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Mina Ch. 02

By: LaLaLady



Mina nibbled her Saltine and squeezed her eyes shut. She wanted to sink through the floor and disappear. She just wanted it all to go away...and not just the baby. 

At the moment she was sitting in a place she never imagined she'd be in her life. The waiting room was so bright, the florescent lights, white walls, and beige plastic chairs came together in a way so harsh it was blinding. The whole environment was so accusatory. She felt like she was under a bare bulb in a dark interrogation room. "I'm guilty!" she wanted to scream. "Yes. I had sex and now I have to get an abortion. I'm so, so sorry!"

"Open your eyes," her mother hissed from the chair beside her. "Look where you've landed yourself!"

Mina looked at her mother and quickly away. Diana sat in that horrible chair in that horrible white room looking as refined as ever. She surveyed the room with her chin tipped up as if she was Cleopatra. Her medium brown skin was even and smooth, she didn't even need pantyhose over her crossed legs. Her shoulders weren't hunched like Mina's. Even the stiff bun she'd pulled her black hair into looked pissed. She sat there ram-rod straight, her two piece black business suit didn't dare wrinkle as she bounced her red Chinese Laundry heel. Only her mother could wear hooker-red shoes with a black outfit and not look like a total slut...even in an abortion clinic. 

Mina glanced at the girls around her, obviously just as freaked out as she was. A waif of a white girl with deep red hair and ivory skin sat almost directly across from her. She must have been around fifteen and was flanked by her own angry-looking mother, caught her eye and smiled. The smile was sad, but somehow reassuring. Mina smiled back, hoping hers was equally comforting. 

The door opened and Mina snapped her head around to see who had broken the eerie silence. Bryan walked in and scowled when Mina stood. Diana stood too and pushed her daughter back into her seat with a firm hand on the shoulder. "What the hell are you doing here?"

Bryan seemed to balk at her question. He decided to ignore her instead addressing Mina. "What are you doing?"

"She's getting this problem fixed!" Diane snapped. 

"Mina, you're going to kill my kid?" Bryan's voice was strained.

Diane scoffed. "You get my daughter pregnant and expect her to give up on her life so she can give birth to your child? You must be crazy!"

"Look," Bryan almost yelled. "I'm not talking to you! Mina is eighteen and an adult. She can think for herself."

Mina watched her mother take a step back. She was quite sure no one had spoken to her mother, the ball-breaking, money-making, no-shit-taking attorney, like that in a hell of a long time.

"Don't do this," Bryan said falling to his knees in front of her chair. He grabbed Mina's hands from her lap and pressed them to his lips. 

Mina's heart felt like it was breaking for him. She'd never seen Bryan so upset. He'd practically yelled at her mother and she'd never seen him raise his voice to anyone besides his brother Logan. 

"Don't kill this baby before we have a chance to talk about this. We can work it out."

Mina tore her stare away from him and focused on her mother's deep scowl, and then back at Bryan's bowed head. 

"Don't you dare," Diana seethed through clenched teeth. 

"Bryan," Mina said around the lump in her throat. "I can't raise a kid and go to college."

Bryan turned his eyes upward and Mina saw tears there. "Just come home with me...right now." He stood quickly, pulling her against his chest so swiftly, she lost some of her breath. He kissed her. It was deep and searching as if his tongue was trying to coax her into listening to his unspoken reasoning. His large hands held her waist and she moaned in spite of herself and the waiting room full of onlookers. Mina was panting by the time they parted.

"Mina!" her mother snapped when she turned for the door. "Do NOT do this!"

She felt like she was drowning, suffocating...she couldn't breathe. She felt her mother's fierce gaze bore into her back and all the girls around her stared with mouths open. Her heart pounded so fast it seemed that it was going to leap from her chest. The only thing keeping her afloat was the vice grip Bryan had on her hand. His touch kept her knees from buckling as she disobeyed her mother for possibly the first time ever. She let him lead her from that stark white prison and straight to his car. 

They rode to Bryan's house in silence. There were no words after what had just happened. He knew she was anxious about the fact that she'd just stood up to Diana. As long as they'd been dating, he'd never witnessed Mina challenge her mother. No matter what Diana demanded, her answer was always, "Yes, ma'am." Publicly embarrassing her mother, then leaving her in the dust was a big fucking deal.

Mina was scared. She knew her mother couldn't technically do anything to her...like Bryan had said, she was an adult. However, without her mother on board, the whole baby thing would be a million times harder. She could very well end up right back in that waiting room after she and Bryan "talked" about it.

She followed Bryan into his house and Linda came running to the kitchen door, gathering Mina into an overpowering hug. "I'm sorry, honey. I just had to tell him."

"I know," Mina whispered. Mina's mother had insisted on calling Linda that day to tell her about the appointment. Diana had thought she was merely informing Bryan's mother of how things were going to go when she called that morning but Mina knew that Linda was not going to stand by and let her future grandchild be killed. As soon as she hung up the phone, she'd light a fire under Bryan. No matter that they hadn't had a decent conversation in the week since they'd taken that pregnancy test. Linda would make sure that her son did the right thing by Mina. She hadn't expected him to beg or cry the way he had, but it had been a nice bonus.

Bryan waited for his mother to let go of Mina before taking her hand again and leading her into the living room. Mina loved the common area of the Dillinger house. They were filled with the personalities of everyone in the family. Don, a martial artist, had long Samuri swords crossed over the fire place, dozens of geisha statues and jade dragons about, and a set of matching Buddha statues on each side of the television. Linda, in spite of her foul mouth, was the picture of feminity with her silk flower arrangements, doilies, and porcelain figurines...not geishas but a massive collection of Royal Daulton women in full skirts holding fans or parisols and such. On every wall and table were countless pictures of their family. Everyone was in that room, Dan's four kids from his first marriage, Bryan, and Logan were all there. Plus there offspring and a half dozen gray-haired people Mina couldn't keep straight. The furniture was soft and lived in to the point that she almost fell asleep if she stayed on the couch for more than thirty minutes.

Bryan went straight for the wooden box on the table behind the couch. It was the mail-drop box. With so many people going in and out of the house and receiving mail there no matter how long ago they moved out, that was the safest way to make sure everyone got their mail. After pulling out a blank white envelope he tore it open and handed her the paper inside without even glancing at it.

"Why did you do this?" she asked so quietly she barely heard herself. She was staring at the results of multiple STD tests Bryan had done. 

"I just thought..."

Mina frowned. "You thought since I was already pregnant, we can just fuck all day like Logan and Sandie? You assumed that I would keep this baby and give you nine months of ass without the need for birth control?" Her voice was a frightening whisper.  

"No...well...yes. I didn't think you were going to get an abortion. So I wanted you to know that you're safe."

Mina sighed. "Why would you even think that? We haven't spoken in over a week. Not since we found out..." "I know. I know. I fucked up. I should have called you or come by but I wasn't ignoring the situation or anything. I've been working on stuff...stuff for us."

Mina frowned. "What kind of stuff?"

"I got appointments to look at apartments just off campus so we can move in together. That's if you go to Adams here in town, but if you decide to go to an out of state school, I'll move there with you. Mom will shit a brick, but it's really not up to her." Bryan's words came out rushed as if he'd been rehearsing them. "This is a big fucking deal and I know that. I'm finishing school. I've actually gone to class every day and been on time."

Mina's eyebrows shot up.

"I'm trying to do the right thing and I want to be there for you and our baby. I just don't know what the hell I'm doing."

Mina sighed. "Word of advice, Bryan, next time your girlfriend finds out she's pregnant and freaks-the-fuck-out...comfort her first, go apartment hunting second." 

Bryan smiled sheepishly and pulled her into a hug. "I love you, Mina," he whispered into the top of her dead. 

"I love you too, jackass."

***

"Can I buy you a drink?" Bryan asked slipping into the chair at the table across from Mina. 

Mina tried not to laugh but a snicker snuck out. "No thanks."

"So what is Mina Jordan doing at The Pepper Pot?" Bryan said with a lopsided grin that showed off the dimple in his right cheek even under the spastic club lights.

The Pepper Pot was a Jamaican restaurant by day, dance club by night. Mina had decided to celebrate her eighteenth birthday by staying after they stopped serving dinner at ten to see what it was like. So far all she'd done was sit at a dark table halfway between the bar and the dance floor sipping her water.

She'd noticed Bryan Dillinger walk in with his friends. She just didn't think they'd noticed her. She'd known Bryan for years; they'd been in the same class in first grade before Mina was put in the excelled program. However, just because she didn't know him personally now in high school, didn't mean she didn't know of him.

Bryan had turned into somewhat of a thug. He was so cute in his baggy jeans and Timberland boots, wearing his throwback jerseys and matching billed caps. He had lots of girls at Hillsdale High crushing on him. There hadn't been a time that Mina knew of when he didn't have a girlfriend.

Mina, however, was the exact opposite. A quiet bookworm, easily overlooked and not just because she was only 5'4", she was also unassuming and just plain nice. She smiled at strangers and was always willing to help. She was wickedly smart, but too shy to make a big deal about it. Mina was in a constant state of "under the radar". She blamed the fact that she'd never had a real boyfriend on that shy politeness...and the fact that her mother was so strict. 

"Well?" Bryan asked, still waiting for his answer.

"I just wanted to check it out," Mina said rolling her eyes.

"You've never been here before?" Bryan asked, surprised. He'd been going to that club with his older brother for a long time. Logan had no issue sneaking him in there so he could have a wingman. 

"I just turned eighteen today," Mina said with a shrug.

Bryan laughed. "Well, happy birthday."

"Thanks...I think. What's so funny?"

Bryan shrugged. "Nothing...nothing...I just never thought you and I would ever run into each other outside of school."

"Well," Mina said rolling her eyes. "It'll probably be a while before I come in here again. This isn't really my thing."

"Imagine my shock. The girl who won the fifth, sixth, and seventh grade Book Bowl competitions isn't comfortable in a dance club."

"You don't have to be a smart ass," Mina said bristling.

"Oh, shit. I'm sorry. I didn't mean that to sound..." Bryan dropped his sentence when he caught the look she was giving him. Her arms were crossed, her head was slightly cocked, and one eyebrow was raised as if waiting to challenge the next thing out of his mouth. Sure, he hadn't had a real conversation with Mina since grade school, but he'd never seen her with such a look. Usually she was smiling politely or deep in what always seemed a serious conversation, but most often she was hidden behind a book. Why hadn't he thought to look at her before...really look at her? She was beautiful.

"Look," Mina said breaking the silence he'd caused by staring at her openly instead of finishing his apology. "I've got to get a cab and get home before midnight or my mom will freak." She was pushing out her chair, but he shot up from his own seat, catching the chair before it toppled backwards. 

