Chapter Thirty-Two
Zamora
Snow was falling on the day Marcus and I were to look at another house. But I was determined to still show up. I had a good feeling about this place, and it was time for us to lay down some roots. The last four months had flown by, and after my divorce was finally finalized, we set our wedding date for the following May. We weren’t planning anything huge, but the ceremony and reception would be at Royalty, the place we had met many years ago.
We had finally had our intimate moment four days after the doctor’s visit after Marcus received a clean bill of health. She hadn’t passed anything on to him, and we hadn’t been able to keep our hands off each other since that afternoon when we got the news. I must admit, there was nothing like making love to a man who loved and adored me as much as Marcus did. He treated my body like delicate silk each time we made love, and the passion we shared was so deep and intense that, at times, it felt like I was dreaming and there was no way I was back with my first and last love. The man that I honored, respected, and admired so much, and every moment we were apart, I craved to be near him and in his presence.
There were ways that we treated and acted around each other that I hadn’t realized until one night when we were out to dinner with Zaria and her husband.
“Hello, damn Zee, can y’all share it with the table,” Zaria huffed.
“I’m sorry, what? What did you say?” I asked, barely looking her way, and then I heard her snapping her fingers at me.
“Hello, eyes over here. I mean, damn, I get that y’all are reunited. and it feels so good, but y’all invited us out to dinner, remember,” she said, giving me a look with a slight eye roll.
I detected her annoyance, so I cleared my throat and turned completely forward. I hadn’t even realized that I was damn near in Marcus’s lap. When I straightened up in my seat, he leaned in my way, put an arm on the back of my chair, and began to caress my arm.
“I’m so sorry, Zar. I mean, this is just us. I didn’t realize that we were ignoring the table. My bad,” I said, picking up the menu to examine it.
“Yes, damn, it’s like y’all need to get a goddamn room,” she said. I stuck my tongue out at her, and she gave me her middle finger. “Don’t invite us out, no more if y’all gonna act like y’all on a romantic date alone,” she snarled, and I giggled.
“Sis, okay, I get it, and we’ll try to behave.”
“Please do, and Marc, she isn’t going to float away, so you can loosen the hold you have on her shoulder, my guy,” she admonished.
“Sorry, sis, I just can’t keep my hands off this woman,” he returned.
“You say that now,” Josh said with a chuckle behind his menu.
“Really, babe, okay, keep talking and ruin this night, if you want to.”
“Awww, babe, I’m joking,” he said, trying to lean in for a kiss. She playfully resisted but gave him a soft kiss.
“So, what is up with Eliana, Marc?” my sister asked. I’m sure she’s somewhere plotting your demise and plotting on Zee,” she said, taking a bread stick from the basket that sat in the middle of the table.
“I have no idea. I haven’t heard a word from her. I shipped her items to her place; they came back to the hotel. I drove by, and her place was vacant, and her store was no longer there. I reached out to her parents to give them her belongings. They may have me blocked or something, because I get the voicemail and no return texts or calls. It’s like she took her show on the road, in search or her next victim,” he said.
“Victim,” Josh quizzed with a light laugh.
I jumped in. I knew the entire truth about the scam artist she was, but I didn’t want to get all into that with them that evening. “You know, the next man that she can cheat on,” I said and put a hand on my man’s thigh. I hadn’t told my sister the entire story. I didn’t want her to worry that I’d be in danger of retaliation or no crazy street feuds.
“Well, good. If you never see her again, that would be a win,” she said, and when the server came, that gave me a distraction and my opportunity to change the subject. I had no idea where that snake had crawled to, and I really didn’t give a damn. I was just happy she left us alone and didn’t come back around accusing my man of being her kid’s father. “So, we have news,” my sister smiled brightly.
“News, do tell,” I encouraged.
“Well, Josh and I are going to have a baby,” she shared, and at that moment, I realized that she hadn’t ordered an alcoholic beverage since we had sat. I paused, swallowed hard, and nervously grabbed my glass and held it up.
“Congratulations, sis, that’s so wonderful,” I said so damn oddly. I knew she knew that shit was weird, and my congratulations were not genuine. We all tapped glasses, and my eyes burned. I stood quickly and excused myself, and damn near ran to the bathroom.
