Antonio and Julissa sat in the OBGYN waiting room a bit quiet and awkward as they waited for her to be seen. The past couple of weeks were daunting for everyone. Antonio more so with the baby, and stressing about the dead bodies, and Julissa and Janet. They hadn’t rekindled anything since the whole mess started. To be honest, he didn’t know what was right or wrong anymore. The baby was the only thing he could look forward to.
“Fantasizing about your woman?” Julissa asked, with a scoff as she turned her head, already knowing the answer.
“You think you know me so well, don’t you?” Antonio asked. His eyebrows rose in curiosity as he shook his head.
“Well, don’t I?” Julissa replied, stretching. “Anyway, was I right?”
Antonio didn’t respond.
“See. It’s fine. I get the feeling you want to be somewhere else. No one is making you stay here, you know? You are free to do what you want. You made it clear we aren’t together and I have to accept that. I want the baby. You don’t.”
“You are far from the truth, Julissa. I’m actually nervous about being a father. Mine wasn’t the best, that is…” He paused looking down at his hands. Julissa caught it and turned back to him.
“What happened with you and your father? You only talked about your mother. What happened to your father?” She asked curiously.
“It’s a sticky situation. Just know I want to be here with you. It is what I’m supposed to do, what a real man would do.”
“Oh, now you want to be a real man?” She teased, folding her arms. Just as soon as he was going to open his mouth, the nurse called Julissa to the back.
“We can talk about this later.” Antonio helped her up as if she was fragile and they walked to the back to the examination room.
“It seems you are fine, Miss Saulsberry, but your blood pressure is kind of high. Make sure to watch out for that. Have you been stressed lately?” The doctor asked after checking her arm.
Julissa glanced over at Antonio at that point. “I have been a bit stressed. I will make sure to relax.”
“Good. Come back next month and we can get a sonogram.”
“Wait. We will be able to see the baby that soon? It would only be about three months,” Antonio asked excited and curious.
“Technology,” the doctor responded.
The ride back to Julissa’s house was filled with conversations of possibilities. It was really happening. Antonio was going to be a father. Somewhere deep down he didn’t understand it all until the check-up. They discussed names and plans together like a couple.
“Maybe if it’s a boy we can name him AJ for Antonio Jr.,” Julissa said, turning her head as she caught Antonio’s eyes looking at her. There was still chemistry between them, which wasn’t healthy for either of them when at the end of it all he would go running back to Janet.
Antonio shifted the car to park and turned back to her wanting to relieve some of the tension. “Look Julissa, I know it’s hard for you to accept it at the moment. I apologize for not being honest about my feelings for Janet and dragging you along in the relationship and this mess.” He rested his hand on her seat. “But I’m serious about this. I want this with you. Regardless of who I love or who I’m with, my child will always come first. I promise to protect you through all of this. And after all of this, we may not have the perfect relationship, but we can still be great parents.” He caressed her cheek, seeing so much emotion in her eyes. “We are tied together for life now. There is no reason for us to hate each other.”
She leaned in stealing a couple of kisses to see his reaction. First, her lip was just pressed to his, but then she fought for her tongue to enter his, but to her dismay, he put up a fight. His lips never moved and she knew then that they were truly over when it came to that aspect of their relationship. Her forehead fell on his shoulder as she sniffled. His speech didn’t give her at all what she wanted and that was him, all of him.
“I’m sorry, Julissa.” He whispered, opening the car door on his side and then the car door on her side. “I will make sure you are in the house before I leave.”
She hesitated to get out of the car, but soon swallowed her pride and did just that. He stayed behind her as she unlocked her door. He looked around the yard to see some muddy prints on the porch of a man’s shoes. He placed his hand on top of hers on the lock.
“Let me go in first. Be quiet and stay behind me,” he ordered. She nodded, seeing him in protection mode as she took a step back. Antonio opened the door cautiously to see a man sitting in the chair in her home. He reached for his gun behind him, aiming at the man.
“Who are you?” he asked before the man stood up slowly turning around.
“Father!” Julissa ran to him, worried about him, as Antonio slowly put his gun away.
“I came to see my daughter, but she wasn’t here. I started to believe she was dead,” Gerald replied, holding his daughter close as he stared deadly at Antonio.
“I told you she was in good hands, Mr. Saulsberry. We were beginning to worry about you. You went MIA for a few weeks,” Antonio replied, suspiciously.
“I didn’t think I answered to you.”
Antonio shook his head. “No sir, you don’t. But your daughter was worried about you and the doctor said she doesn’t need the stress. So if you don’t want to lose your grandchild, I suppose a simple call will do next time.”
Julissa turned to Antonio angrily. “Antonio, what the hell?”
“Yes, Antonio. How dare you blame my daughter’s stress on me? I know it’s you and that whore causing my child to be this way. If anything, if you want to keep your child, you wouldn’t put her through such misery.”
Antonio squinted but didn’t say anything. He placed his gun securely in his pants behind him. “Call me if you need anything.” He walked out.
