Black or White (An Interracial Love Story)

Epilogue

"I, Ivy-Reece Hayes, take you, Chase Matthews, to be my beloved husband, my constant friend, my faithful partner and my love from this day forward. In the presence of God, our family and friends, I offer you my solemn vow to be your faithful partner in sickness and in health, in good times and in bad, and in joy as well as sorrow. I promise to love you unconditionally, to support you in your goals, to honor and respect you, to laugh with you and cry with you, and to cherish you for as long as we both shall live."

I blink away the tears in my eyes as I look into the gorgeous blue-green eyes of my groom. I smile as he recites his vows.

"I, Chase Matthews, take you, Ivy-Reece Hayes, to be my friend, my lover, the mother of my children and my wife. I will be yours in times of plenty and in times of want, in times of sickness and in times of health, in times of joy and in times of sorrow, in times of failure and in times of triumph. I promise to cherish and respect you, to care and protect you, to comfort and encourage you, and stay with you, for all eternity."

The tears are freely falling from my eyes as the preist speaks again.

"Do you, Chase Matthews, take Ivy-Reece Hayes to be your lawfully wedded wife for as long as you both shall live?"

"I do." Chase says with a huge grin on his face.

"And do you, Ivy-Reece Hayes take Chase Matthews to be your lawfully wedded husband for as long as you both shall live?"

"I do." I blubber through my tears, still managing to crack a smile.

Ebony and Niecy my only two bridesmaids come and give us the rings. We slide them on to each other's fingers at the same time.

"Now, by the power vested in me, I know pronounce you husband and wife."

Chase wraps his hands around my waist and pulls me to him, connecting our lips in a warm passionate kiss.

"I love you so much." Chase whispers in my ear before pulling completely away from me.

I wink at him as we turn to our guests to walk back down the aisle together, hand-in-hand, man and wife.

~~

"A college degree by 22, a job as a physical therapist with amazing pay by 23, and married by 25! You're fabulous!" Niecy gushes.

"Not to mention your husband and my fiancé have worked their asses off to get Matthews Inc. to being one of the top five major corporations in the US in just two years. You're doing it big girl!" Ebony squeals as the three of us continue to dance.

I'm surrounded by all my loved ones at Chase and I's wedding reception and I couldn't be happier.

"We just followed our plans, that's all." I shrug off Ebony and Niecy's praises.

"Well I couldn't be any prouder." Ebony says as she hugs me.

"Me too." Niecy says, joining in on the hug.

"Same here!" I say, "You're in freaking law school Ebony, and you're a damn successful hollywood actress Niecy! I should just get Proud BFF tattooed across my forehead."

We all laugh together and continue to dance. Eventually we're joined by Chase and Dylan, who is now Ebony's fiancé, and the five of us dance the night away.


~~~~~~~~~~

2 YEARS LATER


"Come on Ivy-Reece! You can do it baby. Push!" Chase encourages me as I grip onto his hand for dear life, trying to relay some of my pain to him.

"Ahhhhhhh, I hate you!" I scream at him, squeezing his hand even tighter.

It's his fault I'm in so much pain. It's his fault I'm lying on my back in a hospital giving birth to his son.

Well...it takes two to make a baby but I'm giving birth, it's normal for me to blame everything on him.

"Come on baby, come on baby, come on baby..." Chase mutters under his breath and I can tell by the tone of his voice that he's genuinely nervous.

I squeeze his hand more gently now, trying to be reassuring.

The doctor looks up at us and speaks.

"Okay Mrs. Matthews, just one more big push. I need to you to muster up all the strength you can and use it all to push your baby into this world."

I squeeze Chase's hand, take a deep breath, and push.

Seconds later, I hear a high-pitched cry and I inhale as much air as I can.

"Do you want to hold your boy Mrs. Matthews?" the doctor asks.

"Yes!" I gasp, still trying to catch my breath.

He comes and places our son in my arms. He hasn't been cleaned yet and he's still the most beautiful human being I've ever laid my eyes on.

"Our boy." I say to Chase with so much pride in my voice.

"What do you want to name him baby girl?" Chase asks me.

We decided to wait until we actually got to see our son to name him. I get to pick the first name, Chase picks the middle name.

"Carter..." I murmur, waiting for Chase to pick up where I left off.

"Elijah..." He suggests.

I look up at him and smile as brightly as I can through my tiredness.

"Carter Elijah Matthews." We say in unison.


