I woke up on Sunday morning stressed out already, and walked into the kitchen to Loyalty sitting on the kitchen table with Jonny on a chair in front of her. Her elbows are on her knees as she holds her forehead, and her bare feet rest on his thighs. Jonny is holding a spoon full of oatmeal mixed with what I think is diced peaches up to her mouth. “What’s wrong with her?” I asked him. “Onset of a panic attack”, he says without taking his eyes off her and pushes the spoon closer to her mouth. She shakes her head no, like a stubborn child until he barks out, “Amory”! She opens her mouth and he shovels it in, but clearly, she just holds it there in her mouth. “Swallow it, Amory”. “That would be sexy if it wasn’t oatmeal”, says Gabe from the doorway of the kitchen, making Loyalty laugh. “Haha, G”, she says. But as she turns her opened mouth back to look at Jonny, he’s ready and spoons more oatmeal into her mouth. Gabe now laughs at the annoyed look on her fa
There is a rather awkward situation going on in my apartment when I wake up. Jonny is at the kitchen table with my daughter, while Spencer and Gabe snore loudly from the couch. “Why are they on the couch?” I ask quietly as I tiptoe by them. “Because Mike and Meme are in Gabby’s room, while Brenda and Danny are in Spin’s”, he tells me. I thought over his words for a moment, “so where did Gabby sleep last night?” I asked. “With me”, he says nonchalantly. “Jonny, you should have just brought her to my bed”, I told him. He shrugs, “then I would have climbed in too and I doubt that would have gone over well with your house guests”! “It’s not like it would have been the first time”, I say without thinking the thought through, even though it’s true. Stephany has climbed into my bed when I was asleep in it with Jonny, and we’ve all slept in his room together at Nina’s. “And yet the first time you were ever okay with her seeing us kiss was at the fair”
I wake up to the most beautiful sound, my wife’s laughter. “What’s so funny?” I ask her as I jump up from the couch I’m asleep on. “Jonny is threatening to force feed me oatmeal again”, she says, making me inwardly groan. But then the side of my stomach aches and I wince. “You okay, Spence”? “Yeah! Stomach ache, that’s all”, I tell her and head off to the bathroom to get ready but my stomach rips out through my esophagus and is released into the toilet out the wrong end. I rinse my mouth and face in the sink before walking back out. “You sure you’re okay, Spin?” Loyalty asks, sounding genuinely concerned. I shrugged it off and headed into my guest bedroom to wake Bren and Dan so we could head back upstate for work. When I came back out, everyone was sitting around the table with Stephany sitting between Jonny and Loyalty. I interrupted everyone to kiss them goodbye and headed out ahead of everyone. As I continue to ride my bike, the pain in my side only
We all spend the next two weeks upstate as Spin recovers from his surgery. I’m actually thankful that he insisted on putting the pool in this year, since Meme and Brenda spend almost every waking moment in it with Stephany. Spin acts like a pouty child when told he cannot work for the next two weeks, but it gives us the time we need to go over his contract and find a decent insurance plan to cover everyone on the Hart’s enterprise payroll. The construction on the colonial was done in ten days, while Jonny helped me paint the rooms of the lake house to reflect their future occupants. Then we headed over to the lake house to repeat the process and set up everyone’s furniture. Jonny literally spends every waking moment by my side, and I honestly have never felt more loved by a person… Even more than at the highest point of my and Spin’s relationship! We talk about everything and anything as we paint and set up everyone’s rooms! Courtney and Melanie decide that they’ll ea
I’m released from the hospital after the second day, but my physical limitations are felt as I lean on Loyalty like a crutch to simply walk from the car to the couch. Of course, she takes it in stride as she becomes my caretaker. However, she still sleeps upstairs, and I see on the cameras that Jonny climbs into her bed in the middle of the night almost every night. He always just cuddles around her, but still! On most days we all just hang out back during the day, with Meme and Brenda tending to Stephany in the pool so Loyalty can stay focused on the business documents she’s working on while tending to me at the same time. She sits across from me at the table with Jonny next to her as she goes through every single document, one by one, and enters the last ten years of financial data into a program on the new laptop that Gabe ordered for her in pink. I didn’t even know Apple made pink laptops until hers showed up! I have no idea how she stays so focused as she enters
Waking up in Jonny’s bed was interesting… I heard an unfamiliar female’s voice calling him, and as the bedroom door opened the covers were being pulled up over my head. “Lo siento mucho, no pensé que estabas aquí cuando no respondiste. Volveré más tarde”, (I’m so sorry, I didn’t think you were here when you didn’t answer. I’ll come back later) she says. “Está bien, Tia, solo comienza en una habitación diferente”, (It’s fine Tia, just started in a different room), Jonny says so quickly I couldn't even translate what he said, raspy with sleep evident in his tone as he sits up letting the sheet slip from my head. The girl startles when she sees me, and looks from me to the picture on Jonny’s dresser and back at me again. “Amory, this is my housekeeper Tia! Tia, mi novia, Amory” (Tia, my girlfriend Amory). “I thought Amory was your boss?”, she questions casually. “I’m that too”, I answered. “Why? What was it he said… Novia, what’s novia?” (girlfriend) I asked n
