Chapter 29 Win
Win
I’m glowing today and it’s not just the pregnancy kind.
No, this is goddess level, I could be on the cover of a magazine type of glow.
We’re in June now, and I’m officially eight months pregnant with twins.
I’m sitting inside the studio, dressed in the most gorgeous white tulle gown I’ve ever seen.
The fabric is soft and dreamy, wrapped delicately around my bump, cascading down my legs like layers of cotton candy.
The sleeves are off-shoulder and ruffled, giving everything a soft, ethereal feel against my skin.
It’s the kind of dress you wear when you know you’re about to enter your queen era. Everything just feels perfect.
“Yes!” I grin. “That’s so him.”
“Mommy, that’s nothing to Nickoi,” I tell her, fanning myself with my hand. “A just your first time reacting, mi did feel the same way when we went shopping.”
She leans closer to the screen, whispering, “Him have money man.”
I just laugh and nod. “Mi know.”
In the background, I spot Nickoi. He’s wearing a fresh white tee, fitted jeans, and though I can’t see them fully, I know he’s in his favorite Clarks.
His hair is newly plaited, neat and clean, he looks like money, and walks like it too.
He’s at the cashier, talking to the clerk while holding two baby bags.
Meanwhile, I’m over here slowly roasting under this useless fan.
“Mommy, mi hot,” I whine, pulling at the layers of tulle wrapped around me.
“The fan in front of mi a blow hot air, and mi deh yah inna princess dress.”
She laughs. “Mi nuh understand how them nuh have AC?”
“Mi affi go ask, cause this nah work,” I say, already regretting not packing my portable fan.
“True you a use too much AC at home eno.” True. Nickoi literally can’t sleep without the AC on. If it reach 27 degrees in the house, him vex. Gavin walks in just in time, holding up a container with my Cobb salad.
“See yuh salad yah, royalty,” he grins.
“Thanks Gav,” I say, taking it. It’s my fourth one this week. Lettuce, tomatoes, crispy bacon, fried chicken nuggets, boiled eggs, and avocado, yes, I’m obsessed.
“Gyal, yuh just a glow,” Gavin says, pulling up a chair. “No wonder Nickoi nuh stop spend pon yuh.” Before I can even answer, Candy calls him from across the studio.
“Candy, yuh want mi?” he shouts, then adds, “Talk fast enuh lady, mi is a business man.” Laughter erupts again. Aye, mi cyaa bother wid him eno.
“Cyaa stand yuh enuh, bwoy,” Candy yells back from her makeup chair. I nod in agreement, chewing a mouthful of lettuce. Cyaa stand him at all. Good thing yuh siddung, my subconscious throws shade like usual, and I can’t help but laugh out loud.
“Soon come, Zara,” Gavin says before walking off. I nod, then glance back at my phone. That’s when I notice Mommy. She’s quiet now, just… watching me with a soft smile. One of those real, reflective kinds that makes you feel like she’s thinking a thousand thoughts at once.
I squint playfully. “Mommy… wah yuh a think?”
She blinks like I caught her red-handed. “Mi nuh memba if mi ever seh this, but mi proud a yuh, and mi love the woman yuh turning into,” she says, her smile stretching wider but softer, like it’s carrying weight. I smile. Awww… Mommy, why yuh wah get mi emotional now?
“Mommy mi nah mess up mi makeup eno. Candy just finish beat mi face not even half hour ago,” I joke, fanning myself dramatically. Mi cyaa afford fi cry yet. The picture nuh tek yet.
She laughs gently. “Mi nuh want yuh to either,” she says, then her voice drops, more serious now.
“But look at it… Yuh change so much inna short time. An’ all because of Nickoi, when yuh really think ‘bout it. Mi grateful, honestly. You don’t even act childish anymore…
You act like you ready, ready fi everything.
Fi be a mommy, fi be Nickoi wife.” She lowers her voice into a whisper and leans in like it’s just us two.
“And mi notice likkle changes inna Nickoi too. Him nah hide it either. Mi know seh a you and the baby dem a cause it. Both a unuh changing each other… inna good way.”
I start smiling hard. “Mi see it too, Mommy.” She chuckles, looking at me with so much pride it almost hurts.
“Me? Proud bad bad. Mi a mussy Penny Proud.”
I burst out laughing. “Mommy! Yuh still a watch that?”
She nods without shame, wearing a goofy grin. “Who fi stop mi? You think cause mi a big woman mi fi stop watch what mi love? That’s my cartoon.”
