Trapping His Monster

2. Queen!

Tamera asked for us to meet her at her house. Her kids had just left and were both heading south for a family reunion Tamera said she wasn't attending. I was excited to finally see Abby again. I'd heard her girls were back from military school and basic training. They would be leaving again after the new year to complete their advanced individual training. I was going to spoil them before they were due to leave.

"Hey, girlie," Tamera said as soon as I stepped foot in her house. "How you been?"

"Good. Kinda wish I'd said I'd meet you guys some other time." I yawned. "I didn't fall asleep until three and woke up earlier than usual. Théo doesn't sleep well in new places. Where's Abby?"

"She's not here yet. Meline and Bianca took her out for breakfast."

"Aw, I can't wait to see them. I feel like it's been forever."

"Because it has been forever. When you left, they were still in military school. They just barely finished basic training."

"I'm glad they're getting the rest they need. I'm sure they don't need someone shouting at them for the remainder of the year." I sat down and sighed.

Tamera smiled. "I didn't want to say it, but I noticed you had a little accent."

"What do you mean? I've always had an accent."

"No, it's a bit...different."

"Huh..."

"Those three years did something to you, Queen." She chuckled. "I think--"

"It's dumb," I interrupted.

"..Cute. I've always thought you'd be cute with an English accent. Derek probably thinks so."

"That's because Derek likes when I sound like him."

Tamera laughed and came to sit by me. She probably knew what I really was thinking. I had been trying to ignore how I'd adopted a new accent over the past year. Derek hadn't said anything about it. I knew the reason why.

"Keke, you'll have your own accent--"

"Guess who, queens?" Abby crowed as she threw the front door open. Tamera sighed, but laughed at our friend's loud entrance. Her girls were right behind her, giggling like they were getting used to her wild side again.

"Auntie Kera!" Bianca exclaimed and waved.

"Auntie Tamera!" Meline popped from behind her sister.

Tamera and I shot up from the couch to hug them. They both were in their uniforms and looked really important. They engulfed us and we all squealed like teenage girls. Abby cleared her throat and crossed her arms. I turned to her and smiled.

"Queen!" I yelled and pulled her into a tight hug. "How have you been, girl?"

"How have you been?" Abby asked and pulled back from me. "What's up with the weirdly...sexy accent?" Her voice dropped a bit when she said it.

"...England happened," I muttered. "Derek knows how to hide his."

"Queen, you'll get your sweet accent back. You'll say something one day and this one will be gone."

"Yeah," Tamera agreed. "It probably won't take long."

I sighed and decided to change the subject. If we said anything more about my new accent, they'd probably want to know about Derek. I wasn't ready to spend the afternoon talking about how amazing he is. I mean, I could, but I wanted to know about them.

"Hey, Abby?" I said. "How's Marcus? The last time I asked about him, you said some pretty foul things."

"He's perfectly fine," she said. "I told him the moment he married me that if he tried to get me to be friendly with Sha'Kayla, I'd file for a divorce. Don't care how serious he's being."