Chapter 14 #2
“Why don’t I tell them?” Dwight stated and she gave him a smiling nod.
“Last week Mel’s mother showed up, and the truth is I already knew her.
Now, lo and behold, when Mel becomes a world-famous architect, I will be incredibly lucky to say that not only was she my most brilliant student but also my daughter. ”
“What?!” flew from the mouths in the room and she couldn’t hold back the smile and laugh at the reactions.
“Wait, she’s our sister?” Steve, the middle son at thirteen, asked.
“Did you cheat on Mom?” Tyler, the fifteen year old, inquired.
“Can we eat?” the youngest at eleven Ryan questioned not seeming at all concerned about it which made her laugh a bit.
“I know you’ve all heard me talk about Mel before,” Dwight told them. “And yes, we got the test results this afternoon.”
“Your dad ended a relationship with Melinda’s mother before we met,” Lori added for them.
“And she never bothered to tell him there was a possibility that I was his,” Mel stated. “But now…”
“So you’re not having a baby?” Nicole teased.
“No, I promise when we finally decide to start a family, we won’t keep you all in the dark,” she laughed. “Now why don’t we eat so we can all really get to know each other?”
The dinner was a success, and she soon found that Tyler loved to play pool while Ryan was the artist and Steve the school whiz.
She and Tyler played a couple games with Arthur coaching him and Tate purposely trying to block her shots as she started them, and she knew that she’d finally found something she’d never known she was missing.
Later that night as she laid in Jordan’s arms, she wondered what he’d say if she rolled over and told him she loved him.
The fear that he’d reject her brought a sigh to her lips and she felt him pull her tighter to him as he kissed the top of her head.
She snuggled back against him and smiled when she felt him stir, he might not love her, but he wanted her and he’d never shown interest in anyone else, and that made her happy.
“Mel,” he whispered against her hair as she moved back against him making him fully aware of how much he wanted her still. “Are you awake?”
“Mmm,” she sighed as she turned over to press a kiss onto his chest. “Yeah, I can’t sleep.”
“Can’t turn your brain off?”
“Nope, usually I can but I just keep going back to when I saw the results. It’s the first test that I had no control over the results and to find out that all this time I’ve been so close to him without even knowing it.”
“You wonder why you didn’t see it.”
“Yeah, when we found out that Dwight knew her, it all kind of hit me. The slight similarities in our appearances, our similar interests, but I couldn’t get my hopes up because if it turned out he wasn’t…”
“I know baby,” he said tilting her chin up to look at him.
“But now you know for sure and you can stop worrying. Dwight already loved you Mel, it didn’t matter if you were his biologically or not but now that we all know, you do realize this means even more family hanging around probably asking us again and again when we’re going to start our own family. ”
“I guess we’ll just have to ignore it like we have for the last two years, unless you want to that is. I know we haven’t fully talked about what the future’s going to hold but we’re building a house together and I don’t want to go anywhere,” she admitted taking a chance.
“You don’t?” he asked as his hands slid down her body pulling her closer to him.
“Mel, I don’t want to lose you baby. I want to wake up next to you the way we have for the last six years.
We haven’t stuck to our original agreement, but I did promise that we’d reevaluate after you graduated from college… ”
“What’s there to evaluate Jordan? I can’t imagine being with anyone else, ever. I love your family—our family—I don’t want to lose them, and I don’t want to lose you,” she said still unable to voice the three words to him.
“Mel, baby,” he sighed as he kissed her. He held back a little as he tried to control his hurt over hearing her say she loved his family but not him. He hated that she could make love to him, be content to be with him, but not love him. He pulled back and looked down into her eyes.
“I don’t want you to go anywhere, and as far as starting our own branch of the family tree…
” He paused knowing in a way he wanted it, desperately wanted to watch her have his baby but not like this, not without her loving him the way he loved her.
“We’ve barely had time to be together fully, between work, school, and everything else we’re never home.
As much as I’d love to have you pregnant, I want you to myself for a while still. ”
“Honestly, I like that answer,” she told him with a grin. “After all, I am only twenty-three and while you might be creeping up on the mid-thirties, I still have a long way to go to get there.”
