As Long as there is Love- Chapter 11
“Damn!” Justin cursed, but not loud enough to wake up Michelle, as he gazed upon the alarm clock.
“Why didn’t this piece of shit go off?” Pulling himself up into a sitting position, he swung hard, knocking the alarm clock off the nightstand.
“I don’t feel like hearing Ronnie’s mouth today.” He had scheduled an appointment with Ronnie to meet the girls after finding out about them only a week ago. Yet, now he was more than two hours late and that was a sure sign that he would have to listen to all of Ronnie’s loud and shameless comments about him.
“Just my luck.” Justin sighed as he walked into the bathroom.
He cut his usually twenty-minute shower to ten minutes, slipped on baggy sweatpants, white tee shirt, and a pair of black Nike Air Forces.
Just as he was leaving, Michelle stopped him at the threshold of the bedroom.
“Justin, where are you going?”
“Uh…” Think Justin, think. Could he tell her that he was going to see Nina and Ronnie, could he tell her about the twins without hurting her feelings? Most likely not, since there was no easy way to say, “Oh yeah sweetie, I forgot to tell you, last week Nina told me that we had a child, not one but two, together five years ago. I just didn’t know until now.”
“I’m going to get Jon. We’re supposed to hang out.”
“Oh.” She paused to wipe the sleep from her eyes. “I thought we were supposed to chill today. You said that you were free. Maybe we could plan some things for the wedding.”
“I’m sorry Shelly. I promised him. You know how kids are when you break promises. I’ll see you later, okay?” He kissed her goodbye and was gone before she could respond.
~*~*~*~*~
Justin didn’t want Michelle to make a liar out of him so on his way to Nina’s he picked up Jon from his mother’s house.
“Hey buddy, how ya doing?” Justin roughed his hair a bit.
“I’m good. Where we going?”
“To Tony’s house. Is that cool with you?”
“Yup.”
“Cool.” Justin retrieved his cell phone and hit the speed dial.
“Hello?”
“Uh…yeah hello. Can I speak to Ronnie?” Justin said to the male on the other end.
“Uh, hold on. Ronnie Phone!”
Justin heard rustling and the exchange between Ronnie and a guy who he presumed to her fiancé.
“Who is it?”
“Some guy.”
“Better be Justin. Give me the phone.” Justin shook his head with a laugh. He was ready for whatever she had to say.
“Wait. Why is he calling you?”
“Calm down T, it’s about Nina.”
Was this visit really about Nina? Was he coming to meet the twins or was he coming to make up with Nina? Why was he even asking himself these questions? Of course, this visit was all about the twins, to get to know them, to try to be in their lives. It couldn’t possibly be about Nina. That’s where things would get complicated, especially between him and Michelle.
“It better…” Ronnie finally came on the line, “Sorry ‘bout that.”
“I thought I would have to listen to y’all talk instead of us.” Justin joked although he knew Ronnie would not find it funny.
“Whatever. Where the hell have ya been? You’re two hours late. Ya know you’re supposed to meet the twins today. I’m glad I didn’t tell the girls that you were coming, otherwise they would have thought you were punkin’ out on them.”
“Punkin’ out? What a nice choice of words, thanks Ronnie.” Justin replied although it was not meant as a compliment.
“No problem. So I mean…what’s going on? Are ya coming or not?”
“I thought Nina was supposed to be my baby mama, damn.”
“You ain’t funny. Answer my question.”
“I’m on my way.”
“Fine. Goodbye.”
Justin looked at his cell phone after hearing the dial tone, “She needs an attitude adjustment.”
“T said that you wanna talk to me?” Nina came into the room as Ronnie was putting the phone on the hook.
“I’m gonna beat T in his head. He thinks this shit is funny.”
“So Justin did call?” When her sister nodded, she continued. “Damn, I don’t feel like arguing with him today.” Nina plopped down in the chair at the kitchen table.
“Ya might not have to. He wants to meet the twins.” Ronnie finished hesitantly expecting her sister to explode.
“What? But I thought…when did he decide that?” Nina was already out of her seat at this point.
“He called me yesterday and made an “appointment.”
“An appointment?” Nina shook her head, “That sounds so impersonal.”
Ronnie agreed. “He’s on his way though. Are you okay with this cause I didn’t get the chance to talk to you about it beforehand?”
“I’m okay.” Nina replied, yet it felt so much like a lie as it rolled off the tip of her tongue. She sighed, “I guess I’ll go tell the twins…I just don’t know how.” She mumbled on her way out of the kitchen.
When she entered the twins’ bedroom, Neece was playing her video games as usual and Nikki was twisting the hair of one of her dolls.
“Short Stuff, Little Bit, Can mommy talk to y’all for a minute?”
“Only a minute right? I’m on a hard part mommy.” Neece complained.
“Okay. Come over here and sit next to me.”
They obliged, one sitting on each side of her. Nina almost wrapped her arms around them but quickly decided not to so it wouldn’t appear as if she was going to relay depressing news.
“Someone’s coming to see y’all today.” She tried her hardest to force a smile but she wasn’t truly happy about Justin intruding in her life.
“Really? Is it Gramma and Pop Pop?” Nikki beamed as usual.
“No it’s my…uh your…a friend of mine.” She settled for that because they would not understand if she’d told them that Justin was their father.
They would want to know why he had left them. Why he wasn’t with them now. She couldn’t ask herself those questions without getting upset. She was sure they would get upset too and she didn’t want to see her babies cry, especially not over Justin. She cried enough for all of them.
