“Well, it’s too late now,” Mattie told him. “You’ve done said ‘I do’ so like it or not, you in this crazy family, too.”
Barrington wrapped his arms around Perri’s waist, pulling her close to his chest. “I wouldn’t have it any other way, Ms. Mattie.” He kissed his wife’s neck as she rested her weight against him, folding her arms over his.
“Wouldn’t matter if you did, son,” Mattie continued with a mischievous half smile. “You can’t handle us Milan women when we band together.”
“That’s right,” Hunter said, looking at her husband. “Ask Usher, he know all about that. Don’t you, baby?” She kissed his lips tenderly.
“Oh, I’m gonna be sick,” Tyler made a gagging motion with her hands.
Mattie looked at her youngest granddaughter, “You just hush, child. Your day coming when the love bug bite you in your flat booty, too,” she said as a matter of fact.
Everybody laughed, including Tyler.
“Madear . . .” Tyler whined as she touched the seat of her pants.
“What, girl? Don’t get new just because the truth embarrasses you. You know good and darn well I’d have to go down to that school for a parent and teacher conference on a monthly basis because them raggedy kids used to call you ‘big gut, no butt.’”
Barrington fell back on the couch taking Perri with him as she tumbled sideways while he laughed himself silly. “Say it isn’t so . . .” he managed to get out and laughed even harder.
“It is so, too,” Mattie said. “That’s why I had to be down at that school about twice a week.”
“Madear,” all three of her granddaughters said.
“Ms. Mattie, I thought you said it was once a month?” Usher said, trying to control his laughter.
“Hush, boy. I know you know it’s disrespectful to correct your elders, especially when you don’t even know what you talking about. I said I was down there on a monthly basis the first time, but I didn’t say how many times in that one month. I’m not crazy. You might think I am but I’m not. That’s why I remember I was down there twice a week because Hunter, Perri, and Tyler would’ve done gotten into a squabble or a fight because those mannish kids were picking on my baby. So see, Usher, you talk what you know and know what you talking about before you try and dispute it.”
Everyone was in tears laughing so hard.
“Yes Ma’am, Ms. Mattie,” Usher saluted her.
Mattie laughed. “Oh, boy, forget you.”
Barrington looked at his youngest sister-in-law. “So when’d you lose the gut and gain the butt, Tyler?” He broke out laughing again.
Tyler tossed a throw pillow at him. “Shut up, Barrington,” she laughed too.
Perri shoved his rib with her elbow, “Don’t be laughing at my sister.”
“I know that’s right.” Hunter looked from her husband to her brother-in-law, “You about to make us show you how it was back at the ole school.” She was dead serious.
“See what you got started, Ms. Mattie,” Barrington playfully accused.
“Started nothing,” Mattie quipped. “All I did was told you all the truth. Besides, I did tell y’all how protective my babies are of each other, so don’t be blaming me because you were just foolish enough to see for yourself.”
“That’s right,” Perri kissed Barrington on the cheek.
“Hey, hey, hey,” Tyler interrupted. “Don’t be fraternizing with the enemy, Perri.”
Barrington tossed her a playful dirty look. “Um, little sister, how about you mind your business.”
“My sister is my business, big brother.”
“She may be your sister but she’s my wife and I got the leading role in her life.” Looking at his wife Barrington said, “And we trying to make love not war.”
“That’s what I’m talking about,” Usher piped in.
Both Barrington and Usher looked back at Tyler. “So peace,” they said in unison and made the sign with their hands.
Everybody laughed. Imani started babbling like she was trying to get her say in, too.
“That’s right, Cupcake.” Barrington picked up his daughter. “You take up for your daddy even if mommy does leave him hanging.”
“Hey,” Perri cut her eyes at him.
Barrington kissed her lips and whispered something in her ear that caused his wife to giggle. He softly kissed her lips again as Imani squealed in delight.”
“Hey,” Mattie said. “Y’all aren’t over there being mannish are you?”
“Ms. Mattie, there are some things a husband and wife have to keep between them.”