“Are you calling me old Mel?”
“You did fall asleep on me last night basically as soon as we climbed into bed,” she teased.
“I think you’re forgetting what we did before we got to the bed,” he stated moving his hands down her hips.
“Only once Jordan? Maybe I should change your diet, see if that can’t…”
“Can’t what?” he asked turning her onto her back as he covered her body with his. “If you’re wondering whether or not I can pleasure you all night long still Mel, the answer is a resounding yes.”
“Prove it,” she sighed as his hands dipped between her thighs.
“Gladly baby,” he said covering her lips.
∞∞∞
By Friday afternoon, she couldn’t stop her happiness from spilling over and she readily walked through the campus over to the building site to see Devon pay his dues for trying to hustle her.
Their entire ethics class showed up much to his dismay and she laughed gleefully with Tate as they watched him pound away on the nails.
True to her word she’d found an old purple dress from the thrift store and made him wear it.
“This is so perfect,” Anna laughed taking a picture with her cell. “You really are a surprise do you know that? But just as a caution, I think Devon’s into you, like really into you.”
“No he’s not,” she said with a shake of her head. “He’s just being nice.”
“Too nice especially to someone who’s married. That guy is up to something so be careful. Now, what’s up with you and the professor?”
“Professor? Wait you’re talking about Dwight and my fainting spell, right?” she asked with a soft sigh hating that the entire campus likely knew about it.
“Yeah, they said you were walking through campus with the hunky professor, who’s married, isn’t he?
Anyway, they said that you just blacked out.
He caught you and carried you to his office with your husband trailing after him.
I may be stepping over the line here but isn’t he old enough to be your father? ”
“He is my father,” she admitted with a smile. “We were talking about the storm and how Jordan might have thought something similar to your warning about Devon and then I looked up and saw my mother. Turns out that Dwight knew her too, twenty-four years ago.”
“Oh my god, so he’s really…you have proof?”
“We got it earlier this week; it was a total shock but I’m completely okay with it. I’ve known Dwight for five years and he’s always been there to support me so to find out that he is my father and that he and Lori not to mention my three half-brothers eagerly accepted me, it’s great.”
“So why haven’t you said anything to anyone about it?” Anna asked.
“Because if everyone knew they’d complain he was treating me differently, I was already the class pet so to say and if they knew that I was also his daughter…we’re waiting until graduation for it to come out.”
“Wow, I’m happy for you. Now if only I could land a guy, any guy, would be great,” she teased. “How do you manage to find so many of them?”
“I grew up with a best friend who happens to be one, played pool regularly where lots of them hang out, and I suppose the packaging didn’t hurt either.”
“What packaging are you talking about?” Tate asked coming back over to her.
“The outside one that I possess,” she told him.
“Ah, she hates it when men stare at the northern region unless she’s beating the crap out of them at a game of pool, then she uses them for distraction.
Plus when she puts on her skintight jeans and a top that shows off that tiny waist and her sweet ass,” Tate stated as Anna and several other’s mouths dropped open.
“What did I tell you I’d do if you don’t stop talking about my ass Tatum,” she said hip checking him. “I can reveal so much about you Tate, would you really want to push me?”
“Alright, I’ll behave,” he said kissing her cheek before heading back to check on Devon’s progress.
“You let him talk like that about you and your husband doesn’t care?” Gail asked.
“Tate knows me better than anyone, even Jordan in a way, but we’re strictly platonic.
He’s not in love with me and I’m not in love with him.
He jokes about it because he knows the truth and it doesn’t matter to me.
Jordan knows it means nothing and it’s just how we are.
He’s my best friend and no matter what he’ll always be there to protect me. ”
“Sounds like a lot for a guy who’s just your friend,” Nick stated.
“Tate was the one person I could rely on no matter what. When I was fourteen some of the juniors at our school attacked me, wanted to see how far they could get, if I was like my mother who freely provided her company around town. Tate broke a hockey stick over one of their backs and was about to go after them with it again when they decided to run.”
“Wow,” Gail said staring up at Tate. “Was he always so built?”