“Is it Justin? I like him.” Nikki grinned but Nina noticed the not so thrilled look in Neece’s eyes again.
“Maybe.” Nina saw Neece lower her head, “Maybe not.” Neece looked back at her.
Nina felt guilty because she knew she was the reason that Neece felt that way about Justin. If she behaved that way in front of him, he would accuse her of planting bad thoughts in their heads about him, which would make her angry, make her vulnerable. And that was just what she did not need.
“So we have to get dressed before mommy’s friend gets here, okay.”
“Ooh, can I wear one of my pretty dresses, mommy?” Nikki bounced up and down on her bed.
“Sure baby. What about you Neece, wanna wear one too?” She held up two dresses for Neece to choose from.
Neece scrunched up her face. “No.”
Well it was worth a try. Nina thought as she helped Nikki get into her dress.
“Can I wear my jean set?” Neece smiled. “I wear the ugly lace socks Nikki likes too.” She pulled her baby doll shoes from the corner to go along with them.
“Sure Little Bit.” Nina laughed, “Now mommy needs to get dressed, can y’all finish by yourselves or do I need to call Ronnie?”
“We can do it. We big girls!”
“Bout time you got here.” Ronnie smirked at Justin as he stood in front of her on the porch.
Justin didn’t respond to her smart remark, so she directed her attention to Jon instead.
“Hi Ms. Ronnie, is Tony here?”
“Yeah, he’s in his room.” Ronnie looked back at Justin when Jon had made it upstairs, “What’s ya problem?”
Justin avoided the question, “Where are they?”
“Upstairs.” Ronnie raised her eyebrow at the fidgety movements he was suddenly making.
“Let me in.”
Ronnie did as he asked, “You’re just scared aren’t ya?" He wanted to deny it, but could not.
“Well ya should be. If you’d been here five years ago, ya wouldn’t have to go through this right now.”
Justin sucked his teeth before leading the way to the living room. He fell onto the couch, “Why do y’all continue to throw that in my face! I didn’t know okay. I never received any of Nina’s damn phone calls or letters. So we shouldn’t be having this discussion right now.”
“Ya know, you’re right.”
“I am?”
“Yes. We shouldn’t be having this discussion. You and Nina should. Y’all are the ones with the problems. So how bout I go get Nina so ya’ll can talk these problems out.” Ronnie left him to go upstairs.
“And I thought this was going to be about the twins.”
“Nina?” Ronnie poked her head into the room.
Nina turned away from the mirror while brushing her hair to answer her sister, “I heard y’all arguing downstairs.”
“We’ve been arguing for 18 years.” She eyed her sister’s attire suspiciously, “You look nice.”
“I know but I don’t wanna look nice. I don’t want to look like I’m trying to impress him because that is not the case. I’m doing this for my babies.”
“Uh huh. I’ll check on the twins.”
Nina rolled her eyes and pulled her hair back into a ponytail. She followed up with a clear pink lip-gloss. When she was ready to apply eye shadow, she halted her movements. “To hell with this. I can face him looking like a bum for all I care. It doesn’t matter what he thinks.” She snatched the hair band from her hair, allowing her long tresses to frame her face.
Ronnie met her at the threshold of the bedroom, holding the twins hands, “You ready?”
Nina nodded but she let Ronnie and the twins lead the way.
Justin glanced toward the staircase when he heard footsteps. It was the twins…and Ronnie instead of Nina. He didn’t know if he was relieved or disappointed.
Ronnie placed the twins side by side before him as if she was presenting them. He took the time to study them.
He wasn’t trying to be rude, but it was damn hard to distinguish who was the twin’s father. They favored Nina more than him. They had her facial structure, eyes, mouth, and bright smile, which Justin noticed when Nikki grinned at him.
But, they do have my hair. Justin thought the trouble Nina had managing their unruly curls.
“Hi girls.”
“Hiya Justin.” Nikki bounced on the couch next to him. Neece followed suit, yet not as energetically but Justin didn’t notice.
Nina finally made her entrance, which occupied his attention.
“I think ya look pretty mommy.” Nikki complimented.
“Me too.” Neece agreed.
“Me three.” Justin added, clearly affected by her presence. It must’ve been her hair. The way it framed her face brought back good memories. He couldn’t help wondering if it was still as soft as it looked.
Nina thanked them all but dismissed whatever feelings she experienced from Justin’s comments, “So how is ya fiancée?”
Justin quickly answered, “She’s fine,” but not before catching Ronnie’s glare as she left the room.
“So um, how long do ya plan to stay because the twins have to register for ballet and tap classes?”
“Ooh, can Justin come with us Mommy?”
“That’s up to him Short Stuff.”
“Uh…” All eyes were suddenly on him. Even Neece’s, who looked as if she didn’t care whether he went or not. “I guess so, why not.” Staring at Nina, he was satisfied that his response shocked her.
Nina quickly recovered. “Well let’s go. Don’t want to be late. You’re driving?”
Justin knew that what she said was more of a demand rather than a question and he didn’t like the bossy persona one bit. It was more suitable for someone like Ronnie.
“Hey,” Justin grabbed Nina’s elbow, pulling her close to him, “You didn’t tell the twins about me, did you?” He came off as accusing rather than sincere.
“Did you tell your fiancée about the twins?”
Silence.
“Coward.” Nina mumbled under her breath while walking to Justin’s car.
Ronnie closed the door behind them, “I don’t want to be around when this shit hits the fan.”