Mrs. Jones: Book One (The Jones Series #1) (5 page)

His hands found their way to my stomach.

“So this is for real; I’m going to be a daddy?”

“According to that stick full of pee…absolutely,” and I managed to laugh just before kissing him.

Thank God for second, third and fourth chances.

~***~

Weeks and weeks passed and everything was on the right track and headed in the right direction.

I kept in touch with Joey, just to keep the peace. I hadn’t seen him and didn’t plan to anytime soon; especially since I was starting to show. I hadn’t told him about the baby. I was planning to break the news to him soon but I wanted to let enough time pass so I could at least try to pin it on my husband.

As for Santana and I; we were better than ever.

He was happier than I’d ever seen him before and so was I. But I must admit, this being pregnant thing was definitely overrated. Though I’d been pregnant before, I’d never been over four to six weeks; but now I was around fourteen weeks and I was ready for it to be over!

I was tired of sleeping, I was tired of eating, and I was definitely tired of peeing!

This baby just couldn’t come fast enough!

I wondered why it had to take a whole nine months. Three or four months seemed like more than enough time to
bake
a baby, and then get it out of the oven. There wasn’t too many things that I could say that I hated, but, I hated being pregnant! There was nothing at all that I liked about it, but I must admit that I was just a little excited.

I was hoping for a precious little girl, while Santana was praying for a little boy.

A mini-me would be perfect; but on the other hand, I was just praying that the baby, whether boy or girl, looked like at least one of us…and not Joey.

“Niveah, are you dressed yet?” Santana yelled from the living room.

I waddled slowly into his presence.

I was so uncomfortable. I’d never felt so fat in all of my life. Pregnancy clothes did nothing for my figure. I’ve never been too shapely. I wasn’t plus, and I wasn’t exactly skinny, I was just stuck somewhere in between. I didn’t have the curves that most African American women had; I was just straight up and down…except for the watermelons on my chest.

“You look beautiful baby,” Santana complimented me, but I knew that he was lying. I’d spent the last twenty minutes staring at myself in the mirror and there was nothing beautiful about what I’d seen.

I looked like a pig, wrapped in a big red blanket; which was supposed to have been my dress.

Nevertheless, it was time to feed my face and this baby, so we headed out to dinner at one of my favorite Italian restaurants.

“Jones,” Santana said to the waitress, who then checked for our reservation.

“Right this way.”

Santana held my hand as we made our way to the table. Santana pulled out my chair and as I sat down, I saw a very familiar set of eyes, only a table or two over, staring right at me.

Joey.

Instantly, I became as nervous a model stepping on a scale the day after Thanksgiving.

Joey eyes moved from my eyes, down to my stomach.

Oh no…

“Baby, are you okay?” Santana asked.

I needed a lie and I needed one fast! I just had to get out of there.

“Baby, the smell, the smell in here is making me sick,” I pretended as though I was about to throw up.

Internally I was so upset. My mouth was watering for a big plate of meaty lasagna, but Joey was unpredictable.

“What do you want me to do?” Santana asked, concerned.

I continued to pretend as though I was feeling nauseous.

“I’m sorry baby, but we’re going to have to go somewhere else,” I said with one hand over my mouth and the other over my stomach.

Santana didn’t bother to ask me any other questions. He simply got up and tried to assist me with getting up from the table.

“Hi!”

I saw her waving but I tried to ignore her.

It was Silvia…Joey’s wife.

“We just keep bumping into each other huh? But I see this time you look a little different. Congratulations,” Silvia squealed.

I smiled and nudged Santana to keep walking.

“I can’t tell just yet but that tummy looks a little high. It’s probably going to be a little girl. Trust me, I have two and believe me, I remember those pregnant days. I’m sorry, I’m just talking and I don’t think we’ve ever properly been introduced. I’m Silvia and this is my husband---“

Before she could say another word I made the loudest gag sound ever, dropped Santana’s hand and ran off.

