by Remi Grey
“Lisa?” I questioned as I pulled on my panties whilst buttoning my blouse. The heat drew up to my face, turning me a beet red. Another figure appeared at the door. “Megan?” My other sister was standing by her with her hands over her mouth when she saw me standing there struggling to straighten up as Corey attempted to look presentable to no avail.
“What the hell is going on here?” Lisa asked in a shrill voice.
I had lost my voice for a second. Then, I piped up with. “What are you guys doing at my job?”
“The real question is who are you fucking at your job?” Megan asked. “Is this why you won’t come back home? Is this why you won’t marry Michael?”
“Michael?” Corey questioned, turning to look at me in confusion.
I turned to him to defend myself but got pulled back by Lisa. “If this is what you call a career, you’re coming home. Now.”
I took a sharp breath at her too familiar tone. It was always what they wanted for me. When Michael, a family friend and successful lawyer, wanted to marry me, they practically begged me to marry him. Everything about my family was about what you could bring to the table and how they could make it theirs. Making Michael my husband would’ve made for an even better reputation for our affluent family.
“No,” I said. “You’re leaving my classroom and you’re getting in the car and you’re catching a flight back home. Why would I come back if you guys are just going to treat me like a child?”
They both got quiet. I could feel Corey’s eyes on me.
“Dani…” Megan started softly. She was always so much more patient but at the end of the day they were all the same.
“I just need to be here,” I concluded, looking from Megan to Lisa. They lingered by the front entrance then once Lisa shifted, Megan followed.
“Okay,” Lisa said.
I nodded.
“Keep my number in your phone or I swear I’ll be back again,” she added. She threw a mean look at Corey then left the classroom, leaving Megan.
“Please take care of yourself,” Megan said. “I love you.”
“I love you too,” I repeated. Then, she was out the door. I shut it and turned back to Corey.
I sighed, knowing what I had to do. “You told me I could ask you about Kaylee,” I began. “So, you can ask me about Michael.”
Chapter 9
Corey
“Who is he?” I asked. There was so much running in my mind as soon as I saw the two women enter the room and even more after they had mentioned a man by the name of Michael. Danielle had shut the door and was standing a few feet away from me.
“My ex.” Danielle responded.
“You guys were supposed to get married?” I questioned in confusion.
“Yes.”
“Well, what happened?”
“I broke it off with him.”
“Why?”
It was quiet in the tired afternoon. After everything that we had done and everything that we had said, I wanted complete transparency. My actions not only affected myself but Caiden. I couldn’t afford to gamble on love.
“Because I didn’t love him. I was forced to be with him,” she said simply. She stepped up to me. “But I love you. I want you.” She placed her hand on my upper arm, caressing it lightly. I wanted to be upset with her for not telling me sooner--a whole broken off engagement--but I couldn’t find it in my heart.
“I love you,” I confessed, pulling her into me. I held her for a moment, neither of us speaking and then I pulled away. “I’ve got to go pick up Caiden,” I said.
“Oh,” she said. “Okay. I guess I’ll finish up grading some papers.”
I took her hand. “And I want you to come with me. Unless those papers are just too urgent.” I shot her smile, making hers grow.
“Okay, let’s go.”
Together, we walked downstairs to the gym where I waited by the entrance for Caiden. He was in the middle of the gym playing basketball when he saw me. He jumped up when he saw me, saying bye to his friends and then running in my direction.
He started slowing down when he saw that I was with Danielle. He stopped before us and furrowed his eyebrows. “What are you doing here, Ms. Parker?” he asked, holding onto the straps of his backpack. He looked from her to me for an explanation.
“Ms. Parker…” I started. I looked to her and then took her hand, delaying how I would break down what we were doing to an eight-year-old. “Ms. Parker and I are dating Caiden.”
“So, you’re boyfriend and girlfriend?” he questioned.
I had never formally asked her, but it seemed we were beyond the whole “boyfriend, girlfriend” thing considering we had confided in each other that we were in it forever. But then, I figured before I made her my wife, we could start somewhere.
“Danielle…?” I asked her. “What do you say? Will you be my girlfriend?”
“Hm,” she started as though she were thinking about it. Then she laughed and said, “Of course I will, Corey.” Then she leaned into me and kissed me.
“Ewww,” Caiden said. “Don’t kiss! Not at school.”
I laughed then placed my hand behind his back to lead to him out of the school along with Danielle walking beside me. For the first time, I didn’t feel afraid of love, but excited. Both for me and my son.
Epilogue
Danielle
The jellyfish floated about in the water, the lights in the tank illuminating fuchsia and navy blues. Being at the museum where this new life for me started and watching the jellyfish brought me a certain peace. For a long time, I was entranced with the mystery of how they could withstand so much pressure and still find power within themselves, but now I knew that, that strength was in all of us. Especially with the right people by our side.
“Mom!” I heard from my left.
I turned my head to see Caiden, now eleven, running toward me. I beamed at him as another figure turned the corner. She was waddling but was still ahead of her father who was running after her. Corey.
“Di,” he called out to our one-year-old daughter. “Diana.”
Caiden zoomed next to me on the bench and cocked his head back in laughter, his head falling into my chest. I pulled him in tight and adored his smiling face. There was nothing I loved more than seeing my son happy.
“Dad can’t keep up with Diana,” Caiden said while bursting out in laughter.
Diana’s contagious giggles rang through the room. I held my arms up and grabbed a hold of her when she was near. She was nuzzled in my arms as I kissed her on her cheek. “What are you doing?” I asked her with a grin. I looked up at Corey who feigned being winded.
“That girl is a runner I tell you,” he said panting.
“Dada!” Diana bubbled.
“Yeah, Dada almost caught up to you, little one,” he said, swooping in and picking her up. When he threw her into the air and caught her, she fell into another laughing fit. Caiden moved closer to me and watched the jellyfish with me.
“They are so cool,” he said as Corey settled down beside us. He held onto Diana so she wouldn’t make another run for it and wrapped his arm over my shoulders to pull me into him. We kissed each other softly and looked down at the family we had created.
A warmth overwhelmed my heart like the sun that’d bare down over the city. I thought back to the nights I had spent sitting on my car hood looking out to the unfamiliar skyline after leaving home. I remembered feeling as though no one would love me unconditionally. No one would do something for me without expecting something in exchange.
But everything around me proved different.
“I love you, guys,” I said to my children.
“Love you, too,” Caiden said back by routine.
“No, I mean, I love you,” I said again more intentionally. I didn’t just want him to shoot something out as though it were a mannerism. A tick. I wanted them to know the meaning behind my words.
He turned to me and said, “I love you, too, mom.”
Diana a
dded some gibberish with a smile, making me laugh.
I looked to Corey. “I love you, Corey.”
“I love you.”
We gazed into each other’s eyes, feeling confident in the other that the feeling was valid. We felt confident that the both of us were in it for the long-run. And there was no better feeling in the world.
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About the Author
Remi Grey loves to write sweet, steamy, and spicy romances. She is obsessed with all forms of romance with a happily ever after. As an indie author, your support means everything. Thank you so much for reading.