Truth is beautiful, without a doubt. But so are lies. Emerson
For the fifth time in a week, Kacie couldn’t muster up an appetite, not even for Coco Puffs, which had been her all time favorite cereal since she was a little girl. The very thought of milk and cereal sent her to the bathroom heaving. Having given birth to six children, she didn’t have to go to a doctor, or run to the drugstore for a pregnancy test. There was no doubt about it. She was pregnant. Kacie freshened up, and when her stomach settled, she drank an ice cold glass of orange pineapple juice. Sitting alone at the kitchen table, Kacie stared outside at the orange and gold leaves as they fell to the ground. The sight was beautiful to her. The leaves fell gently, one by one; some two by two. Kacie folded her arms inside each other and hugged herself like she was warding off the cool wind blowing through the trees in the front yard.
Standing, she retreated to the living room and started picking up behind the kids. Kacie paused a moment and massaged her belly. Looking down, she smiled at the idea of giving birth to the child of the man she loved – the man God had finally sent her way. “You’re going to have a wonderful daddy,” she whispered. “And unlike the rest of the bums I’ve had in my life, this time, everything is going to be different. I wouldn’t be surprised if your daddy asks me to marry him.” She drew back into the living room and leaned against the spotless wall. She turned with a start when the phone rang.
“Speak of the devil,” she said when she looked at the caller ID, then down at her tummy. It was Deacon. Kacie beamed with joy.
“Good morning, beautiful.” The voice on the other end of the phone forced her to smile.
She loved Deacon. The four and a half months they had been seeing each other seemed like a lifetime to Kacie. It was like she’d known him all of her life. Except for the times like yesterday, when Deacon seemed like he’d fallen off the face of the earth, their relationship was good. Maybe he didn’t tell her he loved her like she told him, but Kacie believed he did. “Actions speak louder than words,” Layla reminded her from time to time. Kacie retained Layla’s words in her mind to retrieve whenever Deacon didn’t call or when she wanted to hear him say those three special words.
“Deacon, honey. I’ve been so worried. You weren’t at church yesterday, and you didn’t answer my calls. Are you okay?” Kacie asked with grave concern.
“What have I told you about getting yourself all in a tizzy when you don’t hear from me everyday? I got called out of town at the last minute late Saturday evening after we talked. You know how those trips can be. Quick, exhausting, and definitely spur of the moment. I’m sorry. I wanted to call you, but I was up half the night with a client trying to kiss up to him so he would sign a contract with our company. It was late by the time I convinced him to sign on the dotted line, and I was exhausted. I didn’t make it back to Memphis until after midnight. I wasn’t about to wake you up then, knowing you had to get up early yourself to get your kids off to school.”
Kacie exhaled. “I was so worried. When I talked to you Saturday, you said you were going to see me at church. I just started going out of my mind thinking all kind of crazy thoughts when I didn’t see you. I forgot how your job keeps you on call twenty-four-seven.”
“Well, now that that’s settled, how’s my favorite girl doing?” he asked.
“Perfect now that I’m talking to my favorite guy,” she answered. Kacie walked around the sofa where she spotted one of the boys’ wrestling figures on the floor.
“I was thinking about coming by before going to the office this morning. You up to seeing me?”
“Do you have to ask?” Kacie sat on the back of the sofa.
“Do you want me to stop somewhere and grab you a sandwich?” Little thoughtful things like that is what made Kacie adore Deacon. He was such a considerate man.
“No, I’m not hungry this morning. I just want you. You’ll be my breakfast,” she crooned into the phone.
“Hey, hey, I like that. I’ll see you in about ten minutes, love.”
Kacie hurried through the house, making haste to pick up around her already clean home. Except for the wrestling figure she’d found, everything else remained in perfect place. From the crisp, freshly washed and ironed window treatments in each room, to the dust free blinds plantation blinds and shining waxed and hardwood floors. Next, she took a bird bath, just to make sure her body was fresh. It didn’t matter that she’d already taken a morning shower right after the kids left for school. Like usual, Keshena was still asleep and would be for at least another hour.
