His Substitute Wife... My Sister Book Two

by Sylvia Hubbard

  Blushing, Charisse knew this was a silly question, but she was feeling Parker’s proximity and knew that sickness was her body telling her to get busy.

  “But I could take care of you in another way,” he said wickedly, lightly rubbing his fingers down her back.

  She was very keen on any suggestion he had and giggled rising up to her knees allowing the sheets to drop off their bodies.

  Parker gasped instantly and shot up to a sitting position. “Charisse, what happened? When did that happen?!”

  Looking down at her body she didn’t know what he was talking about. “What?”

  “Your stomach!” His eyes were wide in fear as if she had the chicken pox.

  “Parker, I’m pregnant,” she said obviously. “That does happen.”

  He couldn’t believe he hadn’t noticed the hump getting so large and he cursed himself for working so damn hard, but Charisse had been so tired when he’d come home that making love was out of the question and he didn’t want to bother her until she had wanted to.

  “Can I touch you?” he asked as if he’d never touched her before.

  She was endeared by his tenderness and said, “Yes, Parker.”

  Hesitantly as if he were going to break her he reached over and touched her stomach. She only wore a thin pink nightgown that was almost like wearing nothing at all.

  He couldn’t believe that part of his DNA had created something like this. Resting his face on her stomach, he wanted to cry because he felt he’d waited centuries to have something like this happen to him.

  Charisse gently rested her hand on his head and smiled to herself knowing that Parker was right about that loving thing. Day by day she knew her heart was opening to him and one day she would have to tell him.

  Yet, just like other things, she told herself there would be time.

  ***

  Dr. Redmond arrived coming through the garage. Parker escorted him into the house and up to the room where Charisse was already in the walk in closet where a medical table for her was set up. She wore only a robe, per the doctor’s instructions and waited for him to give her the check up.

  Once the doctor had measured her stomach and then did a cervical examination, she let Parker come in with them and he thanked her for allowing his presence with a kiss on her lips.

  After placing the cold jelly on her stomach, Dr. Redmond rubbed over her medium size hump with an electronic scan to reveal images of her uterus on a small black and white screen that everyone could see.

  Parker was holding her hand extra tight and she could almost feel his heart beat racing in excitement just as hers was doing.

  Their eyes briefly locked in knowing that this was a monumental event for both of them before they returned to the screen just as the tiniest hand appeared to be opening and closing on the screen.

  Charisse gasped as seeing the first images of the life she carried.

  “That is one good looking baby,” Dr. Redmond complimented. “Would you like to know the sex of the child?”

  They looked at each other again and didn’t need to speak to know the answer as they both said, “Yes!”

  He looked again pressing on her belly to make the baby shift, but then it was his turn to gasp as the baby moved and Charisse saw a third hand appear right behind the leg of the baby.

  “It’s twins?” Charisse asked before the doctor said anything almost sitting up.

  “Calm down,” Dr. Redmond said.

  Parker’s eyes were wide as he tried to search out what the other two saw but since he’d never seen anything like this before he didn’t know what he was looking for.

  “You’re right, Charisse. I see there’s another one right on top of that one and hopefully as they grow he’ll move to the side.”

  “He?” Parker asked elatedly.

  Dr. Redmond smiled. “Yes, Mr. Mills. See, he’s hiding behind his sister.”

  Charisse wanted to jump, but she was too damn tired to do anything so physical. Today had been a special day and she knew by the way Parker beamed in pride that he was very happy.

  Chapter 43

  As weeks turned into months, Charisse found the only exercise she could muster was making a trip from the first floor to the third floor. Parker didn’t like leaving her at the house by herself as her condition seemed to grow by leaps and bounds and they tried to send word to Nevada to see if she wanted refuge in the house with Charisse while Parker was at work.

  Nevada left word that she couldn’t. Her note said: ‘I’m in something deep, boo, and I gotta take care of me. You’ll understand when it’s all said and done.’

  Charisse did and left it alone. Kimberly could only come two days out of the week and each week it changed, but in the evenings Jaelen would come to pick her up. Sometimes she would have the baby with her. The other kids were either in school or out of school activities, so Kimberly had a lot of free time on her hands, which was rare for her and enjoyed spending them with Charisse.

  Kimberly showed Charisse how to care for the baby. Jessica didn’t mind serving as an example. This including holding and teaching the baby things. Being a master at child raising, Kimberly had so many tips for Charisse that no book could ever teach her.

  Charisse had a lot of questions about the birth process and Kimberly calmed her fears about the delivery process and assured Charisse she would be fine if she remembered certain things. The first thing was to stay calm. That was a no brainer but Charisse was still worried over not knowing what was going to happen.

  “You look so beautiful!” Kimberly exclaimed. “You’re glowing with inner peace.”

  “I don’t feel peaceful,” Charisse said grudgingly.

  Assuring, Kimberly said, “You’re going to be alright, Charisse. You’re strong and you’ve endured a lot and survived.”

  “I’ve read so many horror stories about women and having twins. I don’t want them to give me drugs.”

  “Then we’ll make sure you can do it naturally.”

