Love Knows No Color Pt. 18

Althea, anticipating the speech, had brought Miracle to the table. Shavonda picked her up and continued her speech. "Six months ago, I brought this beautiful baby girl into the world. Jason was by my side, holding my hand, as I gave birth to Miracle. She is the baby we thought I could never have." The crowd clapped as she showed off the baby.

Handing Miracle to me, Shavonda continued. "But this party isn't just about Jason and me. It's about all of you as well. How people from vastly different backgrounds can come together and enjoy each other's company. We can learn so much from each other."

"With that in mind, I would like to give a shout out to a couple of people near and dear to me. Kenny is Jason's cousin, and Edie is one of my closest friends. They met at the picnic before the wedding one year ago today. As of last weekend, they are engaged to be married. Let's give them a hand." The crowd clapped and cheered. Kenny looked embarrassed, while Edie had a big beautiful smile on her face. "I'd also like to congratulate Beth on her graduation from college this past week. Beth worked for me in my store, and was a quick learner, and one of the best employees I could ask for. We're going to miss her. So everybody, please make Beth and her family members feel welcome here. And Beth, you know our phone numbers. Do not hesitate to call us. Keep in touch. You will always be welcome here."

"Last but not least, during the past year, Jason and I have been playing music together. I'd like to think we've gotten pretty good at what we do. When he was around, Kenny has played with us, and Edie can sing very well. Together we've decided to perform the occasional gig. We have taken the name Swirl for our band, and tonight will be our debut performance under that name. We have our instruments set up in the game room downstairs. If you'd like to hear us play, meet us downstairs. If not, stay up here and enjoy the party. Our DJs Darren and Minnie will continue to spin music up here."

Ten minutes later, we were ready to perform a short set of four songs. The first one we did, the one we'd all been working on, was Nicki Minaj's Right Through Me. Edie effortlessly did Nikki's rap, while Shavonda sang the song's chorus.

You see right through me.

How do you do that shit? How do you do that shit?

We followed it with my favorite Bob Marley song, The Sun is Shining. I really loved the bassline in that song, it went places most reggae didn't go. Rihanna's Umbrella, and Smashing Pumpkin's Pug rounded out our set. We had chosen our songs to showcase the different types of music we could and would play.

Afterward, we all went back outside for the cutting of our anniversary cake. By this time, Shavonda and I had each had several drinks. We'd gone through a fifth of black cherry rum, and were starting in on our second bottle. We danced barefoot in the grass, mingling with the guests between dances. All in all, it was a good party, and I was glad we could host it. Things didn't start to wind down until after midnight, when we bid our guests goodnight one by one as they left. We weren't kicking anybody out, we just let them leave when they wanted. As the crowd thinned, I helped my queen put the leftovers in the refrigerator, and we cleaned up a bit before we went to bed around 3am.

Finally alone, I gazed upon Shavonda. She was as beautiful as the day I had met her. I never got tired of her exotic look, and I hoped we would always be this much in love.

"Thank you for the two most amazing years of my life," I said. "You came into my world, and I am a far better person for it." Shavonda hugged me tight as tears streamed down her face.

"Jason, you've made me the happiest woman alive," she said, pulling back and kissing me. We were both a little tipsy from all the rum we'd drunk. I helped her pull the sun dress over her head, then stood back to admire her in her strapless black bra and panties. She never failed to turn me on. More importantly, she'd changed who I was attracted to. I'd first realized a year ago, at my bachelor party, when the guys took me to a strip club, that I was no longer interested in white women. And that while I was turned on by black women in general, that was because they reminded me of my queen. She was the standard of beauty to which I compared every woman I met.

"You wanna do the honors?" Shavonda asked. "I need a favor. My tits are full, and if I pump them I have to throw the milk away. It's got alcohol in it, and I can't let Miracle drink that. Would you like to drink my milk?" In response, I held her, reaching around to unsnap the bra. Letting it fall to the floor, I sat on the bed and pulled her to me as I took her swollen nipple in my mouth. I let her sweet milk fill my mouth, suckling her as she moaned in pleasure. I loved when she let me do this. I knew I'd better enjoy it while I could. Miracle was now eating some solid food, and it wouldn't be long before she no longer needed mother's milk. Finishing one tit, I moved to the other as Shavonda sat on the bed, my head in her lap.

After I had drained her, she said. "Thank you. I feel so much better now." Shavonda helped me remove my clothes, and stepped out of her panties. "Now, it's my turn," she said, taking my rock hard dick in her hand. "God, I missed this."

We'd fallen into a routine. With Shavonda serious about becoming pregnant again, she carefully calculated her ovulation. From the end of her cycle the ovulation period lasted seven days. During this time, she took me as often as possible. We had sex at least twice a day. Because fertilization was the goal, we only did enough foreplay to get us both aroused. Then it was hard and fast while she stroked her clit with the finger vibrator. Neither of us tried to hold back, and as the stimulation took her over the edge, her muscles milked me dry. Every last drop of nut my body could produce went into her womb, and by the end of the week, I was exhausted. It took a couple of days to recover. While sex with her was always a pleasure, hard and fast wasn't my preferred method. I liked it slow and easy, with lots of oral and foreplay building to a mind-blowing climax for both of us. During ovulation week, there was very little oral. And with that coming right after her period, by mutual agreement a time of abstention, we went two weeks straight without indulging in one of our favorite sexual acts.