"I'll drive you," Bryan said before he could tell himself to shut up. She'd never take a ride from him. As it was she probably thought he was an ass.

This time Mina suppressed the laugh. "No thanks."

"Come on," Bryan said starting to recover as he walked with her through the tables. "It's just a ride."

Mina frowned and pushed past a few people standing in front of the door. What the hell was he trying to do? Why was Bryan even interested in how she got home? This was the part where he was supposed to say "whatever, bitch" and leave.

Bryan wouldn't stop. He followed her to the curb and shrugged out of his leather coat. The September air was crisp, not quite cold, but he had noticed the goosebumps on her bare arms when they stepped under the streetlight. That thin pink t-shirt wasn't going to be enough to keep her warm if she insisted on waiting on a taxi. He tried and failed to look away when he noticed that her nipples had also reacted to the cold night. "Put this on," Bryan said sliding the coat over her shoulders.

"Thanks," Mina said slipping her arms into the sleeves. She quickly warmed and smiled as she briefly imagined it was Bryan slipping his arms around her, not just his coat. She inhaled deeply and smelled the leather, some sort of cologne, and a smell she didn't recognize. It was smoky, but sweet, and distracted her from the fact that he'd taken her elbow and started walking her down the sidewalk.

"Wait," she said glancing back at the club. "Where are we going?"

"I told you I'd drive you home and I will."

"I really shouldn't," Mina said trying to will her feet to stop but they wouldn't.

"Why not? Look, I said I was sorry for the Book Bowl comment. How much longer are you going to hold it against me?"

Mina watched him pull out his keys and saw the rear brake lights of a Black Acura Integra flash. "It's not the Book Bowl thing," she said quickly.

"Then what's the problem?" Bryan asked walking her to the passenger door.

"I've heard the kind of things that you do in the back seat of this car," Mina said trying to shrug out of his coat, "and I don't do those things." 

Bryan rolled his eyes. "I told you it's just a ride." He pulled the jacket back onto her shoulders and opened the door. "Just trust me."

Mina did trust him. Her common sense told her not to trust him, his reputation was shot to hell unless you were the type of girl that fell for the bad boys, or dated a guy for the kind of car he drove. She wasn't that girl. She was still nervous as he drove her home, twenty minutes of mindless radio play later, they were in front of her house, a three story white tudor with a wrap-around porch and balcony in one of the nicer subdivisions in Hillsdale.

"Nice," Bryan said leaning across her to get a better view of her home. 

"Thanks," Mina said with a shrug. "My mom's a lawyer."

"That's cool. What does your dad do?"

"Call every year on my birthday and Christmas." Mina shocked herself when she let that slip out.

Bryan smiled. "He must work for the same company as my dad."

Mina nodded and they sat listening to a ridiculous car dealership commercial on the radio. "Well," Mina said with an air of finality. "Thanks for the ride home." She lifted a shoulder to shrug out of his coat but he pulled it back up. 

"Keep it. I'll talk to you at school on Monday and get it then." Bryan left his hand on her shoulder and felt his stomach clenched when she smiled.

"Okay then. I'll see you on Monday." Mina hadn't meant to say that in a throaty whisper, but that was just how it came out. Bryan's face was only an inch from hers and she was painfully aware of how little movement it would take for them to be joined at the lips. She moved closer, then stopped; caught in a moment of indecision before he finished the journey and touched his lips to hers. 

Mina wasn't surprised by the kiss; it had seemed almost inevitable when he'd touched her shoulder like that. What did surprise her was the heat and passion she felt when it happened. Her whole body reacted to Bryan. Her nipples stiffened even in the warmth of his giant leather jacket, her pussy flooded and she moaned against his mouth. She opened her mouth to accept his tongue and moaned again. She felt a shiver travel from the base of her spine and disappear into her hair, then make its way back down again.

Bryan's dick was hard as soon as that first moan escaped her throat. That sound of wanting and pleasure was so sweet; he wanted to hear it again. "I don't do those things." That's what she'd said in the parking lot. He reluctantly pulled away from her and opened his door. Mina had just caught her breath when he got around to open her door. 

"I'll walk you to the door," he said nodding toward her house.

"I don't think that's a good idea," Mina said quickly. "If we walk all the way to that door, I'll want you to kiss me again and my mother will cut off your head if she sees that shit."

Bryan nodded. "Monday then?"

"Where do you want me to meet you at school? I've got lunch at..."

"I'll find you," Bryan cut her off. He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek before heading back around the car to let himself back in.

***

"Mina," Bryan whispered. "Mina, wake up."

She blinked awake and rubbed her eyes. "When did I fall asleep?"

"About five seconds after you sat down. I went to get you a glass of water and you were passed out by the time I got back."

"I'm sorry Bryan," Mina croaked. "I was just dreaming about you...us."

Bryan smiled and helped her up to a sitting position. "It's okay. I know you're tired because of the baby."

"What were we talking about before I went comatose?"

"I was telling you when we were going to look at apartments this week."

Mina smiled. "We were going to go upstairs, huh?"

Bryan pulled her to stand and gently nuzzled her neck. "How about we go upstairs now?"

"Mmmm," Mina moaned. "That's a great idea."

They almost made it to Bryan's room before he started pawing at her. His long pale fingers worked their way under her shirt and unsnapped the front clasp of her bra. He crushed his mouth to hers but she pulled away just in time to mutter, "Lock the door."

Bryan did just that and immediately returned to her mouth. Soft and wet, her kisses always drove him up the wall. Maybe it was the fact that he'd spent month after month only allowed to touch those lips. At first he was sexually frustrated, sporting the worst case of blue balls in history, but after a while, all it took was the thought of her luscious lips to spur him to masturbation. 

He sucked her top lip as gently as he could, nipped the bottom one, and pulled her white t-shirt over her head. The white lace bra slipped from her shoulders and hit the floor. Bryan sucked in a breath at the sight of those wonderful breasts; they were two shades lighter than the rest of her with stiff chocolate nipples...two perfect scoops of chocolate ice cream with dark chocolate Hershey Kisses on top. 

Bryan ran his thumbs over the rigid nipples and Mina winced and took a step back. "That hurt," she said bringing her small hands to cover her nipples.

"Oh, shit," Bryan gasped. "I'm so sorry. Maybe we should stop."

Mina smiled. "No, it's okay. Lets just keep the handsies away from the nippies, okay?"


Mina Ch. 02



Bryan nodded and began unbuttoning his jeans. Mina shimmied out of her jeans and peeled off her soaked panties. He had to stop undressing to stare at her. He'd seen her naked before but she was suddenly different. Bryan dropped to his knees in front of her and kissed her flat stomach. 

"Hey kid," he muttered into her soft flesh. "I'm about to have my way with your mom so hang on for the ride."

Mina laughed. "I don't think it has ears yet...you're talking to yourself."

"No...I'm talking to you." Quick as a lick, Bryan pushed her over onto his full size bed. After she bounced, he grabbed her thighs and pulled her back toward him. Her laughter was instantly replaced by moaning as his tongue lit into her. His tongue moved from bottom to top, parting her slim thighs further to make her open for him. He licked her again. "You're so sweet, Mina," he said between each travel of his tongue. "You taste so fucking good."

"That's what you always say," she said rubbing his stiff black hair. "Ummm," she moaned as he licked her clit.

"It's true," he whispered. 

Mina groaned and pushed her hips against his face as he licked and nibbled her sensitive button. Bryan pushed a finger inside her and she bucked harder. Her orgasm was so close she could name it, but he slipped the finger away and began the slow assault with his tongue again. Bryan had her number. He knew everything she needed and gave it to her. He buried his tongue deep insider her and moaned as she squealed her delight. Her noise was making his dick reach for freedom. Mina's ass began to creep higher and higher off the bed and she began to pant. She was almost there and Bryan knew it. Mina felt the tingle in her abdomen and clutched at his shoulders. 

So close, but he pulled away, leaving her wildly frustrated for the five seconds it took for him to reposition himself and push his manhood inside her with one quick downward swing. Mina cried out to God as her orgasm finally washed over her. 

Bryan stilled as her pussy walls contracted around him. He'd missed her so much the week they'd been apart. He couldn't let her excitement ruin his chance to show her just how much. When Mina's eyes stopped rolling and her pussy stilled around him, Bryan began moving inside her. Supporting himself on the bed with one hand, he put the other around her small waist and pressed the length of his body against hers. 

Mina mewled under him, almost burying her nails into his back. Her sore nipples were forgotten because he fit perfectly. They fit perfectly. He was inside of her, making love to her as he whispered. "God, Mina. I love you so much. I love you. I love that baby inside you. I love you so much you have no idea."

Mina snaked an arm around his neck and silenced him with a soul-searing kiss. She didn't want him to say another word. She'd heard all she needed to hear and was approaching another orgasm in spite of their slow pace. "I'm cumming," she whispered against his cheek when she felt that sweet explosion in her core.

"Me too," Bryan choked out before coating her insides. "I never could have imagined you felt that good," he muttered as he fell onto the bed beside her. Finally, he'd felt her, with no barriers, it was just the two of them now.

Mina was falling asleep again. "You have no idea how good I'm feeling right now."

Bryan kissed her bare brown shoulder before pulling the covers over her and closing his eyes to have a nap too.



Mina Ch. 03



Life was moving at break-neck speed. The months sped past before Mina could catch her breath. Her world was morphing into this thing that seemed bigger than her and impossible to control. 

During the three months after she and Bryan decided to keep the baby, something incredible happened. Bryan matured. He finished school and got his diploma, he stopped smoking and dealing and got a job working second shift at the shoe-lace factory on the South side of town. The work was tedious and boring, but the money was good, mainly because no one wanted to do it. 

Seeing Bryan's dedication, Mina decided to go to Adams University so they could stay near their families while trying to raise their own. She had been incredibly stressed and so, so tired those first few months. When she wasn't on her knees praying to the porcelain gods, she was sleeping, or getting everything situated so she could start school in the Fall. 

Her mother had come around after she realized that Mina wasn't going to bend to her will this time. She hadn't wanted her daughter to grow up that fast, but she also didn't want her to be alone in the world the way she had been. Life was hard enough without having to face it without the help of at least one parent who wanted the best. As an apology, she gave Mina the money to decorate the apartment she and Bryan had settled in. It was a small two bedroom, just off campus but after Mina had put color and furniture in it, Diana finally saw a home that she was proud belonged to her daughter.

