She couldn't sleep. She tossed and turned and tried but the sleep wouldn't come. She sat up in the king sized bed and sighed, looking over at her sleeping daughter. She scratched her head and looked at the images on the TV screen. Should she let Justin see their Dionne? Should she trust him enough to let him into Dionne’s life? Could she trust him enough to let him back into hers? The questions kept running through her mind as she stood out of the bed and started pacing the room. He seemed sincere, he didn't look high, he wasn't scruffy anymore. His hair was combed, his clothes were washed and clean. He didn't look like that crack addict anymore.
But just because he had cleaned up his appearance, didn't mean he had changed at all. You can't just stop using coke and be free of it for the rest of your life. He'd revert back to his old self once he got that urge to snort, "I don't know." She whispered to herself.
She grabbed the baby monitors and turned them on and then sat one back down on the night stand. With the other still in hand, she made her way out of the room and then down into the kitchen where she saw Trace chewing on a piece of pie.
"We need to stop these late night meetings." Chione said smiling.
"You need to quit stalking me and then the meetings would stop." She laughed and took a seat next to him, "What are you still doing up girl?"
"My mind is racing and it won't let me fall asleep."
"No doubt it's about this Justin thing."
"Give the man a prize, he's correct." She said.
He chuckled, "I've been thinking about that too."
"I mean, are we being selfish by not wanting to see him or are we making the right decision for our lives?"
"He looked pretty damn sincere to me but I just can't shake that bad feeling about him you know? And it's not like he's clean, who knows, he could be snorting right now for all we know."
"Yeah, but on the other hand, I think those pictures his mom showed him really hit home for him. Why else would he come here wanting to see Dionne?"
"True. But he threw us in jail." Trace said, taking another bite.
"I think he wants to apologize for that."
"This isn't going to get us anywhere. We are just gonna keep coming up with reasons to either see him or not see him." He laughed.
"I know but this is hard man. I don't know what i'm getting myself and my daughter into with Justin."
"Me neither, but my actions tonight have got me all fucked up about it."
"What do you mean Trace?"
"Like when I said I was gonna call the cops and didn't. I couldn't dial the number, I kept thinking to myself, you are about to call the cops on your best friend. I kept referring to him as my best friend even though I hate his guts."
Chione nodded, "I know what you mean. I still catch myself calling him my boyfriend sometimes when I'm talking to people."
"He looked better though, you should have seen him last week. That nasty ass beard was ruling his face and he was so... nasty looking. The old Justin was here tonight."
She smiled again, "That's what I thought too."
It grew silent between the two of them for a while, "Do you know what Justin was talking about when he said, 'don't think I haven't forgotten what you did to her'?" Chione asked.
"I haven't a clue what that was about. He's never said anything to me about anything involving you and JC."
"I remember when Justin and JC kinda fell off because they were both working really hard and they really weren't talking that much but, I don't know what the hell he was talking about. I mean, was he even talking about me when he said 'her'?"
"I'm assuming so since you were the only 'her' in the room besides his momma." He chuckled.
"Maybe JC was right, maybe the drugs have gotten to his head and he's delusional or something."
"That could very well be it girl. What are we gonna do though? Are we going to see him?"
"What do you want to do?"
"I really don't want to see him but, I deserve an apology."
She nodded her head, "So we should see him?"
"No, I'm saying I should see him, you have to make your own decision."
She sighed, "When did life get so hard?"
"Life has always been hard, this is just your first time having to deal with a difficult situation."
She looked over at him, "Who are you and what have you done with Trace?"
"What the fuck are you talking about?" He laughed.
"Ahh, there you are. You had been replaced with someone.... smart for a second."
The two laughed together and Trace layed his hand on hers, "Are we gonna see him?"
She nodded, "Yeah, we're gonna see him."
"With Dionne?"
"Yeah, with Dionne."
Trace leaned back in his chair and rubbed his stomach, "You can always solve a hard problem over some good food."
"You are such a dork."
"I know it. When do you wanna set up this meeting with that jerk off?" He said winking at her.
"Be nice. Umm, I can try and call him a little later, I guess around 8 or 9am? And then set something up for the afternoon."
"Sounds good to me. Okay darling, I'm gonna get some beauty sleep."
He stood up and placed his plate in the sink and then leaned over and kissed the top of her head, "Okay, good night Trace."
"Good night girly."
A few minutes, she too returned to her room when she sat back in the bed. She couldn't help but smile at the thought of Brae Dionne lyn finally being held by his father. Her anxiety got the best of her and she grabbed the phone and dialed his number. It rang three times before his groggy voice filled her ears, "Ello?"
"Justin?" She said softly.
"Yeah, who's this? Shana? I told you, not tonight okay? I've had a long day."
"Umm, no, it's Chione."
The line got quiet as her eyes darted around the room, "Are you still there?" She asked.
"Oh, yeah, sorry, i'm just... surprised that you're calling me."
"Oh yeah, I'm sorry it's so late, I can call you back later-"
"No, no, it's okay. What's on your mind?" He asked.
"Trace and I talked and we've decided that we'd like to see you later this afternoon, if thats okay with you?"
He was quiet for a minute, "You really want to see me?"
"Yeah, we need to talk and... you need to see your kid."
He let out a breath and she could almost hear the smile on his face, "That's perfectly fine with me. How about you guys come over here around 2pm? I'll go out and get some food and stuff and we can have lunch."
She nodded and smiled, "Okay, that sounds good."
"Okay then. Thank you so much Chione. Thank you."
"You're welcome; you deserve to see your daughter Justin. I'm just glad you finally want to."
"Thank you. I'll see you tomorrow okay?"
"Okay, buh-bye."
"Bye Chione."
She hung up the phone and laid back into the bed. She rolled over on her side and put her hand on Dionne’s little stomach, "We're going to see daddy baby. He finally wants to meet you."
The tiny girl shifted a little but didn't wake and Chione scooted closer to her. She closed her eyes and within minutes, she had finally drifted off to sleep.
Author's Chapter Notes:
Another update for you! Thank you for all of the kind words on the last update, I really appreciate them and I love you guys for continuing to read my stuff!
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