Page 99 of Baby Girl
Silence falls around the table, the heaviness of my words settling on each of our shoulders. It’s a fact we all know, as much as we don’t want to accept it. It’s something we have yet to say out loud, but our girl is going strong after almost two weeks of limited contact.
Emery’s resolve may be greater than our desire to win her back, which is no small amount.
I deal out the first hand, not paying attention to the actual play and regularly watching the screen as Emery continues to sleep. Several hands go by, my stack of chips going up and down like a yo-yo, but my mind is stuck on a merry-go-round full of memories of Emery.
That first night in the hotel when she had turned around with her beautiful smile as we first entered the room.
The snarky little spitfire in the aftermath on the couch.
The unsure princess in the apartment the next morning, when she found all four of us waiting for her in the kitchen.
The overwhelmed little miss after her first shopping spree with us.
The disbelief that we wanted to keep her for an additional six months.
And then her heartbreak and fear behind the coffee shop. I grit my teeth at this particular memory. just like every other time it has shoved itself to the front of my consciousness.
The naughty little tease in my classroom.
And the brat. Oh, that fucking little brat. I want that brat like I want my next breath. Simply remembering her realization that she had pushed a little too far and gotten herself into hot water, fuck, I could relieve that memory until my dying breath.
But then her internal destruction as our eyes made contact from across the club. How the rest of the space faded away, and the only thing I’d been able to see was her. My baby girl as she crumbled right before my eyes.
And the elevator. I can barely force myself to think about her tear-filled eyes or the rage that had burned within them.
The memories repeat over and over, like a form of self-flagellation, tearing away pieces of me with every loop.
It’s not until I raise my glass to my lips for another drink and find it empty that my attention returns to the room.
“Refill?” I offer the table, noting that Darcy and Xavier have gotten into a serious hand.
Hudson nods and offers me his empty bottle, his other hand wrapped around the deck while he waits for whoever is considering their next move to actually make it.
I eye Xavier’s glass and see it has barely been touched. Checking Darcy’s drink situation, I find it also requires a refill. Leaving them to the hand, I step away, glancing at a sleeping Emery as I head over to the bar.
“Call,” Darcy states, then both he and Xavier are standing as they wait for Hudson to deal out the final card.
I pause from getting the bottles of beer from the bar and watch as the hand plays out, unsure on the actual cards, but when they both flip their cards over and Darcy straightens and mutters, “No hearts,” I figure Xavier is chasing a flush.
“Nine spades,” Hudson proclaims as he flips the river over.
Darcy sags with relief, then holds out his hand to Xavier, who takes it without a word.
Xavier passes me as I head back to the table with the three drinks. “Bathroom.”
I hand out the drinks before adjusting my seat so that I don’t have such an easy view of Emery, determined to pay attention to the rest of the game. There is a prize on the line, after all.
More than a few hands later, I glance over my shoulder, expecting to see Xavier on the couch, but he isn’t there. Turning back to Hudson and Darcy, I raise an eyebrow at them. “Where’s Xavier?”
They both glance at each other and then around what they can see of my living room.
“He was just here,” Hudson says, eyebrows pulling together.
“Did he come back from the bathroom?” I ask as I stand, prepared to go look for him.
“I didn’t even know he went to the bathroom,” Darcy states, but then his eyes widen as he looks at something behind me. “What the f—”
I spin around and watch as the feed of Emery is jostled around, the camera pointing at the wall for a few seconds before it's turned around and Xavier’s fucking face appears on the screen, a huge smile on his smug face.
