Chapter 23

23

D ejvi

Late September

My and Enjell's parents met at the chili competition two weeks ago, but they were able to get to know each other a little better today. With things being more settled now that I was no longer a fireman, I had the time and mental energy to focus on Robin's threat to sue me. I met with Jeremy Phoenix, an old attorney friend of mine, just to see how much of a case she really had yesterday.

"I hate to break it to you, brother, but she does have grounds to sue," Jeremy said, handing me back my phone.

"You're telling me there's a legal way for this girl to make me give her a baby?"

He chuckled as he sat up in his seat. "Not necessarily. The chance of them ruling in her favor for the baby are slim to none; however, if she decided to make it a civil suit just for the sake of admitted guilt, you could be out of some money. If her attorney can prove either that she was banking on you being her only hope for a baby or that she lost her home and job to come back here to collect, the judge may award in her favor. Can she get a baby out of this from you?" His head shook. "Nah. If that were to happen, it would have to be because she has some pull with the judge, or they are trying to make some kind of example out of you. I've never seen a case like this actually be tried and won."

"Just to confirm, it's unlikely this will lead to a baby. More than anything, I'll have to admit I was wrong for breaking the promise and pay her because of it?"

"Exactly." Sucking my teeth, I cupped my palms and rested them under my chin. "She coming up outta that courthouse with something, Dejvi. How much she's awarded will depend on how good her attorney is."

"I ain't payin' her ass shit," I decided, standing from my seat. "Thank you for taking a look at this for me."

"Of course. On the off chance this goes to court, you know I got you. Otherwise, I'm curious about how you're going to get her to back down."

My laughter was quiet as I shook his hand and prepared to leave. "You and me both, man. You and me both."

I wasn't sure if it was my pride or my desire to not be taken advantage of, but I left that meeting with the resolve to not let Robin get away with this. I meant it when I said she didn't care about me. It hurt me to watch our friendship unravel in this way. The last thing I was going to do was pay her even a dollar. If I had to enter into a temporary marriage with the woman I was in love with, that was what I'd have to do. Enjell deserved a sacred marriage that had a foundation of pure love and commitment, but if she was willing to help me out with this, I'd take her help.

That help was why I asked her parents to meet me at my parents' home. She didn't know I was doing this, but if I was going to marry her, I wanted to go about it the right way. If they didn't approve, it would be up to her to decide if she still wanted to help. I just needed to be upfront with them for my own conscience and peace of mind.

I let them talk for about thirty minutes or so before I joined them in my parents' sitting room. After refilling the ladies' wine and the gentlemen's cognac, I said, "It's good to see y'all getting along."

"Oh yeah, this is my new girl," Mama said, squeezing Erica's hand with a wide smile.

"What's this about, son?" Pops asked.

"You getting ready to propose to my Enjell?" Mitchell, her father, asked.

"Just getting right to it, huh?" I joked, taking a seat across from them all by the fireplace. "First, thank y'all for meeting with me. I know you'll have questions; all I ask is that you wait until I lay everything out to ask."

After they all agreed, I continued. "As you all know, Enjell and I met like two months ago. We developed feelings for each other quickly but agreed we'd take our time. Fear, I suppose, or self-preservation… maybe even the human desire to slow down and question something that felt so magical and unreal. Either way, we finally committed to each other a little over two weeks ago."

I paused and pulled in a deep breath. "Before we committed, my best female friend came back to Memphis. She wants me to uphold a contractual agreement we made when we were eighteen years old."

For Enjell's parents' benefit, I told them, "The contract came about after seeing someone we were in school with get pregnant by the wrong person and receive no help. So Robin and I said if we weren't married by thirty-five and we didn't have children, that we'd have one together." Erica's mouth dropped before she quickly snapped it shut. "It was silly, but we had faith we could co-parent and have a healthy friendship while bringing our child up in a healthy environment."

"So this wasn't going to be a romantic relationship," Mitchell clarified. "Strictly just two best friends having a baby?"

"Exactly," I answered. "Now, when she came to collect, I'd met and fallen in love with your daughter. I'm not going to lie and make it seem as if I didn't struggle with this, because I did. In my heart, I knew I wanted to say no because I was in love with Enjell. She's the only woman I want to have my children. I struggled with saying no because Robin was my best friend. We've always been loyal to each other, and I didn't want temporary feelings for Enjell to make me lose one of my closest friends. Well, I've come to accept the fact that what I feel for Enjell isn't temporary; it's eternal. I made the decision to say no to Robin and focus on my future with Enjell."

"Clearly, something has gone wrong if you've gathered us all here," Pops said.

"Yeah. Robin isn't taking my rejection well. She's been calling and texting me like crazy, and she went to Enjell trying to make it seem like we were in a relationship, though there's never been anything romantic or physical between us. I think Enjell and her girls scared her away from that tactic because she switched to a legal one."

"Wait." Mama lifted her hands as she simpered. "You mean to tell me Robin's dingy ass thinks she can take this matter to court?"

"Yeah, Ma. She actually can. I've looked into it, and she can't sue me for the baby, but she can sue me for breaking the promise. Typically, a broken promise itself is not enough for a court case, but she can do a civil suit against me if she can prove that promise affected her life and finances in a negative way."

"What do you need from us?" Mitchell asked, surprising me.

"The only way the contract can be null and void is if I'm married by my birthday in November." I paused as realization settled over their faces. "I wouldn't have even considered asking Enjell to do this, but she is willing to. I'm still not fully comfortable with tainting the sanctity of marriage for this, but if it's what I have to do to get Robin out of our lives, I will." I looked from Mitchell to Erica as I said, "I know the circumstances are weird, but I would like your permission to have Enjell's hand in marriage."

"Will this be just until your birthday?" Mama asked, causing me to look over at her.

"If that's what Enjell wants, but I want her for forever. That's why you're here. If I have the chance to marry her, I want to do this right."

Mitchell's head shook as he looked over at his wife. "What do you think, honey?"

"I admire and respect you asking our permission," Erica said. "This is certainly an unconventional way to start a marriage. If Enjell has already agreed to do it, I guess we have no choice but to agree."

"My biggest concern is that my daughter does not end up in a low-quality marriage. She doesn't have to marry a man for any reason other than she finally found one who's worthy of her. I don't want her to be in a loveless relationship or one that is unfulfilling or abusive in any way. I don't want her to agree to this now and regret it a year from now."

"I understand your concern. I assure you, Enjell will be safe and taken care of with me. She will be loved, provided for, and protected." My eyes watered, and I swallowed hard as I considered forever with her. "I love your daughter and fully intend to cater to her for the rest of our days. On the off chance she decides this isn't what she wants permanently, I promise to give her back to you in a better state than I received her."

They looked at each other and talked amongst themselves. Pops stood and squeezed my shoulder. "Proud of you," he whispered. "If you do this, you better spoil my future daughter and make sure she never wants for anything for doing this crazy ass shit."

I laughed as we embraced. "You have my word. She'll want for nothing."

"Well…" Mama said, barely able to contain her excitement as she stood. "What do you say, Erica? Will we be planning a wedding soon?"

Erica looked at her husband and nudged his shoulder with a grin.

"Yeah, you will," Mitchell answered, causing Erica to hop out of her seat to embrace Mama.

Mitchell stood and thanked me for including them as he shook my hand. Both he and my father threatened me for longer than necessary over what would happen if I didn't honor and treat Enjell right. Even though I knew that wasn't something they'd have to worry about, I listened with respect. With that over… I had to get with her girls to plan the perfect proposal.