Santana quickly apologized, and he ran after me, right on my heels.

Though I was only pretending, I guess all of the fake gagging actually caused me to vomit, as the liquids spewed out of my mouth and onto the sidewalk.

Santana stood rubbing my back as they rushed to get our car.

Yikes…that was a close one.

As I settled into the passenger seat of Santana’s pearl colored Escalade, I could only imagine how my conversation with Joey was going to go the next day.

Here we go…

~***~

“Joey, calm down!”

“What? Don’t tell me to fucking calm down Niveah! You were really going to try to have my baby and not tell me?”

“First of all, its not yours…I calculated it all up; this baby is Santana’s,” I lied.

Truth be told, I didn’t have a clue who the father of my child was, but I was hoping, praying, that it wasn’t Joey.

“Do I look stupid to you? He may have bought your bull---don’t forget I know you like the back of my hand Niveah. And I know your pussy better than you do!”

Joey continued to shout for the next half hour or so. A few times, I’d actually thought that he might hit me, but thank God he hadn’t.

After a while, he stormed out of the corporate apartment and a few minutes later I followed.

He was already gone by the time I’d made my way to the parking lot but I knew that I would be seeing him again…soon.

Joey had made it clear that he wasn’t going anywhere; especially if the baby was his.

So much for my little plan; I guess now it was time for plan B…

~***********~

Chapter Five

As the seasons changed, so did my waistline and my pants size.

I couldn’t see my feet and though I’d complained about not having curves before; I had enough of them no!

Hell, I’d stolen every woman’s on our block ass.

I had breasts, ass, and way too much stomach.

But I only had three months left to go…before I would be holding my precious baby girl in my arms! Words couldn’t express how happy I was that it was a girl. At least for the most part, and more than likely, she would probably look like me. At least that’s what I was hoping.

With Santana around being the perfect husband, and with Joey crawling up my back, I was feeling more pressure on my heart, than I was feeling on my bladder.

With the news that I was having a girl, Joey was sure that I was pregnant with his child…and he wasn’t backing off.

He’d starting calling even when he knew that I was with Santana. Some nights I’d look out the window and see him sitting there. He damn near demanded that I see him almost every day…or else.

I knew Joey meant what he said, especially when it came down to me, so I knew that if I didn’t play by his rules, he just might follow through on his threats to rat me out to Santana.

It seemed as though the only way to stop him…was to kill him.

I know it sounds to be too much and of course I would have to have some assistance, but I didn’t have a choice.

Of course, I couldn’t do such a thing myself, but enough zero’s on a check could get you just about anything these days; but the question was how…who?

Yes; I still loved Joey.

But since I’d been pregnant, the bond between Santana and I had gotten to be so strong and to be honest, I couldn’t imagine my life without him. Santana was already the perfect husband, and he was going to be the perfect father.

So, I had to get rid of the problem.

I didn’t know how to go about finding someone to get rid of Joey. I didn’t know where to look or where to even begin to ask someone something such as that. The only one that would know something like that was Joey---and I definitely couldn’t ask him for help.

I didn’t know what I was going to do, but I knew that I was going to have to do something…and I was going to have to do it fast!

~***~

“If I run into you one more time, I’m going to swear that you are stalking me,” Joey’s wife Silvia joked.

Aside from her humor, she was right.

We were running into each other quite often lately, which was weird since they lived a town over. But then again, maybe it was because she changed law firms.

“I know; do you live near here?” I asked her, though I already knew the answer.

“Actually, I do. Do you know where Cherry Street is? We moved there just a few months ago.

What?
You have got to be kidding me!

Cheery Street was only a street over…from my house!

Joey never mentioned that he and his family had moved. And he damn sure hadn’t mentioned that he only lived a street over from me. I guess that explained why I saw him watching our house so often.

Chills ran down my spine; and not in a good way.

I had a bad feeling about all of this.

