The reception! Calvin and I – the only wedding party members - are introduced into the ballroom first, and then their fathers, Anthony and Rick. They are both in a great mood and acting silly, walking in arm and arm like they are each other’s date. The guests have a good laugh at their expense, but they don’t mind. Nick and Delilah dance their first dance to…what else? None other than Hey There, Delilah by the Plain White T’s, being covered by their fabulous wedding singer…this time. We join in halfway through the song, do a little dancing, and have a bunch of laughs before going to sit down for an absolutely delicious dinner with the bride and groom.

  Calvin is very attentive and makes sure that I am feeling well and keeping hydrated. He even orders me a ginger ale from the bar when he grabs himself a beer. I am having a hard time keeping my hands off him and he knows it because he keeps leaning over and kissing my exposed shoulder, teasing me. Pain in my ass! He will pay when we get home. Did I say when “we” get home? It would be nice…

  Just before it’s time for dessert, Calvin and I get up to do a joint maid-of-honor/best man speech. The DJ hands us each a microphone and we head out onto the dance floor in front of the bridal table. Mic in one hand, glass of champagne – sparkling cider for me - in the other. We have been rehearsing what we are going to say for the past few days.

  “We are pretty sure that almost everyone in the room knows who we are, but if you’ve already had too much alcohol and can’t remember, I’m Calvin King, Nick’s best man,” Calvin says with his most charming smile.

  The crowd of almost a hundred people chuckle.

  “And I am Charlie Fisher, Delilah’s maid-of-honor. I’ve known LaLa for a long time… sometimes I think it’s been too long,” I say, giving my best friend a sideways glance, making her snicker.

  Calvin makes a noise of agreement.

  “She’s my best friend, and I was with her the night she met Nick right here in this very club. I knew that the moment that she left me high and dry to go dance with some ridiculously hot dude, that she’d found THE one,” I say with a chuckle.

  The crowd laughs and claps.

  “I met Little Bit, er, Delilah, shortly after she started working for Nick. I had a feeling that he felt something toward her early on because he refused to let me ask her out and got jealous when I flirted with her, which is usually something he wouldn’t care about,” Calvin says.

  I raise an eyebrow at Calvin, making him paste a shit-eating grin on his face. I roll my eyes and I hear the crowd snicker.

  “Anyway, we obviously knew that they were perfect for each other even before they knew it themselves,” I say.

  Calvin nods. “And honestly, I don’t think that there is another couple on this earth better suited for each other than these two…well, maybe Charlotte and I, but they are a really close second,” he smirks, slipping his hand around my waist and giving me a squeeze and chaste kiss on the cheek while the crowd laughs again.

  We both turn to look at a smiling Delilah and Nick. “We wish you the very best of luck and a long happy marriage, we love you guys,” I finish.

  “Salud!” Calvin says, raising his glass.

  Everyone cheers and raises their glasses, clinking them together before taking a sip. Calvin leans down and kisses me softly on the lips before we hand the microphones back to the DJ and go give Delilah and Nick hugs and kisses. We again take our seats at their table.

  The tables are still being cleared as the cake is being wheeled out. I hear a little commotion in that direction and look up to see Fronk yelling at the servers, frantically making sure that the cake looks flawless. And, of course, it looks no less than picture-perfect. I smile knowing what those poor guys are dealing with. I was stuck going to all of the tastings with Delilah because Nick said that he had his fill of Fronk. Do you know how hard it is to call a grown man “Fronk” without wanting to laugh in his face? Well, let me tell you, it’s very hard, especially when your best friend makes you watch Father of the Bride a hundred times while planning her wedding.

  The guests begin to sing The Bride Cuts the Cake, and I watch as Nick and Delilah feed each other pieces very carefully to make sure that they don’t make a mess of it. Where the hell is Calvin? The band then joins in the action playing the Jaws theme song, while Calvin and Parker sneak up behind Nick. They grab him, holding his arms behind his back, so that Delilah can smash cake in his face. Damn, she gets him good! The guests start howling with laughter. I think Fronk has a heart attack, and I almost pee in my pants laughing so hard.

