Saved and SAINTified (9 page)

Someone in here is up to something
—they have a devious plan. I have to trust my gut instinct on this but it is pissing me off that I can’t figure out who it is. … Are they leaking information? Is there an informant? I believe so, but who? Who, damn it!

He looked around the room again, his eyes narrowing as he began to try to psychically peel the layers away, only to run into repeated brick walls.

I need to discuss this with Lawrence. We definitely have a situation here…

He felt the energy strangl
e him. He knew he was right, without a shadow of a doubt. A Judas motherfucker sat amongst them, probably looking smug and certain he had the perfect cover.

He looked over at Lawrence who was now intensely staring at him. Without saying a word,
Lawrence leaned over the table, smiled, and sent him the message telepathically…

I had a feeling something was up, too. I wasn’t sure if I was just over-reacting though. I don’t know who it is, either- for some reason I can’t get a clear read. I will keep searching…

Saint nodded, looked briefly down at his hands then back up at Lawrence,

We will discuss this later and devise a plan. This can’t go on.
It’s been bugging me for a while now.

Lawrence
nodded and turned his attention back toward George.

Whoever in here is doing something they shouldn’t be, you will be busted and once I figure out who you are and what you’ve been doing, your ass is mine…

Saint lowered his head, trying to stop his anger from reaching the boiling point…

“Angela, this cake is delicious!” Xenia patted her stomach and smiled as she leaned back in the large, silver slated chair. “I shouldn’t have eaten it. I still have five baby pounds that refuse to leave,” she added while sliding the last bit off of the fork into her waiting mouth. “Dakarai is three, and I still can’t shake it.”

Angela, the wife of one S
aint’s most trusted Rainbeau Knights, Tony, had invited them and a few other guests over for a summer brunch at their elegant home.

“Girl, please! If I had your body, especially after two children, I would be flaunting a bikini and eating this whole thing!
You look beautiful, Xenia.” Angela chuckled; her curvaceous, heavy set body shook as she slapped the table.

“Well, thank you
, and I need the recipe for this. I know Saint loves coca cola cake too but he eats sweets in moderation.”

Xenia
looked behind her, and watched as several guests laughed and chitchatted around the modest but opulent decorated room. Saint grabbed Tony’s arm and doubled over laughing at something the man said. His fluted glass of bubbly almost spilled in the process. She shook her head and smiled as she heard her husband’s boisterous laugh fill the room once again.

“S
aint is so loud and silly,” she whispered to herself … and she loved it.

She enjoyed how no matter where he walked or
went, the place would come alive. There was something about his energy, his essence, his presence, that made people feel comfortable and have fun. He was like hired entertainment—but without the contract or money exchange.

It’s a pity I didn’t feel that way when I first met him. I suppose it is because I knew
deep down, just like he’d said, that he was going to claim me for his very own … and I’m so glad he did.

She winked at him as he continued to laugh and pull at Tony, cracking up so hard his face
had turned red.

“That cat got fired up!” S
aint blurted, whileTony shook his head and lost his composure, too.

What in the world are they talking about?

Xenia
grinned and turned back around to face Angela who was now holding her sister’s three-week old daughter. Xenia’s smile gradually faded. The corners of her mouth drooped as unadulterated envy set in. She placed her white icing covered fork on her empty plate as her dark eyes fixated on the sight before her. The little baby, dressed in soft, creamy yellow and pastel pink cooed and opened her big brown eyes, smiling as her aunt rubbed the side of blushed cheek and smiled down at her in the loving embrace. Xenia’s eyes glossed over and the emotions she’d been keeping at bay resurfaced, flooding her senses. Angela looked up at Xenia. Their eyes locked.

“
Xenia, are you okay?” Angela began to bounce the baby lightly on her lap.

“Uh, yes, my allergies have been bothering me is all
. … Beautiful baby. Whose is it?”

“My sister’s
.” Angela smiled as she looked back down at the newborn. “Isn’t she gorgeous? Her name is Gwyneth.”

Xenia
gulped as she leaned forward. She rubbed her hands together nervously, her lips slightly parting as she continued to survey the beauty before her. Her smile soon resurfaced as she listened to the baby coo and then turn toward her. She and the little one made eye contact, and her heart melted. Xenia put her hand up to her mouth,

“Oh Angela, your sister is so blessed. Little Gwyneth is just perfect. What a joy.”

Before she knew it, Angela was up on her feet, cautiously navigating the table to make her way over to Xenia.

“Here
Xenia, I can see you are just dying to hold her!”

S
he delicately transferred the baby to Xenia’s hands. Xenia wrapped the baby in her arms, and smiled down at her as her heart pumped faster; matching the exhilaration she was feeling. Xenia lowered her face and kissed the baby on both cheeks, then thumbed her glossy lip print away. She closed her eyes and sighed.

“Oh, I just love how new babies smell! I miss that scent.” She ran her finger along the baby’s soft, jet black curls.

“Mmmm hmmm.” Angela chuckled. “I do, too. My sister tried so hard to get pregnant. She had so many false hopes dashed and then when she least expected it, poof! She and her husband were preparing for my precious little niece here.”

Xenia
continued to rock and cradle the baby, never wanting to let go. She fell into a world full of pink ponies and daisies, addicted to the scent and loveliness of the tiny little girl.

A precious little girl
. … I have two little boys and they mean the world to me. It would be nice to have one of you though, too. I guess I’m just greedy. No one promised me I could have it all...

Xenia
stuck out her finger and watched as the baby reached up and gripped it.