“Uh, yeah, I think I’ve heard of it before,” I said, walking into the doctor’s office, noticing that Silva had entered in behind me.

I handled my business with the front nurse and then I took a seat. Silvia went next.

And of course, she came and sat right beside of me when she was done.

“Expecting?” I asked her bluntly, and out of curiosity.

“Who me? Yeah right, I’m trying to get rid of the two that I have…and their daddy,” she said, and immediately acted as though she wanted to take back what she’d just said.

Okay…what?

The silence between us was awkward, and for a while, neither of us bothered to say a word.

Where is this damn doctor?

“I know who you are,” Silvia said.

I looked at her, to make sure that she was talking to me.

She was.

“Excuse me,” I said.

“You don’t have to play dumb with me. I know that you are sleeping with my husband,” Silva said.

Oh my God!

How on earth did she know?

And correction…I used to sleep with her husband. There’s a difference…or is there?

“Is your baby his?” she asked.

I was still at a loss of words so I just shook my head no.

She knew about our affair?

I wonder if she’d told Joey.

“Look, I’ve known for a while. But I don’t care. I don’t want him. I just want to get away from him…and you are going to help me,” she said.

Just as the last word came out of her mouth, the doctor called my name.

She smiled at me and waved goodbye as I walked away.

~***~

“Are you here to see Mr. Gill?”

“No, I’m actually here to see his daughter,” I said to the receptionist.

“And who might that be?” she asked honestly.

Before I was able say anything more, Silvia approached us.

“Mr. Gill is with someone but I can help you if you’d like?” she said, giving me the eye, and motioned for me to follow her to her office.

“FYI, everyone doesn’t know that I’m his daughter; after all, my mother was the housekeeper; and the woman that he’d had an affair with,” Silvia said.

Humph, that explained a lot. I guess Mr. Gill had lied about being married to her mother. But he was a lawyer…I should have known.

She continued.

“Look, I knew who you were the very first time you’d approached me in the store. I’m not a stupid woman; I knew that he was having an affair, and after following him a time or two, I knew it was with you. But I could care less. I just want out. Now, I don’t know exactly how you know Joey; but if you know him as well as I think that you do, you know that he has a little issue with folks trying to walk out on him. I’ve been trying to leave him for years; but he won’t let me. Joey will never give me a divorce. Trust me, I’ve tried. After a while, I just gave up and tried to make it work but Joey doesn’t love me. If I had to guess…he loves you. I’m just a possession. I have a little money; but not enough to disappear.  Now according to my father’s files, you have enough money to make that happen…to make me disappear…is that right?” Silvia said. Her voice wasn’t as chipper and she sure as hell didn’t seem as friendly. I’d always figured that Joey had been lying about his marriage; but who knew?

“Joey would never give me a stitch of his money. I can’t hit him with infidelity because I hadn’t always been faithful to him. But it looks like you have a whole lot to lose if this gets out---am I right?”

Yep…she was damn right!

Santana would surely leave me if he knew the truth. Hell, I’d told him lie after lie about Joey. After all…he thought that Joey was dead.

Worst case scenario, I could probably go back to Joey; but I was a Jones. Mrs. Jones---and I always would be.

Ain’t it something?

Joey and his wife were both threatening to destroy my marriage, simply because theirs was over.

Joey wanted me all to himself---and his wife wanted me to help her get away from him.

Joey wasn’t that bad was he?

Sure, he was a little crazy, controlling, and possessive; but it was all out of love; at least that was how I’d always liked to look at it.

“So what’s it going to cost me?”

“I thought you’d never ask,” she said.

~***~

Silvia’s little getaway plan cost me five million dollars.

I could have cared less about the money; but I couldn’t believe that she was going to really just up and leave. She was leaving behind her whole life, her husband, and daughters.

Everything, anything that tied her to Joey, was history.

She’d said that the only thing she regretted having to leave behind was her daughters but she insisted that it was for the best. She and I both knew that Joey would never let her have them. If nothing else, he was crazy about his kids.

