BRAELYN DABBED UNDER HER EYES with a tissue, sniffling. "I just don't know what to do..."

Pastor Rowind nodded his head as he sat facing her, supportingly holding her hands. Braelyn knew Takashi said he didn't want her telling their business anymore, but at this point she was breaking. His behavior was getting worse and she had no one to talk too.

"It's so weird, when I first met him I was seventeen. He was eighteen. He was so respectful. He always smiled at me and he and my father were always together talking about real estate. I remember one time he came over to my house and I kept peeking out into the living room. He caught me and winked. I think it was the first time I realized I liked him."

Pastor Rowind smiled.

"I mean even in our early twenties he never really changed. He was still so sweet. But I don't know, now it's like anything sets him off."

Pastor Rowind nodded his head as he listened to her story. He narrowed his eyes to see if he could try and get a feel. "What do you mean? Do you remember when this started? His behavior?"

Braelyn looked down at her fingers. She used her index finger to play with her wedding ring. She twirled it around and around on her finger before looking up.

"This woman came around recently. Toryn I think her name is. This is a few months ago. He said he ran into her on the street and he wanted to take her in because she had nowhere to go and apparently they were lifelong friends. The woman lives at his mother's house and he goes over there daily."

"So you feel like something is going on and his explosive behavior is because of her?"

Braelyn fanned her face, trying to hold back the tears. Takashi's actions last night really scared her. He was drunk so that did play a huge part in it, but still, she was afraid one day he would get crazier than that.

"Maybe...last night he was out somewhere getting drunk. And I just texted him to ask where he was to pick him up and he called me her name in the text."

"The best friend?"

"Yes..." Braelyn whispered. It was painful to her, because she did so much for him and Takashi treated her like a doormat.

Pastor Rowind felt bad for the young girl. He could tell she was frail because her hand was shaking as she wiped her eyes and they were really red. He knew she wasn't a dominate kind of person. But her husband seemed to be because she was almost terrified.

"Mrs. Maxwell I'm going to need you to stand up for yourself. Yes you are a holy woman and yes you are submissive to your husband. But you are nobody's slave. Why don't you tell your father? Your uncles or cousins? And I don't mean that in a violent way. I just mean maybe you could have one of the men talk to him about his behavior."

Braelyn shook her head from side to side. Her father may have went to church every Sunday but he was ignorant just like Takashi. If he knew how Takashi treated her, there would be heads rolling.

"Embarrassment honestly." Braelyn said as a tear rolled down her cheek. "My father taught me to be strong. And to tell him that a man calls me out of my name and acts so hateful toward me when he gets mad, it's humiliating to say...my husband doesn't abuse me in any way I'm not saying that. But I'm not saying he never will and that's what scares me. Because he's so unpredictable..."

Pastor Rowind patted her shoulder. "And you guys have a small daughter correct?"

"Yes, she's three. I had something important to tell him about her. But he was too drunk to care. Lately she's gotten very aggressive. My mother watches her a lot and says she hits her or throws things around. Those are things that Takashi does."

"So she's picking up on the behavior?"

"Yes. And she's only three. So when my mom asked me why she's doing this I had to say she's a baby. But sooner or later they'll know she's really getting it from her father. I wish he can change."

"Change will come darling."

"I don't really know, even last night..." Braelyn began dabbing at her eyes again. If it was one thing she knew Takashi really stressed on, it was not to bring up their intimate life to people, but Takashi scared her and there was no one else she could talk to about it.

"Last night?" The pastor asked, immediately thinking sexual assault.

"Yes," Braelyn looked down. "He wanted me to do oral sex on him and I said no. He told me that I wasn't a good wife because of it and all I was good for was cooking. He said he hated my clothes, our intimacy and me!"

The pastor's eyes widened. "He said he hated you?" He had a lot of people in his church so it was hard to keep up with all the members, but he always remembered the Maxwell's because they sat right up front in the first pew. It was a shame, they seemed like such a happy young couple. But that just proved you never knew what went on behind closed doors.

