A/N: So thank you to everyone who reviewed to motivate me to write this chapter! It's been a while, huh? (Like seven months, but who's counting?) Now, this is a filler chapter. I wanted something to be lighthearted before I got into the heavy stuff. Just to lighten the mood of what's to come.(:
Soooo... don't forget to Read&Review and enjoy!
Chapter Eight: Real or Filler?
Jazmine noticed that Maria's eyes immediately fell on Brielle. She looked at the toddler on Cindy's hip. Maria's eyes softened; Jazmine immediately remembered that this was her first time seeing her granddaughter in person. This was also her first time seeing her daughter in two years. This was an emotional moment for Mrs. McPhearson.
Cindy, however, kept her hard demeanor.
"Who's this little sweetheart?" Maria asked, breaking away her contact with Brielle to look at her own daughter.
"Brielle," Cindy answered shortly. "Are you going to let us in or are we going to have to sit out here for the entire time?"
Maria faltered for a second, but regained herself. "Of course, come in." Jazmine smacked Cindy on the arm that wasn't supporting Brielle, shooting her a quick look. Cindy couldn't be an asshole to her mother if she was going to ask her to back home. "Pretty much nothing's changed since you've lived here, Cynthia."
"That's nice to hear," Cindy trailed off. She looked around the house, nothing psychically had changed, but to her everything felt like this wasn't her home. She hadn't been in this house since… her whole life changed, and it never felt so foreign to her.
"Cynthia, I'm so glad that we've finally put that thing from so long ago behind us," Maria started as she sat down on the couch. She smiled at her daughter. "What's in the past is no longer relevant."
It didn't feel like it was all behind her, because she still felt scarred by her. But if she was going to save face and come crawling back to her parents, she had to simply nod.
"So, how is motherhood?" Mrs. McPhearson questioned once everyone was settled in on the couches. "I know the experience is a challenging one, but in the end, it's a fulfilling part of your life."
"Mom I wanna move back home."
Cindy was never one to beat around the bush. She didn't believe that avoiding the actual situation was going to get her anywhere. This made her intimidating to other people.
Her mom was taken aback by this statement. She didn't quite know how to respond because her daughter is trying to make amends to their relationship and one wrong sentence could push her away again.
On the other hand she wanted to say "I told you so."
"Cindy... I—"
Cindy braced for her mother to reject her. She could feel tears forming in the back of her eyes. "Look it was a stupid offering and I shouldn't have made it. Forget that I even came here."
"Cynthia… I would love for you to come back home," Mrs. McPhearson sincerely told her. She smiled at her daughter. "The last time you were here, we both said some things..." She trailed off. "Anyways, I've realized we were both in the wrong and I'll be the first to say I'm sorry."
"Wait how was I—"
Jazmine cleared her throat in the background, getting Cindy's attention. She turned around and Jazmine shook her head, indicating this was another fight about to happen and it was best to just admit defeat.
Jazmine could say a lot in one look.
"I accept your apology. And I'm sorry for what happened back then. "We were both in the wrong," she spitefully responded. Maria's face faltered for a quick second, but she quickly regrouped herself. "But what's in the past is in the past."
Cindy smiled and moved towards her mother, sealing their rekindled relationship with a hug. For the first time in a while, everything felt sincere and right. The hug felt as if everything was going to be okay for Cindy.
"I want to get you out of that house and back home as soon as possible," Maria planned out. "You should be back where you belong."
Cindy looked back at Jazmine. "Actually, Ma, I've been staying at Jazzy's house for like a couple of weeks now," she confessed. "Most of my stuff is at her house."
Maria turned to Jazmine. It seemed as if Mrs. McPhearson was sizing her up, as if she hadn't known Jazmine for almost nine years. "And your father was okay with this?" she questioned harshly. Jazmine opened her mouth, but was cut off immediately. "I'm terribly sorry for that kind of inconvenience. How much do I owe you?"
Jazmine's eyes widened. "…Nothing?"
"Please I insist. Two hundred? Three hundred?"