Linda was such a hummingbird throughout the entire pregnancy. Never mind the fact that she was raising a toddler, and had another newborn grandchild to lavish with attention; her primary focus was Mina. The two talked at least once a day for those nine months. She bought bags and bags of clothes, toys, and nursery décor. She would have been in the delivery room too if Mina hadn't begged Linda to step aside for her own mother. Linda conceded, but didn't look too happy about it. She was not and would never be considered the "B" grandmother. As if to solidify her "A" status, Linda paid to have the apartment scrubbed, sanitized, and baby proofed before Mina and baby Ava got out of the hospital. 

Ava was amazing. She made her mother smile and her father cry. She had Bryan's bright green eyes, only they were round and observant like her mother's. She had her father's dimples and her mother's lips, plump with the top one just a bit plumper than the bottom and flushed red. Her hair was soft as silk and black as night and her skin was beige, just shy of the tanned complexion Bryan got in the summer...that unmistakable Sicilian brown. Not only was she beautiful, Ava had impeccable timing. As if she knew that her mommy needed to be back at school in two weeks, she was born the first day of Spring Break.

By the time she was two months old, her parents had the routine down. Mina's scholarship allowed her to use her mother's monthly checks to keep Ava in the college daycare. Mommy and baby would leave the apartment at seven thirty; Mina would drop Ava off by seven forty five. After two morning classes, she would return to the daycare center to breastfeed her and leave again for two more afternoon classes. At three pm she would pick her up and they would return to the apartment just before Bryan had to leave for work. He would sit with his girls as Mina fed their daughter and talk to both of them before he went to work. By the time he got home at midnight, the first late night feeding would be over and his daughter was back to sleep soundly in her crib. Mina would finish any assignments while he ate and they would go to bed together, asleep by one-thirty am.

Mina seemingly had no idea the toll their scheduled existence was taking on Bryan. He'd had girlfriends before Mina and every time he felt trapped, he'd dump the girl and move on to the next. Things were different now, though. He felt like he was losing himself in this life. He still loved Mina, but he hardly got to see her. He adored Ava, but she was on the same schedule as her mother so he only spent weekends being her daddy. Mina's school work was a huge problem. She'd missed countless Sunday dinners at his parents' house to finish term papers and wouldn't let him take Ava either because she had to be close enough to breastfeed her when either of them needed it. 

He hadn't gone into it thinking that it would be easy, but he was completely unprepared for just how difficult life would become. He wanted to go to the Pepper Pot and hang out with his boys but that wouldn't be fair to Mina. He wanted to quit his job inspecting the ends of a zillion shoelaces a night and go back to making money the easy way. He wanted something different. He was beyond feeling trapped, he was suffocating.

Everything came to a head in May when Mina told him she would be taking two classes throughout the summer term. Bryan had just nodded, choosing to remain silent, but inside he fumed. He'd been looking forward to three months without Mina chained to the computer desk, studying or clacking away at writing assignments. Summer was supposed to be fun, it was bad enough that he had to go to that soul-crushing factory every night, but to face her tired eyes every night when he got back home was just going to be too much. He wanted her to relax. He wanted to be able to have sex with her on a day that didn't fall on the weekend. 

"I know it sucks," Mina said as if reading his mind. The two were standing in their small kitchenette washing dishes. It was Friday night...well, one o'clock Saturday morning and Mina was visibly relaxed after taking her last Final. "I just want to get my degree as fast as I can so I can start working and get Ava out of this place."

Bryan shrugged. "This place" was just fine ten months ago when they'd signed the lease. She acted like he was busting his ass to keep them in a slum village.

"Are you mad?" Mina asked with that innocence in her voice that made Bryan check his attitude.

"No," he lied. "If you want to do it, go ahead. If anybody can handle year-round school, it's you."

Mina smiled and pulled the plug in the sink. She dried her hands, gave Bryan a kiss on the cheek, and left to get ready for bed. Bryan watched the dirty dishwater spiral downward out of the sink before drying his own hands to follow his girlfriend to bed.

"Hey," Bryan said the next night. Mina had just put Ava down and was headed through the living area to their bedroom to get ready for bed herself. "Jerrod called and asked if I wanted to hang out tonight."

Mina rolled her eyes and frowned. Why had Bryan taken that call? He'd been successfully avoiding Jerrod's calls for months now. "That's cool," she muttered. "Are you going?"

"I actually think I am," Bryan said turning off the boxing match he'd been watching. "I haven't seen him in a while."

Mina wanted to tell him not to go. She hated Jerrod and didn't want Bryan going back to smoking weed. If he got caught with that shit her daughter would have a dad with a record. Then again, she was more aware of Bryan's anxiety than he knew. She could see that wild animal trapped in a cage look in his eye from time-to-time.

"You should go," she said forcing a smile. "You should go have some fun."

"What about you and Ava? I don't really want to leave you stuck here."

Mina widened the smile. "I'm not stuck. I'd be here anyway. She's started sleeping through the night finally so we'll be just fine."

Bryan nodded. "Cool. I'll give Jerrod a call then."

"Cool," Mina said letting the smile melt away as she continued back to her room.

***

"I didn't think I'd ever see you again!" Jerrod said to Bryan. They were sitting at a table in the Pepper Pot, both with bloodshot eyes and heavy lids from the blunt they'd smoked back at Jerrod's apartment...well, the loft over his parents' garage.

"Fuck you, man," Bryan said gazing around the club.

"No, I'm serious. Logan told me you moved in with Mina and started working at the factory. I thought I'd lost your ass to some Leave It to Beaver shit!"

Bryan snickered. "Shit, it's nothing like that."

"I'll bet." Jerrod wasn't interested in settling down with any woman and sure as hell wasn't having any kids. He knew that part of the reason he and Bryan were friends was the fact that Jerrod was similar to Bryan's brother Logan. The only difference was the fact that Jerrod wasn't up for none of that baby-mama-drama. He'd thought Bryan was on the same page too, until Mina got his nose wide open. A bitch makes a man wait for and work for some pussy and she thinks she can trap him with a baby. Fuck that.

Bryan rubbed his eyes and stared at the dance floor.

"Dude," Jerrod said nudging him with his elbow. "That bitch on the floor is staring at your ass hard as hell."

Bryan glanced around at the bodies moving and gyrating to the Beenie Man song the d.j. was spinning and his eyes landed on the girl Jerrod was talking about. She was fine as hell. She had long brown hair and a bronze tan made apparent by a short skirt. The strip of denim must have fallen just below her crotch because every inch of her long legs was bare and he could catch glimpses of white panties whenever she did a dip. Her arms reached to the ceiling, crushing her large breasts together in the sheer white halter top she had on. Jerrod was right, her gaze was focused on Bryan. She winked and licked her full pink lips when she caught his eye. 

Bryan smiled. The familiar strain in his cock was building and before he thought about anything, he was crooking his finger to call the girl over to his table.

***

"Linda," Mina said into the phone. "Have you seen Bryan?" It was the next day, Sunday and it was past noon. Mina had been worrying since Ava cried her awake at seven that morning. She'd done everything to take her mind off of that niggling in the back of her mind. She fed and played with her daughter. She'd cleaned the house and now she was alone in her apartment with a napping baby, nothing to clean, and worry.

"No, honey," Linda said slowly. "When did he leave?"

"Last night." Mina paced the floor in the kitchenette and glanced at Ava sleeping in her baby swing down beside the couch in the living area.

"Did you two have a fight?" Linda's voice was thick with concern.

"No. He went out with Jerrod," Mina said trying to keep the contempt out of her voice as she said the asshole's name.

"Well," Linda said with a sigh. "I haven't seen him. I'll give you a call if I do."

"Thanks," Mina said weakly turning off the phone and putting it on the counter top. She wanted to cry, but she didn't know if there was any reason for tears. There was no reason to think that Bryan was lying dead in a ditch somewhere, but the alternative thinking was much worse. If he hadn't made it home because of some unforeseen accident, he was either in jail or with another woman. She couldn't handle either one of those thoughts. She was better off thinking he was laid up in that ditch somewhere.

***

"Shit," Bryan said as he blinked awake in an unfamiliar bedroom. There was a canopy over the bed he was in. His bed was a sleigh bed, no way to get a canopy on there, not to mention the sheer material was pink. Mina despised pink and sure as hell wouldn't want to sleep in a pink cocoon.

"Mmmm," a very feminine voice purred beside him. His heart sunk into his stomach and he fought the urge to launch out of the bed. "Good morning."

Bryan looked at the hand rubbing his chest. It wasn't Mina's small brown fingers laced in his black chest hair, the fingers were long and pale with long bright red nails.

"Shit," he swore again. "I gotta go."

The woman sat up, letting the cover slip into her lap. Bryan glanced at her DD cup creamy white breasts, with minimal scarring around the nipples from a damn good implant job. Noticing his gaze, she began tugging on one deep pink nipple. "How about one more round before you go?"

Her words brought on a crushing headache and he groaned. "What the hell did I drink?"

She giggled. "I made you a couple Kryptonites last night. You drank them pretty fast. You must have been drunk as hell to not remember."

Bryan felt like someone had punched him in the gut and hit him in the head with a cast iron frying pan. This woman's perky voice and giggle weren't helping any. "Look...uh..."

"Mary," she offered helpfully.

"Look, Mary. This was a mistake. A big fucking mistake. I've got a girl and we've got a kid..."

"I know," Mary said in that shrill chipper voice. "You told me last night at the club."

"Really?" Bryan said dropping to his knees to look for any article of clothing he'd been wearing the night before. "Then, how the hell did I end up back here?"

"I offered you a ride home after your friend ditched you. I told you I had to stop by my place and gave you a couple drinks...next thing you know, we were naked in the living room."

The living room; that must be where his clothes were, Bryan thought glancing around for the door that led out of the bedroom. He found it and sighed with relief when he saw his black boxer shorts in the doorway. He quickly pulled them on and glanced back at Mary. She was pulling on a white satin robe that didn't really cover up her naked body. She braced herself on the nightstand as she put on her bedroom slippers. That's when he saw the angry red numbers on the alarm clock beside her hand.

"Is that clock right?" Bryan asked feeling the invisible vice tighten around his pounding head.

"Yeah."

Bryan wanted to vomit. He didn't feel sick; he just felt the need to vomit at that moment. It was after one in the afternoon and he was no where close to home. He tried to remember the route that he'd ridden with Mary the night before, but his mind was a blank white slate. He had no idea where the hell he was. 

Mary noted the sick look on his face just before he stumbled out of her room either in search of the rest of his clothes, or a bathroom where he could puke.

Bryan found both. His socks and white t-shirt were in the hallway and so was an open door to another pink room, this one contained a toilet. 

