𝟒:𝟒𝟒 ↠ Roman Reigns

Chapter Ten

Chapter Ten

Joshua came over to Joe and Fahayra's house, completely intoxicated and reeling from the devastating discovery of his wife Kandi's infidelity.

He had been drinking excessively ever since finding out about her betrayal, unable to cope with the immense pain and heartbreak.

"Uce, you don't understand how bad this hurts," Joshua ranted to Joe in his man cave, his words slurring. "I've been a good man to her. And this is how she does me. I can't wait for those damn DNA results to come back. If I find out any of them kids ain't mine. Uce, I'm going away for murder."

As Joe listened to Joshua's drunken tirade, he began to feel remorseful about how poorly he had been treating his wife, Fahayra, after discovering her affair.

While he certainly had a right to be upset, his cruel behavior and actions toward her were unwarranted and excessive. Now he realized he needed to make amends.

"Come on, go to the guest room and sleep it off, uce," Joe gently told Joshua, hoping to calm him down.

With tears pooling in his eyes, Joshua looked at Joe and asked, "What would you do if Fahayra cheated on you?"

Joe decided to open up and tell Joshua the whole story - how he had caught Fahayra cheating, the explosive fight afterward, and the legal action he had taken against her lover.

"Now I got a court case against the dude," Joe confessed, finishing his tale of betrayal and anger.

Joshua was shocked to learn about Fahayra's disloyalty. "That's why she's been quiet as a mouse lately," He remarked, realizing the cause of her meek demeanor.

Joe nodded solemnly. "I think I scared her pretty badly," He admitted with regret.

"Man, these women are something else," Joshua said, bonding with Joe over their shared experience of deception by their wives.

Fahayra walked into Joe's mancave carrying two steaming bowls of homemade chicken noodle soup, the savory aroma filling the air.

She had spent the last hour carefully preparing the broth, simmering the chicken to perfection, and adding in fresh vegetables and egg noodles.

Fahayra knew Joshua had been drinking heavily all day, and wanted to bring him something comforting yet restorative.

"Hey, I made you guys some soup to help with all that drinking," Fahayra said, setting the bowls down on the coffee table in front of Joshua and Joe.

Joshua didn't even glance up, lost in his drunken stupor, but reached for the bowl anyway. Fahayra looked hopefully at Joe, but he just shrugged indifferently before taking his bowl.

"Don't worry about it. Thank you for the soup. Go get ready for bed," Joe told Fahayra, his tone surprisingly gentle despite the previous tension he had toward her.

Surprised but reassured by Joe's kindness, Fahayra nodded and headed upstairs, hoping the nourishing soup would help the men recover.

Once alone, Joshua looked over at Joe, whiskey heavy on his breath. "How do you do it?" Joshua asked, truly wanting to know how Joe managed to forgive Fahayra's infidelity.

"I chose to stay so I have to forgive her for our family to work," Joe replied simply, taking a spoonful of the hearty soup.

Joshua contemplated those words, wondering if he too could find a way to forgive Kandi. "You think I can forgive Kandi?" Joshua asked Joe hesitantly.

"That's up to you," was all Joe said, and the two sat in pensive silence as they finished their soup.

Later in the night, after making sure Joshua was sound asleep in his bed, his blankets tucked snugly around him with a bucket on the side of the bed for him to throw up in, Joe walked from the guest bedroom into the master suite where Fahayra was perched on the edge of their king-sized bed.

She had a bottle of rich, creamy lotion in one hand and was straining to reach the middle of her lower back in an attempt to soothe her tight, achy skin.

Joe approached the bed and gently took the bottle from Fahayra's hand, squeezing a generous dollop into his palm.

He began to gently yet firmly massage the cool, soothing lotion into the soft brown skin of her back and shoulders, kneading out the knots and tension from the long day.

Fahayra let out a soft sigh of relief, the cooling menthol in the lotion already working to dull the nagging ache.

"Are you okay?" Fahayra asked, surprised but appreciative of Joe's tender action.

"Yeah, are you okay?" Joe replied, his strong hands continuing to work at the kinks in her muscles.

Fahayra nodded, assuring him she was fine as his hands slid around to her rounded belly, made taut and firm from the growing baby within.

"You're showing more quickly with this one," Joe remarked, his palms gliding over the swell of her stomach with care.

"Yeah, I guess my stomach isn't as tight as it used to be," Fahayra chuckled, watching Joe's hands move over her changed form.

"I'll pay for your mommy makeover when the time comes," Joe offered sincerely, hoping to ease any insecurity she may have felt.

But Fahayra simply smiled and shook her head, placing her hand over Joe's. "I don't need one. I'm proud to have the body that gave us our children," Fahayra said.

Joe smiled back at his wife, filled with admiration for her natural, unashamed beauty.