"Uh," she squeaked out. She didn't know what number to say. Yes, Cindy was a hassle to deal with and she had to go through a lot of shit with her and Brielle being there, but she did it as a friend. She did it as a friend. She looked over to Cindy. Cindy motioned her to say anything. "Two hundred's fine."
Maria looked at Jazmine before going to her purse. "How about this: Three hundred for your troubles and an extra hundred as a fee. Okay?"
"Okay," she said sheepishly.
Maria smiled before handing Jazmine the money. "Now, we're probably going to hire some movers to get all your stuff from Jazmine's and the Freemans'," she said as she started scribbling things down in a notebook. "We have to move the crib and the changing table and…"
"Ma," Cindy interrupted. "Um, I just planned on moving clothes to the house and just buying new furniture."
"Why?"
Cindy scratched the back of her neck. "Well, Brie's gotta have a place to sleep when she visits Riley so…" Mrs. McPhearson gave her a confused look. "She has to visit her dad that's non-negotiable!"
"I'm not saying he can't see her… just at the house where we can all watch her as well," her mother offered. "I don't think she should be over there with two teenaged boys and the only adult is an elderly man," she scoffed. She looked up to see Cindy's shocked face. "No offense, honey."
Cindy turned to Jazmine helplessly for backup. She gestured for her to say something to prove Mrs. McPhearson wrong. "I think Riley and Huey are perfect babysitters. Well, not perfect…" Jazmine stumbled. "But, they do their best and I think that's what matters the most." Cindy gave her a subtle thumbs-up.
"That's nice, Jazmine."
Well so much for that idea.
"Cynthia, you should stay here for the night so we can talk about all of this," Maria continued, finally closing her notebook. "Jazmine, you don't mind driving to get her stuff, do you?" Jazmine shook her head as they all got up from the couch. "I see you in about an hour," Maria told Cindy, giving her a kiss on the forehead.
Cindy walked with Brielle in hand, following Jazmine to the car. "He's not gonna be able to see her, isn't he?" she softly said. "She's gonna ban him, isn't she?"
Jazmine unlocked the doors. "You don't know that," she replied.
"Yeah, but I know her and this is her way of micromanaging my life. She's doing this because she knows I'm not gonna fight her on this. I need a place and I'll take whatever rules she dishes out. Because I'm desperate."
"You'll figure something out. I promise."
"Can you believe that she's gonna do that to him?" Jazmine said as she got on the couch next to Huey, throwing the blanket over both of them. "Brielle is his daughter he should be able to see her and take care of her whenever he wants to. That's not fair."
"I mean, what do you expect?" Huey questioned. "I don't blame Mrs. McPhearson for trying to distance Cindy and Brielle away from him."
Jazmine lifted her head and stared at Huey. "What?" she questioned. Huey shrugged in response. "No don't shrug. What are you talking about?"
He sighed. "Jaz, me and you both knew that he wasn't gonna be the 'all-in' father Cindy wanted him to be," Huey explained.
"Well I didn't know that!"
"He was too young, too immature!" Huey stopped before this turned into a full blown argument. "He wasn't ready to take on the responsibility. He didn't understand that this was a full-time thing."
"But…" Jazmine stopped for a second, gathering her words. "But… that's his kid…"
"Yeah? Well, making a baby don't make you a father," he scoffed.
"He promised her!"
"And people back out of their promises!" Huey frustratingly answered. "You can't make him be a dad, Jazmine. No matter how much you want him to!"
Jazmine felt the tears building up. "You're so unbelievable," she sniffed, crossing her arms over her chest and leaning against the opposite arm rest to look at Huey.
He pinched the bridge of his nose. "The one time we have alone time in weeks and this shit happens," he muttered under his breath.
"It's because you are taking his side and letting him live his life!" Jazmine yelled back. "While Cindy had to sacrifice hers!"
"He was too young!"
"So was Cindy!" Jazmine hotly retorted. "Cindy was just as immature and young as Riley was yet she put everything on hold to be a mom. Yet Riley is out late at night with his friends doing only God knows what!"
He huffed. "It's different for Cindy."
"Why? Because she's a girl?" she said. "Miss me with your bullshit, Huey."
He stood up. "Do you want me to go home Jazmine?" he questioned loudly. "Because I can be at home and not have you yell at me!"