"I called you a cab," Mary said when he walked out of the bathroom looking pale and drawn. She'd heard him retching and was no longer interested in bedding him just one more time. The last thing she needed was to clean up sick after a grown man. 

Bryan pulled the rest of his clothes he found on the floor in front of a black leather couch on and stumbled onto the front porch of a townhouse in a relatively nice neighborhood, just as his taxi pulled up.

***

"Where the hell have you been?!" Mina shrieked when Bryan entered their apartment.

His headache had dulled during the cab ride, but came back with a vengeance. "Uh...Jerrod..."

"Don't even try that shit!" Mina said following him into the kitchen. "I called Jerrod and he said he left you at the club around midnight. He didn't know where the hell you were and neither did your mom."

Bryan filled a glass with tap water and frowned. Had he really painted himself into this corner? He had cheated and was now trying to think up a lie to tell Mina to cover his ass.

"Were you with a woman?" Mina asked, her voice catching in her throat. She didn't want to sound so scared and weak, but that was just how it came out.

Bryan shook his head slowly, but he couldn't find his voice to actually vocalize the lie.

"Don't lie to me, Bryan," Mina said crossing her arms in front of her chest.

"I was drunk," he started. "I didn't..." He stopped. He didn't what? He didn't mean to? He didn't want to? He couldn't find the words to explain what had happened last night with Mary, partly because he didn't know exactly what had happened. Partly because he didn't want to throw out excuses for what he did. Mina didn't deserve that.

"Get out!" Mina screamed. She woke the baby and Bryan's heart seized at Ava's plaintive cries from her room across the apartment. "Get the fuck out RIGHT NOW!"

Mina left him alone in front of the kitchen sink to attend to their daughter. Bryan fell onto the couch and listened to her through the baby monitor on the coffee table.

"Mommy's sorry, baby..." she cooed. Bryan listened to the shuffles as she sat in the rocking chair and quieted Ava's cries. "It's okay...it's okay...you're just fine," Mina sang. The cries died down to a whine. "Are you hungry Ava?"

Bryan pressed his hands to his eyes, trying to push back the tears. They slid out and down his face anyway. Fifteen minutes later, Mina came back to the living room. She glared at Bryan, not caring about the tell-tale trails snaking down his cheeks as he stared at the blank television screen. Her temper flared and she went to the bedroom. The room they'd shared for almost a year and began pulling his clothes from their closet. 

Bryan heard the clank of the hangers hitting each other and went into the bedroom. Mina sat in the middle of the closet, her dark hair a mess, sobbing into her palms. She'd pulled all his clothes onto the floor with her. Bryan fell to his knees beside her, fresh tears following the trail already made down his cheeks. "I'm so sorry," he whispered, putting his arms around her trembling shoulders. She looked up at him with so much hurt in her dark eyes, his throat burned. He kissed her cheek left cheek, then her full mouth. "I'm so sorry," he repeated.

"Get out," Mina said one last time before escaping his embrace and locking herself in the nursery until she heard him leave twenty minutes later.



Mina Ch. 04



"Dammit, Bryan! Now I have to kick your ass!" Linda yelled from the living room when her son walked into the house. She'd seen him pull into the driveway and had been waiting for to get in the house. It had been three days since Mina had called her in a panic over her son's disappearing act. Linda had no idea where Bryan had been for the past few days, but as soon as he dragged his sorry ass in the house she knew that he'd fucked up. 

"Leave me alone, ma! I don't feel like listening to any lectures right now." He made a beeline for the staircase, but she caught up with him at the bottom.

"I don't give a shit how you feel! What about how I feel? Finally, one of my sons brings home a girl that talks about something other than clothes and reads something other than The Enquirer! Then, you knock her up and break her heart!"

Midway through his retreat to the second floor, Bryan turned to face his mother, two steps below. "The Enquirer is the only thing you read."

"We're not talking about me!" Linda screeched. "We're talking about my grandchild!" 

"Ava is two months old. She's not reading anything."

Linda glared at him. "Look, smart ass, all I'm saying is you better send a check every week and have that child over here a lot...a whole hell of a lot."

Brian resumed his climb up the stairs.

"I'm serious!" Linda said in hot pursuit. "You will help Mina. Don't be like your brother!"

"I'm nothing like Logan," Bryan informed her. "I already paid six months of rent, bills, and daycare."

"What about visitation?" 

"Ask Mina!" Bryan said slamming his room door.

Linda gave the door a hard hit with her closed fist. She pressed her forehead against the door and sighed...just once couldn't life go the easy route?

***

Weeks later, Mina was still a wreck. She was still devastated about Bryan's cheating and the subsequent break up. She'd cried every day, dodging calls until Linda showed up to her apartment. She agreed to weekly visits which had helped a lot with her school work. Bryan was never around when she showed up with Ava, but she knew he was there. He was somewhere in that house because his black Acura was always in the driveway.

It still made her sad to think that after all that time together, she and Bryan weren't on speaking terms. But how could she look at him, knowing he'd gone out and cheated on her? She couldn't talk to him without asking him why he'd done it...at least not yet. She still cared too much. She still loved him and no matter what name her mother called him, Mina had a sneaking suspicion that she'd always love him.

Ava yawned in her car seat and Mina sighed. She was standing at the door to Linda's house. She'd knocked on that door too many times to count. The heavy lump in her throat began to burn as she glanced at Bryan's black Acura. He was there...somewhere in that house. He would spend the next few hours playing with his daughter and retreat to his hiding place, probably the basement, when Mina showed up later that night to pick up Ava.

Don answered the door when Mina finally worked up the nerve to knock. Bryan's stepfather had a Santa-like quality. He was around six foot, with white streaks through his brown hair and goatee. His face was rounded, and he had the middle-aged man pot belly, but he still carried himself like a martial artist. His back stayed straight and he always seemed to be watching and listening for something. He was perpetually on the defensive.

Don's smile made Mina sad all over again. He was as close to an involved father as she'd ever gotten. He went to work every day at the tool store he owned, and he always came home to sit at the dinner table. He had all his kids together on a regular basis and they loved him. No matter how much shit Bryan gave Don, it was obvious that he loved his stepfather. He loved him enough to drop the "step" and call him his dad...just dad.

Mina handed the car seat to Don and then the diaper bag. "I'll be back at seven or seven-thirty. She'll be hungry in an hour."

Don nodded. "I'll let Bryan know."

"Thanks," Mina said turning to retreat back up the driveway to the car her mom had recently given her. The five year old white Honda Accord was parked behind the Acura. Mina had the urge to throw it into drive and slaughter Bryan's rear bumper, but she and Ava needed the car in good working condition. Mina put the car in reverse instead.

***

Ava became even more beautiful as time went on. Her black hair became thick and grew out in large curls. Her thighs plumped and she began to crawl. Her laugh was infectious. Her daddy would blow on her belly to bring out peals of laughter and squeals. Her mommy would peek-a-boo for an hour and relish every grin and giggle. 

The Fall Semester was about to start. Mina was ready for a full course load again. She welcomed the distraction. She didn't have it bad, not at all. Her scholarship paid for all her books and tuition, her mother gave her money every week for gas and groceries, the landlord told her that Bryan had been taking care of the rent every month, and she suspected he was doing the same with the other bills. Whenever she went in to pay them, the balance was zero. So she always had money and didn't have to worry about Ava. Even though she was secure, she was lonely. She didn't have anyone to talk to on a regular basis. All her classmates had parties and bars on their mind so they were not exactly friend-material. Her mother wasn't the best when it came to girl-talk and she tried to limit her conversations with Linda to only the subject of Ava. 

Maybe that's what found her in the student union that Wednesday afternoon. Even though she wasn't hanging out with anyone, it was nice to be surrounded by other people. She sat in a tattered armchair reading while people buzzed around her. There was something comforting in being in the middle of adult conversations and laughter even though she wasn't involved. Before she knew it, she had dozed.

"Hey," a male voice said jarring her awake. 

Mina jumped and her copy of Wuthering Heights tumbled off her lap and onto the tile floor.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," the guy said reaching for the book just as Mina did the same.

"Thanks," she said accepting it and silently grumbling about her lost page. 

"I didn't mean to scare you," he said smiling. It was his smile that brought Mina out of her sleepy haze and face to face with the handsome William Malone. His smile lit up his face which was a light, paper bag brown. His eyes were black as night and his black hair was cut in a tight fade. She recognized him from the Student Government page on the Adam's University web site. He had been Freshman class president.

"Uh...uh...it's okay. It's my fault. I shouldn't have fallen asleep." Mina moved to stand, and noticed he was holding out his hand to help her.

She slipped her hand into his and her stomach clenched. His hand was large and warm. She felt face grow hot, embarrassed by her reaction to a simple touch. Had it been that long? 

"I'm William," he said when she stood. 

Mina hesitated when he put out his hand to shake. "Mina," she said trying to give a friendly smile.

"You must be incredibly tired to fall asleep in the middle of this," he motioned to the room around them. 

Mina laughed. "I'm a heavy sleeper." 

William smiled. "You're also beautiful when you're asleep."

Mina's face felt hot. "Thanks," she mumbled.

"You know, I'd love to take you out sometime." 

Mina laughed again. "I have a baby."

William nodded. "That's not exactly an answer."

Mina rolled her eyes. Didn't men usually tuck tail and run when confronted with a woman that had a baby? What was this guy's problem?

"If you don't have a sitter, we can take your baby with us. Is that what you meant?"

Mina stared at him; sure her shock was written in her expression. "I can get a sitter."

"Good," William said putting on that smile again. "How about dinner on Friday?"

"No...not Friday. That's actually my birthday." 

"You've got plans?"

"No, actually I don't." Mina felt the conversation was spinning out of her control somehow.

"Well, then let's go out on your birthday. I promise you won't be disappointed."

"Okay, then," Mina relented. "I'll give you my number."

***

Bryan hit the bottom step and froze. He'd been so excited to see Ava, he'd forgotten to wait for Mina's car to pull out of the driveway before he ran downstairs. His smile dropped when he saw Mina standing in the kitchen with his mother. It wasn't just the fact that they hadn't been face to face since she kicked him out of the apartment. She standing there so beautiful he was finding it hard to breathe. 

Mina's hair was pulled up and away from her face in a loose bun. She wore no makeup and a dress that Bryan would have ripped off in a split second when they were still together. The dress had a halter top; the satiny material looped behind her neck and left her smooth brown shoulders bare. Her breasts, a bit larger than they were before from breast-feeding, made a deep cleavage. The black dress held onto every curve and the light danced across it as she moved. She didn't notice him, but turned to say hello to Don as he joined them in the kitchen. The dress left almost her entire back naked. Bryan's heart seized as he watched his step-father hug Mina.

