The Object of His Obsession (The Alexanders Book 4) (8 page)

“You need to wear a dress
that shows your belly really, really well,” Carmen
suggested.

“I don’t know, Carmen. I
don’t want to look too huge,” Gabrielle said, sitting at the foot
of the bed.

“Nobody is going to be
thinking about that, sweetheart,” Rena said. “I think your sister
is right. People want to see the belly and take pictures with you.
So let’s find something that accentuates that gorgeous belly of
yours.”

Gabrielle
smiled.

“Here,” Tamera said,
walking from Gabrielle’s closet. “A black pair of leggings and a
tunic should do the trick.”

“No, I’m thinking something
a little more on the dressy side, yet comfortable,” Gabrielle
said.

“So you want to wear a
dress?” Destiny asked, browsing through Gabrielle’s
wardrobe.

“Umm...not quite
sure.”

“Well, we’ll figure out
something,” Rena said, “Even if we have to go buy an
outfit.”

“Shoot. All these clothes,
we should find something in here,” Tamera said.

Gabrielle giggled. “Yeah.
I’m sure we’ll find something.”

* * *

“What you cooking up, son?”
John asked Tyson.

“I’m making chicken
marsala, asparagus, mashed potatoes and homemade macaroni and
cheese. Gabrielle has been craving macaroni and cheese
so...”

“I couldn’t ask for a
better man for my baby girl,” Henry said, proudly. “You raised a
good one, John.”

“Thanks, Henry. I
appreciate that. And while we’re handing out compliments, I might
as well let you know that your daughter has been nothing but a
blessing to Tyson.”

Tyson smiled as he drained
macaroni elbow noodles.

“Thanks,” Henry said. “That
means a lot.”

John took a sip of water.
“Boy, I remember when Tyson first told me he wanted to be a chef. I
was speechless.”

Tyson grinned. “You’re
starting on that again, Dad?”

Henry chuckled.

Heshan stared blankly at
the table. Stoic.

John continued, “I mean, he
was just coming out of the Marines, doing
manly
work, you know.”

Tyson laughed. “Oh, being
a chef isn’t manly? Is that what you’re implying, Dad?” He turned
around and watched Henry and John laughing along with him and when
he did, he noticed a weird look on Heshan’s face. Tyson had noticed
before that he’d been especially quiet, unusual for him. Heshan was
usually vocal and lively, but he hadn’t said much of anything to
anyone since he arrived almost two hours ago.

“Nah, that’s not what I was
saying, son. I was trying to emphasize how huge of a career shift
that was for you. I actually didn’t think you were serious. Now, my
boy has restaurants all over the country.”

“I know you’re a proud
father,” Henry said.

“Oh, I’m very proud. And
now, he’s finally having a son of his own...a son that he’ll be
proud of as well.”

Tyson smiled
again.

Heshan rubbed his
chin.

Tyson took a break from
cooking and sat at the table with the fellas.

“I’ve never told anyone
this, because I was embarrassed by it,” Tyson said, “But years ago,
I went to the doctor to get a sperm count.”

“A sperm count?” John and
Henry said at the same time, with the same inflection and look of
shock their faces.

“Well, I was getting a
physical and I decided to get a count.”

“Why?” his father
asked.

“Because the woman I was
with at the time...well, we wanted to start a family and it wasn’t
happening. So I got tested and the doctor told me flat-out that the
chances of me impregnating a woman were slim to none.”

Heshan frowned, then
leaned back in his chair.

“I felt like a failure,”
Tyson continued. “The doctor recommended all types of things for me
to do to get my count back up. They wanted me to get injections,
told me I needed to increase my protein intake, get enough hours of
sleep...they had all kinds of suggestions for me. But I didn’t do
any of it. I told myself if it was meant to be, it would be, and
now...” he choked up. “Now, I have a son on the way.”

John pat his son on the
shoulder. “Proud of you, Tyson.”

“I just hope he grows up
cooking like you,” Henry said.

“I second that,” Heshan
chimed in.

Tyson stood up and said,
“Let me get back to this food. I know my baby is ready to
eat.”

“I’ma step outside for a
minute,” Heshan said, and stood up from the table.

“Everything cool, Heshan?”
Tyson asked.

“Yeah, man,” Heshan
responded. Then he walked away from them and through the living
room, he exited out of the front door where his car was
parked.

Having finished cooking
the chicken marsala, asparagus and mashed potatoes, Tyson turned
the heat down on the macaroni and cheese casseroles in the oven and
decided to take out the trash before dinner was served. He tied the
bag in a knot and headed out the door where he tossed it in a big
trash bin, brushed his hands against each other and turned to go
back in the house when he heard Heshan on the phone. He couldn’t
make out any words, however because the hissing sound lingering off
of the small waves muffled Heshan’s conversation.

Curious, he took a few
steps closer, peered around the corner and saw Heshan leaned up
against his car. He could hear him better now. He wanted to go
over, talk to him and find out why he’d not been his usual self,
but Heshan was arguing with someone. Deciding to wait until later,
Tyson shrugged it off and turned to head back inside when he heard
Heshan say, “So when are you going to tell Tyson what’s going
on?”

Tyson frowned, stopped in
his tracks and turned around to listen to what else Heshan had to
say. First off, he wanted to know who Heshan was talking to. And
what was it that somebody needed to tell him? What exactly was
going on?

“What are you talking
about, Heshan?” Padma asked, feigning ignorance. She hoped he
wasn’t talking about the Chicago incident because that couldn’t get
out. Not now. Colin had asked her to keep it quiet until after the
baby shower.

“Mother, you know what I’m
talking about...Dilvan and Gabrielle. I overheard you talking about
what happened—”

Tyson’s frown deepened
with just the mention of hearing Dilvan’s and Gabrielle’s name in
the same sentence. Now he knew Heshan was talking Padma. But what
supposedly happened between Dilvan and Gabrielle? Too bad he
couldn’t hear what Padma was saying.