She stared at him for second, her emerald eyes glistening with fresh tears waiting to fall. "Would you have done the same thing to me?" she questioned, her gaze not leaving him.
"What?"
"If I was pregnant, would you have abandoned me like Riley did?" she elaborated.
His scowl softened before hardening again. "Jazmine… come on now."
She scoffed. "It's a legitimate question!"
"No! It isn't! Because you know damn well I'm not Riley and I wouldn't do that shit!" he defended. "It's a stupid question and you know it."
She shrugged and stood up, grabbing the blanket. "People back out of their promises, Huey," she spat before walking up the stairs. "You can let yourself out!"
"Jazmine!" he yelled after her. He stopped her before she went into her room. She glared at him. "You know I'm not like that."
She scoffed in his face. "Oh really? So you'd wait until college to dip out on me?" He raised an eyebrow at her. "Come on, it would work out while we live across from each other but what about when you have to go to college?"
"I'd go to Woodcrest Community."
"Please. You would still go to Maryland and I'd be stuck here and then eventually you'd call and say you're staying down in College Park for Thanksgiving and then Christmas and now it's summer school there and then it's the call that maybe this isn't working out and that you need time apart and that you were just too young in the first place. And then you'll find a new girl and you'd forget all about me and Huey Jr."
He cracked a small smirk. "Huey Jr.?"
"If we had a little boy," she answered softly.
"Jazmine, I think you watch too many Lifetime movies," he finally replied. She shot him a look. "Listen none of things will happen because you weren't pregnant and as far as I know, you aren't now. Also, even if you were when we had that little… scare, I wouldn't do any of those things because I would never leave alone like that, okay?"
"You promise?"
He sighed. "If that will make you feel better, fine. I promise." She smiled as she looked down at the ground. "Now can we go back downstairs and watch a movie or whatever because I don't want to talk about what ifs on something that didn't happen."
"Or…" Jazmine trailed off. "We could stay upstairs… and not watch a movie…"
He paused for a second. "Yeah, we could do something like that." He leaned into to her, pinning her between his body and the door to her bedroom. He pulled the giant blanket away from between them, moving closer to her waist. He was about to slip his hand down her shorts before…
"Jazmine! "
Jazmine laughed into his shoulder while Huey rested his forehead on the wall. "You gotta be kidding me…" he muttered.
She pulled away from him and grabbed the blanket from the floor. "Up here, Daddy!" she yelled back as she came down the stairs. "I was just getting a blanket for me and Huey. We were gonna watch a movie."
Tom looked at her for a brief moment before looking back down at his cell phone. "Oh honey we don't have time for that. You need to get dressed. We're going out to dinner with Brandi."
She lowered her eyes at him. "What? Why?"
"Because I said so. Now go get dressed."
She glanced at Huey, who only offered a shrug, then looked back at her father. "But this is our date night; this is the only time we could be together!" she pouted. "I don't interrupt your date night for mundane things!"
"Jazmine," he reiterated. "You're going and that's final. Now go get dressed."
Jazmine lifted her chin and lowered her shoulders. "Fine. But I'll only go if Huey can go with me," she offered. "That's my only compromise."
"You gotta be fuck—"
"Jazmine, don't… don't drag me into this," Huey warned. "Really. Just go to the dinner."
She waved him off. "It'll be like a double date! And I wouldn't be uncomfortable the entire time," she added. Tom glared at her. "And… it's either me and Huey or nothing."
"Jazmine…" Huey said in the background.
Tom huffed for a second before throwing his hands in the air. "Fine! He can come too! But I want you two at the restaurant by eight o'clock sharp!" he roughly said as he started typing on his phone and holding the device up to his ear.
Jazmine turned to Huey with a smile on her face. He countered with a scowl.
"So tell me why I'm going to this with you?" he questioned as he made his way onto the city highway.
"Because I have to have meet Brandi and my father," she answered matter of factly.
"Uh-huh. And why am I going to this with you?" he asked one more time, adding more emphasis on the part he needed answers about.
"Because it's date night and I'm gonna get my date, no matter how unconventional," Jazmine replied quickly. She turned to Huey. "Do you have any more questions?"