Kacie slipped into a pair of crystal blue leggings and an oversized matching top. Not a minute too soon, because she heard Deacon’s key turning in the door leading from the garage into the hallway. Deacon rushed up behind Kacie and swooped her off her feet until she faced his stare. “Umph, umph, umph. You are drop dead gorgeous. You know that?” He smothered her in kisses starting with her ear and whispered a string of sexual innuendos while he continued to embrace her and sit her down on the sofa.
It didn’t take long for the couple’s need for satisfaction to take over. Their eyes met, their breath grew louder and heavier, and Deacon made himself more familiar with the one underneath his weight. Sounds of passion traveled through the vents and up and down the hallway of the house. Enjoying to the fullest Deacon’s expert lovemaking, Kacie had no doubt that he would be in seventh heaven when she told him the news.
Holding her against his sweaty, spent body on the narrow black printed sofa, Deacon nibbled on her ear until Kacie eased back as much as she could. “Come on, let’s take a bubble bath.” She jumped up and giggled while running through the house in her birthday suit. Deacon lay back for a few minutes until his strength returned.
“Come on,” Kacie yelled from the back bedroom.
“Hold it down, woman, before you wake up Keshena,” Deacon answered back and strode his lean, chiseled body to Kacie’s bedroom. She gasped at the sign of his returning desire. “Uh-ah. Not until you get in this bath.
“So it’s like that, huh?”
“Yep, certainly is.” She stood at the side of the master bath and stretched out her hand. Deacon followed. He patted her on the butt, and Kacie squealed.
Soaping each other down in the garden tub, Kacie turned, then laid her braided hair against Deacon’s chest. “I have some good news,” she said, feeling like she was in seventh heaven.
“Umm,” he moaned softly as his body pressed against the small of her lower back.
“Deacon, you know I love you, right?” she said in a serious voice, but without turning around to face him.
“Uh-oh, sounds like an episode from the Maury Show. But yeah, I know you love me, sweetness. What’s up? Where is all of this gooey stuff coming from?”
“I know you haven’t told me that you love me, but you do, don’t you?” For just a while, Kacie was afraid of what Deacon’s answer might be. She shifted slightly and titled her head back so she could see Deacon’s expression.
“Sure, you know that goes without saying. I’m not big on words. I like to show you how I feel about you. And I thought I did just that.”
“Baby, of course you do. You’ve shown me in the most special way a man can. And a woman for that matter.”
“What are you talking about?” Deacon sat up slightly in the tub and swung her around so he could see Kacie’s face like he was sizing her up. A spot of soap was on her check and on her forehead. He grinned, and then kissed the soap off of her jaw.
Kacie took hold of his free hand. It was massive. He eased the other one under the warm bubbling water, almost taking her mind off what she was about to tell him. A gentle, low moan pierced her lips and she bit her bottom lip lightly and twisted her butt against the soapy tub surface. Barely able to speak, she managed to say, “Deacon, baby,” again she moaned. There was no turning back. Deacon had her where he wanted her. She was under his spell, and until she released her desire, there would be no use in trying to tell Deacon anything.
Stepping out of the tub, Deacon grabbed the bath towel and began drying off while Kacie followed and did the same. Deacon had a way of getting her to succumb to him. When she was with him, she got a thrill. She lost control, and her world was all about the man she loved. But nevertheless, Kacie understood that she had to find a way to tell him about their love child.
“I’m going to the office,” Deacon told her after he finished dressing. I have a meeting at ten this morning, and then an afternoon meeting with some prospective clients. I won’t get a chance to talk to you until later this evening, so don’t go worrying about me. He pecked a robed Kacie on her wet hair, then her lips.
He leaned against the bedroom door frame and looked at her intently. “Hey, you all right?” he asked her.
