Regina emerged from her room draped in multiple layers of clothing and yet she appeared to still be shivering. She heard a laugh which caused her to raise her head to catch her daughter's shoulders shaking in mirth.
"Herh, Aba, this coldness is not a joke."
"Ma, you should have told me, Jace would have turned the heater on today. The temperatures have weirdly dropped." Her mother frowned at the suggestion.
"Eh, take a picture of me in the broni's clothes." Millicent chuckled and picked up her phone, taking a picture of her mother.
"Jace Kwaku Asante Elrod!" Anthony, who sat next to Millicent and was chatting with her, startled at his wife's voice. "I told you that it was for Millicent. Now put it down and send it to her."
Millicent hid a smile knowing that the fight was over food.
"He always gets into trouble with food and you would think he would learn better." Anthony muttered to which Millicent snickered. She supported her protruded tummy by securing her hand at her back before walking to her mother who was slightly shivering to set her jacket right and an additional layer of fur cover over her. It was a little early in March and the temperatures had dropped considerably in New York where they had stopped by to spend the past month at a villa the family owned. It was different from the warmth that California provided them. They had held her grandmother's funeral before she had worked on the transfer to work in the US with Jace.
"Okay, stand this way." Millicent smiled in humor when her mother did a completely different pose than she had been told. "No the other way."
"Oh leave me and let me do my thing. You think you young people are the only ones that have swag. Give me my two." Regina lifted two fingers to complement the pose as she had seen a lot of the younger generation do.
Millicent choked on a laugh and she heard Anthony let out a breathy laugh. Behind her he was correcting Regina to lift her index finger instead of her middle finger being paired with her ring finger. Millicent peeked back when her mother seemed to fidget while trying to follow the instructions of someone else and she turned to see Anthony's fingers wiggling. Unable to control her amusement, she slightly bent over and doubled in laughter.
"I hear laughter." She heard Jace's slightly amused voice but that took a noticeable turn when he saw his wife standing instead of relaxing.
"Little M, why are you standing? You are supposed to be resting which is why we are in this getaway villa." He could feel the frown before it started to form. Her dark brows contoured on her face and they made it look like her eyes had pushed up beyond their bounds. Her eyes blazed and Anthony shook his head with a smile while rising to go find his own wife.
"I am perfectly fine Jace. I've been resting for the past month and that is boring. I love your massage though." His face flashed with a smile when she added the last sentence after a moment of thought. He normally wouldn't tell her what to do but she would be due any moment.
"Ah love is sweet but my dear Jace, a mother is the strongest person in the world." Regina reminded him. She would have been worried but it was true that Millicent had been in bed for a good amount of the previous month and she needed to work her muscles a little now that she would be delivering any day from the present.
Millicent's face scrunched up as the sudden pain that had been hitting her since morning increased in intensity. Jace who was watching her rushed to her side at the look on her face and gently grabbed onto her.
"What's wrong, love?" She tried to speak but a sharper wave of pain hit her and this time she did scream. Footsteps rushed from all around her and multiple worried looks were in her face though the two mothers seemed calmer than the men.
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Bands of the Unpaid Dowry
RomanceMillicent Arthur has always been the dutiful daughter, sandwiched between two older brothers and under constant "guidance" from her marriage-focused mother. Coming of age, for Millicent, is less about self-discovery and more about dodging family pr...