Don rested his hand against her back as they talked for a few seconds. Bryan's envy took hold. He wanted to rush over there and separate them. His dad's hand on Mina's bare back was maddening. Bryan knew there was no reason to think Don's touch was anything but fatherly...but her back was naked. If he was touching her t-shirt it would be one thing, but his skin was on her skin. Bryan tried to squelch his temper but his voice was uncharacteristically loud when he said, "Dad!"

Everyone turned to look at him and he felt like an ass. Mina's smile faded and she started for the door. "I'll see you guys tomorrow," she said to Don and Linda.

"Wait," Bryan said moving between her and the door that led out of the awkwardness that had enveloped the whole room. "Happy Birthday," he said as he stuffed his hands into his pockets to keep from touching her face, or her shoulder, or her back...why did he want to erase Don's fingerprints from her skin and replace them with his own? 

"Thanks," Mina said.

"You look beautiful," Bryan's voice cracked.

"Thanks. I'm going to La Bella Noche."

"Fancy."

Mina felt like a five year old in time out. She was squirmy and nervous. "I don't want to be late."

Bryan nodded and stepped aside so she could leave. He stared at the door for what felt like forever before turning around.

Linda had Ava on her hip and stood staring at her son. Don put an arm around his wife and fixed his gaze on Bryan too. "She has a date," Linda said tipping her head so the top of Ava's head rested against her cheek.

Bryan stepped toward the staircase. "Mom, could you..."

"Baby sit...of course I can. I'd be happy to watch my granddaughter. Make sure you put on a tie. They won't let you in without a tie!"

Bryan barely heard the end of his mother's sentence as he bounded up the stairs to his room.

***

Bryan hadn't bothered with the tie. Luckily Mina and the guy were at a table relatively close to a large picture window. Bryan stood on the sidewalk with the hood of his sweatshirt semi-covering his face and stared at them. 

The guy, light-skinned, tall and always smiling, spoke with the waiter for a moment before turning back to Mina. He said something to her. She laughed. Bryan wanted to vomit. She touched his hand over the table. He leaned forward and winked. Bryan's fists clenched in the pockets of his gray sweatshirt. She sat back in her chair and took a sip of water. Mina's movement was so fluid and graceful. Bryan turned and headed back to his car. He couldn't stand it anymore. She was beautiful and delicate. She was comfortable with this guy. She laughed. He made her laugh! Ugh. 

Why hadn't she ever dressed that way for him? There was the prom, but the prom was a stupid high school rite of passage. This was a Friday night and she had put that dress on for HIM, not for pictures their parents would frame and prop up somewhere in the house so the two of them could be embarrassed every time they passed by. Bryan wanted to hate this guy...but it was his own fault. Mina had always asked him to take her to La Bella Noche, but he had never been interested. 

Bryan got in his car and headed straight for Mina's apartment. There was nowhere else for him to go. He couldn't go home with the annoying lump of regret and jealousy in his stomach. 

His key still worked. Everything was the same as when he'd left, except neater. 

"Hmmph," he mumbled, "maybe I am as big a slob as mom says." 

Bryan went to Mina's bedroom. She'd changed the curtains, the bedspread, and put up a bookshelf in the corner where he'd wanted a television. 

Bryan pulled out the nightstand drawer and cursed. There was a pack of Trojans staring back at him. They hadn't used condoms since Ava was in the womb. That unopened box of condoms mocked him and incinerated the last bit of his pride. Tears swam as he slammed the drawer shut and left the bedroom. He went to his daughter's room and cried into the pink teddy bear he'd gotten the day they brought her home from the hospital. 

In the middle of Ava's crowded pink and white nursery, he came to a realization. He hadn't been trapped in that apartment. He hadn't been trapped in the life he had with Mina and Ava. He'd been scared. When he should have been able to find comfort in their quiet routine, he became uneasy. Why? Why had he been so unwilling to accept that life? 

He thought about his father. He'd only been six when his father had left, but he remembered. His father went to his construction job every day, made it home in time for dinner, and tucked him in every night. Until he decided he wanted more...or different...whatever it was he wanted didn't include Linda, Logan, and Bryan. He had been too much like his father all those months ago, or maybe he was scared to become like his father. He'd just found a different way to run out on his family. 

This isn't going to work, Bryan thought putting the tear-soaked bear back in Ava's crib. Things were going to have to change, and it started with him. He had to get his family back. He was not his father.

***

Mina slipped her key into the lock and frowned. She'd had such a great time with William and he had made her birthday fun. They'd had dinner, walked in the park, and he'd even given her a present, the latest John Legend CD. It was thoughtful and completely appropriate. 

She thought about how she'd hugged him on the stoop and said goodbye. Should she have invited him upstairs? She'd never actually dated the right way before and had no clue what she was supposed to do at the end of the evening. On television, "Do you want to come up?" translates to "Do you want to come fuck?" There was no way she was ready for that. She couldn't afford the distraction and besides, she still half expected Bryan to be in her bed when she woke up in the mornings. 

She flipped the light switch as she retracted her key and screamed.

Bryan rolled off the couch where he'd been asleep and hit the floor. His hip hurt like hell and he was momentarily blinded by the bright light.

"Bryan?" Mina gasped. She slammed the door shut before her neighbors came out of their apartments to curse her out for screaming in the hallway at ten o' clock at night. "Bryan, what the hell are you doing here?"

"Fuck!" Bryan said pulling himself to a standing position using the arm of the couch. "That's gonna bruise up nice."

Mina fought the urge to ask him where he was hurt. "Why are you in my apartment in the middle of the night?"

Bryan seemingly shrunk under her glare. "I just wanted to see the place...the nursery...I'm sorry."

"God Bryan!" Mina tossed her purse onto the couch and snatched the throw pillows off the floor where he'd knocked them when he'd flailed off. "You scared the crap out of me. You shouldn't have been in here in the dark." She threw the pillows back on the furniture and sighed. "I'll go see if I woke up the baby."

"She's not here," Bryan said quickly. Mina frowned. "My parents are babysitting."

"If Ava's not here, why are you? You don't live here anymore."

Bryan watched Mina tense. Her back straightened and her jaw clenched. She crossed her arms in front of her, in a stance that would have been foreboding if it didn't cause her breasts to crush together and distract him from the stormy look she had on her face.

"I know that," he said shoving his hands into his pockets. "It's just that it's your birthday...and the night we met...and I miss you so much." His throat burned with that admission.

Mina turned from him to look at the front door. Thank God I didn't ask William up here, she thought. Bryan's hands on her shoulder forced her thoughts back into the present, in the living room where she had just gotten the answer to one of the questions that had been niggling in the back of her mind for months. He missed her.

"Mina," Bryan whispered gently turning her back around to face him. "I'm so..."

She didn't give him a chance to finish. She just kissed him. Her eyes pressed shut to restrain the tears. She wrapped her arms around his neck and after recovering from his shock; Bryan pulled her to him and deepened the kiss. She melted into him, reaching under his sweat shirt to touch his bare back. She ran her palms over the familiar peaks and valleys sighing as he did the same to her.

Bryan opened his hands and ran them over Mina's back. God, he'd thought about having the chance to kiss her again. He'd dreamt about her taking him back, making him beg first, and making him make it up to her and their daughter. He never thought she'd be the one to kiss him first. He moaned as her tongue touched his. He pulled her against him so she could feel his hardness against her hip.

"Come on," Mina said putting a hand into the front pocket of his hoodie and pulling him back towards the bedroom. 

Bryan's heart leapt. She was taking him to bed...back to their bed. He wanted to run ahead of her, dive into the covers, and open his arms for her to fall into them. His mind flashed to the black box in the end table.

"Wait," he said grabbing Mina's wrist. "You've got condoms."

She nodded. "Yeah, I do."

Bryan felt like an ass but he had to keep going. "Who are the condoms for?"

"What?" Mina could not believe she was standing there having this conversation. She hadn't been the one who'd cheated. 

"Are they for the guy you went out with tonight?" Bryan's throat burned again.

"They're just in case," Mina said crossing her arms in front of her again. 

Bryan wanted to take her hand and pull her close again. He couldn't stand the way she had shrunk away from him. "In case you took me back or in case he..."

"Ohmigod," Mina said before pushing past him and pulling the front door open again. "I think it's time for you to go."

Bryan nodded. He glanced at the open bedroom door and frowned. He couldn't let this guy get into his bed with his girl. He ducked into the bedroom but before Mina could follow him, he emerged again with the box of condoms. He watched with some satisfaction as Mina's jaw dropped. He kissed her forehead and shook the box. Mina was too shocked to pull away, even when he crooked a finger, put it under her chin, and fixed his bright green eyes on hers. "I'll be back," he said. "I'll make it all up to you, and I'll be back."

She stared at him as he walked away down the dimly lit hallway. Bryan's shoulders were bent; he shoved the box in the front pocket of his sweatshirt and pulled the hood up. She bit down on her lip hard, not enough to break skin, just enough to sting. She wanted to punish herself for wanting to sleep with him, months of silence and he shows up to her apartment alone in the dark and the first thing she wants to do is bed him? There was something wrong with that, for real. 




Mina Ch. 04



Mina closed the door when he disappeared around the corner and locked herself in. She had been almost ready to dismiss Bryan as a part of her past that would always be around for Ava, but not directly in Mina's life. Now, she wasn't so sure. She'd wanted him so bad just a few minutes ago. She missed him but she didn't know if she was going to be able to trust him again. He said he'd make it up to her and come back. She sure as hell hoped he would.



Mina Ch. 05



"Hello," Mina said when she answered the slim white cordless on the kitchen counter. The highly polished Italian marble counters her mother had taken forever to pick out glittered in the sun coming from the window above the sink.

"What's up?" Bryan said on the other end.

Mina felt her heart rate increase and took a deep breath before she answered him.

"I'm just hanging out. What are you doing?" Mina self-consciously smoothed down her hair and immediately felt silly. Bryan couldn't see her. She couldn't believe they'd been talking for two whole weeks and she still felt shy and excited whenever she heard his voice.

"Driving around," Bryan said quickly. "Trying to find something to get into."

"That shouldn't be too hard for you," Mina said quickly.

"It really shouldn't, but for some reason, it is today."

Mina laughed. 

"So..." Bryan said after a long pause. "Can I come pick you up?"

"I don't know...my mom is here so I'd have to ask her before I went anywhere." Lame excuses, but Mina knew her mother would never approve of Bryan once she saw his baggy jeans and oversized t-shirt or jersey. She'd catch one whiff of the weed smoke that maintained on his person and boot his ass off her front porch so fast he'd pick splinters out of it for a week.

