Chapter 38

Hours later, Cheria lay in bed snuggled up with Jon completely content and stroking his bare chest, unable to pull her eyes from his handsome face. They made love in every position imaginable and she was sure he'd invented a new one, not complaining a bit. If he got it from watching porn, at least it wasn't with another woman while she was gone. Jon made her promise never leave the state of Florida without him, regretting not going with her. He missed her far too much and it did Cheria's heart good to hear that. As happy as she was with Jon, however, deep in the back of her mind Cheria knew she would have to come clean about where she'd really been the past 2 almost 3 days. Not to mention the shoebox; whatever was in there kept plaguing her mind too. Jon would be upset with her, angry even, but hopefully he would understand why she had to go to Cincinnati once his temper simmered. It could wait until tomorrow; she was too relaxed and enjoying his affection too much to ruin it now. Jon only left the bed long enough to go to the kitchen and retrieve the now cold, still edible food he had actually prepared for her along with some bottles of water. It had crossed his mind to buy wine or something, but Cheria wasn't legal for drinking just yet. He had already pushed his luck so much with this relationship, Jon doubted there was any left. When he returned and laid everything out, Cheria immediately went on the attack.

"Yeah, you better recover some stamina. We're not finished." He teased, laughing outright at how her eyes widened. "Seriously Cher, I'm glad you're home. Think you might just find a college... locally?"

"I was planning on being local anyway."

Cheria took a bite of food and closed her eyes, savoring the delicious flavor. Jon had went all out for her and instead they had spent hours sexing it up without glancing at any other part of the apartment. Not that either regretted it because they didn't. Going 3 days without having sex with her boyfriend couldn't happen again and Cheria would hopefully never have to take another trip without him again.

"Actually, Monique and I came up with a great plan – more her than I." Cheria took another bite of food and swallowed before telling him about the law firm. "We were talking about the upcoming court hearing with Hussey and…she brought up a good point, Jon. Several, actually. She's going to make a brilliant lawyer for sure. Oh, and she's decided to stay local too."

Now was the time to tell him and Cheria could feel the words bubbling up inside of her, threatening to spill out of her mouth, but for some reason she couldn't. Jon popped a piece of cold delicious chicken in his mouth, eyeballing her curiously. He liked Monique and, sure, she was smart enough, but he had never pegged her for the lawyer type. He had never pegged Cheria as the lawyer type either though. Business management, sure, but law?

"So um, you think you might want to get into law? That's a lot of school time, darlin'." Not to mention a lot of money.

"No! No – no definitely not." Cheria laughed at the thought, shaking her head. "Moni yes, me no. I told her I'd be her busty sexy secretary or administrative assistant - whatever you call it. Short skirts, tight blouses, hair up in a perfect hair-do with glasses on…" She squealed when Jon tackled her to the bed, immediately opening up for him again. They didn't care about the food on the bed, only each other and she managed to have some grapes in her mouth, popping one in his. "Do you want to hear what she suggested or go back to fucking each other senseless and talk more tomorrow?"

Jon envisioned this. Not the lawyer Monique part. Cheria in short skirts, tight blouses and her hair done up in a sexy bun with glasses. The vision of him bending her over her desk, that short skirt riding up her creamy thighs, showing off a hint of her deliciously pert backside. And she looked back at him over her shoulder, biting on her lower lip…Jon snapped out of it when he realized she was still talking to him.

"What?"

Cheria couldn't be mad at him for daydreaming, knowing she'd given him quite the visual and giggled softly, pecking his lips softly. "Nothing baby, let's finish eating."

Surprisingly, Jon agreed with Monique's idea to take the records from his shop to the courthouse to prove the Hussey's weren't staying away from him. Sure enough, the court hearing was cancelled, but it wasn't due to Jon's evidence – it was Mr. Hussey, Curtis's father, who decided to do it. This all happened in the span of the next few days and Cheria couldn't have been happier. Curtis was irate, sending her various messages on Facebook promising this wasn't over and he'd have her. With those messages and the voicemails he left on her phone, it was enough to be granted a restraining order against him. With Hussey out of the picture, now they had one final obstacle in their way. First, Cheria had to have her blood drawn for the DNA test with Charlotte, currently waiting outside of the building anxiously, trying to look for her possible sister.

