Unpacking

Famke carried the box of her toiletries into the master bathroom and dropped it on the countertop and groaned. Nyx was sitting in the empty bathtub, with a can of beer in her hand and her eyes closed. The woman had been moping a full five weeks now. Despite her residing in Pittsburgh again, Koda insisted they were an engaged couple, and Famke was convinced it had nothing to do with his mother. She was certain her friend walked right into the emotional equivalent of a bear trap and Koda was the bear. She was in his grips, and he wasn’t letting her go.

“This tub is big enough for a party of six.” She didn’t open her eyes.

“I know. It was installed last weekend and it’s all of which I’ve been thinking.” The renovations to the house took longer than anticipated. Royal and Precious moved in two weeks ago, finally out of the hotel. Precious spent most of those nights sleeping at Famke’s old apartment with her. Her intentions were to stay out her lease which was up at the end of February but here she was a week into the month unpacking her belongings because she hated being away from the pair.

“How did you not move in right when they did?” Nyx questioned. “I’d have moved in for the tub alone. I still might. Royal offered me one of the guest rooms for as long as I wanted since Mom is in a manic mode.”

“I don’t know,” she made a face. “I don’t know what I was thinking pretending I wasn’t going to move in with them for a full month.” She gave a laugh. “Dude has me wrapped around his pinky.”

“It’s not his pinky you’re wrapped around,” Jubi entered the room, climbed into the tub with Nyx, and cracked her own can of beer. “How do two people who live in a small apartment have so much shit?”

“We’ve lived in that apartment since I gained custody of Bram. It’s eight years of accumulated crap.” She pulled a bottle of conditioner which was leaking in the box and cursed herself for allowing Nyx to pack up her bathroom at the apartment. Everything in this box was now coated in conditioner. She started digging around for something to wipe the items down with. She could feel Jubi’s eyes on her and wondered what was coming next. She was starting to read the woman too well since she’d been underfoot for three weeks now.

Jubi stared for a minute and then quietly asked, “is it where you were living when you knew Prince and Mindy?”

“Yup.”

“You stayed there just in case they ever came back. They knew where you lived.”

She shrugged, “maybe. It’s also pretty central so I could walk everywhere.”

Jubi didn’t look away, “I’m glad they didn’t come back to you.”

Famke set her toothpaste on the counter and turned to look at Jubi incredulously. “What?”

“I know you missed a lot with Precious, but they would have dragged you into their quagmire and they would have had the full support of our family. Prince was always able to convince us of anything. I’ve been thinking of it a lot and I am certain he would have manipulated you somehow and you would have ended up with him, Precious would still have been mixed up with Mindy who would have been a shitshow if you were still on the scene and the child would have been caught in the worst way. You would never have been able to be with Royal either and we all know it’s where you belong.” She interlocked her fingers together, “like two pieces of a puzzle.”

“You think I would have ended up with Prince? I didn’t like him in that way. I mean he was hot, but I never felt a romantic feeling for him. Not one.”

“Royal told us when you first met him, you didn’t like him. You thought he was a jerk.”

“He was. His wife was sitting there sobbing about how she couldn’t go through any more miscarriages, and he was promising to get her a bigger house if she agreed to try one more time.”

“Yet, even in seeing him at his selfish worst, you found a way to like him enough to get his semen mixed with one of your eggs. Mindy might have brought up the idea to you, but I’d stake my life it was him who planted the idea in her head. He was really manipulative. I’ve been thinking of him a lot lately since I quit school. This was the path he pushed me into with Mom’s encouragement. I was thinking of all the conversations where he would get me into an argument and use it to convince me I was meant to be a lawyer.”

“You are good at it,” Nyx chuckled.

“They made me good at it.” Jubi grunted, “Mom’s still trying to force me to go back.”

“I heard her on their video call last night, telling Royal you’re throwing your life away,” Famke rolled her eyes.

“What did Royal say?”

Famke pursed her lips and sighed, “he’s feeling guilty. He has tons of unresolved guilt from his relationship with Prince and he feels he contributed to you being led in a direction your heart wasn’t in. He told your mother last night she needed to back off and your father agreed with him. Cliff said at the rate she’s going she’ll have alienated her entire family and she’ll be all alone.”

“Kara found out about me and Keshaun hooking up on New Years and told Mom. Mom thinks I quit law school to attend culinary school to be closer to him. She’s questioning my motives.”