"Basically. He said he hated my personality." Braelyn put her hands over her eyes as she began to cry.

Pastor Rowind felt nothing but pity for her.

"I love my husband but he says I don't try a lot. But I do, I even let him do that Fox and Bear style stuff on me."

"Huh?" The pastor said, confused.

Braelyn sniffled wiping her eyes. "I just need change."

Pastor Rowind shook his head, "Poor child...don't worry, change will come. But for now how about we pray?"

Braelyn agreed and closed her eyes and bowed her head as she and the pastor said a prayer for herself, her family and her marriage.

******

"DADDY WHERE WE GO?" Brielle squeaked, holding his hand as they quickly walked across the street.

"Uh...candy factory." He said. He knew it was a stupid thing to say right after he said it because now she would be expecting to see candy. But knowing she was a baby, he needed to say something that sounded normal in case she repeated it back to anybody.

Takashi looked up at the tall building which read 'DNA Testing Center' it was a large building located in Manhattan. He didn't want anyone knowing that he took Brielle here. As far as Braelyn was concerned he was at home watching her.

Takashi hummed and pulled her along. He felt so many things doing this. Angry, hurt, and sad. Brielle was his one and only but he really had to know if she was his. The reason he wanted to come out here and do the expensive test instead of doing the at home one at the pharmacy was because he wanted to make sure everything was accurate.

It was the same reason he was hiding doing the DNA test from Braelyn. Not because he was scared of her finding out, he just wanted to do it himself that way he would know no one tampered with the DNA to change the results.

Takashi pulled Brielle into the building and they were immediately met with central air. A bubbly Indian receptionist was behind the counter with a white lab coat on like she was a doctor. "Hello, hi, how may I help you?"

"Daddy I want toffee, get me toffee from candy place!" Brielle said tugging his arm.

Takashi looked down at her to respond and suddenly felt a pain in his chest. It would kill him if this little girl wasn't his. She had to be. Did he even want to do this anymore?

"What wrong daddy? They no have toffee?" Brielle asked.

"Sir? Is everything alright?" The receptionist asked.

Takashi looked at the woman and cleared his throat. "Um, I'm here to do a DNA test. For me and this little one right here."

The woman nodded her head and peeked over the counter to see three year old Brielle peering up at her. "Okay. I'm going to give you a paper to fill out and when you're done bring it back up, you'll be called up."

Takashi nodded and excepted a pen and a little thin stack of papers with a clipboard. The woman smiled at Brielle and gave her two lollipops from the bowl on the desk.

Takashi thanked the woman and took it, giving it to his Brielle. "Say thank you Bri."

"Thank you."

"You're so welcome sweetie. Is she from Puerto Rico?"

Takashi clenched his jaw and mumbled a 'no' before walking off. He and Brielle found a seat in what he assumed to be the waiting area. There weren't many people there. In fact they were the only people there.

Takashi filled out the papers in no time then returned them back to the front. While waiting, he began playing with Brielle. He reflected over the questions from the questionnaire. A lot of them were personal and a bit strange.

A lot of the questions asked what was his reason for wanting a DNA test and how he would feel and react if the results showed he wasn't the biological parent. He was guessing that was all psychological though to see if they were dealing with a crazy person.

Takashi dreaded every second. He didn't know how to feel about the situation. Apart of him felt confident and cocky knowing it was his child. But another part of him didn't really know. So his last method was to rather be safe then sorry.

As time went by, Takashi was getting so irritated he began bouncing his leg. He didn't know what was taking so long to call them. They were the only people here. He figured they must have been setting the tools up or sterilizing the room to do the test. He didn't know how these things worked. But with each minute that went by, his positive thoughts were starting to die out.

"Daddy look." Brielle called, climbing on top of the plastic chair right next to him. She jumped off and landed on the tiled floor on her butt. Brielle was a tough baby so she didn't cry. She found it funny.

