"Did you just say you're moving to Africa?"
"Yeah, cause I am."
"Are you serious?"
He couldn't be serious. Was he just going to leave behind his career and kids? What about Vanessa? Was he just trying to start a new life and become a new person? Selena was confused and she hated to admit it to herself, but she was hurt.
Jack then smiled cunningly before he began laughing. "No. I was just kidding - well, somewhat. I'm going over there for two months, so I guess I am moving there, just not permanently." He shrugged, leaning forward on the counter.
"But why?" Selena asked, wondering what could possibly make him go to another continent when he had a whole successful life right here in California.
Jack smiled genuinely. "I want to help."
"You can't just donate?"
Jack poked his tongue against the side of his cheek and shook his head. His mood lowering a bit, especially out of all people, he thought Selena would support this the most.
"Don't be selfish, Selena." He said. "I thought you would be the one who would be happy. You're always talking about trying to make a difference, so why I can't go to Africa without you making it a big deal?"
"Cause you have kids here, Jack. And what about Vanessa? Were you just hoping I'd take care of her?"
"She has a mother, Selena. I trust Alana now."
Selena huffed and dragged a hand over her face. "You can't just donate and start doing charity events like I do from time to time?"
"I just donated to the disabled, to people with mental illness, to homeless veterans and shelters, to pet shelters, and foster care. I do a lot, but sometimes I just don't think its enough for someone like me. I have millions of dollars and half of it I don't even know what to do with."
"Jack, you pay tuition for at least thirty college student's every two months. I promise you, you're doing enough."
"No, I'm not. I just wanna leave and help the world. I don't care about any album coming out. I could drop an album with no promotion and it'll still do numbers, this shit doesn't matter to me. I just want to help. I'm building a school in Africa and helping them with whatever else they need. I'm doing it and that's final. Me telling you this wasn't an invitation to open a debate."
Selena shrugged, knowing that she couldn't change his mind even though she wanted to. "I hope you'll be able to tell your kids this."
He stretched while he laughed, exposing a swath of his skin between the waistband of his jeans and the hem of his hoodie, Selena wanting to rub her fingers across the softness of his skin that she knew all to well.
Scratching his goatee with a smile, he shrugged. "I think they'll be inspired and might want to help when they get older. I'll tell them tonight."
"Okay."
Dylan and Naomi then came inside the kitchen with their small bags that only held a few things in them since they had everything they needed over at Jack's house. "Ready." Naomi chirped.
"Have fun, you guys." Selena smiled as she stepped down from her stool to kiss and hug both of her kids. "I'll see you in a few days, love you."
"Love you too." Both Dylan and Naomi repeated simultaneously as they pulled out of her embrace.
"Alright, let's blow this popsicle stand." Jack effused, grabbing his keys off the counter as the kids ran out the door and into the car.
Selena followed him to the door, beginning to shut it until he turned back around. "Oh." He remembered to tell her something as he leaned against the doorway. "While I'm gone, you need to ease up on the drinking. I can't have you being drunk around them."
"You drink around them." Selena retorted back as she folded her arms and quirked a brow.
"I was never an alcoholic and I don't drink more than a few drinks around them especially if I'm the only person in the house with them. Just like I don't smoke around them, you shouldn't drink around them. I think you should think about going to AA."
Jack suggesting her to go to Alcoholics Anonymous was a slap in the face. She didn't have a problem with alcohol like she used to - or that's at least what she thought - but as Jack seen it, she was spiraling back down that dark hole she was once in before.
"Listen..." Jack didn't want to say this, but he felt like he had to. "If you get drunk around them once then I'm going to be the one who has custody."
Did he just threaten her to take her kids away from her? Selena couldn't believe it. "Did you really just threaten me?"
Jack didn't want to argue with her, but he wanted her to know that he was serious about drinking around Dylan and Naomi. "It's not a threat, it's a warning. You can save the argument that's about to happen and just say you'll stop drinking and this could be over with. Okay? I'll talk to you in a few days."
The sun beat down on Jack's and Deshawn's skin as they sat in the lounge chairs in the backyard of Jack's mansion as they watched Dylan and Naomi shoot each other with water guns in the pool, Vanessa in Jack's hold.
"How Selena deal with you saying you going to Africa?" Deshawn asked, running a hand over his waves.
Jack chuckled as he bounced Vanessa on the lounge chair, getting giggles out of her. "She doesn't want me to go." He shrugged. "I'm still going though. It's only for two months."
Putting on a light blue durag that matched his swim trunks, Deshawn snorted a laugh. "Maybe she just doesn't want you to go cause she still has feelings for you."
"Yeah, I know she does, but the feeling isn't mutual. Selena and I been doing the same tired shit since we were teenagers and I'm sick of it. I mean, she's out doing her own thing and I'm happy for her, but I need for her to let us go, completely. Especially when she ruined what I and Reyna had."
"That was like a week ago, you need to get over it and just get a new bitch." Deshawn finished tying his durag and then laid back against the chair. "I thought you would've bounced back by now."
Jack stopped the conversation for a moment to pretend to gnaw on Vanessa's neck, making her squeal and laugh in return before he gave her a hard kiss on her cheek before responding back to Deshawn.
"It's not like that with her. I really cared about Reyna, like she was just different. I barely even looked at another girl since that night."
