Read Online The Other Side of Divine by Vanessa Davis Griggs - Free Book Online

didn’t have the money, not like where my husband wouldn’t have noticed. My mother and father are struggling since my daddy is out of his position as an Alabama congressman. It’s like the two of them are starting over. My mother even briefly took a part-time job, if you can believe that.”
    â€œYeah. Your father is Lawrence Simmons.”
    Paris twisted her mouth a few times. “Yes. Although these days, as his family, it’s not something you go around bragging about like in the past. I don’t know just how much you truly know when it comes to my father and Gabrielle—”
    â€œIf you don’t mind, I’d like to just keep the conversation on that which pertains to you,” Johnnie Mae said without giving away what she may or may not know.
    â€œOkay,” Paris said. “Anyway, I talked with the other man about possibly doing this test, but that didn’t pan out so well. In fact, he’s pretty certain this baby is not his. In truth, that might seem plausible except for how long my husband and I have been trying without there ever even being a false alarm of success. Then the one time I happen to do something like this with another man and voila, I’m pregnant.”
    â€œSo you feel then that most likely this baby is the other man’s and not your husband’s?” Johnnie Mae said.
    â€œI pray this baby is my husband’s. I don’t know what I’m going to do if it’s not. Honestly, my husband would likely never know if he’s not his. I mean, I know. The other man has been told, but I can fix that easily by telling him he definitely isn’t. And with the exception of me telling you right now—”
    â€œWhich you could very well come back later and tell me the baby definitely is your husband’s and I would be none the wiser as well,” Johnnie Mae said.
    â€œWell, I’m not going to come back and purposely lie to a preacher’s wife. I recall the story about those two people in the Bible who fell dead after they lied. . . .”
    â€œYou’re talking about Ananias and his wife, Sapphira, who lied to Peter about how much their land had sold for when they were selling possessions and bringing the money to benefit the ministry,” Johnnie Mae said. “The problem wasn’t in them keeping back part of what they sold the land for, as the land was theirs to do with as they pleased. It was their flat-out lying about it. And Peter told Ananias that Satan filled his heart to lie not to them but to the Holy Ghost. He and his wife didn’t have to lie. We do have to be careful because a lie is not necessarily to people, as we believe it to be, but to the Holy Ghost, which is a dangerous thing to play with.”
    â€œYes,” Paris said. “And from what I know about Pastor Landris and this ministry, there’s no way I would go there. So for now, I don’t know if this baby is my husband’s or not. So you see what I’m dealing with here. I just need some godly advice on what I should do. Do I tell my husband now or wait until the baby gets here? In truth, I could do a normal DNA test, much less costly and without my husband’s knowledge, after the baby is born. That way, if the baby is his, he never has to go through any pain concerning this. If the baby isn’t, we can deal with that fact from there.”
    â€œSo you’re asking me whether you should tell your husband that you cheated on him, albeit only that one time, and that you’re not sure if the baby you’re carrying is his or not. Is that what you’re asking?”
    Paris bit down on her bottom lip. “Yes, ma’am. That’s what I’m asking. Plus, I needed to get this secret out of me. It’s been eating away at me, just like Pastor Landris preached on Sunday. The devil has been having a field day with my mind and I needed someone to confide in. I wanted to talk with Pastor Landris, but