Bella shifted nervously on the airplane. She didn’t mind flying but this mission was driving her nuts. After reaching out to Juanita Hernandez and convincing her to meet Bella wasn’t sure that this was a good idea. Juanita had no idea with what the true nature of their conversation would entail. She was under the impression it had something to do with a revealing book about General William C. Caruthers. In her hands Bella had a folder with pictures of Chaz over the years. None of his pictures included his other family members. Most of the pictures were from Chaz’s early days in military school and the army. She could see the loneliness in his eyes. The pictures that featured the two of them saw a much happier man.
Chaz was under the impression she was at a conference for the day in a nearby city. She hated lying to him but she needed to find out if this was something she should share with her fiancé. When the plane touched down in Chicago she felt the butterflies reappear. The ride to a downtown hotel was nerve racking and Bella almost bailed. She reconsidered knowing she could give Chaz some answers and it could help him put his ghosts to rest.
Bella extended a hand to the woman and tried to control the expression on her face. “Nice to meet you Ms. Hernandez.”
“Nice to meet you too Bella. Please call me Juanita,” she replied smiling. Juanita was still very pretty with shoulder length black hair, those gorgeous hazel eyes, and a sunny disposition. If this woman was still mourning the loss of her son, she hid it remarkably well. The subject matter brought a wrinkle to her small nose but she otherwise maintained her composure.
“As I told you on the phone, I am trying to find out the real story behind the man, versus the publicity laced information.” Bella took out a small notepad and asked questions. Juanita answered the questions and her emotions shifted dramatically when she spoke of her pregnancy.
“I know that sleeping with a married man was a bad idea. I was young and stupid impressed by his army rank. My pregnancy was supposed to be a blessing in that otherwise chaotic time of my life. I had hoped to just disappear and give my son a proper home. Losing my son has been my greatest regret.”
“Juanita did you ever do any research on the birth of your son?”
“No,” she said lowering her head. “To my shame, I didn’t investigate his birth or death. It was so painful and I wanted to put all traces of the General behind me.”
“Do you mind if we discuss this subject a little more?” Bella asked trying to put on a sympathetic face. Juanita shook her head up and down. “Yes we can discuss this but I am afraid I do not know much. My mother took this one picture of my son.”
Juanita took a small picture nestled in a silver frame out of her purse. The picture shows baby Chaz hooked up to more wires than Bella had known existed. His super small body was covered in a bevy of medical equipment. Bella could see they had his eyes covered and a tube coming out of his mouth. Without warning Bella began to cry. She tried to self-correct but Juanita gave her a quizzical look.
“Are you okay?” Juanita asked full of concern. Bella shook her head apologizing profusely.
“I am so sorry Juanita but I have some additional information,” Bella stuttered, nervously.
“Please tell me! What did your research uncover?” Juanita looked panicked and reached for the glass of water on their table. Bella took several sips from her glass of water before speaking.
“Ms. Hernandez, your son did not die.” Bella waited for this information to be processed. Juanita shook her head violently. There could be no such alternative. Unknowingly she clutched her purse and Bella feared she would bolt from the hotel.
“I am not a writer. I am engaged to your son. His name is Chaz.”
Juanita continued to shake her head as the tears streamed down her cheeks. “This isn’t funny! Are you a member of the General’s family sent to torment me?”
Bella shook her head, “No I am not. Chaz Caruthers is your son and he is alive and relatively well. He thinks that the General’s wife, Emily, is his birth mother.”
“That’s not possible my son died three days after he was born. I would know if my son had survived.” Juanita stood from the table almost knocking over her water glass. Bella took the picture of Chaz as a young cadet out of the folder. Juanita folded to the ground with the picture in her hand. Bella immediately helped her to the chair. Juanita continued to stare at the picture shaking her head. Without asking she snatched at the folder and rifled through all the pictures. Juanita pointed to the picture of Chaz with Bella sitting on his lap smiling. He had his hands wrapped around her body and looked very much in love.
“How could they have done this? He is my son,” Juanita cried. She tenderly touched the pictures wanting to absorb everything there was to know about her son. She had missed the last twenty-six years of his life.