~~~~~~~~~~

3 MONTHS LATER


I jolt awake in bed to the sound of Carter's loud cry ringing out through our spacious 2-story 5 bedroom house.

"It's your turn." Chase mumbles, turning over in his sleep.

I roll my eyes at my husband, but continue to quickly get out of bed and scurry to my little man's room.

"It's okay. Mama's here." I coo as I pick my baby up and walk over to the rocking chair, which I know always soothes him.

We rock in the chair for a bit and he still doesn't calm down. He doesn't need to be changed so I conclude he's hungry.

Pulling my tank top down in the front some, freeing myself, I guide my baby to latch on to breast. He eagerly begins drinking.

I'd never tell Chase but I live for these moments. When our son wakes me up at 2:30 am and we sit together in the rocking chair and I breast feed him. I feel like we're so connected.

I smile at Carter as he continues to drink. He is so beautiful to me. His skin is caramel colored. The perfect balance between Chase's ivory colored skin and my milk chocolate colored skin. His eyes are wide open and staring up at me and I feel my heart skip a beat. His eyes are a light hazel color. I take the hand that I'm not using to support his weight and run it through his soft curly hair. Not surprisingly, it came out jet black, just like mine and Chase's. He's the perfect blend of an interracial love and I couldn't love him or my husband anymore than I already did. They were truly my purpose in life.

~~

I wake up in the morning to find myself still in the rocking chair with Carter sleeping peacefully in my arms. I place him gently in his bassinet and turn around to find Chase standing in the doorway smiling at me.

"What?" I mouth at him playfully.

He gestures for me to follow him. I check to make sure he has the baby monitor from our room and follow him. We end up down in the fully furnished basement, a.k.a. his man cave. He pulls me down on the very comfortable couch on top of him and places his hands on my waist. I raise an eyebrow at him.

"Someone in the mood for a little morning lovin'?" I tease.

"I wanted to show you something actually. Looking at you from this angle just brings back some lovely memories from our first time." He teases me right back.

My face heats up in embarrassment.

"What did you want to show me?"

"Well you know that "Up Close and Personal" show that comes on ESPN? The one where they go into the lives of a different NBA or NFL player each episode."

I nod, wondering where he's going with this.

"Well the most recent one was on 27 year old millionaire, NBA player DeAndre Jones. Thought you might be interested in watching with me?"

"Of course." I say, smiling.

DeAndre and I still speak occasionally. I have his cell number and he has mine, but I prefer to wait until he calls me because he's so busy and I never know if he's available to speak. The last time we spoke was about 3 months ago, right before Carter was born. Before that we hadn't spoken since before I even knew I was pregnant so I had informed him that I would soon be giving birth to a son. He'd been happy for me, and we'd talked about how I was feeling about becoming a mother and how Chase was feeling about becoming a father. It was a nice conversation. He promised to send the baby a few nice things after getting my address. He told me to tell Chase hello from him and then the phone call was over.

Even though we haven't spoken since then DeAndre still stayed true to his word and sent Carter more than a few nice things. He sent a ton of toys and, judging by the age labels on them, they'll last Carter from now until he's two. He also sent him a few clothing items. They're absolutely adorable. Chase and I appreciated his kind gesture very much and I'd texted him saying thank you. He texted me back "Anything for you and your family " and that was it.

I shift off of Chase and sit next to him instead of on top of him. He turns on the tv and we get comfortable. The woman on the show starts talking.

"Hey everyone it's your girl Kendra Hill, the host of ESPN's Up Close and Personal, and on this episode we'll be going to into the home and private life of 27 year old NBA player DeAndre Jones. Join us as we get to know the real him."

The theme song comes on and after its over the first scene comes on. Kendra is ringing DeAndre's doorbell. He opens the door with a breathtaking genuine smile on his face. He's wearing dark jeans and a stark white t-shirt.

"Hey DeAndre." Kendra says sweetly.

"Hey Kendra. Come on in." He steps aside to let Kendra and the cameras in.

"How about we start off with a tour?" Kendra asks, looking around the huge foyer in awe.

"Sure thing. We'll start at the indoor basketball court and work our way around. Right this way." DeAndre starts the tour.

It takes 30 minutes for the entire house to be shown and with the last 30 minutes beginning Kendra starts the interview. Going for a more relaxed environment, they decide to do the interview in the living room.

"Whew, this house isn't even a house. It's a mansion!" Kendra exclaims.

DeAndre laughs.

"It's perfect for me, and it's big enough so that when my girl and I start a family we have enough bedrooms for at least 8 kids."

