Page 39 of The Devoted Husband

Mid-September

Thank you for the pictures of Carmen. I can’t lie., I thought you’d get out of here and forget about me. I didn’t expect you to keep your promise. My baby girl has gotten so big, but I guess that’s to be expected. Thank you for giving her back to me in some way.

Last time we talked, you said you’d be moving back to Memphis.

How is that going? Did you find a house yet?

If so, make sure you give me your new address so we can continue to write to each other.

I know you said I can call you anytime, but at least these letters are cheaper because they only use a stamp.

Oh! That lawyer you contacted on my behalf came to visit me yesterday.

He said you offered to pay for him to represent me, but that won’t be necessary.

Apparently, his office does pro bono appeals for people they believe have been wrongly convicted.

I told him that I did kill Nico, but only because I felt I had no other choice.

He said he’d looked into it and believed me.

..thought I had a chance to get out of here soon.

Can you believe that? I owe it all to you.

Thank you for believing in me and not giving up on me. If I get out of here, I don’t know what I could do to repay you, but I’ll think of something.

Reka is out of the hospital. She was pissed when she got back and saw you were gone.

That stab to her side knocked out some of her steam, LOL.

She couldn’t believe Dominique didn’t go after you when you got out of solitary.

Dominique gave her a BS excuse about how she could never get you alone before you left, and Reka told her being in the main room had never stopped her from fighting someone before.

So they aren’t cliqued up anymore. If nothing else came from your time here except my pictures and you breaking up those rapist bullies, I know a lot of women in here that’ll be forever grateful to you for that.

Simone

The sight of Dante’s pout made Sade giggle.

He was looking forward to finding out the sex of their baby, but it was a bit too soon.

Sade was only sixteen weeks pregnant, and her doctor suggested waiting until her next appointment so it would be more accurate.

Dante did get excited about the ultrasound and hearing their baby’s heartbeat, though.

As they walked hand in hand to his car, Sade teased him with, “Aww, babe, I thought you only cared about having a healthy little one. You said you didn’t care about the sex.”

“I don’t care if it’s a boy or girl...I just want to know if it’s a boy or girl.”

As Sade chuckled, she lifted his hand to her mouth and kissed it. “Next month will fly by before you know it, and then we’ll get to find out.”

“You’re right. You told me not to get my hopes up about it happening today, so I shouldn’t have been surprised.

” As Dante opened the door for her, his free hand went to her belly.

It had rounded and started to protrude, and Dante couldn’t keep his hands off it.

“I still can’t believe we’re going to have a baby. ”

“Neither can I,” Sade admitted, covering his hand with hers. “I’m just grateful I’m not dealing with as many symptoms as I was, and my energy is returning.”

“Me too. I hate that you had to go through that, but I’m glad you are willing to for our baby.”

He gave her another kiss before helping her get into the car.

When Sade pulled her phone out to check her notifications, she was surprised to see she had a missed call from her grandmother.

After Dante told her what Ava and Barron said, Sade didn’t bother contacting them.

This was the first time Ava had called, and Sade immediately thought something was wrong.

“My grandma called me,” she muttered as Dante started the car.

“Are you going to call her back?” he asked, lowering the volume on the music.

“Yeah, I guess. I’m sure if she’s calling me, it has to be something important.”

Dante nodded his agreement as Sade returned the call. Ava answered shortly.

“Hello?”

“You called?”

“Yes. I got a calendar reminder about your appointment today. I was supposed to go with you to your appointments, remember?”

“Yeah, well, that’s not necessary anymore. Dante’s with me. Besides, you made it clear you don’t want me around, so I’m not sure why you thought I’d still want you to come.”

Ava sighed into the receiver. “Can you come over so we can talk about that? I need to explain where we’re going from.”

Sade chuckled. “There’s no need to explain. You think I’m a killer.”

“Sade, please. Just come over so we can talk.”

After considering it for a while, Sade agreed with, “Fine. I’ll be over later.”

She disconnected the call, hoping she wouldn’t regret her decision to see them.

“I’ll take you over there, but if they start talking crazy, we leave. I will protect you from anyone who means you harm, and that includes emotional and mental harm from them.”

Sade hated that it had come down to this, but she was grateful for his protection and support. “Thank you,” she mumbled, taking his hand into hers.

Maybe Ava wanted to apologize. Even if she did, Sade wasn’t sure what that would change.

In the back of her mind, she would always wonder when the next time she’d do something to make them disappointed or upset and cause them to want her to go away.

She was an adult and could handle their rejection, but that was something she refused to introduce to her child.

Sade’s Audio Journal

“Something is off with my grandparents. I’m going to go talk to them, but I still don’t know if I will have peace when it comes to them.

I don’t know if it’s the hormones or not, but I feel more sensitive than usual.

I want to be on good terms with them, but I feel like something is going on that they aren’t telling me about.

“Do they know what I did and are just waiting for me to confess? Is that why they’ve been so against me lately?

But how could they know? Who could have possibly told them?

I don’t think Imani would. What could she get out of that?

” Sade chuckled. “Well, maybe that would make her look like less of a screwup in their eyes. I don’t know.

Something’s going on with them, though, and until I figure out what it is, I’m not sure if they will be the secure, stable presence they’ve always been for me. ”

“If you feel uncomfortable at any time, we can leave,” Dante said as he rang the doorbell.

“Okay, but I don’t plan to be here long anyway. We agreed to tell your family after the next checkup, so I want us to still do that.”

“All right, Smiley,” Dante agreed as the front door unlocked and opened.