“I am not sure how this happened so easily but the General and his wife raised Chaz. He has no idea that I am here. Our lives are a bit complicated. I wanted to see this through before I decided if I was going to tell him,” Bella admitted.
“What do you mean if you tell him? Bella, I want to meet my son,” Juanita yelled. Bella flinched but recovered quickly. She could not imagine the pain the woman was feeling right now.
“Chaz is still very much a part of the army, top secret. Also the General and his wife did a really bad job of giving Chaz a home life.”
Juanita looked confused and then Bella spilled more of her fears. Not only had she been denied her son but also he had been beaten and abused for most of his life. The General’s family made her son’s life hell just because they could. Juanita put the napkin to her face as she sobbed.
“But he didn’t do anything. Why would they do that to an innocent child?” She blubbered into her napkin. Juanita Hernandez was angry with herself for not investigating her son’s alleged death.
“I am so sorry but I was just curious about the man that raised my fiancé when I came across your post. I read it and knew instantly that you were Chaz’s biological mother. He is an amazing man but he is a complicated man. I am not sure how he is going to take this news.”
“What? Why? You do not think he would want to meet me or know that Emily bitch wasn’t his mother,” Juanita said harshly.
“It’s not that. Chaz doesn’t know that he shares some similar traits to his father.” Bella felt like she was betraying Chaz by telling his birth mother of her son’s womanizing ways. Bella gave her a condensed version on the man she had come to love over the last five months.
“But if he was anything like William, you would not be engaged to him. Trust me Bella, he is nothing like that man if you have managed to fall in love with him despite his flaws.” Juanita extended a hand across the table and gave Bella a reassuring pat. Bella exploded into tears and incoherent words. “I love him so much and I want to help him process the anger he has with his upbringing. We both had shitty upbringings but his haunts him every day.” Bella pulled on her reserves and managed to get her emotions under control.
“I can see how much you love my son. He is very lucky to have found you Bella. After all the suffering he has experienced in his young life, I am happy that he has someone who truly loves him. Chaz is the only one that can let that anger go.”
“I know I am not trying to change him but I want to help him process the anger. I love him just the way he is, former womanizing ways and all.”
“I can see from these pictures that he loves you a great deal. The life has returned to his eyes in the pictures of you two. I have spent all these years never dealing with his loss and perhaps it was because he had never truly left me. I want to meet him Bella but I understand if you do not think that it will be a good idea. You know my son better than I do.” Juanita let the soft tears fall without wiping them away.
“I would like to tell him about you and if he wants to meet then I can connect you two. I think that the initial shock of the information will pass and he will be happy to know that Emily was not his real mother,” Bella said patting Juanita’s hand. Juanita spent the next few hours picking Bella’s brain about her son. Bella told her of Chaz’s business success, even if she was less than thrilled to hear he owned a strip club. The bits and pieces of Chaz’s life that he shared with Bella she shared with Juanita.
“He looks so much like me Bella. I am simply amazed. I have fraternal twins, Marcus and Marisa with my husband, Carl. The twins are nineteen and in college,” Juanita informed. “My husband knows about Chaz, but my kids do not know.”
“He has been as starved for family as me, that’s great news. I am sure when the storm calms he will be a doting big brother, if you want it to go that far.”
Juanita shook her head violently, if she had the time to be in her son’s life it would be all the way. Bella stayed until it was time for her flight to leave. Juanita pulled Bella into a crushing hug. “Thank you Bella. This is the best news I have ever had, in spite of its sad origins.”
“You are welcome. I promise to be in touch. Chaz and I are planning to be married in Vegas soon. With no family we thought a huge wedding would be pointless.”
“Will you tell him before or after the wedding?” Juanita asked, putting a plan together.
“I am not sure Juanita, really I want to run home and tell him but like I said Chaz is complicated.”
“Well if you decide to tell him before Vegas we would be more than happy to drive out to meet you guys. If you want to tell him in Vegas, we have a time share we could meet you guys there.” Juanita wanted to get on the next flight out and meet her son. Bella gave Juanita the folder of pictures to keep. She clutched the folder as if it contained a winning lottery ticket.
