“Sooo, Ava, how is it being a mother of two kids?”
Ava stared across the room at her mother holding Baby Sully. They all followed Ava’s eyes when she cut them toward Maddie on the dance floor, dancing on top of her daddy’s shoes. Quinn’s heart suddenly skipped a beat at the scene playing out before her.
“Honestly, I love it, ladies,” Ava said, breaking the tender moment. “I’ve always wanted to be a mother but prayed that I would be good at it.” She eyed each lady at the table. Her voice trembled slightly. “Anyone can get pregnant and bear a child, but you have to be ready to give up everything for that little person.” She swiped at a stray tear.
“Amen,” Mac voiced.
. Ryleigh and Raven nodded in unison.
Quinn sat in silence. She had thought a lot about becoming a mother over the past couple of months. Even more so than she usually did. Instead of purchasing Cosmo magazines, she had secretly picked up books like My Baby’s First Words, Childbirth, and How to Breastfeed. She didn’t know how Pax felt about becoming a daddy since they were still in their newlywed stage, but she was all into that baby shit now.
“This brings me to our new Best Friends Challenge.” Ava smiled brightly, glancing in Quinn’s direction.
Ryleigh threw her hands in the air. “Shiiit, are we really about to do this?”
“Y’all heifers can count me out,” Mac huffed, snatching her drink she’d said the bartender called Rosewood Heights Magic off the table and taking several gulps.
Raven’s face resembled a kid who’d just got caught cheating on a test. Shaking her head, she stood. “If we’re going to do this, I need some fresh air.”
Quinn hopped up from the table, causing a few drinks to spill over the sides.
“Dang, Quinn,” Mac shouted, catching a few droplets leaping from her glass with her fingers. The other women stopped the swirling in their glasses as well.
“Sorry, ladies, but y’all haven’t mentioned my challenge on any of our conference calls. Come on, guys. We have to discuss this,” she whined.
Raven huffed. The excitement coursing through Quinn’s veins overwhelmed her. She was happy Ava had brought up the challenge she’d suggested at her wedding almost three years ago.
“Wait!” Ava held her hand in the air. “Quinn’s right. We haven’t discussed it in a long time.”
Ryleigh gave Ava the evil eye.
“Don’t kill the messenger,” Ava said, lifting her shoulders in protest. “I’m only following through on the challenge that was presented to the group, when we were last together.” She glanced at Quinn, obviously waiting on confirmation from her to agree.
Quinn nodded and continued to smile a wide, toothy grin. Being super excited was one part of her sudden loss of words, and her other mounting issue was the fact that her stomach was now having a boxing match with her organs. She was sure her stomach had mistaken her kidney, liver, or intestines as a hamburger. If the sounds coming from her mid-section were any indication, she needed to find some real food soon or she might faint.
“I think what I have to propose will be good for everyone,” Ava stated.
“I can’t believe Quinn got to you.” Mac shook her head in disgust. “But like Raven suggested, if we’re going to do this shit, I need some air, too.” Mac stood with her Rosewood Heights Magic in hand. “Better yet, I’m going to take this beer, too. If we’re going to talk about what I think we’re going to talk about, I need liquid courage.” She floated toward the double doors leading to the garden.
Raven and Ryleigh followed behind Mac with two drinks in each of their hands. Each woman stopped long enough to give their husbands a peck on the cheek. The men were engrossed in a deep conversation. Quinn could only imagine it had something to do with sports.
“Let me go check on my babies,” Ava stated, before she ran across the room.
Quinn nodded and took a sip of her Hennessy and Coke. She marched with nervousness toward the doors the ladies had just fled through. She needed them to agree to the challenge. She couldn’t wait to be a mother. OMG! A mini me. She nearly wanted to break out in sprints at the thought of a little girl who resembled Pax but had her personality. Wait, that could be dangerous. Quinn had to admit to herself that sometimes her awkwardness could be a little too much for people to accept.
“Hey, beautiful,” he drawled.
