by Tiya Rayne
“Zora, you didn’t tell me it would be like this.” My sister says as she once again walks out of the bathroom.
I smile at my sister as she takes a seat behind her vanity.
“You’re in the early stages, it will pass. Didn’t they teach you about morning sickness in medical school?”
I was beyond happy for my sister. She’s eight weeks pregnant and Marcus is ecstatic. My talk with Maya that day really did help. She’s a different person now. She’s still the bossy know it all, but she’s enjoying life more. She still wants that lead pediatric surgeon position, but she knows that she doesn’t have to put life on hold for it.
“Are you finally ready to put on your wedding dress?” I tease her.
Today is Maya’s wedding day. After setting the date for her wedding she stuck to it. I am the matron of honor.
Luke and I didn’t have a long engagement. We didn’t need it. Two months after he proposed to me on live TV, we were married in his barn. It was a small intimate gathering with only our family and friends. His mother and father were both in attendance. His mother was a huge help in planning and getting the wedding together, and Peyton loves her granny and papa. We moved to San Diego with Luke after he showed up at my parent’s house the night of the proposal. I went back to Chicago only long enough to pack up our things and see my godson, Hector born. Maria and José moved to Florida with his mom not long after the baby was born. We stay connected through phone conversations and FaceTime now. Luke even got to meet the real Calvin Warren on that visit to Chicago, he was not a fan of that. We’ve been married for four months and I couldn’t be happier.
“Those boys moving again?” My sister asks when I place a hand to my belly.
I’m eight months pregnant with twins. My doctor isn’t too thrilled about me traveling this far into my pregnancy, especially with twins. But I wasn’t missing my sisters’ wedding.
“Do I need to go get Luke?”
“No. I’m fine. They are always this active. Besides, I’m not due for another three weeks.” I help Maya in to her dress. We stare at our reflections in the mirror.
“You look beautiful sis.” I say staring at the glowing bride in the mirror.
“And you look happy.” She replies. “Really happy.”
I was. After Luke’s appearance on TV everything changed. Our story started getting shown in a different light. We became the Romeo and Juliet tale. There were still a few people that had something negative to say, but it wasn’t nearly as much as the positive feedback we got. He got a bunch of new endorsements. His general manger called him into the office and offered a formal apology for how they handled the situation, and he even got the Nike contract. Television shows all around the world wanted to sit down and get my side of the story. They were willing to pay a lot for it. I declined. I had had enough of the limelight. Melissa went on another show to once again try to play up her victim role, one of the women on the show called her out for it, and she hadn’t brought it up again. I think she’s dating an actor now, I don’t really keep up with her.
Langston was able to find out how the pictures got leaked in the first place. Turns out, it was Tyrik. My brother sued the shit out of him. By the time he was done dragging Tyrik through court, Tyrik was bussing tables at Denny’s and living back home with his parents. He never did get signed to another NBA team. I even heard that Clarissa left him after she found out he was sleeping with one of her friends. I still held no sympathy for her.
My greatest pleasure was when I found out that Buck Mitchell was fired from the police force. Someone called in a tip to the police departments’ internal affairs about Buck—at this point I didn’t know which of the three men in my life did it. It seems I wasn’t the only person he had abused that way. They ran the tape on his dash cam and found a lot of disturbing things. They were initially going to suspend him, but when you have the right people in your corner you get things done. Not even two days after being let go from his job, he was arrested for drunk driving and possession of drugs. It turns out a lot of people in jail was not a fan of the racist ex-cop either.
It took a long time and a lot of ups and downs, but I was finally happy.
******
The wedding went off without a hitch. It was a beautiful ceremony with Marcus crying the moment he saw my sister walk down the aisle. There wasn’t a dry eye in the house. One of the first things Luke did when we got married, was invest in my up and coming photography career. I now had a ton of new equipment, two employees, and lots of new jobs lined up. I was proud when my sister hired my company to photograph her wedding. Right now, my assistant was out on the floor taking pictures.
I smile as I watch my assistant take a picture of Peyton dancing with her daddy. My hands continue to rub the ache out of my back.