“Okay, we are in Vegas, will you please tell me what the fuck has been bothering you? We are here to get married and you look like you are going to a fucking funeral. Have you changed your mind Bella?” Chaz fired off this speech as Bella placed her wedding gown, nestled in a black garment bag, into the hotel’s closet.
“Can we get unpacked first? It’s a doozy and I am not pregnant.” Bella gave him a tender kiss and began to unpack her clothes. They planned to spend a week in Vegas. Horatio and Kennedy were in attendance of course. Pops and his wife Suzanne along with their two daughters were enjoying the fun hotel amenities. Julie and Erik arrived the previous day, as Erik’s job had a conference. Callie and Martinez were on the same flight, as the two had been exclusively dating for the last few months. Mia and Ava, while actively dating, were not seeing anyone exclusively. They hoped to have some serious fun on this trip.
Chaz opened the closet and hung up his clothes. Quickly he tossed his remaining items into a nearby drawer. “Okay tell me now.”
Bella’s eyes filled with tears as she contemplated what she had to do. Chaz was quick to her side but then backed away. “Bella did you cheat on me?” The words were almost lifeless but considering they were delivered with a shout, she jumped.
“Hell no Chaz, stop trying to guess and let me tell you.”
Chaz wrapped her up in a hug and felt his heart begin to beat again. For a minute, one of his worst fears was coming to fruition.
“I am sorry Bella. We can talk about this later,” he assured. Bella wanted to postpone this but she knew that she couldn’t marry him until the secret was revealed. She didn’t want to trick him.
“No let’s talk now,” Bella said. The loud banging on the door interrupted their moment. Kennedy was staunchly against telling Chaz, especially during their wedding. Horatio was banging on the door. “Let’s go homey, it’s bachelor party time. The ladies wanna see some strange dicks.”
Bella raced into the bathroom to wash her face while Chaz answered the door. The wedding was scheduled for tomorrow at dusk. Horatio, Kennedy, Julie, and Erik made up the small wedding party. Pop’s family, Callie, Martinez, Ava, and Mia would make up the guest list. If things went well then Chaz’s mother and her family would be in attendance.
“Damn dude, you know we own a strip club. We have pretty much seen it all,” Chaz explained opening the door.
“Not what I have planned,” Horatio said. He made his eyebrows jaunt up and down for dramatic effect. “Meet downstairs in one hour both of you.”
Bella stepped out of the bathroom and gave Horatio a quizzical look, afraid of something Horatio arranged.
“Don’t be scared Bella.” Horatio informed walking down the hall. Those words were not comforting. Chaz hugged Bella pissed he had upset her so much. Bella kissed him and he happily deepened the kiss.
“I love you Chaz so much. I can’t wait to marry you.”
“I love you too Bella. In less than twenty-four hours we will be husband and wife.”
“I want you to love me always,” Bella said fighting tears.
“I promise I will no matter what. Bella do you know how much this means to me that you want to become my wife? You are my whole world Bella.”
“Oh Chaz baby, I love you so much.” Bella resumed the passionate kissing and the last week of no sex went right out the window. Chaz pulled the tank top over her head before running his tongue over the swells of her breasts. Bella worked on his neck causing him to moan loudly. In a frantic flurry, Bella unzipped and unbuttoned Chaz’s jeans eager for the prize inside.
“Bella baby. I have missed your touch.”
Bella smiled as she sank to her knees. Chaz’s loud yelps as she sucked and teased her soon to be husband, were causing a mass production of wetness in her panties. Gripping a handful of her hair, he popped out of her mouth. Chaz helped Bella to partially undress before joining her on the bed. He was inside her fast, no more foreplay.
“Oh God Chaz baby!” Bella held onto Chaz as he pumped into her wet body.
“Did you miss me here?” Chaz was holding on by a thread, he had missed making love to her in the last week.
“Yes baby oh that feels so fucking good.” Bella’s body quickly reached orgasm. Chaz enjoyed the convulsing of her body and it pushed him into his own release.