He sighed. "I don't understand why I have to be here—"
"When's the last time you took me on a date?" she asked, turning the tables on him. "A real date and not a 'let me come to your house and fuck you and leave' kind of date?" Huey tongued the inside of his cheek. "Alright then. Stop complaining."
"Fine."
She ran her fingers through her hair before giving Huey a small smirk. "Plus…" she added. "If you're really good, you may be rewarded for your behavior."
He gave her a quick look before turning back to the road. "Yeah?" he inquired as he exited the freeway.
"Yeah."
Jazmine smiled to herself because she knew exactly how to make him behave like she wanted him to. Were all guys like this or did she just have some type of mind control over Huey?
It was a little of both. Plus, she was really good at what she did. Huey couldn't resist.
They parked in the parking garage next to the restaurant. Jazmine got out of the car and out of the corner of her eye, she saw her father and Brandi coming from the back of the level. She rushed to Huey's side.
"Kiss me," she demanded.
He raised an eyebrow at her. "What?" he initially questioned. "Why?"
"I need to have reasons for you to kiss me now?" She rolled her eyes and wrapped her arms around his neck. She shortened the gap between them and stared at him while biting her bottom lip. "Just kiss me."
He did exactly that, planting a soft kiss on her lips before moving into her, deepening the kiss. She shifted onto the balls of her feet to get closer to him, giving a small smile when he broke away for a quick second.
"Ahem."
It was only the stern look from Tom Dubois that made the young couple separate from each other for good. Jazmine glared at her father while Huey awkwardly scratched the back of his neck and avoided eye contact.
"Shall we go in?"
"Yes. We can," Jazmine retorted, giving her dad a smile before pulling out her lip gloss and applying another coat to her bottom lip. "Huey, wipe your mouth." She turned on her heel and walked towards the restaurant. Huey followed her while furiously wiping the remnants of her gloss from his mouth.
Payback is a bitch, ain't it?
They had only been seated about ten minutes ago but it looked as if her dad was going to pop a blood vessel in his eye. Jazmine took it upon herself to choose a booth setting, where she sat as close to Huey as humanly possible without being in his lap. Every so often, she'd sneak subtle but noticeable glances at her boyfriend, angering her already pissed off father.
"So Brandi, with an 'I'," Jazmine opened, breaking the slightly uncomfortable silence that emitted from the table. "My father tells me that you're a… court reporter?"
"Uh, a stenographer is the official title for it," she meekly answered. "You know we're the people who type up the transcript of what happens and what people say on record during a trial."
Jazmine gave her a soft fake smile. "Right. I know what a stenographer does, sweetheart." Brandi swallowed hard. She ignored the glare she was getting from her father. "So the keyboard you use, is it a full one?"
"No, it's a modified one," Brandi explained. "The keys usually have two letters at once and there are codes for different words and things like that. I've actually been trying to teach Tom some of how we do it."
Tom laughed. "I don't underestimate her and her skill."
Brandi shrugged. "School helped, so…" They both laughed at the nonexistent joke, a move that made Jazmine uncomfortable. It was cute when she and Huey did it, but it was downright creepy coming from her father and this child.
"You went to school for it?" Jazmine inquired.
"Two years."
Jazmine feigned interest. "Wow, I thought it would be like Bartending School. You know… like six months top or something like that." That earned another look from Tom. "How old are you again?"
Brandi seemed to get flustered. "I'm… um… I'm twenty-three."
This caused both Jazmine and Huey to widen their eyes. Damn she was even younger than Jazmine initially thought. Jazmine thought it was extremely weird that her father was willing to date someone so much younger than him and so close to his daughter's age. She didn't even want to think about what the things they could've done. She would throw up everywhere.
"Jesus you really are young enough to be my sister," Jazmine commented. "Why would—"
"Enough interrogating her, Jazmine," Tom interrupted. He turned to Huey, who had been pretty much quiet since they all arrived inside the restaurant. "Huey. How have you been? Taking care of the kids?"
Huey eyed him. "It's one kid, and she's fine."
Brandi looked at Tom, then Huey. "You have a daughter?"