  While Delilah helps Nick clean up, Calvin comes back and sits down next to me. He wraps his arm around my shoulders and pulls me in close, pressing a warm kiss to my cheek.

  “Baby, I want you to come meet my parents,” Calvin murmurs in my ear.

  I nod. “Okay.”

  “Ever since I told them that you are pregnant, they’ve been dying to meet you.” He smiles, his nose brushing against my temple.

  I can’t help but smile. Our little miracle baby.

  “Let’s go then.”

  Calvin

  I take Charlotte’s hand as we walk over to where my parents and Carla are talking to Parker, Delilah’s dad, Rick, and Nick’s dad, Tony. I can tell that Charlotte is a little nervous, but when I look over at her, she gives me a reassuring smile. I give her hand a squeeze and smile back.

  We come up between my dad and Carla. My mom is standing on the other side of my dad. “Sorry to interrupt, but I want to formally introduce Charlotte to my parents,” I say to Tony, Rick, and Parker. They all smile and nod, then walk away gracefully, giving us some privacy. Except Parker, per usual, he doesn’t get the hint, or just likes his nose in the middle of everything.

  “Oh, it’s about time! Charlotte, we are so excited to meet you. I’m Yolanda,” my mother chirps, reaching out to pull Charlotte into another big hug. “I didn’t get my fill earlier!” She chuckles as she squeezes my girl.

  “Please, call me Charlie,” my lovely girlfriend says.

  My mother lets her go and covers her mouth with her hands as she looks down at Charlotte’s little baby bump. “Oh my lord, can I touch your belly?” she asks, unshed tears shimmering in her eyes.

  Charlotte smiles wide and nods, giving her the go-ahead. My mother places both hands on her belly and rubs small circles, bending over to coo softly to our little peanut. When she straightens up, she pulls Charlotte back into a hug and whispers how so very happy she is to have a grandchild on the way. I can’t help but grin the whole time.

  Once my mother relinquishes her hold on Charlotte, I introduce her to my dad. “Dad, this is Charlotte. Charlotte, my dad, Calvin King Jr.”

  My dad takes her hand and kisses her knuckles. “It is so great to finally meet you, at least now we know that you were pregnant and not trying to avoid us,” he teases with a smirk.

  Charlotte blushes. “I really wasn’t trying to avoid you on purpose.”

  My dad chuckles. “I know, honey, I know.”

  “This is my sister Carla. Carla, this is Charlotte,” I say, motioning to my sister.

  Carla coolly shakes Charlotte’s hand, eyeing her up in a way that I didn’t expect from her. I know that she and Aisha were close when we were together, and that they still talk every now and then, which makes me wonder if my sister has that bitch filling her head with nonsense. By the way Carla is looking at Charlotte in disgust, I would have to say that it’s a real possibility. I’ll bite my tongue for now, but I will be having a talk with my little sister soon. This shit won’t fly.

  I look back at my dad to find him studying Charlotte with a slight frown, as if he’s trying to figure something out.

  “What’s the matter?” I ask him.

  “It’s just…I feel like I know you from somewhere, Charlotte. I just can’t pinpoint it,” my dad says, thinking hard. “What is your last name, hon?”

  “Fisher.”

  “Fisher…Fisher… I wonder if it’s from a case I tried about 12 years back. Calvin, you know the case I’m talking about, the one with the young girl that was…” The words die on my father’s lips as it dawns on him what he is saying.

  As my father is talking, I notice that Charlotte has become deathly pale, even more so than normal. I frown at her reaction, not understanding what is going on with her. I immediately think that maybe she’s feeling sick again and might need to throw up.

  “…Bron…Bron Fisher!” Calvin King Jr. snaps his finger as he figures it out. “That’s it!” he exclaims triumphantly.

