Intertwined

Chapter Fifteen

Carmine sat on the couch watching the door. She knew what was happening but refused to let it break her. Never had she walked into Bryce home during the night and he wasn't there. Never had she known him to spend the night out. She didn't know where he was but she knew he was cheating. She didn't care. She just wanted to make them work. He could have his cake and eat it too as long as she stayed the front runner. She had done her dirt enough to know one day it would come back. 

 As the sun rose higher in the sky she realized he wasn't coming home. She showered and dressed and headed to the office. Bryce was in the office at his desk going through a pile of documents. He saw her and smiled. He lifted a brown paper bag she knew contained breakfast. She smiled back. She wondered if her paranoia was getting the best of her. "good morning my beautiful queen. I thought you could use some breakfast and coffee. Its going to be a very long day after what happened at the fundraiser." He kissed her. He didn't smell suspicious. He wasn't freshly showered but he also didn't smell like he had been having sex.

Carmine couldn't tolerate the smell of the coffee it was flipping her stomach completely. It brought her back to why she went to his house the previous night. "Baby we need to talk." She wasn't sure how it was going to go. A couple of days before it would have went great but after Saturday she wasn't sure. She closed his door and pulled the shades closed. She went into her purse and pulled out a card she had purchased to celebrate the mood.

Bryce took the envelope and opened it. He smiled at the congrats and balloons on the outside. He opened it and the square photo fell out. He picked it up and examined it. He continued to smile. That put Carmine at ease. "Baby we having a baby?" he asked as if the proof wasn't right in his face. Carmine smiled back. "Yes baby. I found out yesterday. I was at Scar house and kept getting sick. She kept getting sick too. Rod took us to the hospital. Surprise I'm 5 weeks pregnant." Carmine was truly happy. She wished she was married and then having a child but after being pregnant and losing her baby she really wanted a child of her own.

"I cant believe this is happening to me. My life is truly coming together. You know I want it all the career and the family. You really just made my day babe." He kissed her a couple times before looking at the photo again. His smile was bright as the sun. "I cant wait to tell my parents." Nervousness set in. She had met his parents a couple times at events. They hadn't gotten to know each other much but she could tell they were old school. Whatever they thought of her before she was sure they would think she was some hoochie momma trying to trap their son. "Babe can we wait a while before we start telling people. My last pregnancy didn't go full term and I am a little nervous." He said yes. He held her and kissed her. Carmine felt the love he had for her as he laid her back on his desk and made love to her.

They freshened up and tackled their day. "Assemblyman Allen's office. This is Carmine. How may I help you this wonderful evening? Carmine answered as she checked the wall clock. She should be home about to take a bath and go to bed. "Good evening can you connect me to the assemblyman?" Carmine recognized Ruby's voice. She wasn't even in the mood to play games. "Please hold." She rang Bryce's line. "Mr. Allen its Ruby on line two." She was way too hungry and way too tired to try to run interference. "Take a message my love. I am sending out this last email and then we are out the door." Carmine rolled her eyes knowing Ruby was about to sap whatever energy she had left.

"Thanks for holding. Assemblyman Allen is currently unavailable. He asked that I take a message." Carmine waited as Ruby huffed and puffed into the phone. "Can you tell him its Ruby and I need to talk to him now. It is very important. Id rather not leave it in a message." Carmine was tempted to just send the call through. "Mr Allen, Ruby asked that I tell you it is her calling and she need to talk to you now. It is very important." Carmine prepared to transfer the call over. "Please inform Ruby of my office hours and tell her she can call back within those hours and I will be glad to help her. I'm trying to get out of the office." Carmine rolled her eyes. Never had she played telephone so much. "Ruby, Mr. Allen said he is trying to get out of the office. He requested that you call him back between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m." Carmine was at the end of her patience. "but I..." Carmine didn't even allow her to continue. Thank you for calling assemblyman Allen's office. Have a wonderful and blessed day." Carmine hung up the call and put the away greeting on.

"Baby I think we should move in together. I don't want to miss a day of this pregnancy." Bryce rubbed her toes as they sat in the back seat of a town car heading to his house. "I think we should take things a day at a time. I am really afraid of losing my baby. I don't want to make all these major lifestyle changes and then something goes wrong and you regret any of those changes." She looked at him searching his eyes for what he was really feeling.

"Babe when is the last time you slept in your apartment?" Carmine had to put some thought into it. She barely slept at her place since she and Bryce first started dating. "I know but spending many nights and moving in isn't the same thing. I'll think about it." He smiled. Although Carmine focused on the conversation at hand she hadn't missed the way his phone vibrated in his pocket almost the entire way back to his place. She realized it was time for he to be more vigilant about what was going on right in her face. His phone hadn't been going crazy and it was rare that he ignored a call. Spending the night out and now ignoring calls. She was definitely creating a mental folder of all suspicious behavior.

As much as Carmine loved her job come morning she just couldn't bring herself to go. Her breast were aching so bad, she was extremely queasy and beyond fatigued. She tried to pull herself together but it was a mission impossible situation. "Baby call the temp agency. Have them send someone over and take the day off please. I wish I could stay home with you but I have 2 community board meetings and a speaking engagement at a youth enrichment seminar. As soon as I am done I will be home baby. I will be checking on you thru the day. If it gets really bad just text me 9-1-1 and I will drop everything and come home." Carmine kissed Bryce on his way out the door.

He made her feel everything she wished to feel during her first pregnancy. You don't know what you are missing until you have it. She used to be so glad for Rod's attention that she didn't care about anything else. She didn't realize that he wasn't treating her like a priority until that moment when she watched Bryce prioritize her and her well being as much as he could. All of her motives may not have been the most pure when it came to Bryce but she did love him. She was in love with him. Even if he didn't become the next barrack Obama she would still choose him.