WILDFIRE
By Aysia Anderson (a.k.a. Nikki)

Chapter Twenty: The Signs of Another

“Alright, so, I’m going to run over to CHI for this meeting with the boys which should only take about half an hour to an hour. As soon as that’s over I’ll come back out here and stay with you for the rest of the shoot, okay, mama?” Justin asked as he pulled his truck in front of the doors of the photo studio to let Camille out. She nodded her head wordlessly and adjusted the strap of her duffel bag over her shoulder before moving to get out of the car. “Hold on.”

“Hmm?” Camille turned to him just as she had opened the door to step out. She wasn’t looking forward to an all-day photo shoot. All she really wanted to do was sleep and if it wasn’t for Justin waking her up and telling her that he was going to take her she still would have been at home curled up into a little ball in the bed.

“You need me to come back sooner than that? I can cut it short if you need me to.”

Camille shook her head, “I’m fine. I’m just tired, J.”

“You sure you don’t want me to have them reschedule it for another day?”

“I’m here now. Stop worrying.” She leaned over to kiss him softly and run her hand along the side of his face. “I’ll see you in an hour when you get back, okay?”

Justin nodded and kissed her once more before allowing her to get out of the car. He sat watching her as she closed the door behind herself and slowly made her way up the walkway to the front door of the building. Her being tired wasn’t concerning him because as hard as she worked to get to the point that she was at and to stay there she was entitled to want to rest. It was just hard for him to be separated from her after going so long without seeing her and only getting a little over a month to spend with her uninterrupted. Average couples never had to deal with the separation anxiety that they undoubtedly had to get over.

As soon as Camille had disappeared inside of the building Justin took a deep breath and shifted gears before pulling out of the parking lot and onto the street. He had a business meeting that he had to get to with the co-owners of CHI. They were discussing possible changes and alterations to make to the restaurant along with the possibility of opening another on the east coast. The whole business was becoming insanely popular.

The moment that Camille was inside of the studio she was greeted by a young woman with burgundy hair and doe-eyes that introduced herself as Kelly. The young woman immediately set about helping her with her bag and leading her into a side room to introduce her to the wardrobe and makeup staff. Quickly getting acquainted the staff began to share their ideas on the theme of the shoot and show off the outfits that they had set aside for their star client to choose from.

“I like this little street racer outfit right here.” Camille yawned sheepishly and then showed them what she was talking about. It was a blue, white and black leather jacket with matching leather pants. The shirt that came along with it was a little bit too psychedelic but otherwise she liked what she saw. Fifteen minutes later she was wearing the form fitting pants with black leather Harley-Davidson boots and the jacket over absolutely nothing. None of the shirts worked in her opinion and sometimes skin was in.

“How many girls wake up in the morning and actually consider powdering their breasts?” She commented as the makeup crew worked around her as if they were working on a car at high speed for NASCAR. One person was painting gloss onto her lips with a tiny lip brush while another was blending a light foundation over her neck and bust. “Don’t they have airbrushing people come in and do this for the magazines after the shoot?”

“Majority of the time but why not get it right the first time?” Kelly laughed with her as the makeup staff made room for the hairstylist who immediately removed Camille’s long hair from her ponytail holder and set about straightening her naturally curly hair with a brush and handheld blow dryer.

“I guess you have a point.” She agreed.

“So you’re just getting off of tour?”

“Yes, finally. I loved being up there and doing it but, you know, with just getting married I was a lot more eager to get home than usual because I wanted to see Justin.”

“Wow, what is it like to be married to him?”

“Well, I don’t have any complaints if that’s what you’re asking me.” Camille shrugged. “Our relationship is pretty much the same as it was before we actually got married but I think that now there is ten times more trust because you’re not worried about that person ever leaving you or when is this going to end? Does that make any kind of sense?”

“Perfect sense.” Kelly nodded her head, standing at Camille’s side in the chair, while the stylist worked quickly and expertly. Camille’s hair was already pretty long when it was curly but when it was straight, as she most often liked to wear it, it was just below her lower back. “Where the hell did you get all of that hair?”

“It grows like crazy. I was thinking about cutting it off but someone we all know and love had a fit when I brought it up so I’m just going to trim it a little bit.”

“Ah, Justin loves it does he?”

