WHAT IF - 25 YEARS LATER - 10

PART 10

| 8 Months Later |

Maddox's tour was on break. A few days after the fact, the twins were visiting with Janine when Maddox decided to pay them a visit. The twins were well aware, but Janine was not. She went to answer the door barefoot but wearing a strapless print maxi dress. Her short hair was freshly done and she was finally beginning to look like her old self. When she opened it, she tilted her head to the side, "I think you've gotten taller."

"I’ve been 6'4 since college," Maddox smiled and pulled her into a hug, "how you been? You look damn good."

She smiled, "really good actually." Janine rubbed his back, "come on, then," stepping back, she closed the door behind him.

"That's good, where's my offspring?"

"Dining room ... Table duty. Hungry?"

"Very much so ..." He smiled, "what's cooking?" They headed to the dining room.

"Catfish, roasted corn and a few other things. Where do you live now?" She was curious since he basically just popped up.

"Here in new York." They entered as Jiselle jumped up, "baby girl, hey!"

"Hi daddy," she cheesed and walked towards him with her arms out. "Dante is here!"

"Aw shit, he bet not step out of line," he came out of the hug and into one with Lucky," what's up Luck?"

"Shit ..." He responded, then laughed, "I didn't tell her you were coming. Elle told me not to."

"Why is that?" He hugged Gigi next.

"So she wouldn't make any excuses."

"Almost ready!" Gigi smiled and kept arranging things on the table after the hug

"Excuses for? Less abstract, make more sense sweet heart."

"It was a precaution," Jiselle explained, "in case she decided she mysteriously had something to do so she wouldn't see you. She's intent on us having a relationship with you and her staying out the way as much as possible."

He laughed, "gotcha," he said as the doorbell went off.

Janine had forgotten Jeremiah was coming when Maddox showed up. She huffed and went to the door and pulled it open. Jerry walked in immediately, grabbed her around the waist and kissed her. She smiled and even laughed a little bit, "heads up ... Maddox is here."

"What? You're lying."

"No. The twins must have called him over. I should have known something was going on when they showed up WITH Anya and Dante." She sighed and rubbed his arm, "whatever you wanna do ... I'll go with it."

“MOM, IT’S READY!” Gigi yelled.

"Coming!" She yelled back and waited on Jeremiah to answer.

"Elle and Lucky must want you with Maddox."

"Probably. It's only natural. I can't be upset." She paused, "when was the last time you spoke to Maddox?

"Like 2 years ago," he walked further into the house, making his decision.

"I think it'll be ok," Janine nodded and put an arm around his waist, walking with him to the dining room.

Jeremiah rubbed his hand over her head, kissed her temple and strolled in with his other hand in his pocket, "hey chillens ..." He greeted everyone.

"Mothafucka ... No hello for me?" Maddox stood up and walked over to him.

Jeremiah chuckled, "you know you get a hello." They met each other in the middle to greet while Janine shot lasers with her eyes at the twins.

Jiselle cheesed while Lucky hunched his shoulders. "What are you doing over here? I didn't know that you found Janine!"

"Ran into her a few months after she got out of the hospital."

Genevieve cut in, "he asked her out so many times before she said yes. IT WAS SO CUTE!"

Janine laughed, "It was only twice. The only reason I kept saying no was because of my insecurities. Once I got passed them ... It's been great ever since," she shrugged and sat down, then Jeremiah took the seat next to her.

Maddox just stared at them. It got real awkward as he shoot daggers through them, "is that so?" He smirked and them chuckled, face a faint beet red, "some miracle, my brother and my kids mother... Together. Its about time you found each other," Maddox said sarcastic. He was crushed.

Leave A Comment!

So I hadn't checked the mechanics of this blog in quite a while. I saw where Hollie commented that if she didn't have to log in, she would speak more often. Thanks for giving me that heads up, Hollie, because I forgot all about that.

So ... Leave us a comment any time. I turned the login feature off but it will be moderated in the case of spammers.

Also ... I have something new to give you guys :-) Yes, that was sneaky. However, the ending isn't in tact. So I'm going to attempt to wrap things up nice and tidy and then post it. That cool?

Deva

WHAT IF - 25 YEARS LATER - 9

PART 9

"Really?" They asked in unison and looked at him at the same time.

"Mom is single." Jiselle reminded him. "Probably not looking ..."