Kendra's eyes grow wide.

"8 kids!?"

"We're probably not going to have 8 kids but if we wanted to we definitely have enough space." DeAndre clarifies, still laughing.

Kendra smiles.

"Speaking of your girl, will the public ever get to meet her?"

"Yes actually. She's on her way over. She should be here in a little bit."

"Oh good!"

The interview continues on and DeAndre tells about his mother's death, his sister Marcella raising him and how she doesn't have to work now and just lives with him, and how he takes care of her.

My heart warms at that. He's repaying his sister for what she did for him by raising him.

He also talks about his hard work and determination and what he thinks it takes to achieve your dreams.

Towards the end of the interview someone is heard entering. DeAndre and Kendra both look up and he smiles. A tall slim woman with beautiful light brown skin and long straight black hair comes and shakes Kendra's hand before sitting next to DeAndre and planting a kiss right on his lips.

"This is Shiloh McGee, my girlfriend." DeAndre introduces the pretty woman.

"You're so beautiful." Kendra compliments her.

"Thank you. So are you." Shiloh graciously accepts her compliment.

"So how long have you two been together?" Kendra asks.

I slightly lean forward in my seat, I'm interested to know.

"We're coming in on a year and a half next month." Shiloh gushes.

My mouth drops open in shock. Looking over I see Chase's mouth is hanging open too.

DeAndre and I have talked a number of times in the last year and a half and not once has he ever mentioned Shiloh.

I quickly dismiss my thoughts. Maybe he wasn't sure about her yet when we talked.

Back on the TV, Shiloh is talking about their relationship and DeAndre is just gazing at her adoringly.

I know that look. It's the exact way Chase looks at me. In that moment I know DeAndre has found his soulmate. My face breaks out in a huge grin.

"She's actually my third girlfriend in my life and my first girlfriend since I was a teen." DeAndre says.

"Are you serious?" Kendra is shocked. "A handsome man like you has only ever had three women? I think everyone assumed you were a real lady's man."

"Not at all." DeAndre says. "I think women deserve the highest honor and respect."

"Would you mind telling us about your previous two girlfriends?" Kendra asks.

He looks at Shiloh, who nods her head, seeming like she wants to hear this too.

From the corner of my eye I see Chase lean in some too, just like me. After all, DeAndre is about to talk about his wife and sister on national television. I'd be a little nervous too if I was him. Hell, I am nervous!

"Well," DeAndre is saying on the tv, "My first relationship was with a girl named Janine Matthews."

"The world-renowned supermodel?" Kendra asks, surprised.

"Yeah," DeAndre chuckles a bit, "She was great. Beautiful, intelligent, the whole package. We even lost our virginity to each other. I never loved her though. I thought I did but looking back I realize we just liked each other a lot. The relationship didn't end well. A lot of personal drama that I won't air out on television. She's clearly doing well for herself now though." DeAndre pauses as if he's in thought for a second before continuing.

"My second relationship was with a girl named Ivy-Reece. Now her, I loved. I loved her with all my heart and soul. With every fiber of my being. But someone else loved her. Even more than me, and trust me when I say this, a love stronger than the love I had for her is a love that not many people get to experience. I'm not gonna lie though, I was going to be selfish and keep her to myself, but then I got an amazing opportunity to begin my journey into the NBA. I had to leave Virginia and move out here to California. I didn't want to put Ivy-Reece through the possible failure of a long-distance relationship. I'd feel like shit if we broke up while I was in Cali and she was in Virginia and she'd already ruled out the possibility of being with the other boy. So I broke up with her and encouraged her to have a relationship with the other guy. He and I didn't really get along but I knew he was in love with Ivy-Reece. So I moved out here and left it to them to build a relationship."

"Wow..." Kendra says, clearly not knowing what to ask next.

Finally, Shiloh speaks up.

"You should tell us about where Ivy-Reece is today. " She says encouragingly.

"Yes! That'd be fabulous." Kendra smiles.

"Well," DeAndre says, "She and the other guy did build a relationship. A really strong one at that. They got married a couple of years ago and had a son just 3 months ago. They found their happy ending and I found mine." He wraps his arm around Shiloh's shoulders and kisses her on her cheek. She smiles back at him.

"That's so lovely." Kendra says. "So you and Ivy-Reece are still friends then?"

"We are." DeAndre confirms, not taking his eyes off his lady.

"What about Janine?" Kendra asks

"We don't speak." DeAndre says, "But oddly enough, Janine and Ivy-Reece are sisters-in-law."

