Wives and Champions (16 page)

“
Wait a minute…did you
say
children
?”

Emily nodded. “I did.”

“
Is there something you’re
not telling me, Emily?” Antoinette asked, glancing down at Emily’s
stomach.

Emily sighed
heavily.
Here we go
again
, she thought. She hadn’t planned on
telling her mother she had another bundle of joy on the way. Now,
she didn’t have much of a choice.

“
Emily?”

Emily looked at her mother and said,
“I’m pregnant.”

“
That’s wonderful news,
Emily!” Antoinette said, hugging her daughter. When she released
her, she said, “Now I see the full picture. You’re pregnant, but
you’re not sure how you can make it work with another baby when
you’re already stretched thin with Ezra, the boutique and being a
wife. Right?”

“
Right,” Emily said,
pinching tears from the corner of her eyes.

“
Oh, sweetie, you don’t
have to cry. Everything is going to work out.”

“
I know,” Emily said, but
knowing that did nothing to resolve the way she felt right now. So,
dismissing herself, she said, “I’m going to go check on Ezra. Can
we pick this up later?”

“
Sure, honey.”

Chapter
Sixteen

Melanie got up early on Monday morning
to make a pot of coffee. She fixed Dimitrius a cup, just the way he
liked it and filled his canteen, something she hadn’t done in
weeks. Besides, they had coffee at the office. He didn’t need
coffee from home. Still, she hoped her kind gesture would buy her
some time to talk to him, especially after they hadn’t had a full
conversation for the last few days – ever since their argument at
the restaurant about Scott.

Dimitrius walked into the kitchen to
get a bottle of water, something he did every morning, when he saw
Melanie standing next to the counter near the
coffeemaker.

“
Good morning,” Melanie
said. “I got some coffee for you.”

He glanced at her. He wanted to tell
her he didn’t need coffee, but since she went the extra mile to do
something nice for him, he decided to take it. “Thank
you.”

“
You’re
welcome.”

He opened the fridge, grabbed a bottle
of water. “What do you have planned for today?”

Melanie perked up. Her plan was
working. He was finally talking to her. “Not much. I am going to do
some grocery shopping though. Why?”

“
Just curious,” he said. He
walked her way, kissed her briefly at the temple. “See you
later.”

“
Are you going to be home
for dinner tonight?” she asked because they hadn’t had dinner
together in days.

“
Would you like me to be
home for dinner?” Dimitrius inquired.

“
Of course I would. Why
would you ask me that?”

“
You didn’t seem to mind
that I was missing the past couple of days.”

“
I was trying to give you
time to calm down a bit.”

“
I see. Then maybe I
should
eat dinner alone
again tonight.”

“
Dimitrius, no,” Melanie
said. “We have to talk. Please.”

“
Not now. I’m on my way to
work.”

“
Dimitrius, how long are we
going to continue like this?”

He stopped, turned to look at her sad,
reddened face. His heart nearly caved, then and there, but he
wouldn’t allow it. If she was in love with her ex, then why did she
get married?

Well, in her defense, it was Dimitrius
who had pursued her. He actually walked up to her and told her she
was going to be his wife like he’d had an epiphany about it. At
first, Melanie wasn’t with it. Now, he wondered if her hesitancy
back then had something to do with Scott.

Coming out of his reverie, he
refocused his attention on her. “When I feel like my wife loves me,
and only me–not some man from her past–then I’ll feel better about
us.”

“
I do love you. No one
else, Dimitrius. Only you, and if you don’t know that, if you don’t
trust me, then what’s the point?”

His gaze sharpened. “I’m going to
work.”

“
And I’m supposed to just
sit here and wait until you’re ready to talk?”

“
Do whatever you want,
Melanie.”

“
Wow,” she said. That’s all
she could say. She knew Dimitrius had a temper but this was over
the top. She hadn’t done a thing to break his trust, and he was
behaving like he caught her in the act of cheating, something she
would never do.

Short of touching the doorknob,
Dimitrius turned around, walked at a fast, intimidating pace to
reach her and said, “Have I ever given you a reason to doubt
me?”

“
Dimitrius, you need to
calm down.”

“
Have I ever given you a
reason to doubt me?”

“
No.”

“
Then why are you giving me
reasons to doubt you, Melanie?”

“
But—”

“
You were wearing the man’s
necklace. Obviously, you still have feelings for him.”

“
I don’t. Jeez. How many
times do I have to tell you that? It’s like you already have it
programmed inside of your head that I’m cheating on you when I’m
not. Do you not trust me, Dimitrius?”

He glared at her.

“
You don’t trust me?” she
asked, narrowing her eyes. His silence gave her the answer she was
seeking. “Okay. Well, I’m definitely not going to sit around and
wait for you to calm down. I knew you had a temper, but I never
knew to what extent…guess that’s what happens when you get married
too quickly without really knowing the person first. So, you know
what…don’t come home for dinner, Dimitrius.”

Filled with anger, he knew the best
thing he could do was walk away. So that’s what he did, slamming
the door behind him.

“
Unbelievable,” Melanie
said, resting her elbows on the countertop, burying her face in her
hands.

Chapter
Seventeen

Sherita didn’t want to stop
breastfeeding, but she knew it was the best solution for her
situation. Surprisingly, the babies didn’t mind the transition to
formula milk. They’d only be drinking it for the next five months.
When they turned a year old, they would change over to whole
milk.

