Chapter 16
16
Mona
“ H ow do you want to do this?” I asked Clinton when he mentioned it was time to meet each other’s families and give them the good news.
It was Sunday, and it had been a lazy weekend. We’d slept in, and when we finally stirred, it was almost noon. We had lunch delivered from a nearby restaurant and were currently enjoying it in bed.
“Do you want to bring our families together and tell them all at once, or do it separately?”
“Hmm, I think we should bring them together.”
“Since our birthdays are coming up, let’s invite them over under the guise of it being a birthday dinner.”
While in New Orleans, we’d discovered our birthdays were a week apart.
“That’s a good idea, but my apartment isn’t big enough for both of our families and friends.”
“True, and mine is big enough for our immediate family, but parking would be hell. Plus, I have to invite my cousins, or I won’t hear the end of it. They’re already giving me shit because I’ve missed our last few gatherings.”
“I hope they don’t blame me. I don’t need them to have something to hold against me.”
“Right now, they think it’s work-related. However, once they hear the news, they’ll figure it out but will be too excited to hold it against you.”
“Have you told your parents or sister anything about me?”
“If my parents knew anything about you, this meeting would’ve happened a long time ago. My sister knows I’m dating someone, but not how serious we are. You can expect her to talk the most shit about me not telling her about the baby as soon as I found out.”
“Oh God. I’m suddenly very nervous about this.”
“Don’t be, baby. My people are good people, and they’ll be too excited about our news to be mad.
“Good. I’ll have to call my brother as soon as our date and location are solidified. I actually told him about you when I returned from New Orleans, but I haven’t told him about us reconnecting or the baby.”
“You think he’ll be excited?” She shrugged. “What about your parents?”
“My parents have been patiently waiting on grandchildren, so they’ll be excited. My stepsisters have one each, but they don’t spend much time with my mother, so she’ll be overjoyed.”
“Do you plan to invite all of your family?”
“I suppose I should. If they can come, great. If not, the party must go on. Do you think we should rent a room at a restaurant?” I asked, returning to our original topic.
“I’m guessing there might be forty to fifty people. Reserving a room would be best. I’ll put my assistant on it tomorrow. If we do the Saturday that falls between our birthdays, that gives us almost two weeks to get it together.”
“You think that’s enough time?”
He shrugged. “I guess we’ll find out tomorrow. Once we have a location confirmed, everything else should be easy.”
“Okay, but I have one question.”
“What’s that?”
“Can Cairo and Dominick come?”
He sighed and shook his head. “I haven’t had enough time to get over the bullshit that happened two days ago. Is that a serious question?”
“Yes, it’s serious. I have to have my girls there if I’m celebrating my birthday, and it would be rude to invite them and tell them not to bring their husbands.”
“I can name a few worse things, but I’m not about to go back and forth with you about those people. Dominick seemed cool, for the most part, except for that slick comment about my company being Primerica. Cairo is another story, but do what you want, baby. If those niggas do or say something stupid, I’ll match their energy.”
“Baby, you—”
“Nah, Mona. I don’t want to talk about them anymore. Invite them, or don’t invite them. Either way, you’ve been warned.”
“I had no idea you were so bossy.”
“I’m not bossy.”
“You are, and when you call yourself putting me in my place or letting me know wassup, I want to be mad or annoyed, but my pussy betrays me every time.”
“Let me make something clear… I have never tried to put you in your place because I’m not that kind of man. However, I’ll let you know wassup all day long.”
I smacked my lips and rolled my eyes. “That’s the same thing, but whatever.”
He laughed before responding. “I told you in New Orleans that this pussy was mine until I tell you different. Have I told you different?”
“No.”
“She will forever betray you where I’m concerned. She knows she belongs to me and will always be obedient to her master. She can’t get enough of me, and I damn sure can’t get enough of her.”
I truly believed him when he said he couldn’t get enough because, somehow, some way, he always found his way between my legs… and I didn’t mind it one bit. In fact, I welcomed every opportunity to do the nasty with him. There was a time, not very long ago, when the thought of sex turned my stomach. However, that was no longer the case.
Now, when I thought of sex, I had flashbacks of moments just like this, when a simple conversation ended with Clinton’s face buried in my pussy, providing more pleasure with his mouth than I’d experienced during my entire marriage.
My oh my, things had surely changed.
“My stomach wasn't this big when I went to bed last night. It’s like I blew up overnight.”
