Chapter 18
Two Months Later
The past two months had been challenging but necessary. After I agreed to follow the ground rules Ginae laid out, I couldn’t renege, because if nothing else, I was a man of my word.
Once we got her settled back at the condo, I realized how serious she was about her rules.
We didn’t spend the night together until I’d secured a therapist, and that took three weeks.
After that, she only allowed me to stay at the condo one night each week, and she stayed overnight with me on Saturday nights.
I hated it, but it was one of her boundaries, and I promised to adhere.
The time we spent together when we weren’t working was very intentional.
We planned dates, shared old pictures, played board games, put together puzzles, watched old movies, talked about baby names and our future, and sometimes, we’d lie around doing nothing.
It was different for me because the only thing I’d ever done with a woman was a quick dinner and sex.
I’d barely conversed with them more than the time we spent at dinner.
It took a few weeks of therapy for me to get to the core of why I was there.
The first thing we tackled was my feelings about the miscarriage.
I wasn’t expecting my first session to be that heavy, but it was needed.
That night, Ginae and I cried and consoled each other for hours, and they were the most life-changing hours of my life.
After sharing with my therapist my truth about why I didn’t fuck with my father, why my relationship with my mother was surface-level, and why I had dreams about killing Kavia, my therapist made me take a good look in the mirror.
My main issue was that I blamed everyone else and didn’t take accountability for my part in losing Ginae.
It was my parents’ fault for trying to force me into an arranged marriage.
It was my father’s fault for arranging that I stay in jail for a month after I beat his ass.
It was my mother’s fault for not standing up for me against her husband.
It was Kavia’s fault for reaching out to Ginae to tell her about the engagement.
Hell, I even blamed Ginae for not giving me the benefit of the doubt.
In my mind, it was everyone’s fault but mine, but my therapist helped me see how wrong I was. Those sessions were brutal and ugly but very necessary. I felt lighter and more open to having hard conversations.
I’d be tested for the first time tonight since I’d begun therapy. I’d limited my contact with my mother to phone calls, I hadn’t had any run-ins with Kavia, and I hadn’t seen my father in several months. Although I felt as if I’d had a lot of aha moments in therapy, I was still a work in progress.
My mother’s sixty-fifth birthday party was tonight, and thankfully, Ginae had agreed to be my date.
It was a black-tie affair, so I pulled out another one of my tuxedos.
Ginae looked gorgeous, as usual, in a floor-length, black dress that sparkled from top to bottom and had spaghetti straps.
My favorite part of the dress was the long split on the left side, showing off her thick, sexy leg.
“Do I look fat?” she asked, turning to face me after spending more time than needed in front of the full-length mirror.
She’d agreed to get dressed at my house so that I wouldn’t have to pick her up since I live closer to the venue.
“No, baby. You don’t look fat. You look beautiful.”
“I probably shouldn’t have worn a fitted dress. I’m at the stage where people can’t tell if I’m pregnant or if I ate too much.”
“Fuck people. I love you in this dress. Let’s go.”
She took one more look in the mirror before grabbing her purse and following me out the door. After helping her into the car, I got behind the wheel, and we were on our way.
“When do you think you’ll be ready to tell your family about the baby?” I asked.
“I don’t know. I want to make sure I’m out of the danger zone.”
“You’re past the twelve week mark, baby. All the ultrasounds we’ve done every week are perfect. You and the baby are progressing as you should. I don’t think we have anything to worry about.”
“I’m still nervous.”
“I understand, and I’m not rushing you, but I have an idea for how we can tell them.”
“How?”
“I want it to be a surprise.”
“How’s that going to work?”
“Let me handle everything. Just let me know when you’re ready to tell them and give me a week. I’ll handle everything else.”
“Okay. Let me think about it, and I’ll tell you tomorrow.”
“Cool. Now, I know I’ve been in therapy, but I’m still a work in progress.”
“I’ve been praying that everything goes smoothly. Hopefully, God isn’t too busy tonight.”
“I can definitely say that I’ve never felt more mentally prepared to deal my father and Kavia. I can always tolerate my mother, but I do and say things to her for shock value, so I’ll do my best not to do that tonight.”
“I’m proud of you, baby.”
“Don’t be proud yet. Let’s get through the evening first.”
We arrived at the venue, and I pulled up to the entrance. Two valets approached either side of my car. One of them helped Ginae out, while the other took my keys and gave me a card with a number on it. I walked around the back of the car to where Ginae waited and took her hand.
