Chapter Twenty-Four #2
“His face was so red, I thought it was going to burst.” I grin as I add that little detail. “It only got worse when Mitch kicked his ass for calling me a whore.”
“He called you what?” Mama shouts.
I wave her down. “He had a few choice words, but Mitch reminded him to be respectful.”
“Good for Mitch.” Mama rolls her eyes. “I wish I could’ve seen that.”
The ladies laughed before getting serious again.
“The worst part was that the boys saw it. Cameron was so confused seeing his uncle and his father fight. He was close to having an asthma attack. But even worse than that was how angry AJ was,” I say as I think back. “He hates me.”
My mother waves her hand in the air. “No, he doesn’t.”
“Mama, you didn’t see it. He had so much anger and betrayal in his eyes.
” I shudder as I think back to the way he looked at me.
“The entire time I was with Mitch I thought about how wrong we were considering he was Andrew’s best friend, but I didn’t fully think of how it would affect his relationship with AJ. ”
I shake my head when I think of how stupid I was. Letting out a breath, I reveal the final piece to the puzzle.
“After the blowup, Mitch gave me an ultimatum. He basically said I needed to choose. I couldn’t make that decision on the spot. So I agreed to walk away .”
The women at the table remained silent. Their gazes darted around the room at each other.
“I’m confused,” Kyra says. “Why did you need to choose?”
“Kyra, my son won’t talk to me. Obviously, he isn’t okay with me dating Mitch. I have to put my kids first. I can’t be one of those moms who chooses a man over her children. No matter how much I love the man.”
Once again they glanced around the table at each other.
Look, I get it. Half of the ladies at the table don’t have kids, and the other two have small children.
They don’t yet understand the sacrifices a mother makes for her children.
I wanted Mitch, but how do you choose between your children and love?
“Well,” my mom says, crossing her hands over her chest. “I had no idea Mitch was abusing the boys.”
My face immediately frowns. “What are you talking about? Mitch has never abused the boys.” Even her suggesting that has me pissed.
“Oh, so not physical abuse,” Jada says, nodding. “He mistreats them? Talks down to them?”
Now I’m trying to figure out if there was something in the food that has these people talking crazy.
“Mitchell has always been good to AJ and Cameron. He treats them as his own. He would die for my boys,” I say, slamming my fist into my hand.
“Exactly.” Jada leans back in her chair. “You’re talking about not being a mother who chooses a man over her kids. That’s for mothers who choose abusers and scumbags over her children’s well-being. Mitch isn’t abusing your sons.”
Her words knock the wind out of my sails.
“But AJ—”
“Doesn’t pay the bills in this house,” my mother cuts off my argument. “Baby, I understand you want to take his feelings into consideration. And as a mother, you should. But he doesn’t get to dictate how your life should go.”
She walks over to me, cupping my face in her hand.
“One day, AJ is going to grow up and have a family of his own. I don’t want you to look back at your empty bed wondering what could’ve been.
You deserve to live your own life. And if Mitchell makes you happy, then baby, who cares what anyone else thinks. ”
“She’s right, Ella,” Pamela places her hand on top of mine on the table. “You don’t have to have one or the other.”
Mother folds her arms over her chest and eyes me wearily. “Are you sure this was about you picking Mitch or the boys? Mitchell doesn’t strike me as the type to make you choose between him and your kids.”
Jada takes a sip of her tea. “Hmmm, good point, Mama Faye.”
I duck my head, looking down at my plate. “Well, Andrew said—”
I didn’t get to finish my sentence before everyone was groaning.
“I should have known,” Mama mumbles.
“It’s not about Andrew,” I argue.
My mother gives me one of those looks you give a child who thinks they know everything but knows nothing. “Sweetheart, yes. Yes, it was.”
Her words finally registered. I was so caught up in the boys hating me that I couldn’t see what Mitchell was truly asking me.
He was asking me to choose him over Andrew.
He knew we could figure things out with the boys, as long as we worked together.
But if I continued to let Andrew stand in the way and make decisions for my life, Mitch and I would never work out.
My tears fall again. “Oh God. What have I done? He wanted me to choose him over Andrew, and I didn’t. I don’t think he’s going to take me back. I think I really messed it up.”
There is silence at the table again. I look around at all the stone faces.
“What?” I say, wiping my face.
“Ella, that man spent every weekend for an entire year helping you fix your house," Meagan says.
"And don't forget, he bought her bakery.”
Everyone hums in agreement with Destiny.
“You may have to do a little groveling, but trust me, he’ll take you back.”
Although I laugh with the others at Destiny’s words, I don’t feel as reassured as she does. I know I hurt Mitchell. And to be honest, I wasn’t even sure if I deserved to have him back.