Quinn smiled wide and snaked her arms around her husband’s muscular neck as he caught her right before she exited the doors. “Hey, bae.” One thing everybody knew was how much she loved her some Paxton Wolfe. He’d come into her life at a time when her confidence was low, and she didn’t have a clue on how to get a man. In a way, she had to thank herself for making the pact. It led her to meeting her best friend, and most of all, her lover.
And to add icing on the cake, Pax was easy on the eyes. He’d donned a navy-blue blazer, a pair of dark denim jeans, and black loafers, with no socks. His white fitted V-neck T-shirt stretched across his stomach to show off his six pack. She made a mental note that she would start with ripping that T-shirt from his chiseled chest later. She shuddered thinking about how she was going to mount those broad shoulders tonight at the hotel.
“Where are you running off to?” he asked, while planting a soft kiss above her earlobe.
Quinn fell into him, while she angled her head more to the left to give him better access to her neck. “The ladies and I have business to discuss.” She moaned in satisfaction at the small pecks her husband teased her neck with.
Pax raised an eyebrow. “Hmmm. Are y’all being good?”
That bedroom voice he spoke in now had Quinn’s clitoris pulsating. He was not playing fair, because he knew what it was doing to her mind.
She puckered her lips. “Always.”
Quinn caught sight of Ava moving toward her and swiftly grasped her hand. “Sorry, Pax, we ladies got a date in the garden.”
Pax quickly snuck in one last kiss on Quinn’s lips before she was ushered out of the glass doors. Her body instantly protested the connection being broken from her husband. However, if this challenge was accepted, her body would be getting all the loving it required.
&
Rosewood Estates Garden was expansive and beautiful. A herd of geese swam in a nearby pond, and an assortment of lilies, daises, and other beautiful flowers blossomed all around them. Quinn leaned against a metal banister that ran the length of the banquet hall down toward the pond. Her flowy, yellow dress whipped around her legs when a warm breeze swept through the air. Mac, Raven, and Ryleigh sat on a small, concrete bench overlooking a colorful flowerbed of roses.
Ryleigh took a swig of her beer. “Are we ever going to grow out of these Best Friends Challenges?”
“We can start today,” Raven added.
Quinn shook her head. “Now why would we break tradition? We’ve always done challenges, and the last time I checked, none of you bitches were complaining about the last one I made.”
Mac interjected, “Okay, I’ll give it to you, Quinn. You finally came up with a challenge that changed all our lives for the better. But come on,” she slightly slurred, “we’re good and not looking for anymore challenges.”
“Just one more challenge! You ladies will love this one.” The women lifted their heads upon Ava clasping her hands on Mac and Raven’s shoulders. “And I’ll join in on it.”
“Spit it out, Ava,” Mac insisted.
Smiling, Ava paced the sidewalk and came to a standstill in front of the women. “Baby Bump Boot Camp.”
Ryleigh tilted her head and spat the beer she was drinking on the cluster of purple lilies. “Baby who, baby bump what? Boot camp!” she rattled out.
“You’ve been hanging around Quinn’s crazy ass way too long,” Raven stated, shaking her head.
Mac stared in a daze. Quinn knew what she was thinking, What the hell is Baby Bump Boot Camp? There is no way I’m doing that shit.
Quinn stood next to Ava as the women began to protest and reject Ava’s plan.
She loved the idea of joining a class to help prepare your body for the most beautiful thing it would every experience in life … pregnancy.
“Let’s hear what Ava has to say,” Quinn suggested.
Raven held her hand up in the air. “She’s only picking up on the suggestion you came up with at your wedding.”
“So why don’t we hear her out?” Quinn asked.
Mac finally found her voice. “Just like we tuned your ass out when you initially mentioned this challenge to us, we plan on doing the same to her.”
Ava rubbed her forehead in frustration. “Listen, the goal for this boot camp is simple. It’s to help you get that baby bump you always wanted or don’t want afterwards. You can’t get pregnant by taking the classes.” She smacked her lips. “The classes start on Wednesday and last through Saturday.”
“Damn, we all just got here Sunday,” Ryleigh interjected. “You already putting us to work?”
Sighing, Ava continued. “Each day is centered around a different kick-off theme. What harm is it to attend and learn a little, just in case you want to have a baby one day?”