  “Thank you so much, Kimberly.”

  “Oh no problem. I understand you. I didn’t even know I was pregnant with twins because of so many circumstances around my first pregnancy and Nae didn’t even come out until five minutes later.”

  “Were you scared?”

  “Well, yes because I was wondering what was happening to me when I’d already delivered a child.”

  Charisse couldn’t believe that happened to Kimberly.

  Kimberly added, “After that first one, I heard it happening with other women once I was around a medical community and not out by myself as I underwent my second pregnancy. One nurse told me that a woman didn’t give birth until almost the next day.”

  She was starting to feel panic coming upon her.

  Kimberly put her arm around Charisse. “You’re going to be fine. I’ll try to be here and we’ll practice your breathing techniques to keep you focused.”

  With those words Charisse felt a little better.

  There was still no word from Cheyenne. Parker and Charisse assessed that whatever Chyna had done had kept her away. Matter of fact, no one had seen hide nor hair of Cheyenne and Parker made a call to Joanie only to be told that Cheyenne had taken a long vacation because of the broken noise from Charisse and the stress of losing him.

  When they still didn’t know her whereabouts, just to be sure, Parker put in a missing person’s report to help him keep Cheyenne on the radar, but no word ever surfaced.

  From the report Parker received occasionally from whomever was keeping an eye on Cheyenne, she’d left town shortly after Pascal’s death, but there was no word as to where she had gone. Joanie was staying in Detroit to run the small cosmetic business that barely paid Cheyenne’s bills.

  Charisse didn’t bother to find out more that was going with her sisters, because the babies were consuming all parts of her life. When she had enough strength, she would spend all extra time with Parker. Her mood seemed to lighten so much when he was around because he was so enamored by
not only her, but her body as well. He couldn’t get enough of her and she loved feeling worshipped from head to toe.

  Parker often hinted that he left money on the credit card that she had been issued, but Charisse just kept this in the pocket that she wore on her ankle along with Nevada’s suggested materials and her ID. Why she felt the need to keep it secret or on her person at all times she didn’t try to explain to herself, but she knew it had to do with the insecure feeling she had all the time since her seventh month when Parker told her for three weeks, Chyna had stop contacting him every week.

  “Did you call the spa?” She asked.

  “I did, and according to them she gave orders to not be disturbed again.” He briefly showed worry. “She could be just reverting to the old Chyna again and being selfish.”

  “She could.” Yet this feeling in her gut told her differently.

  Parker called the spa the next day again to find out that the doctor who had been seeing Chyna was no longer coming and Chyna had dismissed him with reasons that she was suddenly feeling better.

  “The doctor said she had been feeling fine and her test results showed that a lot of the infection had cleared, but his last visit gave him something amazing. He wasn’t sure if it were a miracle or just that she had healed very well.”

  “What do you mean?” Charisse questioned.

  “She’s all better. Like a new woman, according to the doctor.” He finished fixing his tie as Charisse sat up in bed.

  “Any word on Cheyenne?” she asked.

  He looked at her and frowned. “You don’t think Cheyenne would off her sister and take her place.”

  “Yes,” Charisse said without a doubt.

  That night when they were in bed together, Chyna sent a text message. ‘Sorry for no contact. Trying to get as much rest as possible to give my body time to heal.’

  ‘Call me,’ he texted to her.

  ‘In a couple of days.’

  Charisse saw the reply and frowned. “Call her phone,” she ordered.

  He did but there was no answer. Matter of fact, Chyna’s phone just said the number instead of her voice.

  “I’ll call the manager and demand he go to see her,” Parker said.

  “No, you’re probably right. She’s probably being her old self again and being selfish.” Charisse was tired and just didn’t want to think about this anymore. After the couple of days and Chyna only sent more text messages that she was fine, but she just didn’t want to talk, they just assumed Chyna was being herself and didn’t want to be bothered by them despite their apprehension.

  Parker saw his wife upset and did his best to get her mind off of everything letting her know the preparations for the home birth would arrive soon and Kimberly was going to increase her stay to three days.

  “I don’t want to make Jaelen upset. Did you try to contact Rochelle?” she asked.

  “Yes, I did. I called the service and the number she gave me, but there’s no word and her voice mail has filled up.”

  She didn’t think too much into this until her eighth month when Dr. Redmond ordered her to complete bed rest and she felt bad having Parker stay home after the third week even though he didn’t act as if it did bother him. He’d move his office back where he worked on a laptop and was on the phone most of the morning. She tried not to be a bother and when he knew Kimberly was on the way, he would leave a few minutes to an hour before Kimberly would arrive.

  Yet, Charisse had begun to go into really deep sleeps during the day often waking when she thought she heard things through the house, but it was usually nothing. Getting in and out of bed was her greatest challenge, but Kimberly would remind her about the Kegels she needed to do. Most times, Charisse felt like a beached whale most times because all she could do to get comfortable was lay on her back.

