My Husband's Mistress Wore Red to Grandma's Funeral

3: 3

"All you have to do is keep it from the old woman. I'll pay you twenty million in compensation."

At the word "divorce," a flash of panic shot through Solomon's eyes.

Then he slipped on a tender face, stepping close, wiping the tears from the corners of my eyes with the pad of his thumb.

"I'm sorry. This is my fault. I didn't notice you were upset."

"You said it yourself, that you wanted to grow old with me. If you ever bring up divorce again, I really will be angry."

That night, even though Solomon held me close the whole time as I fell asleep,

I still slept badly.

Sure enough, early the next morning, a crowd of uninvited guests barged in.

"Hey, henpecked husband, get over here and kneel to welcome your queen!"

Blanche's voice carried through the whole apartment.

I jolted awake from my dream and found that the man beside me was already gone.

Before she was even through the door, Blanche was complaining about the heat and shrugging off her coat, tossing it carelessly into Solomon's face.

"I'm going to take a shower. You all keep yourselves entertained."

Right in front of me, she hooked her fingers into Solomon's waistband, easy as anything, and dragged him toward the bathroom.

"What are you standing there for? Can't even run the hot water for me. You want a taste of the whip again, is that it?"

Solomon's eyes were full of doting. His hands closed around her slim waist, and he lifted her up as if she weighed nothing, carrying her into the bathroom.

"Look at you showing off, like some little tiger baring its claws. You're about to be somebody's mother. Settle down a little, it's better for the baby."

"Hmph, and you have the nerve to say that. If it weren't for you, I'd have gone to the hospital and gotten rid of it already. It's the whole reason I can't do my belly dancing."

Just before the door shut, Blanche seemed to remember me all at once, twisting free of Solomon's arms and looping her hand through his.

"Oh, you're here too."

"We've all just messed around like this for ages, don't take it personally. Our bathroom's broken, so I came to borrow this one."

She was all smiles on the surface, but her eyes were full of smugness and challenge.

The smile froze on Solomon's face, a trace of irritation showing at the interruption, and he explained to me coldly.

"Today's Blanchie's birthday. A few of us friends made plans to get together. Go to the kitchen and make some nice dishes, and bake a cake too."

With that, he didn't spare me another glance and shut the bathroom door.

The other four men standing in the living room noticed the awkwardness on my face and hurried to smooth things over.

"Sol and Blanche have always horsed around like that. Don't read too much into it."

"Right, and Blanche is tangled up with one of her exes or something. A while back she'd been drinking and started complaining about stomach pain. We took her to the hospital and that's how we found out she was pregnant."

"Sol felt bad for her, pregnant and unmarried, and getting rid of it isn't good for her body, so he offered to take on everything to do with the baby. He even promised to be the child's godfather."

"So really, you should be happy about this. You get to be a mother without any of the pain. What could be better than that?"