"Huey?" I grabbed the hand towel hanging on the rack and proceeded to dry my freshly trimmed face as Jazmine hopped onto our bathroom counter. She leaned against the mirror and swung her legs with wiggling toes.
"Hm?" I grunted, inspecting the line of my circle beard.
"I was thinking about relaxing my hair." She threw out nonchalantly twirling long strands of curls around her finger. I resisted the urge to sigh; this wasn't the first time Jazmine and I had had this conversation, but this time she didn't specifically ask me what I think about it.
"You're not going to do it." I smirked and bent down to find my aftershave and anti-razor bump cream in the cabinets below the bathroom sink.
"How do you know I'm not going to do it?" She leaned over and looked at me. I grabbed the bag of cotton balls Jazmine is so adamant about keeping in the house; though I didn't understand why she always had cotton balls at her disposal, I will admit these things come in handy.
"Because you know I like your curls." I looked at her with a challenging smirk. She clenched her jaw, raised her eyebrow, and tilted her head.
"I do not take you into consideration in my beauty decisions." I smirked wider; that was a damn lie and we both knew it. The reason she brought up beauty decisions was because she wanted my opinion; she just happened not to like my opinions most of the time.
"You shave for me." I glanced down in between her thighs so she knew exactly what I was talking about.
"You shave for me." She tossed back with a cute, self-righteous, little smirk that made me want to kiss her. I looked at her, then turned back to applying the aftershave with a cotton ball.
"Yeah because you, and I quote, 'don't like having your nose in a forest,' and you have the same consideration for me when I go south with much more than my nose." I licked my lips. Her jaw dropped then she pursed her lips. I turned to her, smirking, and leaned on the counter with my arms crossed.
"Touché, you sexy bastard." She crossed her arms over her chest. I walked over to her, chest puffed out and proud, and wrapped an arm around her waist. I took a few of her curls and rubbed them between my fingers. I looked into her eyes filled with mischievous thoughts.
"I love your hair curly, and I love your hair straight, but I love that you have options to do what you feel like doing. You get your hair relaxed, and those options go away. But most importantly Jazmine, you like your natural curl, and it took you awhile to get to that." I kissed her hair then her forehead before stepping back and continuing with my grooming.
"You're right," she hopped off the counter, "I do like my 4a curly hair, or is it 3c? You know I actually think I have a patch in the back that's 4 b. I never know if you and Riley have 4c or 4a/b since besides trims, you never take the time to actually do more than oil your scalp and pick your hair, which is a shame because you get really nice defined curls after you swim and shower. I think X has a mixture of our patterns."
"Jazmine, I have no clue what you're talking about."
"That's why you need to start watching Youtube; it helps with this natural hair thing... At this point I think watching Youtube is an obsession of mine."
"I think so too."
"Well, I need to get going, so I will see you later." She started to walk out of the bathroom.
"Wait, where are you going?"
"To the beauty salon, I have a hair appointment remember?"
"What are you getting done?" I will admit that I panicked a little; I thought our conversation was harmless fun, not her actually relaxing her hair.
"You'll see when I get back." She kissed me then shouted 'bye' and that she and X would be back a few hours later.
'She is really going to make me put my money where my mouth is.' I thought. I thought of the way her hair looked when Tom had used my bomb mixture as a relaxer on Jazmine's hair. It was beautiful, and I couldn't blame Riley for the massive crush he'd developed on the 'dead ringer for a young Mariah Carrey' or the 'butterscotch-dipped caramel goddess,' as Riley had termed her. I still wouldn't let him live that down. I didn't really see what would be wrong if she relaxed her hair, mostly I just think it would be weird to be in the shower with her and not have dripping strawberry blonde curls coiling down her back. I wanted her to be happy with how she looked, and that had always been a struggle when it came to her hair, and as extension, her ethnicity. I shook my head and cleaned up from my shave; Jazmine was much stronger than I was giving her credit for. If she wanted something different, I would support her either way.
I pulled the roast out of the oven then set it on potholders on the counter. I cut to the center to make sure it was cooked all the way then let it rest. I stirred the mac and cheese then took it off the heat to let the cheese sauce thicken up. Everything else was done so I set the table then turned on the news to check up on the Ferguson case; I knew I would be expected to say something about the incident, but I needed to know both sides of the story to say anything that would really benefit people. Generally I stayed away from the bias news that was CSN, MNBC, and Fox, but I'd make this exception. Jazmine and I had talked about the case a little, along with the Trayvon Martin case. There was no rage in our hearts, just worry and fear; neither one of us could stop thinking, what if that had been X? Avenger scuffed across the floor to join me on the couch and cuddled up to my side.
"You know if she walks in any minute you're going to be in trouble." The black lab whimpered and looked up at me. "I won't say a word, but if there are black hairs on her white couch, I am not risking staying in the guest bedroom for you." He barked and I rubbed his head. As soon as the lock turned into the door he launched off the couch and onto his dog bed. I laughed at how well Jazmine had him trained. X took off for Avenger as soon as Jazmine opened the door. I stood, mentally prepared myself, and walked around the couch to see her. She locked the door and shrugged off her winter coat, hanging it on the hook by the door. She turned to me and shrugged her shoulders with a timid smile.
