The Protectors

  A Novelette

  B. Love

  Prolific Pen Pusher

  Copyright © 2024 by B. Love

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Contents

  Preface

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Preface

  Please note: These are different timeframes. The weddings/pregnancies are not congruent since the ladies were pregnant at different times. These are update chapters only. No full plots. Enjoy.

  1

  Asylum

  September

  I thought Doe was irresistible to me before, but watching her grow my baby in her womb made it impossible for me to keep my hands off her. The fact that she was risking her health and life, putting a lot of things on hold to ensure she had a safe and healthy pregnancy and delivery, made me love and respect her even more. I was truly grateful to God and appreciative even more for my woman, women in general, and there wasn’t a damn thing I wouldn’t do for her.

  On top of her carrying my child, I loved the relationship she’d developed with True. Though she stressed she wasn’t trying to be a second mother or replacement for Sierra, my sweetheart took care of True and considered her as if she was her own.

  A perfect example of that was how today she’d put together a special day for us and True, to make sure she understood the baby we were about to have wasn’t going to replace her. It hadn’t crossed my mind to have a conversation like this with True, because I knew that was the case, but the way she considered my baby girl and intentionally wanted to validate her place in our lives before the new baby came had me ready to serve her at her feet.

  Doe obsessed over things, wanting them to be perfect, so it didn’t surprise me to find her in the dining room, looking over the setup Swayde had created. Swayde had a tea bar in Jasper Lane that was dope as hell. She didn’t usually travel for parties, but she made an exception for Doe… and for the amount of money I offered her to do this for my babies. Doe wanted to have a tea party with True. She had hot water stations and several different kinds of tea on a custom menu to choose from, along with finger sandwiches and pastries that complemented each tea.

  The shit was cute as hell, I couldn’t lie, and I knew True would love it.

  Walking over to Doe, I stood behind her and lifted her belly. Immediately, her body relaxed against me.

  “Mm,” she moaned before giggling as I held her belly up and gently rocked her from side to side. “How’d you know this was just what I needed?”

  “Just a guess.”

  I placed a kiss to her neck, loving how her giggles sounded. I wanted to do everything in my power to keep her comfortable while she carried my son. It wasn’t lost on me that with her being a first-time mom, there were changes within her body she’d been experiencing and how it might sometimes be painful or uncomfortable, and I wanted to do whatever I could to alleviate that.

  “Thank you, babe. I can’t describe how good it feels to be weightless… even if for just a few seconds.”

  “Well… our son will be here soon. Then you’ll have your body back to yourself.”

  “And I cannot wait. I don’t mind sharing it with him as long as I need to, but Mama is ready for him to come out.”

  That made me chuckle. He was due in three weeks, and we’d been counting down for different reasons.

  “We need to decide on a name.”

  She turned in my arms. “I know you don’t want him to be a junior.”

  My head shook. “Nah, I want him to carve his own path. I’ll guide him, but I want him to be his own man.”

  “That’s fair. Well, we still have a little time. Nothing has really resonated with me yet.”

  “Maybe we should just wait until he’s here. Look at him. See what comes to us.”

  Her arms wrapped around my neck as she smiled. “I love the sound of that. That’s actually perfect, Sy.”

  “Good.”

  Lowering my lips to hers, I kissed her until the doorbell rang. In no rush, I lowered my hands to her ass, wishing I could pull her closer, but Baby Boy was in the damn way. Doe chuckled as she pulled away.

  “I feel like I can’t get close enough to you,” I muttered.

  “Clearly. Three more weeks.”

  “Three more weeks,” I repeated before heading toward the door. I didn’t really feel like dealing with Sierra’s ass, but since I wanted to stay behind in case Swayde and Doe needed my help with anything, I asked Sierra to drop True off.

  Sierra had gotten a bit more stable over the last several months. She was working and had a three-bedroom apartment that was by her parents’ home. Our schedule was split, so she had True two weeks out of the month, and so did I. We hadn’t heard from Bobby, which I was grateful for. A part of me thought one day he’d regret signing over his rights, but that hadn’t been the case.

  I wouldn’t say Sierra and I had any kind of relationship. We only talked about True. She asked about Doe and the baby from time to time, but I wasn’t comfortable sharing any details about my life with her. I was willing to deal with her on behalf of True, but I’d never forget that stunt she pulled, and it had permanently changed the way I handled her.

  “Hey, Daddy.” True greeted me with a wide grin.

  “Hey, baby girl,” I replied, giving her a hug and kissing the top of her head. “Why didn’t you use the code to let yourself in?”

  “Mama said you and Ms. Doe might’ve been in here doing grown folks’ stuff and that we needed to knock since you didn’t answer the phone.”

  With a chuckle, I acknowledged Sierra with a bob of my head. “I ’preciate the consideration. I just didn’t have my phone, though.”

