Wives and Champions by Tina Martin Read Free Book Online Page A

point. If you didn’t see a
pregnancy test, then—”
    “ I don’t need to see a
test. She’s pregnant. She’s my wife. I know.”
    “ All right,” Desmond said,
palms up.
    “ What I don’t understand
is, why she refuses to tell me,” Dante said.
    “ Don’t know, bruh,”
Dimitrius said. “Maybe she’s waiting for the right
moment.”
    “ Or she could be worried
about how you’re going to react,” Desmond added.
    “ But that’s the thing. She
knows I want another child. We had an argument about it last night
at dinner.”
    “ An argument about what?”
Dimitrius asked.
    “ I brought up the subject
of another child, and she blew up, talking about how we didn’t
spend enough time with Ezra.” Dante shook his head.
    “ I’ve heard the same thing
from Sherita a few times about the twins,” Desmond said. “She
doesn’t think we spend enough time with them but here’s the thing
that irritates me about her argument. Our wives do not have to work
outside of the home. They could very easily be stay-at-home
mothers.”
    “ Like Melanie,” Dimitrius
said.
    “ Exactly.” Desmond went on
to say, “Now, we married strong, independent women who had their
own aspirations before they met us, so while I would like for
Sherita to be a stay-at-home mother to the kids, I can’t demand
that of her.”
    Dimitrius nodded.
    “ Sorry I went off topic,
Dante,” Desmond said. “I just had to get that off of my
chest.”
    Dante tossed back his drink. “It’s
cool. I get what you’re saying. Emily could easily stay home and
take care of Ezra. Will she? No. She has the boutique to run. My
issue, right this very moment is, my wife is pregnant and she just
told me last night that she doesn’t want another baby. At least not
right now.”
    “ Is it possible that she
doesn’t know she’s pregnant?” Desmond asked.
    Shaking his head, Dante said, “No. We
were at Connelley’s last night. I ordered wine. She didn’t touch
it. Emily loves red wine.”
    Dimitrius looked over at Dante. “Well,
you don’t think she would try to terminate—”
    “ Don’t know,” Dante said.
“I would like to think the best about my wife, but she seemed
pretty adamant about not having another baby right now.”
    The brothers sat quietly for a moment,
processing what Dante had told them and then Dimitrius changed the
subject. “Me and Mel took Grace to that ballerina show at the
museum this morning.”
    “ If I knew you were going,
I would’ve brought the twins,” Desmond said. “I had them out at
Battery Park this morning.”
    Dimitrius chuckled. “It’s funny how
we’re sitting at a bar talking about our wives, children and
ballerina shows. Who would’ve ever thought?”
    “ Yeah, especially after
your wild past, Dimitrius,” Desmond said.
    Dimitrius snickered. “You’re one to
talk. Remind me, how long did you stalk Sherita again?”
    Desmond smiled. “I
didn’t stalk her.
We probably wouldn’t even be married right now if it wasn’t for
that little scheme you and Dante cooked up.”
    Dante smiled lazily. He was too busy
thinking about Emily and the life growing inside of her to add to
the conversation.
    “ How many times do I have
to tell you Dante planned all that?” Dimitrius asked. “He told me
after the fact.”
    “ Well, either way it goes,
I’ll always be grateful. Sherita drives me crazy, but I love her
and the twins. They have redirected my focus, you know. Made me
realize what really matters in this world.”
    Dante nodded.
    “ She drives you crazy…”
Dimitrius said, grinning. “Let’s get back to that part.”
    Desmond took another sip of vodka.
“Well, she’s different, after the babies, I mean.”
    “ Different how?” Dante
asked.
    “ She…ah…she won’t let me
touch her. It’s like, if I touch her, she pulls away from me, and I
know what your next question is going to be so I’ll go ahead and
answer it. No, we haven’t had sex since the babies.”
    “ There was no action