Saved and SAINTified, page 29
He opened the door and found her, naked from head to toe with the covers loosely covering some parts of her body. Xenia was fast asleep, with a huge smile on her face.
Saint closed the door behind him and locked it. He slid his shoes off and quietly approached his sleeping beauty. Leaning down near her, he brushed his lips softly against hers, causing her to turn to and fro, in a daze. She roused and blinked a few times, until she could focus.
“Saint.” She grinned. “You’re home.” She sat up and yawned, stretching her legs. She gathered the sheets around her unclothed body. “How was your trip? Everything okay now?” She yawned again and she sat up against the headboard.
“Not yet, but it will be, baby. How are you doing?” he asked softly as he scooted closer, reaching over and placing his hand close to her hip before giving her another quick peck.
“I’m good. I had a really good day. I just felt, hell, like I wasn’t even pregnant.” She chuckled. “I felt like a little girl, hard to explain. She gathered his hands into hers. “Why do you look so tired, baby? The flight?”
“Yeah, it was long but I got a little rest. I’m glad you were able to sleep.” He rubbed her stomach lightly. “You know, maybe it’s my imagination, but you seem to be showing a bit more since I left.” He grinned.
“I think so, too. I didn’t show this fast with Hassani or Dakarai.” She looked down and watched his hand move over her abdomen. “She’s a little pistol. She had me sick again, but then just like that, it all went away.” She flexed her toes.
Saint nodded. “Hey baby, I have something important to tell you and ... it’s pretty serious.”
Xenia’s face immediately registered anxiety as a frown crossed her previously peaceful expression.
“Now baby, calm down. You haven’t even heard anything yet. All I want to do is to tell you what you wanted to know before I left, and a little bit more, too.”
Xenia swallowed. Hard.
Saint rubbed her shoulder and started from the beginning, not stopping until he reached the part about Beset being in their guest room. Twenty minutes later, he was met with a stunned face, and an expression he’d never seen his Queen wear before. She sucked her teeth and wrung her hands impatiently.
“So, let me get this straight.” Ice was in her tone, sharp edginess and insurmountable anger that Saint could feel, as if the emotions were his very own. It blasted him like cold air, wrecking any semblance of peace. “You have some crazy ass Egyptian relative that wants me to get an abortion so he can still feel like the head mothafucka in charge. You and your father had a confrontation with him and he has threatened that if I don’t get an abortion, he will kill all of us. You’ve now brought a strange woman from Egypt into our house, around our children, to add insult to injury. I don’t know her, yet she is asleep in our guest room right now and is supposed to be our new nanny for the time being. And I’m just supposed to swallow this bullcrap, hook, line and sinker?!”
Xenia flung the sheets violently off her body, jumped out of the bed and stormed off into the bathroom, slamming the door behind her. He looked at the closed door for several seconds, sighed, and fell back onto the bed.
Uh-huh, that went well.
“So I guess this means no sex tonight?”
There was no response.He knew she wouldn’t understand. He knew that no matter how close they were, Xenia dealt with facts and figures and this simply didn’t compute. She didn’t recognize how he knew the things he did, or the feelings he got—which confirmed the actions he was taking, regardless of how it appeared. He was more right than wrong, but all she knew—and he understood it—was that her baby was in jeopardy. He didn’t know if she trusted him to do what he promised, take care of the situation once and for all. He had help, he had understanding, and his dreams continued to fuel him with much needed information. Just as his father had told him.
Everything you need to know, you will know in time ...
And he was right.
Saint waited for his Goddess to calm down.
He slowly sat up and removed his clothing until he was down to his boxers. He sat back on the bed, turned the television on and leaned back against the headboard, flipping through the channels, looking for something, anything, that would distract him from the fact that shit was about to get real...
****
A few hours later...
“Mrs. Aknaten, this is all that I brought,” Beset explained as she opened her bag further, offering full disclosure for Xenia’s observations. “I want nothing from you.” She removed her hijab from her head, exposing long silver waves with strands of black throughout. “But, I want you to be comfortable with me. I wish to do no harm.”
