Chapter 16 #3
“I can’t fix what we had, Sienna. I can’t let go of what I have with Promise to rekindle what we lost.” It broke Monroe’s heart to say those words to Sienna, but he didn’t have it in him to lie to her.
“That moment in your presence. The kiss we shared. The way you touched me. The shit you made a nigga feel… All that love had a nigga head fucked up, so I had to get away. I had to search deep in my soul and talk to God about it, and…”
“And God told you that where you belonged was apart from me and Monae?” Sienna needed to know because her heart was pulverizing with every word Monroe spoke.
“Please tell me that the God I’ve been praying to didn’t tell you to break me down like this,” Sienna's voice cracked as she fought to keep her composure intact.
Sienna’s tears had tugged at Monroe’s heart, but there was no sugarcoating the truth. This was indeed goodbye to the relationship they shared years ago.
“I can’t say I heard his voice, but I’m sure about my decision.”
“How when you haven’t given us a real chance?”
“Look, I ain’t tryna hurt you, and I know the shit I’m sayin’ to you right now at sittin’ well wit’chu, but not wastin’ yo’ time gon’ be somethin’ you appreciate once you get out your feelings,” Monroe reasoned.
“You love who I used to be, and I ain’t never gon’ revert to being him again,” Monroe explained, locking eyes with her now as she stood.
“You deserve a new start, even if it ain’t with me.
I wanna see you happy ‘cause you deserve everything good that God got for you, and our daughter deserves to have a mother who exemplifies the best version of herself. We ain’t seventeen no more, Sienna. ”
Sienna sniffled, but remained quiet because Monroe had crushed every ounce of hope she had held out for rekindling their relationship.
“No matter what happens movin’ forward, ain’t nothin’ in this world gon’ stop me from being a father to our daughter,” he stated. “I’ll be back in a few days to pick up Monae. I wanna introduce her to Promise, and I wanna take her on a mini vacation before school starts back up.”
“Ok,” Sienna replied, then watched him walk away because in that moment she realized love can survive anything, but people…people change.
The steady hum of the shower tugged Promise from her slumber, while the cool air brushing across her skin confirmed what her subconscious had already sensed. Monroe had slipped from the bed. She stretched beneath the covers before sitting up on the side of the bed and slowly opening her eyes.
“Good morning, mommy’s sweet baby,” Promise greeted her unborn child, smoothing her hand over the gentle curve of her protruding belly.
“It’s time to get up,” she whispered, tapping the top of her stomach, slowly dragging her finger in a zigzag across her skin, smiling as she waited to see if the baby would chase it with a kick.
Rising to her feet, she padded slowly into the ensuite, and slipped into the shower behind Monroe, instantly wrapping her arms around his waist.
“Good morning, my love,” Promise greeted, her hands moving with a mind of their own.
Monroe chuckled, already knowing the time she was on. “There you go, startin’ shit early in the mornin’.
Promise responded with a kiss to his back before stepping in front of him. The sight of Monroe’s low-set eyes fueled the desire stirring inside her as she claimed his soft-cushioned lips, loving the slow tussle their tongues did every time they met.
“Mmm,” he groaned into her mouth, instantly setting every nerve ending beneath her skin on fire.
“Ssss,” Promise moaned, pulling away slowly, and busting a squat in front of him.
Monroe made his dick jump impulsively as soon as he observed the hunger in her gaze. Promise stuck her tongue out, circled it around the tip, then sealed it with a soul-stirring kiss that had Monroe tangling his hands in her thick tresses.
“Fuckin’ right, Doll. Talk slick to that bad mu’fucka,” Monroe said, pumping his dick deeper into her mouth.
Opening her mouth wider and did that swivel with her tongue, while reaching forward to manipulate his balls softly. Promise blew his mind with the simple things she did, and snatched his soul every time with her ability to master his body without having to be coached.
“Shit, Doll,” Monroe said, pulling back. “Come ride this dick,” he said, helping her stand, guiding her back to the built-in, marble shower bench.
The coldness of the shower bench seeped into his skin as he sat down and welcomed Promise onto his lap.
Promise straddled him, slowly sliding down his thick length while capturing his mouth in a deep kiss that was both unhurried and unruly.
Their tongues met with familiar hunger, each slow sweep spiked her inner freak as she rode him.
They were two addicts chasing a high they’d never come down from.
Reaching forward, Monroe grabbed two handfuls of her plump ass cheeks, opening them wider as he met her in the middle with those deep strokes that kept her begging for more.
