The Family Business 3(56)

Junior jumped up and snatched me up in his grasp. I shook myself loose, ready to attack him with my fists.

“Don’t you dare talk that way about the mother of my child.” His words silenced my rage.

“The what of your what?” I asked, praying that I had misunderstood him.

“Yes,” he confirmed, “Sonya is pregnant, and you best not upset her.”

“Yo, stop all this noise!” Orlando stomped into the room. He seemed to think that being named head of the family business meant he could act like our father. “What is going on?”

“Ask the newest baby daddy,” I huffed, catching sight of Orlando’s shocked expression as I stormed away.

How the hell could Junior have gotten Brother X’s wife pregnant? I could only imagine the massive explosion this news would cause when X found out. I wouldn’t put it past him to try to kill all of us now.

“Mommy!” a little voice squealed with delight. I looked up to see my favorite person in the world racing into the house toward me.

“Is that my baby?” I cooed, relieved and confused to see Jordan flying into my arms. If ever I needed to see my baby, this was the time. I couldn’t get over how much he had grown in that short span, but at two and a half, he didn’t look anything like he had even a month earlier.

When those little arms wrapped around me, I felt a calm I hadn’t since this whole thing happened. What I didn’t understand was why Consuela would have brought him home now, while we were still in the middle of a war. Why hadn’t she told me this was her plan?

“Mommy, I missed you,” Jordan whispered sweetly in my ear, just melting me.

“Did you have a good time in California with Grandma?” I looked up at Consuela, questioning her with my gaze.

“Yeah. We went to the beach every day,” he said, excited with all the wonder I’d forgotten how to feel about the little things in life. God, I loved this kid.

“Jordan!” London’s daughter Mariah raced down the stairs to greet her little cousin. The two of them ran off to some other adventure, the nanny quick on their heels.

“He’s gotten big, hasn’t he?” Consuela remarked as she approached with her arms outstretched to me.

“Wait. Why are you here?” I asked, though I couldn’t be mad. As worried as I felt to have him home, I really needed to see my son.

“Your mother sent the plane for us. Didn’t she tell you?”

“No. She didn’t,” I answered, ready to find my mother and ask her what the hell was going on and why I was the last to know. “Where is my mother anyway?”

“She’s in the den talking to my son.”





Vegas





38


To say Marie had given me something to think about is an understatement. The five minutes left in the drive over to the house were awkward. The only thing that interrupted the silence was me saying whatever I felt Marie wanted to hear. I said things that would at least make her feel like it wasn’t the end of the world. Things like, “It’s going to be okay. We can adopt. You never know, anything could happen. God has the final say.”

She’d nod in response each time I offered up another platitude, but her nod only confirmed that she’d heard my words. The look in her eyes said that she didn’t believe a damn thing I was saying. I couldn’t fault her for doubting. Hell, I didn’t even believe the words myself. Honestly, when Marie told me that she couldn’t have children, the world stopped spinning. I wasn’t sure that it would ever be okay. Coming from my world, where family is everything to the point where my siblings and I still lived under the same roof as our parents, I couldn’t imagine not being able to add to the legacy.

We arrived at the house to find the kitchen empty. I heard voices in the back.

“Sounds like everybody is outside,” I said to Marie.

She didn’t answer, probably afraid that if she opened her mouth, she’d break down into tears. I walked over to her, put my hands on her shoulders, and kissed her on the forehead.

“If you don’t believe anything else I’ve said to you, believe that I love you.”

“But I can’t give you children.” She couldn’t even look me in the eyes. “You can’t possibly want me now.”

“Listen here.” I lifted her chin so I could look into her eyes. “I want you, and only you.”

“I believe you want me—right now. Until another woman comes along who can give you what I can’t,” she said. “Give you a child to call you Daddy.”

“Look, for right now, being called Uncle is enough,” I said, although my heart told me that even if it were true now, it definitely wouldn’t always be.

As if on cue, there was a splash from outside, and the sound of my niece Mariah laughing. I walked over to the sliding glass doors that opened onto the patio. Marie stayed a few steps behind me as we went outside to join everyone by the pool.

As we approached, I noticed that although everyone was sitting around eating barbecue and talking, no one had a smile on his or her face. No one looked particularly upset, but it just wasn’t the type of expressions one might expect at a barbecue. Then again, what the hell did we have to happy about?

“Vegas,” my mother called out. She stood up with my nephew Jordan in her arms.