"Brielle stop." Takashi uttered.

He started to think to himself, what if this was Miguel's baby? He glanced at her for a second. She did have his creme complexion and his hair texture and hair color. She sort of smiled like him too.

Takashi covered his face and clenched his jaws. He imagined Braelyn cheating on him. Bringing Miguel to their house while he was at work. Bringing him around their daughter. He was boiling on the inside.

A soft thud made Takashi look to his left just in time to see Brielle land on the ground again from jumping off the chair. Takashi stared at her hard, "Brielle you just heard daddy say stop right?"

She glanced at him and giggled, taking off running around the table. Takashi shook his head and pulled his phone out to check the time.

Brielle played with some of the magazines on the table by rearranging them. She peeled some of the fake rose petals and threw them around before she got bored. Since she was across the table from her dad, she climbed up on one of the chairs and stood up straight. She then bent her knees and leaped off.

Before she could make it to the ground Takashi yanked her by the arm and placed her on the ground on her feet. "I said stop Brielle, so stop! Do you want me to spank you?!" He shouted.

The toddler instantly she let out a bawl that caused the receptionist and even a few people to come into the room to see what the commotion was.

"Is everything alright sir?"

Takashi cleared his throat and gave her a fake smile. "Everything is fine."

The girl gave him a look like she didn't quiet believe him, but returned to her post anyway. Takashi sighed and picked Brielle up who wrapped her legs around his waist and buried her head in the crock of his neck as she cried.

"I'm sorry Bri...okay? Daddy's sorry. I didn't mean to yell at you. Sshh..." He said as he rubbed her back soothingly. "I love you okay? I'm sorry don't cry."

"I-I sorry. I lub you daddy." Brielle hiccuped.

Takashi felt tears come to his eyes but he held them at bay. "I love you too princess."

"Ah, Mr. Maxwell?"

Takashi looked up and saw a bald Black man also in a white lab coat. The man smiled and waved him over. Takashi's nerves were all over the place as he quickly followed the man and headed to the back.

They were brought to a very spacious room. It was pretty bland except for a fake plant and a calendar on the wall. Takashi sat Brielle in the chair next to him as the man in the lab coat closed the door for privacy and began to explain to him.

"Okay so first the cost of a DNA test is five hundred dollars."

Takashi knew that so he just nodded his head.

"So after you pay, what we will do is take two swabs. One will go in your mouth and one will go in the child's mouth for you guys's saliva. We will also take hair and nail samples from the both of you. What we do is decipher the DNA in those samples and test them to see if you guys are a match. The results will take up to three to four weeks to return to you. Any questions?"

Takashi cleared his throat. "N-no, I'm okay."

The man smiled and clapped his hands together. "Okay, well then let's get started."

******

TORYN HAD BEEN SPENDING a lot of time with Samir. They spent time at his house, he took her on dates and he was a real gentlemen. All he seemed to care about was making her smile. She was becoming super comfortable with him.

Toryn picked up a folded piece of paper and read it out loud. "Never have I ever fantasized about getting oral sex from an old person."

They had sat down for twenty minutes, writing 'never have I ever' notes as they were sitting on his living room floor, playing. It was childish but it was fun. Toryn clapped a hand over her mouth and laughed at the face Samir made. He already knew Toryn was the one who wrote this question, she was weird like that.

"Man what? Hell nah Toryn, the fuck? Of course not..." He said shaking his head. He fished around in the container for more scraps of paper. "Next question."

"Wait! Your suppose to ask me."

"I honestly don't even wanna know. That was wild dirty." He said.

Toryn laughed, "I haven't either. And I just wrote the question to make the game spicy."

"Yeah okay...anyways," he said opening another folded up piece of paper. He could also tell this one was from Toryn as well from the handwriting. "Never have I ever stole from a store."

Toryn twisted her lips to the side, she couldn't remember. Had she ever stolen anything before? She didn't strike herself as the type so she shrugged. "No. I don't think so."

