8. Aaliyah
Aaliyah
“So you finally brought your ass to an appointment, huh?” Bali asked, fucking with Royal.
“Yeah. I figured we could get the samples too while we’re here.”
“Yep. Y’all come on.” As she walked, she turned to me and said, “Your blood pressure and weight look good, Aaliyah. How are you feeling?”
“I’m okay. Just swelling feet. I assume that’s part of it though, right?”
“Could be, but I’ll check them to be sure nothing else is going on. You ready to find out what you’re having?”
“Beyond ready. I need to add decorations to the nursery, so I need to know what colors.”
Bali smiled at me and led us into a room. “Go ahead and get on the table. I’ll be right back to check you out and do your ultrasound.”
“Okay.”
“Let me help you,” Royal said.
He came to me and lifted me to the table. I was so grateful for that. It seemed my belly was growing by the day. It made it hard for me to maneuver like I wanted to. A couple of months ago I would have easily hopped up here without assistance.
Royal went and sat in the chair, and I could tell he was extremely bothered.
Crew was wrong for that shit. He acted like he was the older brother sometimes.
It seemed he was jealous of Royal for some reason.
He was only like twenty-two years old and still in college. He couldn’t compare himself to Royal.
“Royal.”
He looked up at me and smiled, then stood to come to my side. After kissing my head, he asked, “What’s up, baby?”
“Your sexy ass.”
I put my hands on his face and pulled him to me. I kissed his lips then slid my tongue to his, trying to get his mood out of the dumps. He slid his hands to my hips and gripped the extra goodness there as he released a soft moan into my mouth.
When the door opened, he pulled away from me as Bali stood there frowning. “And that’s why the fuck y’all in this office. You can’t contain yourself until you get home? Nasty asses.”
I giggled as she pushed in the ultrasound machine.
She went to my chart and looked over a few things.
“Aaliyah, all your stats look really good. The babies’ health looks amazing from what we saw through the amniocentesis, serum screening, and CVS.
We are going to check their size and positioning through the ultrasound and your amniotic fluid.
They already took blood for routine testing and for the paternity test. Royal, we just need a sample from you. We’ll get that after the ultrasound.”
We both nodded as she came to me and checked my thyroids, ears, and all that other shit, before having me lay down to check my belly and feet. “They aren’t swollen today, Liyah. You probably did too much.”
“Probably,” I said as I stared at Royal.
Bali looked at him too and rolled her eyes. “Is anything bothering you? Do you have any questions?”
“Will I be delivering them both naturally, or will I have to have a C-section?”
“So far, everything is looking great for a vaginal delivery. We will monitor that as we go. After your next appointment in two weeks, we will start seeing you every week.”
I nodded as she adjusted the machine, then looked up at Royal. “You see I’m trying to get set up. Get yo’ ass out the way, fool. Go to the other side. I swear, men are dummies. No common sense at all.”
I giggled as Royal frowned, then slowly shook his head. He walked around to the other side of me and grabbed my hand and kissed it. “Bali better be glad she pregnant. Doctor or not, I would have snatched her up and tickled her ass to death.”
Bali was frowning when he said ‘snatch her ass up’ but when he finished the sentence, she had a slight smirk on her lips.
She grabbed the gel, so I lifted my shirt and tucked it under my bra and slid my maternity pants down.
She squirted some on my stomach. I loved that she warmed her gel slightly.
It wasn’t too liquidy, but it wasn’t cold either.
Royal was staring at me as she did so, then looked at the screen with a huge smile on his face. I was waiting to see if he would look confused, but that expression never graced his face. When they came into view, he said, “Look at my babies. That one looks chill as fuck.”
I giggled. The baby looked to be laid back against what was probably my bladder. The other one’s hands were up.
Bali circled something and said, “The one that’s chill as fuck is your daughter.”
Royal smiled even bigger. So far we had a girl. He kissed my hand and continued staring at the screen to see what Bali would reveal next.
“This one is your whiny ass son.”
I chuckled. I swore, this heifer had no couth. Royal kissed my hand again and said to Bali, “Watch yourself, girl. You pregnant. Yo’ child might come out a lil terror. What are you having anyway?”
Before she could answer, we heard a commotion up front. “I swear, these muthafuckas act like this isn’t a fucking medical clinic.”
She pulled a gun from her scrubs, and Royal pulled his from his waistband. “Stay here, Aaliyah,” he said and kissed my head.
I didn’t know what all was going on, but based on the little bit I heard from Seven yesterday, the FBI wanted the Hendersons for whatever reason.
Otherwise, why would we have to stay inside?
They had to think the Hendersons had something to do with these FBI agents getting popped and those niggas getting killed after they shot and killed PJ.
I knew they went to Liberty and had a field day, but apparently, they didn’t have proof of that because no one had been arrested.
Laying here freezing, my body was trembling. I knew being cold wasn’t the sole reason. I was nervous. I could hear shouting, but thankfully, no gunshots. The door opened, and Bali and Royal walked back inside with frowns on their faces. All those damn Hendersons had the same frown lines.
“Ignorant, MAGA muthafuckas. I’m sick of this shit,” Bali said.