  Now it’s my turn for all of the blood to drain out of my head. Did my dad just say Bron Fisher? As in Charlotte’s dad, Bron Fisher?

  “The hearing for that scum’s parole was about six months ago actually,” my dad growls, not noticing the tension and silence happening next to him.

  The betrayal hits me hard and fast. How could she not tell me that she had been raped when she was younger? That is huge! It should be something that I should have known once our relationship got off the ground. Then I realize what my dad has just said and I start putting two and two together. That fucker’s parole hearing was about six months ago. Could that have been the day that everyone disappeared on me? Does that mean that Delilah, Nick, and Parker all know about this? I turn to look at Parker who is looking like a deer in headlights. Yup! He fucking knows! Sonofabitch!

  I turn to look at Charlotte, who is shaking uncontrollably. She stares up at me, her eyes showing hurt and anger. What the fuck for? I’m the one who should feel like that. She’s the one who didn’t tell me who she really is.

  “You knew this entire time?” She snaps.

  The crowd around us is so quiet that you could hear a pin drop.

  I shake my head in confusion. “What? How the hell would I know? You never told me!” I snap back.

  “Your dad just said that you knew about that case.”

  “Yeah, I knew about it, I went to law school and studied it. How could you not tell me about this?” I demand. “I mean, you were raped when you were 15! I would think that would be something that you would tell your boyfriend and father of your child!”

  “You studied the case. Your father was the prosecutor. How could you NOT recognize my name?” she questions me through gritted teeth, her eyes welling up.

  “I told you that I didn’t know. You should have told me!” I shout at her, unable to rein in my temper.

  My father steps forward and tries to diffuse the situation. “Calm down, Cal. This is neither the time nor the place,” he says to me pointedly.

  “It’s not like it ever came up in conversation, Calvin. What was I supposed to say? Oh, by the way, I was raped when I was 15, how’s your coffee?” she squawks.

  I don’t heed my father’s advice and continue with my tirade. “You lied to me!”

  “No, I didn’t!”

  “It’s a lie of omission. And you lied about where you were that day when you, Delilah, Nick, and Parker all disappeared. You were at that hearing, weren’t you?” I snarl.

  “Son,” my father bites out in warning.

  She opens her mouth to say something, but shuts it, apparently unable to come up with anything. I feel my body vibrate with anger. She’s kept so much from me. She’s lied about so much. So many things are clicking into place now. Her avoidance of my previous advances and the fact that she had only slept with white guys before me. She obviously had some kind of hang up when it came to black guys. I knew it! And who could blame her, one raped her, but she should have told me!

  We start to draw attention, but I am really too heated to care. Cool, calm, and collected Calvin just took a flying leap out the window. Another thought pops in my head and it makes my blood run cold. I glare down at her. “What really happened that made it so you were ‘supposedly’ unable to have children? Or did you lie about that, too, to try and trap me?”

  “Calvin!” both of my parents exclaim.

  Charlotte flinches as if slapped in the face. Her expression one of shock and agony. “How could you even say that?” she rasps, placing her hands on her belly protectively.

  “I don’t know what to think anymore, I don’t know what the truth is!” I bark.

  Tears begin to stream down her face, and normally I would hate to see her like that, but I’m too livid to care.

  “I ended up pregnant by the asshole that raped me. It was a tubal pregnancy that almost killed me. The doctor removed one tube, and the other was badly damaged. That’s why I was told that I could never get pregnant,” she cries quietly.

  Stunned. I am absolutely floored by this admission. She had been pregnant before. Pregnant with the baby of the guy who raped her. What. The. Fuck.

  “YOU SHOULD HAVE TOLD ME!” I roar, turning everyone’s head in our direction.

  “That’s enough!” my dad interjects, scowling, and steps into my personal space. He means business.

  That’s when Parker steps in front of me and starts pushing me back. “Come on, man, let’s go get some air.”

