Back To Life

Chapter 13

Chapter 13

"Cheri? She okay?" Happy asks. "Yeah. Physically she's fine. But she's worried about you man." Juice tells him. "I know. I told her she don't have to worry about me." Happy says. "Yeah but she is man. She don't want you being alone and I know you won't be with anyone else because you're in love with her." Juice says and Happy lowers his head. "Hey. I get it man. You spent four years basically being her Old Man. I owe you huge man. You knew I was alive and respected me and her enough to not make any advances on her. You just supported her. I can never repay you for that man." Juice says and Happy says "Club or not, you're my brother. You would never turn your back on me and neither would she. I wasn't about to do that to either of you." Happy says. "I know. Which is why I want to talk to you about something." Juice says. "What's that brother?" Happy asks. "Like I said, I know you won't ever settle down because you love Cheri too much, and that's fine. But she won't stop worrying about you being alone so I think I might have a solution if you're open to it." Juice says and Happy looks at him and says "I'm listening." Juice takes a deep breath and says "When I tell you this, I want you to hear me out. I've been thinking about this since I came back so this is not something I have just thought about. I've put a lot of thought into this." Juice says and Happy nods. "I love Cheri. More than anything and I know that you do too. I know she loves me and I know that she's loyal to me but I know she has that same love and loyalty to you too and I'm good with that brother. I welcome it. I have no doubt in my mind about her love and loyalty to me and I know you don't have any doubt either. I want to talk to her about being with both of us." Juice says and Happy looks at him shocked. "Both of us? Are you sure about this brother?" Happy asks. "Just hear me out. We both love her. We both take care of her and she loves and takes care of us. We've both basically been her Old Men. There's nothing wrong with her being essentially married to both of us. We all live here together. No secrets. We both get alone time with her but we are all three one big family. We raise any kids we have together." Juice says. "And you're good with this?" Happy asks. "Yeah. I am. Like I said. It's something I've been thinking about for a while. Happy, you will never love anyone like you do Cheri. And she will never love anyone like she does us. I don't want her feeling like she's doing something wrong by being there for you. But if we are all in this together, we all get what we want. I get a wife that's not stressed, you get the woman you love and she gets both of us without the guilt or the stress that she's doing something wrong." Juice says. "If you're sure about this man but if you ever change your mind, I'll step back." Happy says. "No changing my mind." Juice says and hands Happy a small bag. "I want her to give this to you and make it as official as we can." Juice tells Happy as he looks at the wedding band that Juice handed him. "What about her?" Happy asks. "We'll talk to her about it in the morning." Juice says. "Are you with us?" Juice asks. "You're sure about this?" Happy asks. "110% man." Juice assures him. They shake hands and Happy says "Then I'm in."

I wake up the next morning and I don't remember Juice ever coming to bed. Before I open my eyes, I just lay there. I feel Juice behind me with his arms around me but then I feel my hand being held. I open my eyes and see Happy laying on his back, holding my hand on his chest over his heart like he used to when he would sleep next to me, helping me sleep. I move a little and both of them start to stir. I pull my hand from Happy's and when I see both of them awake, I ask "What's going on?" Juice sits up and me and Happy sit up with him. Getting our bearings, we all lean against the headboard. "Let's get some coffee. Happy and I want to talk to you about something." Juice says and I look at him confused. "It's a good thing babe." he tells me before kissing me softly. Happy looks at me and kisses my cheek before saying "We'll be in the kitchen babe." They get up and throw on their sweatpants and head into the kitchen to start the coffee and all I can think is 'what the fuck?'

I walk into the kitchen and Juice hands me a coffee. I sit at the table and they sit on each side of me. "After you went to bed last night, Happy and I had a talk. I know you're stressing about how close you and Happy are and if it's going to cause us problems. I don't want you to stress about that. I also know you're worried about Happy being alone and knowing he will never settle down. But we think we have a solution." Juice says. Happy places the velvet bag in front of me and I pour the contents out into my hand, seeing a wedding ring to match the ones that Juice and I wear. "I don't understand." I say even more confused. Juice starts explaining. "Look, I love you. Happy loves you. You've already proven how much you love me and how loyal you are to me but I know you love Happy and you're loyal to him too." he tells me and I look down at my hands. "I'm sorry." I tell Juice and then I look at him and say "I never cheated. I promise I didn't." I tell him. "I know babe. I know you didn't and I know Happy never pursued you. I'm not mad. Just the opposite actually. You both have shown me nothing but love and loyalty and now it's my turn to show it back. Babe, I told you before that Happy is a part of this family. I just want to make that official." he tells me as he motions towards the wedding ring. "What are you suggesting?" I ask. "Be married to both of us. Any kids we have will be raised together. This way, you aren't stressing about how close you and Happy are, you won't stress about him being alone and you won't feel guilty about the feelings you have. You were basically with him for four years. He was the one that was there for you, being your Old Man when I couldn't. Baby, all we're doing is acknowledging what was already there." he tells me. "Are you sure about this Juice?" I ask. "I've been thinking about it for a while now. Yes. I'm sure." Juice tells me. I look at Happy and before I ask, he says "I'm sure too babe." I look at both men and ask "What now?" Juice hands me the ring that I placed on the table and says "Now you put the wedding ring on your other husband's hand and make this official." I take the ring and before I can say anything else, Juice kisses me softly and says "We're both sure." I look at Happy and take a deep breath before putting the ring on his left ring finger. He cups my face and says "I love you baby." I whisper "I love you too." Before he places his lips to mine and kisses me softly. He deepens the kiss just a little and when we separate, Juice looks at me and smiles wide and leans in to kiss me just as deeply. When we separate, I look at both men and am just still in shock that I am now married to both men. I take another deep breath and look at my hands holding theirs and all I can do is smile and I feel all the stress rolling off of me now that almost all of my fears have been resolved.