Barron smiled at his granddaughter, whose mouth remained slack. His eyes lowered to her protruding belly.

“You’re really pregnant, huh?”

“Oh, so you don’t just think I’m a killer, but you think I’m a liar too?”

“That’s not...I was only saying that because this is my first time seeing you with this belly, Sade. I know you weren’t lying about being pregnant.” Barron opened the door wider as he told them, “Come in.”

They followed Barron into the living room as if they were unfamiliar with the home. At the sight of Ava seated on the textured couch, Sade asked, “Where are the twins?”

“With their other grandparents.” Before Sade could question why they allowed Adam’s parents to have the twins, Ava added, “It was somewhat of a truce. Having some time with the girls keeps the peace between both families. If we hadn’t agreed, they would have sought custody anyway.

This way, we get to decide how often they can get them and when. ”

“You do realize Samantha blames me for his death and has tried to fight me, right?”

Ava shrugged and released a low breath. “Yes, but that really has nothing to do with the fact that those are her grandbabies. Regardless of how she feels about how Adam died or you, we can’t keep them from her.”

With a roll of her eyes, Sade crossed her arms over her chest and asked, “Why did you want me to come over?”

“You’ll want to be seated for this,” Barron said, pointing toward the space next to her grandmother.

Sade sat there while Dante sat in the recliner that was on the opposite side of her, and her grandfather sat in a similar chair.

“The reason we had such a harsh reaction to you getting out of jail is because we were triggered by you going to jail to begin with,” Ava said.

“Triggered over what?” Sade asked.

“The fact that your parents’ love story was a hell of a lot like yours,” Barron answered.

“Your mother, Andrea, had a best friend, who she claimed as her sister. Her name was Tonya. They both were friends with your father, Martin. Your mother had feelings for your father, but she didn’t go after him.

Instead, she told Tonya. Tonya, then, went after your father. ”

“Like me and Imani,” Sade said.

Ava nodded. “Yes. Now, the difference was that your father turned Tonya down because he had feelings for your mom.” Ava’s eyes shifted toward Dante, who inadvertently avoided them. “Andrea and Martin talked; they agreed to date, and we thought that was the end of it.”

“But it wasn’t,” Barron said. “Apparently, Tonya’s advances continued over the years.

Eventually, Martin surrendered to them, and they had a longstanding affair.

During this time, Tonya got married and had a daughter.

Even still, she wanted your father. Andrea and Martin hit a rough patch in their marriage, and he agreed to a divorce pact with Tonya.

Well, Tonya actually divorced her husband, but your father decided he wanted to work things out with your mom. ”

Ava’s hand covered her mouth as her eyes watered. Though Sade had no idea where they were going with this, her emotions also began to unravel.

“The car accident that killed your parents...That wasn’t an accident,” Ava said.

“It was a double murder, and Tonya was behind it. After she was convicted of tampering with their brakes and causing the accident, she was sentenced to life in prison. Her daughter suffered the most with that decision, and because of bullying at school, she committed suicide.”

“Oh my God.” Sade clutched her chest.

“So when you and Imani started bickering over Dante, we feared things would become volatile,” Ava shared. “That’s why I always tried to get you to see you couldn’t share him. I didn’t want either of you feeling so possessive of him that you tried to get the other out of the way.”

“I can understand that, but I’m not sure why that would make you believe I killed those women.”

“Love can make you do crazy things,” Barron said.

“We lost your mom because her best friend wanted your father. It wasn’t too far off for us to think you killed someone to keep Dante’s identity a secret.

When you were first arrested, we didn’t think that.

After we looked into the case and learned some of the details, we started to become triggered over what happened to Andrea and Martin. ”

“Thanks for telling me this.” Sade paused. “Why didn’t Mom ever tell us? I get why she didn’t bring Tonya around, but still.”

“I think she wasn’t too proud of how they behaved over your father,” Ava answered. “That’s the only thing I can think of.”

With a nod, Sade stood. “This is a lot to take in. All this time, I thought it was truly a horrible car accident that took my parents away from me, and now, you’re telling me they were murdered. Does Imani know?”

“No, she doesn’t.”

Sade rubbed her hands together, needing to be able to direct the nervous energy that filled her in one place.

“Okay. I guess she doesn’t need to know. I, uh...We’re gonna go.”

Ava stood. “I never wanted to tell you this, but I needed you to know why we reacted the way we did.” She took Sade’s hand into hers. “I don’t want you to stay away, baby. I just don’t want anything to happen to you in the name of love.”

“Well, you don’t have to worry about that.

Adam is dead, and he’s the one who wanted Dante dead.

Atlas went a little crazy, but now he’s dead and no longer a threat.

And Imani doesn’t give a damn what we do.

Those charges against me have been dropped and will never be an issue again.

” Sade released her grandmother’s hand and grabbed Dante’s.

“We’re finally getting to our happily ever after.

I’d like you to be included, but I will also be at peace if you’re not. ”

“We want to be in your lives,” Barron said.

“And our new grandbaby,” Ava added.

Sade looked at Dante, and when he nodded his approval, she agreed.

Sade sat between her parents’ graves. She’d been there long enough to clean them off and put out new flowers.

Before she arrived, she had a million thoughts and questions in her mind.

Now that she was here, she only wanted to sit in silence and feel close to them.

Learning this new truth felt like the scab had been ripped off the wound, and she was grieving her parents all over again.

Except this time, she wasn’t mad at God for taking them from her—she was angry at Tonya—and wanted her to pay.