Page 31 of Cause When You Love Someone

EPILOGUE

Clarke

Why I Love You

For the last year, my life had been quiet, but that evening, I welcomed the world into the space I created.

I invited every talent agent, manager, and event planner I knew to the grand opening of Lois’s Lane, and thankfully, everyone showed up.

Thanks to Ishmael, I settled on the name of my studio and decided to turn the outside area into a performance space.

Strings of overhead lights and warm-colored seating made the area look like a poetry lounge.

As a new mommy, I wasn’t in the position to get on stage, but I was happy to provide the opportunity to showcase other dancers.

Down the line, I planned to follow in Ishmael’s footsteps and go to school for my passion.

In the meantime, I was going to host jazz classes for beginners and rent out the rooms to other instructors, videographers, and people hosting small events.

“Aww. Look at you, all teary-eyed over your new baby,” Sage commented as he joined me in a corner of the outside area.

“Yeah. I’m a proud mommy two times over at this point.” I blushed, thinking about my firstborn. “Can you believe this is my life? One day, I’m staggering into my house after being in the club. Next, I’m putting my baby in his crib.”

“Now, why are you over here lying? You know this boy doesn’t sleep in his bed.”

The sound of Ishmael’s voice tweaked my lips to one side before I hugged Sage goodbye and focused on Ishmael and baby Isaiah.

“Don’t put me on blast.” I playfully rolled my eyes. “I like to have both of my favorite people close. Can you blame me?”

“Even if I could, I wouldn’t.” He grinned, then pecked my lips. “How are you feeling? Things went as good as I knew they would.”

“For the first time in a while, my name is on something I’m proud of. This studio will be a part of my legacy. There was a time I didn’t know if my name was too tarnished to ever be in lights again.”

The noise surrounding Chaz’s death still lingered, but the private messages and vulgar comments weren’t as frequent.

Had it not been for Ishmael, I don’t know if I would’ve been able to grow our baby in love.

He stayed attached to my hip unless he was at school or working.

Any time outside opinions crept under my skin, Ishmael’s reassurance abolished the doubt.

“Well, aside from what you thought would happen,” Ishmael continued, “you’ve become an entrepreneur and mom within a matter of months, and you handled it like a champ.”

“Because you had my back. The days and nights when the walls closed in on me, you created a space for me to breathe. I needed that, especially since me and my mom are still not on the best of terms.”

“Have you two talked? I saw her talking to Jerry before I came over here.”

A hiss slipped through a crack in my pursed lips. “She came over and spoke. You know she had something smart to say about the studio, but I let it roll off my back. I guess therapy is working.”

Even with all the time that passed, I couldn’t bring myself to trust my mom the way I used to.

To know she put fame and money above her love for me set the tone in our relationship.

I meant it when I said I forgave her for leaking my pregnancy, but I couldn’t forget.

If I did, it would open the door for it to happen again.

Around seven, the studio had cleared out, but Essen hung back, throwing away flutes and napkins left behind.

“Friend,” I sang. “You know the cleaning crew is on their way?”

“I know. I’m actually on my way out. I was waiting for you to have some space so I could fangirl over how dope you are,” Essen professed with teary eyes. “Lois’s Lane looks amazing. I checked your calendar online, and there are already days booked!”

“I know! I knew it would be a hot commodity since Silk Hills doesn’t have many dance studios, but I’m still grateful.”

Ishmael pulled me to his body so we were attached at the hip. “You would’ve come out on top anyway. If things didn’t go well, I would’ve paid for a few dates my damn self.”

I glanced up at him. “Always making sure my feelings aren’t hurt. I swear, I love you.”

We hung around until the cleaning company completed the job, then piled into Ishmael’s truck to go home. Since Isabella chose to go home with Essen, that meant I wouldn’t have my nighttime helper. The way Isabella acted over Isaiah, I was amazed she wanted to spend the night away from her nephew.

“Bae. Did your mom end up calling back during the event?” I asked, recalling a conversation we had at the studio.

A subtle twitch in Ishmael’s shoulders made me regret asking. Their relationship hadn’t gotten much better since she went to jail, but strangely enough, she’d been in contact more since I gave birth.

“Yeah, but I missed the call again. We don’t really need to talk. She still blames me for the move Izzy made.” He chuckled. “The last time we spoke, I answered the phone, and she asked to speak to Izzy and Isaiah.”

