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  Her aunt came back in the room and handed me my water.

  “Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome.” Ann sat next to her husband. She looked at Haley nervously. “We were surprised when you told us that you were coming to visit, Haley. Is everything okay with Lisa?”

  I took a deep breath preparing for Haley to give me my opening. On the ride over, we decided that she would just tell them I was Lisa’s husband, and I would do the rest.

  Haley looked at her aunt and uncle both of whom sat toward the end of the seat apparently figuring that the information was not going to be something they would want to hear.

  “Lisa’s fine, but I brought Chris with me because I wanted to introduce you guys.” Haley looked at her aunt and uncle too nervous to get out the information. I didn’t blame her. I was putting her in a tenacious situation. It was unfair. I needed to man the hell up.

  “Why?” her uncle asked gazing over at me.

  I tried not to squirm under his gaze. I took a deep breath. “I’m Lisa’s husband.”

  Every person in the room got quiet as her dad turned completely toward me. “Excuse me?”

  “I’m Lisa’s husband. We were married two months ago.” I told them.

  Her dad frowned at me shaking his head. “Lisa would have told us if she was married.”

  “Actually, she’s a little scared to tell you.” I told him, which I hoped explained why I was sitting here at this particular moment and not Lisa.

  “Lisa is not afraid to tell us anything. She’s our daughter. She knows we love her unconditionally,” her father glared at me.

  I nodded my head in agreement. “She knows that too. It’s just that she doesn’t want to disappoint you.” I finished trying to convey Lisa’s feelings.

  “Look, I’m going to be honest. I don’t know what’s going on here. But, our daughter would not have gotten married without telling us or inviting us to her wedding. It doesn’t make any sense,” Ann replied looking toward Haley.

  Haley squirmed in her seat. Lisa and I hadn’t done her any favors by allowing her in on our secret. “Auntie, they are married. I attended the wedding. She didn’t want you to know because she didn’t want you to change her mind. You both know how insistent Lisa is when she has her mind set on something.”

  Her father stood up pacing the room, “Why would she think that we would try to change her mind? We didn’t even know he existed. She has never introduced him to us. How well does she even know him?” he glared at me with animosity.

  I didn’t blame him. He had a right to be pissed. But, I wasn’t really sure how much I was willing to tell him. I’m sure he didn’t want to hear that I knocked his daughter up in Vegas after a night of drunken sex.

  “We fell for each other pretty quickly. There really wasn’t much time for me to meet you all.” I hated lying to them, but I was going to try to save face. I understood Lisa’s hesitancy. It wasn’t comfortable sitting here while her father glared daggers at me. It was not my idea of fun. This was what she was trying to avoid. I was willing to take the beating for her.

  “You are here now,” her father charged.

  Which meant that I could have come sooner. “I know. I took off practice to come meet you both.”

  “Practice?” her dad stared at me.

  “I’m a hockey player.” I wasn’t sure how her father felt about athletes, but I knew that they all loved Connor. Hopefully, he had made a good enough impression that by being his friend it would endear me a little to them.

  A man could hope.

  Ann looked at Haley. “Is he a friend of Connor?”

  Haley looked guilty. “Yes.”

  Haley had nothing to feel guilty about. She hadn’t put us together. We had done that all on our own.

  “Is this how she met you?” her father quizzed me.

  “Yes. I’ve known her since Connor and Haley got married.” I was embellishing the story, but it was technically the truth. I had met Lisa four or five times through Connor and Lisa. They didn’t need to know that.

  Her dad frowned. “I still don’t understand why the secrecy.”

  I was in for a penny in for a pound. “She didn’t want you to know that she was pregnant?”

  “Pregnant?” her dad whispered. The words felt strangled coming out of his mouth.

  His whisper felt like a shout. He was doing pretty good keeping his composure. Hell, I would have lost it a hundred times.

  “Pregnant?” her mother asked looking at me for confirmation.

  “Yes. We’re expecting.” Now that I had told them all of it. I was going to let Lisa tell them about the fact that it was twins. I had broken enough news. Telling them about the twins would probably blow the roof off the house.

  “Is this why she married you so fast?” her dad scowled at me.

  “Yes.” I wasn’t going to lie to him. Secrets destroyed relationships and families. Lisa had not married me for love. We were in the process of building something, but it was not there quite yet. I was working on it day and night.

  “She didn’t need to marry you to have a baby. We would have supported her and helped with the baby. We would have been upset, but we would have gotten over it,” her mother declared.

  Which was exactly the reason why she didn’t tell them. Now, I was glad that she hadn’t told them too. I wanted to raise my children. They would have interfered with our relationship. That I would not have been able to tolerate. All three of them were mine.

  “To be honest auntie, that is why she didn’t tell you. Uncle Lee, she loves how you have always been there for her. She loved the way that you both have supported her dreams. She wanted to marry the father of her child. She wants her child to have the opportunity for its father to dolt on him or her. This is what happens when you have a child that doesn’t want to let you down or disappoint you. You make her want to do any and everything to please you and give the father of her child a chance to move heaven and earth to see their child happy too. She loves you Uncle Lee. She wants her child to love Chris like that too.”