Mattie chuckled. “Keep it to yourself then, son. I don’t even wanna imagine what that husband had to say to his wife.” She laughed.
“Nah, you don’t have to imagine, Ms. Mattie,” Barrington teased. “Like you said, you aren’t crazy, so you know what goes on between a husband and wife behind closed doors. I mean—”
“Boy, hush!” Mattie scolded. “That’s my granddaughter whose business you putting on front street. Now, true enough, she may be your wife. But she was my baby before she became your woman. And there are just some things a mama doesn’t wanna think about her girls doing.”
Unable to look anybody in the eye Perri could only lower her gaze as everyone else laughed.
“And when little Miss Imani over there gets grown and gone, you’ll see exactly what I mean,” Mattie went on to say.
Barrington grew serious, “Nuh-un, no way, no how, Ms. Mattie,” he disagreed. “I’m gonna keep her on permanent lockdown till she turn twenty-seven.”
“Boy, please,” Mattie complained, “what kind of foolishness you talking about?”
“I’m serious, Ms. Mattie. Imani gonna be on house-arrest from age twelve to twenty-six,” Barrington said serious as all getup.
“House arrest? Lockdown? Boy, what kind of mess are you tripping on?” Mattie planted her hand on her hip. “And why weren’t you singing that same tune when you and Perri were out yonder having big fun making my grandbaby?”
“Madear!” Perri’s face was a flaming fire. “That’s not funny, Barrington.”
“What, child? I’m just saying.” She turned to Barrington, “That when the time comes, you got to cut the cord; otherwise, they’ll try to break free and end up choking themselves.” Mattie shook her head. “You don’t want that, son, I know you don’t.”
Beaming at his daughter with pride, Barrington agreed, “You right, Ms. Mattie. I don’t want that. I’d kill myself first,” he promised.
“Huh?” Mattie questioned. “You still talking crazy,” she said, shaking her head.
Everybody laughed.
“I just love you, Ms. Mattie.”
“I just love me some you, too, Barrington. God knows I do. But you still sound crazy,” she accused then laughed along with everyone else.
PART 2
Falling in love is easy to do,
The hard part is staying in love
Through thick and thin . . .
Chapter Twenty-Three
Nia went to answer her door with a brand new stride in her step. “Get on in here, girl.” She hugged her friend, pulling her inside.
“You in a good mood today,” Tina observed.
“Yes I am. And with good reason, too, I might add.”
Tina laughed, placing her portfolio on the table in the foyer before joining her friend in the living room. “Do share then, girl.” She plopped down on the couch. “Whew, child, I am so dog tired. Sleep is gonna feel so good to me tonight. Let me tell you.”
“Forget sleep, Tina. I got great news.”
Tina smiled, noting the glow on her friend's face. “Okay, I'll bite. What's up?”
“I'm pregnant!” Nia announced with joyful laughter and a twirl around in a circle. “Isn't that the greatest news?”
Tina was still dumbfounded. She had to have heard her friend wrong.
“Tina?” Nia called out to her. “Did you hear me?”
“I'm not sure, Nia. I tho
ught I heard you say you were pregnant—”
“That's exactly what I said.” Nia beamed with unmistakable pride.
“How can you be pregnant?” Tina questioned, still reeling from shock.
Nia laughed out loud and stared at Tina like it should have been obvious. But then again, she had to remember, her case wasn't exactly normal. “I'm not exactly pregnant yet,” she admitted. “But I will be tomorrow,” she quickly added.
Tina tried not to, but she couldn't help it. She burst into laughter. “Oh, you finally accepted a date with that fine as wine Kane, huh?”
Nia crinkled up her nose. “Girl, please. Nobody over here is even thinking about him.”
“Wanna bet?” Tina laughed, fanning herself like she was all hot and bothered.
Nia laughed, too. “You go out with him then.”
“Girl, all the man gotta do is holler at me and I'll have him hollering all night.”
They broke into laughter again.
“Girl, he'll have a sister chanting 'say my name, boy, say my name.'”
