Building the Nursery Read online

  “I guess another thing I miss about Philly is feeling like I have roots somewhere. It might not have been much, but knowing I had my own place, someplace I didn’t have to answer to anyone and I could just be myself – that was nice. My apartment was the only place I felt completely free. It was lonely a lot of times, but at least I wasn’t being judged or told what to do by anyone.” Symone smiles and kisses my lips, making my frown slightly curl into a smile. “Relax, baby. Living here with all of you, or in the house in L.A., is way better than what I had by living alone. I just wanted to give a little bit more happy credit to my old life in Philly.”

  “You left a lot behind there – including some parts of yourself. Do you think you’ll ever go back?”

  “To the city or the old me?”

  “Both.”

  “Definitely not the old me – I like this version of myself better. And I’ll probably never live there again either. I’ll want to visit, but I prefer California and even this cute college town you live in.”

  “If you were never going to go back there, what’s the one thing you would want from there that you could keep forever to remember the place by?” Symone laughs and sets her empty bowl on her nightstand. “That’s going to take some thought. You should go spend some time with your wives now, before you have to leave town today.”

  “Do you need anything else before I go? Do you want to stay up here or do you want me to help you down stairs?”

  “I’m good right here.”

  “Do you want me to have anyone come sit with you?” Symone smiles and wraps a hand behind my neck, pulling me into a kiss. Its short, but it’s nice. “I’ll be ok. Go have fun with your beautiful wives.”

  “Ok, see you in a little while.”

  All of my wives are laying on their stomachs side by side looking at a single tablet together, with Madison scrolling through it.

  “Hello, beautiful wives.”

  They look up with cute smiles and Awenasa reaches out a hand to pull me down to the bed. I crane my neck to try to see what they’re working on, but Madison pushes the tablet over in front of me.

  “Oh, I love these. Did you order them already?”

  “No, we wanted to show you first. Which ones do you like the most?”

  I pull the tablet over to scroll through the page and I can’t stop smiling like a fool. This is the largest variety of baby moccasins they’ve found yet. There’s so many and they’re just so adorable.

  “Oh, I love these! Did you see these, little bear?”

  I look over at Sam and she has a brilliant glowing smile. It’s a pair of white moccasins with fur lining and light gray stitching with little bears embroidered on the outside ankle.

  “Oh, wow! They even have wolf moccasins.”

  I start swiping through the screen looking for a search field. I quickly search for each of our totems and find they have a deer and fox, but no hawk or otter. I pull up the contact page and smile really big.

  “Special order, perfect. We need to special order a pair for all of our totems. Hey, do you want some new moccasins, babies? Oh, look at these.” My wives laugh and Awenasa kisses my cheek. “Check the cart, puppy.”

  I smile really big and pull up the shopping cart. They have pairs in here for all of us. The pair they picked for me is an awesome pair of black moccasins with a gray howling wolf head embroidered on the heels.

  “I love these! Can we get these?” They laugh again and Madison reaches over to take the tablet back. “Yes, baby, we’re going to order these. We’ll also put in the special order for the baby moccasins for the totems they don’t already have. Here, look at these too.”

  She swipes through the screens and pushes it back. The screen is full of beautifully embroidered bassinet and crib liners with Native American patterns and designs.

  “These are beautiful. Do you think if we sent a picture of the scene Jade painted for us on the bench trunk that someone would be able make us these with that scene?”

  “You mean, something like this, puppy?”

  Awenasa grins, and hops off the bed. I leap up and watch her walk to the closet. She pulls out a box and sets it on the bed in front of me with an amazing smile. I quickly open the box and gasp.

  “Oh, this is so beautiful. Has anyone else seen this?” Awenasa kisses my lips and sits down next to me, wrapping an arm around my waist. “No, we wanted to wait to show you. Are you happy with it?”

  “Very. It’s really nice. I love it.” I glide my fingers over the embroidered scene and my smile widens as emotion wells up in my chest. “I should know soon if the donor the sperm bank found checks out health wise. They’ve confirmed his family line doesn’t match up with our clans at all. I really wish there was a way to add a piece of me to our babies.”

  “Kayla, the most important piece of someone that a child needs in order to know who its family is, is the heart. You know that family is more than blood and DNA. Family is built on love, trust, and respect.”

  “I know, Maddi, but I worry that our babies might feel like Darren did. They won’t know a father. I won’t share their blood, so when they’re older and the outside world’s opinions get to them, will they view me as the person who kept them from a ‘normal’ family and then resent me?”

  “Darren had more going on inside his head than just the fact that he grew up without a father. He had an unknown mental imbalance, and he acknowledged that in the letter he wrote to Whitney before he died. We’re all at a risk of our children growing up and being upset with us for our family lifestyle. They’ll have to deal with a lot of criticism from their peers and they’ll see it on the internet and on the TV. Are you changing your mind about having children?”

  “What? No, of course not. It’s just my ego flaring up. I guess I just feel a little sad that I can’t say that I helped create that life. It’s going to be so beautiful watching all of you create those gorgeous babies, but I still feel a little detached. It’s like being forced to stand outside of the garden and just watch while others plant the seeds and seedlings. I want to plant the garden with all of you.”

