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thirty-six: glitter (bonus chapter)

X A V I E R

CHAPTER 36: "GLITTER"

Song: Summer by The Carter's

The evening after the wedding...

"Are we really going to leave Mae with your sister though?" Xavier asked as he picked up his shirt and folded it into his bag. Finally, the honeymoon. Xavier had done it - he had married the woman he loved. The wedding wasn't what other people wanted; it was completely right for them. It was what they wanted.

Getting married in Mauritius was one thing but having a piece of them be an amazing aspect to the celebration made it ten times more special. Mae's smile acted like a neon light, glimmering over everyone's expensive clothing that was bought for the occasion.

Although Jelani had made up with her parents and attempted to forget about everything, they did to her - she and Xavier had a long conversation about why it was a bad idea to invite them to the wedding. They shared a strong decision to celebrate the people that helped them work on their relationship. Over the past five years, their separate friend groups meddled into one, healthy and close-bonded friendship. The wedding consisted of the two lovers as well as their hyperactive daughter and their four friends: Fairy, Verity, Khadijah, and Jerry.

Jelani smiled at her husband, who stood over his suitcase and felt a deep pit of heat build-up in her heart. Multiple times she questioned how she got so lucky to have him there with her. Therapy had become a big feature for all the friends - they all attended therapy because they saw the importance of it. "I'm thinking..." Jelani started, "maybe we could all go out for a small trip, with Mae, and then go on our own trip."

Xavier looked up, smiling, his hair - still quite long - falling onto his face. "Like a trip with everyone?" he asked. Jelani bit her lip down, "I don't know, it's all just super crazy...we should have one of those 'one-last-hoorah' moments. You and I, our baby girl. Our best friends... everyone."

Being Xavier, he crawled over all of Jelani's neat piles of clothes to kiss her warmly. Her bottom lip was clasped in between his beautiful plump lips that she could look at forever. With his fully tattooed finger, he caressed the gentle surface of her arm (which had a newly added flower tattoo). "Fuck, I love you," he grunted in between kisses. Jelani giggled into the fiery kiss and opened her eyes to see his eternal brown gaze fixated on her. "I love you," she said, it sounded like a brag, but she didn't care. Xavier picked her frame up and placed her on the bed along with the piles of clothes. "Xavier," she whined as she heard the sound of falling articles. "I don't care," he muttered as his kiss lowered to her neck, making her whimper lightly. She attempted to push him off because they had been procrastinating for the longest time and nothing had been done. "Our daughter is downstairs with our friends, baby," she whined, holding his hand and bringing it up to her lips to kiss it. "Just a quickie - to give you a little preview of what it's going to be like on the night of our honeymoon," he said rubbing her thigh in circles. Jelani was still in her bikini - a trigger for Xavier as he could not keep his hands off her. "No, you idiot," she giggled as he graciously sucked on her brown skin.

"The shower?" he suggested. Tempting, Lani thought as she kissed his cheeks. She wanted to kiss him in every place imaginable. Which she had - but the urge to do it as a routine made her continue kissing him. "Baby number two?" he joked, until he actually thought about it...another baby - with his wife. This time: prepared for and expected? Sounded like a fucking dream. "You're actually joking," Jelani paused. Xavier knew that the same thoughts had been running in her head too. At that point, they had been together for five years. "Was I joking?" he said, staring deep into her eyes. "I don't know..." Lani dragged. For a moment, they worked out what it meant to have another baby. Their conversation had escalated to talking about a sibling for their three-year-old daughter. "I say: let's just see," he smiled. Lani smiled too and placed a kiss onto him again, another one and another one. That's definitely what she needed.