Chapter 19
Chapter Nineteen
A fter they’d showered together, they climbed back in bed and Zion held Raven close. He marveled at how perfect she felt in his arms, against his body… and ultimately in his life. He had never been in love before, but what he felt for her was like nothing he had ever experienced. What he did know was he couldn’t imagine his life without her in it.
This had nothing to do with their physical connection, though that was off the charts. After exploring every inch of her body, he didn’t think he’d ever get enough of her. But whatever was happening between them was something deeper. Something so profound that it had to be love he was feeling.
“I want to talk to you about something,” Raven said and by her tone Zion knew it was serious.
“And that is?” he asked, mentally bracing himself.
“If anything should happen to you and me, I want your parents or one of your sisters to raise the twins. Teresa is currently their godmother, but that was set when I didn’t think I’d ever see you again.”
Zion nodded. Considering she’d been adopted and then lost those parents when she was a teen, he could understand her wanting to make the kids’ guardianship clear. He just hated the idea of anything happening to her. Now that Zion had found her, he never wanted to lose her.
“If you had to choose, which of your sisters would you want raising the kids?”
“That’s a hard one because they each possess qualities that I’d want instilled in the twins. Nyla would bring the fun with her free-spirited attitude. Cree would be the best to provide for them financially. Essence would smother them with love.” He chuckled, thinking about how much of a helicopter mother she was currently to his seventeen-year-old nephew. “Dorian is the most compassionate and empathetic, and she can seriously cook. She’s also very organized.
“But just so you know, if anything happens to us while my mother is still alive, my sisters won’t stand a chance.”
Raven laughed. “I know you’re right. No way would she let anyone else raise them, especially if we don’t have everything in writing. Even then, I could totally see her getting her way and the twins living with her and Israel.”
Since his parents learned of the babies, they had insisted on Raven calling them by their first names or Mom and Dad. Zion didn’t think she’d ever refer to them by the latter, but she’d gotten choked up when they’d told her. She felt they had accepted her into their family, a family she didn’t think she’d ever have. Sure, she had her aunt and cousin, but she said the Priestlys were different.
“I would pick Dorian,” Zion said. “She’d give the kids a solid upbringing with an overabundance of love, teach them morals, and instill in them everything they need to grow into well-rounded adults. Not that the others wouldn’t, but she and Essence are definitely mom material.” Then Zion thought of something else. “Since we’re thinking about this, I’d like to ask Lynix to be the babies’ godfather.”
His friend could be a clown sometime, but he was the most loyal and dependable friend Zion had. Lynix might consider himself only a cop, but there was a lot more to him than most people knew. Besides, Zion also knew his friend could financially provide for them. Another aspect of him that most people didn’t know was the man was rich. He had only become a police officer to piss off his father. Yet after being on the job for a while, Lynix had fallen in love with the adrenaline rush it provided.
“I’d be fine with that,” Raven said, interrupting his thoughts. “His career concerns me, but after meeting him, I can see why you’d choose him. He seems like a great guy. As the kids get older, they are going to love his sense of humor.”
Zion smiled. Yeah, he had to agree. He’d be that godfather who took them on adventures, played with them on the floor and hell, he’d probably even buy them a pony.
Raven’s phone rang, and she reached over and grabbed it from the bedside table. “Oh, good it’s Christopher,” she said of Maximus’s grandfather. “I left a message on his cell phone and his house phone yesterday asking when it would be a good time to stop by today.”
She answered the call, and Zion settled back against the pillows and closed his eyes. The woman had worn him out. Instead of going to see Christopher, he’d rather they grab something to eat and lounge around in bed for a few hours.
“Hey there! I guess you got my message,” she said, a smile in her voice, but when she didn’t say anything for the next few seconds, Zion opened his eyes.
Raven’s hand was over her mouth and her eyes were troubled. “How long has he been there?” she asked and sat up in the bed. Zion followed suit, wondering what had happened. “Okay, thanks for the information. I’ll head that way.”
The moment she disconnected, Raven glanced at him. “I need to go to the hospital. Christopher’s been admitted.”
An hour later, Raven stood outside a hospital room, bracing herself before going inside to see Christopher. She’d been surprised to learn that he was back in the hospital. That was twice now in a matter of weeks that he’d been admitted.
“You okay?” Zion asked, his hand on the small of her back.
Raven hadn’t expected him to come with her, but she was glad he had insisted. Like most people, she hated hospitals. Between the antiseptic smell that seemed to linger in the air, to the outbursts of crying when passing by some of the hospital rooms, it all could be a lot. But having someone, specifically Zion, with her helped calm her nerves.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” she whispered. “Thanks for coming with me.”
“There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for you,” he said, his voice as low as hers as he brushed the back of his fingers down her cheek. He always knew the perfect thing to say.
She lifted up and gave him a quick peck on the lips. “The feeling is mutual.”
