Page 5 of Pieces of Us

Morgan

“Drue, we’re home!” I called out to my sister. “Megan, make sure you do that homework before you start YouTubing, missy.”

“Yes, ma’am,” she replied, begrudgingly making her way up the stairs.

“I have to go to the office for a few hours—”

“Jus, you just barely missed your daughter’s showcase because of a meeting, and now, you’re jetting off to go to yet another meeting?”

“I know, I know, baby. I promise I’ll be home before the girls go down. I have a meeting with William Brant, the linebacker for the Ravens. I could potentially score him as a client, which means…” he drawled, pulling me into his arms. “More money, more vacations, more spoiling you.”

He kissed my lips while squeezing my butt. I wasn’t impressed with his proclamation. However, I did love the affection he showed me. I laid my head on his chest and wrapped my arms around his waist.

“It’s been three weeks, Jus. Are you not attracted to me anymore?”

He immediately pushed me back gently, looking into my eyes with concern.

“Are you kidding me? You’re still the baddest woman I was lucky enough to marry. I don’t think I’d ever not want you. Work has just been hectic, but I promise when I get home, I’m on you,” he said before driving his tongue in my mouth.

I wrapped my arms around his neck and deepened the kiss. Maybe I was being a brat because I needed my boots knocked, but I still wasn’t sold on his storyline.

“Eww, get a room,” Drue said, coming down the stairs with Mariah in her arms.

“We’re in our home, heffa.”

“Well…stop.”

We all laughed as I moved to take my baby.

“Awww, my honey bee. You look so miserable.” I held her in my arms and pressed my lips to her forehead.

“Her fever has been up and down. She’s okay right now, but she’s still a little stuffy and weary,” Drue informed.

I rubbed her back and kissed her forehead again.

“Maybe you should take her to the doctor in the morning, babe,” Justin said, kissing her cheek.

“I will if it doesn’t get better by morning.”

“Okay. I love you, and I’ll be back soon. I promise.” He kissed me then kissed Mariah. “Feel better, munchkin. Daddy loves you.”

“Love you, Daddy.”

I watched him leave, shook my head, and sighed.

“Everything okay?” Drue inquired.

“Yeah…yeah. Is Rudy still with her dad?” I asked her about my niece, her namesake who we called Rudy.

“She is. I have some tea, so go put my baby down and come back so I can spill it.” She giggled.

I laughed. “Oh goodness. You and your stories. Let Daddy hear about you gossiping, he’s going to make you repeat Ephesians 4:29 until you’re blue in the face.”

“Girl, we don’t live under his roof anymore. And this isn’t gossip; it’s information regarding some tea that needs to be explained. It’s piping hot, too.”

“Mommy, I sleepy,” Mariah declared, laying her head on my shoulder.

“Okay, Honey Bee. Let’s get you down.” I moved up the stairs to put my baby down for a nap.

“I’ll get the wine ready,” Drue called out behind me. I was sure whatever she had to say was going to be juicy.

“I’ll be a minute. I have to get showered and changed.”

“Well, make it snappy!”

“Don’t rush me, heffa!”

It only took Mariah all of ten minutes to fall asleep while I read her Goldilocks and the Three Bears.

I kissed her forehead then eased out of the bed.

I made sure to turn on her favorite song and put it on a low volume then crept out of the room.

I walked down the hall en route to my quarters until I heard giggles coming from Megan’s room.

Lord, I’m not ready for this stage of her life.

I pushed the door open and stuck my head inside.

“That better be Asia or Rudy you’re on the phone giggling with,” I implied with a hiked brow and smirk on my face.

She laughed. “It’s both of them, Mom.”

“Hi, Mrs. Coleman!”

“Hey, Auntie Mo!”

“Hi, girls,” I sang. “Meg, homework now.”

“I got you, Mom. I’m on it.”

I nodded and closed the door, going to my room to shower and change into my pajamas.

Twenty minutes later, I was dressed, heading out of my room and downstairs to my den where Drue was waiting with wine and snacks.

“Alright. What’s tea, Sis?”

“Girl, you still move like a damn snail.”

“Shut up. Now what’s going on?”

“Here. Drink first, and tell me about that awkward look you gave your husband before he walked out of the door.”

