by Cairo
“There’s nothing I can do. I’ve tried to apologize. I’ve left numerous messages. I’ve sent her cards. I’ve even asked Daddy to talk to her. She still won’t have anything to do with me.”
“Can you blame her?”
She shakes her head. “No. I wouldn’t want anything to do with me, either.”
“Mmmph. Well, you need to figure out something before she has her baby. And before this shower next month.”
She sits back in her seat. “I can’t believe she’s almost eight months’ pregnant. And I’ve missed out on most of her pregnancy.”
“You’ll miss out on a whole lot more if you don’t make up with her.”
Paris and I talk every day, and we’ve double-dated a few times. Desmond seems like a really nice guy. He seems like he’s really into Paris. More than what I can say about any other man she’s ever dated. He and Em even hit it off. Paris is still staying with our parents. And she’s as miserable as ever; thanks to Mother constantly in her face, meddling and doting over her at the same time. Plus, she’s ready to move back home with her sisters where she belongs.
So much has been going on since Pasha’s wedding. Emerson and I have talked about moving in together, but I told him it’s not going to happen until after we’re married. I refuse to become a convenience. I give him all the pussy he wants. I stay over as often as he wants. But, a live-in girlfriend I will not be. I told him if he wants this woman in his life full-time, then he needs to put a ring on it and meet me down the aisle.
“So what you saying, you wanna get married?” he asked, rising up on his forearms, giving me a sideways glance.
I shifted my body so that I could face him on my side. “No, what I’m saying is, I’m not going to invest a lot of time and energy into being someone’s girlfriend. At some point, we’re going to have to know exactly where we’re going with this. As a man, you should know what you want.”
“I already know where I wanna go with it. And I know what I want. That’s why I want you to move in with me. I want you.”
I pulled him into me by the back of his neck, kissed him on the lips, then looked him in his eyes. “When you marry me, then I move in. Until then, we keep doing what we’re doing.”
He grinned, pulling me into his arms. “Say no more, baby. I hear you loud and clear.” And three weeks later, he surprised me with an engagement ring. We haven’t set a date, but I am officially engaged to the man of my dreams.
The waitress comes over to see if we’re ready to order. I glance at my watch, tell her to give us ten more minutes, then change my mind when I see who I’m waiting for. “On second thought, we’re ready.”
I look over at Persia. “If you want to make it right, now’s your chance.”
She gives me a puzzled look. I get up from my seat to give Paris a hug before she gets to our table. “Hooker, what is she doing here?” she hisses in my ear. “I don’t want to be anywhere around her.”
“Paris, please,” I whisper, helping her take off her coat. “Listen to what she has to say, for me.”
She grunts, reluctantly walking back over to the table with me. I squeeze her hand. Persia gets up from her seat, bursting into tears as she wraps her arms around Paris. Paris and I look at each other, shocked. There are very few times either of us have ever seen her cry. Paris stiffens, keeps her arms down at her side while Persia tells her how much she’s missed her; how sorry she is. Patrons in earshot are glancing over at us. I have to practically peel Persia away from Paris.
We take our seats while Persia continues sobbing. She goes to the bathroom to pull herself together. The waitress takes our drink orders. I order a cosmo for Persia and me. Paris orders a pineapple smoothie. For appetizers, I order the stuffed mushrooms.
“Paris, please work on putting this behind you and Persia. We both know she can be a bitch at times, but she’s our sister. The holidays are coming up and I want to spend them with both of my sisters, together.”
She waves her hand, dismissively. “You sound like Desmond. Trust me. I want nothing more than to put this behind me. But, it’s not that easy.”
“I know.”
Persia returns to the table with her eyes swollen and red. “Paris, I’m so sorry for what I’ve done to you. I didn’t think for one minute that you’d really care if I slept with him or not.”
Paris tilts her head. “Exactly. You didn’t think. Because, once again, the only person you were thinking about was yourself.”
“You’re right. Truth is, I did think about it. But I didn’t care. I wanted him, too. I needed to see what it was about him that you wanted to keep to yourself.”