  Sierra nodded and twiddled her thumbs. “Well… I guess I’ll see you in two weeks, True, but I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

  “Okay, Mama. Bye!”

  True gave Sierra a hug before heading down the hall in search of her friend. After I closed up behind Sierra, I led True to where Doe was waiting for us in the dining room. She was as excited by what Doe had done as I thought she would be. I made it clear this was Doe’s idea because I wanted to make sure she knew Doe had her on her heart and mind.

  Once we all had our tea and pastries, we got comfortable at the table.

  “Doe and I want to talk to you to make sure you understand things might change a little around the house when the baby gets here, but it won’t change our love for you or our priority of you,” I started. “You’re still my princess, and us having a baby doesn’t change that.”

  “How are you feeling about the new baby?” Doe asked.

  True finished chewing her strawberry and cucumber sandwich before looking from me to Doe.

  “At first I was a little sad,” she admitted. “Well, I was happy but sad too.”

  “Why?” I asked.

  “Because I didn’t want you to not be my daddy anymore since you had your own baby.”

  That shit broke my fucking heart. It made me even more grateful that Doe wanted to have this conversation because it never crossed my mind that True would feel this way.

  “Baby girl, whether you’re my biological daughter or not, you’ll always be my baby. That’s why I’m adopting you.”

  “I know,” she replied with a smile. “Mama reminded me of that. And she told me this baby is still going to be my little brother, even though he didn’t come from her, because you’re still going to be my daddy. So that made me excited about it because she said she’s not going to have any more kids.”

  Doe and I laughed.

  “If you ever feel sad or angry, you know you can come to us, right?” Doe confirmed.

  “Yes, ma’am. I just didn’t want to make either of you mad. But I’m okay with the new baby. I promise. I can’t wait until he gets here.”

  “Well, we’re gonna need your help with him,” I told her. “You ready to change some diapers?”

  “Ew! I’ll do anything but that!” Her scowl caused Doe to release a hoot of laughter.

  “Come on now, princess. How you not gon’ change ya lil brother diapers?” I asked.

  “Unh uh.” Her head shook and face covered with disgust at just the thought, and I could no longer hold my laugh in. “I’ll feed him, but I’m not changing no diapers.”

  We continued to commune well into the evening. I made the mental note to schedule a day out of the week to spend with my princess after the baby got here, where it was just us, to make sure she never questioned her priority in my life. I also made the mental note to call Sierra and thank her for what she’d said to True.

  It seemed she helped her and didn’t bother telling me, which let me know her intentions were pure. Sierra had a track record of being selfish and spiteful, and I was grateful she allowed that to remain a pure moment where she did what was best for our daughter.

  Maybe there was hope for her yet.

  2

  Dauterive

  When I agreed to a spa day with my sister, Dallas, I wasn’t expecting it to end with us seeing Sierra on our way to lunch. I wouldn’t say Sierra and I had a bad relationship, but we didn’t have a good one either. We were cordial and respected each other. She’d done too much for me to ever fake the funk with her though.

  It was still fresh that she’d lied about there being a possibility that Asylum was True’s father. Even though we found our way back to each other, it still hurt that we parted ways almost fourteen years ago because of her lie. I had my man and knew nothing or no one would ever come between us, but still. That wasn’t some shit I could just get over overnight.

  And on top of what she did years ago, she did that flawed ass disappearing act. That didn’t just hurt True; it hurt Asylum as well. She hurt two people who I loved and cared about because she was so self-absorbed and obsessed with a man who was never hers to begin with. I wasn’t holding those things against her, but they definitely made me not like her as a person. I could respect that she’d apologized and tried to make amends, but that wasn’t good enough for me. My fear was that, at a different time in the future, something could happen to make her respond like that again. She was the kind of person I’d never fully be able to trust.

  Good thing was, it didn’t matter. If she did leave True again, Sy and I were going to make sure she was taken care of.

  “Can we talk?” Sierra asked, standing in front of me.

  We were in the waiting area at a new restaurant that Dallas wanted to try. From the full tables, I would assume they were going to be good and worth the wait. It was a brunch buffet style restaurant, which was the first of its kind in the city.

  “You can sit down and talk,” I offered, moving my purse from next to me on the bench. I didn’t really want to talk to her, but I would listen to what she had to say.

  “True told me about the tea party. That was really sweet.”

  Nodding, I gave a small smile as Dallas stared at us. It wasn’t funny, but the way my sister was ready to pop off tickled me.

  “Dallas, will you see if they’ll let you get me some water?”

  Her eyes rolled as she stood and gave us some privacy, making me laugh.

  “She looked like she was ready for me to say the wrong thing so she could hit me,” Sierra said with a chuckle and shook her head.

  “That, she was.”

  “I take it that’s because she knows about what happened years ago?”

  “Yeah, and she knows about your disappearing act too.”

  With a sigh, Sierra sat back and leaned against the wall. “You don’t like me… do you?”