I took a sip of my wine and shook my head. “I will not.”

“Really?”

“I don’t want to give it power, Drue. So, it’s nothing until it’s something. Now spill it.”

“Ugh, fine. So, I was just walking through Walmart, minding my little ol’ business, and guess who I see?”

“Who?”

“Shelby Newson.”

My body grew stoic. My heart sank to my stomach and did a cartwheel down to my ass. Memories instantly came flooding back as I tried to keep my emotions at bay. Just hearing that last name and who she was connected to made my vision blurry.

It had been thirteen years. Thirteen years of no communication from him…

Nehemiah Newson. My first true love, and the person my father ran out of my life.

A week after that blow up, my father moved us all the way out to Troy, Michigan, made me say eighty Hail Mary’s, and restricted me from using a phone or computer for a year straight.

I had no contact with the outside world.

My mom tried reasoning with him. However, he wouldn’t let up.

It wasn’t until I went to college did he get his foot off my neck and allowed me to date Justin my junior year.

I never forgot about him . I never stopped loving him . So many nights I cried at the fact that I would never see him again. I was secretly depressed and grew a deep resentment for my father. It took three years for me to give my heart to Justin, and even still, Nehemiah still took residence there.

“Mo,” Drue called out to me. I snapped out of my thoughts and cleared my throat.

“Did she see you?”

“Yes. We talked for a bit. She told me about her owning a dispensary and Chelsea owning a gym. They fine ass daddy still crazy, and Nehemiah has his own practice.”

I stood and walked over to the picture window, looking out at our beautiful backyard.

My belly was doing flips because Nehemiah didn’t know that he had a whole thirteen almost fourteen year old.

I never wanted to keep her a secret. I begged my father to let him be a part of Megan’s life, but he refused, saying he’d only get us caught up in the streets and possibly killed.

Nehemiah wasn’t a street thug. He might have had the swagger of a street dude, but he was nothing like his father. He was smart, kind, and beautiful.

God was he beautiful. The image of his brown skin, dark kind eyes, bushy brows, full lashes, perfect dimpled smile, and straight white teeth had me closing my eyes, envisioning all the times he made my stomach flip and heart flutter when he kissed me.

God, forgive me. I shook the image from my mind, becoming angry with Drue for bringing him up.

“Why are you telling me this, Drue?”

Like I don’t have other shit on my mind like my secretive husband.

“Because it’s been years, Morgan. I know Justin is claiming Megan as his—”

“Legally, she is his.”

“But not biologically.”

“I can’t confuse her, Drue. Justin is all she knows.”

I ran my fingers through my hair in frustration.

It took years for me to come to grips with Nehemiah never knowing about Megan.

I felt so guilty that he wasn’t able to experience her birth.

I could have told Megan who her birth father was, but at the time, I was young and listening to my father and Justin tell me it wouldn’t be a good idea.

Justin promised me that he’d take care of her, and he did.

He treated Megan as though she was his, but I still felt a twinge of guilt about it.

When I found out I was pregnant, that was when the depression started, and my father removed all communication to the outside world from me. He said it was punishment from God for defiling my temple and having a child out of wedlock.

I respected my father when he was behind the pulpit, but in our home, during that tragic time, I lost some of that respect for him because of what he made me do.

Nehemiah wasn’t dead. He had an almost high school freshman he knew nothing about.

“This is messed up, Drue. I made myself believe that he and I never existed. That he was just a figment of my imagination, and that I was the Virgin Mary. You should have warned me that you were about to drop this bomb on me.”

“I told you I had some tea. Then I told you to drink up because it was piping hot.”

“Girl! You had me thinking it was something about you and Ishmael, not about me and my buried secrets.”

“Listen. I love Justin. I do, but Detroit ain’t but so big, and eventually, you’re going to run into him just like I ran into his sister.”

“How will I explain this to Megan? I let Daddy and Justin convince me to never tell her, and here we are almost fourteen years later…She’s going to hate me.”

“Hate is a strong word, and my baby’s heart is way too pure to feel that way about you.

I never agreed with what Daddy did to you, but I didn’t have a choice but to concede because he was the man of the house and our father.

