Ivy's Twisted Vine Redux by Latrivia Nelson (books to read for beginners .TXT) 📕

regretting that he has missed hearing his phone ring. For a moment, he lost concentration.

“Look, I know you man. Believe me, it’s just possible fatherhood talking right now. When the kids get here, you’ll go back to your regular self, especially if they are Grey’s. You’ll see that Ivy is better off with Grey, and you are better off with your entourage of women.”

“I don’t have an entourage,” Nicola said in denial. They were more like a small village of concubines.

“You don’t have a steady woman either.” Brooks wanted his friend to see exactly what he was asking for. “Just take my advice, and leave that girl alone.”

**

Grey ushered the movers through his house to the guest bedroom quickly where he was secretly redecorated for the twins’ arrival. He had spent an ungodly amount of money on a local interior decorator that assured him that everything would be ready by next Sunday to surprise Ivy after church. With all the negative things that had transpired over the last few months, Grey felt the need to do something nice for Ivy and something that would ease his conscious about Kit.

He had only four months to prepare for what was to be two new additions to his family. And he had a gut feeling that those children belonged solely to him. Nicola was just a reminder of how close he had come to loosing Ivy, which was all the more reason to make an extra effort to be there for her now.

Watching the painters pull the error tape from the wall basing, Grey was in total approval of the newly painted powder yellow bedroom. Yellow was neutral and calming.

Proudly, he pulled one of the bears out of the Macy’s shopping bag and set it on the floor by the closet. He was excited now about the prospect of a family. And although he still fought with the rebellious spirit of a bachelor, he was starting to grow anxious of a new lifestyle with the twins and Ivy.

**

Across town, too sick to get out of the bed, Ivy lay in between her mass of pillows reading over her homework and sipping on chicken broth. It had been nearly three hours since her first attempt to get up and head to class, but she still felt dizzy and nauseous. Setting down her book, she grabbed her remote and turned down her radio to here a knock at the door. Looking over at the clock, she became a little alarmed. She wasn’t expecting company this afternoon.

She found her robe quickly, dressed and slid out of bed. Looking out of the peephole of her front door, she discovered her brother Emerald standing anxiously peering back at her under a yellow Hawaiian baseball cap. With utter excitement, she opened the door and screamed.

“Emerald!” Ivy said opening her arms wide.

“Ivy!” Emerald said picking her up off of the ground and spinning her around in her hallway. “Look at you.” As he set Ivy back down, his emerald green eyes were fixed on her stomach.

“Yeah, I know. I’m pregnant,” she said rubbing her top of her stomach. “Four and half months to be exact.”

“You look so beautiful,” he said in awe as he moved her hair from her shoulders. He adored his baby sister more than she would ever know and to see her in such as state was both exciting and painful.

“Thank you,” she said finally noticing he had company. “Who is this with you?” She closed her robe.

“Oh, this is Kakeline, my fiancé,” he said moving out of the way to reveal a tall olive-skinned girl with huge almond shaped eyes, full lips and a long flowing black hair.

“She’s so pretty,” Ivy said shaking Kakeline’s hand and quietly observing the one-carat solitaire that was showcased on her ring finger. “Hi. I’ve heard so many wonderful things about you. My goodness, Emerald! I can’t believe that you’re engaged.” Ivy tried to close her mouth knowing that it was wide open now. Her brother had been a wild, carefree guy for as long as she could remember. Now, he was settling down. What had the world come to?

“Quiet as kept. We actually are married. We just haven’t told anyone. So, mums the word until after the baby okay.” He put his arm around his wife and kissed the side of her head.

“Sure, but why are you keeping it a secret?” She was confused at why he would want to hide such a thing. Their mother would be glad to see that the endless bounced checks, charged up credit cards and personal loans paid off.

“It happened just night before last. I got a call from Madison, and I was headed back this way. Kakeline didn’t want me to leave, but she didn’t want to follow me to the main land without knowing we had something…concrete.” Kakeline blushed as Emerald tried to explain.

“Well, there is nothing more concrete than marriage. I understand,” Ivy said taking Kakeline’s hand. “I wouldn’t have followed him either,” she said laughing.

“Anyway, we’re staying at Mom’s house for about two weeks. That should be sufficient time for me to find an apartment and for us to find jobs.”

“What about your family?” Ivy asked Kakeline.

“They do not know yet. We just up and left,” Kakeline said softly. “We plan to return in a month or two and get their blessings the right way. For now, they think that I’m off on another island at school.”

“So you took the semester off?” Ivy asked concerned.

“Yes. I felt it was best.” Kakeline showed signs of disappointment.

“Well regardless of all that, welcome to the family.” Ivy wrapped her arms around her and hugged her affectionately. She was glad that Emerald had finally found someone he could love.

“I’m going to take Kakeline back to Mom’s house, and let her get settled. We just drove from the rental lot directly to you. So, I’ll be back in a little while,” Emerald said kissing Ivy on the cheek.

“Okay, don’t be long,” she said holding the