Page 85 of The Seven Month Itch
“I don’t always have the words to express myself, so I wrote you letters every week, from the time you walked out until last week.” Terrence smiles at my confusion. “There are over sixty upstairs in the nightstand for you. I thought they would make a good anniversary gift since we’ll spend it here and last year’s wasn’t spectacular. I want this one to be special.”
More tears streak my cheeks. Every part of me wants to run into his arms and never let go. But I can’t. “That still doesn’t explain how intimate you and your therapist looked. Is sex with her part of the history you two share?”
His smile falls at the same time Miles grabs his shirt to press him against the wall. “Bro, back off!” Terrence says with force. He pushes past him to get to me. “No, baby. I told you, I’ve never been unfaithful.”
“Really? What about the Pop-Tarts?”
His face scrunches. “What Pop-Tarts? You don’t like them, Jay.”
“Idon’t. But your therapistdoes. I followed you to the hotel and heard her say you kept a box for her for breakfast.”
I throw my phone to Miles. Emma will have to deal with the motion sickness. I’m past the point of anger. I’m nuclear and ready to explode. “Whateverrelationshipyou have with yourtherapist—sorry,formertherapist now—is inappropriate. The hugging, the Pop-Tarts for breakfast? I can’t trust you. This is too stressful for me, and I refuse to put this baby’s health at risk!”
Chapter 40
Terrence
It’s amazing what you hear when everything goes silent. My heart sounds like it will burst through my chest. Miles and Emma gasp. A hush falls. And I think I heard Justice say something about a baby.Ourbaby. She rambles on about Reina, but the only thing my ears register is that she’s carrying our child.
“You’re pregnant?” My eyes drop to her T-shirt. I don’t see a bump, but that doesn’t stop me from imagining Justice’s swollen belly over the next several months. My hands burn to hold her.
Her eyes peer through me with enough force to send me to the pits of Hell where she thinks I belong. “We’ll raise this child together, but I can’t stay in this relationship anymore. You and your therapist deserve each other.”
We’re back to this again? I count to five and respond. “Princess, Reina is Audre’s childhood best friend. I helped take care of her when she was little. She stayed at our house on Fridaynights when her mom worked at the hospital with mine. That’s why there was a box of Pop-Tarts for her.”
Audre and Reina were as thick as thieves and a pain in my ass. They still are today. I left for college when they were in middle school but spent a good chunk of my high school years in big-brother mode. Thelma and Louise wanted to follow me everywhere I went, which kept me out of trouble but cramped my style.
I can’t believe Justice believed Reina was my mistress, of all things. The thought makes me want to gag. We might not be blood, but she’s a third sister.
Justice studies me. The rage from her face dissolves into a questioning gaze. “That’s who Reina is?”
I nod. “She finished her doctorate of psychology, and she’s opening up her own practice. When Reina graduated last year, I reached out because I want to offer teletherapy to my clients. I hoped she could be my therapist since I’m comfortable around her, but she shot me down because of our history. We have monthly check-ins about how she wants to set up working with future clients.” I reach for Justice’s hands and say a silent prayer of thanks she doesn’t push me down the steps. “Baby, I never meant to hurt you or make you question my faithfulness.Youhave my heart. I fought all of my life to become a man who’s nothing like my father, and I harmed the one person I vowed to protect in the process. I’m sorry, Jay. I’m so sorry.”
And now, the moment of truth. This woman has every reason to leave me, but I hope we’re strong enough to make it through this. I can’t lose her again.
Time is such a blur that I don’t register her arms around me until she says, “We’ll be okay.” I’m on my knees, which explains why Justice is taller. My head presses against the womb that carries our child, and my arms wrap around my wife’s waist likea lifeline. I’m sobbing, and I don’t give a damn who sees. I need this woman as much as I need air.
An eternity passes through our embrace until I stand. My mouth is on her with gentle kisses to her lips, her cheek, and down her neck. I wanted to do this earlier but freaked after I heard her phone behind me. It’s hard to think when your nuts leap into your stomach. I press my forehead against hers and take her lips again. “We’re having a baby.”
Tears spill. She nods. “Yeah, we are.” Justice’s smile reaches the deepest parts of my soul.
We’re having a baby.
Miles clears his throat. “I’m going to be an uncle.” If he grins any harder, he’ll crack a tooth. He moves to wrap Justice in a hug and presses a kiss to the top of her head. “Congrats, kid.”
“Thank you,” she says to his burly frame, which covers most of her body.
When he turns to me, we share a look that chokes us up. We clap each other’s backs, unable to speak. I get to share this journey with my brother.
He coughs and puts his head down. “Yeah, congrats, bro.” His sunglasses come out of his pocket to hide his swollen eyes. That they didn’t break when he hemmed me up like a professional wrestler is a small miracle. With one last pat on the shoulder, he heads to the front door. “Now that everything is good, I’ll go back to the feast you interrupted. Congrats again.” He tosses Justice’s phone back to her.
She looks down at Em. “I thought brunch is later?”
Miles responds for her. “She’ll need to eat after I finish with her.”
Wait.
The corner of his lips curl.
