“Damn, girl, I think I love you,” I teased, once she crashed down on the bed beside me.
“Don’t play with me. I might take you seriously,” she said on a laugh.
“Umph, you’re fucking hot," I said, letting out a relaxing sigh.
Her lips found their way back to mine and her kiss was magnificent. It felt good holding her in my arms. She laid her head on my shoulder and before long we were both in a drunken sleep. I could see a trip back to Miami on the horizon.
Chapter 19
Jacob
Birthday Love
Putting on a wonderful party for our little princess was the goal. Montana was so surprised to see her favorite characters show up at her party bearing gifts. My colleagues who had young children or grandchildren all attended the party, which added up to a total of ten little ones running around playing with Doc McStuffins and her crew. The Doc did a great job of keeping the kids occupied.
The joy on Destiny’s face as Montana cut her cake, opened her gifts, and mingled with the other kids was priceless. Junior was having a great time on the bouncy house with a few kids his age. Watching the joy on everyone’s faces, I was confident that going forward our home would be a happy one.
Montie sat alone nursing a beer for most of the party. He was unusually distant, so I made it my business to hang out with him as much as possible. He left as soon after the cutting of the cake. He said his goodbyes to Montana and Junior and left to meet with someone before he and the kids flew out.
My father sat at the table with Ms. Clara. They had showered our children with love all throughout the day. I walked over
and sat in an extra chair at their table. “You don’t mind me sitting down?” I asked.
“Of course not, you’re the man of the house,” Ms. Clara said.
“This sure is a nice party. The kids are having so much fun,” Dad said.
“And Destiny has Montana looking as cute as a button,” Ms. Clara said.
“Yeah, I’m glad everyone is having a good time,” I said. “I hear congratulations are also in order for you,” I said making note of their engagement.
“Destiny can’t hold water,” Ms. Clara said.
“Son, I just signed the divorce papers this morning and I immediately asked Clara again to accept my ring. This time she did,” Dad said with a smile.
“Well, you have my blessing,” I said to him. “Both of you,” I added including Ms. Clara. I was excited to know Dad had snagged the one he loved.
“Since Destiny told you about the engagement, did she also tell you about our idea to do a double wedding?”
“Yeah, she actually started planning for a double wedding the first time you told her about Dad popping the question. She was confident the day would come that you two would marry,” I said.
“You have a wise daughter, Clara,” Dad said squeezing her hand. “She gets it from her mother,” he added.
“I can’t believe she already planned for this,” Ms. Clara said. “Where is she anyway?”
“She’s over by the bouncy house talking to some of the kids’ moms,” Jacob said pointing in her direction.
“We’ll talk later. We have so much to prepare for in such a little time,” Ms. Clara said.
“There’s nothing to worry about, Clara. Everything is going to be perfect,” Dad said bringing her hand to his lips.
And he was right. I only prayed that one day Mom would humble herself enough to accept all of the love she was missing out on because of her bitterness. Besides Mom, there was just one more person I had to deal with. I had to set the record straight with Justine.
My driver, Henry, had the task of following her around for the few weeks after she broke into our house. She hadn’t done anything out of the ordinary. Every day, she got up and went to work and was back home by six p.m.
I had asked Henry to search her house when she was at work and was relieved when he reported seeing feminine pads in her trash can. The thought of her being pregnant with my child had been driving me crazy. I thanked Henry for coming through in the clutch like he always did. Still, even with the relief of knowing she wasn’t carrying my child, I knew she had to be dealt with.
Chapter 20