"No she's my brother's daughter; I take care of her every once in a while," he explained to her, not taking his eyes off of Tom.
"You mean your sixteen year old brother?" Tom questioned.
"What the hell does Riley have to do with anything at this table?"
"Huey!" Jazmine yelled under her breath. She looked around to see if anyone was looking at the fiasco that was unfolding at their table. Fortunately for her, white people seemed to be minding their own business for once.
Huey raised an eyebrow at Jazmine. "Huey what?" he harshly snapped.
"Chill." She put her hand on his knee, which calmed him down. She knew her dad was at fault, but Huey was the only one she could control.
Brandi awkwardly pushed her hair behind her ear. "So… how did you two meet?"
Jazmine looked over at Huey out of the corner of her eye. She could see he had the smallest smirk on his face and she knew he was having the same thought as her. Her mind traveled back to that week her sophomore year, where she had put it all out in the open. Everything was unplanned and spontaneous, yet all the stars had to align for it to be perfect like it was. Even if one iota of that week went differently, nothing would be like it was at that moment. She bit her lip. It was the most perfect week of her life.
"We live across the street from each other. We've been best friends forever," Jazmine said with a smile.
"That's so cute. I remember how it was to be caked up like that," Brandi replied.
"Caked up? What does that mean?" Tom awkwardly inquired. Jazmine couldn't do anything but laugh. Her dad was definitely showing his age.
"Don't worry about these terms," Brandi laughed. Jazmine chose to ignore that. "Listen, I just think that it's wonderful that you found someone when you're young. I mean, because when you know, you know."
Jazmine nodded. She didn't like her father's fling at first, but she realized that it was all unwarranted. He was allowed to move on from Sarah, whether or not she was ready to accept that. Her father couldn't put his life on hold just for her. She couldn't ask him to do that, especially when she wouldn't do it for him.
"And what about you guys? How did you two meet?" Jazmine returned.
Tom turned to Brandi. "You want to tell the story or me?"
"I'll tell it," Brandi offered. "So I had been working on a couple of his cases down at the courthouse and during recesses he would always try to sweet talk me, trying to get my number."
Jazmine couldn't see her father even attempt to spit game at anyone, especially at a pretty girl half his age, but the way her dad beamed during the story, she was just happy that her father was happy. Even if Brandi was gassing him up a little bit.
"So during the date, he's giving me little gifts of things I like: chocolates, champagne, all of that. And after the dinner, the waiter comes out with a bouquet with about two dozen roses in it. It was so huge! It was like the biggest thing I got that night! Well… second biggest thing." She snuck a glance at Tom.
Jazmine froze in her seat and closed her eyes. She felt as if she was seconds away from vomiting. "Oh my… fucking…" she squeaked out. "Are you fucking kidding me?!"
Brandi shook her head. "I truly apologize for that. It was completely uncalled for! I'm so sorry, Jazmine."
Jazmine scoffed as she stood up. "Yeah, you fucking are," she spat out. "I'll see you later, Dad. Huey you coming?" she added before heading to the exit.
"Definitely."
She shook her head in the car. "Is she serious? What is her problem?" she questioned. Huey shrugged. "In what universe is that okay to say to the daughter of the guy you're dating?"
"I couldn't tell you Jaz," he answered.
I'm gonna have nightmares of what she said." Jazmine shuddered to herself. "I'm glad that you went with me Huey. I really appreciate it," she confessed. He shrugged a she turned into their neighborhood. "Can you go to your house instead of mine?"
He followed her orders and pulled into his driveway. He went to turn off the engine of the car, but Jazmine's hand stopped him. "What are you doing?"
"Can we stay in the car? Just for a little while?"
He nodded as he moved his seat all the way back, stretching his legs out. He closed his eyes, focusing on the low sounds coming from the radio.
She leaned over the armrest to get closer to Huey. "Is Mr. Freeman upstairs?" she finally asked.
He nodded. "Yeah." She groaned into his shoulder. "Why you ask?"
"We missed our one opportunity of alone time all because my dad wanted to have a dinner that turned out to be a really bad idea," she whined. "And tomorrow we're gonna be moving with Cindy all day."