“Maybe he’ll be her saving grace. She may be better to Isaiah than she was to you. I know that sounds harsh.”

He shrugged. “It’s the truth. I understand people change, but my son isn’t an experiment. She has to prove to me she will do right by him. I won’t let her disappoint him like she did me and Izzy.” He glanced at me. “You think I’m being hard on her?”

I shook my head. “You don’t play about your son. You could never go too hard on someone when it comes to him.”

As a way to escape the heaviness of our childhood trauma, I turned up the radio. Stevie Wonder’s “As” played as if God knew what Ishmael needed to hear. Good music was Ishmael’s love language. The smile that overpowered his face confirmed it.

When he yawned, I reached out and caressed his growing beard.

“Cut all that sleepy shit out. You have homework to do when we get home.”

“Little do you know, I submitted the assignment last night.”

I peered at him in awe. “You always talk about how proud of me you are, but you’re the one that deserves the praise. You take care of all of us and still show up for yourself.” I shivered. “Whew, I can’t wait to give you some pussy tonight.”

Ishmael’s eyes bulged as his focus raced from traffic over to me. “What I tell you about that? As baby boy gets older, he’s going to start repeating everything he hears. We need a nickname for the goodness between your legs.”

“Ooo, I like that.” I turned in my seat so I was facing him. “What are you thinking?”

His hands eased over to my side of the car, landing on the inside of my thigh. The contact sent a tremble down my back.

“It’s wet, hungry. Pretty. Soft.” The lower his voice dropped, the more I moaned. He bit into his bottom lip. “You’re so nasty. Velvet? Velvet. That’s her name.”

“That shit is so—” The sound of my baby babbling in the back seat put a weak smile on my face. “I can’t believe he is still up after such a long day.”

“That’s because he knows his daddy has a stop to make. He wants to get in on the action.”

“Hmm. What are you talking about?”

Ishmael pointed to the parking lot he was seconds from turning into. I was so caught up in him that I hadn’t realized we were driving in the opposite direction from our house until we arrived at Darwin’s jewelry store.

“Ishmael, what are we doing here? It’s almost eight. The store isn’t usually open this late.”

“For me, it is.” Ishmael winked. “He called during your event and said baby’s pieces are ready. Since little man wasn’t fussing when I put him in his car seat, I figured we could make a detour. You good with that?”

I rubbed my hands together. “Oh, baby. You know I’m never turning down a trip to the jewelry store.”

The last time I saw Darwin was the first time Ishmael worked as my bodyguard. So much had changed since then, but my appetite for a new tennis bracelet was still alive and well.

Since Isaiah was still fresh, we left him in his car seat, and Ishmael carried him into the building. Darwin met us at the door, wearing bright colors and a warm smile.

“Ms. Rose! My girl,” Darwin cheered as he led us into his spot. “It’s so good to see you, beautiful. I knew the day you came in here with that tall, handsome man following you around like a puppy, it wasn’t just because he loved his job.”

I dusted my shoulders off on some cocky shit. “Was it that obvious?”

“Painfully,” he said in an exaggerated way and walked over to Ishmael. “I have everything you ordered for baby. You ready to see how it turned out?”

“Yeah. Let me see what you came up with.”

While Darwin went to grab the pieces, I wandered to the other side of the store to look at watches. Ishmael complained when I bought him stuff, but there was no way he could say the Audemars Piguet wasn’t collection-worthy.

“Bae!” I called out to Ishmael with my back to him. “Please come look at these watches. I know you wouldn’t accept it as a just-because gift. What if I buy it as an early graduation gift?”

He laughed. “What about a wedding present?”

“What?”

I spun around and found Ishmael down on one knee. I didn’t realize I was holding my breath until he smiled and said, “Breathe, baby.”

“I can’t,” I whined.

“Yes, you can. And I promise to always make that possible. I promise the grass will always be greener on this side because we’ll water it together.

If you fall short, I’ll carry the weight.

You love to ask me why I handle you the way I do.

There’s no intricate answer. It’s simple.

I love you, and when you love someone, you nurture them.

You’re patient. You’re a protector. You’re my lover. Will you marry me, Lois Lane?”

Tears rolled down my face. “Yes! Yes, Superman!”