The girls are dancing in a circle. Wyn is in the middle of the circle trying to perform a break dance. I laugh at her failed attempts, holding El closer to me as we sway gently to a rhythm in my head. El wrinkles her nose in disappointment, her fingers intertwine with mine and I spin her in a lazy circle.
“You’re not supposed to be laughing at them,” she says as their mother dearest. “You cheer them up.”
True. But it was funny. Wyn waves, Bren does the same. Brianna does not spare us a glance. Like me and El, she has two left legs. She can’t dance but she is better than us. I wrap my arms around El from behind, tucking my head into her shoulder. She smells delicious. I can’t wait to have her alone.
The music filters into my ears, I close my eyes and the lyrics wrap around my heart.
“What’s Josh doing?”
My eyes fly open. Josh is at one of the two canopies with Joy. Most of the guests are on the dancefloor, giving those two some privacy. He offers her a glass of wine, she doesn’t look up as she accepts it. He has refused to take the hint. She doesn’t like him.
“Trying and failing to shoot his shot,” I answer.
Uninvited, he plops into the seat beside Joy, she scowls but Joshua doesn’t stop running his mouth. Outsiders might consider him too chatty.
“He’s embarrassing himself,” El whispers like they can hear us. We are off the stage. But she’s right. She tilts her head for me to see her face, then she says, “You need to help him. Help your brother.”
Reluctant to separate from her, I shrug. He is an adult who can take care of himself.
“He’s your friend too, help him.”
The words are barely out of my lips when she jerks out of my embrace. Oh, come on. My mouth closes in shock as she sashays to the canopy with her hips swinging left and right. She has grown thicker since giving birth to the girls. I can’t wait to bury myself inside her. We will have the best honeymoon.
El says something to the duo. She must have said the right thing. Joy laughs and Joshua shoots El a relieved smile. Because I miss my wife, I cover the distance between us.
My wife smiles at me. She kisses me briefly, drags me to a chair to sit on my legs. Our parents gravitate to the dance floor. Our mothers dance together while our fathers discuss. They bond pretty well. All that was needed was for us, me and El, to fix up.
Clarissa is dancing with one of the guests. Her plus one. Vincent is not in attendance. I don’t think he would have loved her dancing with another man.
“I was just telling Joy about Paris,” Joshua says. El and I share a desperate glance. I love my brother but I’m not about to get involved in his love life. Why would he talk about that? “She hates the city.”
El gasps. “No, you don’t.” A smile lifts my lips as my wife launches into a tirade about the city being the home of romance. “It is a city of love, Joy.”
“That’s exactly why I hate it,” Joy cuts her off. “Because of the romance. I don’t believe in love.”
It might be my imagination but Joshua sags under the weight of her words. El leans on me, fingers running through my beards.
“Well, I do.” Her eyes flick to my face, the desire shadowing her gaze makes my little man jerk in agreement. “I married the love of my life twice.” She supports her words with a kiss. “I love you.”
“Love you more.”
“Congratulations once more,” Joy says. She grabs her clutch purse off the table. “I have to go now.”
“Wait. Don’t go yet,” Joshua says. Joy arches a high brow. He clears his throat and smoothes the front of his shirt. Who would have thought he would ever be tongue tied in front of a woman? “I mean, stay a while.”
Joy’s smile is forced and fake. I’ve had many years of practice to know one. “I’m sorry, I can’t.”
El jabs me in the rib, it’s code for: Do something. I narrow my eyes and she bats her lashes. Fine.
“Why not?” I ask. “We haven’t even started.” She tries to speak but I shake my head. “It’s not everyday I make a request from you and it’s my happy day. Our happy day.” El gives her the puppy eyes, batting her long lashes to do the trick. Joy sinks back into her seat and Joshua drags a seat closer to her. I hope this works for him. I raise the empty glass to Joy in a toast. “Thank you.”
Joy ignores me. When no one is staring, I catch her shooting daggers at me. El jumps off my lap and starts for the dance floor. I follow behind her to give them privacy. We bump into Sophia on our way, she looks at Joy and Joshua and smiles proudly.
“Those two are finally getting to talk,” she says. She gives El a brief hug. “I’m so happy for you. Congratulations.”
“Thanks,” we both chorus.
Stepping away from the crowd, we stand by the flower fence that allows us a view of everyone.
“Does she like him?” El asks.