He shrugged slightly and looked down to her. "We're alone now."
She sat up to glare at him. She lowered her eyes, analyzing him until she widened them again. "No… no!" she yelled. She looked around before leaning closer into him. "We are in your grandfather's car!" she whispered.
"So don't make a mess."
She blushed hard and covered her mouth. "No!" she reiterated. "I don't want to look Mr. Freeman in the eye if we did it because I would know! I would know what happened and I'll feel like he would too."
"Okay…"
"And this is Dorothy!" she continued. "This is his pride… and joy… and the only thing he loves as much as you guys!" She ran her fingers through her hair. "If he found out that we did this in here he would not only beat your ass, but mine too because I'm practically a member of this family and would treat me like one of you guys."
Huey raised an eyebrow. "So are we're doing this?"
Jazmine paused for a second. "Take off your shirt before I change my mind." She climbed over the armrest to sit in Huey's lap, taking over his task of unbuttoning his shirt. She locked lips with him as she made her way down to his belt.
Huey pushed the bottom of her dress up to her waist, revealing her black lace panties. "How the hell am I supposed to take these off?" he asked her. "Why didn't you take them off before you got on top?"
"It was spur of the moment! I wasn't thinking about it!" Jazmine shot back.
"Fuck it. I'm ripping them off," he announced, grabbing some of the frilly fabric.
She slapped his hand away. "The hell you are! Unless you're willing to replace them with more pairs, find another way!"
Huey threw his head back. "Are you fucking kidding me?" He sighed. "Fine! Just push them to the side or something!" She giggled at his sudden frustration against underwear, but let him continue nonetheless. He touched her with the lace between his fingers and her, taking note that she was already wet. "And you tried to deny this."
"Shut up."
"Mm." He pushed through until he was just grazing her bundle of nerves between her thighs. He used his free left hand to put her left arm on his shoulder. He grabbed her thigh and looked at her. "Move."
His hand inside of her did not budge; he instead let Jazmine grind against it and let her choose how she wanted it. His left hand only made sure she was in the right place. She always went at her pace when she was on top.
"Huey…" she breathily said. She pulled his hand away from her. "Don't wear me out so quickly. Especially when I gotta put in work."
"That was all you, baby."
She smiled before kissing him again, this time slow and sensual. She walked her fingers down his chest into his boxers and slightly running her fingers up and down his shaft. He huffed shortly, licking his lips as she wrapped her fingers around him.
"Stand up for a second." She did as she was told and saw Huey push his pants and boxers away from his waist. He nodded at her and put both of his hands on either side of her hips. She moved her panties to the side and positioned herself to sit on top of him. "Oh… fuck…" he panted when she slid down.
"Good?"
"Great."
Jazmine smiled as she gripped one side of the driver's seat and used the other to hook the back of Huey's neck. She let out a hasty breath while she started moving slowly, moving up and down to only a pace she knew. She closed her eyes and focusing only on her rhythm. Her mouth stayed closed as she bit her lips but her sounds could be heard softly.
She leaned into him, catching his open lips into an embrace. Their foreheads touched as she continued to ride him and she could feel them the most connected they've ever been. She felt so close to Huey in that very moment, as if she could feel every emotion he could.
If those emotions were lust and pleasure, then they were feeling the same thing.
"Jaz…"
She leaned the back of the seat until he was lying down. She took one of his hands from her waist to her chest, keeping her hand on top of his. She arched her back and moaned to the ceiling. She grabbed the handle above his seat for support since she knew she was going to have to speed up.
"Huey…"
She slowly quickened her pace until she was going as fast as she could. Huey's hand moved down to between her thighs and that did it for her. She stopped breathing and closed her eyes when she climaxed, focusing on the sense of relief that washed over her. She collapsed onto his chest in a sweaty hug-like position, letting her curly and slightly-damp hair fall whichever way it would like.
"It smells like sex in here," Jazmine giggled.
Huey finally sat up and turned on the air conditioner to get rid of the haze that built up in the car. He looked at Jazmine, who had her head on his shoulder. He kissed the top of her forehead. She smiled at him.
He was the real deal.
