Chapter 8
There were more than ten of us in the waiting room while Ryann gave blood and had her blood pressure monitored. Most of us were there to support Ryann, but a few people were there because right after she left the clinic, we were headed for the private jet that I rented.
The regular season had ended for The Bison the night before.
Our record landed us in fourth place in our conference.
We were headed into the playoffs facing the fifth seed, the Richmond Rebels.
It was cool that we had a few days off before the playoff started and that those days coordinated with when Ryann was taking the pregnancy test. I wanted to get her away from everything.
When she got the negative result after the first round of IVF, she had to sit in that thing, and I knew that wasn’t good for her mental.
It was easy to overlook because she never talked about it, but she wasn’t only dealing with a failed round of IVF, she was racing against an unseen shot-clock.
Time was winding down, and the window was closing on her fertility.
Nobody could tell her exactly how much time she had or how many shots she would get to even go through IVF.
That was another stressor in itself. If she got a negative result this time, I wanted her to be surrounded by the people who loved her and would pour into her.
I didn’t want her to feel alone, or like she was in it by herself. I was with her. I had her back.
The flight from Chicago to Jackson Island, South Carolina, where I owned beachfront property, took about two hours.
I was tired as hell from the game we’d played the night before, so I could feel myself dozing off as I chilled next to Ryann.
About halfway through the flight, she got a phone call.
Her movements next to me woke me from the light sleep.
She stood and walked to the back of the jet before answering the call.
We were all pretty sure that it was the results of the pregnancy test. I jumped up to follow her.
I didn’t really want her to be alone if the results were negative again.
I must’ve been moving too slow or something.
By the time I stood up and started to follow her, she was already on her way back toward me.
Our eyes met. Hers brimmed with tears and there was a half-smile, half-grimace on her face.
I waited for her to speak as knots formed in my stomach. She stopped walking, so I headed toward her.
Her hand went to her mouth and the tears that had been pooling in her eyes slid down her face. “It’s positive. I’m pregnant.”
I wasn’t even sure if she said the words out loud because I read her lips.
Without thinking, I dropped to my knees in front of her and wrapped my arms around her waist. Once she was close enough, I took one hand off her waist, lifted her top, and kissed her stomach repeatedly.
“Thank you,” I muttered between kisses. “Thank you, Ry.”
Her hands landed in my hair, her fingers moving through my curls as her body wracked with sobs.
For a few moments, it was like we were suspended in time.
There was just the two of us. Nobody said anything while we held each other and let the knowledge that we were going to be parents settle over us.
Genesis broke the sacred silence by practically jumping on my back with a shriek. “Oh my goodness! I’m gonna be an aunt!”
After that, the moment was shattered and the jet erupted in shouts, cheers, and yells.
Even Mocha gave out little howls and barks from her carrier.
I gave Ryann’s flat stomach one last kiss and stood to my feet.
I pulled her into a hug, then turned her like I was introducing her to the crowd. “Give it up for Ryann!” I told them.
I had just hung up from telling my grandfather the news about my impending fatherhood when my twin brother stepped into the bedroom I was sharing with Ryann.
My house had five bedrooms. I’d given the primary bedroom to Mr. and Mrs. Upton.
The other three couples, CJ and Gensie; Zyah and Amari; and Beaux and his lady, had claimed their respective bedrooms, all of which featured either a queen or king-sized bed.
Since Ryann and I were the only two single people, we took the bedroom with two full sized beds.
I stood from the bed just as he approached me with his hand out. “Twin.” He shook my hand and pulled me into a hug at the same time. “Congratulations.”
Beaux and I were fraternal twins, but we looked enough alike that people were always asking us if we were identical.
We had the same fair complexion and almond shaped eyes that made us look at least partially Blasian.
We were both tall, but he was about two inches shorter.
We had the same curly hair. I wore mine in a curly Ceasar, and he liked to keep his in a bald fade.
He was skinnier, too, but not by much. The way we grew up with absentee parents, we would’ve been close even if we weren’t twins, but the fact that we were made us even closer.
He was one of the few things I had in life that I could depend on.
The others were Genesis, our grandfather, and basketball.
Other than those four things, I didn’t trust much in life to go the way it needed to go.