  I was glad that Haley had come. She had worded it just the right way to try to get them to understand. I doubted if they cared about anything that I had to say. But, Haley’s words had even resonated with me. I wanted to do anything for my children too. I wanted to be the ones that they depended on in a storm. Not some other random man with my children. We were going to make this relationship work.

  Her mother glanced over at me with tears in her eyes. “Do you care about my daughter?”

  I nodded my head. “Very much, ma’am. I promise. I’m going to be good to her. I’m going to be good to our child too. I want the chance to be a good husband and father.” It was true. I wanted her to hear the sincerity in my voice.

  Her father looked over at me. “I’m going to be honest. If you hurt my baby, there is nowhere that you can hide that I won’t find you. I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt because my baby makes good decisions. Don’t hurt her. I will hurt you.”

  “I promise, sir. I’m doing all that I can to make your daughter happy. At this point, there isn’t anything I wouldn’t do even come here without her knowing because this has bothered her constantly. I don’t like seeing her unhappy.”

  He looked me up and down like he wanted to pretend like I had already hurt Lisa and beat my ass.

  “My baby is having a baby.” Ann murmured looking over at me.

  I smiled. Yes, Lisa was having my babies. And, it was going to be fine.

  We continued to talk about my wanting them to come visit. I wanted Lisa to see her family. We made plans for them to come over the weekend. They would stay with Haley and Connor. Then, they would come to our home. It would give them a great opportunity to see that I was making their little girl happy.

  When we returned to Tennessee, I felt a lot better about the situation. Her Mom and Dad had seemed a little bit reticent with me at first, but by the time we left, I felt a little better about the whole situation. I think
telling them about the marriage and baby was a good idea. It put me in a better light.

  “You’re home late tonight.” Lisa said from the bathroom.

  I walked to the door looking at her. She was filling out. The twins were causing her to gain weight, but she was still a beautiful woman to me. I loved all her curves. I couldn’t keep my hands off her the majority of the time. I hoped that it wasn’t just pregnancy hormones because we spent a lot of time in bed.

  Her legs were gorgeous. They were toned and silky making me remember her track photo.

  I loved running my hands up and down her legs. She continued to exercise at least three days a week swearing that she didn’t want have a ghetto booty.

  Whatever the hell that meant. She was always worrying about the craziest stuff like her nose spreading and other nonsense that I had no clue what she was even talking about.

  All I knew was the she was becoming very important to me. Carrying my children made her glow more in my eyes. Building a relationship with her wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be.

  I devoured her with my eyes, stopping when I stood behind her looking at us in the mirror. We made a nice contrast. Her tanned brown skin mixed with my skin was an interesting dichotomy. I loved the way we looked together.

  I kissed her neck. “I hung out with Connor and Haley today.” It was the truth. The whole truth and nothing but the truth.

  “Umm,” she sighed leaning back into me. I loved this side of her. The soft womanly side that she reserved just for me.

  The one thing that I could say that worked well for our marriage was the sex. She never said no, and she didn’t mind initiating either.

  I cupped her stomach still amazed that she was carrying two babies.

  “They invited us to dinner tomorrow.” I moved my hands down her thighs.

  “They did.” She turned her head to the side giving me greater access to her neck.

  “Yes, are you busy tomorrow?” She never wore panties to bed, so I pressed my fingers into her heat. She was always wet for me. My wife did it for me.

  “No,” she sighed.

  I pressed two fingers into her a few times to get her wetter for me. I lifted her gown over her head. I dropped down to my knees and spread her legs with my hands.

  On my knees, I licked her nether lips. “Grab the sink,” I said biting her gently.

  She sighed as I plunged my tongue into her. I took my fingers and spread her lips and nibbled on her nub.

  “Chris,” she moaned gripping the sink.

  “Yes,” I replied stabbing her over and over again with my tongue. She rocked back and forth on my tongue wriggling for me to give her more.

  “Bae,” she screamed. I played with her clit with my tongue and used my finger to stroke inside her, stretching her with my fingers. I tried to devour her with my tongue. It was another reminder that we were good at this. I could do things with her body that she never anticipated from me. I bit gently on her nub again.

  She screamed her climax. I continued to lick her through it making sure that I took in all her essence. I stood up and dropped my pants. I spread her legs further and slammed home.

  “Chris,” she screamed still holding on to the counter. I watched her facial expression in the mirror as I thrust into her repeatedly. I held both of her breast in my hands playing with her nipples. I knew how sensitive they were. Sometimes, I had to make sure I was extra careful because she would mention the tenderness for days after.

  I dropped my hands from her breast and gripped her waist pulling her into my body so that she didn’t bump her stomach into the counter. Pumping in and out of her, I kissed her neck, licking and biting the whole time. She was sensitive on her neck, so I made sure to kiss her there.

  “Now,” she screamed pushing back on me.

  I pulled all the way out her body and pushed back in. I did this several times until she was gasping. I felt my balls tighten up. I was about to cum.

  I pushed in to her. I groaned as I released into her. I continued to thrust into her until I had to pull out. I hated leaving her heat.

  She kissed herself off my lips.