"Cheria, over here!" It had taken Charlotte a bit to get here, she was still getting used to the traffic in Tampa as well as navigating the streets. Her GPS gave her directions to get to the building, but it hadn't accounted for construction, or some parade... screw GPS. "Hey." She greeted when they met in the middle, smiling nervously. "Are you ready for this?" Charlotte wrapped her arms around herself, really hoping this wasn't a bust.

Deep inside her heart, she knew Cheria was her sister.

"Hey, everything is gonna be fine, Charlotte." Cheria swathed an arm around the woman's shoulder, seeing the tears shining in her eyes and tried not to let her own form. Not right now. When they got the results back in a few days, then they could cry for either joy or misery. "I know you're my sister. I know we're blood, but…time to prove it once and for all, okay?"

"Okay." Charlotte whispered, feeling a little better about the situation and leaned into Cheria. "Thank you for believing me."

"No, thank you for tracking me down and helping me get my life on track. Now come on, let's go get poked and grab some food. I'm starving since they made us fast for 8 hours straight."

"Which I will never understand." Charlotte understood why people had to fast before tests for diabetes or certain tests that required urine, but for a DNA test? She highly doubted the chemical composition in food or drinks would alter the genetic structure of DNA. "Is there something besides fast food around here? I've seen at least 12 taco stands since I left Betty's this morning." She joked as they headed inside, stopping at the desk to register.

"Oh yeah, awesome deli down the street from where I live. We can go there and then I'll show you the apartment I share with my man."

Cheria wanted to open her life up to Charlotte in every way possible, including introducing her to Jon. Aunt Betty and Uncle Roy fully supported her decision; Cheria would never stop referring them as her family. Because they were. Blood wasn't the only link to being family, after all. Charlotte never got the chance to be in Cheria's life because of Martha – the one obstacle her and Jon would soon be rid of just as soon as the vindictive bitch showed herself. While she was here, she would also get the DNA results from her and Jon's test since they didn't trust Martha's 'document'. Charlotte watched inquisitively while Cheria talked with the receptionist about another test that had been done. Since it was on file, all Cheria had to do was produce ID before she was handed a print-out. Even though she was burning with curiosity, Charlotte didn't ask; it was none of her business. Given why they were here, the reason being Martha, Charlotte figured whatever that test was, it was related to that evil broad.

"Oh yay, I'm up." She grumbled when her name was called, hoping they just did a swab in her mouth because Charlotte hated needles and having her blood drawn.

While Charlotte went to the back to be tested, Cheria sat in the waiting area with the envelope in hand that revealed her and Jon's future. This was it. She took a deep shuddering breath and opened the envelope, pulling the paper out of it. Jon gave her permission to check the results; all he asked was to be texted the results since she was off for the day because of the blood test. Cheria still hadn't told Jon about her and Monique's trip to Cincinnati, hiding the shoebox in the closet since Jon rarely went into it. Mostly, it was her things while he took over the dresser. She would do it; Cheria just needed a little more time to find the courage to tell him. Shutting her eyes and opening the piece of paper, Cheria snapped them open to read the black and white print, tears filling her eyes. She immediately texted Jon with shaky fingers, a huge grin spread across her face. Just as they suspected, Martha's 'document' was fabricated and they were 100% NOT related.

Jon was busy underneath a car when he received the text, hearing his phone going off from his rolling toolbox. The ringtone told him it was Cheria texting him and he felt his entire body tense, knowing she was probably sending him the results of their DNA test. Neither had trusted Martha, or anything she had had her twisted hands in. He was hoping, praying that somehow, someway, Martha had managed to pull a fast one over them. Wiping his hands off on his pants, he slid out from beneath the car and ambled over to the toolbox, his heart rate picking up a bit as he lifted the cell. Joe was in the office dealing with some customers when they all heard was roaring and laughter coming from the garage. He cleared his throat, managing an awkward smile and assumed Jon had gotten some great news.