I ran into a stall, and I sobbed. The memories of losing my baby flooded back to my mine. Just a few short months ago, I had lost my baby and now my sister was having the one thing that the Most High took back from me. Zaria never even wanted kids or talked about trying for a baby and for years that was the one thing that I tried so hard to have. Zaria was never interested in being a mom. Hell, she wanted to mingle like she was single and now she is expecting. I was hurt, and I knew damn sure I was being selfish because I was in a bathroom stall crying my eyes out and not celebrating with my sister. “Shit! Fuck!” I yelled out loud. I was so damn wrong for reacting, and my sister didn’t deserve for me to be this way.
She and Josh were happy and having a child, so I took a deep breath, rolled a tissue from the roll, and dried my eyes. I looked up toward the ceiling and asked for forgiveness and grace. I also asked for understanding because His ways were not like our ways, and I had to get it together, go back to the table, and celebrate my sister and Josh’s blessing.
When I opened the stall door, my sister was standing there, and I just walked into her arms. “I’m sorry for reacting so horribly. I love you, and I am so happy for you and Josh. It was just overwhelming, and I just reacted because—,” is all I could get out before she cut me off.
“I know, ZeeZee. And I honestly did not think about the miscarriage and I’m sorry for just giving you the news the way I did. I didn’t think and I am so sorry,” she said holding me tight.
“It’s okay, Zar and you didn’t do anything wrong. Congratulations and I am so anxious to be an auntie,” I said. I held on to my sister even tighter as I prayed for strength and to one day have a baby of my own with Marcus.
“Thank you, and I don’t believe in your God, or your Most High, however you say, but for you I know he will give you your hearts desires because you deserve it, Zee. Our children will play together that I do believe.”
I smiled at her. “I believe that too. Now let’s dry up and get my niece or nephew some good food,” I suggested. We both went over to the vanity. We dried tears and before we walked out, I stopped her. “You are going to be a good mom, Zar, because you took care of me, and you were a great big sister. I am truly happy for you guys, and I don’t want you to ever feel no type of way about sharing this pregnancy with me because I want to support you and be here for you for whatever you need.”
She pulled me into a hug. “Thanks, sis. Now, please, let’s get back to this table. I’m ready to eat,” she joked. We laughed and then headed back to the table.
We enjoyed a great meal and managed to keep our PDA in control because we certainly didn’t want Zaria to blow chunks if she witnessed us kiss each other again. We had a good night, and as soon as we got into the car, I asked, “So what do you think happened to Eliana? I mean, she went away so quietly, with no resistance.”
“Your guess is as good as mine, and I don’t even think about it. I am just glad she moved on without a fight. I was scared at first that I’d have you’re, my baby daddy drama for months until we could do the DNA, but I’m happy she had some sense and moved on quietly.
I squeezed his hand in mine and just rode home with questions dancing in my head that I knew he couldn’t answer. When we got in, we headed straight for the bedroom and freed ourselves of our clothes, and we made love repeatedly that night.
My phone rang, snapping me back to the moment I was in before thinking back on our double date that we’ve never had again after that night. “Hello,” I sang.
“Hey baby, don’t forget about the appointment we have with Annika to see the house.”
“Well, she called and said her husband, Jaxon, would be meeting us.”
“Is she okay, the last time we had a showing she wasn’t feeling well.”
“Well, she is pregnant, so she is going through a lot of nausea, so we got Jaxson today,” I confirmed.
“That’s cool, you just be on time,” he added.
“I’m already there,” I joked.
“Yeah, okay, love you, and I’ll see you soon.”
I hung up, wrapped up the meat that I had marinated for dinner, and went to bundle up. I walked through the lobby with the usual greetings, and I knew I’d miss that when we moved. I hit a little traffic, but I managed to make it right on time. When I pulled up, the curb appeal was so gorgeous, and it was exactly what I’d been waiting to see. Marcus was set on a tri-level home that I absolutely didn’t want. I wanted a ranch-style/split level/with a basement and a big backyard. Marcus had a huge family, and we wanted to host things at our place. We need a large space to do it, and at thirty-five hundred livable square feet, I felt that this was going to be a great house.
“Hey, baby,” Marcus said after he opened my door and helped me out of my vehicle. He gave me a kiss.
“Hey, babe, look at this house. I already love it, and I’m so excited to get inside,” I said, bursting. I was so excited.
“I knew you’d like it. Not my style, but let’s go and look inside.” As we approached the door, Jaxson opened the door and greeted us.