I woke early, to a deathly quiet apartment lacking in the now familiar smell of fresh brewing coffee. It hits me like a ton of bricks that both Jonny and Loyalty are not here, because they’re at his apartment, alone together. Even though it’s four blocks away, it might as well be miles away! I brew my own coffee, which summons Meme from Loyalty’s room where she slept last night. “Morning”, she chimes to me happily. I can’t blame her for her giddiness, she’s heading back upstate today and will spend her weekend with Mikey, who she hasn’t seen all week! “Morning Mems, do me a favor? Text me when Loyalty gets in”, I asked her as she started fixing herself a cup of coffee. She nods her head, “yeah! Sure thing Spin! I’m sure they’ll be here soon. You know Jonny can’t sleep once the sun is up, and we’re supposed to stop by his mother’s before we head back upstate. That woman is obsessed with Lala apparently, so I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s already texting and calli
It’s early in the morning as I sit up from the couch where Spin is wrapped around me, yet all I want is to be in the arms of Jonny. I climbed off the couch quietly and headed up to Jonny’s room to grab his duffle bag. After dumping the contents of it out onto the bed, I load in a change of his clothes before I get a pair of my own. I toss it into the trunk of Jonny’s car before I wake him. Not wanting to wake anyone else asleep in the living room, I pecked Jonny’s lips but he just sighed. I then kiss his neck and lick my way back up to his mouth, where he pecks me back as he moans, then opens his eyes. I covered my mouth, trying not to giggle loudly at his reaction. Jonny pulls me down onto his lap, and I put my finger to my lips letting him know to stay silent. He looks around after gauging my reaction and notices everyone is still asleep around us! I climbed off of him and pulled his hand. He closed the recliner so he could also get up off the chair and follow me. I
Loyalty sobs herself to sleep in Bo and Max’s hold and her unconscious body is then carried by Bo out of the warehouse, where she’s loaded into an ambulance and taken to the hospital to be examined. After she’s released, she’s taken to Nina’s house where she barricades herself in Jonny’s bedroom with Stephany for days! The day before Jonny’s funeral, she goes with Bo, Max, Rich, all three of his brothers, and his sister to get a tattoo. I don’t understand what possessed her to get such a thing, but she’s in mourning right now and I’m still feeling shitty that the one fucking guy I loved to hate was the one who saved my life. But still… The tattoo bothers me! Right in the center of Loyalty’s chest is a life-like replica of the back of Jonny’s left hand. In the middle, it reads Jonny Anthony Knight. It also lists his birthday as Sunrise September thirteenth, and the day he died as Sunset October fourteenth. That wouldn’t be so bad, but on the ring finger of the handprint, it says ‘Amor
Loyalty and Stephany spend one night with Jonny at his mother’s house before returning to her Brooklyn apartment. She calls me and pleads with me for space, and we agree that she’ll return to the lake house with our daughter on Saturday. Each day becomes more and more miserable without them, and by Friday I’m losing my fucking mind!Pardon my shock when Jonny calls me and I send it to voicemail the first three times before actually answering, “what”?“Amory is missing”, he practically whispers.“What the fuck did you just say?” I growled out.“Amory is missing”, he screamed into the phone. “I need you to get down here. The police want to have a word with you”!“Where’s my fucking daughter, Jonny?” I barked out frantically.He sighs, “she’s fine! She’s upstairs in the apartment. How long until you get here, Spin”?“An hour”, I told him before hanging up.I dial Gabe and he bolts down the stairs like a flash of lightning and we’re out the door in s
I wake up in the bed of my Brooklyn apartment wrapped in Jonny’s arms, and if we weren’t both completely naked I’d almost be inclined to believe that the last few months of my life were just some really bad dream. I called Spin last night and pleaded with him for space, and after promising to return to the lake house by Saturday, he reluctantly agreed. I feel sick, although I don’t admit this to Jonny. Instead, I emphasize that my feet hurt, my back hurts, my boobs hurt, my butt even hurts, and I’m just tired beyond exhaustion. He does what he can to comfort me, but I know the stress of my situation is starting to become daunting to all of us involved. I’m bored to death with Jonny’s constant babying of me and when I suggest going down to the club for our last night here in Brooklyn, he agrees yet straight up tries to dress me! Eventually, I got my way. However, I do swap the shoe suggestion for the shorter wedged heels he chose from the stilettos I originally picked.