  “No, I don’t. Would you like me if the roles were reversed?”

  She sighed and squeezed the back of her neck. “I know me saying I’m sorry and that I’m not that same person anymore might not mean anything to you, but it’s the truth. I spent so much time trying to keep a man that wasn’t meant to be mine, and I hated what that did to me. The person it turned me into.”

  “You can’t blame Sy for you lying about the paternity of your child.”

  “I’m not blaming him.” She pulled in a deep breath. “I’m just saying, I did things I shouldn’t have done to keep him. But I’m not on that type of time anymore. I know we’ll never be friends, but I wanted to thank you for treating my daughter well and not holding what I’ve done over the years against her.”

  That softened me toward her—a little.

  “I would never do that. True’s the sweetest little girl. She got some fire in her though.” We smiled. “You are doing good with her. Minus you temporarily abandoning her, you’re raising a good child.”

  “Thank you. Um… I told Sy this, but… if the two of you ever need anything with the baby, he can always come over with True. She asked me if he could have our empty room.” That made us both laugh. “I told her I doubt if y’all would trust me with him, but he will always have a place in our home as True’s little brother.”

  “She told us that you assured her that she would always be Sy’s baby. Thank you for that.”

  “You don’t have to thank me for that. It was the truth.”

  “Huh.” Dallas extended a glass of water in my direction and kept her eyes on Sierra.

  With a chuckle, Sierra stood as I accepted the water.

  “Thank you, SiSi,” I said, appreciating her stopping to try and develop more peace between us.

  “No problem. You ladies enjoy your brunch.”

  “You as well,” I replied as she walked away.

  Dallas sucked her teeth, and I pinched her thigh as I laughed.

  “Ow! Why you pinch me?”

  “Why you mugging that lady like that?”

  “Because I owe her an ass whupping for what she did to you, my brother, and my niece.”

  My eyes rolled as I shook my head. “You gon’ have to learn to be soft in the face when she’s around. I really don’t think she’s leaving again, so we have to get used to her.”

  “You have to get used to her. I ain’t got to get used to shit.”

  With a chuckle, I crossed my arms over my chest. This girl was impossible, but I loved her for it. Sierra wasn’t my favorite person in the world, but maybe there was hope for her yet.

  3

  Dauterive

  October

  I’d waited too late to fly for my babymoon. With my due date being one week away, any travel we did would have to be done in a car. I didn’t want to drive too far and be uncomfortable, so Asylum and I decided on Rose Valley Hills. It was only three hours away. I wasn’t expecting much to be available to do in the beach town since it was fall, but we ended up having a lot of options.

  I think my favorite thing that we’d done so far was the gondola ride that led us to a small studio where we were able to create our own candles, bouquets, and clay molds. We did a mold of my belly that would be shipped to us in a few weeks, and I couldn’t wait to get it. We also had a mold casted of our hands intertwined. It was probably the most hands-on creative date I’d ever had, and I was glad it was with my fiancé. I loved that even after all these years, Sy and I were still able to have firsts together.

  When we made it back to our hotel suite, I was in for the surprise of my life. I’d mentioned to him how the spa Dallas and I went to were unable to accommodate me for a massage because they were so busy, which was okay. I understood there was only one woman on staff who was trained to do it, and she was booked. To see that he’d booked a masseuse, who was ready and waiting to give me a full body massage, made me cry.

  The ambiance was set with relaxing music and dim lighting, and he had a tray of fruit for me to nibble on too. For ninety minutes, I was in absolute heaven, and I couldn’t wait for the masseuse to leave so I could thank him for it.

  As soon as he closed the door behind Taylor, I was on him. He laughed as I kissed his lips and unbuckled his jeans.

  “Doe…”

  “Hmm?”

  “What you doing?”

  “It’s not obvious?”

  Laughing, Asylum took my hands into his. “Yeah, but I’m just surprised.”

  Removing my hand from his, I cupped his dick through his jeans. “You’re hard too.”

  “You know all it takes for that to happen is one touch from you.”

  I smiled with one side of my mouth before connecting my lips with his. He helped me undress him. Since I was in undies under a cotton robe, it didn’t take much for him to remove the robe. I squealed when he picked me up and carried me to bed.

  “You sure?” he checked, kissing down my chest.

  “Yes, babe. I’m sure.”

  Kisses and touches led to him entering me while I lay on my side. He was so gentle and careful. So slow and precise. I felt every inch of every stroke he filled me with. His hand moved from my stomach to my neck. Holding me in place, he alternated between kissing my neck, cheek, and lips.

  “Oh my God,” I moaned, speech slurred. The climax wasn’t quick, but it was hard and intense. My entire body trembled and seized, and he continued to stroke me. My whimpers mixed with his moans as I gripped the back of his thigh.

  “Damn, bae.” He panted against my ear. Between the huskiness of his voice and the feel of his dick jerking inside of me, I shuddered.

 

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