Jennifer and I had decided to have a little get-together at our place a couple of days after finding out the good news. She was bursting with excitement and I was bursting with pride. The possessive male in me couldn't get over the fact that she was now carrying a piece of me. Yup, I was a fuckin' caveman, and I knew she loved me even more for that.
If I had it my way, I would fuck a child into her every year, for the rest of our lives, but I didn't think she would go for that. Jennifer wasn't the barefoot and pregnant type, even though my Alpha male side wanted her to be. Something about the whole mother of my child factor increased her sexy factor tenfold. I couldn't keep my damn hands off of her.
I sat back and watched her interact with our friends...our friends. I never thought I would have anything more. If you had told me a year ago that I would end up married and getting ready to be a father by the time I turned thirty, I would have laughed in your face and told you to go fuck yourself. Now, everything was changing. Jennifer changed everything.
Lori had almost fully recovered from her accident, but still had quite a noticeable limp. The wreck had done damage to her back, but she was finally able to lift and play with her son without wincing in pain. That fact alone made my heart swell. I couldn't imagine having a child and not being able to hold them. I knew Jenny had spent a lot of time talking with her about Alexander, his father, and becoming actual friends. Transforming their business relationship entirely.
The only person heavily involved in our lives, but excluded from this joyous occasion was Jude. Whatever was going on between him and Lori was their business only and Jenny and I wouldn't pry. I only hoped he would get his shit together. For her.
Yan smiled at me from across the room and cooed as he fawned over Alexander. He played it off that he felt sorry for the kid, but I knew he was growing fond of him. He was ecstatic to become an uncle for the first time and was already showering Jennifer with presents for herself and our baby.
Nora kept rubbing Jennifer's lower belly.
"Nora, if you don't stop touching me, I will cut you," Jennifer said, slapping her hands away.
"But you have a bump and it's so freaking cute," Nora gushed.
Jennifer huffed. "I do not. I know nothing about this shit, but I know it's way too soon for me to start showing. That is the fucking burrito I had for lunch."
I chuckled and shook my head at the banter between my wife and her best friend.
"Hey, my man." Dean clapped a heavy hand on my shoulder. "Congrats."
"Yes, congratulations, brother," Yan said, joining us.
Antonio nodded once. "You happy?"
"Never better." And that was the truth.
"Where's Cliff?" Dean asked, sitting beside me.
"Around. I told him if it wasn't legal, I didn't want to know."
"You have that boy on a tight leash," Yan stated, taking a swig of his beer.
I scoffed. No one had Cliff on a leash. I did wish he would get out of the underground business, but all in due time. I had to worry about my family first. I couldn't be worrying about a grown adult prone to danger. It was too much of a risk now.
Jennifer met my gaze and blew me a kiss before turning back to Lori and Nora.
My heart warmed. I couldn't ask for more and I definitely couldn't ask for better. She was the best.
Both businesses were booming and the girls Jennifer had helped now even had proper health care. Wouldn't their old pimps and ex-tricks shit if they found that out? Who offered whores health care plans? My wife. That's who.
"Hey, my wonderful husband."
I smiled up at Jennifer as she approached me. "Yes, my love."
She grinned and placed a soft peck on my lips. "Did you ask them?" she whispered.
"Not yet. Did you?"
"Not yet."
"Wanna ask together?" I said against her mouth.
"Sure." She grabbed my hand and pulled me to my feet.
We moved to face our guests and smiled at each other before turning back to our friends.
Questioning glances spread over their faces and as much as I wanted to make them wait, I couldn't hold it in. "We couldn't decide who we wanted our baby's godparents to be, so..." I winked at Jennifer.
"We want all five of you to be godparents," she finished, clapping her hands together.
A silence fell over our friends and I couldn't help but laugh.
"All of us?" Nora asked, looking around her.
"Yes. Each of you hold something very special in our hearts and we didn't want to leave anyone out," I explained.
"So what do you think?" Jennifer asked timidly.
Did they not want-
A cheer erupted around us as we were greeted with hugs and words of thanks.
I looked down at my wife amongst the chaos. "Think they're happy?"
Jennifer laughed. "I think so."
And so was I. Finally.
Chapter Thirty-One
Dead Giveaway
Jennifer
My phone rang and rang. His number flashed across the screen as I pressed ignore. There was too much happiness in this room tonight to let Jude ruin it. He was out of the hospital finally, but I still wasn't happy with him. I wondered if I would ever be again. It was such a long road to redemption for everything he had put us all through.
"Just answer it," Mathis whispered into my ear. Knowing full well the next number he would start calling was Lori. "He isn't going to stop and you don't want him upsetting Lori." Since when did my husband become so understanding?
The phone vibrated again and I excused myself and slipped into the home office. "What?" I snapped as I answered Jude's call.
"Is she there with you?" his frantic tone yelled into my ear.
Something was fucked up. He wasn't right. Was he high? Drunk? What was his deal?
"Yes, Lori is with me. Jude, what's the problem?" I often wondered why I cared so much after all the shit he had put us through recently.
"I couldn't get a hold of her..." His words trailed off and the line went dead.
What the fuck is wrong with him? Pssh, why the hell did he hang up on me once I finally gave him the time of day? I mean, I was glad he had moved on, but I couldn't help but feel hurt by the way he was treating me now. I guessed he was just giving me back what I had given him. Damn.
Before I could make my way back out of the office I saw Mathis' phone blinking on the desk. I picked it up and pressed the screen to life. It was a rare occasion for him to leave his phone lying around, mainly because work was just so busy for him right now. I saw a missed text message.
In Vegas for the weekend, get ready for me big boy. Xoxo <3 Shay.
Bitch, what?
My blood boiled and I stalked toward the door. As I reached for the handle, I could hear the front door of the penthouse open and a rumble of commotion. Voices raised, one of the women screamed and something slammed to the floor.
I whipped the door open, steaming mad from my discovery to find a drunk Jude in my foyer. All the eyes in the room turned to me and Mathis started walking in my direction.
"Stop. Right. There. Do not come another step closer to me." I couldn't contain my rage. I couldn't see clearly. All this time I had been such a love struck fool, blind to see there was no way Mathis would ever change. Womanizing was in his blood. He was just like all those clients. Wives at home, barefoot and pregnant. Completely naïve to their husbands cheating. No fucking way would that ever be me.
"Explain this!" I yelled, waving the phone in his face. Before he could get a good look at it, I chucked the phone across the room. It crashed against the wall and shattered falling to the floor in a mass of broken glass and twisted plastic.
"Fuck you! How could I be so fucking stupid!"
The room was silent as I yelled at him. He stood silently, trying not to smile.
I wanted to slap that look off of his face. I wanted to kick him in the balls and make sure he never fucked again. Ever.
"And you! You drunk asshole! Get your shit together already! No one fucking feels bad for you anymore!" I pointed at Jude, completely berating him before I turned on my Prada heels and headed for the bedroom where I proceeded to lock myself in and cry like a newborn. I should have known better.
Mathis
I tried not to laugh at my wife's expense, but she was so fucking cute when she got worked up.
React first, ask questions later, was Jennifer's motto.
I shoved Jude into a cold shower, forcing him to sober up. Ignoring the protests from him, I slapped him hard on the face before grabbing his chin. "You want Lori?"
His glazed eyes lost focus, rolling back in his head.
I shook him, forcing him to look at me. "You want Lori?" I demanded in a firm voice.
He nodded.
"Then fucking act like a man, sober up and be there for her. Now I'm going to go kiss my wife's fucking ass and grovel at her feet because I am a man. You," I gripped his chin harder, "better start groveling, asking for my forgiveness when I get back."