  She moved back, going to the shower. I watched her turn on the water. I couldn’t take my eyes off this woman.

  “What?” she asked looking at me strange.

  “You’re beautiful.”

  She laughed. “You mean for a big pregnant woman.” She rubbed her stomach.

  “Nope, just as a woman.” I was being honest.

  “Could you ever have pictured yourself with a black woman?” she asked waiting for the water to get hot.

  “To be honest, no. I guess it never really crossed my mind. I just dated in my race. I’ve noticed pretty black women before, but I don’t think I would have ever approached one. I didn’t realize black women went for white men.”

  She laughed. “Well, I can’t say I pictured myself pregnant and married to a white man either, but you’ve been a pleasant surprise.”

  I flexed my pectoral muscles. “You mean in the bedroom?”

  She splashed water at me. “Yeah, something like that. Black girls hear the rumors, and we wonder if it’s true. And, you know that we like men with swag too.”

  “Well, glad I could prove the sex thing all wrong, and I’m glad you realize that your husband has some swag.” I winked at her.

  I laughed with her. She got into the shower, and I followed her inside taking the soap from her hands.

  “How are our twins today?” I rubbed the loofah down her stomach.

  “Busy.” As she said it, I felt her stomach move beneath the loofah.

  “How have you been feeling?” I asked her this constantly. I was always concerned about how much she was eating, working, or if her feet were swelling. Currently, everything looked fine. I was just worried. This whole situation had me nervous as hell.

  “I’m feeling good.”

  I washed her legs.

  “So, have you thought of when you are going to tell your parents?”

  I felt her body tense up. Yep, I did the right thing by going to her parents.

  “Chris, I’m not ready yet.”

  “Lisa, you can’t wait forever.”

  “I know. I won’t. It’s just I’m not ready.”

  She was dragging her feet. I don’t know why she thought that she could wait forever. Maybe, she was waiting to deliver the babies.

  Lisa

  I gazed over at Chris. He was acting strange. He had been acting weird all day. “Is everything fine?”

  Our relationship seemed fine. We were growing more and more comfortable with each other as the days progressed. I had never lived with anyone, but he made everything seem so easy. I was always waiting for something to happen to show that I had made a mistake in marrying him, but nothing ever happened.

  “I’m fine. Just thinking about the upcoming game. You coming to one anytime soon?” he asked me changing the subject.

  “Do you want me to come to a game?” I asked. I wasn’t even sure if he had told anyone that he was married and expecting twins. I did not want to show up a hockey game big and pregnant.

  What did I look like?

  Surprise. I’m Chris new black wife, and oh yeah, we’re having twins too.

  Right. As if I was that stupid.

  Not. Everyone would want to know what was going on, and it was not my place to be the one to tell them. Those were his friends not mine.

  “Sure,” he answered like it was a natural thing.

  Men. Just damn oblivious. I was not going to a game until he spoke his truth to the world.

  “Have you told anyone on the team that you were married and expecting?” I asked curiously watching his face even though I already knew the answer.

  No. That’s what I thought.

  His body tensed. “No, it’s not like it’s any of their business if I’m married or if my wife is expecting.”

  I tried not to be annoyed.

  He was a man, and they thought stupid sh
it all the time. Unfortunately, some more than others.

  “So, let me get this right,” I asked looking at him directly, “you want your black pregnant wife to show up to your game unexpectedly after having not told anyone about her?” I frowned at him.

  He glanced over at me like I had just said something that had surprised the hell out of him.

  “Is that right? Do I understand that correctly?”

  “Lisa, it is not that deep. Guys don’t just sit around and tell each other their business.”

  “Oh, okay. So, I just show up in the family room?” Really? He can’t be this clueless. Maybe, guys didn’t stand around and gossip, but their wives, girlfriends, and significant others did. He could play as obtuse as he liked, but I would not be showing up at a game big and pregnant without him telling some damn body besides Connor.

  “Yes, Lisa. Show up in the family room with Haley. Show up by yourself. It’s not a big deal.”

  “Sure,” I replied sarcastically. “I’ll wait in a room full of media and introduce myself as your wife. Cute, Chris.”

  I was irritated. He didn’t understand. I didn’t have any intention of showing up until he told people about me. I wouldn’t be a hypocrite because my parents didn’t know about us, but I wouldn’t parade myself in front of people that didn’t know me from Eve. He didn’t see me parading him around without giving people a damn heads-up.

  “Are you coming to a game or not, Lisa?” he asked in irritation.

  Really? He was irritated.

  “Eventually,” I answered refusing to be annoyed by his lack of understanding. Both of us were new at this.

  “Fine. Okay.”

  I refused to take the bait. I’d eventually go to a game. It just wouldn’t be anytime soon.

  He stopped in front of Haley and Connor’s driveway. “Are you mad at me?”

  Ding, Ding, Ding. Hell yes I was mad, irritated, aggravated, and all those other damn synonyms that meant pissed.

  I frowned at him. “No.” I was lying. He needed to read body language clues. My body should have been screaming tread carefully or that would be his ass.

  “It feels like you’re irritated with me,” he persisted.