“You ready?” I asked, and she nodded.
Once inside, I saw the usual suspects. From what I could tell at first glance, the members of The Black Collective were present and accounted for.
On our way to find my mother, we were stopped by several people.
Instead of introducing Ginae as my fiancée, I introduced her as my future wife.
Regardless of what had transpired between us two months ago, marriage was the goal.
I spotted my mother talking to a group of her guests. As we got closer, our eyes connected, and she excused herself and met us halfway.
“Happy Birthday, Ma. You look beautiful, as usual.”
“Thank you, Son.”
“Happy Birthday, Mrs. Jordan. It’s nice to see you again.”
My mother looked Ginae up and down, and I braced myself for what she would say.
“Thank you. I was wondering if you were still around.”
Ginae smiled uncomfortably. “Here I am.”
“Anyway. There is a table over there for gifts, and you’re sitting at table one with the family. Please don’t ruin my day by arguing with your father.”
“I’ll do my best.”
“Thank you. I have more guests to greet, but dinner will be served promptly at 6:30.
She saw one of her friends and floated in their direction.
“That wasn’t so bad,” I said.
“It could’ve been worse,” Ginae responded.
“Let’s go sit. My dad isn’t the social butterfly that my mother is, so he’s probably already seated. Hopefully, Phoenix and Kevin are there to help ease some of the tension.”
“When was the last time you saw your father?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know, about six or seven months.”
“Wow.”
“Yeah, and when we see each other, few words are exchanged, if any.”
We headed in the direction my mother pointed, in search of the gift table. On the way, we ran into Lennon and his mistress, Calinda.
“Wassup, bruh? How you doing, Ginae? This is my lady, Calinda,” Lennon greeted.
“I’m doing okay. It’s nice to meet you, Calinda.”
“You too. I love your dress. Who’s the designer?”
“Thank you. Umm, I honestly have no idea. I’m not into designers and brands, but I got it from a boutique downtown.”
“Oh, okay. Well, it’s still cute. Baby, let’s go find our table.”
“I’ll catch up with you on Monday,” Lennon said as Calinda dragged him away.
“I like Sybil much better. Calinda seems like a bougie bitch,” Ginae said.
I chuckled. “She’s a handful, that’s for sure. Nothing like Sybil.”
We found the gift table and placed our gift bag with the others. While on the hunt for table one, I saw Kevin carrying two drinks and assumed we were going to the same place, so we followed him. When we arrived, Phoenix was talking to our father, probably about work, based on how animated she was.
My father spotted us first, and I could see his body tense as he avoided making eye contact with me.
I was used to us ignoring each other because it had been that way for so long.
Phoenix stood when she saw us, and I couldn’t get over how big her stomach had gotten.
I’d seen her regularly during her pregnancy because I was her doctor, but I still couldn’t get over the fact that my baby sister was carrying a child.
“Hey, Phy. Hey, Ginae,” Phoenix greeted.
“Hey, Phoenix. You look gorgeous,” Gina complimented as they embraced.
“Thank you, and so do you.”
“I just saw you last week, and it looks like your stomach has doubled in size.”
“You play all day. Aren’t you an obstetrician? You should know very well how this works,” she teased.
“I do, but not with my little sister. Wassup, Kevin?”
“Not too much. Hoping tonight goes better than the last time we were together.”
“As long as you know who isn’t at this table, we should be good,” Ginae said. “How are you, by the way?”
“Couldn’t be better,” he responded.
Now that the pleasantries were done, it became a bit awkward. Ginae squeezed my arm, and when I looked at her, she nodded toward my father. I hesitated briefly before speaking.
“Wassup, Pops. It’s been a minute.”
“It has. Who’s your friend?”
“This is my future wife, Ginae. Baby, this is my father, Bradley Jordan.”
Ginae smiled and offered her hand. “It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Jordan.”
His looked her over, and I swore, if he didn’t greet her properly, therapy would be very interesting this week.
“It’s nice to meet you too,” he finally responded, shaking her hand. “Dinner will be served soon. Have a seat.”
To say I was shocked was an understatement. Ginae took the seat next to Phoenix, and they immediately struck up a conversation, speaking too low for me to catch what was being said. I remained standing, as did Kevin, and my father joined us.
“How’s work?” my father asked.
“Busy. How are things in the world of technology?”
“Constantly changing.”