Chapter 19

Sixty days later…

It was weird to hear Michael’s confession of how he was in love with me, but I was too stuck up to see it. He claimed that he was trying to protect me by following me and breaking into my house and car. I had no idea how sick he really was until Psalm showed me his file. He had a history of stalking. I was pretty sure he thought he was in love with those other women too. He was too fine to be crazy.

I was just glad my intuition led me in the other direction. He’d been sentenced to twelve months for stalking. Since Psalm was already upset that he went to jail instead of hell, I didn’t press for more time. I was just glad that the whole thing was over and that I could move on with my happily ever after.

I tore my eyes away from Psalm’s tear-stained face to look back at my sister. I was so grateful that she was able to be here. From Angel, my eyes traveled to Charlotte. Her smile was as broad as mine as she eagerly shook her head. In just a couple of weeks, Psalm and I were able to coordinate with our families and get them to be with us on our big day.

My sister and her husband were here and even my parents. As soon as my divorce was finalized, Psalm set his plan in motion. I didn’t even know he’d gone to visit my dad and ask him for my hand in marriage. My dad was so impressed with Psalm’s initiative and his plan to have our wedding at his church that he didn’t hesitate to give his blessing.

“Don’t tell me you’re getting cold feet, Jimmy.” Syre spoke up, prompting everyone to laugh.

“Nah, just taking the time to look at my beautiful lady one last time before she becomes my wife.”

“I guess I’ll ask again. Psalm Kenton Reign, do you take Anya Grace Williams to be your lawfully wedded wife?”

“Hell yeah!” Psalm shouted.

“Bro, we’re in a church.” Bishop fussed.

“My bad. I do, now and forever.”

Two years later…

I shook my head watching Psalm walk around shirtless with our daughter strapped to his chest in one of those tactical carriers. It was sickening the way he refused to put her down. He read somewhere that skin to skin was a healthy way to bond with babies, so for the past four months, she had been happily dangling from his chest.

“Y’all want something? Another drink?” I asked Charlotte and Divine before pushing to stand from the couch.

“Ny, what you doing?” Psalm frowned.

Rolling my eyes, I plopped back down. “You do know I’m no longer on bedrest. It was just until I had the baby.”

“You’re not in bed. You’re in the living room drinking wine like my baby love don’t have to eat soon.”

“I already pumped enough to last a while, and I plan to pump and dump later.”

“She needs wine or something to deal with you,” Divine added.

“See how TT talks to daddy? I can’t wait for you to get big enough to knock her out for me,” Psalm told our daughter, Aria.

“It’s been four months, Psalm. I think it’s safe for me to move.”

“What do you need, Anya? I got it.”

I shook my head knowing how relentless Psalm was when it came to my health. Since the moment it was confirmed that I was pregnant, he had been doing the most. I’d been put on bedrest by my doctor at six months, two months after Psalm had already demanded that I go on bedrest. In that time, I had probably gained forty pounds.

“I’ll get it,” Divine decided.

“Let me come with you. We need more snacks,” Charlotte stated.

“I need to move around, Psalm. You know I need the exercise,” I complained.

“Aria, tell mommy how beautiful she is.”

“I’m a big fat mess, and you know it.”

“A big fat fine mess, and daddy loves every chocolatey inch of it.”

“Psalm, you barely let me move. My six weeks are up. Aria is almost four months old.”

“Tell mommy she worked hard to give me a pretty little princess, and she deserves her rest.”

“You’re ridiculous.”

“Ny, this isn’t up for debate. You need to be enjoying your girls or studying. Let me do what I need to do so you can rest up and get ready to give Aria a sister or brother.”

I rolled my eyes at his comment. I got the bright idea to start school while I was on husband appointed bedrest. I was so bored that I had enrolled in online classes to get my master’s degree and become a nurse practitioner. Not that I thought Psalm would ever let me go back to work. He thought I was made of porcelain. He treated me like glass even more than he did our actual fragile baby girl.

“Whatever,” I muttered, sitting back on the couch.

“Just give me another couple of weeks, please.”

“OK,” I relented.

Psalm had explained how his mother died giving birth to Syre. He was terrified when we found out I was pregnant. He took me to every specialist in the nation to guarantee that my birthing process went as smoothly as possible. I was surprised when he let me use a midwife. He was sold on the idea after, of course, doing his own independent research and bringing me a list of midwives he thought would be attentive to a black expectant mother’s needs.

We had a home birth. Psalm bought a huge inflatable pool and sat behind me in the middle of his living room, holding me and bawling like a baby as I pushed our baby girl out.

“At least let me hold my baby.”

“Hey, baby girl. Do you want to give mommy some cuddles?” I laughed when he rolled his eyes. “Aria, don’t be like that. I know I’m your favorite and you’re literally my twin, but mommy deserves some love too, OK? Just a little while, then daddy will get you back. Start crying when you’re ready for me to get you.”

I couldn’t help but laugh at his foolishness. Sitting beside me, he carefully removed our daughter from the carrier and passed her to me. There was a knock at the door. He kissed the side of my face and stood to answer it.

Lourdess and her son were at the door with Royelle and her two kids. Psalm insisted on having play dates, although Aria was too small to play. I think he just liked having his nieces and nephews around.

“Hey, mommy. How you feeling?” Royelle asked as they joined me on the couch.

“Fair, missing my other baby.” I mentioned my client.

After the honeymoon, I had taken on a pediatric home health case. My only client was a precious four-year-old girl. She had been battling cancer since birth but was the strongest little thing I had ever seen. She had a feeding tube and was on all kinds of medicine that left her exhausted half the time, but she still found a reason to smile.

“Anya!” I looked up and tears sprang from my eyes when I saw Hope’s little body moving across the room.

“Hey, baby girl! What are you doing here?” I asked.

Her mom rounded the corner, wearing a huge smile. “Stay back, baby. Don’t get too close to Ms. Anya and her baby. OK?”

“OK.” Hope agreed as she stooped, joining the other kids to play.

“What are you guys doing here?”

“Blame hubby for that. He said you were missing her and coordinated with me to get a visit.”

“How is she, Diana?”

“She’s great. Missing you too. We’re holding your position, so I’ve been using a temp agency for now. They change a lot, but most of the girls are pretty good.”

“That’s good to hear. You know I’ve been worried.”

Hope and her mom stayed for about an hour before they had to leave. Seeing her gave me a little relief. I hadn’t bothered calling because I didn’t want to hear any bad news. Surprisingly, Psalm let me get up to lay Aria down for her nap without putting up a fight. Royelle and Lourdess had gone home for the day. After spending the day with my girls, I was exhausted. Now I rested on the couch with my head in Psalm’s lap while he and Divine talked.

“I can’t believe all three of you fools are married,” Divine told him.

“It’s your turn now,” I said.

“The hell if it is. She’s just a kid, Ny. Don’t be a bad influence.”

“You know they think I’m a baby, girl. But I am seeing someone.” Divine blushed.

“Seeing who? I hope you know his ass ain’t gon’ be able to see you or nothing else when I find out who he is.” Psalm shook his head as he walked away.

“I hope you’re not going in there to wake my baby up,” I called behind him.

“I am, but first I’m calling Syre. We about to get to the bottom of this.”

“He’s so extra.” I looked over at Divine before we both fell over laughing.

The End