  She had two false alarms as she went into her thirty-fourth week and according to her last ultrasound, Dr. Redmond says he was just waiting on when the babies wanted to come out. It was almost too tempting to ask for a C-Section, but Kimberly reminded her she could put herself and the babies more at risk.

  ***

  Parker heard the doorbell. Since he was now used to jumping up from Charisse’s false alarms, he easily got out of bed dressed only in the clothes he’d worn yesterday. Charisse’s constant moving and restlessness had kept him up, but he didn’t mind.

  Mandingo filled the doorway and handed him a newspaper immediately before even saying anything.

  Rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, he cleared his vision to see the small article that was circled with a red pen.

  BODY OF HEALTH CARE NURSE FOUND IN ABANDONED BUILDING

  The article went on to say that Rochelle’s body had been found yesterday afternoon. There seemed to be no evidence of foul play according to forensics, but the morgue has yet to submit a report at the time of printing. The property she was found in had been newly acquired to open a nursing home and it looked as if she had tripped hitting her head causing instant hemorrhaging. The accident had happened several months ago and with no friends or family to be concerned for her, the only reason her body had been found was because neighbors had complained about the building being left open and a foul odor coming from it.

  “It was foul play,” Mandingo said once he was assured Parker had finished reading the article. “I checked it out at the morgue and they’re going to rule that someone hit her over the head and then placed the body in there.”

  “And do we know Joanie’s whereabouts since we suspect that Cheyenne was no where to be seen in Detroit?” Parker asked.

  “We’re not sure, but I turned her name in as a suspect to the leading homicide detective.”

  Parker sighed with relief. “I don’t think I should let Charisse know about this in her condition. It might upset her. She’s already restless with this mandatory bed rest.”

  “That’s not all. Your ex-wife boarded a plane home two hours ago. It should be landing in about one at Metro.”

  Dread filled him and he thought fast. “I’ll have my assistant go out there to meet her and take her to another place. I really don’t want her here upsetting Charisse. Chyna will understand.”

  “Will she?”

  “If I take her straight to the salon she won’t say a thing. I think I need to take Charisse up to the cabin by tonight if I can’t convince Chyna not to come home. Why didn’t she call to let me know she was coming?”

  “Probably because she didn’t want you to know she’s coming.”

  Parker called Chyna’s phone but there was no answer again, so he texted her. “How are you doing at the spa?”

  There was no answer on that as well.

  Immediately he had one of his office employees prepare to go to the airport to meet Chyna’s flight. There was a picture of her in his desk at the office so it would be simple to recognize her. If he knew Chyna she wouldn’t have changed much and would love a chance to go to the salon.

  After that phone call, Parker called Kimberly to see if she could come by right away to stay with Charisse.

  “Is it time?” Kimberly asked excitedly.

  “No, but something important has come up and it’s too near her time to be left alone like this.”

  “That doesn’t sound good, Parker. What’s going on?”

  “I really don’t want to go into it now, Kimberly, with anyone. But everything’s okay.”

  Kimberly didn’t sound convinced. “Give me fifteen. I just have to get the baby ready.”

  “I’ll call Jaelen to pick you up and bring you over,” Parker offered.

  “No,” she said quickly. “I’d rather have my van with me.”

  “I’ll leave now and you’ll call me when you get here?”

  “Parker, does Charisse know what’s going on? You’re scaring me.”

  He really couldn’t go into this and he definitely didn’t want Charisse to get upset about what was happening. In his most assuring voice, he gave Kimberly some comfort.

  After hang
ing up with her, he asked Mandingo, “Has there been any sightings of Cheyenne in Detroit at all?”

  Mandingo shook his head in disappointment. “Not even any credit card activity. After the broke nose, we’re positive she went to Florida to retrieve Pascal’s laptop and some other items from the loft he was staying at. Remember I told you that she checked on the flight scheduled to return to Detroit, but she was never seen getting off the plane.”

  Parker had placed a missing person report on her, but being that she was an adult and all Joanie said was that her friend and boss told her she was going on a long vacation with no destiny in mind. The police just assumed she really wasn’t missing since there was no foul play. The spa where Chyna was staying had reported no more visitors or even any phone calls to and from Chyna’s room.

  Yet, Parker knew something was wrong, but he couldn’t put his finger on it. Chyna coming home shouldn’t be a strange turn of events. That had been the plan to come when it was close to Charisse’s time, but with the marriage that no one knew about things had changed.

  “So for all these months, Cheyenne’s been missing,” Parker determined. “And Chyna’s headed back to Detroit suddenly.”

  Mandingo looked at his phone and nodded. “But they’ve been known to switch places before.”

  “I think I should go out there and make sure that really is Chyna. I’ve seen both of them and can tell the difference,” Parker offered.

  “No. I’ve seen them both as well and I can also tell the difference. You need to get the cabin ready so we can get Charisse out of here. If you don’t want to risk her peace of mind and keep the baby a secret then we’d better get her out of here as soon as possible.”

  Parker knew that meant going to Dr. Redmond’s office and picking up the equipment and taking it to the cabin, which was about two hours away from Detroit. He’d have to move fast and hopefully Sophie could keep Chyna busy for at least four hours.