Samir nodded his head. "Yeah me neither. You've never stolen anything when you were with me so I'll take that as a no."

Toryn smiled. "What about you?"

"I use to steal change from my parents all the time when I was little, but the question is have I ever stolen from a store. So no."

Toryn giggled. Just then the doorbell rung so she playfully passed out. She was happy Dominos had finally got here. They were taking forever and a day. Toryn wasn't really a fan of Dominos pizza but they had nice wings and that's what she felt like eating. Samir got up from the floor and walked toward the door. He opened it and collected their food from the man. He already paid online so all the delivery man got was a smile. They ordered two medium pies and three boxes of wings with a side order of cheesy bread.

They ate, watched movies and even went online watching comedy and fighting videos. Samir really made Toryn feel some type of way. And she had to admit that she was hoping he would stay in her life because she was feeling him. Toryn yawned, looking at the time. Sometimes she spent the night over at Samir's but she knew she had to go back home tonight.

"It's getting late, you ready to take me back?" Toryn asked, looking at the time on the cable box which read 6:43PM.

"No not really." Samir said, randomly pulling her legs so she was sitting between his legs on the floor.

They were facing each other with her legs thrown over his. Toryn suddenly felt naked as he stared at her. She had on a short skirt and a t-shirt but somehow felt naked. Samir gently smacked a hand onto her legs and began squeezing her soft skin. It visibly had Toryn shook.

"You so pretty, you know that?"

Toryn looked away, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear. She and Samir always flirted, but with less clothes on she felt vulnerable. Samir caught onto it and smiled. "Why you acting so shy now girl?"

"I'm not." Toryn said.

"You not?" He mumbled, his hands sliding under her skirt. He quickly pulled his hands back just as she gasped and tried to smack his hands away.

"Samir!"

He chuckled. "Nah I'm just playing wit' you."

Toryn cleared her throat and got up, feeling like she needed to put some distance between them. She knew if Trouble was around she would be telling her to do all kinds of slutty shit. And Toryn kind of wanted too. They haven't known each other for so long but they'd been texting and talking to each other for weeks and Toryn wanted a release. She needed one.

Toryn went into the kitchen and peeked at Samir who was on the floor now on his phone. Something was telling her to just go for it. She wanted it and she was grown so who cared. She knew Takashi would be pissed if he even knew she was in contact with Samir, but that was his problem. They had the issue with each other not her.

Toryn took a deep breath and walked over to Samir. She lowered herself again making Samir push his phone to the side. He looked up, playfully pulling his head back when he looked up to see Toryn directly in his face. "Wh—"

Toryn pushed him downward so he was laying on the ground then got on top of him. She pulled her shirt off and tossed it to the side, leaving her in her black bra and skirt. She then bent down and began kissing his neck.

Samir who was quick to catch on, slid one of his hands in the back of Toryn's hair and gripped a handful as he fed her his thick tongue. They made out like animals. Rough and aggressive before he rolled them over. Toryn began unbuckling his belt. With years of expertise it took her no time to have him out of his shirt and pants.

Toryn had on a mini skirt and instead of pulling it down she lifted it up, more then ready to sit on the dick. Samir's eyes bulged wide and he stopped her by gripping her hips, a nervous look coming over his face as if he just remembered something. "Condom."

"You can pull out." Toryn said biting her bottom lip as she dipped her hands in his boxers and felt his softness.

Samir gave her a nervous smirk. "Condom Toryn."

Samir pecked her lips and made her get up before traveling to the back. Toryn got up from the floor and began to strip off the rest of her clothes right there. She was stark as she made her way to the back on her tiptoes. Samir came out the room meeting her in the hallway.

Since he was limp, Toryn dropped to her knees and began to stroke him. "Getting old?" She teased.

"Nah I just didn't think anything sexual was gonna happen today. You took me by surprise is all. I wasn't ready. I—" His words died out when he felt Toryn swallow him whole. His knees literally buckled as he fell back against the wall.