Let's Pretend We're Numb

Ch. 9

Jasmine

I'm laying down in bed next to Jaiden and suddenly it's a knock at the door. I get up and open it automatically, Jahseh strolls in with our bags on a bellhop. I smiled, closing the door and taking off my bag.

"Thanks Jah." He smiled back and takes his stuff off. I sigh and unload my stuff in the drawers for the dresser and then do Jaiden's clothes. After I'm done, I go to lay back down, but another knock on the door stops me and Stoke bust in.

"Jasmine, you got to learn how to close these doors all the way. Get Jai up, we're going swimming!" I giggle and rub Jaiden's back lightly.

Jaiden does NOT like to be woken up.

"Jai, baby. We're here." He twitched and starts to whine. I frown as he sits up and starts crying. Stoke puts his hands up in surrender and backs out of the room. I groan and Jah walks over, bending down in front of him.

"Aye, jit. We don't cry like babies, we're big boys. You understand?" Jaiden rubs his eyes and nods.

"Yes daddy." Jahseh nods once and ruffles his hair.

"Aight, now c'mon so we can go swimming." Jaiden smiles widely and jumps up.

"We're going swimming!?" We both nod and he starts to jump on the bed. I giggle and point to the bathroom.

"I'm gonna go get ready." Jahseh nods and I grab my bag, going in the bathroom.

                                         ~•~

We all our ready, since Jahseh got himself and Jaiden ready in the room while I was in the bathroom. I have my hair in a high bun and my deep red two piece bikini. We walk out of our room, I make sure to close the door the right way and Stoke, Desiree and Sierra are already out of their room.

"Bout time y'all finished." Stoke groans and I pick up Jaiden.

"Shut the hell up, Stoke. Alright y'all, let's go swimming!" We all take the elevator down and walk over to the pool in the back. We get let in and I go straight over to get a life jacket and arm floats. I sit Jaiden on a lounge chair and put all of his stuff on. I smiled and kissed his cheek.

"Ready Jai?" He nods happily and I take his hand, walking him over to the pool. Jahseh is already in with everyone and Desiree smiled at me.

"Jasmine! Give Jaiden to Jahseh so you can get in already!" I smiled and put up a finger. I undo my cover up and sit it on the lounge with the rest of our stuff. I turn walking towards the steps and I hear whistling and howling. I look up to see Desiree, Jah and Stoke looking at me.

"Damn girl, you look good! You don't even look like you had a baby!" Desiree cheers. I blush furiously and put Jaiden on my hip, walking down the steps. He squeals when the water gets to his legs and everyone laughs. He tightens his little arms around my neck and whimpers.

"Mommy... Mommy." I smiled and kissed his cheek.

"Jai baby, it's okay. Look, this is the highest it's gonna get." He lets go and looks around. He leans down and starts splashing the water wildly. I smiled and Jah laughs swimming over towards us.

"You wanna learn how to swim jit?" Jaiden nods and reached for Jahseh. But being the scared kid he is, he brings me closer to Jahseh and soon we're chest to chest. I giggled.

"Jai, you can let go of me now. Daddy's right here." He then lets go and clings onto Jahseh. He laughs and winks at me.

"Go on and enjoy yourself, Jasmine. I got Jai." I smiled and touched his shoulder.

"Thanks Jahbear." I giggled. He playfully roll his eyes and I swim off towards Desiree. She turns and smiled at me.

"Hey girl!" I smiled at her.

"Hey." She goes to say something, but I get pulled underwater without warning. I shriek, before my breath is replaced by water. I quickly resurface and cough on water. Stoke laughs and I smack his arm.

"You motherfucker! You almost drowned me!" I shriek. He laughs again and grabs me around the waist.

"Babygirl, I wouldn't let you drown. You know that." He winks at me and I rolled my eyes. His fingers trail down my back and I shiver reflexively. He smirks.

"Jasmine, did you just get affected by my magic touch?" He whispers and I frown, smacking his arm again.

"Nah nigga, it was a reflex!" I shake my head. He smiled and leans in so his forehead is touching mine.

"Remember in high school when I use to pick up your books for you when you were all fat and pregnant?" He asked. I gasp, feigning hurt.

"FAT!?" He frowns and I giggled. "I'm just playing, but yeah..."

He smiled. "Well, I use to do it cause I had a thing for you back then."

I smiled and tilt my head to the side. "Awww, you had a crush on the pregnant girl!"

I poke his nose and he laughs, scratching his head. "Shut up, but nah for real , did you ever have a thing for me too?"

I smiled and nod. "Of course I did, Stoke. You were so cute, funny and a sweetheart."

He smiled and leaned in closer. "What about now?"

I stare at him seriously and he looks down at my lips. I hold my breath as he leans in and I blurt out an excuse.

"I-I need to go get Jaiden from Jah." I wiggle out of his hold and trot away the fastest I can in water. I breathe heavily and make my way towards Jah. I float over by him and he turns to me with a hard look on.

"Hey, need some help?" I asked, smiling. He glanced at Stoke and I glanced over too. Him and Stoke are having some kind of 'If looks can kill' stare down. I touch his arm and he looks down at me and smiled.

"Yeah. I appreciate it, Jasmine." He leans down and pressed his lips to my ear. I feel a blush creeping on my face and I look down.

"No problem..." We both spend awhile teaching Jaiden how to float and paddle. Desiree dooms comes over and smiled at us.

"Aww. Can I please swim with him?" Me and Jahseh smiled.

"Yeah, sure. C'mon Jasmine." He hands Jaiden to Desiree and grabs my hand, pulling me forward with him. I give him a look and I don't realize he pulled us to the deep in, until I start sinking. I shriek loudly and throw my arms around his neck.

"NO, JAH! TAKE ME BACK TO 5 FEET!" He laughs in my ear and wraps his arms around my waist.

"Jasmine, chill. I got you." I whimper and look around and down at the water. I can see the bottom and it's so far down. I start to feel dizzy.

"I can't do this shit." He rubs my back and kicks his feet underneath us.

"Jasmine, I got you. I promise. Let's talk to get your mind off of things." I nod slowly and pull away a little to look at his face. I stare into his eyes and he smiled softly. We talk about any and everything. I soon find myself laughing and basically flirting with Jah.

"Do you even remember that night clearly?" He asked. I blushed.

"Every single part..." I smiled and he smiled back.

"Yeah, me too. I just wasn't thinking enough to put on a condom... I'm sorry shorty." He smiled softly. I kissed his cheek and giggled.

"I forgive you Jah, but it's a little too late for sorry." I nod my head towards Jaiden and Desiree splashing Stoke. We laugh and he nods.

"Right." I shake my head and he intensely stares at me.

I can't break the eye contact. I can't stop Jah from leaning in towards my face... and I can't stop myself from leaning in too....