Wives and Champions (19 page)

“
Look at you, you little
show off,” Sherita said playfully, grabbing at Nolan’s feet. “I see
right now, I gotta keep my eyes on you.”

“
Mmmm…mmmm…ba,” Celeste
said, a cheerful look overtaking her features.

“
What’s got you so excited,
little girl? Huh?”

Sherita watched her daughter wiggle
her little body and attempt to crawl a little faster. She looked
like she was heading for her but then again, she could’ve been
looking behind her. Sherita turned around to see which toy grabbed
Celeste’s attention when she saw Desmond peeping from around the
door.

“
I was wondering why
Celeste was so excited, all of a sudden,” Sherita said, standing
up.

Desmond smiled, stepped inside of the
room.

Sherita walked up to him, wrapped her
arms around his torso and said, “Hey, baby daddy.”

Desmond grinned. “You’re in a good
mood today.”

“
I am.” She took a kiss
from his lips. “What are you doing sneaking up on me?”

“
I hadn’t planned to. I
heard you playing with the kids and figured I’d watch for a
while.”

“
And just how long were you
watching?”

“
A few minutes, until
Celeste gave me away.”

Celeste made it across the floor to
Desmond’s pant leg. He bent forward, picked her up and left kisses
all over her cheek. “Hi, Celeste. You missed daddy
today?”

Celeste went for his nose
again.

Desmond laughed. “What is it with this
little girl and my nose?”

“
It’s just easy to grab,”
Sherita said, watching Nolan tug at Desmond’s other pant
leg.

She bent forward to pick him up and
placed him in Desmond’s right arm.

Desmond kissed his jaw. “Hi,
Nolan.”

Nolan flailed his arms all about,
happy that his father was home.

“
You got your hands full
now,” Sherita said.

“
Yep. Just the way I want
it. Now, you can go.”

Sherita frowned. “Go
where?”

“
I made you an appointment
at that spa you like in downtown.”

“
Des, that’s nice of you,
but—”

“
No buts. I want you to do
something nice for yourself. I can handle the kids.”

“
Are you sure,
Desmond?”

“
Positive. Dr. Knighton put
me in charge, remember?”

Sherita smiled, leaned forward and
kissed his lips. “You are the best husband ever.”

“
I know.”

Smiling, she shook her head. He was
being arrogant on purpose. “What time is my
appointment?”

“
Made it for 6:30 p.m.
That’ll give you time to get down there.”

“
Okay. Perfect.”

“
How did your appointment
go, by the way?” Desmond asked.

“
Better than I thought it
would go. The doctor put the IUD in place, and I was out of there
in no time. It was quick and painless.”

“
Interesting.”

She playfully narrowed her eyes at
him. “Really, Des.”

“
Yeah. It is. Now, can I
touch it?”

“
Touch it? No, you can’t
touch it. It’s up…there…somewhere.”

“
I know,” he said, a wicked
smile touching his lips.

Sherita slapped his forearm. “You’re
silly.”

He chuckled. “So you can’t get
pregnant, now, right?”

“
Not until I have the
device removed.”

“
Are you sure about
that?”

“
Yes. That’s what the
material I read said. The doctor told me the same
thing.”

“
Yeah, but seems to me its
effectiveness should be determined on a case-by-case
basis.”

“
Why?”

“
Because some men are more
skilled and well-equipped than others. I might go in there and
reverse everything the doctor did.”

Sherita laughed. “Let me get ready to
go. You are too much, Desmond.”

“
But you get what I’m
saying, though. Right?”

“
Bye, Desmond.”

He laughed as she headed upstairs,
then looked at the twins and said, “Well, looks like it’s just us
three. Ready to have some fun with daddy?”

Nolan grabbed his necktie while
Celeste took a swipe at his lips this time.

“
I’ll take that as a
yes.”

* * *

Sherita had no idea she would be this
excited to go out for an evening of pampering. No work. No babies.
Just herself and her cell phone. While her toes soaked in a warm
bath of bubbling blue water, she called Melanie, remembering to
dial the new number Melanie had texted to her earlier.

“
Hey, Sherita,” Melanie
answered.

“
Hey, Melanie. What’s
up?”

“
Oh, not much,” Melanie
said, refusing to talk about her argument with Dimitrius. “I’m just
getting Grace ready for dinner. What’s going on with
you?”

“
I’m getting a manicure and
pedicure. I can’t believe how long it’s been since I’ve had this.
Desmond was nice enough to make an appointment for me and watch the
kids so I could have some time to myself.”

“
That’s nice of
him.”

“
Oh, and I had my
appointment today with Dr. Knighton.”

“
How’d it go?”

“
It went well and thank
goodness. No more babies for me until I get the IUD
removed.”

“
I know that’s a
relief.”

“
It is, but I’m still leery
about this weight gain.”

“
Oh, stop it, Sherita. You
gained what? Ten pounds at most?”

“
I know, but I’m so…ugh…I
don’t know what I am. I do know I’m deathly afraid of Desmond
seeing me naked.”

Melanie grinned. “Why?”

“
Because. I look a
little…plump.” Sherita grinned at herself.

“
Real men like a little
plump.”

They laughed together.

Then Melanie said, “Just be happy you
and Des are actually speaking to each other.”

“
Yikes. So you and
Dimitrius are not speaking to each other?”

