C H A P T E R
T H I R T Y - S I X

         A few weeks had passed since the birth of Mariah and things where looking good for her far as her health. She was still in the hospital but the doctors knew that within a couple more weeks she would be able to finally go home.

Everyone was so happy for both Ahmad and Cali and prayed that everything for them got better, but Ahmad felt the only highlight right now in their life was Mariah.

His feelings and emotions where still all over the place and he was still not sure on what he wanted to do far as staying with Cali of divorcing her so today they where going to see a marriage counselor and just see what she could do and say to help them.

Entering the room together both Cali and Ahmad took their seats across from their new marriage counselor feeling the nerves kick in the minute they locked eyes with her.

She was an older dark skin black woman with a short grey Jada Pinkett hairstyle. Everything about her screamed professional so they knew she was probably one of those hardcore counselors who gave it to you raw and from the reviews they saw online she has saved so many marriages and deep down they hoped she could help save theirs.

They had two hours to open up to this woman and explain the depths of their relationship, things they need to work on as a couple and what they need to do in order to get back on track.

"Good morning, I am Dr. Moore. But I prefer to be called by my first name Retha Nell, it is a pleasure to meet the both of you and I'm pleased and happy that you two chose me to be the one to guide you guys back on track in your marriage." She greeted politely.

"Nice to meet you as well." Ahmad replied as he reached over for a handshake along with Cali.

"Alright, before we start the healing and the fixing .. first tell me why you guys are here? And by that I mean, what lead you guys to be here today?" She questioned as she adjusted her glasses and got her notebook ready.

Clearing her throat, Cali decided to speak up on that question. "Well I actually cheated on him with father of my first son and you know of course since then everything has just been a big ole' mess. I hurt him in the worst way possible and surprisingly he's willing to try and work things out and I'm willing to do everything in my power to earn his trust back and get my family back together."

Retha was a little shocked to hear that Cali was the one who cheated, majority of the couples who come walking through her doors wanting her to fix their broken marriages are couples where the man is the one to cheat, and where the man is the one who causes majority of the issues.

But in this case it was different, and she was honestly ready to see how all of this was going to play out.

"When you slept with this man Cali? Where you not completely over him? Like explain to me how you got in that position of sleeping with this man?" She questioned genuinely curious.

"My feelings for my baby daddy have died a long time ago, and I can't explain why it happened but it did and I regret it so much. It was a stupid mistake and has caused such a mess in our lives."

"And when you say mess, what exactly do you mean by that? Elaborate for me."

Cali shrugged, "Just constant arguments and bickering, other women, and the biggest mess to me is what the split has done to our kids. After I confessed to my cheating he moved out and got his own place for the time being until we figured out what we're gonna do and the kids just miss him so much and I just feel so bad because I know I'm the reason for this heartbreak both him and our kids have to deal with."

Retha nodded listening to every word she said. "Other women? Who are these other women?"

Letting out a sigh, Cali looked over at Ahmad who kinda held a mug on his face. He didn't see the reason of bringing up Shanice at this time when she hadn't even played a major part in the downfall of their marriage.

"Ahmad has this new lady friend who is also his older brother fiancé's sister. So um apparently one night while over his brother's house she was there since she's actually going through her own martial problems and is staying with them until she gets on her feet. But um from what he told me, the two had basically confided in each other about their issues and bonded over similiar heart breaks and emotions. And I guess due to them both being vulnerable they almost fucked up and had sex, but he of course stopped it before it could go any further and came back to our house instead to tell me. He ended up confessing to everything he had done and how he felt so guilty then went on to express how he wanted to make things work between us ..but—"

"But?" She questioned knowing when people say this that means something else must've occurred.

Cali nodded. "Yeah, but two weeks ago he hung out with her and he wasn't one-hundred percent honest about it either. He had told me he was out with a friend but he never said the gender of the friend or gave a name like he usually does but I just so happened to be at the restaurant and saw exactly who the friend was but at the time I didn't know she was his brother's fiancé sister since I never seen her. But while watching them to out to eat and laughing and just having a good time it really made me jealous and insecure. He just looked so happy with her and it was clear they vibed really well and I was just scared that I was finna lose him to her."

"So I texted him asking if he was gonna stop by the house to see me and he told me he would, but he ended up coming through the door at like four in the morning. So all night he had been out with this female and the whole time I'm just waiting up thinking the worst. So when he came home we instantly started arguing and when he told me who the female was it just made me angrier since I felt he shouldn't be hanging out with a woman he almost had sex wirh all night. So I gave him an ultimatum and I basically said he had to choose between me and her or I was going to be done with fixing our marriage basically trying to force him to drop her but he wouldn't do it."

Once Cali finished talking, Retha turned her attention to Ahmad. "Do you like this friend of yours Ahmad? Or have any romantic feelings for her?"

"Yeah I like her, but not in that way. She really just makes a nigga happy and that's because she has such a genuine spirit and is like the best at giving advice and being a shoulder to cry on. It's easy to talk to her about my depressed days since she knows exactly how I feel due to her being cheated on by her husband and when Cali gave me that ultimatum to basically choose between them I couldn't." He expressed and Retha nodded.

