𝙈𝙤𝙧𝙜𝙖𝙣
⊱ ─────────── ⊰

Hahahah. I wake up giggling.

"Stop." I squeal, pushing Duke or Stevie away from my face to stop the licking.

It's Duke, you can tell by the black spot over his left eye.

Stevie's curled in a ball at my feet. She's super low energy because she's pregnant. She's due to pop any day now, so I don't know why Chris didn't consider that when flying them out here. How are we going to take anywhere from six to fifteen puppies on a plane back to New York?
At least Chris let me know he is fully ready for the arrival of the puppies at home - puppy pads, a gate/kennel, excess dog food, several watering/food bowls, and multicolor ribbons to tie around each fur baby to distinguish them from one another.
We haven't decided if we'll keep all of them, yet. I know a lot of people want Dalmatians so we might sell, but how will I be able to part with them or take them away from Duke and Stevie? Aw, now I'm sad thinking about it.

I pick the corners of my eyes and sit in bed pouting, staring at the lovely dog couple.

7:19AM

Sudden commotion outside makes me turn my head to the window with curiosity. I almost get up to check it out but Chris comes barreling in. He's fully dressed, too.

"Don't tell me you have to work?" I roll my eyes.

He flails his arms and rolls his neck at me. That look said it all.

I suck my teeth and toss the covers off of my body.

"You look beautiful." Chris says trying to win me over.

"I'm crying."

He panics. "What, why? It's seven in the morning."

"Do we have to sell Duke and Stevie's puppies? She's going to miss them— I'm going to miss them!" I fret.

Chris stares at me with a blank facial expression.

"Off the bed." He claps his hands at the dogs and they obey.

I give Chris the side-eye and climb out of the bed myself.

"Don't cry, baby, it's a big day, remember?" Chris says with some cheer in his voice as he opens the blinds and curtains.

I wince at the bright Tennessee morning sunlight. "Ughhh. Too early, way too early." I hiss.

I just got back from a retreat where I had to wake up at seven daily. I even went for jogs, I don't wanna do this now, especially not on a weekend.

Crawling back onto the mattress, I lay flat on my stomach and groan into the pillow.

"Get up!" Chris demands. His hand comes down and strikes my ass so hard it actually hurts.

I scream, "CHRIS!"

✕

I haven't gotten dolled up in so long, I forgot how hot I was.

First, I had to take an everything shower. If you're a girl, you know what that is: shave or wax every part of your body. Exfoliate, exfoliate, exfoliate. Sing your heart out, and lather yourself in soap and body wash.
I washed my hair and blew it out, too. Since I liked that look, I didn't bother doing anything else to it. Just went with my natural slight side part and let it hang down my back.

I had no idea what to wear as Chris was very vague with the details of todays itinerary. All I know is some important people will be here, including this Nia lady - his boss.

I'm standing in front of the large full body mirror in this sheer green and pink floral VS bra and panty set.

I hear a couple of knocks at the door and gasp, quickly covering myself with my satin ivory robe.

It's only Chris. My nerves settle.

"Hey, queen." He's so adorable it makes me smile.

I beckon for him and he takes two steps to get to me.

I look at us in the mirror and push my head into his shoulder.

"I don't know what to wear." I complain, twirling my fingers in his hair.

Chris kisses down my neck. "Don't wear anything." He chuckles in my ear.

"Your hair is so long." He notices, wrapping it in his fist.
I pull my lips in my mouth to conceal my moans from his sultry actions.

I'm glad he likes it - the near butt length grew on me, too.

I feel a pit in my stomach as Chris sucks on my neck and grabs my breasts, sinking his nails into them.

It's been so long that I'm nervous. We haven't hooked up since early February and even then I felt like a virgin. I didn't even touch myself while I was away.

I want to stop him because I'm filled with passion already but this feels far too good.

My knees buckle and I start to slip out of Chris's arms. Thankfully, he gets a phone call.

The annoyance is apparent on his face.

I feel relief and robbed at the same time. Also discomfort, I need to change my underwear. Great.

Chris takes a step away so that he can snatch his iPhone from the charger.