“Beset.” Xenia put her hand on her hip. “You could be sweeter than sugar, I have no idea, but I’m very protective of my children. Saint is as well, but I’m sorry, he is not their mother and he sometimes thinks everyone is as good and caring as he is.”
“I understand. Ask me all of the questions you wish. I’m here for you and I am also a midwife.”
“But I don’t know you. Yet I’ve been given a line that you are here to help protect me and my child from this Nizsm person. My life revolves around my family. I use a little time for my career, which is also important to me, but... ”
“I know that you do. I know much about you. You are the mistress of the house and you are a very good mother and wife. What can I do to help you trust me?” she said in a stilted accent.
“A background check would be nice!” Xenia hissed. “Saint!” she called out, turning briefly away from Beset as she leaned against the door frame. He was downstairs, fixing the boys breakfast. She’d had a night of no sleep, tossing and turning and keeping an eye on the boy’s cameras in their rooms. She went as far as to lock them inside, just in case.
Xenia stormed out the guestroom and stood at the top of the steps, her hand on her hip. “Saint! Can you come up here, please?” She tried to take the edginess out of her tone but was certain she’d failed.
“Yeah, baby, give me a second,” he hollered back. She heard the refrigerator door close.
Xenia returned to the guest room and stood by the door, staring at Beset, who sat meekly on the bed, slumped forward, her hands clasped together and back bent. A few moments later, Saint came up the stairs and stood behind Xenia. He wrapped his arms around her waist. She wriggled out of his grasp and turned toward him, her finger in his face.
“Beset and I have been talking for a while now, and I’m still not sure about this. It feels strange to me. You are enough strangeness for me to have to deal with. Now this,” she said between clenched teeth, not caring that she’d taken a jab at him for the sake of argument.
“Xenia, if you want our lives to be back the way they were, then this is what’s necessary. You should know that I’d never bring someone into our home to live with us and be around you and our children, if I didn’t trust them.”
“You trusted Payton at one point in time, too,” she said under her breath. “And look what she tried to do to us.”
“Now that was just a low blow.” Saint looked down at Beset who appeared to be unwilling to make eye-contact. “Anyway, she wasn’t brought to our house, to be around our children. There’s no comparison. You wanna fight, Xenia? Is that it? We have a serious problem here, and you want to bring up Payton’s ass?”
She rolled her eyes.
“Do you want to stand here, wasting time and arguing, or get down to business?” His eyebrows furrowed. Xenia looked away over her shoulder at Beset then back at her glaring husband. She threw up her hands and crossed her arms over her breasts.
“Saint, I’m sorry. I’m just a little shocked right now, okay? I don’t like people I don’t know around the children for extended periods of time. Couldn’t she stay at a hotel? What do we do now?”
“Maybe I should go,” Beset said, embarrassment on her face.
Saint looked at the old woman with a grim expression.
“Mommy!!! Can we go outside?” Hassani called out. “We finished eatin’!”
“No!” Saint responded before Xenia had a chance to reply. “Wait until I come back down, Hassani.” Then he addressed his wife. “Xenia, she needs to be with you. So, that won’t work.”
“I have something that will help you, so you can rest easy until the baby is born.” Beset turned and reached into her bag. She removed a small satchel. I made this right before I headed to the airport, for you, Mrs. Aknaten.”
Xenia hesitated. “What ... what is it?”
Beset shot a look at Saint.
“Tell her,” he encouraged as he took Xenia by the hand.
“Mrs. Aknaten, if Nizsm wants Isis dead, then dead is what we will give him.”
Xenia gasped and snatched her hand away from Saint. “I won’t! I won’t do it!” she screamed at the top of her lungs, making her way across the room as fast as her feet could carry her. She stood in the corner like a trapped animal ready to strike. Saint raced toward her and grabbed her flailing arms, but not before being struck repeatedly in the face. His cheek burned but he was more concerned about the shocking, ferocious display right before his very eyes.