Retha was only asking these questions just to get a better feel of what all she was gonna be dealing with during their course of fixing this marriage.

"Okay let's weigh in on this situation real quick before going back to what Cali did shall we?" She questioned and they both nodded.

"Great, alright so first let me flat out say this. Cali, no offense but you had no right to give this man an ultimatum like that due to you guys circumstances but you are not wrong for feeling a certain way either. No woman or man wants to see their spouse out with the opposite sex especially one that they almost slept with, but Ahmad's reaction to not choose between you and her was valid. And I say that because in Ahmad's eyes he feels that you can't be trusted and you haven't showed him anything to where you are worth choosing over somebody else due to what has happened now. Doing a stunt like that will only push him into that woman's arms due to him feeling as if you're trying to control him." She stated before turning her attention to Ahmad.

"But Ahmad, despite what you and Cali have going on you shouldn't be hanging out til four in the morning with a woman who is not blood related to you. You are still married and no married man should be doing that, its nothing wrong with being friends with this woman but boundaries have to be set."

"I know that, and we talked about this. I don't even know why she brought this shit up in the first place, I admitted to being wrong and she admitted to being wrong so why are we still discussing this?" He asked irritated.

"Well clearly this still bother's Cali, clearly this whole situation makes her insecure that she might possibly lose you to this woman, does that not concern you?" She questioned.

"Of course it concerns me, but its her fault we even in this shit. She wouldn't have to question shit if she ain't cheat in the first place. I love Cali and everybody around me knows how much I do, I put her and my kids happiness always before mine. Now since this whole situation shit has been a mess, she doesn't trust me, I don't trust her and I'm tired." He stated as he started getting a little louder.

Holding her hand up, she paused him from talking. "Let's calm down for a minute, getting loud and angry will get us no where. Will touch back on the lady friend topic, but lets get into Cali cheating. Ahmad tell me exactly how you felt the moment Cali confessed to her cheating. Tell me the thoughts that were running through your mind at that moment."

Sitting up, Ahmad cleared his throat a little before speaking. "When she first said it I assumed she was joking honestly, I didn't want to believe she actually cheated especially after all that we both been through together as a couple. But once I saw she was serious, I was hurt and I didn't know how to cope with it. I still don't."

"Do you think you will ever trust Cali again?"

He shrugged, "I don't know.. I want to trust her, I want to feel the same way I did about her back then but things are so different now .. you just don't understand." He sighed looking down.

"Help me and Cali understand Ahmad, tell us exactly how you feel so we can get to the bottom of the issue and find ways to fix it. Cali at least deserves to know how you feel, if you keep everything bottled up then nothing will ever get resolved." She explained to him really wanting him to open up.

This was always her best method, getting the victim to open up about their feelings to their spouse so their spouse could finally understand how what they did really affected them always helped with the healing process.

After a few moments of silence, Ahmad stood up. "I can't do this, I thought I would be able to sit and talk about this all over again and express my feelings to her but I can't. I'm not ready to forgive, I'm not ready to get over this because I know I never will. I don't understand why she chose that nigga over me and I never will understand. I'm hurt, nah I'm more than hurt I'm crushed because for once I finally let my guard down, I let her in, I opened up and she cheated just like Chanel and when you ask why? Like why did you cheat? What made you do this? What do they say? They don't know why, and what am I suppose to do with an excuse like that?" He asked out loud as he looked over at Cali who was already crying.

Standing up Cali grabbed his hands, "I forgot Ahmad, I forgot what I had and I know it may sound dumb but I did. I fucked up, I know I did baby and I'm so sorry for all that I have done."

Retha watched the two and could feel the love radiating off of them, and could see the love Ahmad for Cali in his eyes, but she knew his pain was haltering his feelings. "Guys, the only way this marriage can be fixed is if you two are willing to let go of what happened and forgive. People make mistakes that don't tend to make sense but that doesn't make he or she a bad person."

"Ahmad, do you feel Cali is a bad person?"

Shaking his head no, he looked over at her. "She's a great person, and a great mother but just after reflecting on everything she has done and not just with her cheating, but how she handled the situation with our son Marquette, how she defended Reggie and treated me just makes it so hard to forgive her."

"I just can't do this right now. I'm sorry, but I'm not ready. Anything she says will only piss me off and I know my attitude now will not help us none. Instead it will only hurt us even more."

Thanking Mrs. Moore for her time, Ahmad left out Cali standing there not sure as to what to say so instead she just retook her seat and thought to herself.

"Um Cali, if you don't mind I would like to speak with you about a few things that he said before leaving out." Retha spoke up and Cali nodded.

"Yes'mam?"

"This situation with you guys son Marquette, what was he referring to when he said that? The look in his eyes when he mentioned that situation was a mixture of anger and sadness. Would you care to elaborate on that?"

Sitting back in her seat, Cali hated discussing this situation since she knew she was more than wrong in it. She let her son down, and made Ahmad feel less than.

Deciding to stay the whole two hours Cali ended up talking to and confessing to Mrs. Moore about everything she had done within' the course of their relationship from the beginning to now.

Sitting outside the door in one of the chairs they had, Ahmad listened the whole entire time to them talk still confused on what to do at this point.

-

Thanks for the love & support!
- Denise 💋