Paris cringes as the waitress returns with our drinks. “And were you able to figure that all out?”
“Desmond seems like a really nice guy. And I knew how much he cared about you. I feel horrible for tricking him like that.”
Paris raises her brow. “Do you really?”
Persia nods. “Yes, I do. Paris, the more I slept with him, the harder it was for me to tell him the truth. And it tore me up, knowing that the person he was falling for really wasn’t you.”
“You do realize you’ve made it very awkward for me to ever bring you around him.”
“I understand that.”
“The crazy thing is he wants me to have a relationship with you. Even after what you did to him, he’s been encouraging me to talk to you.”
Paris rubs her round belly. She looks beautiful pregnant. She has her thick, long hair pulled back into a ponytail. I glance at her hand and blink.
“Is that what I think it is?” I ask, gasping.
She flashes her hand. “Yes, Desmond proposed to me over the weekend at his parents’ home.”
“Congratulations,” I squeal, digging into my bag, fishing out my own surprise “I didn’t know how lunch was going to go, but I wanted both of you here. I have an announcement to make myself.” I slip the ring over my finger, then flash them my hand. “Emerson asked me to marry him.”
“Ohmygod,” Paris says. Her voice filled with excitement. She takes my hand and inspects my ring. “Oooh, it’s beautiful.”
Persia looks stunned. “Wow, it is gorgeous. Both of you have beautiful rings. I’m happy for the both of you. Congratulations.” She looks at Paris, then me. “So things between you and Desmond are really working out?”
Paris nods. “Yeah, things are great. If anything, this entire ordeal has brought us closer together. He wants a family, and he wants me.”
“I’m happy for you.” She looks over at me. “And you’re happy with Emerson?”
“Yes, I am. I love him. And I would like to spend my life with him.”
Tears well in her eyes. “I’ve missed so much over the last few months. I feel so empty not being a part of your lives. I feel so disconnected from the two of you. For anything that I’ve ever done to wrong either of you, I want you both to know how deeply sorry I am. Paris, things with us won’t be the same, but I hope one day you can find it in your heart to forgive me.”
Paris gives her a faint smile, then reaches over and squeezes her hand. “I miss my sister. I’m working on forgiveness. Not for you, but for me. I’m having a baby, and want my child to have both of his or her aunts in its life.”
“And I’m getting married,” I interject. “And I want both of my sisters in my wedding.”
“Have you set a date?” Paris asks.
“No. Not exactly, but it’ll be sometime in the fall of two-thousand-and-twelve. That’ll give you—” I point to Persia—“enough time to fix what you broke. And you”—I point at Paris—“enough time to lose all that baby fat. I will not have a chunky bridesmaid in my wedding.”
She laughs. “Oh, whatever, hooker.”
“Have you and Desmond set a date yet?” Persia asks Paris.
“No. Not yet. We’re not going to rush into getting married. We’re still getting to know one another. He wants us to live together once the baby is born. But I told him, no. I told him the next ma
n I live with—”
“Is going to be my husband,” I finish for her.
She laughs. “Exactly. Sounds like someone else got that speech, too.”
“Girl, please. How you think I got this engagement ring? I fuck Em good and suck him better, but I’ll be damned if he’s gonna get anymore than that until after we’re married.”
I lift my glass. “To new beginnings.”
“And forgiveness,” Paris adds, eyeing Persia.
“To new beginnings and forgiveness,” the three of us say, clinking our glasses.
“Persia,” Paris says, setting her drink back down on the table. She narrows her eyes. “You really hurt me. But the three of us have a home together, and we’re partners in a business, so I’m going to have to get over what you did to me. Will I forget? Hell no. Will I ever trust you around my man? Hell fucking no! And even though Des isn’t interested in being with you, I’m still going to watch you like a fucking hawk around him. If I ever catch you trying to flirt with him, or if I even think you’re somewhere playing in your hot-ass pussy thinking about him, I’m going beat your ass, then cut you out of my life for good. Are we clear?”