It had been a week since Karla had invited Clinton and me over for game night. We’d spoken briefly since then, but Karla changed the subject every time I brought up that night.
“Sis, you scared me half to death calling so early. I thought it was an emergency,” Karla fussed.
As promised, Clinton and I alternated weeks between our places. Most days, he was my chauffeur, but today, he had an early morning meeting, so I was driving myself to work.
When I slipped into a pair of my favorite pants, much to my dismay, I couldn’t zip or button them. I tried on a few other pairs with the same result and almost had a panic attack.
“This is an emergency.”
“That’s how it happens, sis. You’re four and a half months and just starting to show. That’s pretty good,” Lariah said.
“Let us see,” Karla requested.
“Fine, but don’t laugh at me.” I propped my phone up on the dresser and stepped back.
“Girl, why would we laugh? Being pregnant—oh my God, Mona. You look adorable,” Karla cooed.
“Absolutely adorable,” Lariah agreed.
“Y’all think so?”
“We wouldn’t lie to you, sis,” Lariah said. “Do you have anything to wear?”
“No, I need to go shopping ASAP. Clinton left a few of his button-down shirts here. I’m gonna see if I can work some magic with one of those and do some online shopping today at work.”
“Let us know if you want us to meet you at one of the malls tonight to pick up a few things to make it through the week,” Karla offered.
“Yes! Can we?”
“Lariah, are you available?” Karla asked.
“Just let me know where we’re meeting.”
“Okay, but before I let y’all go, I wanted to invite you to my birthday party. It’s next Saturday at Pinstripes on E. Illinois.”
“You’re having a party?” Karla inquired.
“And it’s this Saturday?” Lariah asked.
“Okay, so what had happened was, Clinton and I were talking about when and how we would tell our families about us and the baby. Since our birthdays are a week apart, we decided to have a joint celebration.”
“And you planned all this without us?” Lariah pressed.
“Not really. Clinton’s assistant pretty much made all the arrangements.”
“Why are we just now hearing about this?” Karla questioned.
“I’ve been hesitant about bringing it up because…” I let my words fade as I tried to formulate a response.
“What’s making you hesitant?” Karla continued.
“I’m not so sure Cairo should come. What happened at your house was very telling, Karla. It’s clear that Cairo’s loyalty is to Winston. How should I feel about that?”
She released a frustrated sigh. “You have a right to feel some type of way about it. Hell, I’m still pissed that he still talks to that bum ass nigga.”
“So, you’re good with him not coming? He’s Clinton’s least favorite person right now, just above Winston. This is his birthday party, too, and I don’t want anything to pop off between them.”
“It’s cool.”
“For the record, Dom had no idea Cairo had invited Winston. To my knowledge, he doesn’t talk to Winston, but he probably won’t come if he knows Cairo won’t be there,” Lariah said.
“I kinda figured that, but please let him know he’s welcome. I’ll send y’all the rest of the details via text. I need to get moving, or I’ll be late.”
“Hold on. I have a confession,” Karla announced.
“We’ve had enough surprises this morning,” Lariah quipped. “Is it important?”
“It has nothing to do with you, so you can go if you need to,” Karla told Lariah.
“And miss the tea? Nah, spill it.”
“And do it quickly, please,” I urged.
“I overheard Cairo inviting Winston to game night. I was pissed but didn’t say anything to him. Instead, I invited you and Clinton over because I wanted Winston to see you happy and thriving.”
“You had to know that was a terrible idea,” I said.
“I actually thought it was a great idea. I knew seeing you with Clinton would crush Winston.”
“You’re lucky my man is on his grown man shit because that could have gone way wrong.”
“Are you mad?”
“No, I’m not mad. I can admit I felt some satisfaction seeing the shock on Winston’s face when he realized Clinton and I were together.”
“Wasn’t it the best? I swear it made my year.” Karla beamed.
“You meant well, but I’m glad things didn’t get as bad as they could have. Don’t do anything like that again without at least warning me.”
“I promise I won’t. Please don’t tell Clinton,” Karla pleaded. “He already ain’t fucking with my husband, and I don’t want to be added to the list. You’re about to have my niece or nephew, and I don’t want to be banned from seeing you two.”
“Oh, about that. Thanks for the reminder. Until I’m sure Cairo ain’t fucking with Winston, I won’t be visiting. You’ll have to come to me, or we can meet somewhere. I’ll see y’all later. Love you.”
Whew! Glad that conversation was over and our friendship was still intact.