“She doesn’t have a right to question your motives, Jubi. You’re a grown woman with a mind of your own. If you want to be a pastry chef, do it.” Nyx threw in. “You’re the one who has to live with the decisions you make, not her. Any progress on the Keshaun front?”

“If you mean, are we dating, then the answer is no. Can the man keep his hands to himself whenever he sees me? Absolutely not.”

Famke snickered, “caught her behind his desk the other day when I was bringing him in the report from the cash. I didn’t believe your excuse of tying your shoe for a single minute especially once you cracked your head on the edge of the desk.”

Jubi grinned, “he’s got the biggest dick I’ve ever been with. Is it my fault I needed to get a closer look at it to be sure for comparative purposes?”

“No but next time, lock the office door.” She turned back to the box and reached in and grabbed a collection of hair ties which were now slimy. She dropped them in the sink and rinsed them off. “Nyx, why did you not put the conditioner in a bag?”

“I was only packing up your bathroom to avoid being in the kitchen with Koda. Dickhead. Told me if I remove the ring for a millisecond, he’ll know and he’ll spank my ass.”

“When are you going to give it up to him?” Jubi nudged her with her foot.

“The minute he tells me the truth.” Nyx shrugged. “He got his mother and sister to ambush me at the party so he could force this ring on my finger. Until he admits it, no meow-meow for him. I’m not fucking a liar.”

“You’ve fucked plenty of liars,” Famke snorted.

“I’m turning over a new leaf.”

“The bag of tricks you sent with me on vacation included a pocket pussy. I heard Royal offering it to him the other day. Told him it was unused, and he was glad to contribute to the Koda and Nyx plan.”

Nyx sat up, “What?”

“Yeah. Koda was laughing about how you were holding out on him and said something along the lines of not having sex with anyone since the day he hired you so he’s not sure what you think you’re accomplishing but he can wait. Royal offered him the toy.” She dug back into the box.

Nyx leaned back against the tub with a thump, “he hasn’t slept with anyone since he hired me?”

“Dude must have the bluest balls of all time,” Jubi snorted.

“Or the hairiest palms.” Nyx grinned back. “I need to step my game up then. He really likes it when I wear short skirts and fishnets. Good thing spring is coming. I can get out all my short things.” She tossed a look to Famke. “Uh, what are you doing?”

Famke was frozen in place as she held a box in her hand inside the larger box. She was trying to count and the chattering behind her was messing with her. It must be an error in math. She felt her heart pounding furiously against her ribcage as she slowly lifted the box of conditioner coated tampons and turned to Nyx, shaking it. “It’s still unopened.”

“So. You barely use a couple a day.”

“I bought this before Christmas. I used the rest of my last box when I was in Turks and Caicos.”

Jubi’s eyes widened, “holy shit. Did you skip a period?”

“No way.” Nyx shook her head. “You’re like clockwork. If you started on the first of January and we’re now February twelfth,” her voice trailed off, her eyes now as large as Jubi’s. “Shit Famke.”

Famke lowered herself to the edge of the tub staring at the box in her hand. “The last day of vacation we had sex once unprotected and he pulled out almost too late.”

“I’m hazarding a guess it was too late.”

“But I was on day six of my cycle. Ovulation is day fourteen. He pulled out.”

“One little guy made an early escape, and they can survive days in there waiting,” Jubi was quiet. “Up to five days sometimes.”

“Five days?” How did she not know this? “No way.”

“Google it.” Jubi shrugged. “When Royal told me Prince and Mindy needed a surrogate, the person in me who loves to investigate, and research needed to know everything. Healthy sperm can live up to five days and I’d say if it’s an average, then maybe add or remove a day there. Ovulation is on average fourteen days, but you went early.”

“Shit, shit, shit,” Famke’s hands were trembling.

“What are you going to do?”

“Not panic,” Jubi answered Nyx’s question. “Start with a test.”

She shook her head after several long minutes of silence. “I need Royal. Can you get him?”

“Yup.” Jubi hopped out of the tub, pausing at the door. “He won’t force you to keep it you know. He and I talked about this because Mom was at him. He said he wants you and whether you have kids or not is your choice. He loves you. Don’t panic.”

As Nyx rubbed her shoulder, Famke decided Jubi’s words were too late. She was panicking.