"Are you serious?" Kendra asks.

DeAndre nods.

"Wow! Well that's all the time we have today. Thank you so much for allowing us into your life and home today DeAndre."

"It's no problem." DeAndre finally looks at Kendra and smiles, shaking her hand.

The program ends and the credits start rolling.

Chase turns off the tv and looks at me. I look back at him.

"What are you thinking?" He asks me after a few minutes of staring at each other.

"About what he said. We found our happy ending and he found his. That just makes me feel so...happy." I smile.

Chase smiles back at me and grabs my hand.

"I'm happy if you're happy baby."

As if on cue, as soon as he says the word "baby", the sound of Carter's cries carry out to us through the baby monitor.

I sit back on the couch and smile at Chase.

"It's your turn." I mimick the words he said to me when Carter started crying at 2:00 a.m.

Chase just laughs and gets up to go get the baby.

~~~~~~~~~~

1 Week Later

Today is one of the rare Saturdays that neither Chase or I have to actually go into work. To celebrate we're having all our loved ones over for some much needed family time.

I've just put Carter in his play pin when the doorbell rings. Chase is in his home office answering some last minute emails so I go to answer the door. It's my dad and Jocasta, who's now his wife. They finally got married when I was 19 and have been married for 8 years now.

"Hey beautiful." My Pops greets me.

"Hi daddy! Hi Jo!" I say, hugging him, and then Jocasta.

"Where's that precious baby of yours?" Jocasta is practically shaking with excitement of seeing Carter again. They haven't seen him in almost 3 weeks.

I laugh.

"He's over in the living room in his play pin. Feel free to take him out."

Jocasta and my dad all but run past me to the living room to get to the baby. I just laugh at them and make my way to Chase's office.

"Babe, my dad and Jo are here. Are you done yet?"

He looks up at me and my heart skips a beat. His gaze still has the same affect on me now as a 27 year old woman that it did when I was a 16 year old girl.

"Yeah baby. I'm done now."

I hold my arms out to him and he comes and embraces me in a hug, wrapping his strong arms and very able hands around my waist.

"I love you." He whispers in my ear.

"I love you too." I whisper back.

Our intimate moment is cut short by the doorbell ringing. We smile at each other knowingly when the person ringing the bell starts trying to make a beat with it.

Dylan and Ebony have arrived.

We walk to the front door hand-in-hand, passing my parents in the living room making silly faces at Carter, thoroughly entertaining him.

"Cut that shit out." Chase says jokingly to Dylan has he opens the door.

"Ebony made me do it." Dylan says with a smirk, giving Chase a friendly punch in the shoulder and hugging me.

"I knew you were a bad influence on him." Chase smirks at Ebony.

"Shut it Matthews." Ebony laughs, and kisses me on the cheek. "Hey sexy." She greets me.

"Hey sexy yourself." I say.

"Where's that handsome nephew that clearly looks like me at?" Dylan asks.

"In the living room with my dad and Jo." I inform them.

Upon hearing this, Ebony and Dylan practically race each other to the baby.

"Looks like the last of are guests have arrived."Chase says, nodding his head outside.

I look out the still open front door and see my mom, her husband Deon, and my half-brothers Isaiah and Jacob all getting out of the car. I smile at the sight. Isaiah is 17 years old now and Jacob is 10.

I look behind them and my smile widens. Niecy is hopping out of her SUV and walking towards the house. She lives in the swanky part of Los Angeles now and has come back home to Virginia upon my request. I haven't seen her in 6 months because she's been away in New York City shooting her new movie.

Unfortunately, Chase's parents and Janine can't be here because they're in Paris for the launch of Janine's new clothing ad.

My mom's family gets to the house first.

"Hey guys!" I say, hugging everyone.

"Hey baby!" My mom says, hugging me and then Chase.

"Come on in you guys. The baby is this way." Chase says, smirking at the looks on all of their faces, clearly saying that they just wanted to get to Carter, before leading the way to the living room.

I wait at the door for Niecy.

"Hey hey heyyy!" She exclaims, running up to me and hugging me with all her strength.

"Hey sweet thang!" I yell, hugging her back just as tightly.

"I've missed you so much!" She says, pulling away from me and examining me from head to toe.

"You've damn near lost all the baby weight!" She says in shock.

"Well I am a physical therapist." I mention, "We got to keep it tight."

We laugh.

"Are you ready to meet your god son?" I ask.

She jumps up and down in excitement.

"Oh yes! Pictures just aren't doing it anymore. I need to hold him and kiss his chubby cheeks!"

I close and lock the front door and grab Niecy's hand. We run to the living room, giggling like little girls.

