Enemies Without a Limit

Chapter 22

Naomi stirred from her sleep. She squinted her eyes in the darkness of the room, taking a moment to register where she was. She had spent the night with Darryl and the thought brought a smile to her lips. She glanced over at the his bedside table to her left at the clock--almost three a.m. They had fallen asleep early but some time during the night they had both awakened from the loud grumbles and groans of Darryl's stomach and decided to grab a late night snack from the food she'd brought him earlier. She ate only a little, knowing that he needed the food more than she did at this point. They had talked--she told him more about Jazzy and the pregnancy and that soon enough their secret would be out. She could see that he was struggling to grasp the concept of him being a father after he lost his, but she was starting to see that he was going to accept it. He didn't mind much about their secret deal together floating to the surface, but she did. It would only be a matter of time until Miles approached her and blew everything out of proportion.

When they went back to bed, it had been hard for either of them to keep their lips and hands off each other and even though she wanted him and every nerve-ending sparked when he touched her, Naomi knew it wasn't right to continue on further. Girls in the past had taken advantage of his vulnerability, even she fell into that category, but she wasn't going to let it happen again. She had never felt closer to him--not even when they were just friends. She was glad that they finally aired out all the bad between them and even more glad that the grudge she'd been holding against him for the past two years wasn't his fault. 

She heard shuffling and thumps across the room and she noticed Darryl was seated on the other side of the bed, his back to her. "Darryl? You okay?" she mumbled from her grogginess.

He looked over his shoulder at her and gave her a weak smile, "Yeah, I'm good. You were snoring." he said with a laugh. Naomi's heart melted as she stuck her tongue out at him. Who knew I would ever love you this much? Naomi thought as she got up and brought her arms around him from behind. She knew he wouldn't want to hear those words now. Knowing him, he'd only think those words were out of pity.

"You know I don't snore." she said playfully in his ear before she grazed her teeth along it's length, until something in his hand caught her eye. In the soft ray of moonlight that shined through his window it looked like a small photograph. "What's that?" she asked curiously.

He didn't answer but he held up the picture so she could see. It was a picture of the three of them--Mr. and Mrs. Adams and Darryl--on the beach, all smiles. She looked up at Darryl's face and expected to see tears but instead his face was void of emotion. She was afraid to ask but she knew talking would only help. "You miss her a lot, don't you?" Naomi knew better than to bring up his dad. His emotions around his father were too confused for him to talk of. 

He nodded slowly, still keeping silent. She looked over the picture at Mrs. Adams. She was a beautiful woman. She hadn't noticed until now that Darryl favored his mother's looks more than his father's. For a woman who was in her mid-thirties, she looked young and vibrant. The thing Naomi loved the most about her was her enthusiasm for life. Mrs. Adams always embraced everyone and everything around her. She had one of those dazzling smiles--something special Darryl inherited from her.  "On the certificate, it said her name was Darlene. You-you were named after her?" she asked as she handed him the picture and ran her hands comfortingly along his back.

"Yea. My dad told me when I was little that when I was born, I was like a mini version of her, so they named me Darryl after her." he replied. His tone seemed distant but Naomi could see a soft smile on his lips. "He loved my mother so much that he didn't care that his first born son carried her name instead of his."

"You know, they loved you, right Darryl? Both your mom and dad loved you." Naomi assured him.

"My mom did. My dad loved my mom. That's all there is to it."