Chapter 3 Dan walked into the maid service headquarters building, The Sweet Sweepers. As he walked up to the front counter, he took off his shades and hooked them in his shirt, donning a charming smile. The woman at the front looked up at him and instantly began shuffling her papers and computer. “Welcome To Sweet Sweepers. May I help you?” Dan noticed the woman, easy target, sweet innocent girl from the looks of it, and very much reacting to him in his regular suit and tie combo. Her brunette hair was pulled into a ponytail. It must’ve been his devilish grin that made her blush as he continued to walk closer. “I need to speak with your manager,” he replied, propping his arms on the counter.&nb
Chapter 4 Janet opened her door, hearing the sudden knock late that night around midnight. Jason and Alyssa had gone to their room and hadn’t been seen since. She was curious as to who was knocking on her door this late, but she had a clue. Her heart knew, her body knew. Janet peeked through the curtains she installed a few weeks ago due to peepers and prowlers. Antonio stood there in a tee shirt and some sweat pants. She sighed opening the glass door. “Antonio what…” He cut her off with a mind-blowing kiss that sent her walking backward into the penthouse right onto the counters of the kitchen before she could breathe. “What are you doing here, Antonio?” She asked as he touched her cheeks, still needing the contact. “I needed to see you. We need to talk,&
Chapter 5 Alyssa and Jason lay exhausted in each other’s arms while the moans from the other room are barely audible, but they could hear them faintly. Jason covered his face with a pillow as Alyssa laughed. “You think we were quiet? Let her have some fun.” “It’s disgusting.” He teased, as he snatched the pillow back. “Besides, we went in the bathroom in the shower. If she could hear us she has magic ears.” Alyssa wrapped her arms around her husband, then. “We can go again. You know just to drown out the moans.” Jason turned back to her with laughter in his eyes. “I do like to hear you moan.” He replied, g
Chapter 6 Dread filled the room—pure dread and heartbreak. It was his curse, what he was meant for. It was his legacy. He had never been the one to cry. Seeing Bianca in the casket, lying there motionless, was almost too much for Dan to take. He could picture his lovely wife, Cheryl lying there and the memories of her funeral surfaced to the front of his mind. Janet was there holding on to his arm, rubbing it back and forth for comfort, but he couldn’t stop himself from looking at Bianca. Some of her family were there, but most were friends Bianca established over the years—previous clients and other voodoo witches, Dan assumed. No one stopped him from being there yet or blamed him, which was what he was most prepared for. Hate was always the expectation, not love and acceptance. Bianca was truly a remarkable woman to have so
Chapter 7 Antonio rushed to Janet’s building, a couple of hours before the funeral was over, to connect with Jason and Alyssa on the footage Dan sent him. On his way to the elevators, some women walked in capturing his attention. Both were made up beautifully—super models. They were looking around confused for a moment. “I’m sorry. We’re closed for today.” Antonio greeted, walking back over to them. “Sorry. Hi, I’m Valerie and this is my wife Yolanda. We’re friends of Jason and Alyssa. Are they here by any chance?” She held out her hand for a handshake. Antonio accepted, shaking her hand and nodding to Yolanda. “Yes, they are. Right this way.” Antonio led them to the
Chapter 8Antonio’s eyes were rendered with shock as he looked around the Sweet Sweepers headquarters to see several investigators and police surrounding the building. People were crying and answering questions outside telling Antonio something big had taken place. He got out of the car and walked around the building to see what the hell was going on. He found one of his colleagues taking pictures of the building and some blood spray on the sidewalk. Antonio walked past witnesses to look up to the top floor to see the window shattered. “Antonio?” His coworker Officer Haynes looked over to him after taking pictures. He walked over a few feet away from the actual crime scene to talk to him. “I thought you were on suspension ‘til further notice.” “I am. What the hell happened here?” Antonio asked, his eyes c
Chapter 9Julissa woke with severe morning sickness. Her stomach rolled and saliva started to form in waves in her mouth. She raised her head from the comforts of her bed as she struggled to open her eyes. This was the worst she felt in terms of pregnancy. She even moaned when she sat up with her head spinning like crazy.It took a moment for her eyes to adjust to her surroundings, but once they did she became startled and then confused. She wasn’t in her bedroom. The room was an elegant hotel setting—big comfy king-size bed and white sheets. The room was plain and beige, unlike her room. Now, she started to panic. She hurried, feet touching the floor, ready to run for the door.Her stomach protested though as she gagged and felt her stomach repel her meal from last night. She ran for the sink which was, thankfully, outside of the bedroom. She threw up and heaved over it. She looked up at the mirror of herself. Her medium-length brow
Chapter 10Janet greeted Jason as he entered the room. Seeing Dan in a hospital bed caused his heart to drop. They hated Dan, sure. Over the past year, though, they saw a shift within him. Not a huge one, but he made subtle progress to, at least, being his friend if not father and daughter or father and son. Janet, more so in the last year, has noticed herself shift into being exactly who Dan wanted her to, after running for so long from the person she was. How can she be an angel born right from the demon’s cloth?“What are the doctors saying?” Jason asked immediately going to Dan’s side.“He is a healthy old man. The doctors want to know his diet.”“Then, how?”“Maybe the stress. You didn’t see him at the funeral. He wasn’t himself and he had this look in his eyes that reminded me of how he used to look at us after mom passed. He isn’t taking Bianca’s death well.&rdqu