I hold up an outfit choice — pants and a blouse— and Chris shakes his head no.

He's right, I hate pants too.

The weather is high fifties, it's not bad, I could wear a dress.

Yup, I go with a beige, ribbed, backless, long-sleeve mini dress. Cute!

I walk through a cloud of fragrance and twirl.

Things are starting to go back to normal already - Chris is horny, I'm playing dress-up, it's all coming back to me!

Chris looks at the time on his watch then flails his arms.

"Hell-o," he speaks with an attitude on the phone as he walks out of the room. "I know what time it is, so why the fuck isn't it done already? No, I don't care about that..." his voice trails off as he crosses the threshold.

I'm looking around at all of these unfamiliar faces. These people are nice, hospitable, and somehow they all know a ton about me.

Each person who's greeted me so far has been very welcoming and overly enthusiastic. I just think that's a southern thing, though.

"Would you like anything to drink?" I ask another patron.

"No, thank you." She smiles at me softly.

I return the smile and walk away, right into a short woman with a black pixie cut.

"There you are!" She says, smacking her full lips.

"Here I am." I reply awkwardly.

Do I know this woman, I ask myself in my head.

"It's me... Andrea?" She jogs my memory.

I gasp and cover my mouth. "Andrea! Oh my gosh, hi!"

She giggles, bringing my body in for a hug. Her scent is sweet and this is paired with the warmth from her curvaceous body so this hug feels like when you sink your teeth into a chocolate chip cookie fresh out of the oven.

"Chris definitely didn't exaggerate, you are stunning." Andrea says, linking her arm with mine.

I only laugh through my nose. "It's so nice to meet you finally!"

"You too, girl, I heard so much about you! Let me give you the quick rundown." She pops her tongue.

We stop in the middle of the backyard and Andrea begins to flick her wrist, rather than talking with her fingers, to tell me what's what and who is who.

"The company Chris works for is Aragon. That's run by my husband's mother, Nia. She has two sons: my Calvin, and his younger brother, Elijah. Sloane, the white girl with all the shit in her face, is with Eli; her and I do the house tours on YouTube. Nia took over the company after the boys' dad died. Yolanda is his sister, she helps in the office. Anyway, Nia always wears purple. Don't ask her why, I'll only tell you once: it's the color of wealth and royalty." Andrea spills.

She goes on to say, "I'm pretty sure you know Andy Adams, so I'm not going to waste too much time on him, but he and the intern— Lucy— are doing this will-they-won't-they thing, it's cute. Then there's your man Chris, the newest member of the team. He designs the homes, Eli, Calvin, and Andy build them, Sloane and me show them, Nia sells. Simple. You're a housewife, right? Good. You won't have to burden yourself with knowing the ins and outs, but if you do pick up anything, good for you. Just, stay out of Nia's way, and make sure Chris is getting his work done."

I blink my eyes rapidly, trying to take all of that in.

"Okay." I nod my head, but am still confused.

Basically, if I'm not mistaken, they're all related and Nia is the mother/boss who I better not cross. Also, Yara's husband, Nick Adams' little brother — Andy— works here? Huh.

Noted.

"Drea," a random woman pops up. "can I steal you?"

She smiles at me to say excuse me and squeezes Andrea's coffee-brown hand.

"Congratulations, by the way." The older Asian woman says to me.

See, there everyone goes with the 'congratulations.' For what, for me getting out of that retreat? I mean, I guess, but did Chris really have to announce it to the whole world? This is supposed to be an open house, not a welcome home party.

Whatever, I thank her anyway and smile sweetly before she takes Andrea inside.

Sigh.

I turn and spin to a business-casual clad woman and push the tray in her face.

"Hors d'oeuvres?" I offer.

✕

God, my feet are killing me.

I forgot what it was like to wear heels for an extended amount of time, especially Louboutin's.

Trying to get a break, I basically sprint inside on my toes so I can get off of my feet and have a break from the chaos that is ensuing outside.

Only, there's more people inside and I walk in just as they're in the middle of something.

"We were just looking for you!" The Sloane girl squeaks in my ear.