Even Mommy tried to tell him that it wasn’t right, but he convinced her that Nehemiah was the worst human on the planet. ”

“And he was everything but.” I shook my head. “I can’t do this, Sis. I can’t complicate my household.” I was conflicted.

“I don’t know if you’ll ever see him again, but by chance that you do, you have to decide if you want to keep him in the dark or allow him to get to know his child.”

“He doesn’t even know…” I could feel Drue’s presence joining me at the window. I looked over at her as she gave me a sympathetic look. “Your tea is nasty, Sis, real fucking nasty.”

“Oop!” She giggled. “I’m sorry, Morgan, but I couldn’t keep that from you, knowing your secret.

It was easy to forget because it’s been so long.

You weren’t going to be able to live the rest of your life and not feel this.

I know he’s crossed your mind many times over the years. You truly did love him.”

I still do.

I wouldn’t voice that. I couldn’t speak it out loud when I was a whole married woman with children, living in this beautiful home with the man I vowed forever to. This was bad, really fucking bad.

The Next Morning …

I filled a bowl with cold water, turned off the faucet, then traveled back into our bedroom. I moved to Justin’s side of the bed, raised the bowl, and dumped it directly onto his face. He jumped up and started coughing and trying to catch his breath since his mouth was open.

“The hell, Mo! What’d you do that for?”

“Three in the morning? Really? You must think I’m some type of fool, don’t you?”

“Baby…” He swiped his face and sighed. “I know what it looks like, but after I left the office, it was after ten. Then Darnell called and asked me to meet him for drinks because he wanted to talk to—”

“Save it! You really do take me for some type of fool. You think because I haven’t said anything that you could keep doing this shit? You got me all the way fucked up!”

“I wouldn’t play you, Morgan. You know that, baby. Come on, now.”

“I don’t know shit! All I know is your ass been moving funny since our anniversary, and if you think I’m not going to find out what you’re up to, then you have another thing coming. You better tighten the fuck up before I unleash a world of hell on your ass.”

He looked at me in shock. I was sure it was due to my behavior.

I had never stepped out of pocket on him like this because I never had to.

We had our moments where we debated, but it was never to this extreme.

I was glad the kids’ rooms were on the other side of the house so they wouldn’t hear me chewing their dad out.

“I’m about to go see my mom. When I get back, your ass better be here, and you’re going to tell me what the hell you’ve been up to because I’m not tolerating any of these changes. Furthermore, my mom is retiring from the bank soon, so she’s going to keep Mariah while I go back to work.”

“I thought you wanted to be a stay-at-home mom?”

“Well, I changed my mind. I don’t like sitting in the house with my thoughts. I think I may take the position as your assistant.”

“You have a degree in physiology. Why on Earth would you want to work as my assistant? Besides, the position has been filled anyway.”

“Well, un-fill it!”

“You’re crazy, woman,” he muttered, tossing the covers aside to move to the bathroom.

I laughed menacingly.

“Oh, you haven’t seen crazy yet. Feed my babies!” I exclaimed, storming out of the bedroom.

If I had to be honest, part of my frustration with Justin was because of what Drue unleashed on me yesterday. I tossed and turned all night from that alone, and then my creeping ass husband creeping his ass in our bed like I wouldn’t notice made things worse. I was not having a good morning at all.

Descending the stairs, I grabbed my purse, phone, and keys then headed out of the door.

“Morgan,” Justin called out to me before I got in my car. I stopped and waited for him to reach me. “I want to talk about this when you get home.”

“We will. Obviously, you like to lie.”

“There’s nothing to figure out, Mo. I fucked up by not calling and letting you know where I was or what I was doing. I got carried away, and I’m sorry for that. I love you so damn much. I’d never do anything to hurt you.”

“Sure you wouldn’t. I have to go. Don’t forget to feed my babies some real food and not that nasty oatmeal they hate.”

“Fine. I’m going to make us breakfast, and I’ll have a nice lunch for you when you return.”

“Yeah, okay.” I opened my door, and Justin pulled me into him, kissing my lips softly.

“It’s always you, baby.”

What the hell does that mean?

Him saying shit like that was why I thought something fishy was going on. I ignored him as I got inside of my car and headed to my parents’ home. This man was really trying me.