The two friends howled in laughter for the next five minutes.
“Girl, you don’t have a lick of sense. Not an inkling thin string of it,” Nia told her.
“This from a woman who about to get her freak on with a man she just met?”
“I didn't just meet him.”
Tina laughed and shook her head, “Yeah, right. Okay, whatever you say, Nia. I’m not even mad at you, girl.” She grinned mischievously.
“I'm serious, Tina. I'm not about to be getting busy with no stranger.”
Tina was thoroughly confused. “Then how do you intend to get pregnant tonight?”
“I didn't say tonight. Did I? I said tomorrow.”
“What's going on, Nia?”
“Life, Tina, is going on; mine to be exact.” She smirked. “And as of tomorrow, the new life of my child will be growing inside of me.”
“You lost me, Nia. I don't understand. How can you be so sure you'll conceive tomorrow, with whoever this mystery man is?”
“I already made the arrangements. I'm gonna have a baby soon.”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa, back up, Nia. What do you mean you're gonna have a baby soon? I didn't even know you were seeing anyone.”
“I'm not.”
“Then, how are you gonna have a baby soon?”
“Like I said, I've made the arrangements already.”
“Do you mean to tell me you're going to some clinic to have some strange man's kid?”
“He's not a strange man, I know who he is.”
“If you know who he is then why didn't you do it in the traditional fashion?”
Instead of answering, Nia began tidying up her living room.
“Nia, I'm talking to you.”
“And there's nothing else left to say; just get ready to be called Auntie in about nine months.”
“Hold up.” Tina laughed. “You're gonna have to do better than that. I want details. Dish the dirt, girl. Who is this alleged man?”
“He's not alleged when he exist.”
“Who is he, Nia?” Tina looked at her long and hard. “No you did not?” She slowly shook her head in dismay. “Tell me you did not trick Barrington into getting you pregnant.”
“I do not have to trick any man into getting me pregnant,” she lied, “not directly, anyway.”
“What does that mean? And before you say anything, the mere fact you said what you just said, lets me know that it does involve Barrington.” Tina folded her arms. “Now you better start talking right now, Nia.”
Nia sighed long and hard. “I am going to have a baby—Barrington's baby. But he doesn't know it yet.”
“What the heck do you mean he doesn't know it? How can he not know it? Was he drunk?”
“No.”
“What the freak?” She took a deep breath. “All right,” Tina announced, grabbing her head in exasperation and feeling a headache coming on. She sat on the edge of the couch, attempting to brace herself for what she knew was one unbelievable story. “Nia, let's have it. The whole story; start from the beginning.”
For the next twenty minutes, Nia told Tina her diabolical plan and how it came to evolve.
Not believing her friend, Tina told her, “You are stark-raving mad, girl. Do you honestly think you're gonna get away with that foolishness?”
“I've already gotten away with it; he has no idea.” Nia smirked.
“Yet!” Tina laughed sarcastically. “That's not something you can keep hidden, you know. He is eventually gonna know you're pregnant; you're the man's housekeeper.”
“Was.”
“What?”
“I was his housekeeper.”
“You quit?” Tina was shocked.
“No. Not yet, anyway. But I do plan to take a leave of absence.”
“When?”
“End of the week.”
“Why so soon?”
“Can't chance Barrington finding out my secret; I'm not ready yet. The time has to be exact in order for my plan to come off without a hitch.”
“But you don't really plan to go back, if you go through with this crazy plan of yours, right?”
“Of course I plan to go back, Tina. How else am I gonna be able to keep tabs on my baby's daddy?” She laughed at her own pun.
“Why do you need to keep tabs on a man who is not your own, Nia?”
“That's a temporary problem; believe me, Tina, I've got a permanent solution.”
“Meaning what, Nia?” She shook her head. “Because if you think Barrington's gonna come to you willingly, or for that matter, that Perri's gonna willingly give him up, you're totally over the top, girl. He is her husband, you know, not to mention the father of her baby that already does exist.”