“Well, there’s nothing to
tell at the moment,” Padma told him. “I don’t know what really
happened, son, and I haven’t had a chance to talk to Dilvan as of
yet.”

“You don’t need to talk to
him. If Lalita said Gabrielle and Dilvan slept together, what more
needs to be said. She has no reason to make something like this up
and—”

What an unexpected punch
to the gut...

Tyson couldn’t believe
what he was hearing. He even had to catch his balance after nearly
being knocked off his feet by Heshan’s words. Was this for real? It
couldn’t be. There’s no way he heard Heshan correctly. No
way.

“No...no. Wait,” Padma
said. “See, this is how rumors and lies get out. That’s not what
Lalita said, Heshan.”

“It is. I heard
her.”

“Well, you didn’t hear the
whole story. Please, stay out of this and let me handle it,
son.”

Heshan sighed. “You’re
asking me to stay out of it?”

“Yes. I am.”

“Mother, Tyson is my best
friend. How can I turn a deaf ear to what I heard? He’s the
happiest I’ve ever seen him and there’s a chance that the baby may
not even be his and you want to keep that a secret. This isn’t
right and somebody needs to tell him.”

Boom, boom. Boom, boom.
Boom...boom. Boom__________

Tyson’s heart slowed down,
stopped and he had no idea how it started beating again. When he
heard Heshan say that the baby may not be his, he died in that
moment. Died. Perished. Ceased to exist. His throat tightened. His
lips quivered. Beads of sweat formed in his forehead. Blood rushed
to his brain. Anger infiltrated his heart, and while he could feel
this change within himself, he also knew that he couldn’t make a
scene while their families were in town. That was the worst. To
pretend like everything was fine in front of everyone else knowing
what he knew now would be torture. How would he be able to keep it
together? How could he look Gabrielle in the eyes and smile? How
could he have a wonderful evening with the family when all he
wanted to do was strangle the life out of Dilvan Alexander?
How?

It took everything he had
in him, but he did it – he walked back to the kitchen, washed his
hands and removed the macaroni and cheese casseroles from the oven
and said, “Dinner is ready, father. You want to go and get the
women?”

His father stood and said,
“Okay.”

* * *

Over dinner, Tyson was
exceptionally quiet. Even when being directly engaged in
conversation on a topic, he didn’t say much of anything. How could
he? He’d just found out that there was a possibility that his son
wasn’t really his. That his wife slept with her ex. The thought
alone was hard to take and while he realized this was secondhand
information, he couldn’t completely dismiss it, especially if
Heshan was that upset about it.

Gabrielle noticed how
quiet Tyson had been. She leaned over and whispered in his ear,
“Are you okay?”

Tyson gave her an
accusatory look and didn’t say a word.

“Tyson,” she said softly.
“Are you alright?”

“Why wouldn’t I be,
Gabrielle?” he snarled.

Gabrielle frowned.
Something was wrong. He wasn’t being himself. Happy, fun-loving
Tyson was gone. This Tyson was quiet, bothered and the look he gave
her was enough to make her shiver. The chill in his eyes shot
directly to her bones.

To break their gazes and
to get away from her, he stood up and said, “Can I take anyone’s
plate?”

“I’m done,” Carmen
said.

“Me too, son,” his mom
added.

Tyson took their plates to
the sink then took a deep breath, standing there with his hands
propped up on the counter. His back to everyone. He’d managed to
hold it together over dinner, but now, he was about to lose
it.

Gabrielle stood up from
the table and walked over to him. She reached for his hand and he
looked at her as if she had no right to do so.

“Tyson, what’s
wrong?”

“What do you
mean?”

“I mean you’re not being
yourself. What gives?”

“Everything is perfect,
Gabrielle. We’re having a baby, right?”

“Yes,” she
answered.

“Yeah, keep telling
yourself that. Maybe you’ll believe it.”

Gabrielle gasped and
placed a hand on her stomach. “Tyson, what—” she began, but before
she could question him, he walked away from her.

Gabrielle closed her eyes
tight, trying to understand Tyson’s sudden change in mood. And what
did he mean by saying,
keep telling
yourself that
?

“Son, we’re going to head
back to Padma’s,” Rena said.

“Okay,” Tyson acknowledged.
“Let me walk you out.”

Once outside, under a dark
sky, his mother said, “It’s a little breezy tonight.”

“Yeah, it is.”

“Dinner was absolutely
amazing, Tyson.”

“Glad you enjoyed it,
Mother.”

His father sat in the
driver seat of the car while Tyson talked to his mother.

“Son, I couldn’t help but
notice that you weren’t yourself tonight. What’s bothering you,
Tyson?”

Tyson flashed a phony
smile and said, “Mother, I’m fine. Go ahead and get to bed so you
can be ready for tomorrow.”

“Okay.” She wrapped her
arms around her son and said, “I love you, son, and I’m proud of
you.”

Tyson inhaled deeply and
released the breath slowly. It was becoming increasingly difficult
to keep calm. “I love you too, Mother.”

Like a gentleman, he
opened the car door for his mother, then closed it behind her,
watching them drive off. When he headed back to the house, he saw
Heshan walking towards him, on his way to his car.

“Tyson, I gotta run, man,”
he said. “See you tomorrow, though.”

Tyson frowned when Heshan
kept walking on by him. With a clenched jaw, he slid his hands in
his pockets, turned around and looked at him.
“Heshan...”

Heshan stopped in his
tracks and turned around. “Yeah, what’s up?”

“Were you even going to
tell me?”

Heshan frowned. “Tell you
what?”

“That your brother slept
with my wife,” Tyson said evenly.