“Bella baby ah fuck,” he yelled. The shaking of his body took a few minutes to subside. Inside the shower they kissed and repeated vows of love. Bella slipped into a gold skirt with an Urban Gear tight t-shirt accented with a wide black belt. The back featured her name “Bella Baby” and she finished the outfit with gold stilettos. Chaz threw on his favorite jeans, an Urban Gear logo t-shirt with “C The Man” on the back. In Vegas he would go without his gun so he left the jacket in the room. The weather was very warm, even at night.
Bella handed Chaz the envelope and bit her lip. Chaz took the envelope and paused before opening it. “What is this Bella?”
“Please just hear me out. I wasn’t snooping Chaz. I just wanted to see what your father looked like,” Bella said and flinched. Chaz’s face turned dark at the mere mention of his father.
“Why would you need to see what that motherfucker looks like? He is no one Bella.” Chaz had a sinking feeling that Bella had erroneously found his brother William and his pathetic mother Emily. He prayed she did not invite them to the wedding and more importantly he prayed she didn’t spend a penny bringing them to Las Vegas.
“I came across a message board about your father. There were women on the message board talking about your father,” she stuttered.
“Who cares, he was an asshole to everyone. Let’s go enjoy our party.” Chaz set the envelope on the desk. Bella urged him back and he took a seat.
“I read a post from a woman who had an affair with your father and became pregnant.”
“I do not care to meet any other offspring of my asshole father, I had enough dealing with my brother. Now let’s go enjoy our party Bella.” Chaz’s voice was steel.
“Emily Caruthers is not your biological mother. Your father had an affair with a sergeant and she was told that you died,” Bella blurted. Chaz got out of the chair and walked to the door.
“You were right, this can wait. I do not care about one of my fathers hoes Bella. Now you are ruining this.”
“Your birth mother is Juanita Hernandez and she almost died giving birth to you.”
“Shut the fuck up Bella. I do not want to hear any more. Why would you snoop into my life? I told you everything you needed to know. I never asked you to delve into my past. Why in the fuck would you do this?” Chaz was yelling and threw the envelope on the floor refusing to look inside.
“Please baby! This is what has been bothering me. You said I could talk to you about anything. I can’t keep anything from you Chaz. I love you so much baby. I promise you this is a good thing. Juanita is a very nice person.” Chaz rushed towards Bella pushing her to the bed. “You have met the whore that you think is my birth mother? What the fuck possessed you to do this? She probably wants money or some notoriety. Bella this was stupid fucking thing to do. I didn’t pry into your shitty past and find out why your father overdosed or how your mother died in the car accident. Why couldn’t you just leave this a fucking lone?”
“I am sorry Chaz I didn’t mean to. I thought…” She said trailing off. Chaz interrupted, “You didn’t think Bella fuck! I do not care to think about who was or who aren’t my parents, fuck all of them. You were wrong to do this right now.”
Chaz stormed out of the room. Bella sat on the bed crying before going to wash her face again. The hotel room phone ringing caused her to jump.
“Hey we are outside waiting on you. C’mon down bride-to-be,” Kennedy said happily.
“Oh is Chaz down there,” she asked nervously.
“Yes he and Horatio are drinking like fish already. Come on Bella.”
The long party bus looked to have a party already going on inside. They boarded the bus to find it filled with male and female strippers. There was a handsome guy and an attractive woman partially clothed with drinks strategically placed in test tubes inside a creative looking apron. As soon as they were all inside the bus the party began. Bella looked to Chaz and begged his forgiveness with her eyes. He ignored her as he allowed the nearest stripper to dance for him. Bella knew she had done the right thing and decided to push the incident to the back of her mind they could deal with it later. The handsome man in front of her wanted her attention so she gave it to him. The man was all over Bella, gyrating and pretending to make out with her. Mia, Ava, Julie, Kennedy, and Callie all squealed with delight as Bella was thoroughly molested. The other male dancers descended upon the ladies in a choreographed move.