Jocasta, my mom, and Ebony are all lounging on the huge couches. Looking out the huge glass door that leads into the backyard I see my brothers, Deon, and my dad running around playing football. Chase and Dylan are at the grill,cooking up our dinner. Carter is in my mom's arms. He's gazing up at her with his big hazel eyes and she's murmuring sweet nothings to him.

"Mommy can I have my son please? He needs to meet his godmother for the very first time." I say with a smile.

"Oh of course babydoll." She stands up and hands me by baby before going and engaging in an animated conversation with Jocasta.

Niecy and I go and sit on the couch Ebony is occupying by herself, I end up in the middle of them, and I hand the baby to Niecy.

She looks at him and smiles.

"He's so beautiful. I love him already."

"Awww! This is such a precious moment. Let me get a picture of the three of you." Ebony gushes.

Niecy and I hand her our phones and she takes a picture of Carter, Niecy and I on both of our phones.

"I love you all so much." Niecy says, "We're all so blessed."

"We truly are." I say, embracing her in a hug while being careful not to smush Carter.

"Let me in!" Ebony exclaims.

I open up my arms and she joins in on our hug.

I love my life.

~~

"Call me tomorrow!" Niecy screams out of her car window before pulling off.

I laugh and wave at her until her car is out of my sight.

It's now 10:00 pm and Niecy was the last of our guests to go.

I close and lock the front door and turn on the alarm system. I walk around the house making sure everything is clean before searching for Chase.

I find him in the nursery, sitting in the rocking chair with Carter in his arms. He's humming softly, gazing at the sleeping baby in his arms. He doesn't seem to notice me standing in the doorway.

I pull the camera up on my phone and, making sure the flash is off, take a picture of the touching father-son moment.

Content with my evidence of this moment in time, I sneak away to our bedroom.

It's been a long evening and I actually got out there and played a game of soccer with my brothers and Dylan. There's nothing I want more than to take a shower.

I hop in the shower and 15 minutes later when I get out with a towel wrapped around my damp body, Chase is sitting on the bed.

"Hello there handsome." I say, kissing him quickly on his soft lips.

"What's up sexy?" He wraps his arms around my waist and pulls me onto his lap so that I'm straddling him.

He buries his face in the crook of my neck and slowly begins to kiss me. Before allowing myself to get into it I pushed myself away and stand in front of him.

"Go shower. You smell like sweat and grass." I point towards our en-suite bathroom.

He puts his hands up in surrender.

"Alright alright." He gets up, stands directly in front of me and strips until he's completely naked.

I make a point of only looking into his eyes.

He smirks at me and walks into the bathroom. I allow myself to sneak a peek at his delicious behind as he walks away.

As soon as he closes the door and I hear the shower start I drop my towel. I rush to lather my skin in my vanilla-scented lotion; Chase's favorite.

I put on my sexy black and red lace lingerie and sit on the bed. When I hear the shower stop running I quickly fluff my hair and lay down across the bed, positioning myself in a sexy pose.

Chase walks out of the bathroom with a towel around his waist and he's using a smaller one to dry his hair.

"Baby I was thinking tomorrow we could-" Chase stops speaking when he sees me.

Almost instantly a little tent forms in his towel where his male equipment is.

"I was thinking we could pick up where we left off before you went to bathe." I suggest sweetly.

Chase goes to the dresser to get a condom but I stop him.

"We have 5 bedrooms in this house. Not to mention 2 home offices, a basement, and a home gym. Only 2 of the bedrooms are being used. I'd like to make some babies to occupy those extra 3 rooms and Carter could use some siblings."

Chase smiles and drops the condom back into the drawer and makes his way over to me.

In the next few minutes Chase and I are both completely undressed and we make love well into the night.

I fall asleep wrapped in my husband's arms and all I can think of is how much I love this man.










A/N: Thats a wrap folks. Thank you all for supporting this story. It means the world and more to me. I don't think I'm writing a sequel to this story. Sorry to anyone who wanted one. Please please please go and read my story Awkward. It's for open-minded people who don't mind crazy crazy crazy situations. That's the story I will now be focusing my energy on. I'd really appreciate the support. Well, thank you again for reading Black or White. I really loved these characters and tried to give everyone a happy ending. Hopefully I'll see you all in the comments section of Awkward. ;) See you there.
-JustCallMeTHUG