“I suppose so. I think that’s what is so great about being with him. I could have a humpback and a crooked leg tomorrow but he’d love me anyway because he’s in love with who I am…I’m done talking about this now because I’m starting to sound like a sap!”

“A woman in love.” The hairstylist chuckled. “I remember being that way about my first husband…”

“Oh, god.” Kelly rolled her eyes with a snicker. “Mary has been married six times.”

“You’ve been married six times?” Camille’s jaw dropped at the mere idea of it.

“That’s right.” The older woman confirmed. “They all had their issues, too. One was an alcoholic, another a gamble, one a deadbeat, and the other three all happened to fall into the broad category of cheaters.”

“Justin doesn’t strike me as the type to cheat.” Kelly sighed heavily and crossed her arms over her chest.

“Wait, what does Justin have to do with any of this?” Camille questioned.

////

“There are a lot of women in this world that get worked up about meaningless garbage.” JC voiced his opinion to the cameras. “They hear that something went wrong with one of them and then they start getting suspicious of the men in their own lives.”

“So Camille took what the hairstylist said about her own life and started applying it to her relationship with her husband?” Gary was trying to form some sort of a connection.

“Actually, Cam did the opposite. She’s got a lot more going on upstairs than I think a lot of ladies do. There are some women out there that will try to put things in your head just to see you squirm and start making up scenarios that aren’t really going on. Camille is the type that if there is no tangible proof of wrongdoing then it’s not happening. Even with what inevitably did happened, even though she knew it was true, she didn’t do anything about it until Justin came to her. She knew the kind of man that she had married. He didn’t know how to lie to her.” JC twirled his thumbs around one another. “That is kind of getting ahead in the story though so let’s just finish off this section. I like talking about my goddaughter…”

////

“Hey,” Justin waved to the crew that was in the studio as he approached noticing that much of nothing was taking place, “the shoot’s not over already is it?”

“We’re not entirely sure.” Kelly answered and introduced herself before filling him in on what he had missed while away at his meeting for CHI. “Camille isn’t doing too hot right now. We got in a lot of great shots of her but she seemed really drained so we decided to just let her take a break.”

“So where is she right now?”

“We set her up in the conference room on the couch. She was a little shaky so we didn’t want her up on her feet, you know? If you don’t mind checking to see if her condition has changed it would be really helpful. If she can’t finish the shoot we can always reschedule.”

Justin was silent as Kelly lead him away to the conference room. He didn’t like the sound of what was going on. His wife was a trooper. She never let anything stop her. Even when she was completely overworked she had finished her tour. What was a photo shoot to a pro like her?

Mutedly, Kelly unlocked the door for him and then made herself scarce. Without any reservations Justin made his way inside and closed the door behind himself. Camille was laying on the couch under a blanket, still in the leather outfit from the shoot, sleeping her life away. When she felt the pressure of someone sitting on the couch in front of her, her eyes fluttered open.

“Hey,” her voice was small as she stared up at him from under her eyelashes. If she could only wake up to see his face everyday of her life she would never have another complaint.

“Hey, yourself.” Justin leaned down to kiss her and rubbed his hand over her side. “Let’s get ready to take you home now.”

“Okay,” she gave in all too easily and didn’t put up a fight which possibly scared him more than seeing her overexert herself.

“Alright, I need you to sit up for me, baby.”

Camille took a deep breath and did as requested. When she felt Justin’s arms go around her she felt like crying. She hated feeling the way that she did. She never got sick and she had never been this tired. All she wanted to do was be able to get up, go out there, and work the cameras like she always did. It was killing her to feel so weak.

“Justin, I hate this so much!” She nuzzled her face near his neck not wanting to cry over the situation.

“I know, baby. Don’t worry about it. You can’t always do everything.”

“Why not?”

Justin laughed lightly causing her to do the same as he lifted her up and into his arms as he stood up. “Wow, I missed you strutting around in an all leather outfit? You think they’ll let us take this home for the night?”

Camille shrugged, “Couldn’t hurt to ask. You aren’t about to carry me out to the car or do something embarrassing like that are you?”

“Nah, I forgot about your pride there for a second, Wonder Woman.”

