Wives and Champions (8 page)

“
You seem sure about that,”
Sherita said.

“
I am sure. It’s a miracle
we were able to have her. My doctor still can’t figure it out.
Anyway, after not being able to carry Grace to term, Dimitrius and
I decided that it was too risky for me to get pregnant again, so I
got my tubes tied. Grace is our only child, so my decision to be a
stay-at-home mother was an easy one. I want to be there every step
of the way for her. When she’s older, then I’ll consider reentering
the workforce, but for now, she’s the focus of my attention.”
Melanie looked over at her daughter and smiled.

“
I want to be there for my
children like that, too, but I don’t want to feel like
my
life is passing me by
at the same time if that makes any sense to you,” Sherita
said.

“
I get it,” Melanie said.
“So what you have to do is figure out a way you can have it all and
still be happy.”

“
And that’s the hard part,”
Sherita said.

“
I know what you’re going
through, Sherita,” Emily admitted. “I feel like the time I spend
working at the boutique, I could be raising Ezra, and all Dante
does is tell me to quit.”

“
Cutting your hours back is
more feasible. You don’t have to completely give it up,” Melanie
said. “But I see where Dante’s coming from. Our men are go-getters.
Providers. They know they have everything to take care of us, so of
course he would tell you to quit. And, getting back to you,
Sherita, you need to figure out a way to keep the romance alive in
your marriage. You can’t ignore Desmond’s advances because you’re
afraid of getting pregnant again.”

“
I know.”

“
There’s always birth
control,” Melanie said.

Birth control.

Emily wished she had started some form
of birth control after Ezra.

“
Do you and Desmond plan on
having more children?” Melanie asked.

Sherita shrugged. “I honestly don’t
know. We haven’t talked about it.”

“
Do you want
more?”

“
I wouldn’t be opposed to
it,” Sherita said, “But look at my life right now. I’m not thinking
about having another child. I wouldn’t know what to do with another
baby.”

“
Well, whatever the case,
you can discuss different birth control options with your doctor. A
lot of women are getting those IUDs nowadays. The doctor puts this
tiny device in place and it prevents pregnancy for up to five
years. When you want to get pregnant, you simply have it taken it
out.” Melanie took a sip of water. She looked up and said, “You’re
awfully quiet over there, Emily.”

Emily smiled uncomfortably. “I was
just thinking about some things.”

“
What things?” Melanie
asked.

“
Um…hmm…I don’t know how to
say this.” She sucked in a troubled breath. “I haven’t told Dante
yet, so don’t mention anything to Desmond or Dimitrius.”

“
Okay,” Melanie and Sherita
said together.

“
I’m…I’m
pregnant.”

“
You’re pregnant!” Melanie
shouted.

Sherita’s mouth fell open.

“
Yes. I’m only a couple of
months, not quite showing yet,” she said, withholding tears as she
did so.

“
What is it, Emily?”
Melanie asked, noticing her sadness right away.

“
I’m not ready for another
baby right now. Does that make me a bad person?”

“
No, not at all,” Melanie
said. “A lot of mothers experience this, I’m sure.”

“
I just don’t like the way
I feel about it. I was elated when I found out I was pregnant with
Ezra. With this pregnancy, I feel like it’s a setback for me. I
don’t spend enough time with Ezra as it is, and now I have another
one on the way, which means even more time off work. More of Dante
telling me to be a stay-at-home mother.”

“
But on the bright side,
Ezra gets to grow up with a little brother or sister,” Melanie
said. “When do you plan on telling Dante?”

“
I don’t know yet. Things
are already tense between us, and I don’t want to rock the boat
with more drama.”

“
I know exactly what you
mean,” Sherita said. “Seems Melanie is the only one of us with no
problems, and she’s married to meanest, strictest of the Champion
brothers.”

Melanie laughed. Holding up a finger,
she said, “First of all, my man isn’t mean. He’s very—”

“
Anal,” Emily finished
saying and then the women had a good chuckle. It was the most
they’d laughed all night.

“
No, he’s…okay, he’s strict
and stern and punctual, but Dimitrius loves me harder than I’ve
never been loved. He’s sweet to me.”

“
I heard that…” Sherita
said, rocking Nolan.

“
But everything is not
peaches and cream. I do have a bit of drama that I was hoping would
bypass me, but now, I’m not so sure,” Melanie said.

“
What’s wrong?” Emily
inquired.

“
Emily, you remember my ex,
Scott.”

Emily rolled her eyes. “Of course, I
remember that clown and the way he played you when he thought you
couldn’t have children. Such a loser.”

“
Yeah, well guess who I ran
into this morning at the children’s museum.”

“
What? He’s stalking you
now?” Emily asked.

“
He was with his wife and
son.” Melanie sighed. “Dimitrius had stepped outside to take a call
and the next thing I know, Scott is walking up to me, asking me how
I’m doing, like he’s trying to make small talk or
something.”

“
Ugh. I know you were
disgusted,” Sherita said.

“
Girl, disgusted ain’t the
word for it. Still, I tried to keep my cool and maintain a pleasant
demeanor, then Scott saw me playing with Grace and asked me if she
was my daughter. Before I could open my mouth to respond, Dimitrius
came out of nowhere and answered him.”

Emily’s eyes brightened. “What did
Dimitrius say?”

“
He just told him that
Grace was our daughter with the emphasis on
our
.” Melanie grinned and shook her
head. “But after Scott and his family walked away from us,
Dimitrius questioned me as to why I was even talking to Scott. Was
it wrong of me to talk to my ex? I was just trying not to be
rude.”