She pushes me in my back towards the living room area and the music pauses as if on cue.

All heads turn to me and I gasp for air.

"Oh my— Jasmine?! Mary, JB, Izzy? What is— I— what're you doing here?" I can hardly form a sentence, I'm so shocked.

They rise from the couch, all showing their teeth, and come to greet me.

I'm speechless.

They all hug me, some longer than others, and tell me how much they missed me and that I look better.

Mary stops in front of me with tears in her eyes.

"She said she wasn't gonna cry." Carter gives his wife a hard time.

She sniffs, flailing her arms. "I just missed you so much!"

I pull her stumpy body into mine and squeeze her until she backs out of the hug.

The Vaughn's allude to my parents behind my back and I turn to acknowledge them.

"Mom, Dad!" I exclaim, walking right into their arms.

It's nice to see them.

"Look at you," Mom sounds drunk already. "you are glowing!"

I smile bashfully, looking down at my feet.

"And this hair," she gasps, "you look like a mermaid or an Australian model. I love it, don't you, honey?"

Dad's cheeks swell up. "You look beautiful, sweetie. Welcome home."

"Thanks, Dad." I coo, putting my head on his shoulder for a second.

"There's someone else you have to meet..." Mom says, pointing with her head to my left.

I look over my shoulder and see Izzy holding the same baby I've been obsessing over ever since she sent me those photos a month ago.

"Oh. My. God." My voice trembles with anticipation. "Is this Kai? He is so big and handsome! Can I?"

"Of course!" Izzy let's me hold her newborn after she and Lee give me a kiss on each cheek.

My eyes swell up with tears as I hold the sweet baby boy.

"He's so good." I tell them, letting Kai grip my finger.

Camera phones start flashing and I don't mind, nothing else matters except me and my little nephew.

"Hi, baby. Hell-o. You are so cute, yes you are. Yes you are! Ahh, what does his shirt say?" I ask the parents because I can only catch certain letters from this angle.

"Auntie's favorite." Lee answers with a smile. He crosses his arms over his chest but stands tall and with pride, you can see it in his twinkling eyes.

I pout with an "aww."

"I got him that!" I make everyone laugh.

Izzy sniffles, "Yeah, and basically our whole registry."

All in good fun, I let my eyes roll. "Somebody has to spoil him!"

Clink. Clink. Clink.

The sound of glass chiming accumulates everyone's attention.

We all rotate and see Nia standing before the fireplace.

"Now that it's only close family, friends, and colleagues, I think it's time. Jasmine?" She calls my best friend up.

I look around confused.

"They know each other?" I whisper to Izzy but she just ignores me.

She stands in front of us all and clears her throat.

"Heyyy everybody." She gets everyone to chuckle and lighten up after the emotional reunion.

"Heyyyy." The crowd sings back.

Jasmine giggles and pushes her bundles over her shoulder. "I know Morgan's very confused at this point so I'm going to make my part super quick. Morgan, we have waited three long months for you to come back. In that three months, so much has changed, you don't even know. We are so happy to have you home, healthy, and in good spirits. Everyone here loves you, you know that. But, what you don't know is, this isn't just an open house - Chris built it."

I whip my neck to him a few seats down and drop my jaw to the floor.

I look at him like 'you did all of this' and he stares back, grinning, sarcastically mocking my movements.

"Oh my gosh, I had no idea. This is stunning." I say aloud.

Jasmine nods her head in agreement. "And this isn't just a showing, it's a 'welcome home' party."

Everyone starts to clap and cheer, so I do too just for the sake of them celebrating me.

I'm the last to stop clapping and notice everyone staring at me.

I clear my throat and let Izzy take her son from my arms. She laughs at me, and I wonder why.

"Bear with her everyone," my mother says, "she is a natural blond."

Laughter from the group echoes up to the wood beams on the ceiling.

"What?" I ask slow, looking around.

They're all just smiling but not saying anything.

"What?" I repeat myself, this time with a sharper tone.

Chris tosses a key in my lap and I blink my eyelids, still stuck.

"Welcome home, Morgan!" Jasmine screams, leading the applause.