“Thanks.” I squeezed him extra tight for about two seconds, then released him. “Thanks.” I shook my head.
He smirked at me. “You ready for this? It’s one thing for it to be a hypothetical situation, it’s a whole different ball game when the baby is in her stomach. You’re about to be father, my G.”
“I know. It’s wild as hell.” I ran a hand down my face. “If everything goes to plan, I’m ’bout to have a whole kid.”
“With a mother you’re feeling but can’t pursue.”
“What?”
“You heard me.” He gave me the side eye. “I mean, you just let everybody in the family see the reverence you have for Ryann. You were kissing her fucking stomach like she’s carrying the future of the world.”
“Fuck you, man,” I said with a chuckle. “She’s carrying the future of our generation. Gensie’s kids are Uptons. This baby is a Cole. If it’s a boy, it’ll carry our last name into the future. If it’s a girl, she’ll sit on a throne and be forever protected.”
“Say word.” He slapped my hand in agreement. “A princess Cole? Hell yeah, she’ll be forever protected. Her big unc got her.”
“Her daddy got her.”
“Psssst.” He sucked his teeth. “Bro, please. You’re gonna be distracted chasing behind her mother. Nose open wide enough for her to drive a Mack truck up in there.”
I grinned. “What are you trying to say, man?”
“I’m saying it.” He lowered his voice. “Your ass is into your future baby’s mother. Your ass was supposed to be trying to co-parent.” He looked at the beds that were parallel to one another. “Your ass is finna be trying to co-sleep.”
I laughed hard as hell. “Come on, dude.”
“Yo, come on, Brix. I know you.” He thumped his chest. “I know you. And I gotta admit, there’s something about Ryann. She’s got that girl-next-door, black all-American girl thing going. She looks sweet and innocent. Like… home.”
“Physically, Ryann’s bad as hell. She’s gorgeous and her personality is sweet and easy. She’s definitely pressure. But I’m still dealing with the aftermath of Adrianna. I don’t want nothing else complicated.”
“Adrianna wasn’t complicated. She just fucked up.
And because we grew up with a mother who never made us the priority, you can’t abide anybody not making you the priority.
When Adrianna chose fucking old boy over being faithful to you, it was a wrap.
There wasn’t anything she could’ve done to correct her error because Sabrina Cole laid the foundation. ”
Adrianna’s cheating had only fed into the narrative that was already in my subconscious because of my parents, especially my mother—that I wasn’t good enough.
I wasn’t good enough for my father to bother sticking around to raise.
I wasn’t good enough for my mother to care about more than work.
I wasn’t good enough to be all the man that Adrianna needed.
Beaux was right. There was no way for Adrianna to come back from reinforcing my negative feelings about my place in the lives of others.
“Dude, go be with your girl. She’s probably looking for you.”
“She isn’t. She went with your girl.”
Beaux was always with the shits.
“I don’t have a girl.”
“Yeah, whatever.”
“Shut your ass up. Instigating ass. Always talking shit.”
He laughed. “Anyway, all the women went to the store. They even took the dog because it’s a girl. Apparently, whatever groceries you had delivered didn’t include the side dishes Mrs. Upton and Gensie want to cook. They’re making some big celebration dinner for Ryann. All of her favorite foods.”
I nodded because Ryann deserved to be celebrated. If everything went to plan, she would have her prayer answered. She would get to be a mother.
“Mr. Upton asked me to come get you. He can’t work the fancy ass grill you have on the deck.”
“Cool. I’ll be right there. I need to handle something right quick.” I typed into my phone.
“What’re you doing?”
“Mind yours, nosy ass.”
Once I finished texting, I followed my brother out to the deck to help Mr. Upton get the grill ready.
Nine of us helped with the meal in different ways, but Mrs. Upton insisted that Ryann chill and let her body work on nestling the embryo. Right before the table was set, the doorbell rang.
“That’s for you,” I told Ryann as she sat in the adjacent family room cuddling Mocha in her arms. “You’re not gonna want to give that dog back when the owners come for her.”
She snuggled Mocha. “I’ll give her back. I mean, I’ll definitely miss her, but I’ll give her back.”
The doorbell rang again.
“Get the door. It’s for you,” I repeated.
“Why would somebody ringing your doorbell be for me?”
“Get the door, woman.”