Mina almost dropped the phone when there was a knock at the front door. She heard her mother leave the living room and go down the hall to open it. She was just about to ask Bryan to call back when she heard his voice not only through the phone but wafting down the hallway. 

"Oh shit," she muttered dropping the white cordless back into its cradle. She was caught in a moment of panic. She wanted to rush into the living room and get Bryan the hell away from her mother, but she was wearing her tiny pink shorts that barely contained her bottom and a green tank top with no bra. She had no idea what would upset her mother more; the white boy standing in her living room, or her daughter barely dressed, standing in front of that white boy.

"Mina," her mother called from the front of the house, "you have company."

"Uh...I'm not dressed for company."

"Well, come say hello and then you can run upstairs and get dressed. Don't be rude."

Mina nodded. "Coming, mother."

Bryan forgot to breathe when Mina walked into the living room. She was so sexy. Her hair was out of the ponytail and hung down her back in a silken black sheet. Some of it spread across her generous, obviously untamed breasts. He couldn't have imagined the perfect proportions of her body no matter how hard he tried. He'd never seen so much of her. Her smooth brown arms were bare, the shirt stopped well above her navel, showing her flat stomach and those shorts...those damned shorts. The pink fabric stopped just below her crotch, it outlined her pussy and left almost every inch of her legs available for his eyes to feast on. She was barefoot and even the pale pink polish on her toes managed to add to his want.

"Hi," Mina said with a shy smile.

"Hi."

Bryan caught the surprised look on her face when she finally looked up from the floor. He held back a laugh. He knew she'd be surprised. He wore khaki pants that actually fit, with a belt, and a pale blue Polo shirt, white Nikes and a cocky grin. 

"Well," Diana said interrupting the silence as each appreciated the other's outfit. "You really aren't dressed for company, are you?"

Mina felt her face grow warm.

"Why don't you run upstairs and change. Bryan came over to ask me if you could join his family for Sunday dinner and you certainly can't go dressed like that." 

"I'll just be a minute," Mina offered turning immediately to the staircase. Her mother had just given her permission to go out with Bryan. This was monumental, as was the grin that broke out on her face as she bounded up the stairs two at a time. This was her first date. Excited didn't even begin to describe the feeling she had as she wildly pulled clothes from her closet. Her heart felt like it was about to burst out of her chest and she was incredibly warm all over. She was officially going out with Bryan Dillinger...and her mother had given permission.

Bryan tried not to frown at the thought of Mina putting on her signature jeans and t-shirt on to hide all he'd just seen. Technically, she hadn't been dressed for Sunday dinner, but he couldn't imagine he'd ever want to see her in anything other than that outfit ever again.

***

"You're a fucking idiot," Brenda said as she placed the giant salad bowl on the dining room table. 

Bryan glared at his step-sister, but continued setting the table. "Are you going to start this shit now?"

Brenda tossed her out-of-the-bottle blonde hair and rolled her gray eyes. "Hell, yeah! You're miserable, making the rest of us miserable, and you don't think I'm going to say something?"

Bryan shrugged. It was hard to believe that Brenda wasn't his mother's biological child. They had matching personalities and both were always talking shit. He couldn't figure out if it was the fact that his mother had raised Brenda for half her life or Brenda's own genetic code that brought her into being a younger version of his mother. 

"When are you people going to stop giving me shit?"

"Never," Andrew, his thirty-year-old step-brother said as he dropped the bread basket beside the salad. Andrew looked just like his father, tall, dark brown hair and piercing dark eyes. He'd been married to Jenna, or as the rest of the family called her, 'the bitch-wife', for three years. They had two kids, Morgan, three, and Miley, who had just turned two. 

Bryan was tempted to retreat up the stairs to his bedroom and not come out until everyone had left. He'd managed to avoid these dinners for months, refusing to drive to his siblings' and being conveniently absent when they were held at his house. Linda had caught on and made him promise not to duck out on this one. Bryan couldn't bring himself to break a promise he'd made to his mother...no matter how much everyone picked on him.

"Leave him alone," Linda said entering the dining room with a pan of baked ziti. "He knows what he did and he's already suffering. Stop giving him shit!"

Brenda sighed and Andrew shrugged.

"Thanks mom," Bryan said with a sigh of relief.

"Don't even think that I'm on your side here," Linda snapped. "I just don't want you getting jumped on by your brother and sister. That's my job."

Don dropped into his seat and smiled at Linda. "Will this family ever get through one of these meals without an argument?"

"Dad," Brenda said taking her seat, "Are you new here?"

David walked into the dining room from the kitchen holding a platter of roasted red potatoes and onions. He was a cross between the other siblings in attendance. He had the same dark hair as Andrew; his eyes were light gray like his older sister. He wasn't quite six foot like his father and older brother, but he was handsome. He had a square jaw, linear nose, and the perfect smile. 

"No, no, Bren," Don said shaking out his napkin and placing it across his lap. "I'm just doing a little wishful thinking."

"It would be boring as hell around here if there wasn't a reason to yell all through dinner," David said sitting in the chair beside Bryan.

Logan picked that exact moment to crash into the kitchen pulling an especially thin woman behind him. Sandie smiled and waved at the family gathered around the table.

Linda frowned...not pleased with the uninvited guest. "Did you bring the baby?" she asked flatly.

"No," Sandie said with a shrug. "He's at home with my mom."

"Oh," Linda said, not even bothering to hide the disappointment she felt at having to deal with the idiotic stick figure and not getting any grandma time out of it. Dorian was over a year old now and surprisingly fat considering how thin his mother was. Then, her disappointment turned to annoyance when 'the bitch-wife' entered from upstairs.

"They're finally settled," she told no one in particular as she took the chair beside Andrew. "I put in a Sponge Bob DVD so we've got at least two hours of peace."

Linda had stopped insisting on Morgan and Miley having dinner with them. After twenty minutes of the toddlers shoveling, throwing, or refusing food, Jenna was an absolute wreck and morphed into Super-Bitch-Wife for the rest of the evening. Instead, the kids ate an early dinner and stayed upstairs until it was time to leave.

Linda missed Mina at Sunday dinner. She would help with the cooking. She would help with the dishes. She'd always politely thank Linda for dinner and tell her how delicious everything had been. Mina was the perfect dinner guest. She didn't stumble in at the last minute still reeking of sex like Sandie and she didn't wrinkle her nose and recite the calorie content of everything like 'the bitch wife' did. Sometimes Linda was sure that she'd stab her dear daughter with a fork if Jenna said one more thing about Italian food being "full of bad carbs and heavy sauces". 

"Well," Don said snapping Linda's attention back to the dinner at hand. "Let's eat then!"

"Pasta, potatoes, and bread," Jenna sighed wrinkling her nose, "This is going to wreck my diet."

Linda clenched her fork until her knuckles turned white as Don instructed Andrew to say the grace.

***

Mina hugged Linda the next Wednesday. She was dropping Ava off so she could get some serious writing done on her Ethics term paper. 

"I miss you so much," Linda said when they finally separated.

Mina smiled but remained quiet.

"I'm fucking serious!" Linda said in a stage whisper. "You're the only decent girl any of my sons have ever brought home."

"You always say that," Mina said as she unfastened Ava's restraints to remove her from the car seat.

"That's because it's true," Linda sighed. "Can you believe 'the bitch wife' said my baked ziti was dried out? She's got some nerve...maybe I should just feed my family hot dog pieces in macaroni and cheese like she does."

Mina snickered. "She doesn't really eat, Linda. She wouldn't know how it's supposed to taste."

Linda smiled. "That's what I love about you, honey. You're so fucking smart."

Mina didn't feel smart. She'd spent the last two weeks dodging William's invitations on another date. She was waiting for Bryan. Sometimes she wondered how long she was willing to wait for him to fulfill his promise. She hadn't heard from him and he was noticeably absent when she dropped off his daughter. Everything was the same as before. It was like the night in her apartment hadn't even happened. She handed Ava to Linda and sighed.

"Has Bryan said anything about me?"

Linda cooed at her granddaughter and shook her head no. "Like what, honey?"

Like we almost spent the night together, or about what he'd promised me, or about the pack of condoms he'd stolen from my night stand. "I don't know," she answered after running through the list of possible answers.

"He hasn't been saying much of anything lately," Linda bounced Ava a bit before putting her in the playpen and cleaning up the mess of macaroni and cheese Layla had left on the kitchen table before her nap. "All I know is that he's taking a business course on-line and he's been spending most of his time at the store with Don."

"Really?" Mina asked. She couldn't picture Bryan doing either one of those things and briefly wondered if Linda was telling the truth.

"Yup. Don says he's teaching him the books and stuff. He's even paying him an hourly wage so he won't go back to selling weed."

Mina frowned. "I didn't know he'd started that again."

Linda put the empty Hello Kitty bowl in the sink and grabbed the sponge. "He was back at it for a few months after he quit the factory job. He said it was quick money and the only thing he knew he could do well."

Mina frowned. She didn't want Bryan doing that shit. The last thing she wanted was to take Ava to visit her father in prison.

"Oh, don't look like that!" Linda said as she wiped the stubborn cheese off the table top. "I told you he's not doing it anymore. Don told him he could make money the easy way, or he could make it the right way. Looks like he's listening."

Mina forced a smile. "Let's hope so. Could you ask him to call me?"

Linda stopped scrubbing at that question. Mina had never indicated that she was interested in any direct contact with Bryan before. "Sure, honey."

Mina shrunk under Linda's curious stare. "I...uh...I gotta go."

Mina was half asleep when her phone rang that night. She snatched it out of the cradle, and mumbled a greeting.

"Hi, there," William's voice greeted her own. Mina was awake now and wanted to kick herself for not screening more carefully. She'd convinced herself that avoiding William was easier than saying no to him. He was just so damned charming.

"I'm pretty tired," she started, "Can I call you back tomorrow?"

"No, way, Mina. The last time you said that, you didn't call me at all. Anyway, this won't take long."

"Okay then." Mina sat up in the bed and propped herself up against the pillows.

"I would like to invite you to a very important luncheon in the city. My family is active in a lot of charities and one is having a thing on Saturday. My mother bought a whole table and she's having a hard time filling it. She invited me and told me that I had to bring someone to fill the last seat."

"Oh, I don't know about that," Mina said trying to keep her voice even and not as panicked as she felt. "We've only been on one date and now I have to meet your parents? That's kind of weird. Besides, Saturday is only two days a way. It's such short notice."

"The meeting the parents thing is totally obsolete. You'd be doing my mom a huge favor and I've been dying to see you again. Please say you'll go."