I chuckle and shake my head. “Mi never seh nothing,” I say in that sarcastic tone she knows all too well. We both laugh before she quiets again, more thoughtful now.
“Look pon you… Just 22, a whole teacher, even though yuh get pregnant and did mek mi worry likkle bit…
yuh still turn ‘round and mek mi proud. Mi love how you and Nickoi figure out life together. And now? Look at you, engaged, glowing, about to have twins, and still so beautiful.” Her eyes are glistening. Mine? Fighting not to join hers.
“Mommy, mi beg yuh… do not mek mi cry. Mi nah mess up mi face before the photographer even call mi up.”
She laughs, wiping the corner of her eye. “Mi done.” Just then, Nickoi pops up on the screen, a smirk already dancing on his lips.
“Baby mother,” he grins, grabbing the phone.
Hey baby daddy! My subconscious shouts, waving like she’s bold.
I want to say it out loud too, but I pause.
Mommy deh right beside him. And even though she knows what it is between us…
it still feels foreign. I’ve never been this soft, this…
affectionate, with a man in front of her.
Mi understand, my subconscious whispers. But come on, Zara… say it. Yuh twenty-two. Yuh grown. She right. And truthfully? There’s no shame in love that’s real.
“Baby daddy,” I smile at the screen, and he smirks. Lawd, mi wish my subconscious coulda step out and live fi me sometimes, she brave bad. Purr, mi love how yuh move…quiet but mysterious. Innocent on the outside but yuh mind? Hmm. I stifle a laugh. This woman in my head is something else.
“What you eating?” Nickoi asks, switching into that accent that makes my toes curl. Smooth, deep… like a scamma voice, but manage to not sound like a fool. He sounds rich. Sexy, in other words. I show him the plate.
“Oh… Cobb salad.”
He nods. “Nice.” If only he could hear what’s going on in my head right now… Jesus.
“Zara, mi know yuh woulda wah chat to yuh man longer, but come on, chop chop!” Gavin claps twice as he walks over. I burst out laughing. On-screen, Nickoi is grinning. “A the photographer call her,” Gavin tells him apologetically before walking off.
“Jah Jah,” Nickoi groans, “You look good enuh, Mami. Wish mi did in there so we coulda go inna the bathroom fi a minute or two.” Jeusssss!
**
“Mommy deh deh!?” I gasp. He laughs and flips the camera, sure enough, Mommy’s over by the counter chatting with the cashier.
“Oh.” I exhale. That would’ve been awkward. He turns the camera back to himself, still laughing.
“Shoulda see yuh face.”
I smile, biting my lip. “I have to go, Nickoi.”
He frowns. “Mi wah see everything. Weh Gutta deh?”
“He’s outside,” I say. Gutta is the one who drove us here.
“Mek him hold the phone nuh, b… or Gavin. Anybody,” he insists. Awww… him nuh wah miss a thing.
“Everything yuh wah see, bwoy?” I tease.
He sucks his teeth. “Bill nuh.” I laugh and walk over to Gavin because honestly? That walk outside to Gutta is too much.
“Hold this mek Nickoi watch, please,” I say, handing Gavin the phone before settling into the director’s chair. Clova starts adjusting my hair while Candy glides a fresh layer of lip gloss on my lips, then adds a light touch of mascara to my lashes.
“She look pretty, nuh true?” I hear Gavin ask on the phone.
“Everyday thing that, fam,” Nickoi replies with zero hesitation. “All when she wake up she pretty.” Whew. My cheeks flame instantly.
“Den nuh so it fi go? Dolly baddie right through, she not even need all a this,” Clova chimes in, adjusting a strand of my hair.
“Exactly,” Candy agrees, smiling as she finishes my makeup. When it’s finally time to take the photos, I walk over to the backdrop and lower myself to the floor. But I notice Dennis, the photographer, still setting up.
“Okay, we’ll start with a seated shot,” he says, giving me a few simple directions. I follow them as he snaps away, the flash lighting up the backdrop. Then the studio door opens.
“Mami,” a familiar voice calls out, and I turn around beaming. So he’s doing photoshoot too? Nickoi walks in confidently. I just smile. He leans down and kisses my cheek, then greet the crew.
I glance behind him and spot my mom. I walk—okay, run—over to her and she wraps me in her arms. When we pull away, she’s still smiling.
“Watch nice,” she says, holding my face.
Her eyes shine with pride. I take a second to notice.