“Oh my goodness, she is strong!”
Xenia laughed.

“
Ain’t she, though?” Angela pulled out the empty chair where Saint had sat during their brunch meal, and settled next to Xenia. After several minutes of conversation, a woman with her hair pulled back in braids walked up to Xenia.

“Hi
.” She gave a halfhearted laugh. “I see Gwendolyn is making the rounds.” Startled out of her own all-consuming thoughts, Xenia looked up at the woman.

“
Xenia, this is my sister, Benja,” Angela said.

“Hello
, Benja.” Xenia’s tone was weak and hung on by a flimsy thread. Her eyes pleaded—begged a million times to try to stop the inevitable.

Please let me hold her just a little while longer, please!

Xenia continued to rock the baby, hoping that this last ditch effort would afford her more time. Her heart sank as Benja reached for her child and removed her, leaving her empty. Benja turned toward Angela.

“Thank you for keeping her while I used the bathroom. Lord, it seems
that lately I can’t even do
that
in peace.” She laughed as she rocked her baby possessively in her arms.

“No problem. Hey, did you see the peach cobbler Georgette brought?”

“What? She brought peach cobbler, oh, it’s
on
.”

B
oth women began to walk away from the table. “Xenia, I’ll be right back. You wanna slice of cobbler?” she called out as she made her way to her kitchen with her sister and niece on her heels.

Xenia
splashed on a plastered smile and shook her head. “No, Thank you.”

She turned back
toward the table and surveyed the empty glasses, dirty plates with crumbs and left over cold eggs from the delicious breakfast and lunch feast they’d all enjoyed. Her gaze traveled to Saint’s plate, practically squeaky clean, minus the teethmarked cantaloupe rind he’d left. Sighing, she turned back to him and Tony. Instead of seeing him conversing and snickering, cajoling and hollering with tears of hysteria glossing his hazel eyes, she was met with an intense, heated stare. Saint’s regard beamed down upon her like a spotlight.

Feeling dazed, s
he quickly spun back around and crossed her arms over her breasts. She fixed her eyes back on the table and began to nervously fold her napkin into different shapes while her baby musings once again overcame her thoughts…

****

The drive to the babysitter’s to pick up the boys was initially fairly quiet. Saint switched gears on his new pearl white Lexus RX400x SUV, changing lanes several times until he was content with the traffic flow.

He cleared his throat and adjusted his seat as he continued to move down
California state route 42. He looked over at Xenia, who absentmindedly looked out the window, her hands busily twirling a piece of fringe from her purse that was neatly situated in the middle of her lap. She crossed her ankles and cleared her throat, still staring aimlessly out the window.

“So, we’re just going to play this game, right?” he
asked quietly as he continued to look straight ahead. “I’m supposed to continue to ignore the big pink elephant in the room?”

Xenia
looked at him and hesitated. He knew she was trying to figure out if she should play it off, or embrace the opportunity to speak her piece.

“You can’t possibly believe that I could know you like I do
.” He shot her a look then faced forward again. “And not know what is going on, right? That you could feel so strongly about something and it would just sail past me. … Honestly?”

Again, he was met with silence.

“Just like with Hassani. Here we go again…” He blew out air in frustration at her continued reserve as he approached the exit ramp.

“What do you mean, just like with Hassani?”

He detected an attitude in her tone.

“You know
exactly
what I’m talking about, Xenia. You didn’t tell me you wanted to have a baby sooner than we’d agreed on when we got married. You hid it from me and now you’re doing the same shit again. I noticed the resurgence of this,
months
ago. It started on our honeymoon. I watched you stop and look at all the little Italian babies, mainly the little girls. You kept staring and smiling at them. Then, we got back home and you about lost your mind when you found out Stacey was pregnant with a baby girl.”

“What? I didn’t lose my mind! What are you talking about, S
aint?”

“You did
.” He approached a red light and waited to turn left. “You were happy for her, but jealous at the same time. You offered to babysit immediately, even though you barely have time to breathe, and you meant it. You want that baby over at the house, you’re pre-registering and she hasn’t even been born yet. You—”

“Jealous? I wasn’t jealous!”

“Yes you were, Xenia, and just stop it, okay?” His eyebrows furrowed as he raised his hand and shot her a look. “It’s nothing to be embarrassed about. Now look, we need to have a discussion about this. I know why you didn’t want to tell me. You’re worried that with everything we both have going on, it could derail our plans. You’re scared your pregnancy could be hard on you physically, like it was with Dakarai. You’ve got your own show now that you’re running almost single-handedly and you’ve worked so hard to get here, you aren’t sure if you want to give that up just yet. Last, you’re almost forty, so you’re concerned about that, too.”

Xenia
cleared her throat and sat straighter in her seat. She pushed her purse to the floor, crossed her arms over her lap and looked out the window.

“Oh, it’s like that, huh?” He shot her a
disapproving look. “So, now what? You’re not looking at me? Not talking to me? What is it?” he asked as he began to drive again.

“Nothing. What you said is all true
,” she said between gritted teeth.

He knew that she hated that he had read her like an open book.
But he wasn’t apologetic. He didn’t want to play this game with her anymore. It was time to come clean.

“Well, would you like to hear my opinion about this?” he asked as he reached over, grabbed her hand and held it tightly.

Xenia nodded.

“Okay, my opinion is that we should go ahead and try to have another baby.”

He could feel Xenia’s excited energy immediately fill the confines of the car.

“Really?” she said, as she gripped his hand tighter. “Are you being for real?”