Quinn nodded her head in agreement. “Don’t get this twisted, this is a Best Friends Challenge, ladies. So, this means you have to take the class and afterwards try to conceive. And if you don’t get pregnant within a year, the next girl’s trip is on you! And it won’t be cheap!”
Ryleigh rolled her eyes, and Raven twisted her lips. “I’ll take the class,” Mac said. “But don’t expect me to try and have a baby afterwards. I can’t commit to that. I mean, do y’all two hear what you’re asking? A baby is a big deal! It’s like another mouth to feed. It’s an eighteen-year commitment.”
“I knew one day we’d take this Best Friends Challenge stuff too far,” Raven huffed. “I mean, getting married was up there at top of the list of the craziest shit we have ever done. But this shit right here, ladies, takes it to an entirely new level.”
“I hear ya, Mac,” Quinn said. “And you might be right, Raven. But come on … let’s do it!” She pumped her fist in the air. “We got this. We’re some bad bitches. We all snagged a husband in a year. This baby challenge can change our lives for the better. Don’t look at it as another commitment, but as a blessing from God.”
They all groaned, disapproval evident on their faces. Like déjà vu, Raven raised her beer bottle in the air, and Quinn and Ava’s hands flew upward in unison. Ryleigh lifted her empty bottle, and everyone stared at Mac. Ryleigh nudged her in the ribcage, and she reluctantly raised her hand halfway.
“You’re almost there, Mac, just raise it a little more,” Quinn instructed.
Mac rolled her eyes. “Don’t push it, Quinn.”
Once all hands and bottles were raised, a cool breeze whipped through them, and a deep baritone voice pierced their ears.
“What are our lovely wives agreeing to now?”
The women gasped in surprise as they turned toward their husbands standing behind them with inquisitive gazes.
Baby Bump Boot Camp
Quinn fell back on Pax’s toned bicep, where he had gotten her name tattooed after they’d gotten married. Panting breathlessly, she placed a hand over her bosom to calm her racing heart. Her stud muffin husband had given her the best orgasm yet. Shit, sex with Pax always left her useless and fatigued. The man brought his strongest A-game to the bedroom every time. Sometimes she wondered what a quickie or an average fuck felt like. Pax didn’t do anything if he wasn’t giving his best.
She placed a kiss on the heart circling her name to contain the bubbling feeling of wanting to scream. She couldn’t believe she was living the life she’d so dreamed of years ago. And the added cherry on top was Pax was all hers. She didn’t have to wonder where his loyalty laid. The huge rock on her finger proved that he had indeed chosen her for a life-long partner.
Licking her lips, Quinn touched her throbbing clit. Eating pussy should be an Olympic sport because she was sure Pax would win first place for the United States. It always seemed to take her several seconds to find her voice and leg muscles again. Not only was Pax a great lover but he had accepted her quirkiness and had been a partner worth waiting for. Sometimes she wondered how she had gotten so lucky.
On the outside, Pax came across hard, rough, and strong, but deep down he was a bag of cotton. He was a man of patience and depth. There was nothing she couldn’t ask for that he didn’t provide. And his sexual appetite for her had blown her mind in a million pieces. That was one reason they stayed at Rosewood Inn, instead of her parents’ house … to fuck whenever their heart desired. Which led her to her current moment. Pax’s question from minutes ago still lingered in the air.
“So, whose idea was it to attend this Baby Bump Boot Camp?”
Quinn’s heart rate quickened unexpectedly, but instead of showing how nervous she was, she kissed the hairs on his chest.
Pax moaned and sat up straight in the bed to lean against the headboard. “You’re stalling, Q.”
“I’m not,” Quinn objected. “It was all our idea.”
Pax raised an eyebrow.
She sheepishly gazed up at him and dropped her eyes back to fondling the hairs on his chest. She knew her husband didn’t know diddly-squat about her and the ladies new Best Friends Challenge. Pax was a fisher, a baiter; he would ask her so many questions in roundabout ways that before she knew it, she would have spilled her inner most secrets.
