Chapter 2 #6
Afterward, I brushed my teeth and emerged into the bedroom wrapped in one of those thick hotel or spa-style robes.
Frequency was dressed for the day, fine as fucking ever.
Seated on a bench at the foot of the bed, draped in Armani, a midnight-blue suit with a crisp white shirt underneath, he seemed so dejected.
The waves in his head were swimming heavily, and a deep wrinkle formed in his forehead.
I stopped right near the dresser, taking him in.
“I’m sorry.” His voice was so low when he spoke, almost broken.
Slowly, his upper body sloped forward, and his elbows rested on his knees. He brought his hands to his face as if he was praying.
“I don’t know what I’m doing here. This shit feels like everything is closing in around me right now.” He sniffled and shook his head.
His head pivoted in my direction, and he took me in from head to toe. The pain and the confusion I saw there pierced my heart, and I cracked seeing him that way. I had grown accustomed to him being so strong and unwavering.
“Celine… she’s my mother. My real mother,” he revealed, and I stumbled back against the dresser in shock, gripping my stomach and hoping the news didn’t send me into labor.
It was hard to wrap my mind around.
“What do you mean? How did you find this out?” I questioned.
“She told me. She didn’t want to, but everything with my parents being here somehow brought it all back again. So she’s gone because she lied. I don’t have the energy to deal with her right now, not after everything with Kutlass.” He shook his head, and I drifted over to him.
Standing at his side, his bright, champagne-like eyes searched mine. He harbored so much pain there. I reached out, swiping the side of his face with my hand.
“I’m sorry,” I said to him, and his eyes closed.
My touch seemed to put him at ease a little bit, and his hand rested on top of mine before his other arm was snaking behind my waist, and he drew me down into his lap.
“I can’t tell you how to feel about this. I know you two were closer than close, so I can only imagine what you are going through and how hard this is on you.” I fingered his chin, and he bobbed his head in agreement.
“She’s the one person that’s always been in my corner, no matter what.
All this time, I thought it was just her being her.
She’s like that. Caring, nurturing, and loving.
To find out all this time that she’s been hiding who she really is to me and that everything else is a fucking lie…
shit cut me, ma.” I could see his eyes misting, and empathy overwhelmed me I wanted so bad other fix it for him.
“I know. I’m sorry.” My hand massaged the back of his neck, and our baby kicked inside of me.
It was so hard that Frequency felt it against his abs, and he chuckled while wiping the tip of his nose. He palmed my stomach with his big hand.
“What’s up, kid? You trying to tell me to get my shit together?” he teased, leaning closer to my belly.
“I think they are trying to say that… no matter what, we are here. You got us and Ivy. We are your family, and we won’t be going anywhere,” I promised, leaning forward to kiss his supple lips. He accepted it, closing his eyes and kissing me back.
“A nigga got blessed when you entered my life. I love you. That’s not ever changing.”
“I love you too,” I whispered back between kisses.
“Get dressed. I’m going to talk to Ivana. Can you take Ivy downstairs for me? Just let her know I need to tell her something.”
“Can do,” I agreed.
About ten minutes later, Ivy and I entered the kitchen together.
She was in a Puma jogging suit with matching sneakers.
It was Saturday, so there was no school today.
I decided since I was on light duty until the baby came that I would whip up a quick breakfast. We had to eat after all.
So Ivy perched herself at the counter, and I began pulling things from the fridge to the counter.
“Where is Daddy?” she asked, reaching for an apple from the bowl in the center of the counter. “And where is Celine? No offense, I love your food too, but I miss hers.”
“Pssh… you aren’t the only one. She had to leave for a while, and I don’t know when she is coming back. Your daddy is handling something else, something that we need to talk to you about.”
“Uh-oh. Is it the baby? I really am okay with this,” she insisted, biting into her apple.
Laughing, I went to grab a bowl to crack a few eggs so that I could make breakfast.
“No, it’s not about the baby, but thanks for being mature about the situation.”
“Well, I am soon to be a teenager, and now I’ll have someone to boss around.” She perked up in her chair. “It will be great.”
“You are a mess and a half,” I concluded as Frequency appeared in the doorway from the hall.
He paused, shielding her from what was behind him.
“Morning, Daddy,” she greeted him with a big grin.
“Ivy. Something happened, and I don’t want to hide it from you. You are growing up, and you deserve the truth.”