Sophia wastes no time to say, “She hates his guts.” The smile growing on El’s lips fades. “She hates rich people. She hates everyone.”
“Rich people, huh?”
Sophia shrugs. “Everyone on planet earth but me.”
Laughing, El slides an arm around my waist. I am not sure Joy will be worth the fight. Joshua is better off with a more willing person. Yeah, Joy is great at her job but beyond that, I know nothing about her.
“Is she single?”
“Very much so. Single but not searching.”
There’s a sharp, subtle warning in her voice. I should care about Joy’s story but she’s none of my business. We glance at their canopy. No one is talking. Judging by appearance alone, they both look awkward. Joy jumps to her feet, she says something to Joshua and he nods. Another nod later and she walks away.
A look of relief flashes across her face when she spots Sophia. She waves her over and Sophia turns to us with a contrite smile.
“Congratulations once again but I have to go.”
Minutes later, Joshua walks up to us with a sullen expression. He scratches the back of his head and shrugs to my unspoken question.
“What happened?” El asks.
She’s more interested in this matchmaking thing than I am. As far as she’s concerned, Joshua and Clarissa must find love. It’s a great idea but I’ll rather they do it at their pace.
“I asked her out.” El smacks the back of his head and he cries out. “I asked her out for a drink.” He stumbles away while muttering under his breath, just before he disappears down the corner, he turns to us and flips his middle fingers. “Fuck you two.”
“Stupid,” El says. None of us take offence to his choice of words. Joshua might be older than El but he has become the big baby. He’s the last born everyone forgives. El spins in my arms, locking me in her embrace. I bop her nose and her head falls back, giving a glimpse of her delicate neck. “Do you think she likes him? Do you think she will come around?”
“I don’t know.” Her frown leads me to say, “I guess so. She might need more time.”
“I think he likes her,” El says with a smile. “I hope she likes him back. I want her for him.”
“Yeah. Me too,” I add, mostly because she said it. She will be a great addition to the family. Another black woman. My lips graze hers, she purrs and my dick twitches again. “We should focus on us.”
Her breath comes out in a moan. “I agree.”
I lift her off her feet, muttering something to our mothers who stalk in our direction to know if there’s a problem. They have changed out of the clothes they wore to the wedding. El also changed. The twins too.
“Everything is fine,” I tell them.
They ignore me and round up to El, feeling her forehead for any sign of a fever. El is with me. She’s in safe hands. I allow them to fuss over her for a few more minutes.
“Really, she’s fine. I’m fine, thanks for asking.”
Mother laughs, she gives me a side hug. “You are doing a great job. I love you.”
“Love you too,” I say while walking forward. “My wife and I need some privacy.” El slaps my chest to stop me from saying more but I continue, “We have some things to discuss. Things that can only be said somewhere private but without actual words.”
I leave our mothers stunned. El hides her face in my chest, body trembling with laughter. We enter the house, I pause at the foot of the stairs and she wiggles out of my arms.
Bunching her gown, she says, “Race you upstairs?”
I don’t have to reply. She dashes up the stairs, leaving me to wonder what the fuck just happened. I tail after her and slam the door to our room shut.
“Loser,” she says with a giggle. In the middle of our room, she turns her back for me to unzip her gown.
A whistle leaves my lips at a glimpse of her smooth skin in the sexiest black lingerie. I swallow hard and immediately reach for my buttons. Did we leave our guests downstairs to do this? Hell fucking yes.
I pull the strap of her gown down her shoulder and her cleavage becomes more visible. She pulls the other strap down before I get to it. My mouth dries and my dick threatens to tunnel out of my trousers. I shred my clothes in a haste to get out of them, El backs away from me slowly till she’s beside the bed.
“Baby,” El says. I’m naked now and her divine body is only protected by tiny straps holding her breasts and covering her vagina. She lowers herself to the bed and spreads her legs. Her liquid rolls down her thighs. She is wet. “I need you. I need you now.”
The gap between us vanishes, I crawl into the bed and claim her lips. Her kisses taste like chocolate. I kiss her harder and she strokes the under of my balls. She breaks away from the kiss. I plant a kiss on her lips, her neck, her forehead, her nose.
I position myself between her legs, dick poking her entrance. “I love you, baby,” I say. Her eyes convey what she feels. “Today, tomorrow, always and forever. You’re my beginning, my middle, my end.”