Wives and Champions by Tina Martin Read Free Book Online

along
with a bit of slight skin discoloration. She had no doubt, he could
see it. Why would he even want to touch her face?
    Desmond grimaced. “Sherita, why—” He
paused, took a moment to think. “Um…maybe you should spend some
time with Emily and Melanie tonight. Maybe they can give you some
advice. As a matter of fact, why don’t you do that? I’m supposed to
be getting with Dante and Dimitrius later, anyway, so I’ll help get
the babies ready. We can ride over to Dante and Emily’s
together.”
    “ Whatever you say,” she
said with a trembling voice, crossing her arms. “Is that
all?”
    Speechless, Desmond looked at her. In
business, he proved to be more aggressive. In a marriage to the
woman he loved more than his own soul, he couldn’t be that way. It
was something he was learning every day – how to separate the two.
How to deal with her. How to be there for her emotionally which
sometimes meant giving her space to make her own adjustments. He
would get through to her at some point, but it wouldn’t be today
and definitely not in this moment. “Yes, Sherita. That’s
all.”
    Sherita walked away from him, headed
for the bathroom while batting a tear away from her face as she did
so.
    Desmond hung his head. His plan was to
talk to her about the sensitive topic of postpartum depression
without upsetting her. He’d failed. The tears in her eyes told him
so.
    Way to go, Des. You screwed
that up, big time .
    He shook his head and walked back into
the family room, sitting on the floor with his children, watching
them play while thinking of ways to help his wife.

Chapter Four
     
     
     
    Since they all met at Dante and
Emily’s house, the brothers rode together to the bar. Desmond
drove, was quiet as he did so with the exception of asking Dante
which bar they were headed to. Now, sitting on barstools, the
brothers waited until they could get the first few swallows of
their drinks down before any conversation began.
    Desmond opted for vodka on the rocks.
Dante and Dimitrius went with whiskey – Bourbon.
    “ Can’t believe it’s only a
few minutes after eight,” Desmond said. “I must be getting
old.”
    Dimitrius grinned. “You hear this,
Dante. The youngest of us is complaining about being
old.”
    Dante smirked. “Being the
oldest, I should
be the one complaining about getting old, don’t you
think?”
    “ Not necessarily,” Desmond
said. “I have more children, so...”
    “ That’s your rebuttal?”
Dante said, laughing after he did so.
    Dimitrius chuckled. “Is that how it
works?”
    “ Yep,” Desmond said after
taking a sip. “That’s how it works.”
    “ These gray hairs sprinkled
throughout my head are saying otherwise.” Dante took a sip of his
drink and continued, “Even still, if that’s your argument, that you
have more kids, then you’ll have to find another one because I also
have two.”
    Desmond frowned. “Meaning what?” he
asked, knowing Dante only had one child – a son.
    “ Yeah,” Dimitrius asked,
turning to look at Dante. “What does that mean?”
    Dante took a sip. He sighed heavily
then said, “What I’m about to tell you does not leave this
bar.”
    “ All right, so spill it,”
Dimitrius said.
    “ Okay, so, ah...Emily is
pregnant, but she won’t tell me.”
    Desmond’s face twisted. “She won’t
tell you?”
    “ No.”
    “ Then, how do you know
she’s pregnant?” Dimitrius asked.
    “ Because I know. I can feel
it. Her mannerisms are different. She’s glowing. You know how
pregnant women get that glow. You’ve seen it in your own
wives.”
    “ Still doesn’t mean she’s
pregnant,” Desmond said.
    “ Maybe she’s just,”
Dimitrius shrugged, “I don’t know. Evolving.”
    Dante looked at his brother
sideways. Maybe that liquor has gotten to
your brain . “What are you talking about,
Dimitrius?”
    “ Hold on,” Desmond said. He
didn’t know about Emily, but he
    certainly felt like Sherita was
evolving. “Dimitrius may have a