Chapter 23 Deanna
After Aris left, I stared at the doorway, half-expecting him to march back in and demand marriage. But he didn’t.
Anger had rolled off him, and it wasn’t just about not being called first. It was about my hesitation to go all the way with him.
I glanced at my phone charging on the table. Should I call him? My fingers itched to reach for it, but my pride kept my hand still. If Aris thought he had the market cornered on stubbornness, he was mistaken.
“Dee.” Kandi came back in. “Your future husband just passed me looking like he about to put hands on somebody.” She dropped into the chair she previously vacated. “What you do?”
I pressed my hand to my chest. “What I do?”
Kandi gave me that look she’s been giving me forever. The one that says I’m not fooling anyone. Before long, I told her everything that happened.
“Why are you still holding out on marrying that man? You love him, he loves you... what’s the problem?”
“You know why. And Aris doesn’t love me.”
“Could’ve fooled me. And I notice you’re not denying your feelings for him.”
Even if Kandi was right about his feelings, it didn’t change anything. Aris hadn’t voiced them and treated forever like a business merger.
“Our kids don’t even know about us yet.”
“And whose fault is that?” Kandi challenged. “You’re the one stalling. I wish I could be afraid of my kids.”
“I’m not afraid of Tia!”
“Then why are you acting like she’s your mother and you’re sixteen hiding a pregnancy?”
“You don’t understand.”
“And I don’t want to. You a grown woman, and so is Tia.
” I started to object, but Kandi cut me off with her hand.
“She is a grown woman with a husband. Doing grown woman things even if you still see her as your baby girl. This whole thing is ridiculous. You need to worry about those babies you carrying and making sure things good with their daddy. Don’t mess around and end up a single mother when you don’t have to be.
You wanna see what that’s like? Come shadow Zariah for a day. It’s ghetto.”
I laughed despite myself. “You did not just call your daughter’s situation ghetto.”
“Just telling it like I see it. Not to mention, Zoe is teething now. Both my babies are going through it.”
My phone rang, and Tia’s face lit up my screen. I answered immediately.
“Mom! Is everything okay?” Her voice wavered, and I could tell my baby was trying not to cry. “Chrys and I are on the way to the airstrip.”
“I’m doing much better. You two don’t need to come all the way here. Kandi’s with me and they’re discharging me soon.”
“Are you sure?”
“I am.” I wanted to say more, to ask about her honeymoon, to tell her I missed her, but the invisible wall between us made me hold back. “Don’t worry about me. You just got back from your honeymoon.”
“But Mom, if you’re in the hospital…”
The door swung open as the doctor walked in with Aris right behind him. “Tia, I need to go. The doctor’s here with my discharge papers.”
“Are you sure you don’t need me to come?”
“I’m sure, baby. You flying all the way back here won’t change anything.” I heard Santo in the background asking Tia something. “Tell Santo I said hello and that I expect both of you to stay put.”
I ended the call before she could argue further and turned my attention to the two men in my room.
The doctor held up a clipboard. “Ms. White, I’ve got your discharge paperwork ready. I’ve included instructions for monitoring your glucose levels and dietary recommendations. Your OB-GYN will want to see you next week.”
Before he could leave, I had one more question. “Is … uh … sexual activity okay? I mean, all things considered?”
Aris listened as closely as I did as the doctor reassured me, then glanced in Aris’s direction. Finally, he nodded at us both before leaving.
Once we were alone with Kandi again, she stood up from her chair. “Looks like you’re in good hands now,” she said, glancing between me and Aris. She leaned down and wrapped her arms around me in a hug. “I’ll call you later.”
“Okay,” I promised, squeezing her back.
“And you,” she said, pointing at Aris, “take good care of my girl.”
Aris nodded. “Always.”
With a final pat on my shoulder, Kandi grabbed her purse. “I’ll drop off the stuff you bought tomorrow. Try not to drive each other crazy in the meantime.” Then she was gone, leaving Aris and me alone.
The silence stretched between us until I couldn’t stand it.
“You were right, Aris, and I’m sorry. You’re entitled to information regarding your children.
You’re their father.” When he continued to say nothing, I added, “I’ll speak to my attorney in the morning and ask him to ensure you’re granted medical rights over our babies. ”
“You are ready to leave, yes?” was all he asked.
“Yeah.” I reached for the bag of my belongings, but he was already there, gathering everything.
As he helped me to my feet, I realized being right didn’t make him any less angry. And being sorry didn’t erase his hurt.
The silence lasted all the way back to my house. Once inside, I watched Aris quietly arrange my medicines by time and date, along with my new monitoring equipment.
During dinner, the chef served us a meal that met all my new dietary restrictions, but Aris barely spoke. When I asked about work, he gave me one-word answers. When I brought up potential names for our son, he nodded.
The man who usually couldn’t stop talking about his plans for our future was giving me nothing but silence. And it bothered me, but I didn’t know how to fix it.
Well, I knew how, but marrying him just to get him talking again would be crazy. Besides, I couldn’t give him what he wanted unless he asked me.
I wasn’t waiting for a ring or a speech or him on one knee. I was waiting for a question mark. One single question mark at the end of a sentence, instead of the period he always put there like my answer was already decided.