"Okay," Mina sighed. "I'll get a babysitter."

"Cool. I'll call you tomorrow to iron out the details."

Mina hung up and pulled the covers over her head. She felt guilty for trying to ditch William. He was such a nice guy. There was nothing wrong with a luncheon was there? It was for charity after all.

***

A week later Linda, Don, and Bryan stood in the living room having a heated discussion. Linda stood with her slim arms crossed against her chest and a deep frown. Don also had his arms crossed buy his face was unreadable. Bryan had his fists deep in the pockets of his baggy jeans and spoke too loudly.

"I'm sick of this!" he snapped. "There was some girl in the shower when I got home from work. I had to go take my final without a shower!"

"You could have used our shower," Linda countered.

"There's no way in hell! I know what you two do in that shower!"

Don shook his head and tried not to laugh. The whole situation had gone from volatile to comical.

Bryan had gotten home from taking his Business final in a sour mood. When Linda asked what was wrong, he told her that Logan had pissed him off before his test. The two had argued about the girl in the shower; which led to an argument about Logan having too many girls coming in and out of the house. Logan had insisted that his younger brother was just jealous for which Bryan had no retort. Logan had left by the time Bryan returned from his test and Bryan was insisting that his parents kick his older brother out of the house. Linda was having none of that talk.

"Bryan," she sighed, "lets be honest here. You're twenty years old now. We could kick you out just as easily as your brother."

Bryan shrugged. "I'm moving out soon anyway. Besides, I've lived somewhere other than here, Logan never even pretended like he was planning on going anywhere else. All he does is bring home girls and get them pregnant."

Don sighed. "To be fair, that Charlotte girl isn't sure Logan is the father."

"That just proves my point dad," Bryan snapped. "He's sleeping with skanks and bringing them in here with you and your grandkids."

"Oh, so this is about Ava?" Linda said confused.

"It's about all of us," Bryan answered. "Logan is bringing us all down."

"I'm what?" Logan shouted. None of them had heard him come in over the loud discussion.

"You heard me!" Bryan growled.

"I'm bringing all of us down? Since when are you any better than me?" Logan stood in front of Bryan, so close his rounded stomach bumped his brother. "You do the same shit I do. You sell drugs, you hang out at the clubs, you got some skank pregnant."

Bryan shoved his brother so hard; Linda had to jump aside so he wouldn't stumble into her. "Mina is not a skank! You're just jealous since you couldn't talk her into fucking your fat ass and I don't do any of that other shit anymore!"

Logan balled his fists, but didn't move. "What are you thinking, Bryan? Do you think you're going to win Mina back by working at dad's store and paying all her bills?" He laughed reaching into his back pocket. "She doesn't give a shit about you anymore...and you know why? Because you fucked some skank. So don't stand here talking shit about me when you're no better!"

Bryan caught the folded up newspaper that Logan threw at him and looked at it. In a vibrant color picture, Mina was sitting at a table next to the same guy she'd gone to La Bella Noche with. There were others around her but Bryan couldn't focus on any of them. His eyes went to the caption under the picture. 

"William Malone, son of Senator Robert Malone and philanthropist Mrs. Wanda Malone, dines with an unidentified companion at a recent Sickle-Cell Awareness Luncheon in Manhattan."

Logan laughed when Bryan looked up from the newspaper. "What's the matter little brother? Don't think you can compete with the son of a senator?"

Bryan threw the newspaper at Logan and tackled him when he reached to catch it. 

"Bryan, no!" Linda said reaching down to pull him back to his feet. Don grabbed her waist and pulled her back, putting himself between her and her sons. He waited until Bryan landed a strong right across Logan's eye before pulling them apart. Logan lay on the floor holding his injured eye and swearing as Don wrestled Bryan out of the living room.

"That's enough!" Don yelled and Bryan finally stopped struggling. "You got him one good. He deserved that. That is enough, so go cool down."

Bryan nodded and bounded up the stairs to his room. He had to talk to Mina anyway. 



Mina Ch. 06



"I saw the picture in the newspaper."

Mina's blood ran cold and her hands actually began to shake, she pressed the phone against her ear so she wouldn't drop it. She'd never been afraid of Bryan but there was something so scary about the way he said those words. There was no emotion in his voice...she would have expected disappointment or anger...something. "I'm so sorry," she said quietly. "I didn't know they were taking pictures for the paper."

"Fuck the newspaper!" Bryan almost yelled. "Are you dating him?"

"No," Mina said quickly.

The other end of the phone was silent for a moment. "So, you're telling me that you are not dating the Senator's son?"

He spat the last two words. Mina frowned. "No, I'm not!" she yelled. "I didn't even know who his parents were until we got to the luncheon. I was just doing him a favor. It was technically not a date!" And that was technically not a lie.

"Look," Bryan said with a defeated sigh. "I'm working my ass off here and it doesn't really seem to matter."

"Bryan..."

"I've got to call you back."

The line went dead in her ear and Mina swallowed the frustrated scream rising in her throat. She didn't want to wake Ava from her afternoon nap and she had to get back to the computer. She was halfway through with a term paper for Art History class when someone knocked. "Bryan," she whispered saving the document as quickly as she could.

William gave her a huge grin and a single red rose when she pulled the door open.

Damn it! Mina stepped aside to let him enter the apartment.

"Where's your kid?" he asked glancing around. She noticed he was holding a cream-colored bear behind his back.

"She's sleeping," Mina said motioning to the couch so they could both sit. He hander her the bear and tossed his arm across the back of the couch as he sat, as if he expected her to nestle into the spot beside him. She sat on the opposite end, leaving the middle cushion beside him empty. "William, you really should have given me a heads up about that lunch thing."

"What do you mean?" The faint grin on his lips showed that he knew exactly what she meant.

Mina sighed. "I mean, you didn't mention that it was such a big deal...or who your parents are...or that we'd be on Page Six and in every newspaper from here to Buffalo."

"I did say the fundraiser was important and I just assumed you knew who my father is...everyone else does."

Mina couldn't help bristling at his self-righteous tone. "Well, I didn't. Now I'm screwed. Bryan saw it and he's so pissed right now..."

"Bryan?" William asked leaning against the arm of the chair. "You mean Ava's dad?"

She frowned.

"Oh, God, Mina," Williams said sitting up and leaning towards her. "I'm sorry. I don't mean to sound like a jerk but I honestly didn't think you'd mind being in the society papers. I mean, it's really where you belong considering who your mother is."

Mina blinked at him slowly digesting what he'd just told her. "How do you know my mother?"

"Oh, I don't. My father does."

Oh. My. God. "Your father knows my mother?" Mina realized she sounded brain damaged but something just wasn't clicking somewhere.

"Of course. Your mother is a very famous litigator worth millions of dollars and one of his constituents."

Mina felt like she was suffocating. She leapt off the couch as she gasped for breath. Everything was starting to make perfect sense. "Oh my God, William!" she barked. "Did my mother set us up? Did she tell you to ask me out? Did she tell you to take me to that luncheon?"

William watched her coolly. "My father was the one who made me aware of your attending this school. I don't know if your mother had anything to do with that."

"Of course she did!" Mina said fisting her hair in both hands like a mad woman. "She must have had something to do with this! Damn it! Damn it!"

"Mina," William said reaching for her, "Are you okay?"

She hadn't even noticed him get up from the couch or approach her but as soon as he tried to touch her she leapt backwards. "No," she said waggling a finger at him. "You have got to go."

William frowned. "Are you serious?"

"Hell yeah, I'm serious!" Mina snapped taking a few steps away from him.

"Are you telling me that you'll have a kid with some loser drug dealer but you don't want shit to do with me?"

Mina was surprised; she'd never heard him use foul language before. 

"You're still in love with him, aren't you?" 

Mina remained silent.

"That doesn't even make any sense!" William snapped. "You and I make sense. You are perfect for me. Two families rooted in the law and politics. Do you realize that I plan on being president some day?"

Mina shook her head. "I can't be Jacqueline to your JFK. I have no interest in politics and I don't plan on being anyone's trophy wife. Who I date is not contingent on my mother's money. So, I'm asking you nicely one last time to leave."

William stared at her, with a look on his face that she could read easily. He was shocked and probably embarrassed that she wasn't willing to go out with him. He'd been working so hard to connect with her and he was not one accustomed to failure. He shook his head ever so slightly when she didn't look away from his gaze and turned for the door. 

Mina locked the door behind him and shut herself in her room to call her mother. 

Diana answered on the second ring. 

"Mother," Mina said through clenched teeth, "did you tell Senator Malone to get his son to ask me out?"

"I don't know what you're talking about, Mina." The statement was simple enough; but there was no indignation or insult in her tone. Her tone was too matter-of-fact. 

"Don't be a lawyer right now!" Mina snapped. "I need you to be my mother and admit what you did!"

"Okay, so I may have mentioned to the Senator that our children attended the same college...and that you were single. What is so bad about that?" There was the indignation that indicated her mother was telling the truth.

"I told you that I wasn't ready to date yet."

"Are you going to pine for Bryan the rest of your life? You made a mistake but you don't have to pay for it the rest of your life!"

Mina wanted to scream, but instead she kept her tone even when she said, "I can't disconnect from Bryan the way you did with dad. I don't want Ava to grow up not knowing her father."

The only sound on the line was a quick hitch in her mother's breath. "We didn't need him," she said quietly, as if she talking to herself.

"No, mother, you didn't need him. I did. I know that you think my getting pregnant was a mistake I made all on my own, but your decision was a contributing factor in that. I needed a dad to tell me that I was smart and pretty every once in a while."

"I told you those things," Diana said with a sniff.

"You told me I was capable of making better grades and that I'd look better if I wore my hair down. It's not exactly the same thing." Mina sighed. 

"But..."

"I have to go," Mina interrupted. "I'm going to call Bryan and I'd appreciate it if you stay out of my love life. Ava and I will see you for dinner on Saturday." She pressed END without hearing her mother's reply.



Mina Ch. 07



Mina yanked the cluster of pink, purple, and white balloons, around twenty, minus a few casualties while wrestling them in and out of the car. The bobbing mass barely missed a low-hanging branch on the tree she was passing in order to get to the cluster of four picnic tables a few feet away.

Linda snapped a picture of her with the digital camera as soon as she was in range and Mina shook her head. "I wasn't even looking!" she said attempting to frown. She barely got her lips to purse together before her smile returned. She couldn't even pretend to be upset on Ava's first birthday...and certainly not at her birthday party. Linda shrugged. "You look beautiful anyway."

Diana rushed to her daughter with Mina perched on her hip. "Good, you're here. Now we can start the party." 

