"But, what?"
"My aunt … "
"I want to meet your aunt, Annette. The woman who raised you to be such a beautiful, independent, smart woman. If I have to ask her permission that is what I'll do."
"I know that she'd want to meet you," Annette said.
"You know I love you, right? I love you and there is no doubt that I want to be with you for the rest of my life."
"I love you, Jordan."
"We'll go looking at some neighborhoods and houses sometime next week when you're free, okay?"
"Okay."
Jordan pulled her closer and kissed her exposed belly button. Her body responded instantly to his touch. "Mmmmmm." He kissed her stomach and both sides of her pelvis, running his fingers under the black g-string panties peeking out of her low-rise jeans.
"Jordan … stop this before you start something we can't finish. Aren't you playing poker in a few minutes," Annette asked, pulling his lips from her body.
"Oh, believe me. If I start something, I'm gonna finish it," Jordan taunted. "Turn around."
"What? Why?" Annette asked, confused.
"Just turn around." Jordan pretended to be impatient. Annette did as he said. He ran his hands along the small week old tattoo, a Heat Ryderz logo, located between the top of her pelvis and where her spine ended. "It's healed up pretty well, hasn't it?"
Annette nodded.
"Looks good." He kissed her lower back and gave her ass a smack. "And don't worry. Ima tear that ass up later, too."
They headed down into the basement where some of the others were waiting to play a game of poker. Troy, TJ, Arlene, Travis, Mike, Tara, and Justin were already moving about the basement.
"Well, hey, you two," Tara greeted them.
Annette and Jordan both smiled and said their hellos to everyone.
"We ordered some hot wings about forty minutes ago. They are over by the bar. Help yourselves," TJ said.
"Thanks, but I'm not hungry right now," Annette said.
"And I already ate," Jordan said, suggestively.
"Yeah, we know, mothafucka!" TJ exclaimed. "You need to remove your headboards if you two are gonna be fuckin' every day like two wild animals."
Jordan laughed. "What are you talking about, man?" He opened his arms up as a gesture to emphasis his question. "I am a wild animal."
"Get over here, so we can deal these cards," TJ said jokingly, ignoring Jordan's comment.
Jordan took his seat the card table. "On the real, though. I'm working on getting that headboard down." He turned to Annette. "Annette, remind me the next time we wanna fuck that I need to stop in the middle of everything and take the headboards off the bed." Jordan smiled sheepishly.
"You're silly," Annette said.
"Whateva, man," TJ said, taking the joke. "Y'all just fuck too much."
Annette decided to leave those guys and join Tara and Arlene at the bar.
"Hey, what are you two drinking?" Annette asked, sitting on the empty stool beside them.
"Arlene just blended up some daiquiris. Want one?" Tara said.
"Sure," Annette nodded. Arlene poured the remaining daiquiris from the blender into a tall glass and passed it to her with a straw. "Thanks."
"Where's Denise?" Tara asked.
"She said that her and Nick were going downtown to hang out," Annette said. Denise had called her this morning and left the message on her voicemail. She and Jordan had slept in after three hours of ongoing sex last night, so she still hadn't gotten a chance to call Denise back.
"She asked me to do her hair tomorrow at the shop, but I have a class, so she might have to come by my house that evening," Tara said.
"Well, if I call her later tonight, I'll let her know."
The three girls talked and giggled while the guys played poker, shouted, and laughed over the card table. Annette, Arlene, and Tara were talking about getting tickets to an R&B concernt, when Alex poked his head down in the basement from the main level and yelled, "Hey, Jordan. It's someone upstairs to see you!"
"What?"
"I told them you weren't here, but your motorcycle and Benz are sitting there right in the parking lot."
Annette looked up, interested as to who was here to see Jordan.
"Well, who is it? Tell them I'm playing poker. Make them come down here," Jordan said, turning his attention back to his game.
"I don't think you want to know who it is. Uh … you might want to come up here," Alex said.
"Jeez, Alex! Who is it? There are no secrets going on here."
"It's Tabitha!"
I heard Jordan sigh and groan from across the room. That girl wasn't going to stop until she had her way. If this is what it was going to be forever, Annette didn't think that she could take this. She wasn't up with that baby mama drama shit.
"Like I said, Alex. Tell her to bring her behind down here. If not, then, fuck it. Who told her to come over here, anyway?"
Alex disappeared, running back up the stairs two at a time.
"That bitch is crazy, ain't it?" Arlene said, looking at Annette.
"I don't know what the fuck else she's looking for. Jordan doesn't want her. I thought she would keep a low profile and collect the money her gold digging ass planned to do. That ho is really getting on my nerves," Tara said, putting down her drink.
"Tell me about it. If she's just getting on your nerves … think about how she's getting on mine," Annette said, shaking her head.
"Don't worry, baby girl. Everything will be okay. Once she realizes that she can't have everything her way, she'll cool it down."
Annette wanted to believe what Tara said, but as soon as Tabitha rounded the corner with "attitude" written all over her face, Annette's heart sank. Tabitha marched right over to the poker table where Jordan was playing and slammed the stack of papers in the center of table that she had been gripping in her hands.
"What the fuck is this about you planning to seek custody of my baby?" She crossed her arms over her chest, glaring straight at Jordan and not offering as so much as a sideways glance at anyone else in the room. All the guys at the table were looking at her like she was a fool.
"First of all, you must have done lost your muthafuckin' mind! Are you fuckin' crazy?" Jordan said, throwing his cards on the table and glaring back at her.
"I was going to ask you the same thing. What makes you think I'm crazy enough to let you have custody of my baby?"
"Your baby? Your … baby? I thought he was my son, too."
"Why are you trying to seek custody? You are making it seem like I can't take care of my own child."
"You don't have a steady job. You keep living beyond your means. You haven't gotten health care for David, yet, and it's been weeks … more than a month. You were about to get kicked out of your apartment with you and the baby on street until I went up there and paid your lease off. And besides, the dressing room of the strip club where you work at is not a daycare center. You don't take a newborn baby there. You refuse to leave him alone with me for extended periods of time, so what am I suppose to do, huh?"
"How dare you degrade me like that!" Tabitha shouted. "That's why you and I were talking about money for David. Why do you need to go and get evidence against me suggesting that I may be an unfit mother?"
"No one said anything about you being an unfit mother. That came from your mouth. And do you honestly think that I am going to pay … child support and not be able to see my son. And all this is not about you, Tabitha. It's all about David. You should want what's best for him as well."
"We can finish this talk outside. Not here." Tabitha said, as if finally realizing that all attention in the room was on the shouting match.
"No, we can talk about this right here. You know all these people are my family. There's nothing I don't share with them. My girlfriend is sitting right over there. Whatever you have to say, you can say it right here, right now," Jordan spat.
"Ah! Whatever!" Tabitha smacked her teeth. "And when the hell did you take David to go get a DNA test done? Who gave you the right to do that?"
"Actually, I have the legal right to do that. You don't remember when you asked me sign the birth certificate as the father? My attorney ordered that the paternity test be taken before anything is decided."
"Well, what did they say?"
"I may not know until the next business day. What are you worried about? How many guys did you actually fuck around with?"
"Fuck you!"
"Been there, done that … don't want to. Now, if you will excuse us … " Jordan picked up the stack of papers she had thrown on the table and handed them to her. "We were in the middle of something when you rudely interrupted. I told you that when you want something for David to call me. Otherwise, I have asked you politely to not show up at my home unannounced. Don't be runnin' up in this muthafucka like you the damn police."