“Welcome, guys, come on in. Annika sends her love and wishes she could be here for you today, Zamora, because she found this one just for you. Now, the best thing about this place is it is not on the market yet, and if you guys love it, we have to act fast because it is gorgeous and will not take long to sell. It’s price right and you are going to love the upgrades and modern touches,” he said, and we moved further into space. “The owner request that we remove our shoes,” he said, and I was okay with that. The dark wood floors were beautiful, and I was already in love with the foyer. I oooohhhhh and aaaaahhhhhh at everything as we saw an office to the left with French doors and beautiful built-in shelves. I was anxious to see the kitchen where all the cooking magic would happen, but we went down the hall to the right to the guest bedrooms and bathrooms first. Spacious with a junior suite with an en suite and two more that had a jack and jill bathroom with all new finishes had me ready to make an offer. We saw a couple of hall closets for more storage and then finally we made it to my sanctuary, the kitchen.
It was huge, with an island larger than I had ever seen before in my entire life. I was blown away and I looked at Marcus and he knew that I had found my dream kitchen. Of all the houses that we had looked at, in his Bongalo and Craftsmen style, not one kitchen held a candle to that one. I touched the six-burner gas stove, and I promised I wanted to move in that very same day.
“Marcus, please, I’ll never have a kitchen like this, do you see this?” I asked pointing out the pot filler. We had seen over a dozen houses, and this was it.
“I do, but let’s just see the rest,” he encouraged, and I tried to contain my excitement, but it was close to impossible. He opened the door to show us the patio and backyard outside the kitchen and finally we saw something that impressed Marcus, the outside kitchen. We didn’t go all the way out, because it was showing and we didn’t have on shoes, but we had a clear view of how large it was and finally Marcus got a little excited too.
On to the primary suite, we both looked at each other and again he smiled and nodded.
“Okay, Jaxson, now you are getting my attention. The size of this room and the tray ceilings are nice.”
“Well come on into the bathroom,” he said, and we followed. Another huge, updated space that we didn’t have to touch.
“Okay, let’s head downstairs,” Jaxson said, and we followed close. “Another bedroom and bath with a shower only, but still a three-piece bedroom.”
“Maybe a gym could be here?” Marcus said.
“No need, Marcus, I got you,” he said, taking us to another room that the owners had already set up as a gym.
“You got to be kidding me,” Marcus said now just as excited. “This house is sick and I’m starting to see why you wanted a ranch baby,” he said and then we saw the rest of the open finished space. A pool table, bar, flat screens and all the makings of a fun and entertaining space and I looked to my future husband.
“Marcus, this is the best house we’ve seen, and it needs zero changes, and I can imagine all the dishes I could whip up in that kitchen. It’s enough room to host your family, I mean baby, I feel that this one is the one. I love it, Marcus.”
“I’ll give you two a few minutes to explore and talk,” Jaxson said and left us in the basement.
“I can say that I am more than pleasantly surprised. I mean even the curb appeal is nicer than I expected and although this would have never been something I’d want to look at, I say I agree. This offers us the most and meets both of our wish list.”
I smiled so hard my cheeks would surely ache if I smiled too long. “So, is this it for you, because it is it for me.”
“Let’s take one more good look around and then we can talk to Jaxson,” he said, and we explored the basement again and then the main floor. He made my day when he said. “Let’s do it.”
“Seriously,” I squealed.
“If you love this house, baby this is the house I want you to have,” he said and then kissed me. I pulled him closer to me and kissed him deeper and I didn’t want to let him go. We broke our kiss and I held on to me and he held me even tighter. I got so emotional, tears just sprang from my eyes, and I sniffled. “Baby why are you crying?” he said resting his face on top of my head.
“I’m just so happy, I mean I’m happier than I’ve ever been in forever and marrying you and making you happy is all I want to do for the rest of my life. I’ve always been yours and I am unbelievably grateful for us getting back to us and I’m thankful for your love and I’m just so happy Marcus,” I cried.
“Shhhh, baby, me too. We are going to make so many memories in this house, including have babies, and have all our happy endings in this house.”
I smiled and laughed lightly. “Do you promise.”
“I do, now let’s go find Jaxson and put an offer in on our house,” he said and kissed the top of my head again. I didn’t want to leave his arms, but I wanted to stake a claim on that house. I held him close for a few more moments and we found Jaxson to put in an offer on our new home.