Pausing at first, Kacie thought she ought to just come right out and tell him. But on second thought hesitated, believing that it wouldn’t be such a good idea to share such a personal thing with him when he was on his way to an important meeting. No, she had plenty of time to tell him.
“Yes, I’m fine. I’m just drained. You do me good, Deacon,” she moaned and kissed him at the door. “You do me real good. Now get to work. Call me when you can,” she said through a yawn.
“You get you some sleep, precious. Sweet daddy will talk to you later.” He straightened his camel colored three button Italian wool suit that seemed formed for his perfect body.
Kacie’s cheeks turned colors. “I will, but only if you leave now before I pull you back inside of here and strip you out of that suit, boy.”
“I can’t let that happen, you’ll get me fired. Look, for real, I’m outta here.” Deacon strolled in his sexy stride until he reached his car. Kacie stood in the door until she saw his car take off and race out of sight. Touching her stomach, she caressed it again. “Don’t worry. Momma’s got everything under control. Don’t you worry about a thing.” Kacie turned, closed the security door behind her and went to take Deacon’s advice. She slept until an hour or so later, when Keshena stood in her crib and began to cry to get out of it.
The remainder of Kacie’s day was great. She’d been with the man she loved and everything for now was good in her world. She busied herself cleaning the house. She was going to work for four hours today, so she prepared the kids a light meal for them to have when they got home from school.
Afternoon came quickly. The kids came in from school, and Kacie passed off Keshena to Kassandra. “Y’all be sure to get your homework done. Dinner’s on the stove, and remember, no cooking unless it’s something you’re warming up in the microwave. I should be back home by 9:30 tonight. Bye now,” she told them and hugged them one by one.
Her cell phone rang just as soon as she got in her car and backed out of the driveway. “Hello.”
“Hey, I just called you at home, but no one answered.”
“I know. I was so glad to see you this morning that I forgot to tell you I had to work this evening. I’m on my way there now.”
“And the kids?”
“Deacon, you know the kids aren’t allowed to answer the phone when I’m not there, unless they look on the caller ID and see that it’s me.”
“I know that, but I’m talking about them being at home by themselves.”
“My kids are trained. They know what to do. I cannot afford to pay three hundred bucks a week for someone to keep my kids for a few hours a day. It’s ridiculous, highway robbery. They know how to call me on my cell phone, and I work only five minutes from home. So now that we have that understood, tell me the real reason you called.”
“I just got hold to some tickets.”
“Tickets? What kind of tickets?” Kacie asked as she made the turn into the store’s parking lot where she worked.
“A stage play. It’s this Friday night. Do you want to go with me?”
“A play? What kind of play?” Kacie asked.
“I heard it’s an outstanding Christian themed play made from a novel.
“Oh, yeah, I think I’ve seen previews about it on television. It does look like it’s going to be good. I’d love to go.” Kacie’s voice rang with pure excitement.
“Great.” Deacon sent a kissing sound to her through the phone. “Let me get back to work. Remember I have a trustee’s meeting at church tonight. Say a prayer for me. I think Pastor may talk about inducting me as one of the trustees. One of the other deacons gave me a heads up.” Deacon sat on the edge of his desk.
“Wow! That would be great, honey. You’ve been committed to Cummings Street a long time, and you deserve the position.” Kacie suddenly started laughing uncontrollably.
“What’s so funny?” Deacon asked.
“I was just thinking. What are they going to call you? Your name is already Deacon.” She continued laughing. “I guess they’ll say Trustee Deacon Riggs.”
Deacon laughed too. “You are too silly. I'm glad I have you in my corner.” His voice revealed surety and confidence. “Bye-bye.”
“Deacon, hold up,” Kacie nervously said.
“What is it, baby?”
“I, I’d like to talk to you about something. But it can wait until we talk later.”
“Okay, but I may not talk to you tonight, so don’t get bent out of shape. I don’t know how long tonight’s meeting is going to last.”
“Sure, that’s fine. I love you,” said Kacie.
Deacon hung up the phone without responding.