“I promise you. That’s something neither of you will ever have to worry about. I’m never going to let anything else come between us.”
I gulp my drink. “Good. Now when the hell are you moving back home?”
“Not soon enough,” Paris says, shaking her head. “Mother has been driving me crazy. I can’t wait to get the hell up out of there. Love her dearly, but my welcome has worn thin.”
The three of us share a laugh. Something we haven’t done in a long time. I smile, feeling like there’s hope for the three of us after all. I eye Persia. That’s my sister, and I love her dearly. But, I’m with Paris. I’m going to be watching her ass, too.
Persia looks at me and smiles.
I smile back. If she even sneezes wrong, I’m gonna beat her ass for the old and for the new.
Paris
CHAPTER SIXTY-TWO
Tears roll unchecked down my cheeks. I’m bloated and miserable. This whole pregnancy thing is a lot more excruciating than I expected. Everything about Desmond makes me sick right now. The way he looks, the way he smells. I want to slap him. I’m already a week past my due date and I’ve only dilated three centimeters. I want this stubborn baby out of me, now. All it does is kick and squirm and make my life a living hell.
I’m so glad to be back here in my own bed. Living with my parents was…different, to say the least. But, here is where my heart is—for now at least. Persia and I are still on shaky ground, but we’re talking and we’re working things through. And she finally admitted to being jealous of me. Why I have no idea, but she said she’s always envied me. One day when I feel like hearing it, I’ll ask her to clarify. Right now, it’s not that important to me. That’s her issue, not mine. She realized I don’t trust her as far as I can toss her, but she’s still my sister.
Desmond just left here. I had to put him out. He was getting on my nerves, for no reason. I have to say, having him and Persia in the same room the first few times was definitely an uncomfortable feeling for all three of us. But we got through it. Persia apologized for her scandalous behavior. Surprisingly, Desmond accepted her apology. But, for some strange reason, there was something in his eyes that gave me the feeling that he’s thought about her sexually. That he’s fantasized about whatever little nasty deeds she used to perform on him. There’s no telling with Persia. To this day, I don’t know exactly what they did in bed, and I don’t care to know. Even though I trust him when he says he loves me. Something deep in my gut tells me, if I offer him the opportunity to fuck the both of us, he would. Crazy thing is I’ve thought about it, watching the two of them together. I’ve masturbated to the notion of catching the two of them in the act.
There’s a part of me that misses fucking men with my sisters. If I’m really honest with myself, there have been times when I’ve lain in bed with Desmond, fantasizing about Persia and Porsha and Emerson—all five of us in one bed, fucking the night away.
The three of us would have Emerson’s and Desmond’s hands and feet tied to the bedposts, taking turns riding down on their cocks, smothering their faces with our sweet, wet pussies while alternately sucking their dicks.
The baby kicks again, jolting me from my lascivious thoughts. “Ugh!”
“Here, sweetie,” Porsha says, propping two pillows in back of me. “Let’s see if this helps.”
Persia is at the foot of my bed, rubbing my feet. Porsha takes a cold rag and places it up against my forehead. They’ve been tending to my every need for the last two weeks since my doctor placed me on bedrest. If I don’t have this baby by the end of the week, the doctor says they’re going to induce my labor. And that’s fine by me. Daddy and Desmond know to be close by. They’re the only ones I want in the delivery room with me. Mother wanted to be in there, but I told her absolutely not. I wanted the two special men in my life there. Surprisingly, she didn’t make a big deal about it. She acted like she understood. And that’s all I care about. I want this shit over with. I feel like a fat cow.
I steady my breathing. The baby kicks. And I groan. “Do the two of you…” Oh, God, this child is pressing down on my fucking bladder. I take short quick breaths, blowing in and out, rubbing my lower part of my stomach.“…have any regrets doing what we’ve done with men?”
Persia and Porsha look at each other, then me. “No,” they say in unison.
“We’ve had some good times man-swapping,” Persia states, smiling. She quivers. “Whew, we’ve fucked the shit out of some fine-ass men.”