“It was you, wasn’t it?” Pax accused, staring down at Quinn’s creased eyebrows and scrunched face.
She folded her arms and swung her head backwards, hitting the headboard with a loud bang. “Ouch,” Quinn squealed.
Her hands sought out the swelling bump she was sure was forming. Before she could find it, Pax cocooned her head in the center of his muscular chest, rubbing it profusely. “Dang, bae, you have to be careful.”
Quinn groaned as the stabbing pain numbed into a dull throb. It was no secret to anyone who knew her that she was clumsy, uncoordinated, accident prone, and above all others a tad bit of a dingbat. Not that she accepted any of it … well, some of it. It was her biggest pet peeve about herself, but after marrying Pax, he had welcomed her weirdness. “I’m okay, bae,” she assured him.
“So, who proposed the Baby Bump Boot Camp?”
Dang, he’s still at it. Is he Inspector Gadget or something? I thought after bumping my damn head, he’d lay off the ninety-nine questions. Give him a little but not a lot.
“Ava.”
“Hmmm … So, are you trying to have a baby?”
Quinn met Pax’s cold, black eyes and shuddered. The gentle voice he’d had moments ago had shifted into a more snippy tone. No hint of playfulness or sweetness lingered.
“I thought we were going to try and have a baby,” Quinn reminded him. Many times before now she had randomly thrown out hints to him that she was ready to extend their family … only for Pax to shut it down and tell her he was wasn’t ready. When she pushed for more of an explanation, it was like pulling teeth from a child. He would turn a deaf ear to her plea. It was so unlike him, when he had always offered her the world.
“I told you, I’m not ready.”
Quinn raised her head from his chest. “I know, but you never said why.”
Pax shrugged his shoulders. “Do I need a reason?”
Instead of going back and forth with him while they lay naked in a hotel bed, she decided to save the conversation for when they returned back home to Memphis. They needed to get going if they were going to be on time for the second day of class. However, she couldn’t help but ponder why he’d agreed to go to the class yesterday with no qualms, but today he was all in his feelings about what he was not ready for.
“I guess not, but why agree to come?” Quinn mumbled under her breath. One thing she knew about her husband was that he was stubborn. She could only assume that being raised by the streets and selling drugs and gang banging at a young age could harden a man’s soul to certain things.
“I’m sorry, ba
e,” Pax said softly, rubbing a hand through his short dreadlock fade. “I agreed to come to support you. I would do anything for you.”
She smiled as Pax continued. “I don’t want nothing but good vibes today. We’ll enjoy the week with your girls and figure out the rest later.” His eyes softened. “I know having a baby is important to you, and I’ve heard you all the other times, but I have my reasons.”
Quinn nodded. She could sense in his tone that the topic of kids ran deeper than what Pax was letting on, but she didn’t want to press him. She’d allow him the time to tell her on his own terms. Yet, time was of the essence, the challenge was made, and she needed Pax to be on board. She would be damned if she’d be the last person standing to get what she wanted this time. Granted, having a baby was a serious thing, but she was ready.
“And besides,” Pax chuckled, “y’all ladies bet on everything. Like, who will get married first, who will get the first kiss. I bet y’all betted on who would lose their virginity first.”
Damn, how did he know? Quinn choked on her saliva and began to gasp for air at Pax’s sudden forwardness.
“You aight, bae?” he asked, while passing her a bottle of water that was sitting on the nightstand.
Holding a hand to her mouth, she coughed hard to try and clear the spit that seeped down the wrong pipe. After she was able to clear her passageway, Pax narrowed his eyes.
“Your guilty ass, I bet y’all made a bet on who’d get pregnant first.” He laughed even harder than the first time.
Quinn gave Pax a side eye and directed her attention to her peeling fingernail polish. Pax had always been good at reading her. In fact, he read her so good, sometimes she wondered if her mind was actually her own. He seemed to creep into the crevices of her soul. In the parts of her that most people tried to keep hidden from their spouses.
She rolled her eyes. “We don’t bet on everything,” she defended. “I mean, most things.”
Four Page Letter: New Year Bae-Solutions Page 6