"She could be." Lucky challenged her.

"She's probably tired, Luck."

"But later ..." Lucky went on and the bickering started again.

"Your mom doesn't want me. I wouldn't want me. She's doing better without me in her life." Maddox had convinced himself.

"Better? Being married was hell for her. She won't admit it to us," Lucky told him.

"It's true," Jiselle tapped her chin, "and if you really think about things ... Antonio was the rebound guy. A rebound thing NEVER works out."

"yea, well if something ever happens it does and of it doesn't, it is what it is."

Jiselle sighed overly loud, then plopped a hand on his shoulder, "wrong attitude to have, daddy!" Then took a sip of her drink with her free hand.

He laughed, "it'll have to be after this tour. This is going on for a year and a half."

"What a bunch of crap!" She huffed.

"uh... Excuse me?" He was surprised by Jiselle.

"I'm talking about right now! A grand romantic gesture like Dante did for me," she smiled.

Lucky almost spit out his drink, "which one? He proposed 3 times before you said yes."

"Oh shut up."

"You need to relax, Elle... You're mom made it very clear to me that she couldn't be with a man as busy as me."

"As long as you love her, then ..."

"Elle ..." Lucky stopped her, "let it go.

“I don’t know … We’ll see.”

"This is why men don't get the woman they want. They give up too easily. Mommy told me that if i'm really worth it to him, he won't give up ... Dante didn't."

"who said i was giving up? What you have to understand is that, i want to give your mom everything she wants and needs, not just the grand gesture, but me being there as much as I possibly can. I want to be her everything."

Jiselle gasped and tears formed in her eyes, "oh my God ..."

"Here we go," Lucky looked at her as she started to sniffle.

"oh my good what?"

"It's so beautiful! You still love her ..."

He shook his head, "you are definitely your mothers Child."

"I've had to deal with this my whole life," Lucky sighed.

"that is insane.." They continue to go through the rest of the pictures.

| Months Later |

Genevieve received a bronze medal in the 400 meters at the Olympics. Pretty good for a first timer and only 16 years old. Janine was more than thankful she was there to see it. She arrived in London only a day before Gigi was set to race. She got to see her semifinal heats and the final and cheered as loud as any mother could despite obviously not being well enough to be there yet. Once back home, she took the necessary rest ... Or as much as she could with Gigi asking her if she was alright. The girl had a heart of gold and nothing would change that. The rest of the family had gone back to their lives while keeping a watch and Janine went back to painting. Normalcy felt good. 

Cold as hell out but still a pretty day, Janine left the house in search of lunch. She took a window seat at a Puerto Rican restaurant and looked at the menu. Every now and then she'd glance at her reflection in the window. Her short hair was still a bother to her and she never knew what to do with it so she kept it straight to frame her head. The bangs were a little long in the front with a slight ducktail in the back gave it some shape. The family thought it looked nice but they always thought she looked nice. They couldn't be trusted with this.

No sooner than she could look back down at the menu, someone touched her back, then stopped in front of her, "I knew it was you!"

“Jerry?!” Janine stood and smiled, “no way …”

“I heard you had cancer …” He hugged her, then sat down in the empty seat in front of her.

“I did. Beat it … Don’t know how but I did. Had to have a double lung transplant.”

“Wow! I’m glad to see you came through,” he smiled. “How is the basketball team?”

“Good. Still hovering like I’m dying but really good. How are you? Where have you been?”

“I mostly live in Vegas. I own a couple of cabarets and a casino.”

“Cabaret’s?” Janine lifted an eyebrow and smirked.

Jeremiah laughed, “yea … Yea … But I’m in NY a lot. I have a place here.”

“Can’t believe I hadn't run into you before now.”

“Yea …” Jeremiah just stared at her and smiled, “me either.” Jeremiah realized that they were both in their 40’s and single. Maddox was like a brother to him but it had been 25 years since all the mess in high school happened. So would he care if tried to get close to Janine? At that moment, he didn't care. He watched Janine and listened to her as she went over a few details about her art work, kids and future plans for herself, then cut in, “before I forget … Give me your number. I want to see the troop.”

“Oh sure!” Janine dug her phone out and handed it to him.

Jeremiah worked with it, then handed it back. The waiter approached to take their orders and Jeremiah enjoyed Janine’s company … Planning their next encounter that he would hope would be a date.