We went to bed without saying a word, and he didn’t kiss me goodnight as he usually did. When I woke up with a start hours later, he wasn’t beside me.
I told myself to calm down. He had to be somewhere in the house. I found him easily enough, following the sound of tapping keys coming from the living room.
He looked tired. “When you coming back to bed?” I asked.
“I am not, no,” he answered without looking up. “Go back to sleep.”
That stung, especially since he was flipping the script on me. Our relationship had always been on my terms. Could I handle it the other way around? Nope.
I moved forward, took the laptop from his hands, and set it aside. Then I took its place, straddling his lap where the computer had been.
“You still mad at me?” I asked, leaning in to kiss his neck and face without waiting for an answer.
My tongue traced his jaw, feeling his stubble.
Aris pulled away. With one firm hand, he removed my arm from around his neck. “No, Deanna.”
“Deanna?” I whispered. He never called me that unless we were in the presence of our family.
He didn’t look at me. “I am working.”
“You’re still angry.”
“The anger, it has nothing to do with this. I have decided to abstain from further sexual activity until marriage, yes.”
It was so unexpected and ridiculous that I laughed. “Is that right?”
Aris didn’t crack a smile. “Yes.”
“You think you can resist me?”
“I can, yes.”
“Hmm,” I said. “Let’s put that theory to the test.” I slid my hand down the front of his shorts, finding his semi-erection.
He caught my wrist. “Deanna, you stop this.”
“Make me,” I challenged, grinding my hips against him.
“This, it does not…” He took a deep breath as I rolled my hips against him. “This proves nothing.”
“Doesn’t it?” My lips brushed his ear. “Your body’s already telling me everything I need to know.”
He tried to lift me off him. “I am serious about this, Dede.”
“So am I.” I kissed along his jaw, feeling the tension in his muscles as he fought his own desire.
When I slipped my hand back into his shorts, he groaned. “You are not playing fair.”
“Never said I would.” I stroked him, watching his resolve crumble with each movement. His hands tightened on my waist, no longer trying to push me away.
Victory was mine.
“Front door open.” The emotionless robotic voice sounded over my home’s speakers, stopping me cold.
That shouldn’t be happening. We both turned toward the foyer, suddenly alert. Were we being robbed?
My mouth went dry as I looked for something to use as a weapon. Then I heard a whispered voice. “Mom’s probably asleep. We shouldn’t wake her.”
There was a hollow rattle, like someone bumping into one of my hallway lamps. Then Santo’s answering whisper: “Shh! Be careful, angel.”
It was the kids! My heart lurched. We were about to get caught in the act. I tried to pull away from Aris, but he held me firmly.
“I have changed my mind about waiting for marriage,” he murmured, and began kissing me deeply, ignoring my frantic attempt to escape.
I pushed against his chest, but his grip was strong, and I couldn’t break free.
“Our kids are in the next room, Aris,” I hissed. “They’ll see us!”
I was panicking. What would they say if they saw us like this, clothes messed up and clearly making out?
He smirked, leaning close to my ear. “Maybe it is time all of this was out in the open, yes?” he whispered, then moved his lips down to press against my mouth before trailing lower to claim my nipple through my nightgown...
“Aris, they’re right there…”
“Then you better be quiet if you do not want to get caught.” His hand slid under my nightgown.
My protest died in my throat as he slipped his hand between us and found my pussy, already wet despite my panic. He knew exactly what he was doing, working me while his mouth continued its assault on my breast.
I bit down on my lip, listening for footsteps. Instead, I heard Tia’s voice moving toward the stairs: “I’m exhausted. Let’s go to bed.”
Santo’s reply was muffled, followed by the sound of footsteps on the stairs, then Tia’s bedroom door closing.
They’d gone straight upstairs. We were safe.
But Aris didn’t stop. He freed himself from his shorts, positioned me over him, and pulled me down in one smooth motion.
I had to press my hand over my mouth to keep from crying out as his thickness stretched my slick walls in that perfect, overwhelming way. At twenty-nine weeks with twins, my belly pressed heavily against his abs.
“You like this, agápi mou, yes?” he growled low, his hands gripping my hips to guide me, rocking slowly at first, then faster.
“Oh, Aris, yeah!”
His mouth latched back onto my breast, sucking hard on my swollen nipple while I ground down on him. He thrust up to meet me, deep and unyielding, until I shattered.
He followed right after, his grip almost bruising as he held me against him, groaning softly into my neck. His hands roamed my belly possessively, while our children slept upstairs, completely unaware.
Finally, I lifted my head from his shoulder. “You planned that.”
“I planned to work.” He had the audacity to smirk. “You came in here and climbed on my lap, yes?”
“We could have been caught, Aris. What then?” I said, climbing off him on shaky legs.
“Then your daughter, she would know her mother is capable of having a relationship, yes. Maybe she would even be happy for you.” He adjusted his shorts. “But we’ll never know because you’re too afraid to find out.”
“It’s not about being afraid,” I said quietly, even though we both knew it was a lie. “It’s about timing. About doing this right.”
“The timing, yes.” He said the word like it disgusted him. “You have been using this excuse for months.” He pulled his laptop back onto his thighs. “Go back to bed, Deanna.”