Her forehead wrinkled into a frown, and she stopped chewing her apple but kept a grip on it in her palm.
Free stepped aside, and Ivana stood behind him.
She had showered and changed into an old jogger set I left behind in a drawer.
Her hair was in a blunt-cut bob, and it was still intact as she admired her daughter from across the room.
Confusion immediately spread over Ivy’s face, and she hopped off her barstool.
Her rounded orbs bounced from Free to her mother and back again.
“Mama?” she managed to utter, still very much in shock. “I don’t understand. She’s here? Alive? How?” Her questions echoed in the air almost like a high-pitched shriek cutting through.
“Ivy, baby, it’s me.” Ivana’s tone softened in a way I hadn’t heard since she’d been here.
This was her child, and I would be inhuman and lying my ass off if I said I didn’t feel the twinge of jealousy from it all. She came to embrace her, and Ivy’s eyes bucked in her head from her touch. She was like stone, stiffened in shock where she stood as the woman who birthed her held her close.
“My sweet baby girl. Look at you. All grown up.” Ivana stroked her braids and pulled away to take her in. “Gorgeous.” She complimented, running her fingers through the loose box braids.
“I don’t understand.” Tears filled Ivy’s eyes.
“I know, baby girl. I know. But… these are the facts. I love you. I am here, and if I can help it, I’m never leaving you again.” Her hands graced Ivy’s cheeks, and she stared into her eyes.
In order to keep myself busy, I went back to work on breakfast. I could feel Frequency eyeing me.
My hormones were off the chain, so everything was a trigger right now.
Seeing this, his ex, the only other woman besides me he was known to love, hit me like a pile of books on my chest. I washed my hands of egg and got to work making French toast, scrambled eggs, and bacon with a side of fruit.
There was enough space in the kitchen for them to seat themselves at the table and still have privacy while I cooked.
Frequency was at my side, peering down at me.
“You good?” He kept his tone low.
I loved that he was so attentive, making sure I was okay. I definitely wasn’t, but I couldn’t let him or anyone else know.
“I’m good. I am just going to make breakfast and give you some time down here. I don’t want to interfere. Plus, I got a few things I need to deal with myself. Chevy and I were going to video chat so that we could go over some work stuff since we are both out of commission right now.”
“Okay. Get some rest too. I don’t want you worrying about the work shit either. I’m always going to provide for you, Harbor. You and this one will never have to worry about a thing,” he assured me, rubbing circles around my belly.
“I know.” I nodded.
It was a lot to deal with, so I could only imagine what he was going through.
I worked quickly with breakfast because I was beginning to fill overwhelmed and out of place in the room.
I knew that Free loved me, but his entire life had been flipped upside down, so I knew that he was dealing with plenty without me and my emotions in the mix.
This shit was heavy, and it was matters of the heart, which was always sensitive.
I made plates for everyone and one for myself, even though I had completely lost my appetite by this time.
I carried my food upstairs anyway and decided to eat while I chatted with Chevy.
She picked up, and I propped my phone up on a pillow while I sat in bed and picked at the fruit on my plate. I could tell from her eyes that she probably slept about as good as I did. Her hair was swept up into a high bun messily on her head, and she seemed to be in a kitchen.
“Hey, chick,” she greeted me.
“’Sup,” I dryly replied back.
“Ugh, what is wrong? That baby kicking your ass?” she teased.
“Among other things,” I muttered. “Did you talk to Knowledge?”
“He’s sleeping still. He got in late last night after meeting with Frequency. Why?”
“So you probably haven’t spoken to him or know what’s going on.”
“No, I don’t. Girl, just spit it out. I need something to distract me from what I got going on.” She rolled her eyes at the camera and moved around the kitchen whipping up food.
“Ivy’s mother is back.”
I heard something clatter to the ground, like she had dropped something, and then her ass popped into the camera.
“Bitch, what?” She lifted both brows.
“His fucking baby mama is alive. I guess she was with this dude, Arrow. Free’s father was tied up in it all. It’s a fucking mess,” I ranted, finally able to vent like I wanted to.
“What the fuck? So is she there now?”
“Downstairs with Ivy and Free having breakfast,” I revealed, pretending to perk up while she shook her head in disbelief.
“Harbor.” Her head tilted in sympathy. “How the hell are you not going crazy right now? And what is she like? How did Ivy take it? I have so many questions.”