“
Hardly, and when we do
talk, it’s an argument over stupid Scott. I just don’t understand
how a man as sophisticated and handsome as Dimitrius would even
think I would cheat on him. How could that thought form in his
mind? I could see if I did something to make him feel insecure, but
I didn’t. I don’t get it, Sherita.”

“
Well, his insecurity may
not be the result of something you did. It could stem from his
past.”

“
Yeah. I know,” Melanie
said recalling Dimitrius’ ex. While he told her that his ex had
secretly had an abortion, he didn’t tell her much of anything else
about her or his past relationships. Whatever happened, the woman
sure did a number on him.

“
Anyway, I’m not going to
torture myself by talking about it,” Melanie said. “I’m already on
edge, waiting for him to get home.”

“
All right, Melanie. I hope
you two work it out.”

“
Me, too. Enjoy your time
at the spa. You deserve it.”

“
Thank you. I
will.”

Chapter
Twenty-Two

Dimitrius stepped inside the foyer of
his home with one thing on his mind – making everything right with
his woman. He’d lost his mind for the last few days and treated her
like she had betrayed him when she had been completely
loyal.

Walking into the kitchen, he looked
over into the dining room and spotted Melanie securing Grace in her
high chair at the table. Her back was towards him. She didn’t even
know he was there.

“
Dimitrius, my friend. How
goes it?” Gino asked.

Melanie immediately turned around,
locked eyes with Dimitrius. His eyes looked much warmer than they
did this morning.

“
Dinner is all done,
seasoned just the way you like it, Sir,” Gino said looking at
Dimitrius, then at Melanie, before his gaze landed back on
Dimitrius again. “I’ll get out of your hair now,” Gino
said.

“
Thanks, Gino,” Dimitrius
told him, and when Gino was out of the front door, Dimitrius took
slow steps towards Melanie.

“
Are—are you going to go
get comfortable before dinner?” she asked.

Instead of answering her, Dimitrius
rested his right hand on the nape of her neck and said, “I owe you
an apology. I’m sorry, Melanie.” He pulled her into his embrace,
holding her close to his chest.

Melanie felt tears form in her eyes,
but she did her best to hold them in because, while he was man
enough to apologize, she had issues with the way he treated her for
the last few days.

“
Please talk to me,”
Dimitrius said.

Melanie gently pushed away from him so
she could see his face. “I appreciate your apology, Dimitrius, but
we need to talk, and not in front of Grace.”

“
About what?”

“
The way you speak to me.
Can we talk after dinner?”

“
Sure.”

* * *

Melanie had to make herself eat. The
steak was one of Gino’s best yet. And the strawberry cheesecake was
rich and creamy, with extra strawberries on top, just the way she
and Grace liked it.

If only dinner wasn’t so
awkward…

While she and Dimitrius did talk, they
both knew the conversation needed to get much deeper than what
Grace did all day, or how good of a cook Gino was. They needed to
discuss their relationship.

Now, lying in bed with her back to
him, Melanie attempted to get her thoughts together once again,
trying to figure out how to start off the conversation. But
concentration proved challenging when she could feel his body heat
making her tingly all over. His warm breath finding its way to her
neck.

“
Melanie,” Dimitrius said,
his voice slicing into the darkness of their bedroom.

“
Yes.”

“
You said we needed to
talk.”

“
We do.”

“
So why are you not
talking? Turn over and talk to me.”

Melanie twisted her body to look at
him, connecting their gazes.

Dimitrius used his elbow to sit up
partially. “Earlier you mentioned you have issues with the way I
speak to you.”

“
Yes.”

Eyebrows raised, he asked, “Can you
explain?”

“
Dimitrius, I tried to tell
you there was nothing going on between me and Scott.”

“
So why didn’t you tell me
about the text messages?”

“
Because I didn’t want to
concern you with something that wasn’t a big deal and—”

“
Your ex texting you isn’t
a big deal?” he asked, interrupting her.

“
Let me finish.”

“
Sorry. Go
ahead.”

“
What I was going to say
was, it wasn’t a big deal to me because I have no feelings for
Scott and I know how to handle him. When I tried to explain to you
that there wasn’t anything going on, you didn’t believe me,
Dimitrius, and not only that, you made me feel like I was guilty of
doing something I didn’t do. And, this isn’t the first time you’ve
done that to me. We saw Scott and his wife in a restaurant, back
before we had Grace, and you accused me of wanting to get back with
him then, remember?”

“
No, I—”

“
You did. I remember it
like it was yesterday. You yelled at me in front of everybody, just
like you yelled and threatened me this morning.”

“
I didn’t threaten you,
Melanie.”

“
You threatened not to come
home for dinner.”

“
And you told me you were
leaving.”

“
Yes, and I meant it.
I
was
leaving.”

Dimitrius face contorted.

“
Dimitrius, I’m your wife
and I deserve to be treated with the same respect I show
you.”

“
I treat you with
respect.”

“
Yes, for the most
part…when the dynamic between us is great and we’re getting along.
But when something like this arises–something like my ex-boyfriend
sending me unsolicited text messages–you go completely nuts, insane
even, and suddenly, I’m your worst enemy. You go missing at night
and leave before I have a chance to wake up in the morning. That’s
not the kind of marriage I want. I don’t want a dictator for a
husband.”

“
A dictator?” he asked
frowning. “I’m not a dictator.”

“
You were this
morning.”

“
Okay. I was out of my mind
this morning. Is that what you want to hear?”

“
No, it’s not. I want to
hear
why
you were
out of your mind.”