40. 🍸 Stoop Party

**KEKE**

On the ride up in the elevator, I learn that Sally Sayle, Xaver’s mother, knows everyone on the East Coast. She used to work with Georgetta Lowery, the mother of Nico’s (ex?) girlfriend, Jazzy. Apparently, they went out for coffee recently and the subject of their adult kids came up. Georgetta told Sally Jazzy has a boyfriend that likes to play matchmaker and he had paired a bartender with one of his staff.
That being Justice and me.
Now, everyone knows we’re together.
And that makes me nervous as hell, even with Justice’s reassurances that he and Pippa are now just friends. All I can do is trust he is telling me the truth… and watch to see how they interact. If I see there is more than friendship between them…
I honestly don’t know what I’ll do. I just know I’ll end up feeling like a fool, my trust shattered once again.
We step to the door from the foyer of the floor (the entire floor!) Pippa and Xaver live on. The kids shore me up on either side while Justice walks behind. There’s no time to take in beauty of the marble tiling or the artwork on the walls before the door swings open by a man larger than life.
He is as tall as Justice and about as broad. His hair is dark and his grass-green eyes catch the light, making them sparkle like an August birthstone in the sun.
“You must be Keke. I’m Xaver.” He holds out his hand and we shake. With a rumbling laugh, he pulls me against his hard chest, squeezing the life out of me. “You won’t get off that easy, woman. We don’t stand on ceremony around here.”
I’m speechless for a moment. A man of his prestige and wealth, his heart full of dollar signs and a golden stick up his ass, shouldn’t be treating a commoner like me like a long-lost friend.
When he releases me, I revert to my formal speech I used in Dubai when meeting the wealthy jet-set ilk. “Mr. Sayle, thank you for welcoming me into your home.”
“Keke, please call me Xaver, and come in,” he says, removing me from Justice and the kids by dragging me further inside. “Pippa is dying to meet you.”
I barely have a moment to appreciate my surroundings when she emerges from a doorway, her skin glowing, her eyes shining, and her pregnant belly leading the way. In a simple green dress that I can’t tell if it is designer or not, she approaches me, a genuine smile on her beautiful face.
Pippa is smaller than in her pictures, at least six inches shorter than I am and as petite-curvy as Lilli had been. Comparing her to Lilli makes a feeling of kinship grow inside me. I stifle it, waiting until I get a better lay of the land.
“Keke,” she says, her lilting voice equivalent to the headiness of a full-bodied red wine, “I’m so very glad to meet you.” Like her husband she pulls me in for a hug, at least as best she can, her belly getting in the way a bit. She looks over at Justice, shaking her finger at him in mock dismay then loops her arm through mine, just like Lilli used to do. Before I can protest, if I had a mind to, she propels me forward and into a room with a sea of faces.
I meet Pippa’s father, Samuel Sr., her mother, Esther, and her brother Samuel Jr., before the kids drag him away to the entertainment room to finish their video game.
Xaver and Justice follow them, claiming they need to referee.
My stomach twists with apprehension at being left alone in a room full of strangers. Pippa pats my hand, giving me such a warm smile, I can’t help but relax.
Her parents also make me feel at ease with their suggestions of what to do and see during my remaining weeks in New York. After a few minutes, Pippa takes me to meet Xaver’s parents Sally and George. Sally gives me such a knowing wink; all I can do is laugh.
She made it easy on us.
Other than my parents, the kids were my biggest worry. So far, they have treated us the same and I’m fairly confident, given their teasing, they will continue to do so.
When I’m done meeting the adults in the room, Pippa steers me towards two adorable kids. Both have curly hair and olive skin a few shades darker than their father. The girl, dressed in a pink corduroy jumper has light-brown eyes while the boy in a dark-grey jumper of the same material has hazel eyes. They regard their mama for a moment from their large playpen, then go back to babbling to each other. “This is Jada and Jayden, my three-year-old twins.”
“They are precious.”
I often wonder what my son or daughter would have looked like. What my child would have sounded like. Would the boy or girl have had their father’s wavy hair, my tight curls, or a mixture of both?
Regret at my loss spikes through me. I just manage to muffle a sound of grief between my lips.
The ectopic miscarriage I had will make it harder for me to get pregnant. Granted, every woman is different. From the information I found online, many women with my circumstances have monthly periods and can get pregnant with no problem.
With one working ovary, and my luck, I have less hope.
Pippa removes her arm from mine to grab a cloth hanging on the playpen. She wipes at Jayden’s mouth. When he smiles up at her, his bottom two teeth have the nubs of his adult teeth poking through.
So cute!
I don’t care what anyone says, a baby’s smile is like seeing an angel.
“The dentist says he is early with his adult teeth. They rarely come in until a child is five.” Pippa rolls her eyes. “Just like his father, he has to be showboating.”
I laugh. I like how she pokes fun at her partner. It shows the strength in her relationship.
“How far along are you with this one?” I ask, giving into the urge to ruffle my hands through both curly heads.
“As of today, I’m seven months and two weeks. I had a C-section with the twins, so my doctor recommended having one with this baby. If everything goes to plan, on January 10th, we’ll welcome our new addition.” She pats her belly and smiles at me in a way that suggests she knows something I don’t.
Just like Lilli did when she said a guy liked me. I never believed it. Throughout school I didn’t date. Neither did Lilli. She always said Tia’s drama had turned her off men for good.
I followed suit, hitting the books instead of falling for boys… at least until I went to Europe.
Pippa with her beauty, shape, and mannerisms remind me so much of my best friend, it’s uncanny. After talking to her for all of ten minutes, I feel like a bond has started to grow between us.
How can that be when I have so much resentment towards her?
And why do I?
Because of my own insecurities? My own thoughts of failure?
I don’t debate long on the matter as Sally comes over, asking if Pippa will serve Diri ak Pwa. What I learn from their discussion, it is Haitian rice. The main ingredients of red beans and coconut milk sound delicious. Pippa’s mother sidles up and chimes in the discussion, explaining the various dishes on the menu.
The women move off when Pippa’s father calls them over. Justice enters the room followed by Xaver who gives him a clap on the back. They move off into opposite directions, Xaver towards Pippa and Justice towards me. A tingle shoots up my spine when his eyebrows go up and his two dimples appear.
He looks down at the kids and ruffles their hair the same way I had done a few minutes earlier. The twins smile up at him and go back to their sibling business. “Those two can play together for hours, not making a peep.”
“They’re adorable.”
“That they are.” Justice places his hand over mine, “I want my own someday. How many do you want, Keke?”
The breath catches in my lungs. My insides freeze with fear.
Justice wants to know how many kids I want… with him.
Nervous perspiration forms under my arms as my blood pressure increases.
“I… uh…”
Damn! What do I say? There’s a strong possibility I can’t have kids.
I’m saved from making a coherent answer by a familiar voice booming, “Happy Thanksgiving, turkeys! I’m here now, so let’s eat.”