Wednesday, November 27th, officially one week before Diego was scheduled to deploy. I sat at my desk looking at the line numbers of the folks who were promoted, trying to guestimate when I'd sew on my rank. Ro walked up behind me. "Can you pick up little D from daycare today?" she asked.

Usually, I had no issues with picking him up, but there were several things I had to do after work to have them ready for the Friday night festivities. "Um, I have something to do after work."

She looked at me funny, "Like what?"

"Stuff."

"Um. I guess I'll ask my sister-in-law to do it."

"You know I would—"

"Yeah," she said before walking off to her desk and sitting. She looked disgusted. Her baby bump was slowly starting to emerge. I figured her hormones were whacky. I was sure her disappointment would dissipate once she saw the party we planned at the NCO club for her.

I resumed looking at the line numbers and figured I'd sew on in March. It was perfect. The extra money in my pockets just in time to plan a trip to New Orleans for the Jazz Festival.

I was scrolling through travel sites when a message flashed on my phone: "Time to schedule your yearly exam." I cringed. I hated those exams. Sitting in a cold office on a platform in a paper gown with all my booty butt cheeks exposed waiting for someone to look at my vagina and then stick that weird-looking contraption inside of my opening while pressing on my belly.

I sighed as I looked at a list of possible dates. I decided on the second week of January.

****

My shift ended at 3:30 p.m., and Diego called me. We had to meet at the club to give the staff instructions on how we wanted things set up for Friday night. I parked my car. Later, I found Diego standing outside the door in front. We were both in our uniforms. I gave him a quick church hug, and we went inside.

We were in there for no longer than an hour. As we stepped out of the club, we were confronted with an accusing glare, "What the fuck is going on?" she asked with her hand on her hip.

Diego and I were confused, seeing Ro standing before us with nostrils flared. "I thought you had to work late," I said to her.

"I'm just trying to see why your name keeps popping up in my husband's phone, and when I tried to check it the other day, he had a passcode on it."

Diego huffed. "Ro, are you serious right now?"

"Hell, yeah. How are you fucking with my supposed best friend?"

My eyes started to tear up. "The reason why I've been texting your husband is because of this," I said as I pulled out my phone and showed her the messages between Diego and me. Her face cracked. She didn't say a word. I snatched my phone from her and left.

I heard her and Diego arguing as they walked to their cars in the parking lot.

*******

Warren was hanging out with some of his buddies from the office. I didn't have to worry about getting dinner ready. I wasn't even hungry after that bull shit Ro pulled. I went to the gym, and when I returned, she was sitting on my porch with sad eyes.

She stood as I approached the door. She spoke, "Hey."

I shook my head as I stood on my porch, eyeing her with discontent.

"Come on Jackie, please. God, it's bad enough that Diego is pissed. I can't have both of y'all mad at me."

"Maybe you should have thought about that before you accused us of fucking as we were planning a surprise party for you. Contrary to all the shit you talk about Diego, he does love you." I opened my door and walked inside.

She followed me inside and shut the door. "Have you told Warren?"

"No."

"I'm sorry Jackie. You know these—"

"Yeah, yeah, the pregnancy hormones. How many times are you going to use that?"

"Well, I am pregnant."

A deep sigh and my eyebrows rose.

"Look, I am so sorry," she said as if that was going to fix everything.

"How the fuck could you think I'd sleep with Diego? It would be like you fucking Warren."

Her eyes watered. "I'm sorry. I'm stupid. I don't know what I'm doing. I fucked up, Jackie. I shouldn't have done what I did in the desert."

I didn't respond. As mad as I was, I didn't want to pour salt onto her wounds.

"I shouldn't keep this baby."

My eyes squinted. "Wait, what?"

She gulped. "I can't keep it. You and I both know what will happen if I do."

I shrugged. "Um, I thought you were adamant that the baby was Diego's."

She sucked her teeth, "You're lucky you can't—"

"Can't what?"

"I just mean this thing that I did with Cabugao created life, and now I have to figure out what to do. You and Kelly don't have that problem.

I scoffed, "There you go with that bull shit again."

"You never slept with Kelly."

"No. I didn't. Just like I never fucked your husband."

It was quiet. "I wish I was more like you, Jackie."

"Stop saying that. You don't have to be like me. Be the person you are and just fucking do better. Stop making excuses."

She nodded with tearful eyes, "You're right. I won't make any more mistakes. I realized Diego does love me. He's upset, but he still wants to have the party."

"So have it."

"I can't have a party without my girl." She reached for my hands and looked into my eyes, "I swear this is the last time I will question your integrity. It seems one of us has our number one core value down to a tee."

I chuckled. "I'm not perfect. Far from it."

"You'll come?"

I nodded. "Of course."

