Forever: The Sequel

Chapter Nine

Beyoncé

My family and I laughed as we danced along to our Christmas playlist. It was December 24th- Christmas Eve- and we were at the hotel preparing for the next day. We were having so much fun and I was enjoying spending this festive season with the people I loved the most.

"Girl if I get pregnant before the end of the year don't blame me, blame all the love and mistletoes in the air,"Kelly whispered to me after getting low dancing with her boyfriend. I laughed and nudged her as she returned to him and continued dancing.

I admired the large, glimmering jade tree that sparkled with beautiful accents of silver and scarlet Christmas decorations. We'd all contributed to decorating the tree but Shaq placed the glorious, glimmering star at the peak of the tree.

I took to the kitchen to check on all the food that was being prepared. Tomorrow both my family and Jay's family were coming to the hotel for Christmas so some foods we had to prepare early so we could make enough food in enough time.

"Babe,"I stood up straight after bending down to check the food in the oven and saw Jay standing behind me. "Go take a break, you're pregnant."

"I'm not ill, I can cook while pregnant,"I giggled. He played with my hair and pushed it out of my face.

"I've got a special Christmas present for you,"he smirked.

"All I want for Christmas is already here with me,"I smiled and he kissed my lips. We pulled apart only for him to burst out into Mariah Carey making me scream.

"What? You don't like my voice?"he pouted.

"Let's just say that you're better at business than singing,"I bit my lip. "Jay I've got to go to the shop. We're missing some ingredients and I need to start on the turkey and duck so they'll be well seasoned by tomorrow,"I told him.

"I can get Sammy to go. Stay with me,"he buried his face into my neck.

"Babe, as smart as Sammy is, he won't know shit about the stuffing. And they're our guests so I can't send them out. We're the ones hosting Christmas this year,"I told him with a slight laugh.

"Bey what about all them texts? You never know who's out there,"he reminded me and I sighed.

"So I should stay locked up in the house forever until we find out who it is? I'm going to Walmart to get food, not on a witch-hunt for who it is. Let's not remind ourselves of it. It's Christmas,"I tilted my head and after a while he gave in and nodded.

"Be careful, okay?"he warned me and I nodded.

"I'll see you later. Make sure Kelly doesn't drink all that eggnog,"I stood on my tiptoes and pecked his lips before going to put on my fur coat and shoes. He chuckled and returned to where the family was.

I got to Walmart in around thirty minutes because the traffic was chaotic. I didn't waste any time in going through the aisles I knew what I needed would be.

"You must be happy,"I almost snapped my neck as I turned around to see Eva standing behind me. She had black glasses on but I could instantly tell that she was unsettled, which was partly my fault as I did take her man on her wedding day.

I quickly grabbed the sausages before putting it into the basket and fully turning to look at her. We stared at each other for a few minutes in silence before I spoke up first. I didn't know what to say so I said the first thing that came to my mind.

"Happy holidays,"I softly spoke making her laugh.

"'Happy'? I haven't been happy since December 5th, but of course you wouldn't understand. How do you sleep at night knowing you did what you did to another woman?"

"Eva, if you want to talk sometime then I'm willing to sit down somewhere and have a conversation, but right now I need to get back home so I can get started on Christmas dinner,"I tightly held the basket as my eyes darted all over the place. Even though I didn't want to think about the messages, I was still wary that Eva could be the one sending them. Jay rounded up everyone that was in the club that day, but when we called the number none of their phones rang so we were assuming nobody in the club was responsible. Despite all of that, I was still sympathetic towards Eva because I knew that she was hurting as she loved Jay to the core and she was spending the holidays alone knowing that her fiancé left her on their wedding day at the altar.

"The café across the street?"she suggested and I nodded.

"Give me ten minutes,"I walked off and finished off my shopping. I actually took longer than I said because I knew this was going to be an intense conversation. It wasn't that I was afraid to speak to her, but it was anxiety of how this was going to go. She didn't know that I was pregnant but I wasn't planning on telling her either. Her family had already set their eyes on Jay and telling her would make matters worse.

We eventually got ourselves a table in a café across the street and we'd just ordered ourselves some drinks.

"I didn't know that Jay left you. I was actually at the airport about to board the plane when he came after me,"I started before taking a sip from my hot chocolate with marshmallows and whipped cream.

"Why were you boarding a plane?"she asked. Her glasses were still on and it was like she was trying to cover up her pain by hiding her eyes.

"I was planning on leaving for a while. I couldn't deal with everything any longer,"I admitted.

"When was the last time you slept with Shawn before December 5th?"she asked another question. I tightly held my lips before speaking up. I might as well have been honest because the deed had been done.

"The day before,"I revealed and she shook her head with a sly laugh.

"You mean to tell me that...while I was running around you, your son and Shawn, trying to make their birthdays special and unforgettable...while I sat on those stairs and cried my eyes out you made me look and feel stupid when all this time you were messing around with him?"

"My intentions were never to hurt you- I didn't personally go out of my way to make you feel the way you feel. I apologise for that but things have never been straightforward between Jay and I. We always take the long way around and we should have been more honest with each other and the people around us."

"And you couldn't deal with everything any longer? You caused everything but you couldn't deal with it? You sit there like butter wouldn't melt when you just dragged another woman down. All I wanted to do was welcome you in but you were happier with welcoming Shawn into those legs of yours,"she spat.

"I've apologised and I know that isn't enough but we can't undo what's been done and we can't change anything. All I want is for your family to stop giving Jay a hard time. He's made his decision and your father, brother and sister can't change that. Throwing shade on social media and stalking him in real life is stressing him out and he doesn't need that,"I defended him.

"I can't do anything about them because I can't change how they feel or what they do. He shouldn't have pissed them off,"she shrugged and I raised an eyebrow.

"Well you can do something about them. I'm not trying to argue with you over this, but the sooner we all cut off ties with each other the better,"I made myself clear.

"There's no way we can cut off ties. Y'all better get used to my family always being around,"she smirked.

"Why?"

"I'm pregnant,"I giggled a little because she couldn't have been telling the truth. Jay's dick was always inside me and that's how I got pregnant.

"Girllll,"I laughed shaking my head.

"Tell Jay to call me when he's ready to talk about the future of our child,"she got up with a smile and dropped a few dollars on the table.