But now that ovulation was over, and I'd recovered, Shavonda was hungry, and so was I. She quickly straddled me as I lay back on the bed. I felt her lips wrap around my head and work their way down my shaft, as I nibbled her clit with my lips. God, this was going to be good, but I was so tired. We shifted position so we were on our sides, and believe it or not, we both fell asleep with our head buried in the other's crotch.

We were rudely awoken by the alarm clock going off. We'd set it for 8am, because Althea was having a farewell breakfast for my family at 9. That gave us enough time to jump in the shower, and get the kids dressed. Nice thing was, we were already naked. Even nicer was the private entrance to our shower. But best of all was the feel of our hands on the other's soap slick body. It didn't take long before we were both aroused, and we made love standing up in the shower, my queen bent over while I entered her from behind. Because of the time constraints, we did hard and fast. Our slow and easy marathon lovemaking would have to wait until later.

The kids were already dressed and ready to go when we emerged from the bedroom. We'd both opted for casual clothing, with me wearing jeans and a t shirt, while Shavonda wore booty shorts and a tank top. Thus made presentable, we helped Calvin and his wife load up the car for their long journey home, while the kids all played in the backyard. Miracle was still asleep, so we grabbed the diaper bag and strapped her into the carseat. With the kids also strapped in their seats, we took off for the short drive to Althea's with Calvin following us.

Althea and Mom had breakfast ready when we got there. The food was set up on the kitchen table, buffet style. There were simply too many people, about 20, to serve them individually. The spread included Bacon, pancakes, scrambled eggs, hash browns, fried potatoes, biscuits, and surprisingly chicken wings. We loaded up our plates and joined the rest of the family out on the patio.

All too soon, breakfast was over, and my family bid everybody goodbye. They had a long drive ahead of them, but at least they could travel together in a convoy. Before they left, I asked my parents if we could come down for a week's vacation in July. "Of course," Dad said. "We'd love to have you."

After they left, we spent the rest of the morning with Shavonda's family. Edie and Kenny had shown up late, they'd slept in. But they got here just in time to say goodbye to the family as well. But all they had to eat were the leftovers. There wasn't much left by the time they got here.

A little later, Shaunice stopped by. She knew about the breakfast, but had opted to skip it. I know she was still upset about being shunned at the party the day before. "Good," she said. "I'm glad you are all here. I just wanted to apologize for the way I acted. Kenny, I shouldn't have tried to question your intentions towards Edie. I see now you love her enough to give up your life for her. Jason, Shavonda, thank you for getting them back together. Von, I should never have put you in the position of having to choose between me and your husband. Jason, I should have realized that Kenny was like a brother to you. And Edie, will you please forgive me for what I said. I was mad because you were hurt, and I should have found out the whole story before I said anything. Will you all forgive me?"

We all nodded, and Shavonda answered for all of us. "Shaunice, I can forgive you this time, but if you do this again I don't know if I can get past it. I don't know what made you act so petty, but whatever it is has to stop. We all need each other. We shouldn't be fighting among ourselves over some bullshit."

"Understand something," I said to Shaunice, "I don't appreciate being forced to choose sides between family members. But if I am forced to choose, I will choose the one who is trying to do the right thing over the one who is petty. If I had thought you were right, I'd have defended you to the end. But you were petty. What you tried to do to their relationship was just wrong. And it's going to take me some time before I can trust you again."

Before the situation could devolve further, James asked Kenny and me to meet him inside. "Kenny," he said, "What's your taste in music? Do you like funk?" I knew what he was up to. It was the same thing he'd done with me the first time we met. He had Kenny and me pick out several cd's from his collection, and we pulled a huge ancient boom box out onto the patio to play music. "Here's one I think you should try to play. Jason, I've watched you improve on the bass over the past few months, and I think you're good enough to pull it off. Kenny, you're already there." He hit play, and we listened carefully to "Strawberry Letter 23." James was right, I did feel confident enough to play the bass part of this song.

As we listened to the music the subject changed to the women.

James turned to Kenny. "Kenny, you know you got a special one there. Her dad was murdered when she was thirteen, and because of that she been afraid to get close to anybody. She very insecure about losing somebody she's gotten close to. You'll have to spend a lot of time with her, convincing her that you aren't going anywhere. But she be worth it."

"I knew she'd lost her dad, but she never told me the whole story." Kenny wanted to know what really happened.

"It was 1994, and there was a gang war going on," James explained. "Ty was in a barber shop getting a haircut. Also there was a kid the gang had a beef with. Somebody saw him in the shop, and they came in and opened fire. When it was over three people were dead including an 8-year-old boy, and Ty. The kid they were gunning for survived. After that, the police cracked down on the gangs and things calmed down. We sort of adopted Edie after that. She'd always been Von's friend, but after the shooting, we looked out for her and her Mother. She's like a daughter to me."

I looked around at the family. Brittany was helping Shavonda spoon feed the baby, while Edie looked on. Althea and Shaunice were engaged in conversation of their own.

"Jason, I just want to say thank you for taking care of my babygirl. You two have been through some rough times, but you were always there for her." James said, smiling.

"I have to be there," I said. "She's my queen."

"Interesting choice of words," James replied. "No wonder I like you. As you know, Von's a creative person, and when Althea and Velma first told me about you, I could tell you were a creative too. Velma was impressed with your photos the first time she saw them, and you won Althea over when she met you too. The first time I met you, and we discussed music I wanted you to be the one. I'm glad you are."

"By the way," James continued, "I know all about Von and the cop." I turned white as a ghost. James was never supposed to know about that.

To be continued...