“
I would’ve been rude,”
Emily said. “Let’s look at the facts. Scott broke up with you when
you were at your lowest. I remember how your fertility issues took
a toll on you and when you confided to Scott about it, he took
off…didn’t even have the decency to break up with you like a man.
He left some bogus message on your voicemail. From my perspective,
you’re going above and beyond to be courteous to a man who was
discourteous and disloyal to you.”

“
I agree with Emily,”
Sherita said.

Melanie stood up, walked over to Grace
and moved her away from the electronics. “I don’t know why this
little girl is obsessed with DVD players and remotes.”

“
And they put everything in
their mouths,” Emily said. “Wait until you hit that phase with
Celeste and Nolan, Sherita. You think you’re pulling your hair out
now…”

“
Oh, I can hardly wait,”
Sherita said in a mildly sarcastic tone.

Just then, they heard the guys, their
men, stepping inside, laughing about something.

“
Here comes trouble,”
Melanie said, then laughed.

Sherita smirked.

Dante peeped around the door and said,
“Y’all done talking about us?” He smiled while walking into the
room.

Ezra went running to his father when
he heard Dante’s voice. Dante picked him up, kissed him on the
cheek.

Answering him, Emily said, “No, we’re
not done yet. Y’all go away for another hour or so.”

“
No thanks,” Dimitrius
said, stepping inside, taking Grace from Melanie’s lap. “We have to
get going, sweetie?”

“
What’s the rush?” Melanie
asked softly as she stood up.

“
You’ll find out when we
get home,” Dimitrius said with a straight face, staring at her lips
before he took a long kiss from them.

And then a smile grew on Melanie’s
face. “All right ladies. It’s been real.” Melanie walked over to
Sherita, gave her a hug and did the same with Emily before heading
to the door.

“
Are you ready to go,
Sherita?” Desmond asked, leaning against the door frame.

Sherita took a long look at him – sexy
as he could be and rugged – even in a pair of jeans and a
T-shirt.

“
Sure. We can go. Let me
put Nolan in his car seat.”

“
I’ll do it,” he said,
stepping further into the room.

“
No, I got it,” Sherita
said back.

Desmond grimaced. How was he supposed
to help her when she refused help?

Chapter Six

Desmond and Sherita secured the twins
in the back seat, then began the drive away from Dante’s house to
their own. Bright headlights carved a path in the darkness while
Celeste hummed sounds from the backseat. The commotion of leaving
must’ve woken her up. Or maybe it was the fact that she slept most
of the time while they were at Emily’s. Nolan, who was awake for
most of the night, was quiet now. Sleeping, no doubt.

“
Sounds like somebody’s
up,” Desmond said, glancing to his right to get a quick look at
Sherita before returning his attention back to the road.

“
It’s Celeste.”

“
I know.”

“
She slept for a long time
tonight.”

He glanced over at Sherita again. He
wondered what thoughts ran through her mind. She looked tired,
still. He was hoping the time with her sisters-in-law would give
her a chance to unwind. Maybe it did. Maybe it didn’t. He couldn’t
decipher her mood currently, but what he did know is she was
everything he ever wanted in a woman. His attraction to her, in the
beginning, was sparked by her beautiful, stunning good looks, but
once he’d gotten to know her, he found out she was so much more
than her outward beauty.

Her interests became his interests,
like photography for instance. Men who weren’t professionals in the
photography business didn’t give too much consideration to taking
pictures. Desmond especially didn’t. But while with the children at
the park earlier in the day, he found himself snapping several
shots of them, playing with different angles on his phone as he did
so.

He glanced over at Sherita again.
After clearing his throat, he asked, “Did you have a good time
tonight?”

“
Yes. It was
okay.”

“
Kids give you a hard
time?”

“
No. Celeste fell asleep
shortly after you guys left, which is why she’s up now. Nolan was
awake, but he was a lot calmer than normal. I think he was
fascinated watching Ezra and Grace run around.”

“
Probably.” Desmond flicked
on the right turn signal, then after completing the turn onto
Walnut Grove Lane, their street, he said, “Sherita, I didn’t mean
to upset you earlier.”

“
Don’t worry about it,
Des.”

“
I just want to apologize
to you. I honestly didn’t mean to hurt you and if I did, I’m truly
sorry.”

“
It’s fine. I’m okay. We
don’t have to talk about it. I had a fairly good afternoon and all
I want to do now is relax.”

“
Trust me, I want that for
you, too, but I also want you to know that I’m sorry,” he said
palming her left thigh, feeling her tremble. “I want my words to
mean something to you.”

“
They do.” She turned to
look out the window, thinking about everything she had to do
tonight before bed. Celeste and Nolan needed baths. That was
something Desmond always assisted with. After bath time, the twins
usually had a small snack before bed. Rice cereal mixed with pureed
bananas. And then came story time. Sherita was a stickler for
reading to the babies before bed. It would help their brain and
language development, in addition to giving her more time with the
children, bonding with them. And after the babies were calm and
settled, she would have time to relax.

She found that time after she took a
long, warm shower. When she stepped out, she dried off right there
in the bathroom, something she usually did in the bedroom but
didn’t feel comfortable naked in front of Desmond anymore. So,
standing in the bathroom, she took her time, applying coco-butter
lotion all over her body since she heard it was supposed to be good
for reducing the appearance of stretch marks. Then she moisturized
her face, brushed her hair up into a ponytail and afterward, slid
into a powder pink camisole.

Desmond sat in a chair near the
windows, waiting for Sherita to walk out of the bathroom. She’d
been in there forever. If he hadn’t heard her moving around, he
would’ve pried the door open, just to make sure she was still
alive.

He looked up when the door opened.
Finally. “Hey,” he told her.