Royal came to my side and grabbed my hand.
“What happened?” I asked.
“Some white people claiming to be law enforcement without showing a fucking badge. They were trying to come back here to verify no one was here illegally. They like fucking with us because they can’t stand seeing us owning our own shit.
They don’t like for us to be doing better than them.
Black American people are a blessed culture.
If we could all tap into our gifts and greatness, we could overtake this fucking country by force . . . just like they did,” Royal said.
“Did they leave?”
“Naw, but Uncle Kenny and Uncle Storm are up there, along with Seneca and Chad from Watchful Eyes.”
“Mayor Storm by himself would intimidate me.”
Royal rolled his eyes, and said, “That nigga is more bark than bite.”
“Watch yourself, nigga. You ain’t finna talk about Daddy Mayor in my face.”
I smiled at her calling him Daddy Mayor. When I heard Noni say it, I couldn’t help but laugh. I thought she was joking at first. When I saw the frown on her face, I realized she was serious as hell. I had to apologize.
Bali grabbed the paddle and went back to what she was doing, checking to make sure everything else was okay.
She had a frown on her face the entire time, and she was quiet.
I knew she was still pissed. According to Red Squared, he said Bali was definitely as much bite as she was bark.
I believed that with my whole heart. I believed that about Noni too after she slapped his ass at that restaurant.
When she pulled the paddle from my belly, she said, “All looks well, Aaliyah. Normally, an ultrasound tech does this, but y’all my family, and I’m so happy for y’all.
Royal, fatherhood will look good on you.
You’ve always been a good guy, like Uncle Jasper, despite being a ho-ass nigga.
” She glanced at me, and said, “No offense, Aaliyah.”
“None taken.”
“For the record, I think you’ll be a great mom too.” After pulling the machine back, she continued. “Go give your sample Royal so we can have proof that those people in Houston fucked that test all the way up.”
He gave her a one-cheeked smile, then kissed her cheek on his way out. After the door closed, she broke out in tears. Scared the shit out of me. I sat up and slid off the table, going to her. “Bali, you okay?”
“Yeah . . . I’m just so happy for y’all. These hormones got me all fucked up!”
I giggled as I hugged her. When she got herself together, I said, “You must be having a girl to have you feeling all of that.”
“Girl, no. I’m having a whiny ass lil boy.”
I laughed so loud. That was why she said that about our little prince. “I’m sure Carter is extremely happy about that, huh?”
“Absolutely. He’s already talking about having him on a fucking bull like his dad had him.”
“Generations of bull riders. I love that. I already know Red’s gonna be that times ten if he and Noni have a boy.”
“Yeah, he gon’ get on her last nerve and make the old Noni come back out to play.”
I giggled. “I’ll pray for a girl for them then.”
“Chile me too. I can’t go through their foolishness again. They seem to be just fine with their chaos though. Thank you, Aaliyah.”
“You’re welcome. Let me go check on my man.”
She rolled her eyes. “So y’all decided to be together. I’m glad.”
“Yeah. We finally admitted to each other how in love we were.”
“Y’all nasty asses belong together.”
I chuckled and said, “See you next time.”
When I got to the front, they gave me my appointment card for my next visit.
Royal was to the side giving blood. Once he was done, we left the confines of the office space to see those people were gone and so was Mayor Storm.
Mr. Kenny and Watchful Eyes were still there though.
Mr. Kenny gave Royal a head nod and me a quick smile. He was always so quiet.
After getting to the car, Royal helped me inside, then walked around to his side, constantly looking around, checking our surroundings.
I appreciated him for that. As he did so, I saw Karima and her husband headed inside, probably going for her checkup.
There were so many pregnant Hendersons. It had to be in the well water.
Christian’s wife was pregnant again and so was Milana.
Including me, it was six or seven of us walking around here pregnant.
Royal got inside, and asked, “My place or yours?”
“Can we go to mine? I left clothes in the washer.”
“Absolutely.”
He grabbed my hand and gently caressed the top of it with his thumb. “We’re having a boy and a girl. I suppose you’re done after that then, right?”
I smiled softly as I thought about my previous assumptions. Turning to him, I gave him a tight smile. “I will have more if you want them, Royal. I love you.”
“I love you too, baby. What if I want five kids?”
“Then I guess I’ll stay barefoot and pregnant around this bitch.”
He laughed loudly, then leaned over to kiss me. After pulling away, he remained quiet. He took a deep breath and smiled. “I don’t want five, but I may want another. It depends on the personalities of the two that are coming.”
“They are active inside, or at least our little boy is. We will see once they are outside.”
He backed up to head to my house. His phone lit up as he pulled out of the parking lot.
I could clearly see his dad’s picture on the screen.
And just like that, the smile fell from his face.
I knew he was thinking about that shit with his brother.
For just an hour, he was able to concentrate on the joys of being a father. That bullshit wasn’t on his mind.
He silenced the call. “I’ll call him when we get to your place and get you settled in for a nap.”
I only nodded my acceptance of what he said. I needed a nap. Hopefully, he could figure things out with his brother, but for some reason, I felt like it would get worse before it got better.