Page 52 of The Devoted Husband

“You called?”

“Yes. I got a calendar reminder about your appointment today. I was supposed to go with you to your appointments, remember?”

“Yeah, well, that’s not necessary anymore. Dante’s with me. Besides, you made it clear you don’t want me around, so I’m not sure why you thought I’d still want you to come.”

Ava sighed into the receiver. “Can you come over so we can talk about that? I need to explain where we’re going from.”

Sade chuckled. “There’s no need to explain. You think I’m a killer.”

“Sade, please. Just come over so we can talk.”

After considering it for a while, Sade agreed with, “Fine. I’ll be over later.”

She disconnected the call, hoping she wouldn’t regret her decision to see them.

“I’ll take you over there, but if they start talking crazy, we leave. I will protect you from anyone who means you harm, and that includes emotional and mental harm from them.”

Sade hated that it had come down to this, but she was grateful for his protection and support. “Thank you,” she mumbled, taking his hand into hers.

Maybe Ava wanted to apologize. Even if she did, Sade wasn’t sure what that would change. In the back of her mind, she would always wonder when the next time she’d do something to make them disappointed or upset and cause them to want her to go away. She was an adult and could handle their rejection, but that was something she refused to introduce to her child.

Sade’s Audio Journal

“Something is off with my grandparents. I’m going to go talk to them, but I still don’t know if I will have peace when it comes to them. I don’t know if it’s the hormones or not, but I feel more sensitive than usual. I want to be on good terms with them, but I feel like something is going on that they aren’t telling me about.

“Do they know what I did and are just waiting for me to confess? Is that why they’ve been so against me lately? But how could they know? Who could have possibly told them? I don’t think Imani would. What could she get out of that?”Sade chuckled.“Well, maybe that would make her look like less of a screwup in their eyes. I don’t know. Something’s going on with them, though, and until I figure out what it is, I’m not sure if they will be the secure, stable presence they’ve always been for me.”

“If you feel uncomfortable at any time, we can leave,” Dante said as he rang the doorbell.

“Okay, but I don’t plan to be here long anyway. We agreed to tell your family after the next checkup, so I want us to still do that.”

“All right, Smiley,” Dante agreed as the front door unlocked and opened.

Barron smiled at his granddaughter, whose mouth remained slack. His eyes lowered to her protruding belly.

“You’re really pregnant, huh?”

“Oh, so you don’t just think I’m a killer, but you think I’m a liar too?”

“That’s not...I was only saying that because this is my first time seeing you with this belly, Sade. I know you weren’t lying about being pregnant.” Barron opened the door wider as he told them, “Come in.”

They followed Barron into the living room as if they were unfamiliar with the home. At the sight of Ava seated on the textured couch, Sade asked, “Where are the twins?”

“With their other grandparents.” Before Sade could question why they allowed Adam’s parents to have the twins, Ava added, “It was somewhat of a truce. Having some time with the girls keeps the peace between both families. If we hadn’t agreed, they would have sought custody anyway. This way, we get to decide how often they can get them and when.”

“You do realize Samantha blames me for his death and has tried to fight me, right?”

Ava shrugged and released a low breath. “Yes, but that really has nothing to do with the fact that those are her grandbabies.Regardless of how she feels about how Adam died or you, we can’t keep them from her.”

With a roll of her eyes, Sade crossed her arms over her chest and asked, “Why did you want me to come over?”

“You’ll want to be seated for this,” Barron said, pointing toward the space next to her grandmother.

Sade sat there while Dante sat in the recliner that was on the opposite side of her, and her grandfather sat in a similar chair.

“The reason we had such a harsh reaction to you getting out of jail is because we were triggered by you going to jail to begin with,” Ava said.

“Triggered over what?” Sade asked.

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