Sure enough, 5 minutes later Cheria received a text message back consisting of a huge smiley face and 'I love you' from Jon, promising to see each other that night. She knew he was working hard and felt her heart fill with relief. Jon wasn't her biological father. They could be together all they wanted happily – after getting rid of Martha. She was still a problem that had to be dealt with. Her name was called after Charlotte walked out with a bandaged arm, heading to the back to have her own blood drawn. A half an hour later, both girls left the building and headed toward the deli down the street from Cheria and Jon's apartment. They did not see the beady eyes watching their every move or the upper lip curl in a snarl.

Over her dead body would Martha allow Cheria to intervene with her master plan!

Cheria was sticking her nose into a lot of pots lately and Martha was not amused. She was not overly pleased with the daughter of Diane Stone showing up in Florida, all those kids resembled the dead woman, even Cheria. She was less than thrilled Cheria had taken herself to Ohio in search of answers. Martha doubted Claire had said much. Claire was probably half-dead at this point too; alcohol, drugs and whoring were some real killers. Frowning, she tapped her fingers against her mouth, contemplating her next move.

"We're not related, she is not my daughter." Jon had closed up shop, opened the case of beer they kept in the garage fridge and had a celebratory drink with his best buddy. "She can still call me Daddy though." He smirked, feeling like a giant weight had been lifted from his chest.

Joe snorted, cupping his nose and shook his head. "There's something wrong with you, man. On all levels applicable."

"I've never called you that and I don't plan on ever doing it." Cheria stated from behind, planting her hands on her hips and accepted a soft kiss from her boyfriend, letting it linger a moment longer than usual. "Mmm someone's in a good mood." Turning emerald eyes toward Joe, a smirk crossed her mouth. "So, I suppose I can congratulate you now, eh?"

Joe rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, nodding. "Yeah, I guess so." He still couldn't believe Monique was pregnant, but he wasn't angry about it either. More excited than anything.

Cheria noticed the confusion on Jon's face while his pale blues danced between them. "You don't know?" When Jon shook his head, the smirk turned into a full-blown grin. "Monique's pregnant and Joe's the Daddy."

Watching Jon spew beer out of his nose was a sight Joe would never forget as long as he lived.

Joe paid for that beer being spewed out his nose in the form of a serious punch to the shoulder. Oh that hurt like a son of a bitch and Jon cupped his burning nose, glaring at his supposed best friend from narrowed eyes. "And you were planning on telling me when, Joey?"

Joe shrugged, not rubbing his aching shoulder, enjoying this way too much. Probably more than he should. "I don't know, whenever I got around to it." He was still adapting to the idea of being a father, and grinned when Cheria offered Jon a handkerchief. "Worth it."

"Thanks darlin'..."

"Welcome."

Cheria knew tonight she had to reveal the truth to Jon about what she did and what her road trip with Monique had been about. She wanted to celebrate the fact they weren't related, but…if she kept the truth from him much longer, it would come back to bite her. In order to rid of Martha, Cheria had to tell Jon everything because the plan she had in mind revolved around her visit with Claire. That, and she still had the shoebox to give him as well.

"Come on baby, let's get you home so I can flush your nose out with lukewarm water and then…we need to have a talk." One without tearing into each other sexually, unfortunately.

All Joe could do was gape. "Wait... you're going to flush his nose out with water? Are you his mother?"

Jon punched him again, though his ears were turning red. "Shut it Joe, or else."

Joe was way too entertained, smirking slightly. Jon had gotten his kicks while the girls had been gone, riding his balls about moping over Monique, so this was just payback. Plain and simple. "You know, you two ought to consider having a baby. Then our kids can grow up together."

"Bro! I just found out she ain't my baby and you're..." Jon had to close his eyes. "I'm going to fire you."

"Aaaaaaand on that note, we'll be on our way. Come on, time to go home." Cheria yanked him out of the shop before Joe could tick him off further or goad him, leading her man to each of their vehicles. "See you at home."

She winked, blowing him a kiss before sliding behind the wheel and sped toward the apartment, Jon following. This small ride home gave her time to figure out how to start the conversation of where she'd really gone during their 2 almost 3 days apart. Her nerves were on edge, her body breaking out in a cold sweat and Cheria was sure she'd end up having a small panic attack.

Keeping secrets from Jon had taken its toll on her and it was time to come clean.