"Damn, you been going without sex? How the hell does Jack Mercer go without a woman?" He teased. "Hey, is it weird if you ever think about your ex's sleeping together?"
"No, not with my ex's at least." He laughed, lying Vanessa on the lounge chair. "Reyna and Selena would be sexy as fuck, I wouldn't know if I'd join or watch."
"Good, cause I thought I was the only one who thought about their ex's like that. Bust a nut then start crying."
"Shut up." Jack laughed as he sat Vanessa between his legs and watched Dylan and Naomi play Marco Polo.
For a moment, the only noise Jack and Deshawn heard was Naomi stifling her laugh as Dylan had his eyes closed and his hand stuck out in front of him, trying to figure out where his sister was.
"You ever think about how Naomi is darker than the rest of y'all?" Deshawn's question came out of the blue, catching Jack off guard.
Jack chuckled at the ridiculous question. "What? No."
"Dylan is white. You're white. Selena's white and Naomi is a light brown. That's not suspicious to you?"
"Selena isn't white."
"What is she then?"
Jack shrugged hard, trying to debunk whatever Deshawn's theory was. "Like a tan color or something. She's pale during the winter, but her skin is usually a light tan or something, but I guess that's maybe cause we live in California."
"Either way ain't neither one of y'all got Naomi's complexion so where it come from?" He then shook his head. "You better make sure you the dad."
"Selena's mom is the same complexion as Naomi. Maybe it's her genes. Chris is the same color and so was her other brother and so is Brooke. Selena is the lightest out of them. Naomi probably got it from Theresa. I don't know, I just know that she's mine. It's called the genetic pool, look it up." Jack concluded the conversation.
Although he put an end to the topic, it still lingered in his mind and he felt guilty for it. He never questioned Naomi's skin color, he just assumed that she got it from the rest of Selena's family. But now, it was a bit weird and he couldn't help but be curious.
Selena talked to Monica about her most recent date as she stood in front of Jack's door, waiting for someone to answer. "So, we went out to the movies and it was empty in the theater and guess what he did?"
"What?" Monica asked.
Deshawn opened the door and gave Selena a chin-up nod as she returned a small wave in return as she stepped inside, looking at Deshawn curiously wondering where Jack was. He pointed toward the ceiling and Selena started on her way upstairs.
"He pulled out his phone and I don't know if he was on Instagram or Snapchat, but he put the camera on us and started recording and said, 'You already know what it is, I rented out the whole cinema for me and my girl.'"
Monica laughed loudly through the phone as Selena walked down the endless hallway, making her way towards the statue at the end of the hall where Jack's room was.
"Mon, he didn't pay a damn dime the whole time. That's what upset me. And then guess what..." Before Monica could say anything, Selena continued her rant. "After the movie, we went outside and some guys jump out behind his car and apparently he was talking shit to them earlier in his car cause that's how they found him and-"
"How many guys was it?"
"Three."
"Damn."
"So, they were so close to jumping him and I managed to diffuse the situation and I told those guys that he doesn't even drive and made them think that he wasn't the guy they were looking for and when they left, he fucking says, 'Oh my God, you're so strong, nobody has ever been able to hold me back before."
Monica began laughing harder than she was the first time, finding amusement in Selena being miserable. "Where do you be finding these niggas?"
"I met him on Tinder." Selena told her, finally making it down the end of hallway and slowly opening the door to Jack's bedroom. "I'll call you back later." She said, hanging up.
Jack was lying on the bed with Vanessa asleep on his chest, Naomi - who was the only one awake - snuggled into his side whilst Dylan was at end of the bed in a fetal position.
Naomi's gaze averted from the cartoon on the flat screen tv to Selena who walked inside the room. "Hey, Mommy." She whispered.
"Hey, baby." Selena whispered back as she walked to the side of the bed and pushed Naomi's curls behind her ear. "You ready to go home?"
"Yeah, and Mama don't forget I have basketball tryouts tomorrow."
"Basketball tryouts?"
"Daddy signed me up for it. I'm going to play on an all boys team, so I can show them that girls can do what they can."
Selena wasn't upset over this, but it did bother her that she wasn't aware that she dropped out of ballet. Communication was a big thing in co-parenting and Jack was failing at it.
"Okay, that's fine." She smiled. "Go get anything you want to bring home."
As Naomi got off the bed and left the room, Selena woke Dylan up and told him the same thing. In just a few seconds, it was only her, Jack, and a baby.
Selena took Vanessa off of Jack's chest and held her in her arms before she shook him awake, a little more rougher than she intended to. "Jack, get up."
His eyes slowly opened from his nap and when they did, his brows pinched together. "Hey," He greeted Selena before using the tip of his finger to rub his eye. "What are you doing here?"
"I'm picking up the kids, you have to go to court tomorrow, so I'm just taking them off your hands for now. I'll take Vanessa to if you want."
Jack nodded. "That'll be fine, thanks."
That was supposed to be the end of the conversation, but what Deshawn had said has been lingering in his head and even though he shouldn't have questioned it, he just wanted to be sure.
Jack sat up and put his feet on the floor and looked up at Selena who was expecting him to say something, but little did she know that she was going to wish he didn't. "You notice how Naomi is darker than us?"
"Yeah..." Selena slowly said, knowing what he was going to say before he could even think of a way to phrase it.
"So, I'm pretty sure you know where I'm going with this." He inhaled a deep breath and asked, "Is Naomi my daughter?"