“Mama, when we go home?” Tres yelled as he waddled out of Dru’s swimming pool.
Marli nearly choked on her spit. They’d been at Dru’s for three days now and the boys hadn’t mentioned going home. They were too busy having fun. Dru’s house was massive. He had tons of things to do. She had to tell them something, but she was hoping for more time to figure out what to say.
She’d never even dated anyone she’d brought around the boys. Now here she was pregnant and uprooting them from their home. That had to be in the mom handbook as bad parenting. She was crazy for doing this and for the last couple of days, she’d been getting up intending to go home. Dru was relentless though, because every morning he ate her like a Christmas ham and delivered mind altering dick. Now here she was on day three, sitting on the side of the pool as Dru and the boys played tag in the water.
“Mama, is it time to go home?” Tres asked again. Marli looked down at his wet face and mess of curls sticking to it. She took a deep breath.
“You trying to leave me, lil dude?” Dru grabbed him from her lap and swung him in the air. Marli looked up. She’d never even noticed him get out of the water. Tres broke out in a fit of giggles as Dru tickled him. Marli smiled as she watched them. She loved how Dru interacted with the boys. Since they’d been there Dru had made sure to spend time with them each day. He wanted them to feel comfortable was what he kept saying. It was a good contrast to what they’d experienced with Max. Maybe it would be good for them to have a male figure in the home with them. Marli looked on as the boys tussled. Deuce had now joined them. Their laughter radiated through the trees. Seeing how happy they were with him made her feel better about the move.
“It’s time to tell them.” Dru turned to her. He had both boys in his arms. Marli took a deep breath. She wasn’t ready but she knew she had to tell them soon. This was life changing news. Dru wasn’t going to let her out of it this time… She could see it in his eyes.
“Okay.” It was a soft reply, and her heart was pounding in her chest. Dru sat down in the lawn chair next to hers. Tres crawled into her lap and Deuce got comfortable on Dru.
“Mommy and Dru have a special surprise to share with you,” Marli started. The boys looked on with excitement written all over their faces.
“You two are going to be big brothers. Mommy and Dru are having a baby.”
The boys looked at each other. Their faces wrinkled in confusion.
“A baby? What baby?” Deuce asked.
“Your little brother or sister. They’re growing inside of my belly.” Marli took Deuce’s small hand and pressed it on her belly. Tres joined them. They were silent for a moment, processing the news.
“Are we going to have to share our room?” Deuce asked. Both Marli and Dru laughed.
“Naw, lil dude. I have plenty of rooms here. Everybody can have their own,” Dru replied.
“At home, we only have two rooms.” Deuce held up two fingers.
“Home is wherever we are together and right now…”
“Forever,” Dru corrected. Marli rolled her eyes.
“This is our home,” she finished.
“Uncle Dru’s home is our new home?” Tres questioned. Marli nodded.
“Yeah, is that cool?” Dru held out his hand for the boys to give him a high five. Deuce and Tres both slapped his hand.
“Yes! We love your house. It’s cool!” Deuce started the sentence and Tres finished it.
“It’s your house now too, and you know what else?” Dru stood from the chair, placing Deuce on his feet.
“You're it!” He tapped Deuce on his shoulder and took off into the pool. The boys giggled as they ran off behind him.
“Hey, no running!”
Marli recognized the voice of Dru’s mom instantly. She had a distinct Hispanic accent. Marli’s head whipped around fast. Dru’s mom always made her feel so uncomfortable. She wasn’t rude or anything, but Marli knew she didn’t care for her. Now that she knew how heartbroken Dru had been about the DNA of the boys she fully understood why. Ms. Natalie sashayed over to Marli and took the seat next to her.
“Hello, Ms. Natalie.”
“Hello, Marli, how are you?” Her greeting wasn’t its usual cold tone. This time it was light and cherry.
“I’m doing okay, you?” Marli turned to Ms. Natalie. She was such a beautiful dark-skinned woman. At her age she was gorgeous. Marli could only imagine what she looked like in her prime.
“I’m just fine. You and Dru getting serious?” She raised her eyebrows. Marli didn’t know how to respond, because she’d never had a conversation with a man’s mother before. She didn’t date. She didn’t do family meetings. This was awkward, and she didn’t know what to say. Marli had moved in but she and Dru weren’t exactly in a relationship. She didn’t know what to call it. She was having his baby, they lived together, and they had amazing sex. How did she say that to someone’s mother? Especially when they already had a bad taste in their mouth about her.
“Ma, let me talk to you in the kitchen for a minute.” Dru came walking up out of nowhere again. Marli exhaled. He was right on time. Ms. Natalie stood to her feet and headed to the door.
“Sure.”
Dru leaned down and kissed Marli on the lips. It caught her off guard because they hadn’t been physical around the boys.
“I’ll be back, keep the boys busy,” he whispered before catching up with his mother. Marli touched her lips and nodded as she got up to move closer to the pool.
“Mama, you kissed Uncle Dru!” Deuce screamed. There was disgust and excitement in his voice.
“You love Uncle Dru?” Tres questioned. Marli didn’t know how to respond. She did love him, but she couldn’t admit that to her four-year-old sons. She couldn’t even admit that to herself.
Seventeen
Dru
“You two getting serious, mijo?”
“She lives here,” Dru replied as he and his mom walked into the kitchen. It was no point in beating around the bush. Marli, the boys, and the baby weren’t going anywhere anytime soon.
“Lives here? Whoa! That’s a big step, don’t you think, mijo?” Natalie moved to him. She took his face in her hands and stared at him intently.