We spoke a little longer, and then she left. Mentally drained, I headed up for a shower. As I washed my body, I heard the shower door slide open. Warren stepped inside with a wife beater and his boxers.

I laughed. "Why aren't you naked?"

"I just couldn't wait to have you, babe." There was a bench inside our shower. I placed my foot on top as he sat on the floor like a good boy, licking my center. My fingers strummed the top of his head, "That's it, babe," I said sweetly, "lick my pussy."

He loved it when I talked dirty. It was his sign to go all the way in and after the day I had, I was ready for a raw dirty fuck. He paused and looked at me with a naughty grin. He rose to his feet. "You want me to beat it up?"

I nodded.

"Turn your ass around," he commanded. As soon as I did, his hand came down on my flesh. My ass cheeks rippled. Then he gripped my hair and pushed his huge long dick into my pussy and wore it out as the water cascaded down our bodies.

It sounded perfect. His body collided with mine. The water, our lustful moans. It was everything I loved about a good fuck, "You love my dick?" he asked roughly

"Yes, yes, I love your dick."

"It's my pussy?"

"It's your pussy."

His hands cupped my breasts and I started pulsating on his cock. He went faster and faster. I was cumming like crazy but he didn't stop. He reached around me to shut off the water, the door slid open, and he walked and fucked me as we stepped out.

Our bodies were still drenched. He fucked me in front of the mirror relentlessly. He grabbed my arms and pulled slightly as he thrust until I nutted again. Slowly he pulled out and held his cock waiting for me to go down.

My mouth opened. I licked and sucked him clean. He held the sides of my face and thrust slowly as he looked at me. "I love your mouth, Jackie," he said with a grin, "I love it when we're nasty. You love it too, baby?"

I nodded with his cock still in my mouth. My fingers toyed with his sack. He continued to thrust, "Oh fuuuuuck, babe, it's coming," he informed me before he let it flow.

*****

After drying off, we made it to the bed. I lay with my hand on his chest. "Ro knows about the party on Friday," I told him.

"Who spilled the beans?"

"Well, no one. She followed me after work. Can you believe she thought Diego and I were, you know?"

He laughed. "Seriously?"

"Yeah. That shit is crazy. I would never fuck her man. Like, how crazy does she think I am? That would be some fuck shit."

He nodded. "Yeah, it would be." He kissed the top of my head. "Let's get some sleep."

*********

It was Friday morning when I woke up to a text message from my baby sister, Silvia Acevedo. She had her mother's last name because my father never officially claimed any of his other children. She stated that she had just bought a house in Fort Walton Beach because she landed a job at the hospital on base.

I was so proud of her. At twenty-five years old, she was already making moves. My mother hated for me to have any contact with them, so I just stopped telling her about our interactions.

I helped pay for my sister to finish college and buy her first car. As mad as my mother was at my sister and brothers, they didn't ask to be born. My father was the one who spread his man juice all around town. Her anger was misdirected.

I replied happily, "Congratulations, when are you coming?"

"I'm already in the area. Can we have lunch?"

"Of course."

When Warren woke up, he saw me smiling. "Am I the reason for the smile?"

I touched his face, "You're my reason. However, this morning, I have an additional reason."

"Oh yeah, what's that?"

"My sister has just bought a house nearby."

"Oh, your half-sister."

"Yeah, sister."

He nodded. "Well, it's morning, and you know what time it is," he said before crawling on me. I chuckled as I looked into his eyes. My eyes rolled when he pressed his way inside. Mornings with my man were the best.

********

I had the day off. I decided to go visit my sister's new home, which was near the water. I parked in the driveway next to her car. She was already hurrying to greet me. Two years younger with skin brown like mine, eyes that shined like moonbeams, and a smile that made me smile.

"Jackie!" she exclaimed as she wrapped her arms around me. She smelled so fragrant as if she had just donned a fragrance from Bath and Body Works. "Okay, Silvia, I see you," I said as we turned and looked at her house.

"It's a great starter."

"It's a great house, period. I bought some sage." I showed her the incense.

"Awesome," she replied. We headed up the porch and into the house. We burned the sage and said a prayer to cleanse the space. It was something I did before moving into a new space.

"How have you been?" she asked.

"Good. Life has been throwing me some serious jabs, but you know my bob and weave game is strong."

She chuckled, "Facts."

"And what about you?" I asked as I looked at her standing refreshed in a pair of joggers and a long-sleeved fitted t-shirt.

"I'm great. I'm happy to be closer to you. I know you have a friend here already, but I hope you can squeeze time in for me."

I hugged her. "You know I will, knucklehead."

We grabbed a few drinks, headed to the patio, sat on the lanai, and looked at the water. "Are y'all still trying?"

I shrugged, "We're just fucking a lot and if it happens it happens."

She smiled, "Ain't nothing wrong with that."

"He says he's okay if we don't have kids. I just hope years from now he doesn't regret it, especially since we have other options."