A few seconds later, she knocked on Christopher’s door. When she heard him say come in , she pushed it open and stepped inside with Zion following behind her.
Raven was surprised to see Christopher sitting up in bed, but she wasn’t surprised to see him with a cell phone nearby as well as several file folders. He might be retired, but he kept tabs on all his business interests. Not even an IV drip attached to his left hand could slow him down.
Her gaze took in the clear liquid flowing through the tube, but other than that, he didn’t look sick. Tired. Maybe even exhausted, but not sick.
Christopher removed the bifocals that had been hanging on the edge of his nose and set them on the bedside table. “What are you doing here?” he asked, his eyes wide. He smiled as his gaze darted between her and Zion.
Raven moved to the left side of the bed and placed a kiss on his clean-shaven cheek. “G-Pop, I should be asking you the same thing. What’s going on? Why’d I have to hear from your housekeeper that you were here?”
“Nothing. Just came in for a few tests,” he said flippantly, and she knew he was keeping something from her. No way would the hospital keep him overnight for tests… Would they?
Christopher shoved the documents he’d been reading, before they walked in, into the folder and then set the folder aside. His attention then went to Zion, and he studied him before saying, “You must be someone important because Raven doesn’t usually bring people to meet me.”
Zion smiled and stepped forward with his hand outstretched. “Zion Priestly. The twins’ father.”
“Christopher Osbourne,” Christopher said and shook Zion’s hand. “Nice to finally meet you.”
“You too, sir. I’ve heard a lot about you.”
“I wish I could say the same,” Christopher countered, glancing at Raven with his right eyebrow lifted. “She hasn’t shared much of anything about the kids’ father. If I remember correctly, she told me it was complicated.”
Raven glanced away. It had been complicated. She hadn’t wanted to admit that she didn’t really know her babies’ father. That she’d had one-night of mind-blowing sex with a man who had only given her his first name. That she’d had no way of contacting said man to tell him that she was pregnant.
But then, Maximus had told his grandfather that he was the father of the twins. Raven had been livid and hurried to correct that lie. Christopher had been excited about having great- grandchildren, and she’d hated to tell him that Maximus had lied. That he wasn’t the father, and that she and Maximus had parted ways long before the babies were conceived.
She wasn’t a hundred percent sure Christopher believed her, but he knew his grandson. He knew the man he’d help raise was a lowlife at times and couldn’t always be trusted.
Since that conversation, which had been early in her pregnancy, whenever she and the babies visited Christopher, they didn’t discuss the kids’ father or her love life. To Christopher’s credit, he never brought the subject up again, but he treated the babies as if they were his family. Doting on them whenever he got a chance. Against her protests, he had even set up trust funds for them.
Raven appreciated that, but she never wanted him to think she visited him because of his money. She liked hanging out with the old man, and he’d been the only father figure she’d had in her life since her father died. Christopher was generous to a fault and wanted to do more for her and the kids, but Raven had told him that if she needed anything, he’d be the first person she called.
Recently, he had requested that, when the twins started talking, he wanted them to refer to him as G-Pop, their great-grandfather. Raven loved the idea, and the only thing that gave her pause was Maximus. As long as he was out of the picture and not trying to use his grandfather to get to her, she’d teach the kids that Christopher was their honorary great-grandfather.
Now that she was relocating, she wasn’t sure how often they’d see him. Besides that, her babies would be growing up with their paternal grandparents. Would they even have a chance to get to know Christopher?
“What do you do for a living?” she heard Christopher ask Zion. “I assume you don’t live in Houston since this is the first time we’re meeting.”
“No, sir. I’m a police officer with Chicago P.D.”
Raven watched Christopher as he and Zion chatted it up about crime in big cities, and then they discussed Zion’s military days. That conversation slid into sports-talk since there was an NBA game on the television. The TV had been muted when they walked in, but Christopher unmuted it. No doubt that was to keep Raven from asking questions about his health.
For the most part, he looked fine, but he had lost weight since the last time she’d seen him. Christopher was in his early eighties, and when they’d first met well over a year ago, he’d looked younger than he was. He had always been active, but as of late, his age was starting to show.
“Why do I have a feeling you’re sicker than you’re letting on?” she asked, not caring if she was interrupting his and Zion’s conversation about the game.
“Little girl, I told you why I was in here. You can believe what you want,” he said mildly, not bothering to look at her.
She almost laughed. He only used the phrase little girl when she was getting on his nerves. Typically, that was during the times she was asking about his health or telling him he needed to at least act like he was retired.
Zion glanced between them, then pulled his cell phone from his pocket, and glanced at the screen. He reached for her hand and squeezed it.
“I’m going to step out and return some calls while you two visit,” he told her. To Christopher, he extended his hand again, and they shook. “It’s been a pleasure to meet you, sir.”
“Same here, son. If I don’t see you before you head back to Chicago, safe travels.”
Raven almost groaned. That was something else Christopher didn’t know yet. She was going back to Chicago with Zion.