“Xenia! Baby, no!”
He blocked her repeated attempts to strike his face and body. She was in an uncontrollable violent rage and she knew it took more strength than he’d anticipated to hold her in place. She knew deep down she was no match for him, but she had to fight with all that was in her.
“It’s not like that! I will put the powder in your drink but the baby will be fine! I’d never ... Xenia!” He blocked another attempted blow. “I’d never try to hurt our child!”
Xenia began to slowly calm down, but she was afraid to completely let down her guard. She kept her fighting stance ... just in case.
“It makes it seem as if the baby’s heartbeat has stopped, okay? The baby will still be alive and healthy, but it masks the heartbeat for Nizsm—so that he will believe that she is dead and that we did what he asked. That way, you can be left alone during the pregnancy, and she can be born with no interjections. Now calm down, it’s okay.”
He held her tightly, hugging her to his chest with determination. Xenia couldn’t stop trembling. She could feel his rapid heartbeat and smell his skin, his cologne. The calm returned. At that moment, her love for her unborn child tripled. The thought of possibly being tricked, cornered by her husband and this strange woman, sent her over the edge and she’d climb the walls to get away from them if she had to. She ceased shaking and hugged him back with all of her might.
“Look.” He pulled away from her, gripping her shoulders as the tears continued to flow down her cheeks. “I know it’s scary, baby, but we are in this together. You know me better than that!” Xenia detected anger in his voice, but she knew he could sympathize with her reaction, so he’d let it go.
“I would never ask you to do some shit like that. Whether we were married or not, had other kids or not, only a penny to our name ... I would never ask you to end a pregnancy. That’s my baby, too! That’s my seed; we made this baby! Nobody, and I mean, nobody, goddamn it,” He forced her gaze up to his. “Nobody, is going to take this baby away from us, do you hear me?” His eyes narrowed as he spoke, seriousness in each syllable he uttered.
Xenia nodded, then lowered her head again and hugged him so tight, she thought she may break him in half. After a few moments, she regained her composure. She looked around Saint’s body, at the old lady, but didn’t let him go. He affectionately kissed the side of her face and gently stroked her hair.
“Okay, Beset. I give up. Fear no longer has any room in this situation,” Xenia choked out. “What is the plan?”
Saint rubbed her back in appreciation.
“Mrs. Aknaten, all you need to do is to continue to grow the baby and enjoy your life. Be happy so Isis knows that her mother is okay. She is very connected with you. She lives for you,” she looked at Saint, “and her father. She knows you well. She chose you to be her parents. Just, uh … what is that word? Rejoice, yes. Rejoice in that and I will take care of other things.”
****
Xenia sat in Saint’s office alone, with only the glow from his laptop illuminating the room. She tried to busy herself with work related tasks, only to be completely derailed time and again. Her brain was a runaway train and there was no end of the line. This was Saint’s private sanctuary, but he allowed her in without a word. He always knew when she needed time alone, and this was one of those times.
She picked up her warm glass of water and took the final sip, then turned on the desk lamp and swiveled around to look at her husband’s extensive library—alphabetized pornography, novels, tapes for shows and DVDs for sex techniques. It still always made her laugh but this time, she was barely able to muster a smile.
What if Saint is wrong? What if this Beset person really wants to kill our child? I know that he trusts her. I can see that, but, I just don’t know.
She turned back toward the computer and slumped down in her seat.
We’re in a world of a mess. I fell in love with him; there was really no way to escape that. But now, look. I never expected this. I love the man he is, not this—but that’s not fair. This is who he is, and I accepted it. He showed me who he was early on. I was afraid then, and I’m still afraid. When in the hell will I stop being scared? I told them both I’d do what was necessary, but I don’t think I want to do this. Can I change my mind? We’ve been together seven years. I trust him. But not with this. Do I? Oh my God, what am I going to do?
She reached down to her stomach and slowly rubbed her tummy, refusing to cry again. Just then, a soft knock sounded at the door.