“Yes, we have,” I agree.
“Shit, I still think about it sometimes,” Porsha admits. “Every now and then Emerson asks if I miss it.”
“What do you tell him?” Persia asks.
“Shit, I tell him the truth. There are no secrets between us. But he also knows as long as I’m with him, I’m not sleeping with another man.”
“If somewhere down the road he wants a threesome, would you allow another woman into your bed?”
“If that were the case, fortunately, I don’t think it will be. But, if that’s what he wanted, the only women I’d ever let him sleep with would be one of you. And I told him that.” Persia wants to know what he said when she told him that. “He laughed, then told me that three of us together were too much for him; that I’m more than enough woman for him.”
“Good answer,” I say, shifting my body so I can lie on my side.
“Have you told Desmond?” Porsha wants to know.
It feels like this baby is kicking and punching me. “Aaah. Nooo…” Inhale. Exhale. I pat my stomach. Try to soothe this baby in any way possible. “I didn’t have to.” They both give me surprised looks. “Girl, you know after that whole fiasco at the reception, Jasper couldn’t wait to get him alone and tell him all about the three of us.”
They gasp. “Shut. Your. Mouth. What did he say to you?”
I groan again. “He asked me if it was true. And I told him yes.”
“Then what?” Porsha inquires.
“Then he wanted to know how long we’d been sharing men, and how many. And of course he wanted to know if I used condoms. I told him always. That most times I only got my pussy eaten or laidback and masturbated while they watched me watch them fuck one of y’all.”
“Ohhh, I bet you he thinks we’re some nasty freaks.”
I hold back a laugh, clutching my stomach. “Oh, it hurts when I laugh. But, yeah, he knows we’re some real freaks. Hell, he walked in on me fucking myself in the back office one day when I thought I had the door locked. And, then, I fucked him. So yeah, he knows.”
My cell rings. I have it lying beside me. I pick it up. “Speaking of him, now. Hey!”
“You still beefin’ wit’ me?”
“Nope. I just want this baby out of me.”
“You and me both. My lil man has turned you into an evil woman. I miss the old y
ou.”
I suck my teeth, playfully. “Whatever. How you know it’s going to be a boy, anyway?”
“Trust me. I know.” I smile remembering, what Daddy said about knowing I was carrying his first grandson. As much as he loves my sisters and me, deep down he wishes he had at least one son. I remember the look in his eyes whenever Garrett spent the weekends at our house. The two of them would go out fishing or down to the courts to shoot hoops. I even see it now when he talks to Desmond. Daddy likes Desmond. And, Mother…well, she’s still trying to get over the fact that I’m pregnant, and that Persia fucked him.
I groan. “Uhh. Remind me to never have sex with you again without using a condom.”
He laughs. “Too late for all that. As soon as we’re married, I’m pumpin’ you up with two more.”
“Yeah right, I don’t think so. You better be the one carrying them.”
He keeps laughing. “Yeah, aiight. We’ll see.” I groan. “Damn, I wish there was something I could do for you.”
“There is.”
“What’s that?”
“Come lick my pussy. That seems to make it feel better.”
He laughs. “Yo, you just threw me up outta there.”
“Yeah, I know. But now I want my pussy eaten. I read somewhere that eating a woman’s pussy while she’s pregnant helps with the dilation process.”
Porsha and Persia both fall out laughing at how ridiculous that sounded. Even I have to laugh. But he tells me he’ll be back in an hour. We disconnect.
Persia stops rubbing my feet when she receives a text. She texts whoever it is back, then tosses her phone on the bed. “Royce wants to spend the night.”
“I can’t believe you’re still messing with him,” I say, shaking my head.
“Me either. I hate to admit it, but I kind of like him.”
“Wow, isn’t that something,” Porsha says, laughing. “And I bet you have a big ole wide pussy now to show it.”
She laughs with her. “Oh, fuck you. Let’s simply say, he’s stretched it to accommodate every inch of him.”
I groan again, laughing. “So, in other words, you have a big pussy.”