"I told her you would understand, but she was a mess when I left. I was going to call and tell y'all we couldn't make it but she was insistent that I come."
I nodded. "Um, I know you said she's having tests, but what about you?" I asked.
His face just shut down then and all he said was, "No."
I opened my mouth to ask him why not but he was already moving away from me. With a sigh, I followed him into the house.
"Clayton," I said.
"No, Lee." His voice was heavy and final.
"Yes, dammit!" I yelled, shoving his shoulder. "Don't you ignore me!"
The entire room went completely silent.
Clayton faced me, his eyes hot. "It's none of your business."
"Maybe not, but your wife is hurting and I know you are, too. Yet you refuse to acknowledge that the problem may not be hers. That's not going to help either of you."
"I'm not talking about this," Clayton said, disappearing into the kitchen.
I stared after him in frustration but didn't follow. He obviously wasn't going to listen to me.
D.J., trying to lighten the mood, said exactly the wrong thing, as usual. "Damn, J.J., don't knock her up again because she's just as crazy as Mom when she's pregnant."
He was lucky my mother was in the kitchen or his ears would have been ringing when she smacked him on the back of the head.
Robert, however, had to go and screw it all up even worse. "I don't think we have to worry about that. They're not even sleeping in the same bed."
The silence became total then. I don't even think anyone was breathing. I could feel all their eyes on me but no one spoke.
I lifted a hand and jabbed a finger in Robert's direction. "You shut the hell up, you asshole!"
There was a collective gasp from my brothers and Letitia because they knew what was coming.
That's right. I'd just lost my temper.
"I cannot believe that you two have the absolute fucking nerve to judge me when you haven't had the best past relationships either." I swung around toward D.J. "You are damn lucky you have Letitia and you take it for granted that she loves your thick skull as it is. And you," I said, looking at Robert again. "You made mistakes with Corey's mom and I never held it against you. Was I disappointed about your choices? Yes, but you're my brother and I love you so I never judged you. If I want to be careful in my relationship with the man I love, I'm allowed to do that without worrying about what your two cents will be! We went from a one-night stand, to friends, to married in three months. I didn't want him to feel trapped or obligated or anything else because I love him and it wouldn't be right for me to expect him to feel the same in such a short time!" The tears started then, tears of anger and frustration, and sadness, because I wasn't sure J.J. would ever feel the same about me that I did about him. "But you promised me that you wouldn't say anything about it and then you went and announced it in front of everyone, so thank you very much!" I shouted. For good measure, I grabbed one of the throw pillows from the couch and flung it at Robert's head.
Then, I left the room because I was so mad, I couldn't see straight.
I was also mortified. Humiliated.
Not by my brothers, though God knew they had the ability to embarrass me more than even my parents. No, I'd done all that myself. I'd screamed curses at my brothers in front of my in-laws, my employers, and worst of all, J.J. I'd thrown something at Robert and basically told D.J. he was a shitty husband.
Oh, and let's not forget I'd yelled out that J.J. was the man I loved more than once. After admitting we'd had a one-night stand.
What a brilliant way to begin a family gathering to celebrate my new daughter with my husband.
I stumbled into my old bedroom and shut the door behind me. Then, I collapsed on the bed and cried.
I heard the door open and the edge of the bed depress.
"I'm sorry, Mom," I sobbed. "I'm so sorry."
"I'm sure your mom will be glad to hear that," J.J. said.
I squeaked and rolled over while simultaneously scooting toward the other side of the bed. J.J. grabbed my waist, yanking me back toward him.
"Careful, you nearly fell off," he