Married to my suspect

JONATHAN'S POV

I stole a glance at Danielle as we both stood in front of the building that looked so similar to where I had grown up, only in a different location. I tried to figure out if coming here wasn't a mistake. We'd gone for the tour I had promised, but it was obvious Danielle's mind hadn't been there. Every time I'd tried to bring the conversation to her and how she was feeling, it had amazed me how easily she had changed the subject and how quickly I'd fallen for it. I had planned to use the time to get to know Danielle a little better, perhaps that would have helped me figure out my confusing emotions, but I'd achieved nothing.

The door opened and Steph rolled her eyes when she saw it was me. "Have you forgotten the door code?"

I cocked my head. "Are you still using the former code? What if someone breaks in, since the code is general knowledge?" I replied sarcastically, but she had ignored me and was hugging Danielle.

I met Danielle's eyes and shrugged. Steph took her arm and they both went in, leaving me outside. I shook my head with a smile and followed them in. I shouldn't be surprised, my wife had the gift of getting people to like her, and I wasn't an exception. If only that didn't include worrying about her. I wished I knew what had her so upset.

We went into the kitchen and Camille dropped the spatula she had been using to hug me and then Danielle. "You're early." She said with a pleased expression, and I shrugged.

"I could sense how much you were missing me so we decided to come early." Camille laughed and slapped my arm a little, rolling her eyes. "It's nice to have you here. "

I remembered the flowers Danielle had suggested we buy and excused myself. I unlocked the car and shook my head at the amount of flowers. Since it was a large gathering with everyone around, and it was a large house, Danielle had felt it made perfect sense to get as many flowers as possible. It didn't to me, but I'd gone along with her words. After all, that was the first time she had spoken to me first after we'd left the hotel that morning.

I heard a whistle and hissed as my head collided with the door as I turned to where the sound had come from. "What the heck?" I asked Scott, who was looking way too happy with my pain, I noted.

"Did you rob a flower shop or what?"

"Or what." I replied. Since we'd bought a large amount, the flower shopkeeper had tried her best to package it into just five overflowing bunches. "Are you going to help or just keep staring?" I asked Scott, who cocked his head. "This couldn't have been your idea, right?"

I rolled my eyes and hit his shoulder as I passed him at that assumption. We both got to the door and looked at each other before bursting into laugher. I'd carried three bunches while Scott had carried the remaining two, which meant neither of us had a free hand to even ring the doorbell.

"I'm beginning to doubt people that claim you're a genius." Scott said amidst laughter and I shrugged. "You started it anyway."

The door opened and a kid I didn't know who looked to be about six stared at us like we had two heads. "Who are you and why are you laughing in front of our house?" He asked cautiously, and I heard Steph's voice. "Dalton, I told you to never open that door by yourself, didn't I?" Her voice had sounded from afar, and I wasn't surprised to see her hands filled with suds of soap as she stared at us, or rather, our hands.

"What's going on?" She asked.

"That's the same thing I asked him. I think he robbed a flower shop and brought the spoils here to evade suspicion." Scott said as he entered. He dropped the flowers on the table and swept Steph in a hug. "How's that good for nothing boyfriend of yours?" He released her before she began her litany of defense, and I dropped the flower I was carrying and went back to the kitchen, ignoring both of them.

Danielle looked up from where she and Camille were mixing something. "I forgot about the flowers." She whispered.

I smiled and nodded. "I've brought it inside." I could tell Danielle was beginning to have doubts about the purchase, but I knew even though the amount could be surprising to the women in my family, they would appreciate it. After all, she had been the one to back up the purchase by claiming every woman loved flowers. Plus, if they found out that Danielle hadn't allowed me to pay a cent, they would appreciate it more.

Camille looked suspiciously at us. "What are you two talking about in whispers?" and Kamzi groaned from where she was cooking something. "Ma, leave them alone." She glanced at us. "But what are you two whispering about anyway? You know we have no love life."

I shook my head. "You still haven't changed. Do you still bully anybody that talks to you?"

Karlie and Kannie groaned from their places at the cooker, also cooking something. "Don't let me start." That was Karlie. The other people in the kitchen, some I didn't recognize and most I did, picked up the conversation from there and began throwing jabs at each other as they worked.

I smiled. And people wondered why I appreciated silence so much.

DANIELLE'S POV

The overlapping conversation felt like waves crashing through my skull. Or was it my ears? Either way, how could they even hear themselves over the chaos that had enveloped the kitchen. And how could they still be so focused on what they were doing when I felt like running miles away.

Camille smiled at me as the surrounding noise got louder. "I used to think I wasn't made for loud chatters like this, but life has ways of surprising you."

My eyes widened. Could she tell I was getting uncomfortable? I smiled to let her know it wasn't that big of a deal. "Really? You look so natural with it."

She shrugged. "I've been doing this for the last twenty-four years, I'd better be a natural. How about you? I know you're still young, and you just got married, but what do you think of having a large family like this?"

I thought for a moment to carefully pick my words before I shrugged. "I don't really know. We've not yet decided." I lied and she nodded like she understood.

"It's okay. You still have a lot of years before you." She checked the consistency of the batter we had been mixing. "This should be okay. It's time for the mixer."

I nodded and straightened, stretching my already sore muscles. I really needed more exercise. "Is there anything more I can help you with?"

Camille shook her head. "Everything is either ready or in the final stage of preparation. Go on to the living room with your husband. I feel bad enough for making you work immediately you arrived."

I waved away the apology. "Don't be. I offered to help. Are you sure I can't help with anything else?" I asked again, even though what I would have rather done was run away from the noise. I didn't immediately because I could only imagine the amount of stress not only Camille but the other girls went through just to make a meal. I couldn't just sit down and serve myself without doing anything in good conscience.

Steph waved me away. "We've got it. You should go and relax. Maybe you'll get about ten minutes before the kids arrive." She said with an expression that looked both excited and at the same time scary.

I cocked my head, wondering at her expression but obeyed and went to the living room with Jonathan, thankful when I saw it was empty. Having grown up with just me and my mom around, I wasn't used to loud chatters and the kitchen had fast become a gossip mill with voices coming from all direction.

Jonathan glanced at me and laughed softly. "It takes some getting used to, right?"

I nodded. He had apologized earlier on our tour for bringing me to the restaurant without letting me know, knowing his family was going to be there, but like I'd told him, I wasn't really offended. It was nice to see the other side of life as an only child and shake my head about why I had wished to be born in a large family. With how quiet Jonathan was, I wondered how he survived, since he would have been even younger when he was with the group.

I motioned to the array of flowers on the table and had to chuckle myself. The flowers looked even more than it was when I'd bought it and while my bank account would definitely complain about it, I wanted to do something impressive for them giving how kindly and easily they'd welcomes me. I also couldn't help but notice my time with Jonathan was coming to an end.

"They'll probably think we're crazy when they see this." Jonathan replied to my chuckle and I nodded.

The sound of kids running down the stairs stopped my thoughts and my jaws slacked and. I jumped to my feet and looked on in shock as over twenty kids ran into a stop, falling into each other. It seemed like they'd been coming down in a queue and the person in front had missed a step and fallen down, causing the tumbling pyramid.

The man we'd seen yesterday came to a stop at the top of the stairs as he took in the children that were groaning and pushing each other to get back on their feet, and shook his head. As for me, the only thing that was keeping me from panicking was the laughter that was coming from them. Was this what Steph had meant earlier?