"Are these two troubling you, love?" Jerol speaks emerging from behind me.
He plants a kiss on my neck that arouses all the butterflies in my belly, causing jolts down my spine, and turning me into a shy sweet sixteen. Why wouldn't I feel shy? His parents are right in front of us for God's sake, and he had to do that?
"Just tell me if they are troubling you, baby." He speaks again, turning me around to face him. A nice gesture so that I can hide my tomato-like face.
"What gives you the inkling that we are bothering our daughter, son?" Mrs McCall asks, earning a raised eyebrow from Jerol as he rubs my shoulders.
"You really are asking me that Mom? Really? You want an answer?" Jerol speaks.
"Come on son! Do you think so ill of me?" She pleads, and now I had to push my way to Jerol's side.
"No, mom. Not ill. I know that you do all that you do with good intents. But you know, Mom, there are better ways of tackling some issues." Jerol says, calmly.
"I know, son. I came to my senses and I have apologized to Tessa, and Jerol. We are very much okay now, and I am certain that we will get along like mother and daughter. Actually, you know what? I so much wanted a daughter, but I couldn't bare one. But I am glad now because God has blessed me with one."
Now that touched my soul, and I couldn't refuse my hand when she reached for it, caressing it.
"I'm honored to have you as a daughter that I never had, Tessa." She adds, still rubbing my hand.
"And I am so privileged to have a mother that I always yearned for, mom!" I said the last word in a whisper, which made her pull me away from Jerol as she enveloped me in a bear hug.
I'm loving this beginning already. I never contemplated this miracle ensuing in the five months I have known this woman. The impossibles have turned possible.
"Thank you for giving me another chance." She says when we pull away, both of us snuggling back to our partners.
"You are welcome." I whimper.
"Thank you both of you for patching things up. It means the world to me that the most important women in my life are on good terms." Jerol says.
"Anything for you son. I am sorry that I realized my mistakes so late, but I am glad that I still have the opportunity to correct my wrongs." Her mother adds.
"It's alright, Mom. The good thing is that you took the first step into this. It means a lot. My apologies to both of you for those few times I snapped at you."
I had to snap my head at him.
Few times? Correction, countless times! And he did not just snap at them. He barked and roared and fumed at them like a disgruntled lion, and he finally shut them out.
"Okay, I know. For all those countless times I howled at you, I am deeply sorry!" He corrects after noticing my glare.
"It's alright son. We understand you were not yourself. I apologize if we didn't understand what you were going through." Father speaks.
"It's okay, father. That is in the past now. Your son is back, all thanks to this beautifully wife that fate brought to my life." He pecks my lips. Dang! Isn't he afraid of his parents? "Our story is deep, and I have decided to let the world know about it." He adds, smirking at me because of how red I look right now.
"You two made the news today." Father remarks.
"That is nothing. Today I want to give them facts about our love story that will make headlines for at least a month and not just a day." Jerol adds.
"What is the story?" Her mother curiously asks.
"Why don't you settle down while I summon everyone to their seats too? It's storytime. This one will shock you, but if you have to get mad at someone, let it be me. Only me, but leave my wife out of it!" Jerol says.
"You are scaring me, son." Her mother states, sounding exactly worried.
"Don't be, mother. Just have a seat." We guide them to their seats, and then Jerol guides me to the podium on the red carpet. He takes the mic, and urges everyone to take their seats which they do with some blues playing in low keys in the background.
I cling to him as the cameras start flashing at us. The media was on standby, and I bet they knew when to summon their full attention.
"Greetings, ladies and gentlemen." He starts, and a cheerful loud roar of responses to his greetings echoes from everyone. He continues. "It is my pleasure to have you all here tonight, and I also want to extend my gratitude to everyone for honoring our invitation at such a short notice." He stops to clear his throat, while I dart my eyes around the multitude.
Everyone seems so keen on what Jerol has to say, the lanterns lightening the area amidst the falling darkness, the cameras unblinking on us.
"The theme of the party was to thank each and every person who stood by me when I was at my lowest. In whichever way that you stood by me, feel so much appreciated. The second reason for this party, was to talk about my redemption." He drops his hand from my shoulders to my waist, pinning me to his hip as he addresses the crowd. "They say that, when you hit the rock bottom, that is not usually the end. That there is always an angel who will come and grab your hand, and pull you up."
The next few minutes he elucidates about our encounter that left people with their jaws sweeping the floor with amazement. Of course, their reaction is warranted. Our story is unique in all ways. Jerol didn't explain the details of his past relationship. He only said that the breakup left him so heartbroken, and I understand. Some things are too personal to be let out in the public.
"And like they say, love never knocks. It just strikes you. Before I could even figure out how that angel was able to pull me from that state of depression, I was already in love with her. And today, I want to show her to the world- the woman that means everything to me. The angel that rescued me from the blink of a quagmire of sorrows. The woman whom I love with all of my heart, body, and soul. My redemption - my beautiful wife, because even if our contract has ended, our love is an unending contract, and I am never breaking this contract for whatever reasons. I love you, Tessa McCall! I love you with all of my heart and with everything that I have."
I am tearing up, while the echoes of cheers fill the entire compound. I am looking at him but I can't find the exact words to say. My mouth is wide open, but no words seem to be coming out, until someone decided to speak for me.
"What about me, Jerol?"
Everyone, and I mean every single head in this party turns in the direction of that voice.
At the entrance of the garden where the red carpet starts, stands a beautiful woman. Her face is heavily polished with all kinds of makeups, and there is a familiar face of a man beside her. None of the aforementioned is even the issue. The thing that is about to bring me to my knees is the huge belly bump that she is caressing as if sending a message to someone in this crowd.
Another perplexing thing about her is how she is sternly fixing her eyes on Jerol. She isn't squinting even just once, and that doesn't sit well with me. It's making me tremble with all sorts of feelings. Her belly bump is about seven months, presumably, and the way she is hugging it with her arms on the sides as she stares at Jerol who also, apparently can't take his gaze off the woman and her belly is threatening my cool.
"Jerol?" I whimper, grasping his hand in a possessive stance. "Who..."
Before I can even ask what I wanted, the heavy-weight pregnant woman states matching towards us with pride, everyone standing on their feet to acknowledge the intruder.
As if she deserves any attention!
I am holding my breath as she makes her way to us. By the time she racks before us, her male puppet beside her, I am missing out on air.
I don't know how Jerol's parents got on the podium, but they are here, their eyes, like the rest of the people, are on the scene before us, but their gazes are darting from the woman to this other guy that I now recognize as Jerol's brother whom I saw in the portraits.
If he is with this woman, then what is with her fucking question to my husband? What does she have to do with Jerol?
"Jerol?" I whimper, but suddenly today, my Jerol doesn't recognize me nor my voice, because he doesn't call my name.
"ELLIE!?"
His utterance turns me into a stone of ice. Everything stands still - the heaven, hell, and the earth, and everyone else in this party stands in awe of us. Even the ozone layer has stopped releasing oxygen.
"ELLIE?!" I didn't mean to, but the disgusting name just rolled out from my mouth on its own.
How this bitch snaps at me is annoying. The way she is strangling me with her gazes is more annoying. And, will her child fall from the belly if she stops hugging it like this? Everything about her is freaking me out! From her name, to the way she is conducting herself, every single bit of her strokes my core.
"Won't you introduce me, Jerol? Me and our baby!" She speaks again, shocking even Jerol's parents, while Jerol is yet to recover from this shock too.
Baby? Their baby?
She lost their baby before abandoning Jerol, right? Someone says yes, please!!! She lost the baby, right?