“And Layla, do you love him?” Mom cups my face and looks into my eyes. “That’s important, baby. I want that for you.”
“Mom, it’s fine. This is an arrangement,” I say as if that will convince her. “I’m going to help him raise Jasmine, and he’s going to pay for Gaga’s rehab and aftercare.” Besides, she loved my dad once and that didn’t work out. Loving someone is not a guarantee of a successful relationship, but I keep that to myself.
The room goes silent. Everyone looks around at each other while they absorb my words. “She’s going to get the best care.” When they all continue to stare at each other, I say, “I thought you’d be relieved.”
To my shock, my mom starts to cry but she pulls me into her arms. “You selfless beautiful fool.” She pulls away and cups my face again. “Gaga wouldn’t want you to do this.”
“Of course she wouldn’t. Gaga’s always the one doing the giving. I want to give her this, and when Wakowski—”
“Wakowski? You call your husband by his last name?” my mom asks, clearly outraged.
“It’s a million times better than the names you called me during our marriage, Stella,” my dad reminds her. My dad walks to June Bug and covers Jasmine’s ear. “Or was toddler dick an endearment?”
Donna lets out a snort. “If only it was that big,” she says.
“That’s enough of that,” Seth says and takes Jasmine from June Bug.
“Have some damn class, Stella,” my dad says.
“Look, Lay,” my mom says. “It was one thing when I thought you were finally getting out of your shell and dating, but marriage is a whole different animal. You’ve never even had a boyfriend before. I’m worried about you.” She looks from my face to Seth’s.
“I’ll be fine,” I tell her. “One thing about me is that I not only take care of myself, but I stand up for myself too.”
At that, June Bug takes a step closer to Seth. “If my cousin ever needs to stand up for herself with you, you’ve already done too much,” he hisses. Jasmine, who doesn’t understand June Bug’s tone, claps her hands together before reaching for him. He takes her and spins her around the room like an airplane.
“What June Bug just said,” my mom says. “I will fuck you up,” she whispers. “You fuck around on my daughter, and you’re gonna find out.”
Seth holds both hands up before he takes one of my hands in his, and I intertwine my fingers with his. I’ve never done this with a man before. I’ve only ever held hands with my dad and June Bug when they would walk me to school when I was a little girl. Holding hands with Seth is so much better.
“It doesn’t matter what you did before as long as you are committed to my daughter now,” Dad says.
“Thanks, Dad,” I say, grateful to have him here even though I know he always does and says the opposite of whatever my mother says. Right now, I don’t care about that. Dad pulls me into his arms and hugs me. Once he’s done with me, he hugs Seth.
My mom purses her lips in disapproval, and I’m not sure who she disapproves of more right now. Me or my dad. She hugs me too and kisses my cheek.
“Okay. I raised you to be your own person, but I wish you had talked to me about it first.” She hugs and kisses me again. She pulls away and cups my face. “My little girl is married.” She looks at Seth and opens her arm, and he joins our group hug. “Welcome to the family, Seth. This is your home as long as my daughter chooses to be with you.”
She lets us go, but I see tears in her eyes. Right now, I’m sure they aren’t tears of joy. My mom is going to come talk to me about this marriage when I’m alone.
Everyone in the room takes turns congratulating us, and some of the anxiety I’ve had in my stomach since I woke up this morning dies.
“I’m a grandma!” my mom says, taking Jasmine from June Bug. She bounces her in her arms and says, “Can you say grandma?”
“Grum,” Jasmine says.
My dad takes her from my mom next and kisses her cheek, but she looks for June Bug and reaches for him. He takes her.
“Come to Uncle June Bug,” he says. “Let’s go have a word with your daddy.”
“I’m going to make a celebratory dinner for you two,” my mom says. “Leon, feel free to leave now. As always, you’re a disappointment.”
“Disappointment? He’d have to be promoted to be a disappointment,” Donna says with a loud cackle.