Stories By Mi'Chelle

“I don’t tink you should tell Baron ‘bout Trent ‘til after yur married. Why put yet another roadblock in yur way?” Emile said, pushing aside her latest weaving project to make room for her daughter on the full-sized bed. “Are you tryna sabotage yur own happiness, Ree-Ree? Yet another chance at instant financial stability?” “No, Mama, I’m not trying to sabotage my happiness at all,” Aurelia replied, settling down beside her mother on the peach-colored comforter. “I just feel like I’m defrauding Baron by continuing to withhold the truth about Trent . Especially after he came all this way to ask me to marry him. I keep thinking about how if I was in his shoes, I’d want to know if my future spouse had a secret child somewhere before we got married. That’s why I have to tell Baron the truth.” She said nothing about telling Trent the truth since they still both agreed that he should be told when he was old enough to handle it. “I understand,” Emile said, even though she still wish...

At the age of sixteen, Aurelia lost her father due to complications stemming from his improperly managed diabetes. Overwhelmed with grief, she found comfort in the arms of Marshall Pierre Jean-Baptiste, the nineteen-year-old nephew of her mother’s then wealthy St. John employer. Marshall had been secretly in love with Aurelia for years. He never approached her because of their age differences, social class differences, and his general lack of self-esteem due to his weight issues. Had it not been for Aurelia making the first move by kissing him after he finished tutoring her in French one day, Marshall might have secretly pined for her for the rest of his life. He definitely wouldn’t have taken that kiss and ran with it all the way to his bedroom. When Aurelia later told Marshall that she was pregnant, he was overjoyed. He immediately saw the pregnancy as a sign that they were meant to be together forever. A marriage proposal soon followed. Since Marshall had lost both o...

On Thursday night, Aurelia played with Trent for a while, read him a bedtime story, and then put him to bed. When she turned out the light and walked out of his blue painted room, it suddenly dawned on her that this was actually her last night living and sleeping at her family home. As a married woman, she would be expected to live and sleep where her husband was. Although Aurelia wanted to be where Baron was, a part of her was going to miss staying with her family. She was particularly going to miss putting Trent to bed at night. She had hoped to do more of that after she graduated and returned home to work in the Virgin Islands . Now Baron was going to want her to stay in California with him after graduation. That’s where his very expensive home and high-paying job were. That’s where a very lucrative future career was waiting for Aurelia. All she had to do was accept it. See, right before Aurelia left for the V.I., Liam outright stated that if she kept doing well at the c...

“Hello, Jewell,” Aurelia said in a polite tone. “Who be yur gorgeous friend dere?” Jewell inquired, posing provocatively by her own car as Baron’s eyes took in her voluptuous bronze frame from top to bottom in the yellow-feathered outfit. Disappointment soon rolled across her face when he simply nodded in greeting and remained unaffected by what he’d seen. “This is Dr. Baron Weaver, my fiancé ,” Aurelia said, putting a possessive arm about his waist. Jewell’s eyes expanded in their sockets. “Y…yur gettin’ married?” “Yes,” Aurelia replied. “Wh…when?” Jewell sputtered out. “Surely I’m invited ta de wedding?” “Soon and it’s a family only affair. Now have fun at the festival tonight, girl,” Aurelia concluded super-sweetly before turning the whole of her attention back to a quiet Baron. “Now what were we talking about, baby?” Baron chuckled. “Smooth. Real smooth,” he said as the jealous woman in yellow got in her car and sped away. Aurelia laughed. “Call me Miss Parkay,” ...

Once the Bunting house was back in order, Aurelia put Trent to bed. She read to him while he performed his nightly hair routine under Baron’s watchful eye. Emile retired to her room and proceeded to do some basket weaving from the large box of supplies Baron had blessed her with earlier today. Another box of supplies had been taken to her sister Gladys, who was also a master weaver. That trip gave Baron yet another chance to ingratiate himself with Aurelia’s other relatives. Gladys and her husband Samuel (who was also the brother of Aurelia’s father) welcomed Baron back into their home with open arms. All six of their children did, too. But then again, who wouldn’t welcome someone bearing gifts? And there had been something for everyone in that large box. As Aurelia walked Baron out to his car in farewell later that night, she noticed how reluctant he looked to leave. She wasn’t particularly ready for him to go either. “Do you want to check out some nighttime festival events...

Back in the kitchen, Aurelia abruptly broke the heated kiss. “We got to stop before things go too far,” she panted out in a whisper as she moved back towards the double sink. “Things need to go too far, if you ask me. We haven’t been together-together in almost two weeks,” Baron whispered back, equally breathless. “Come back to the hotel with me tonight,” he suggested as he followed her to the sink, stood behind her, and pressed his body closer in all the right places. Aurelia moaned at that provocative contact. “As much as I want to, I can’t,” she said, wisely moving to the side before turning around to face him. “Not only did I promise to let my mother teach me how to cook Trent’s newest favorite breakfast in the morning, I kinda want to wait until we’re married before engaging in anymore sexual activity. You know, allow our passion to build up just a little bit more so that our honeymoon will be explosive.” Baron groaned out his disappointment. He sighed. “All right, even t...

Aurelia waited until the following Wednesday to tell Baron that he’d passed the brotherhood test. She procrastinated because she wanted to be extra sure that Trent really did like her future husband. After five days of watching them grow even closer, she realized that she had nothing to worry about. The two males were well on their way to being the best of friends. As expected, Baron was overjoyed to hear that he’d passed the brotherhood test. That joyous smile literally wouldn’t leave his face. He smiled all during the dinner that Emile prepared for them from the groceries he brought to the house today. He was still smiling now as he helped Aurelia with the dinner dishes tonight. They were hand washing the dishes since Aurelia’s family didn’t own a dishwasher. Matter of fact, the Bunting kitchen only contained the most necessary appliances like a refrigerator, an electric stove, and a washing machine. All were outdated models. Clean, but ancient nevertheless. Baron made a m...

You like her, don’t you?” Trent asked Baron when they were alone. “Yes, very much so. In fact, I love your sister,” Baron shared. “Are you okay with that?” Trent nodded. “Yeah. I want her happy.” “Me, too.” Baron smiled, liking the young lad a little bit more with each passing second. “I wanna be happy, too. Maybe you can talk meh mutha and sista into letting me go regular school,” Trent shared. “You don’t like being homeschooled?” “No, ‘cause eh keeps me from kids my own age.” “I’ll see what I can do,” Baron promised. “Although I think homeschooling is one of the best ways a kid can learn in his early years, I do understand your need to be around your peers.” “Is peers ah fancy word for gals?” Trent asked. “’Cause dat’s who I really wanna be ‘round. Gals like me waves.” He smiled, brushing his hair again. “I like dat dey like me waves.” Baron grinned, now fully aware of the real reason Trent wanted out of homeschooling. “I tell you what. In case I’m unable t...