Bella looked to see the men enjoying the ladies stripping down to tiny G-strings. Chaz had two ladies swooning over him and they were not just doing this because it was their job. One dancer in particular seemed to never leave his side for the night. Even when she wasn’t dancing Chaz kept a protective hand on the woman. Bella understood he was angry and that he tended to behave like an ass when he was angry. She would never regret telling him about his birth mother but she could play the same game. Bella accepted every drink thrust her way. It didn’t take long for the inebriation to become a part of her countenance.
“This is like the best co-ed bachelor and bachelorette party ever,” Ava screamed. The male dancer dancing for her was revealing every thing there was to know about him. Bella could see he was into Ava and her exotic looks. Bella snatched a test tube from the party hostess and thrust it at Ava, who greedily drank. They made few stops and many people wanted to join the floating strip club on wheels when they did so. Chaz would not let the one stripper dance for anyone else and eventually Bella could see it was getting intimate. The woman placed kisses on his neck as Bella fought her tears. The nearest handsome dancer sensed her distress and pounced on Bella. He gyrated and thrashed all over Bella, effectively distracting her. The bus pulled into a valet area where they were going to do some gambling for a little while and give the dancers on the bus a break. Bobbie the dancer was just getting to second base with Bella when Chaz interrupted their dance.
“That’s enough dude, get off my fiancée’s titties please.”
The dancer lifted his hands as if the police were interrogating him. Bella threw Chaz a dirty look and indicated with her eyes he had some nerve.
“You know what continue dude, this is a bachelorette party too,” Chaz said and then instructed his favorite stripper to get dressed. Chaz escorted the woman off the bus and held her hand while they were in the casino.
“Um dawg, what the fuck are you doing? This is supposed to be some fun that’s all,” Horatio asked, ignoring the stripper’s presence.
“What? We are having a bachelor party. I am just enjoying this fine ass woman’s attention,” Chaz replied and then placed a kiss on her neck. The woman squealed and moved closer to Chaz.
“Chaz, c’mon man you are getting married tomorrow. What the fuck happened?” Horatio had missed something but he was not going to let whatever it was impede on the wedding.
“Yeah about that…” Chaz trailed off. He lifted the stripper’s hand and kissed the back. The woman nearly fell as she swooned. If he wanted to ditch his fiancée for her she was okay with that. The other ladies in the party were engrossed in discussing the bus activities. Bella saw Chaz kiss the strippers shoulders and hand. It took everything she had to keep from crying. Horatio turned and shook his head.
“Bella just saw you do that man, stop this,” Horatio whispered. Chaz shook his head and continued to walk towards the casino floor. Horatio knew Bella was probably crying and he was afraid to look behind him for confirmation. Bella found the nearest restroom and was happy no one realized she had slipped away. The party continued to move animatedly to the casino floor with individuals gawking as they did.
In the taxi to the hotel Bella made up her mind to pack. She would head out on the first flight out of Vegas. If she got enough of a head start she could have her things out of the house by the time Chaz caught up to her. That was if he wanted to come after her, she wasn’t so sure he would and that would be fine. The vibrating of her phone jolted her out of her planning session. She looked at it to see Kennedy calling and hit the decline button. Pushing down the top black button she cut the phone off.
“Here is your room key. Is there anything else that you need?” The front desk woman asked.
“I do not want my information shared or my room paged by anyone. Please make sure there is a note in the computer. I do not want any visitors or my information released,” Bella informed the lady at the counter. She took her new room key and walked to the room she once shared with Chaz.
Bella wrote the words, “I am sorry” on the envelope containing pictures of Chaz’s birth mother and her family. She didn’t bother folding her clothes and shoved them into her suitcase. She attached a note to the garment bag that instructed whoever found the gown to donate it to a local charity.
“What the fuck is your problem?” Chaz said, interrupting her thoughts. He was in the room and she could see the anger radiating off him.
“I am sorry. I wasn’t having a good time. I figured I would let you continue to enjoy your evening,” Bella answered. She hoped he wouldn’t realize she had packed. Her drunken haze had lifted significantly but his drunken countenance was omnipresent.