Silvia said that leaving them was going to be one of the hardest things that she’d ever had to do; but also made the comment that she could always have more children, but she only had one life to live.

I asked her if Joey abused her; she’d said no. I asked her if he’d always mistreated her or had affairs on her with other women; she’d said no. I was his only mistress. Her reasoning was very simple.

She wanted to be happy; and rich, and she’d found a way to do both…through me.

The day came and just as she’d said would, with the money I’d given her and what little bit of dignity she had left…just like that she was gone.

“She left me Niveah. I don’t know where she is. It’s been three days since I’ve seen her and for some reason I know that I will never see her again. She left her ring on the bed, with a note. She even left the kids. She was bold enough to do the one thing that I had been dying to do for years,” Joey said into my ear.

It all seemed surreal in a sense to me.

How could you been in a relationship with someone that you hate or despise so much that you are willing to just drop off of the face of the earth just get away from them? And little did she know, according to Joey, all he’d been waiting on was for her to leave him anyway, why hadn’t they just divorced like normal people? With Silvia being a lawyer and all, I’m sure she could have found a way to make sure that she walked away with something but she hadn’t. I guess the way she saw it was that she’d get more money out of blackmailing me than she would by just simply divorcing Joey.

If you asked me, they were both crazy and they deserved each other.

I’ll admit it---I felt bad for Joey.

What in the heck was he going to do with two little girls?

What would he do with his life now that he was free?

Aside from feeling bad for Joey, I also felt bad for myself.

There was no way that I could go through with getting Joey killed; after all he had two little girls to take care of now, so, I was back to square one.

“Joey, I’m sorry to hear that. But things are going to be okay. Give it a little time,” I tried to encourage him.

“Now we can really be together. Niveah, this is our chance,” Joey said.

Of course it had crossed my mind; but my mind was made up.

Santana was all that I needed, and everything that I have ever wanted.

“Joey, we’ve had this conversation. I’ll give you a blood test when the baby comes; but I want to try to make things work with Santana. I have to give this marriage a fair shot.”

“What if its mine Niveah?” Joey asked.

“It won’t be Joey. But we will cross that bridge when we get there if we have to.”

Joey just breathed slowly in my ear.

I was trying to decide what to say next.  With Joey’s temper, I knew that he would kill me if he ever found out that I’d helped with his
wife’s
disappearance; but I didn’t have a choice.

Now it was time to make a deal with him; or at least something like it.

“Look, it’s strange how everything has happened and maybe I should have held out a little while longer instead of getting married, but I didn’t. Now that I’m in it, I’ve had a change of heart. It’s not that I don’t love you---but I owe it to Santana to try. So what do we do Joey?”

I asked him.

I waited for a few minutes for Joey to respond.

“Okay Niveah; do what you have to do,” Joey said and hung up in my face.

My emotions let loose and I started to sob.

I felt bad for him, I really did.

And on top of that, I was feeling confused---again.

But before I had a chance to really sort through my thoughts and emotions Santana walked in the front door.

“Hey,” he smiled at me and put down his things. Hurriedly, I sat down the phone and smiled back. Santana walked closer to me and kissed my belly and then kissed my lips.

Just as he started to pull away from me, my phone began to ring.

“Who is J?” Santana questioned.

I gave him the finger and answered.

“Hi, is the business proposal all done? Good. Can I call you right back? My husband just walked in,” I said and hung up. Lord my ears were bleeding from the hundreds of curse words that Joey had said in only a matter of seconds on the other end of the phone.

Maybe I’d gone too far, but I had to play it off…I didn’t have a choice.

“Business proposal? So you’re back at the interior design business again?” Santana said relieved.

“Yes, and you had better be ready to build. I figured by the time you guys are done getting it up, I’ll be done with this whole pregnancy thing and ready to get to work,” I wanted to take a deep breath, but didn’t want to come off as uncomfortable.