"You dyed it." I stated. She shook her bouncy curls over her shoulder and walked up to me. I wrapped my arm around her and picked up a strand of curls. The bottom of the strands had been dyed a warm gold color that reflected well off of the lights.
"I wanted something different." She smiled and stood on her toes. I leaned down and kissed her.
"It looks nice; it suits you."
"Thanks, it's called sombré; it's like the ombré only more subtle."
"That's that gradient look, right?"
"Yup. See you are learning about the latest hair trends."
"That is not something I want anyone to know." I kissed her again then we walked into the living room.
"Next time can I stay home with you, Daddy? That salon smelled disgusting and the lady doing Mommy's hair took forever!" X gave an exaggerated whine. I couldn't blame him; I'd gone to the salon with Jazmine once and decided never again.
"I told you not to go, but you didn't listen." I replied.
"I didn't think it would be that bad! But Mommy's hair smelled really really bad when she had that stuff on it." Jazmine pouted then stuck her tongue out. I chuckled a little then turned back to X.
"Something you're going to learn very quickly about women X, let her have her pamper day while she gets her hair or nails done, tell her what you think, a.k.a. what she wants to here, and leave it at that. Happy wife equals happy life."
"Oh see you are learning about women." Jazmine smiled then walked into the kitchen. I picked X up and set him down in his seat at the table.
"Woooow, look at you throwing down in the kitchen to keep your wife happy." She pushed me playfully. She grabbed the mac and cheese and began fixing X's plate. She passed it to me then grabbed another plate for herself.
"This was for me, any longer and I would have started eating without you." I cut into the roast and set a few slices onto his plate along with a dinner roll and some green beans. I grabbed a juice box from the fridge then set X's food down before him.
"Nice try but you're a vegetarian."
"Who says this isn't tofu?"
"Huey, if this is tofu I will cry." I laughed and she shot me a glare. I grabbed her stuffed plate from her then took it to the table. She kissed my cheek then sat down as I went back to fix my own plate of mac and cheese and green beans. I pulled out a bean salad that I'd made just for me and a beer then joined them at the table. X started talking about all the women and men who were at the salon and asking about whatever they had done to their hair, while trying to shuffle his green beans onto the floor for Avenger; we had yet to find a vegetable that X will eat without coercion. Once we were done Jazmine started on the dishes and putting away the leftovers while I gave X a bath and got him into pajamas. We settled in and watched 'The Incredibles,' with X reciting nearly every word Dash said, and Jazmine looking at me with barely veiling giggles as Frozone's wife told him she was "the greatest good he would ever get."
I picked X up and carried my sleeping son to his bedroom halfway through 'Toy Story 3'. Jazmine leaned against the doorway, watching as I tucked X in. When I turned she shook her head.
"Wait a moment." She whispered then turned and walked towards our bedroom. I smirked, gave her 4 minutes, then followed. When I walked into our room, the bathroom door was closed with light filtering from underneath. I stripped off my jeans and t-shirt then relaxed onto our bed. A minute or two later the door opened and Jazmine walked into view in a red sheer nylon baby doll that had lace brushing against the curve of her breasts. I eyed her up and down, licking my lips at the thin ribbon bow that seemed to be the only thing holding the piece together. She smiled at me, pressed a button on her IPod then set the device on her speaker. I heard four very distinctive notes and couldn't fight the smile on my face. She tossed her head, placing her hands on the door frame as Marvin Gaye's voice filled our room. She ran her hands down her body in time to his words then gave me a sultry look that had my blood boiling under my skin. She walked up to the foot of the bed and I sat up, licking my lips as my hands traced up her smooth thigh to the timid swell of her stomach. My legs parted and she stood between them. I kissed her baby bump then looked up at her. She was gorgeous with fresh curls framing her face then dancing whimsically as she moved. She lifted her knees and straddled me, careful that our bodies didn't touch besides my hands. She placed her hands on my shoulders for balance.
"I am your wife; I am the greatest good you are ever going to get." We looked into each other's eyes. I looked down, then ran my hands higher up her body. When one hand rested on her upper back, the other on the under curve of her breast, I looked up at her.
"I will never argue with that." She smiled then pushed me back gently with one hand. I followed her direction, readjusting so that we were further on the bed. She leaned down and kissed me, slipping her hands into my boxers and finding that I was good and ready. She slipped me into her and sat back, a breathy sigh of pleasure escaping her lips. My hands found her waist and tightened, but I did not encourage her on. She was in control. She tossed her head back as she rode me, her newly dyed hair waving and flickering like a banner presenting proud colors. We made love to 'Let's Get it On,' but I would never watch 'The Incredibles' again without thinking of how my wife rode me, a beautiful goddess in red.