Free The Eleventh Commandment by Lutishia Lovely Page A

Stacy could barely see it for crying.
    â€œTony!”
    â€œI know it may feel like I’m moving too quickly. But I’ve waited my whole life for you. I know we can work. Because even now, before we’re lovers, you’re my best friend. Marry me, baby. And make me the happiest man on the planet.”
    â€œYes,” Stacy whispered, and then again, louder, “Yes! I’ll marry you!”
    â€œYou’ll be my wifey, baby?” he asked as he slipped the ring on her finger.
    â€œYes, baby, I’ll be your wifey.”

    Stacy wiped her eyes as she came back to the present moment, her heart beating faster with the blessed memories of that event. In that moment, she recommitted to Tony, and to God. I’m right here, baby. You and me together, we can do this. We’ll get through this....
    â€œWhy are you crying?” Tony leaned against the living room’s entryway, an unreadable expression on his face.
    Stacy hadn’t heard him descending the stairs. “Babe!” She hurriedly wiped the tears from her eyes. “I didn’t hear you come down.”
    Tony walked into the room, sat in a chair opposite the couch where Stacy reclined. “What’s the matter?”
    Stacy looked over at the only man she’d ever loved, besides her baby’s father, Darius Crenshaw. She hoped that the love she felt in her heart showed in her eyes. “Would you believe I’ve just taken a nostalgic walk down memory lane? I was remembering the night you proposed. It is singularly the most romantic thing anyone has ever done for me.” Her voice dropped to a whisper. “What can I say? Now, as then, it brought me to tears.”
    Tony rose from the chair and joined her on the couch. He took the woman he’d loved enough to give her his last name in his arms. “That was a good day.”
    â€œThe best.”
    â€œYou know I love you, right?”
    She shifted her body to face him, and wrapped her much smaller hands around his large ones. “I love you too, Tony. And I’m so proud of you.”
    Tony’s demeanor immediately changed.
    Oops. Wrong words. Who knew?
    Tony removed his hands and jumped up from the couch. “What do you have to be proud of me about? Huh? I’m an out of work ball player trying to come back from what is looking more and more like a career-ending injury. I’m being courted by half-ass networks for half-ass sportscaster jobs. We’re getting ready to see our net worth decrease exponentially, which means my child support payments will have to go down, which means their mothers will start tripping even more than they do now!” He came and stood over Stacy, causing her heart to leap into her throat. “What part of that equation do you find worth being proud about, huh? Huh?”
    Stacy took a deep breath before she looked into her husband’s somewhat scary face. She didn’t like how he was standing over her, didn’t like the fear that bubbled from her core to her stomach and from her stomach to her head, bringing on the hints of a migraine. She’d shared with Hope how some retired athletes couldn’t handle the transition, becoming different men than the ones the women had married. Are you worried that Tony will change like that? That’s what Hope had asked, and right now ... ? Stacy simply did not know what Tony was capable of doing.
    â€œI remember a sermon where Pastor Montgomery quoted that it wasn’t what happened to us, but how we handle it,” she finally answered, forcing her voice to remain calm and steady. “In the face of some pretty challenging circumstances, you are still a strong, good man. That is why I’m proud of you.”
    Tony continued to hover over her with a silent intensity. Stacy eyed him steadily before looking beyond him, noticing a pair of sparrows frolicking in her wilting rosebushes. She abstractly remembered that the gardeners would come