I attend the date with Spin, only to end up in bed with him in some random room in the colonial. After knowing his history with women not sleeping in his bed, it leaves me feeling queasy that I even let it happen. It’s been three years, but I’ve come to terms with the fact that Spin just doesn’t do it for me anymore! I took Jonny back down to the lakeside hideout and confessed everything! At first, he was furious. I get it, we’ve been like fucking like rabbits with each other, so why would I even have allowed that to happen? I guess I was caught up in a moment and the alcohol sure didn’t help! “Mi Amor”, (my love) Jonny says as I lean against the hood of his car. “What is it”? I sighed before babbling out, “I did something last night that I shouldn’t have. I’m now sick to my stomach over it and I have to be truthful with you about it”. “Amory, what is it?”, he says calmly as he folds his arms over his chest. I can tell he already suspects what I’m going to s
I wake up still pissed off about Jonny’s contract and how fluidly both he and Loyalty move with each other. I try not to stress it and switch my focus to doing damage control. I have tonight all planned out, and like with the night of the Broadway show, I’m putting Loyalty’s preferences first! I leave for work without so much as a peep from anyone, even Jonny is surprisingly still upstairs in Loyalty’s private wing of the lake house. All these extra doors are starting to become a nuisance… Was it necessary to construct a hallway closure barricade in both houses?! She’s so peculiar about certain shit to the point it irks me! When I arrive back at the lake house, I head to the shower before I seek Loyalty out. She’s in the hammock with Stephany lying over her. Even though our daughter is only almost three, she covers most of Loyalty’s body. Another testament to just how small she is compared to everyone else around her, even her own child! Courtney joins Loyalty in
Loyalty, Jonny, and I traveled back to Brooklyn for one last week. They spend the week packing up their stuff to be taken to the lake house, while my anger at how close they’ve grown in the last month just seethes and festers within me. I haven’t been able to get more than a full-on-the-mouth kiss out of Loyalty and it aggravates me since she randomly breaks apart from Jonny’s hold whenever I enter a room they’re in together. By the time we make it to the courthouse for the DNA hearing, steam is coming out of my ears! It doesn’t help that Stephany throws a tantrum in the parking lot that results in Jonny carrying her like a China doll perched on his arm. I tried, Rich tried, even Loyalty tried, but Stephany refused to stop crying until Jonny took her into his arms. When the case is called before the judge, Loyalty is escorted to the plaintiff's desk with Rich and Jonny, who still has Stephany clinging to his neck. I stood alone at the defendant’s desk. I turned back a
For over a week and during our last weekend trip upstate, tensions between Jonny and Spin continued to escalate. I’ve stepped in between them more times than I care to admit. In the middle of the first week of October when we appeared in court, everyone had just about reached their breaking point! Despite Spin petitioning the court for this appearance, I initiated the divorce, and, therefore, I stand at the plaintiff's desk while Spin is still the defendant in this case. Even with Rich being with me at the podium, Stephany clings to Jonny and refuses to let him go. So we stand before the judge with Jonny between us, momentarily confusing the judge as she steps out to approach her bench. “Ms. Williams, nice to finally meet you! Please explain to me what on Earth is going on here and why this divorce case now has a paternity request attached to it”, she states coldly. I take a deep breath and say, “yes, your honor. So a little over three years ago, when I made the
I stepped out of the tent first thing in the morning to find Loyalty still lying on Jonny’s chest in the hammock. He’s holding his phone up over her head and they’re both clearly laughing. I don’t know what to make of their odd behavior anymore, so when I walk by I push the hammock and make Loyalty squeal at the sudden movement! The next morning at breakfast, Loyalty is explaining that it’s not necessary for them to take their stuff back to Brooklyn since next weekend is the last weekend before the new contracts go into effect and they’ll be at the lake house more than in Brooklyn. Courtney and Jonny agree, so they all load their dirty laundry into the washing machine together. I’m surprised they’re all in such agreement about this, but then again, Loyalty has baskets on a rack above her washer and dryer in Brooklyn that are labeled with everyone’s names on them, so I’m sure it’s not the first time they’ve all done this. At the lake house, there is shelving on the opposite
I stretch out on the warm firm surface I’m lying on top of as the familiar smell overwhelms my senses and I rub my face into it. It starts to chuckle when I feel something vibrate from under me. Jonny slides his hand down between us to retrieve his cell phone from his pocket. “Amory, where’s your phone?” Jonny asks with his voice still raspy from sleep. I shrugged, “in my room probably. Why”? “Charlene has been tryna reach you”, he says. I sighed, “she wants approval to do a duet theme night for karaoke this week”. “Like couples karaoke?” I ask him confused, and he nods. “I guess that’s a cool idea”! “Wanna do a song with me?”, he asks with a smile on his face. It’s not like we haven’t before! “As long as it’s not Love Lies”, I said through my giggles and lay my head back down on his chest. Jonny laughs hard and says, “Okay! How about-“. “How about you surprise me, but just not Love Lies”, I tell him, making him laugh harder. “Okay! No Lo