“Come in.” Xenia looked up and rubbed her eyes.
Beset peeked her head inside. “Saint said you were in here. Do you mind if we talk for a little while?”
The woman’s smile was warm. Xenia couldn’t deny it—she looked completely innocent but she knew, from experience, that looks could be deceiving.
If this woman was able to get out of Egypt, convince Saint she was there to help and make a concoction to hide a baby’s heartbeat, the old lady was far from stupid and way past naïve.
“Sure,” Xenia said begrudgingly.
Beset walked in and sat down across from her, the desk being their divide. Xenia felt suddenly warm all over, as if Beset had brought an invisible ray of sunshine upon her entrance.
“Xenia, I would like to tell you more about myself.” She clasped her hands tightly on her lap. “I am going to tell you some things I haven’t discussed in a very long time because it was too...”
“Upsetting?” Xenia offered.
“Yes, upsetting for me. I told your husband already that Nizsm killed my daughter. Well, actually he read me, but I confirmed it. However, I didn’t get into the other details. Like you, despite my abilities, I’m considered a commoner. I am not an Angel Child. I have the gift of intuition, but that is all. Thanks to that intuition, however, I’ve had dreams about your husband for a long time. I knew he was coming, so I watched and waited. My husband, Xenia, was an Angel Child, just like Saint. I was in your shoes. The life of an Angel Child’s wife isn’t always easy, especially if your spouse is as gifted as Saint.”
Xenia nodded in agreement.
Beset rubbed her hands together. “My husband, Ishaq, died soon after our daughter was murdered. He wasn’t home at the time and couldn’t get past the guilt. It was so painful for him, that it ate him alive.” She paused, her tired eyes filled with tears. “He just couldn’t go on. Ishaq was a good man, but he was a protector and like your husband, he believed that if he couldn’t protect me and his only child, then he was useless. Angel Children, especially the men, take that very seriously—the loss of a child. So, I believe he died of a broken heart. One day, he just never woke up.” A tear cascaded down her face. She quickly wiped it away.
“I’m so sorry, Beset,” Xenia offered, truly touched and horrified by the account. She knew the woman was sincere. No one could fake that sort of pain—mothers recognized it in other mothers. It was unmistakable.
Beset nodded. “So you see.” She looked up at Xenia, her eyes now full of hope. “You are my second chance. Not only will your daughter’s birth help stop Nizsm, but I get an opportunity to avenge my daughter’s death.” Her eyes narrowed. “I want Nizsm stopped, Xenia. I need him to be stopped. I’m just an old woman that people seek to find out if their lover will come back or get a cure for a rash that keeps returning.” She smiled sadly. “This is so much bigger than that, and I know my Ishaq will finally be able to rest in peace. I know that deep down you trust your husband, but your mother’s instinct is causing conflict. You know that if you trust me and I do something to harm you or your child, it wouldn’t be reversible, and you’d blame yourself.”
“Exactly.” Xenia crossed her arms protectively over her breasts, feeling a sudden chill.
Beset reached across the desk and grasped Xenia’s hand, much to her surprise. The old lady’s voice shook with emotion. “I would never harm your baby, Mrs. Aknaten. I know it’s terrifying, but if you trust me, you will make it through this. Otherwise, Nizsm may come here and try to settle the matter for himself and then your entire family’s safety would be at stake. He is a selfish, evil man. He never knew what love was and there is no reasoning with him. This is the only way.”
Xenia continued to hold her hand. She gently circled the thin flesh on the old woman’s hand with her thumb.
“Thank you for speaking with me, Beset. Just give me a little while to think this over. I’ll be out soon.” Xenia pulled away, swimming in her own thoughts once more. Beset smiled and stood. She quickly made her exit and closed the door softly behind her.
Xenia, come on. Now is not the type to play chicken. Do you really want that man to come here? Hell no!
She took a deep breath, picked up her cellphone and dialed her husband.
“Hello,” he responded, smacking away.