"He doesn't want to try any of them?"

"Not nare a one."

"He's stubborn."

"Girl, it's his mom. She's always whispering in his ear. Just keep praying about it. God will make it happen the right way. As if God didn't create these other ways."

She sighed.

My phone rang. I got a message from Ro. I told her I was with my sister. She replied, "The one in South Carolina?"

"Yes, but she lives here now. In Fort Walton Beach."

"Oh, okay."

I looked at my sister. "We're throwing Ro a party tonight. You should come."

She hesitated, "Um, I don't know. Maybe."

I stood, "If you come, it's all white with green accessories. It's Ro's favorite color."

She hugged me. "I'll text you later if I decide to come."

******

When night arrived, I was already at home looking fly in my wrap-around white dress, dangling green earrings, green shoes, and bracelets. Warren wore white pants and a white shite with a green tie to match.

The idea was that everyone would wear white with green accessories, and Ro would wear green with white accessories. My sister decided she would come. We were waiting for her to arrive because she was going to ride with us. Plus, it was going to be a great opportunity for her to meet Warren.

The doorbell sounded, and I answered it. We had on similar-style dresses. "Great minds think alike," I said.

"I love me a wrap-around dress. Easy to get into and get out of."

I nodded. "Meet my husband, Warren."

She shook his hand, "Finally, I've heard so many great things about you. I would have come to the wedding but."

He nodded. He understood the nature of the beef my mother had with accepting my father's other children. "It's great to meet you. You and Jackie look a lot alike."

We did. We had our paternal grandmothers' figure, busty with a nice bubble of an ass and a slim waist. We also had my father's complexion. Yet, my hair was more like my mother's. I had a looser curl pattern, and my hair was mostly straightened when I didn't have it pulled back into a bun. My sister wore her hair in sister locs in a bob. After the introductions, we headed to the club.

*****

We arrived early. I was co-hosting with Diego. He still looked perturbed. I pulled him to the side after introducing him to my sister and asked, "You good?"

He hesitated and huffed, "I'm still trying to get passed the bullshit."

"Just breathe. We all get a little crazy at times. Consider this as her get out of jail free card."

He sucked his teeth, "How many of those can I give her?"

I paused and asked, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing. I have to go run and pick her up. I'll be back." He left. They lived on base, so it wasn't going to take long.

I headed out to greet the guests as they arrived. I saw my sister sitting at the table alone. She stood. "Everything okay?"

I nodded. "Yeah. married folks' stuff. It'll be fine."

She walked around with me, and I introduced her to the people. They seemed to like her. She did have a fun personality. It was getting close to the time for the birthday girl to arrive. The lights were dimmed, and as soon as they stepped through the door, we had Beyonce's Run The World (Girls) play.

Even though it was no longer a surprise, her face lit up with joy to see everyone there, all dressed in white with green accents. She wore a pretty light green with a darker green one-shoulder dress that I had purchased with sparkly white stilettos.

She walked over to me, "Thank you for helping Diego plan this."

"You're welcome. This is my sister, Silvia," I said as I stepped aside so she could meet her.

"Look at y'all all dressed alike," she said as she shook her hand.

"You look so pretty," Silvia said, smiling.

"Thank you," she replied.

We headed to the table where I had my sister join us, of course. We were all talking casually and drinking. The food was set up, and everyone had a chance to grab what they wanted. The music played some salsa and my sister started singing.

Diego smiled. "What do you know about Marc Anthony?" he asked with a surprised look.

"Everything. I've been on Marc since Contra la Corriente."

"Bullshit, you were like two when that album came out."

"I was three, but seriously, my mom is Puerto Rican. I've always listened to salsa since the womb."

He nodded. A guy walked over and asked her to dance. Warren and Diego went for more drinks and food. I looked over at Ro, who looked spaced out. "You okay?"

She nodded. "I didn't know you were bringing your sister."

"Yeah, I thought it would be a good chance to introduce you all to her."

She nodded and stayed quiet. "I need a drink."

"You can't drink."

"Yeah, I know. Can you believe Diego is still pissed and he leaves next week?"

"Have you tried sucking his dick really good?"

She chuckled, "He won't let me touch him, and that's insane because his sex drive isn't as crazy as Warren's, but it's close."

"What do you know about my man's sex drive?"

"Shit as much as y'all stayed fucking in Cancun, I just assumed it was insane."

I nodded. "It is." I had a big smile on my face.

"You so nasty."

"I am but only for my man." I stuck my tongue out and headed to the dance floor. I met up with my sister. She looked over my shoulder at Ro and then back at me.

"Are you sure, Ro is okay with me being here?"

"Of course, why wouldn't she be?"

"I detected some weird energy from her."

I sighed. "She's got a lot going on right now."

She nodded, and we continued to dance.