Mina glanced around at the gathering of every single member of Bryan's family including their kids playing on the playground twenty feet to the left of the picnic area. "Where's Bryan?" she asked loudly she said as she handed Linda the balloons.

"I haven't seen him," Diana answered sweetly. Mina had just learned that tone as the one her mother had taken on in order to stop herself from saying something hurtful or negative. She had to admit Diana was making an effort to be less bitchy since she'd called her on her shit a few weeks before.

"He'll be here," Linda said to her rival grandmother. "He picked up some things I'd forgotten at home."

Diana glanced at the picnic table that held the food and forced a smile. "I can't imagine you forgot anything at home. You've laid out quite a spread already." Mina could practically hear the saccharine coating on each word.

Mina kissed Ava's forehead to hide her smile. It was hilarious to see her mother so put out by Linda. She was not enjoying her "B-grandma" status. Just that day, Linda had shown up with piles of food...fried chicken, macaroni and cheese, baked ziti, antipasti, an enormous bowl of Greek salad, every soda imaginable, beer, and she'd made a three layer birthday cake. In fact, Linda had made so much food; she and Don had driven separate cars to the park. His was loaded with a trunk full of brightly wrapped gifts. 

Diana's mouth had literally fell open when she arrived with her store-bought potato salad and one large gift bag. Mina had thanked her mother profusely, but Diana was still reeling from what some could have perceived as a shortcoming. Mina knew her mother didn't cook...well, she did, but she never cooked for a large crowd like Linda did every Sunday. Mina was also aware that her mother hadn't gone shopping for a small child since her own birthdays years ago. 

"Hey!" said Bryan from behind her. "Sorry I'm late." He said it as he handed two large Tupperware containers to his mother, but his eyes were trained on Mina's.

She smiled and shrugged. "You didn't miss anything yet."

"It took you long enough!" Andrew said clapping his brother on the back. "You know mom can't show up to a party without olive tapenade and bruchetta!"

Bryan nodded and tore his gaze away from Mina to watch Ava. She was settled in Diana's arms watching one of her cousins blow bubbles. When an orb got close enough she'd extend a chubby hand to grab it and giggle when it popped on her fingers. When he looked back to Mina, she was engaged in hushed conversation with Brenda as they prepared the table for the impending onslaught of hungry family members. 

"Can I talk to you?" 

Mina jumped at Bryan's voice so close. She hadn't heard him approach but he was barely a step away when she turned to face him. Brenda gave her an interested look when she excused herself to follow Bryan. They found a secluded spot behind a tree about fifty yards from everyone else.

"What's up?" she asked pressing herself against the trunk of the tree.

"I just wanted to tell you Happy Birthday," he said putting a hand on the tree beside her head and leaning into her. "Here." He presented a small black box from the pocket of his dark denim jeans.

"Thanks." She pulled the top off the box and found a bright gold key. "What's this?"

"Dad helped me put some money down on a house."

Mina narrowed her eyes in confusion. "I don't..."

"I've been working my ass off, Mina. I really want us to be a family again and I got the feeling you did too." He watched for a nod or some signal of agreement, but she kept her head ducked, staring at the key. "I know you don't like it when I do things without involving you...and this is a HUGE decision...and I did it without you. I'm sorry, but this is just a starter house. It was affordable and it wasn't going to be available for very long so I just got it."

"You bought a house?" Her mind was still reeling and she wanted to laugh at the absurdity of the situation. 

"I understand if you don't want to move in with me just yet."

"Move in? I don't even know if I've forgiven you."

Bryan nodded. "I know. Just promise me you'll think about it."

Mina looked up into his intense green gaze and smiled. "I know you're trying. I will definitely think about it."

Before he could stop himself he'd leaned further down and pressed his mouth against her full lips. The kiss began innocent enough, but when Mina wrapped her arm around his neck, Bryan almost lost his careful control. He'd been waiting so long; his body's reaction was instantaneous. His dick sprung to life and he pulled her hips from the tree trunk to rest against his body. Mina moaned when she felt his erection pressing against her stomach. She opened her mouth and his tongue slipped inside. She closed her eyes and felt him, his fingers splayed across her back, his chest hard and his heart pounding...she could feel it where their bodies pressed together. He held her as if afraid she'd disappear if he let go. 

Suddenly there was a bright flash visible even through her eyelids. Mina's eyes flew open and a boy with messy dark brown hair, missing front teeth, and a digital camera smiled up at her. She felt her face flush and used the hand on Bryan's chest to push him away.

"Hey, Aunt Linda!" the boy called turning to run when he saw Bryan's glare. He barely avoided Bryan's attempt to swipe the camera and yelled again. "I got a picture of Bryan kissing his girlfriend!" 

Mina clasped her hands over her mouth to suppress her laughter. Bryan's face was bright red as he took off around the tree to chase down his cousin. She slumped against the tree and shoved the key in the pocket of her jeans. She heard Bryan's cousin yelling, "Leave me alone!" and "You can't break it, it's my dad's camera!" Then she heard Linda yell at Bryan to "leave the kid alone" and help his brother set up the bounce house. It was definitely a Dillinger family party now.

***

"Bryan!" Mina gasped as he entered the bedroom and grasped her firmly around the waist. "We are supposed to be packing!"

"I'm too tired to pack anymore," he muttered against her neck.

"Come on," said Mina as she wiggled in his arms, "all we have left to do is break down the bed. Then, we'll have a couple hours to rest before the movers get here."

"Let's give the bed one more go before we break it down," Bryan whispered, lowering his hands to her hips. She wore the same pink shorts she'd had on when he showed up on her doorstep around two years before. They fit different, though. Her hips had spread after giving birth so the shorts hugged her voluptuous ass even tighter. The bottom curve of her ass was visible when she bent over. He'd been watching her bend over to fill boxes all day and he couldn't take anymore. 

Mina stopped resisting as he began to nibble and lick her neck. His hands kneaded her ass and she moaned, pressing her breasts against him. 

"I don't know," she whispered weakly.

"Please, baby," he begged as he lifted her. She automatically wrapped her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck. "We'll make it quick."

"Okay," Mina muttered against his lips. "Quick."

"But first," Bryan said depositing her with a bounce on the bed.

"Bry-aan," she groaned. "You said-"

"I know what I said," he said dropping to his knees and reaching under the bed. He righted himself, brought his face inches from hers and whispered, "I'll fuck you hard and fast and make you cum so hard you're toes will take days to uncurl, just the way you like."

Mina's nipples stiffened and her pussy flooded immediately.

"But first I have to give you this." Bryan presented her with a black box.

"Oh, God," Mina sighed reaching for it with a shaky hand. 

She stared it for a minute before Bryan said, "Well, are you going to open it or what?"

She nodded and opened it, pulling out a princess cut diamond resting atop a gold band. She didn't realize she was crying until Bryan's rough thumbs swiped across her cheeks.

"I want to spend the rest of my life with you," he said pulling the ring from its nest and taking her left hand. "I want to love you the way you deserve. I want to raise our kids together. I want to take care of you."

"I can take care of myself," Mina said automatically.

"I know," Bryan said catching her gaze with his own. Mina's heart leapt when she saw tears swimming in his green eyes. "Trust me, I know. I just want to be there for you...to help you."

"We're so young," she said, mostly to herself. 

"I know that and I know it'll be rough, but I'm ready now, Mina. I know you've forgiven me for what happened, but I want you to know that I've changed."

"I never wanted to change you," Mina sobbed.

"I know that too," said Bryan, letting his tears fall on her lap. "You just wanted to love me."

Mina nodded.

"I changed myself," Bryan said slipping the ring on her finger, "for you and Ava."

She smiled and kissed him gently.

"So, will you marry me?"

"Yes," Mina said kissing him again. "I will."

Bryan grinned, dimple and all. "God, I love you."

"I love you too," said Mina.

"Now let's get to work on Ava's little brother or sister," Bryan said forcing her onto her back and pulling her shorts down her legs.

Mina laughed. "I already told you we're not having another baby until after I graduate!"

"Oh, yeah...that's right," Bryan said thoughtfully. "So we'll just practice so I can work on my technique until then." He pushed her white tank top up to expose her bra-less breasts.

"Sounds good," Mina breathed as he buried a finger into her pussy and took a nipple into his mouth.

Her hips bucked against his hand. Bryan moved to the other nipple to lavish it with attention and slipped a second finger into her wetness.

"Are you ready?" he asked watching her eyes shut.

"You can't tell?" Mina whispered.

He smiled. "Oh I can tell, I just want to hear you say it."

Her eyes opened. "I want you to fuck me," said Mina, "Fuck me hard. Make me scream. Make me cum."

Bryan's dick was rock hard as he freed it from his jeans and boxers. He peeled off her wet panties and rubbed the head of his cock against her slit. 

"Don't tease," Mina moaned.

"On your knees," Bryan commanded. She obeyed and he groaned at the sight of her upturned ass. She parted her legs, opening her sex for him and he slapped her ass. She gasped and pushed her ass back toward him. Bryan lined his cock up with her cunt, pressed past her slick, swollen lips and into her heat. "Shit, Mina," he snapped, "you're so fuckin' tight."

She moaned in response.

Bryan grasped her hips, his fingers sinking into her flesh, not caring that he'd probably leave bruises. "Do it," Mina begged. "Hard." 

He pulled her against him roughly, effectively filling her pussy with one swift move.

"Augh!" Mina cried, her fingers digging into the comforter under her hands.

Bryan sawed in and out of her, making her squeal and gasp in delight. Her pussy clenched and spasmed in a matter of minutes, giving up her first orgasm. He groaned as she came, but managed to keep his seed from spilling into her. 

Mina gasped when he brought his hand around to finger her clit as he continued to plow into her from behind. The room filled with the sound of their flesh colliding and her ragged screams. She screamed his name, God's name, and a slew of curses when she came once again. Her elbows turned to jelly and she buried her face in the comforter. 

Bryan never stopped moving in and out of her. Her new position opened her up to him even more, releasing her clit, he grasped both her thighs and lifted her off the bed completely. Her ankles crossed behind his back and he fucked her even harder.

Mina was sure her screaming could be heard for blocks around. She was half suspended in the air and completely at his mercy. She screamed his name as she climaxed and felt him swell inside her, coating her walls with his cum.

"Damn," Bryan groaned lowering her legs back onto the bed. He lay beside her and pulled her spent body against his. "I love you," he whispered before kissing her naked shoulder.

"I love you too," Mina breathed, her eyes closing. They both fell asleep on top of the comforter. They didn't wake up until insistent knocking of the movers echoed through the empty apartment. They dressed quickly and hurriedly let in the movers that had arrived to help them start their life together...again.