“Dangerous ass pussy… Make no fuckin’ sense,” Monroe said, hitting her pussy with so much passion, so much love they translated to a realm so pure… so heavenly there was no doubt–they’d be different when they came back down to earth.
“Oh, baby,” Promise rasped softly. “I’m about to cum,” she warmed, grinding deeper.
Monroe protectively wrapped one arm around her back, then pushed back slightly, meeting her slick, swollen clit with his thumb.
“Ughn!” She moaned and shivered from the pleasure Monroe transferred to her body.
“I got you, Doll,” Monroe promised her. “Baptise this dick,” he said, already converted, and convinced that there was something embedded in her waters because the way her essence flooded him had him entranced.
Monroe held Promise close as they climaxed together, the steady flow of warm water hitting Promise’s back and the front of Monroe’s legs slowly snatched them back down to earth.
Three Hours Later…
It was a beautiful day in New York as Monroe switched lanes on the four-lane highway with his hand clasped tightly with Promise.
Plies’ U Ain’t Regular thumped through the speakers of Monroe’s Bugatti when suddenly he decided it was the right time for Promise to meet his daughter.
The thought had crossed his mind a time or two, but he’d dismissed it because the time wasn’t right.
It probably never would be, but Monroe was a man who controlled the narrative.
It was important for him to see how Monae would take to Promise, he wanted to feel how or if the energy would shift lower when Promise and Sienna occupied the same space.
Monroe got off at the next exit going towards Brooklyn.
“Where you going, babe?” Promise asked, noticing that he’d taken the wrong exit.
“Just ride, Doll,” Monroe stated with a smirk. “I gotta make a quick detour,” he said, turning up the music a few notches, silently communicating that he didn’t want to answer any more questions.
Promise smiled and shook her head. “I hope it’s gone be quick because I’m hungry.”
Monroe laughed. “I’ma feed you, chill.”
Promise sat back and enjoyed the ride as Monroe drove above the speed limit, swerved through lanes, and kissed the top of her hand repeatedly.
Their balance had returned, and they’d gotten back to them.
Monroe’s affection and love had grounded Promise, and in moments like this when she thought she couldn’t love him any more than she already had–she fell deeper.
The cars, buildings, businesses, and houses had all gone by in a blur because Promise had slipped deep into the haven of her thoughts about the future she and her man were back building.
The feeling of being loved and chosen was in a lane of its own.
However, the second Monroe turned into a community with newly developed homes, Promise turned to face him, not knowing what to expect. “Who lives over here?” Promise asked casually.
Monroe continued to look forward until he shifted his car to park. “This is the house I bought for Monae and her mother,” he said, like it was a small gesture.
Promise nodded because Monroe had run it by her before he did it, but she hadn’t paid attention to the details.
She understood that he’d done it because his daughter deserved to live just as comfortably as he did, even when she wasn’t with him.
She also knew that with all the damage Macie had done, this house was the least Monroe could do for Sienna to give her a little peace too.
“I want you to meet Monae and Sienna,” Monroe stated with a solemn expression.
“Why didn’t you tell me this before we left the house?” Promise quizzed, suddenly feeling the need to be perfect.
“It wasn’t planned,” he told her truthfully. “I decided when I took the exit to Brooklyn.”
Promise didn’t respond. Just sat there, gazing at the front door.
“Look at me,” Monroe said, caressing the top of her hand.
Promise reluctantly obliged.
“You said you would accept her like she was yours,” Monroe reminded her. “I need you to prove it, ‘cause I’m all in wit’chu, but I’m all in wit’ her too.”
“It’s not that I didn’t mean what I said, Monroe,” Promise replied softly. “I just don’t like being caught off guard. The first impression your daughter has of me wasn’t a good one. I just–”
“Wanted some shit that wasn’t real?” Monroe shot.
“What?” Promise shot with squinted eyes.
“You wanted the next time you saw my daughter and her mother to be perfect,” Monroe said, resting his head on the headrest.
“And what’s wrong with that?” Promise asked, turning fully in the passenger seat to face him.
“Everything,” Monroe protested. “Ain’t shit about this world, life, or this situation perfect.
Why the hell would perfection be the standard, when nobody is?
All you gotta do is stay true to yourself, Doll.
If you go in there on the perfection bullshit, Monae gon’ call bullshit. She got her daddy in her.”
Promise hollered. “Shut the hell up, Monroe.”