Choosing the Wrong Baby Daddy 3: All In The Family, #3

By Sophia Jenkins

She thought she would be happy, but Desiree finds out that she's miserable with the man she married. Giving up the man she truly loves to protect her heart and her family, turned out to be the wrong move. Her husband comes with all of the drama she wanted to avoid and more. He isn't fulfilling any of promises and she regrets saying "I do." A new scandal threatens to rip the family she wanted apart, and not only that, she can't stop thinking about the love she lost.

Rashad will always be the man for her, but she's resigned to only relive sweet memories of their time together until she he comes back into her life and claims he still loves her.  Desiree is caught up in a whirlwind of painful discoveries and infidelity. Will she risk it all to be with the man she's wanted all along?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Sophia Jenkins
• Release date: Dec 2, 2018
• ISBN: 9781386506614

Book preview

Chapter One

The disaster unfolding was surreal. I was being held back by two officers while Rashad was being handcuffed. My eyes collided with his across the room, and even though we were in the middle of chaos, my heart galloped at the sight of him. There was no doubt, the regret shining in his eyes. I didn’t know if it was regret for what he and I had lost—each other. Or regret for beating the shit out of my husband yet again. For a second, the room and everyone else faded away as I pictured the life Rashad and I could have had. I was still deeply in love with him and felt guilty because I shouldn’t still have such deep feelings for him.

I’d been married to Tyrell for all of one week, and I was already regretting the day I said, I do. Maybe I should stop feeling guilty for still loving Rashad. Tyrell and I hadn’t even made it to our honeymoon before all hell broke loose. Now, all I could think was that I might as well have stayed with Rashad. The drama I had been trying to avoid by giving Rashad up had been amplified since marrying Tyrell. At that moment, I wanted so badly to break down into tears, but I would have to save it for later.

The room and everyone came back into focus when I took my eyes off of Rashad and assessed the entire situation. Tyrell sat in a corner with a medic attending to his various injuries, and Kendra stood in another corner, holding her newborn, looking like a deer caught in headlights. Her eyes, swirling with forest green and honey, were wide—as if she was innocent, knowing damn well she had incited the brawl that destroyed the waiting area of the clinic. If I wasn’t being contained by two men and if she wasn’t holding that baby, I would have pounced on her like an angry jungle cat out for blood.

I should have known that I should have kept my ass right at home, but I foolishly thought it was okay to accompany Tyrell to the clinic. Nothing wrong with supporting my husband while he takes a paternity test, right? Wrong. Where Kendra went, drama followed, and I was well aware of that. So, I should have stayed away. Tyrell was a big boy and could handle things on his own.

When Kendra saw me, she went ballistic, wanting me nowhere near her and her baby—and especially Rashad. She stirred up an argument, I threw back insults, Tyrell jumped in, and before we all knew it, an episode of Jerry Springer was in action and the cops were called.

Chairs and tables were upended, magazines littered the floor of the waiting room, and several people were gathered as far as they could away from us, the group of ratchet-ass hood boogers. And that was exactly what we had behaved like. There were a few white folks eyeing us as if we were about to pull out guns and start a gang war right there in the clinic. I closed my eyes briefly and allowed the embarrassment to soak in.

Opening them again, I took a deep breath and shrugged out of the officers’ hold. They’d arrived just when I had lunged at Kendra, totally forgetting she had a baby in her arms. I was grateful for their presence because I would have been charged with both kicking Kendra’s ass and causing harm to an infant.

I’m calm officers. I held up both hands in surrender. The two men eyed me dubiously but stood down.

I watched with a huge lump in my throat as Rashad was ushered away. An officer led him, hands cuffed behind his back, out the door. My gaze followed him through the floor-to-ceiling window all the way to the police car. He glanced back and met my gaze again, and I watched with a heavy heart as he mouthed, "I’m sorry."

I couldn’t imagine what he was sorry for. Rashad had done what I wanted to do— kick Tyrell’s ass. I was just as livid as he was. We’d both spent months apart because of Kendra being pregnant with his child, only to find out that Tyrell might be the real father. So much time was wasted apart. And now, Rashad and I could never be because I was married. My eyes filled with tears as my misery mounted. In about two days, we’d all know the truth. Who was Kendra’s baby’s daddy?

I glanced at Kendra and her baby and shook my head. I had a strong feeling that Tyrell was the father. That baby was the spitting image of my son, Aiden, when he was just born.

I wanted to scream. Of course, I wasn’t too surprised, but that didn’t make the news any less painful. Tyrell was Kendra’s baby’s daddy. Tyrell and I sat in my living room, silently staring at each other. We’d waited for Aiden to fall asleep. He was tucked away in his crib, blissfully unaware of the turmoil his parents were a part of.

Tyrell huffed and lifted his shoulders helplessly. Desiree...my bad. I didn’t—

Your bad? Are you fucking kidding me? Is that all you have to say? I threw my hands up in aggravation and sprang up from the couch. If I didn’t pace or something, I would have attacked Tyrell, and Lord knew he couldn’t take another beating. His face was still full of bruises that Rashad had inflicted, and he still made each of his movements gingerly.

You know I’m not good with expressing myself. He shook his head and rubbed a hand over his face. How was I supposed to know I had knocked Kendra up? That bitch told everyone Rashad was the father. I’m sorry, Desiree, but you can’t blame me for this shit. I didn’t know, he emphasized.

Really? Are you positive you had no idea that there was a possibility Kendra’s baby could be yours?

Tyrell hesitated, which only made me angrier. If he’d thought for a second he could be Kendra’s baby’s father, maybe I wouldn’t have married him. I would have waited to know for sure.

I couldn’t have known, Des. She was adamant that the kid was Rashad’s.

I took a moment to compose myself and rein in my temper, and I came to the conclusion that he was right. Kendra had kicked Tyrell to the curb when she found out she was pregnant, and then she hatched her scheme to trap Rashad with another child. He had no idea that Kendra had been lying. No one knew. It was amazing how I had tried my best to distance myself as far as I could from Kendra and her bullshit only to land right back in the middle of it.

I know I can’t really blame you, Tyrell, but I’m so angry. We just got married. We were supposed to start our new lives as a family…you, me, and Aiden. Now, we find out that Kendra’s baby is yours. I just don’t see how this is going to work.

Tyrell stood and took my hands in his. It was supposed to be a comforting gesture, I was sure, but I felt far from comforted. It took everything in me not to pull out of his hold. Though I couldn’t blame him outright for the mess we found ourselves in, deep down I felt it was his fault. If he hadn’t lost his mind and started ignoring me and his child and