You Get What You Pray For by E.N. Joy Read Free Book Online Page B

of those women. She definitely had it in her to be a great mother to the twins.
    By the time Unique made it known that she had no intention of taking the twins back, Lorain had formed a bond of her own with Heaven and Victoria, one that paralleled the bond Unique had had with the boys. She didn’t want to risk losing them. So when Unique came to her house not too long after she was released from jail, and asked Lorain to consider assuming full custody of the girls, Lorain acted selfishly instead of selflessly. She didn’t tell Unique what was really on her heart, which was that mothering the girls would be the best form of healing for Unique. She simply agreed with Unique’s decision and buried her thoughts and feelings on the matter.
    By then Nicholas and Lorain were no longer just dating. They were husband and wife. His arm did not have to be twisted when it came to the girls. Within a few months Nicholas and Lorain had legally adopted Heaven and Victoria. Even before the legal adoption, many members at New Day Temple of Faith still thought Lorain was the twins’ biological mother, in spite of rumors that were circulating.
    So Lorain wasn’t upset when she had to leave the church in order to worship at Nicholas’s family church. She’d married him. They were now one. He was the head of their family, so where he worshipped, she worshipped. Under different circumstances Lorain might have put up a fight about having to leave her home church, but she was more relieved than anything. She could now go to a church where no one knew anything about her or any of her business. And just like that, the mess was swept under the church rug, and Lorain moved on. It was safe to say that Ivy had kicked up a little dust, though.
    The twins had been at the dance school ever since they were two years old. They’d been in a many of the showcases, and they were now of age to start performing in competitions. Ivy’s eleven-year old-daughter, Gabrielle, on the other hand, had been on the competition team for the past six years. And for those six years, she’d pretty much been the star, getting the leads and a solo at almost every competition.
    Lorain had been warned by some of the other mothers that Ivy was a handful, out for herself instead of the team, and that Ivy was always trying to make sure that no one else on the team attempted to outshine her daughter. The fact that Heaven and Victoria were adorable twins who could easily steal the spotlight immediately made the hairs on Ivy’s neck rise the moment they were placed on the team by the studio owner only five months ago. It was an unspoken thing that the twins were unique and stood out. All eyes in the room went to the twins, so the fact that there was a chance that Gabrielle would lose all the attention she’d been getting during the past six years didn’t sit well with Ivy at all. Ivy was a full-figured mother who was living vicariously through her size zero daughter. A win for Gabrielle was a win for herself in Ivy’s eyes. The same went for a loss. Ivy was not the kind of mother who would sit back and allow her daughter to take a loss . . . or to be cheat out of a win by another, for that matter.
    â€œMy girls pretty much have the perfect dancer’s body, don’t they?” Lorain was just as smug as she could be, having decided to view Ivy’s words as a compliment instead of the dig the hussy was throwing her way. “Thank you, Ivy. That’s mighty big of you.” Lorain looked her up and down. “And speaking of big, have you lost weight?”
    Okay, one point for God and two points for the devil. Obviously, Lorain was still a work in progress.

Chapter 5
    â€œWhere have you been? We’ve been waiting forever, and your cell is off. My calls kept going straight to voice mail,” Nicholas said to Lorain as she walked through the front door with two Neiman Marcus bags in tow. He looked down at the