Mommy gained some weight. Mi love this for her. She looks good and happy.
“Thanks, Mommy,” I laugh softly.
When I turn back around, I see Nickoi shirtless now, still in his denim jeans and wearing his Rolex. Yumm.
“Ready now,” Dennis starts. “Let’s do the standing shots Zara.” His assistant comes over to help me up and gently straightens my dress. I do some solo shots, Gavin cheering me on. I’m already in love with those shots.
Dennis tilts the camera, showing previews. After that round, I take a short break. My nose is glistening from the heat, so I reapply some powder and Candy dabs a little extra gloss on my lips.
I shift into position, and Nickoi kneels in front of me. Just like the night he proposed. I smile, heart full, as he looks up at me with those eyes. That look, that same intense, soft, sexy stare, makes me a little nervous, even now.
“This brings back memories,” I whisper, hoping to distract myself.
“Mhmm.” He smiles again.
“Ready?” Dennis calls.
“Born ready,” Nickoi answers, then leans forward and gently kisses my bump. I smile for the camera as the shutter captures it all.
“Clean,” Dennis says.
“Mi love this!” Mommy exclaims behind us.
“This affi frame, Aunty!” Gavin adds, practically glowing. I grin at them both, soaking in the love, then walk over to my salad while Nickoi chats with Dennis and the others. I lift the cover, ready to eat, when I see a hand place a phone beside me. Nickoi’s hand.
I glance up. “Whose phone?”
He chuckles. “Eat too much, man.”
I finish chewing and swallow before asking again, “Whose phone?”
“Yours. From your birthday, yuh did say you want it,” he says, and I blink. He remembered? If spoiled was a person, it would be you. Nuh true.
“Nickoi, you always giving me stuff,” I say softly, looking at the phone. “And mi did tell yuh fi get used to it,” he replies. I hug him. I can’t stop smiling. “Mi wah can spoil you too,” I murmur into his chest.
He hisses softly. “Wah mi did say bout that?”
I grin. “I know, I know. But when your birthday comes mi nah go cyaa give you half a wah you gi—” Before I can even finish, he grabs my face and kisses me.
I smile against his lips. When he pulls back, he holds my gaze.
“Shhh,” he says. I swat him playfully before picking up my fork, placing a piece of lettuce and tomato in his mouth. He chews. I follow with a bite of nugget and lettuce, chewing while watching him. Awww.
“Watch dem,” Mommy smiles, amused. “Unuh ready fi go home?” Nickoi looks at me.
“Yes, we done tek the pictures,” I say, nodding.
He nods too. “Ah.”
NICKOI
“What you doing for your birthday next month?” she asks softly, then I shrug, telling her I normally smoke, drink, buy something expensive fi miself, and spend time with mi dawgs.
“I want to do suh’m for you,” she sighs. “But it won’t compare to your gifts.”
“Mami, relax,” I rub the roundness of her belly. “Which Caribbean country you woulda wah go?”
“But a your birthday, Nickoi.”
“And as mi seh already, mi ideal birthday a fi buy a new car or a house, drink and smoke, but mi wah this time different. An mi nuh think Jamaica a the right place, yuh see mi?”
“Okay… Barbados?” she offers with a smile.
“Ah,” I nod. “We can go deh fi mi birthday, the 6th of July, spend a couple days, and then you come back the week after when it close to yuh due date.” My phone starts ringing. I glance over. Uncle Orion.
“Wah gwaan?”he beams as I answer.
“Deh yah wid wifey,” I say, looking at Zara lying beside me.
“Nice, nice,” he says, making me chuckle.
“Wah you deh pan?” I ask, sitting up as Zara slides her hand off my chest.
“Well, mi just wah hear from you… how the bet a go?” he asks.
I start laughing. “Well, not exactly as planned, like two a wi pocket might get burn still.” Rolls Royce money nuh normal… and neither is Bentley money.
“So wah you a say, mi a get the Rolls Royce?” he chuckles.
“Yah,” I say, looking over at Zara again as he bursts out laughing. She’s watching me now, face curious but I turn back to the call. “But mi a get the Bentley too.” Both a we a win.
“Wah yuh mean?” he asks, surprised.
“Mi get both a dem,” I say, grinning.
“Woah! So it’s a change of plan, huh?” he’s laughing. “Congrats mi nephew!”
“Yah man… a bet is a bet… and we win.”
“You don’t play, enuh, but mi love the sound a dat.”