“Tate? No way, when I first started working for Jordan, Tate was about an inch shorter, about like Devon. He didn’t work out, and he rode his motorcycle everywhere, well he still does that.
To him it didn’t matter though, he threatened he’d clobber whatever gorilla needed if they stepped out of line. It was definitely an amusing prospect.”
“What was an amusing prospect?” Jordan asked sliding up behind her, pulling her into his hold.
“Tate beating up part of the guys if they’d stepped out of line when I first started working for you. Did you notice our newest employee?” she teased tilting her head up to look at him over her shoulder.
“I did, I take it this was the losing end of the bet?”
“It was.”
“And what would have happened if he’d managed to beat you?” he stated raising an eyebrow.
“I would have had to write the entire paper myself. I like this better though,” she laughed as Tate shook his head at Devon before pushing him out of the structure.
“This guy…you can definitely tell he’s a business major,” Tate said as they reached them. “I think we’re going to have to redo that wall but it’s worth it. The crew would like to say thank you Mel for being your normal amazing self. I haven’t laughed this hard probably since…well prom.”
“Which one?” she asked with a wink.
“I’d say they were both riots. I still don’t know how we could go to two proms and have a downpour occur during each.”
“Huh?” Devon said glancing between them.
“We may have been a bit devious at prom,” Mel stated with a huge grin.
“A bit?” Jordan asked. “Their junior year they hacked into the computer system at the Royale and had the sprinklers go off in only their ballroom just after they’d announced the king and queen.”
“Did you get caught?” Anna inquired.
“Nope and our senior year we took it a step further,” Mel laughed.
“We stole a copy of the video the AV Club had put together of the candidates and intersected it with scenes from The Wizard of Oz when the queen bee’s picture came up they started to play and when the witch screamed her ‘I’m melting’ it showed Stephanie’s face dissolving then the sprinklers went off. ”
“Which effectively ended the dance,” Tate added.
“Before the announcement of the king and queen,” Jordan tacked on shooting them a glance.
“What was that look about?” Devon asked.
“Oh, yeah, seems we weren’t the only ones taking Stephanie down. The student body voted for write-ins instead of the people on the list,” Mel admitted.
“I thought they didn’t announce the winners,” Gail said.
“They didn’t make the big announcement, but Stephanie wanted to know who won and when they opened the card…” Tate said shaking his head.
“Who won?” Anna asked.
“The most brilliant girl in the world and her loyal sidekick,” Tate answered bowing to Mel.
“Sneakiest I’d say,” Devon said shooting her a grin that Jordan didn’t like.
“Mmm, sweetest, most talented, amazing, beautiful, wonderful and mine,” Jordan countered pulling her tightly against his body.
Mel shot him a glance no one else could see inquiring as to what his game was but he simply smiled down at her making her heart race with need.
“I’m sorry to cut this short but I need Mel’s opinion on our house, and since they are her plans, we can’t do it without her,” he said leading her away from the group.
“Would you like to tell me what this is really about Jordan?” she inquired once they were out of earshot. “You don’t need my opinion on the house. Is this about Devon?”
“I don’t like the guy Mel. He’s interested in you and he’s not backing down as he should when it comes to another man’s wife.”
“Don’t you trust me?” she asked raising an eyebrow.
“Of course I trust you Mel. I don’t trust him to take no for an answer. I don’t want anything to happen to you baby, you’re too important to me to not make sure that you’re safe.”
“Jordan I’m fine. Devon’s not going to try anything and even if he did, I do happen to know several ways of defending myself.
My husband made sure of that,” she said with a grin as she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him.
It went on a bit too long and soon the guys from the crew saw and started up their ruckus.
“Feel like driving me to work tomorrow Mr. Turner? Oh I’m sorry, Mr. Holmes?” she asked as they broke apart.
“You don’t need anything from the Jeep?”
“The only thing I need is your lips on mine.”
“Which set?” he asked laughing at the blush that invaded her cheeks. “I love that I can still do that Mel, but now I want to see it spread.”
“Then take me home oh dear husband of mine and you can see what does and doesn’t make me blush still,” she grinned.