  My wives have tears in their eyes and small loving smiles curling their beautiful lips. Awenasa takes my hand and kisses it before placing it on her stomach.

  “When we’re ready, you’re going to plant the seeds, puppy. And when our baby starts to form, you’ll feed it your beautiful energy by placing your hand on my stomach. After you’ve helped our baby grow and he or she is ready to be born, you will help deliver our baby. A gardener does not create the seeds she plants, but without her placing them in the earth and tending to them, they are just seeds. The one who plants the seed and cares for it, is the one who gives life to the seed.”

  “So, none of you will think the child is less mine than yours?”

  “Of course, not, sweetie.” Shannon shuffles over some and takes my other hand. “Kayla, you’re not the only one who doesn’t get to put a biological piece of yourself into each other’s children. None of us can do that with each other, but being married means that we’re all going to be each other’s children’s mothers. Traditional rules of family and parental designations don’t apply to our family at all.”

  “Thanks, babies. I really am very excited about having children. I never even thought about all of this so deeply before I started looking for a donor. Realizing that some random man is going to be a part of making our family brought up all of these fears and doubts I never had before. I love all of you so much.”

  My wives move in to wrap their arms around me. Each of them pulls back, gently kiss my cheek, and then stand up with sweet loving smiles. Awenasa grabs the crib liner off of the bed, and my wives pull me out of the room and guide me to the now fully furnished nursery.

  All of the furniture we ordered was delivered while I was away for the first dance camp week in Sacramento. As promised, they waited for me to come home to construct the pieces that weren’t preassembled, and to arrange the room. It was fun building furniture with my w
ives and setting up the nursery for our babies.

  Awenasa hands me an end of the crib cover and we work together to tie the little ribbons onto the crib slats. The soft white border offers a nice fourteen-inch-tall cushion around the crib to protect the baby from the hard wood as he or she moves around. All of our wives wrap their arms around our waists and we stand side by side, admiring the crib. It’s beautiful. Whoever they had do the embroidery of Jade’s design did a wonderful job.

  “Please tell me you didn’t kidnap someone’s child in the middle of the night because of your impatience to have children.” We look over at the door at laugh. Tonya is standing in the doorway with an amused grin on her face. “No, my wives had a crib liner custom made. We just put it in.”

  Tonya comes over and leans over the crib.

  “Wow, Jade’s going to be ecstatic when she sees this. You’re not buying everything you need, right? You better be leaving something so we can throw you a huge baby shower.”

  “Everyone keeps telling us that, so we’re trying hard not to buy too many clothes, toys, blankets, books, and those kinds of things. Is Jade up yet?”

  “Yeah, she’s in Symone’s room. Sara and Keira are in the living room. Do you want me to drag them up here?”

  “Yes, please. I’ll go see if Jaime’s up.”

  Tonya and I leave the nursery – she heads downstairs, and I walk next door. I knock a couple times, and Jaime calls out to come in. I open the door and find her laying on her stomach reading a book on her bed. It takes her a moment to look up at me and her face lights up with a smile.

  “Good morning.”

  “Good morning. Do you have a couple minutes? I want to show everyone something in the nursery that my wives just surprised me with.” Jaime’s smile widens and she places a bookmark in her book. “I’m going to get Symone and Jade really quick.”

  Symone is exactly how I left her, but with the addition of Jade sitting close to her on the bed like I had been and they’re looking at a tablet and laughing.

  “Hey, baby, shouldn’t you be in the middle of making your wives scream right now?”

  “They gave me a surprise for the nursery that I want to show everyone, especially Jade.”

  Jade smiles really big and hops off the bed. I help Symone up and wrap my arm around her waist, to offer her support. She giggles and kisses my cheek.

  “I can walk by myself, baby.”

  “Are you sure?” Symone’s smile widens and she shakes her head. “No, I think I need your help for one more day.”

  I smile really big and pull her in closer, before regaining my step to lead her out of the bedroom. Everyone is in the nursery close to the crib and smile and back up as Jade hops over to peek inside.

  “Oh, shit! That’s my painting! Wow, that looks beautiful. I’m so glad you liked the painting that much. Damn it, I’m going to cry and I hate crying.”

  All of us laugh a little as Jade turns with glossy eyes and hugs my wives. I walk Symone up to the crib and she smiles really big and agrees that its really beautiful. Everyone tells us how happy they are for us and that the nursery is coming along beautifully.

  Hearing everyone’s excitement for all of us and our family really helps to increase my excitement again that had somewhat been discouraged by my insecurities of not being able to be a biological part of our children.

  After we talk to the squad for a little while, my wives pull me back to the bedroom. Each of them gives me a slow soft kiss and then strip me of my clothes. They quickly strip down and then pull me to the bathroom. Shannon gets the giant jacuzzi filling with hot water and lots of bubbles.

  “Oh, this feels good.”

