27: ONYX

Yesenia and Kincaid are hosting a dinner party, and it's the first one that MJ and I have attended together in a while. Shep's here along with Mak, Ezra brought Morgan along, and Poppy and Spencer are also here. Danica was invited, but it's no surprise that she didn't show up.

All the women are in the kitchen gossiping as usual, and the men have retired to Shep's man cave for beers.

Ezra and Cade walk into the room and close the door. They take up their seats in front of the large-screen TV and plop their feet onto the low-slung table. Shep walks around, tossing both of their feet to the floor.

"God, I love her," I mumble, flipping through pictures on my phone of MJ and me together.

"Bet you do," Shep mutters.

"I'd cut off my right nut to have her back in my bed."

"Still fucking up?"

"Not anymore, but she meant what she said about us taking our time to get it together. And I'm a miserable bastard."

"Have you heard from Sharla since she left this summer?"

Shaking my head, I say, "No. I don't plan to hear from her. She's gone on with her life, and I'm picking up the broken pieces of mine."

"I'm glad that you went to therapy and that the two of you are doing couples therapy together. Sometimes a third eye on things helps to put shit into perspective. I know that it wasn't easy for Mak and me, and we weren't in a place where therapy could help. But the difference between us and you and Meadow is that you two were together longer, knew each other longer, and had more vested than Mak and I did at the point of separation. I'm just glad you got your shit together to go and claim your woman."

I pull my beer away from my lips and say, "I had no choice. MJ's my lifeline."

"You're about to be a father in a little under five months, and she's here with you despite your fuck up. MJ loves you," Cade says.

"He's right. I know that if it were Mak and me, she wouldn't be caught dead within six hundred feet of me," Shep says.

"Honestly, I don't know how Yaya would behave if we had to split up again. She probably wouldn't take my ass back if I was stupid enough to screw up twice."

Cade and his wife, Yaya, split up before their marriage when he learned that she was married. He had been a bit harsh on her and had to work himself back into her good graces.

"I'd go to any lengths to keep Morgan in my life," Ezra says.

"Speaking of, when are you two finally going to tie the knot?" Spencer asks.

"You didn't notice that big rock on her finger?" Cade asks.

Shep and I both turn from Cade to Ezra wide-eyed. "What are you talking about?" Shep asks.

"You gonna tell ‘em, or should I?" Cade asks their younger brother.

Ezra scratches his eyebrow while hiding a sly grin. "I uh...Morgan and I eloped."

"You did what?" Spencer asks.

"We wanted to get married, but neither of us wanted the discomfort that comes with our union. We didn't need any negative vibes."

Ezra and his girlfriend, now wife, Morgan had drama from his mother when she first discovered their relationship. It didn't matter that Ezra was an adult living on his own or that he was a professional championship golfer with rings and sponsorships.

Their relationship didn't sit well with a few people, including Morgan's kids. The worst part was that Morgan was friends with my Aunt Sabine, and she is also ten years older than Ezra. That definitely didn't sit well with my aunt.

I also heard that she walked in on them during an intimate moment, but I don't know how true that is. I heard it from Shep secondhand.

"Well, congrats, man," I say, giving Ezra, a slap on the back.

"Thanks, dude."

"Didn't you say that she served you divorce papers?" Ezra asks.

"She did, but I refused to sign them. At some point, she reached out and asked me not to sign them. That's when I knew there was still hope."

"Why is it that we all have to screw up before we get it right?" Shep asks.

"I didn't," Ezra says.

"That little scandal about the underage girl and a possible baby wasn't fucking up?" I ask, referencing a scandal Ezra went through a little over a year ago.

"Didn't hit the papers, and I didn't do anything wrong. That was all before Morgan."

"True," I grudgingly admit.

"You characters just need to learn how to read a woman and know what she needs."

"School us, young boy," Shep teases his younger brother.

We all laugh.

"What created the issue between you and Meadow anyway? I know that she was assaulted and can imagine that created a strain, but was there more to it than that?" Spencer asks.

"He was doing his side chick," Shep says slickly.

I glare at Shep who should have kept his mouth shut because that tidbit was supposed to be between him and me. I'd told him about the emotional and physical affair that I had with Sharla and how difficult it was because while she was steeped in feelings of the past, I was simply looking for comfort.

I didn't feel the same way I had when I was a teenager mixed up with her.

"His what?" Ezra asks in disbelief.

"Remember Sharla?" Shep asks.

"What the fuck, Shep? That was between you and me!"

"Who is Sharla?" Spencer asks.

"Shotgun Sharla!" Cade declares.

Cade had given her that name because he'd said that she was so fine you needed to keep a gun at your side to keep other men at bay.

"She had the perfect curves," Ezra says.

"Let Morgan hear you say that shit," Shep says.

"When did she get back in town?" Cade asks.

"About a year ago, but she's been gone for a while now. She left back in the summer. When she was working for me, we kind of fell back into a thing. MJ was struggling after the attack, and I turned to Sharla."

MJ had finally told the family what happened to her and what she'd been through. Everyone has been surrounding her and showering her with love.

"What the fuck?" Cade says as Ezra exclaims, "Damn, dude! That's fucking cold!"

Spencer releases a low whistle and shakes his head.

"Ask him why Meadow left him," Shep instigates. "She discovered text messages between him and Sharla talking about how they couldn't stay away from each other."

I tilt my head at him sideways, looking at him in disbelief. "I don't fucking believe you."

"This is family, man. If you can't come to us, then who do you have?" Shep asks.

"You were screwing this girl while your wife was struggling with depression from her assault? No wonder your marriage was in such disrepair," Cade says.

"I didn't come over here tonight to be shitted on by you three. Shep, I'm surprised that you told on me. You were always the one to keep things close to your chest."

"Until I see someone fucking up their life for no reason at all."

"Look, I learned my lesson the hard way. That's all in the past now, and MJ's working on forgiving me. Besides, speaking of fucking up your lives, weren't you doing the same thing until Mak came back to town?" I ask.

"Hey, I learned my lesson, and I was just trying to keep you from making the same mistake."

"I love my wife, but at the time, as much as I wanted her, she didn't want me. I didn't know what to do. She pushed me away and let me know in every way possible that I wasn't good enough for her."

"So, this baby. How are you feeling about that?" Spencer asks before taking a sip of his beer.

Sighing, I say, "Man, I honestly couldn't be happier. Knowing that I'll be a father in a few months has me on cloud nine. We struggled for such a long time that I began to push the possibility out of my heart just so that I wouldn't be disappointed if it didn't happen. I psyched myself up by saying, ‘Maybe it's a good thing if we don't have a kid. I can still be free.' It was fucked up, I know, but that was my coping mechanism."

Chuckling, Cade says, "Listen to you. Coping mechanism, O? Guess counseling is doing you a world of good."

Nodding, I reply, "We both still attend our individual sessions. I met with Dr. Ian and MJ with Claire, but we found a great couples counselor, as well. I wouldn't recommend anyone handle things the way that I did, but I must admit, sometimes you got to go through some shit to appreciate what's real and to grow."

"Here, here!" Shep says, holding up his longneck beer bottle.

I lean forward along with Spencer, Ezra, and Cade, and we all clink our bottles to his.