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“Beautiful, just like you, and just like our future,” he replied to my statement moments later.
“And bright,” I added, nestling closer to him.
He wrapped both arms around me and remarked, “Definitely bright. So bright we need some damn sunglasses.”
His businesses were prospering, and I couldn’t be prouder of him. My practice had grown so much that I had taken on a partner to help me with my client list. I no longer did marriage counseling and focused my services on helping grieving children and individuals instead.
I no longer spent time looking over my shoulder. Casimir’s former in-laws were not even thinking about us. His former father-in-law was still in prison for one of the biggest white-collar scandals in recent history. From my understanding, he would be in prison for another eight years. Their business had been sold off to another company that did everything possible to make the former staff, investors, and the community whole.
Bethany’s fiancé, who was also a senator, had not been as patient as Casimir had been. Not only did they have children, but they had triplets, all of whom she had carried and birthed. There was no adoption or surrogacy involved. That svelte figure she had been so proud of was now a thing of the past.
I saw her at a charity auction that her mother chaired. I overheard her conversation as she whined and complained about her husband’s refusal to hire a nanny. Her triplets were a year old. The minute she saw me, she turned and beelined in the opposite direction.
“Hey, guys. CJ wanted to say goodnight before I took him back to our suite,” my mother said, holding our one-year-old son in her arms.
Casimir and I suspected that he had impregnated me with our son, Casimir Jr., the same night that Casimir proposed. We initially planned to marry six months after his proposal until we learned that I was pregnant. Rather than speeding up the timeline, we decided to postpone it until after the baby was born and make sure that he could be a part of the wedding ceremony.
Casimir’s heart was overwhelmed with joy when he learned that not only was I pregnant but that we were having a little boy. Casimir was prouder of his son than he was of all the businesses that he built and the wealth he amassed. Nothing could hold a candle to that little boy, who was the apple of his father’s eye.
I pushed up off my husband and stood. I reached down and grabbed his outstretched hand to pull him up too.
“Oh, come here, baby. Give mommy some sugar. I swear that I’m gonna miss you so much, little boy,” I cooed to my son.
I reached for him, and he bounced his arms up and down happily as he leaned out of my mother’s arms and reached for me. His chunky, chocolate cheeks turned up into a smile as he fell into my arms and caused me to tumble backward.
“Whoa, big guy. You trying to take your mama out?” Casimir teased and ruffled CJ’s thick curls.
“He’s okay. Just happy to see his mommy,” I cooed and kissed him on the top of his head before I nuzzled his neck and made him giggle.
Our baby boy smelled like sun, sand, baby powder, and cherries. Cherries?
“Mama, did you give CJ some more of that chocolate cherry cake?” I asked, shifting him onto my hip and bouncing him up and down.
“Honey, it’s a celebration today. He should be allowed to celebrate the union of his parents like everyone else. Don’t go taking that tone with me. I raised you and your sister, and you both came out just fine.” My mother scolded me.
“Yeah, but you didn’t allow us to eat four slices of cake in one day,” I reminded her.
“Four? He’s had four?”
“Mama . . .” I twisted my lips and looked at her like,come on.
“What?”
“You know that I gave him a slice of cake. I saw Mama Yolanda give him a slice,” I said of Casimir’s mom. “And then I saw you give him one earlier. Now you’ve given him another one.”
“Well, I lost count,” she stated and reached for my son.
“Baby, I’m thinking we might want to keep CJ here with us instead of letting him fly back to the States with our parents,”I suggested. I didn’t mean it, but I was giving my mother the blues.
I looked at my husband over my shoulder, and he frowned.
“Woman, let me see my son.”
I handed CJ to him, and he kissed our son and squeezed him to himself.
“You gonna be a big boy while mommy and daddy are gone, CJ?” Casimir asked.
CJ bobbed his head and verbalized something that was a mixture of hums and lip-smacking.