During the night, Sherita got up to
feed Celeste and, an hour or so later, Desmond was up to feed
Nolan. They each only got up once during the night. Progress.
Desmond loved the fact that he was able to help out more with the
babies, and he was even more elated that Sherita was falling back
into her pattern of getting a full night’s sleep.

In the morning, Desmond watched
Sherita twist around, adjusting her body while he eased on the bed
beside her, sat there, then lightly stroked her hair.

Sherita opened her eyes at his loving
touch. “Hey.”

“
Hey.”

“
Are you getting ready to
go?” she asked.

“
Yes. How are you this
morning?”

“
I’m okay.” She yawned.
Stretched. “I feel so much better.”

“
Good,” he said, finding
her hand, holding it.

“
I have that appointment
today,” she reminded him. “The doctor said it would be
quick.”

“
If you need me to come
along—”

“
No. You suffered through
the last appointment. No need to come to this one.”

“
Okay, baby, but just know
I would come if you needed me to.”

“
I know. That’s why I love
you so much, Desmond.”

Desmond scooted closer to her, held
her close to him. “So you’re not going to the studio today,
right?”

“
I’m going to stop in
briefly to check on Whitney.”

“
Are you taking the
kids?”

“
No. I’m dropping them off
at mom’s for a few hours. I want to be here with my babies this
afternoon.”

“
I’m sure they’ll
appreciate that.”

Sherita smiled.

“
Well, daddy has to go earn
his money, so I’ll see you this evening.”

“
Okay, Des. I love
you.”

He left a kiss on her lips. “Love you.
Have a good day.”

“
You too.”

Chapter
Eighteen

Dante stepped into the fourth-floor
break room, poured himself a cup of coffee, then took a
sip.

Phyllis walked in and said, “Good
morning, Dante.”

“
Phyllis…what brings you to
the fourth floor so early this morning?”

She grinned. “The coffeemaker
downstairs zonked out on us. I already called Centak to check it
out. They’ll probably end up bringing a replacement.”

“
Okay.”

“
In the meantime, I figured
I’d steal one of your canisters so our visitors can have some
coffee this morning,” Phyllis said, reaching for the
container.

“
Oh, let me get that for
you, Phyllis,” Dante said, grasping the handle of the
canister.

“
It’s really not a problem,
Sir. I think I can manage.”

“
I’m sure you can, but I’ll
take it from here.”

Phyllis smiled. “Thank
you.”

“
You’re
welcome.”

Dante followed her out of the break
room and down the hallway to the elevators. Once they stepped on
the elevators and the doors closed, she asked, “So how’s your wife
and son doing?”

“
They’re good,” he told
her. “Emily’s out of town this week, visiting her
mother.”

“
Jacksonville,
right?”

“
Yep.”

“
That’s a nice little
getaway for her.”

“
Yeah. It would’ve been
nicer if I was there with her.”

“
Go. I’m sure your brothers
can handle things around here. And I’ll keep Dimitrius from
spontaneously combusting,” she said. Dimitrius’ temperament was
well known around the office.

Dante grinned. “I don’t think you can
handle Dimitrius, Phyllis.”

“
Yeah, you’re probably
right.” She laughed.

“
But I
was
thinking about heading to
Jacksonville. Emily and Ezra have only been gone for a few days and
I miss them.”

The elevator dinged open.

“
You should go. God knows
you work your behind off. You deserve a break.”

Dante smirked. He followed Phyllis to
the coffee bar only a few steps away from her desk.

“
Oh, I meant to ask you
about your visitor a few days ago. Harding Champion. Couldn’t help
but notice he has a striking resemblance to you.”

“
He says he’s my
half-brother, but I never knew I had any half-brothers or
sisters.”

“
So you don’t know
him?”

“
Well, no, but I did sit
down with him over a beer to talk briefly.”

“
Then it may not be a bad
idea to have Tennyson from the legal department look into
it.”

“
Good idea, Phyllis. Don’t
know why I didn’t think of that.”

“
Well, that’s why you pay
me the big bucks, Dante.”

Dante glanced at the main doors when
he noticed Dimitrius walking up. He checked his watch. It was
almost nine and Dimitrius was just getting here? Odd. His brother
hated being late.

“
Good morning,” Dante said
when Dimitrius got a little closer.

“
Yeah, maybe for you it
is,” Dimitrius grumbled, marching on towards the
elevators.

“
Phyllis, I’ll catch up
with you later.”

“
Okay. Thanks for bringing
the coffee down.”

“
No problem,” Dante said,
jogging to catch up to Dimitrius. “Hey, man,” he said, right before
they stepped on the elevator. “What’s going on? You good?” Dante
asked, looking into his brother’s hard gaze. He wasn’t good. He
knew that. Still, he thought he’d ask.

“
I’m fine.”

“
Oh, come on, Dimitrius.
You’re not fine. It’s ten minutes ‘til nine and you’re just getting
here.”

“
So fire me,” Dimitrius
snapped.

The elevator dinged, doors opened to
the fourth floor where Dante followed Dimitrius down the hallway.
Approaching Desmond’s office, he stopped following Dimitrius to
stop and chat with Desmond. He’d catch up with Dimitrius
shortly.

Tapping on Desmond’s door, Dante
pushed it open. “What’s up, Des?”

“
This marketing plan for
GHC. I didn’t realize how time consuming this would be, but we’ll
get into that later. What’s going on with you?”

“
I’m thinking about flying
out to Jacksonville in the morning.”

“
Miss them,
huh?”

“
I do. I’m so used to them
being here that I don’t like it when we’re apart, even if me and
Emily aren’t seeing eye-to-eye right now.”