“I'm not worried about little Miss Perri.”
“Well, you should be, Nia. In fact, you should be afraid; be very afraid.”
“She's the one who needs to be afraid,” Nia said suddenly angry.
“Nia, this whole thing is just ludicrous. No. It's downright insane. And it will never work.”
“Shows how much you know. I want what I want. And I am going to get what I want, Tina, or die trying,” Nia vowed.
“No, you're gonna end up in prison, if not in an asylum, time this whole mess is said and done.” Tina shook her head. “I'm begging you, Nia. Don't do this.”
“Too late; it's already done and it can't be undone.” Nia turned on her friend. “If you can't get with the plan, Tina, then I honestly don't need you, much less your approval so you can leave.”
“You can say this to me after all we've been through together?”
“My baby is what matters most, Tina. So, yes, if you don't want to be part of my child's life, then leave is exactly what you need to do.”
“You're serious?”
“I’m dead serious.”
“And that's exactly what your plan is, Nia; a deadly, dangerous game.”
“I'm not playing games, Tina. I'm playing for keeps, and that's real.”
Tina scratched her scalp. “You're trying to get, trap, and keep a man who doesn't even view you in that way, Nia.” She shook her head. “That's just crazy any way you look at it, girl. And if you think I'm gonna help you with something so evil, you'd better think again. Long and hard!” She glared at her friend. “You leave me out of whatever scheme you got cooked up.”
“Let me explain something to you, Tina. With or without you, this baby—mine and Barrington's is going to be born.” She quirked her eyebrow and said, “Now, while you don't have to like it, I expect you to respect it.”
“Respect it?” Tina repeated incredulous. “How, Nia, do you respect something so twisted up? Sperm napping? What kind of mess is that? Who does that?”
“It's not mess, Tina. And I resent that comment.”
Waving her off, Tina said, “You do realize what you did is called stealing, Nia, right?”
“I didn't steal anything. Sperm is a gift that no man
is able to take back.”
Tina couldn't believe her ears. “Sperm is something a man usually passes on to a woman of his own choosing, Nia.” Shaking her head, she reminded her, “Barrington doesn't have a clue you're even in love with him, let alone that you took some leftover sperm you found in one of his used condoms. That's just nasty, by the way. But did you stop there, Nia? No. From there, you had his sperm frozen until you were ready to have yourself artificially inseminated with it. That's just downright stupid, by the way.”
A dark look passed through Nia's eyes, but she quickly reeled it back in. “I've heard enough from you, Tina. I want you to leave my house this instant.” She narrowed her eyes at her. “And, I expect you to keep your mouth shut about my secret. It's my business to tell, and when and if I do is completely up to me.”
“Nia, no one would believe me if I did say something. But this competition you got going on with Perri is totally not healthy. And as your friend, Nia, I'm telling you, you need to seek some professional guidance to get over it. I mean, exactly what is with this vendetta you have going with Perri? For some reason, to you it's personal. Why? What's she ever done to you?”
“She stole my man, that's what,” Nia declared in a hostile tone.
Shaking her head, Tina said, “Excuse me, but did I miss something? You see, I was under the impression that you were Barrington’s housekeeper. When was he ever your man, Nia?”
Nia rolled her eyes hard, smacking her lips. “The point is he would've been were it not for that heifer Perri. Why did she have to come into his life anyway?” she complained with a scowl marring her beautiful face.
Tina was honestly concerned for her friend, “Nia? Honey, listen to me, try to hear me. This is beneath you. You are a very beautiful young woman; any man would be proud to have you. Any available man,” she clarified.
“I don't want any man, I want my man. And that's Barrington. Period.”
“For the last time, Nia, Barrington is not yours. He's Perri's husband. Period.”
“Not for long, I'll tell you that much.”
“That woman doesn't deserve this, Nia. You say you love Barrington and yet you're willing to intentionally hurt the woman he loves with his whole life. And as for Perri, she's a very nice person—”
If I'd Only Known (Milan Women Series Book 1) Page 26