“You alright?” My father says sitting down beside me.
“Yeah!”
He looks out at the dance floor and smile.
“They remind me of you and I when you were that age.” I don’t have to question who he is talking about as I watch Luke spend our giggling daughter around. “At one point I thought I would never get that back.” He looks over to me, his familiar brown eyes sparkle with emotion. “Thank you for giving me a second chance. I’ve never been more thankful for a heart attack.”
I crack up laughing at his words.
“How about you and I show them how it’s done on the dance floor.” I smile as I place my hand in his.
He helps me to my feet and the moment he does a sharp pain shoots from my back to my belly. I double over.
“Ow!” I whine.
“Zora are you ok?” My dad asks. “Luke! Luke!”
Luke looks over at us and when he sees the panic on my father’s face he’s at my side instantly.
“Baby, what’s wrong?”
“It’s nothing just…” I’m hit with the pain again. This time the pain is accompanied by a gush of water. Oh Shit!
“Let’s go.” He doesn’t wait for me to argue. He lifts me up in his arms. Peyton trails behind us in her flower girl dress.
“What’s wrong?” My sister asks as she and Marcus comes up behind me.
“I’m so sorry, Maya. The boys are coming now.”
“We’re heading to the hospital.” Luke informs them.
“We’re coming with you.” My mom announces as she and Langston walk up to us. “I told you, you shouldn’t have traveled.”
I ignore her comment. My mother has been so excited about this pregnancy she hasn’t wanted to miss a second of it. She and Daddy already had their tickets purchased to fly out next week so that they wouldn’t miss the boys being born. Looks like those tickets will go to waste.
“No, you guys stay. Maya needs you.”
“No she doesn’t.” Maya answers. “The hard parts over. You guys go ahead. We will be there in another hour, as soon as we clear the reception.” I don’t argue because another contraction has me sucking in air like a fish out of water.
**
We make it to the hospital in perfect time. An hour after I arrived we welcomed Jordan and Brady Trent into the world. My family have all come and gone. Marshawn has even FaceTimed in to see his godsons. The boys are in their bassinets sound asleep. Peyton is still in her flower girl dress fast asleep on the couch.
“You should take her back to my parents’ house.” I tell Luke after he’s finished patting Jordan back to sleep. He comes to the hospital bed and lies down beside me. I place my head on his shoulder.
“You did amazing today. I’m so proud of you.” He places a kiss on my head.
“You did better than I thought. Sean nearly passed out when he watched Peyton come into the world.”
Luke chuckles quietly. “I had my moments.” He admits. “Especially when I saw Jordan’s head pop out. He was damaging daddy’s favorite place to be.”
I laugh hard, but cover my mouth to muffle the sound. Luke grabs my hand in his, entwining our fingers. He brings it up to his lips and plac
es a kiss on the back.
“Have I told you lately how much I love you?”
“You tell me every day.” I admit with a blush.
“Well, Mrs. Trent, I will spend the rest of my life telling you. You made my dreams come true, Zora. It’s not every day a man can say he gets to marry his first love.” He leans forward and place his lips to mine.
There will never be anywhere else I’d rather be than right here in his arms.
The End
Acknowledgement
A quick thank you to my support system, my kids and my husband. You guys give up your time with me so that I can do what I love. Also, a thank you to my beta readers that took the time out to read this book and encourage me to keep going; Cristene Mankasingh, Elisabeth Umba, Angel Mystique, Tamara Connor, and Amarie Avant. I truly appreciate your advice and kind words. Another thank you to my readers. Thanks for taking a chance on my book.
Note from the Author
My name is not really Tiya Rayne, it is a pen name that I chose to represent the two most important girls in my life, my daughters. I do, however, write Young Adult books under my real name, K.C. Connor. I also enjoy reading feedback on my work. Please leave a review or send me an email.
Other books by this Author
Please visit your favorite ebook retailer to discover other books by Tiya Rayne:
Lilly I
Lilly II
Lilly III
Lilly IV
Lilly V
And, if you enjoy YA paranormal, check out the Keeper Series by KC Connor.
The Return
The Dagger
The Originals (Coming Soon)
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