  I’m panting hard from my anger, but allow Parker to push me back toward the exit. Charlotte is sobbing into her hands with my mother trying to console her. I am so fucking furious right now that I don’t even know what’s going to happen between us. How can I forgive her for this? How can she say that she loves me, yet keep so much of herself from me?

  Charlotte

  Did that really just happen? I am completely mortified and so hurt by what he said. Never in a million years did I think that Calvin could be so cruel, I guess I’m wrong. I quickly try to pull myself together before causing more of a scene than we already have. Yolanda is hugging me, trying to soothe me. I’m shocked by her kindness. I thought for sure that she would take Calvin’s side.

  I get myself under control and dry my face with a tissue that someone hands me. Yolanda is standing in front of me, her hands smoothing up and down my arms. I take a chance to look at her face, but she is smiling warmly at me. I must look confused because she lets out a little chuckle.

  “Sweetheart, just because he’s my son, doesn’t mean that I agree with everything he says or does. I feel horrible about what he said and I have no excuses for his behavior. I will tell you that I did not raise him that way.”

  “Maybe if he wasn’t dating a white chick he wouldn’t be having these problems,” I hear Carla mumble from where she is standing next to her father with her arms crossed over her chest.

  Okay, a girl can only take so much abuse in one night. I let Calvin off easy because he completely caught me off guard, but this bitch right here is going down, metaphorically speaking, of course. Both Yolanda’s and Calvin Jr.’s heads whip around to stare at their daughter in shock.

  “Carla!” Yolanda exclaims.

  She just shrugs and sticks her nose up at me.

  I extract myself from Yolanda’s comforting arms and go stand face to face with Carla. We are pretty much the same height. I put on the meanest, bitchiest, big girl panties I’ve got and let her have it.

  “This ‘white chick’ is carrying your brother’s child. And no matter what, as the mother, I will say who can and can’t see the baby. You want to be Auntie Carla? You want to have anything to do with this precious baby? Then you better check yourself because as of right now, you are on my shit list, and have lost your privileges to be a part of this baby’s life,” I hiss.

  I can tell that I hit a nerve because her eyes widen a hint and her mouth opens to protest.

  “Plus...” I say before she can speak. “I don’t give a shit about what you think about me, or what anybody thinks, actually. The only person that matters right now is my baby. So you can take your racist comments and elitist attitude, and shove them up your ass, you stuck up bitch.”

  “Hey, what the hell is going on over here?” Nick’s deep voice asks, his tone saying that he is less than pleased.

  “Nothing, Nick,” I say heatedly as I step away from Carla. “Where’s Delilah?”

  “Dancing with her dad. Where’s Calvin?” he asks in return.

  “Who the fuck cares?” I snap and stomp onto the dance floor where Delilah is laughing and dancing all silly with her dad.

  She sees me coming and her smile fades fast. She excuses herself and comes to meet me. “Oh my god, what’s going on?” she asks in concern.

  “Can we go up to the suite?” I sigh. I’m suddenly really tired, all this activity and emotional stress is taking its toll.

  “Yes, of course,” she says without hesitation and starts to lead me away.

  Yolanda meets up with us at the bottom of the stairs. “Charlie, may I come with you?”

  She looks like hell and both of her children are acting like assholes - that’s gotta sting. I give her a small smile and hold my hand out for her. She’s been nothing but kind to me and I will not shut her out of my life because her son is a douchebag. She is the grandmother. She gives me a relieved smile and takes my hand.

  Once locked away in the mock bridal suite, I tell my best friend what happened between Calvin and me, and then between Carla and me. I lie down on the bed when I’m finished, unable to fight the exhaustion anymore. I hear Yolanda tell a furious Delilah to go enjoy her wedding and that she will keep an eye on me. Delilah reluctantly agrees. The only thing I remember after that is Yolanda whispering how so very sorry she is.