////

“Cam being tired all the time was obviously just the beginning of what was to come for her. With the high-pace that she and Justin were functioning at it wasn’t anything that was really worrying them, you know? Working the way that they were it was something that they assumed came with the territory and Justin honestly just started falling into the pattern alongside her. If she was sleeping he would clonk out too.” JC joked. “That kid got his rest in at any time he could.”

////

“Damn, look at that ass!” Justin commented as Camille strolled into the kitchen in a pair of black shorts and a green tee that she had taken from one of his dresser drawers earlier that morning. She paused at the refrigerator, flipped him the bird, and then opened the door. “Yeah, I like that. More junk in the trunk, mama!”

“Did I tell you that I hate you today?” she asked as she rummaged through the produce inside of the refrigerator trying to ignore her husband whom was sitting at the table with a bowl full of cereal.

“Baby, I mean it in a good way. You look good with some meat on you.” He assured her. “Now I’ve got something to hold onto when we’re doing it. I can tap that ass and not break you.”

“You can stop at any minute now.”

“I just think you’re filling out quite well there, sugar. Your body’s doing some things to me when you enter the room.”

“It wasn’t doing anything for you before?” She questioned, moving the gallon of milk aside on the top shelf of the refrigerator.

“It was but not quite like this. You’re speaking another language to me now, baby.”

“Justin!”

He shrugged. “Alright, I’m done for now.”

Camille glanced over her shoulder to see that he had returned to consuming the cereal in his bowl and rolled her eyes. If she hadn’t noticed her own weight gain he would be the one to bring it up in passing. He didn’t have anything negative to say about it yet still he was annoying the hell out of her. She couldn’t understand it. She was working ten times harder in the gym yet still had this paunch and this butt growing out of nowhere. She had been thin all of her life and then out of the blue came this.

“Baby, what’s wrong?” Justin looked up from his cereal bowl seeing the look of absolute disgust rising on his wife’s face. “Camille?”

“Oh, shit!” She gripped her stomach with one hand and covered her mouth with the other before scampering out of the kitchen and into the restroom. Justin sat silently for a few moments unsure of if he should follow or not. It wasn’t until he heard the sound of her heaving up whatever was in her stomach that he found himself moving from the table and making his way out of the room after her.

“Oh, wow, you’re good. You got all toilet right there and nothing on the tee shirt.” He cracked, stepping into the small bathroom with her and squatting down at her side.

“God, what is wrong with me?” she wondered out loud as Justin smoothed his hand over her back soothingly.

“Maybe you’re pregnant.”

“I’m not pregnant, Justin.”

“How do you know that?”

“Because I do.” Camille stated firmly.

“How are you so sure? When was the last time you’ve had your period?”

“I’m not having this discussion with you, okay? I’m not pregnant and my bodily functions are none of your concern.”

“The hell they’re not.” Justin scoffed at her words. “I married you and your body is mine so get over it!”

Camille looked up at her husband and prodded her hair away from her face. “Just as long as you know that that goes both ways, buddy.”

“I got you. Have you had a visit from the crimson tide lately?”

“What do you think, smart ass?”

“I think we’ve been going at it like jack rabbits and you haven’t pulled the period card out on me once since we’ve been hitched.”

“So what is your point exactly?”

“I’m not trying to sound perverted here, sweetheart. All I’m trying to say is that I’ve been putting my time in on the lower half of your anatomy and you haven’t dropped any eggs in a long time.”

“Maybe it’s because I’ve been sick lately.” She excused. “I’m not pregnant.”

“You want me to stop at the store and get you a stick to pee on just be sure?” He offered.

“I’m not peeing on any stick!”

“You can either pee on the stick here or you can do it in the doctor’s office. What’s it going to be?”

“I’ll get back to you on that.” Camille stood up shakily, flushed the toilet, and started on her way out of the room, into the hallway, and up the stairs to their bedroom. Justin rolled his eyes at her stubbornness and followed suit.

“Chamomile!”

“No!” she shouted back down at him as she trumped into the bedroom and he tackled the stairs.

As he hit the doorway she was already in the master bathroom brushing her teeth trying to get the sickening taste of vomit off of her tongue. Once she concluded that her job had been successful she trailed back into the room where her husband sat on the end of the bed waiting for her. Making a face at him she crawled onto the middle of the bed and stared up into his eyes when he turned to move and lay over her.