  We lay our heads back and savor the hot water massage from the many jets in the tub. A hand glides up my thigh, making me smile as I slowly open my eyes. My wives move in closer, and while one pulls me into a kiss, the others kiss and suck my neck, and all of their hands start wandering my body adoringly. I love this so much.

  Chapter Ten

  Because of how popular the show is and the fact that the entire world knows the show’s schedule, Russel insisted on us having security with us at all times while we’re traveling and while we’re on site for the dance camps. We’ve had the same three men with us for the entire tour. Which has been nice since we’ve been able to get to know them and become comfortable around them. All three of them are nice and family oriented – each of them are married and have children.

  Jaime and I are currently under the strong arms of two of our guards, being guided through a crowd of fans to get inside the community center for the first day of our last dance camp for the tour. It’s been like this at all five of the community centers we’ve been to. Each day we were scheduled to arrive on location, the entrance had to be secured with the help of local police to keep the crowds of fans from being able to basically mob us in their excitement.

  As soon as we’re all inside, we’re greeted by one of the facility’s directors. We exchange pleasantries with the cameras rolling and then she leads us through the facility, giving us a tour. There’s several different classes going on, including computers, a couple different languages, and several different arts and music. She explains that all of the instructors donate their time to teach the men, woman, and children who are enrolled, which is impressive because of the number of classes they offer.

  After seeing the rest of the facility, and meeting several other members of the staff, she brings us to the newly built dance studio that the show’s sponsors paid for. The room they dedicated to dance is the largest out of the five community centers we’ve visited, and the construction team did a great job working with the old brick building. The brick walls are still exposed, but they’ve been painted bright white. The floors are a nice springy hardwood, and there are wall-to-wall mirrors, with several ballet balance bars sporadically placed. A nice surround sound system and stereo have also been gifted to the center. In one back corner, there’s a wall of new square lockers. And in another, there’s a lounging area with beanbag chairs and ottomans on a colorful circular area rug.

  Only minutes after the camera crew finishes getting setup, students start arriving. Their enthusiasm is wonderful. The past eleven weeks may have been exhausting, but forcing ourselves out of bed every day to come do another session is worth it every time we see the students’ excitement. The students range in age from pre-teens to middle-age adults, and vary a lot in skill level. No matter how hard something may be for a student, they remain positive and eager to keep learning.

  Each location we’ve been to equals two episodes aired on TV. The filming has to include candid interviews and conversations with the students, as well the instructional dance work. We have been spending the first forty to sixty minutes of the first class at each new location just getting to know our students and what dance means to them. At the end of the week, we’ll basically do it again to find out what they gained from the experience.

  After we meet and hug or shake hands with all forty-five students, we get them warmed up with a dance cardio segment we developed for the instructional DVD’s. Then we spend over an hour teaching some hip-hop dance basics and putting the techniques together in small routines so they can understand the practicality of each move. We take a couple breaks, to give them time to use the bathroom or get a drink, but the class stays focused otherwise.

  For the first day at two of the locations, we had problems keeping the class focused after we did the initial meet and greet discussion. The students at those two locations wanted to keep asking us questions about how we became famous so quickly, what it’s like to be famous, am I secretly dating Jaime on the side, and so many other questions that just really didn’t need to be asked. I was grateful that they edited the very inappropriate relationship type questions out of the footage and it didn’t air on TV. Thankfully, this class saves their questions till the end of class and they’re not as personal or awkward.

  As I’m bending down to grab a bottle of water, I not
ice a teenage girl weaving in and out of the rest of the exiting class, making her way towards me. One of our guards reaches us just as she’s stepping up in front of me, and he puts himself between us, but not so much that I can’t see her. Her eyes get big in shock from his sudden appearance, and she takes a half a step backwards looking scared.

  “The name is Tenaya, right?” She gives me a shy smile and nods. I place a hand on my bodyguard’s arm, and he steps to the side, but remains close. She hops forward with adorable smile, and while she rocks on her heels, she asks, “Can I ask you something?”

  “Sure.”

  “Is it true this was your idea – to come dance with us?”

  “It was my idea to do the camps, but I didn’t get to pick the locations. The locations were selected randomly from the contest entries.”

  “So, you really want to be here teaching us, even though you’re famous?”

  “I do. I love dancing and I love teaching others to dance.”

  She smiles really big, and as she’s rocking on her heels, she loses balance, and stumbles forward. I catch her by the shoulders, as she falls into me, and she releases a silly nervous giggle as her eyes lock with mine.

  “Oh, my god.”

  “Are you ok?”

  “Yes. Please don’t kick me out of the class. I didn’t mean to do that.” I laugh and shake my head as she straightens up and steps backwards. “You’re fine. Don’t worry about it.”

  “Ok, well, I guess I’ll leave you alone. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  “See you tomorrow. Good work today.”

  She giggles and trips over her feet as she waves and hops away from me.

  While the film crew breaks down their equipment, the rest of us go to the bathroom to change. We’ll have to get lunch soon and then we have to drive a few blocks to do a workshop at one of the six universities we’re working at this week.