AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She slumped over his body, slick with sweat. While he cradled her in his arms, the love in his heart opened up and filled the entire room. He placed a kiss against her forehead.
“I love… you… Iris…” he said breathlessly, heart pounding.
“I love you too, baby. So much.” She played with the hair on his chest, running her small fingers over the strands.
“I would never be upset about you tellin’ me you’re pregnant with my child. Just ’cause we didn’t plan for you to be expecting right now don’t mean I’m not happy. I just had to process it for a second.” He chuckled, making her smile. “I told you I wanted a family with you.” He shrugged. “It’s just happening a little faster is all.”
“What do you think about what I said? You know, about us moving the wedding date to a few months from now, instead of later.”
“Well, I don’t have a problem with it.” He stroked her shoulder as he rested, his gaze on the ceiling. “If we can get the venue and your preacher to change up, and the caterers ’nd all, I don’t mind.”
“We might have to pay more, because we—”
“It don’t matter, baby. I’ve saved well, invested, and I’m makin’ good money from the brewery, too. It ain’t fast money, but it’s steady money. I’ve got a whole line of new products coming out. We’re going to bemorethan fine. Don’t you worry about that. We’ll pay what they say. You just enjoy being a bride-to-be, takin’ your online business class, getting’ that website together, and concentrate on growin’ that seed I gave you.”
Smiling, she kissed him, then placed her head on his chest. After a while, he reached for the remote and rewound the footage.
“Let’s watch this. Together.”
They sat there holding one another, eyes fixed on the screen, pausing frequently to kiss and touch one another. They made love again, this time on the floor while the black and white movie of their lovemaking played on. After they finished, he grabbed the remote and deleted it.
“See? It was just our private thing. Nobody will ever see it but us. You look fuckin’ amazing on the silver screen, baby, but you look even better in my arms… Of course I’m happy. The woman I’m deeply in love with is going to give birth to my child. You gave me a new lease on life, and now, you’ve provided yet another reason for me to be the best damn man I can be…”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Time after Time
Iris sat onthe edge of Jude’s bed, surrounded by enough cardboard boxes to build a fortress. Sub Urban’s, ‘Cradle’ played from her phone, the call with Aunt Blue put on speaker while she waited for the woman to return from picking a package off her stoop.
His king-sized bed was covered in cream and rust-colored sheets, embellished with gold trim. She’d picked out the bedding herself, which included a few matching throw pillows he kept tossing off the bed, no matter how many times she put them back. Until, at last, they engaged in a pillow fight that led to bedroom activities—probably his plan the entire time. The last two months had been nothing short of adrenaline-filled. She looked down and caressed her baby bump.
A little over three months down, six more to go.
“Okay, I’m back,” Aunt Blue announced. Iris paused the music. “So, as I was sayin’, baby, when they have the caterers bring that cake in for your reception, you just make sure you look at it before they leave, ’cause your cousin Tracy’s wedding cake had a slice missin’, and it wasn’t even the one she ordered.” Aunt Blue belted.
“I remember that!” Iris laughed. “It wasn’t funny at the time, but afterwards, it sure was.”
“Honey, she shoulda sued. They had the nerve to tell her they’d give her half the money back. No, you gone give meallmy damn money back! Givin’ someone a used wedding cake and wasn’t even the one they wanted. She ended up leavin’ that man six months later. It was probably that cake! Bad luck, chile! Have you spoken to Lily, baby?”
And the fun of the conversation was now gone like the wind. Iris pulled at a loose thread on the hem of her denim shirt.
“I did. Did Mama tell you what the doctor said?”
“She did, but you know how your mama is, she ain’t really get into too much detail, so I’m still confused as to what’s really going on.”
“No need to beat around the bush, then. Basically, Aunt Blue, they diagnosed her with bipolar disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, and BPD, which is borderline psychotic disorder.”
“Oh, my Lord… I don’t even know what all that mess is, but it sounds bad. I’ve heard of bipolar, though, and PTSD, too, but only for men that was in the army, things like that. I don’t know why Lily would have it. She ain’t been to war or nothin’ like that.”
“Yeah, well, you can have PTSD from trauma in your life. Like, if you got mugged, or witnessed your best friend getting killed. Stuff like that. Lily had…” Iris closed her eyes for a spell and took a deep breath. Tears stung her eyes, but she blinked them away before they could fall. “Lily had some messed-up stuff happen to her, Aunt Blue. It started with Daddy dying, but it definitely didn’t end there.”
“Hmmm. Do you know what happened to her?”
“Yes, but it’s not my place to tell. Lily should be the one. I’ve been reading up on everything so I can get educated. This is all new to me, too.” She shrugged and glanced over at Jude’s big grandfather clock in his bedroom. It was so pretty, so old. She could see her partial reflection in it. “She just started taking some medicine prescribed to her, and I’m telling you, Aunt Blue, it was like talking to the old Lily again.”
“Praise God.”
“She’s got a long way to go though. They’re still experimenting with the drugs, to see what’s best for her, but she was lucid, and she seemed to understand what was going on. She said she’s just glad there’s a name to what she’s been experiencing, and that for the longest, she didn’t know anything was wrong. Now, she attends daily group sessions, these support group meetings they have there at the hospital, and speaks to her therapist three times a week. She goes on walks, exercises, and has started journaling, she said. She’s stayin’ in the hospital right now, but they plan, if all goes well, to release her in a few months. What’s nice is there’s a program she’s signed up for that helps people who suffer from similar conditions get jobs, start a new life. She also started AA meetings. She doesn’t want to drink anymore, especially while taking this medication.”