“If you’re pregnant it would explain a lot of shit, Chamomile.”

“Like what?”

“Like why you’ve been so cranky recently…”

“I’m not cranky!” Her voice rose at the accusation.

“You are.” Justin countered and gave her a stern look. “You’re having all of these weird fucking mood swings, throwing up, sleeping all day every day, and you’re definitely picking up there.” Camille’s bottom lip poked out slightly at the mentioning of her weight gain. “You may not like it but I think it’s sexy as hell and I’m not just saying that. My only thought on it is that it has to be coming from somewhere and I think its because I may have gotten you knocked up.”

“I love the way you say that, Justin, that sounds wonderful. Is that how you’re going to tell my father too? ‘Mr. Henderson, I knocked up your daughter’.”

“Hell, no! I’m not telling him shit! He’s your daddy!”

“Hey, you married into this by choice.”

“Absolutely no regrets…could you imagine if you really are pregnant though? We’d have this little life that we had created together.” Justin shifted to the side slightly so that he could lift her shirt up under her armpits exposing her belly. His lips curved into a smile as the palm of his hand rest over her navel. “A combination of both you and me together.”

“You want me to be pregnant so badly don’t you?” Camille looked down at him seeing the happiness that he was honing just by thinking of the what ifs.

“You know I’ve always wanted to be a father.”

“I know.” She smiled lightly at him as he turned to her with glittering eyes. “Why don’t you run to the store for me and get me that stick?”

“You think you’re pregnant?”

“I don’t want to tell you that I am if I’m not so let’s just be sure, okay?”

“Ten minutes!” Justin shifted closer up the bed and kissed her quickly before scrambling around the bedroom collecting his sneakers and keys and rushing out of the door.

Camille lay back into bed and took a deep breath. She already knew the answer on if she was pregnant or not. She didn’t need some man-made device to tell her that. Her body had been telling her the truth of the situation not too long after she had first given herself to him. She was as pregnant as pregnant could be.

/*/*/

“I want you to know that I was getting really worried about you, Camille.” Beyonce stated as she walked with her friend toward the valets that were bringing both of their cars around to them. “I know that all of this has really effected you and I’m not saying that it shouldn’t but we’re your friends. We’re here for you.”

Camille nodded her head in agreement. “I didn’t mean for you all to think that I was pushing you away. I just couldn’t handle everything and you know that for me it is really hard to take a backseat and not be in control.”

“Are you going to take him back? Are you going to let him come back home?”

“He already is back home.”

“Just like that? Just like that you’re going to forgive everything that he did to you behind your back?”

“B, I honestly don’t know what I’m going to do right now. I told him by the end of this week I would have everything figured out.” Camille explained to her worried friend. “I know that it’s stupid and that I should leave him for what he did but he is so much a part of me that I can’t see myself living without him.”

Beyonce shook her head and crossed her arms over her chest as the valet drove her car around and in front of them. “I thought you were stronger than this, Cam.”

“Yeah, well, so did I.”

“I’m not saying that you’re doing the wrong thing. I’m just saying that I don’t want to see you hurt again.” Beyonce explained her feelings. “No one can ever hurt you the way that he can…”

/*/*/

Camille knelt behind Justin while he sat anxiously on the edge of the bed holding the pregnancy testing stick between his fingers. He hadn’t said anything at all since they had both emerged from the bathroom after she had done what she had had to do. Bathroom intrusions between the pair had become a normalcy since living together.

Chewing her bottom lip, she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and nuzzled her nose into his neck as they waited for the results. Five minutes felt like an eternity. Those five minutes of waiting could change their lives forever.

Justin turned his wrist to check how much time had passed and then groaned inwardly. Trying to take his mind off of waiting he reached up to rub his hand over Camille’s forearms that were locked around him. He felt her kiss his neck softly and could feel a bit of the pressure in the room reducing. A moment later he checked his watch again to reveal that five minutes had passed.

“Here we go,” he announced and brought the pregnancy testing stick up to their eye level. He could barely contain his excitement. “Baby…”

Camille nodded confirming that she was seeing the same thing. “We’re pregnant.”

Justin shook his head slowly staring at her longingly, “You want to go for two?”

A Product of Love