Chapter 10
Pril
Mr. & Mrs. Seasons . . .
I made it to my thirty-fifth week and my wedding day.
So much happened in the last month. If you had told me that the love of my life would shoot the ex-love of my life, I would have told you that you were crazy.
I probably would have looked at you crazy just for the mention that I had a new love of my life.
There was a point in my life that I never thought I would be without Derrick.
Now, I couldn’t imagine life if I were still with him and without Tafari.
The things that Derrick said to me the night he lost his life baffled me.
They were the most ludicrous things that I ever heard.
The fact that he could ever think I would do something as evil as to have an abortion then lie about it was too much.
It was clear that he was drunk that night, but he must have been high as well.
After it happened, I knew that Tafari thought I blamed or resented him because he had to kill Derrick.
The thing was that I didn’t. It was all in the fact that he had to kill him.
Danika and I watched the cameras as the scene all unraveled.
When Derrick pulled that gun out before Tafari arrived, I knew that it would be detrimental on his part. I just never imagined how much so.
The aftermath of Derrick’s acts affected many people.
His mama was devastated, but apparently, she wasn’t surprised by his actions.
At least she claimed she wasn’t after Nicole showed her the security tape.
She told the police that he had been acting erratic and illogical since he saw me at the doctor’s office.
She claimed she told him not to come to my studio that night, but he wanted to win me back.
That was crazy as hell. Surprisingly, his mother let it be known that her son was deeply in love with me.
I was dumbfounded when the police told me that.
I was befuddled when she went on the news to relay the same message.
Chasity had a fit because it went against the narrative that she had put out.
According to her, what Derrick said about me was true.
When he came to confront me, I tricked my boyfriend into killing him.
She talked a lot of shit until Nicole showed her the tape. She was quiet after that.
If I were her and heard the things that her husband said on that tape, I would have left town too. I knew all along that she wasn’t who he wanted deep down, but that had nothing to do with me. I didn’t want him anymore.
The day I met Tafari was one of the best days of my life. Today was added to that number as one of the best days. The next best day would be when our baby was born.
“By the power invested in me by the state of South Carolina, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may salute your bride,” the officiant said with a smile.
Our family and friends shouted their congratulations while Tafari and I passionately kissed each other. Today couldn’t have been any more perfect. Heaven and her team were everything that I never knew I needed. I felt not one ounce of stress.
If anything crazy happened today, I had no knowledge of it. I was pampered with my best friends, mama, and mama-in-law. There were times I forgot a wedding was supposed to happen because I was so relaxed.
Three days before the wedding, Femi Mercer herself came to make final alterations of my dress for today.
Her keen eye for details when it came to her designs was almost unrealistic.
When we met, she told me that she would do the final alterations three days prior and would also be onsite at the venue on the morning of the wedding to do any small adjustments.
This was the service you received when she designed an original for you.
For the price of her originals, I wouldn’t have expected any less.
With that being said, it still was amazing.
“I love you so much, Mrs. Seasons,” Tafari mumbled against my lips. He pulled away, lowered his body, then kissed my belly. “I love you too, lil girl.”
The officiant waited until the crowd calmed slightly before speaking again. His smile was bright. “Ladies and gentlemen, it gives me great honor to introduce you to Mister and Mrs. Tafari Seasons.”
Lacie rushed forward and placed the decorative broom on the floor. Everyone counted down from three, then Tafari and I jumped over it. Well, it was more like a little hop for me, but yeah. We danced our way out to the song “Prototype” by Outkast.
We walked into our staging area that was set up just for us. Heaven did it once again. The room was set up like a suite with a private bedroom, living area, dining room, and kitchen. The staging area was amazing to say that it wasn’t our honeymoon suite. “Is that . . .”
When my head snapped in Tafari’s direction, he laughed. “Yes, it is love. I told Heaven that she had to have your Waffle House in the lineup.”
In the dining room, there was a small buffet of the food that would be served at the reception.
Heaven said that it was important that we ate in private before the reception.
All of our pictures were taken yesterday at my request. Heaven suggested that we still have a cocktail hour, so that we could relax.
I appreciated her for that and for my scrambled eggs that were smothered, covered, and chunked with a side of bacon.
“God, I thank you! This day can’t get any better!” My arms were raised with thanks to God.
Tafari wrapped his arms around me from behind. His kisses always made me warm and so did his hardened dick poking my ass. “I know a way ta make it even betta.”
I turned around in his arms. “Oh, I’m always down to let you make things better. I can figure out a couple of ways to make you feel better . . .”
My words stopped and my forehead creased. Tafari chuckled before he pecked my lips. “You good, baby?”
“Um, either I just peed myself, or my water just broke.” I stepped back and looked down.
Tafari leaned down and lifted my dress. “Oh shit! You in pain? Let me go get our mamas!”
His ass ran out of the room. “Wait! I think I’m . . .”
I couldn’t say anything else. That first contraction hit me. Oh, I guess I’m not alright.
Babymoon . . .
It was too early, but Dr. Frog told me not to worry. At thirty-five weeks, I was in late pre-term labor. This was what we worried about.
“Our daughta said she ga make a grand appearance on our wedding day. She said fuck a honeymoon. E about ta be a babymoon.” Tafari’s jokes kept me in high spirits.
I chuckled from where I lay in the bed. We got to the birthing center five hours ago, and I had only dilated six centimeters. It wasn’t as if they could stop the labor since my water broke. So, all there was to do was wait.
“Yes, my granddaughter is destined to be a drama queen. I love it,” my mama said. She sat on the couch that was along the wall with her knitting needle and hat that she had worked on for the past five hours.
According to the birthing plan that my husband and I agreed to, our mothers were the only ones that would be in the room while I delivered our daughter. I thought Nicole and Lacie would be upset about it, but they were actually the ones who suggested it.
I smiled, but it was cut short by a pain from the devil. “Well, she can be dramatic all she wants. I want her to be dramatic outside of my body. This shit hurts!”
Tafari stood from the seat next to my bed. He leaned down and kissed my forehead. “I know, baby. I know.”
“Mrs. Seasons, how are we doing in here?” Dr. Frog asked after she walked into the room. When she got the call that we were here, she came right over.
Normally, births here are handled by the midwives, doulas, and nurses.
The doctors were called in to deliver the baby when there was an emergency or if there was a high risk pregnancy that they wanted to monitor.
For right now, I fell in the latter. Her first question when she got here earlier was whether I wanted to be transferred to the hospital.
That pain was serious, so she wanted me to have access to pain meds in case I wanted them.
I declined. I wanted to do this the natural way until they told me that I couldn’t.
“I’m doing pain, or better yet, pain is doing me,” I responded. “Is it almost time to check to see how open I am?”
Mama Shayla laughed. “Lawd! She ready ta get da baby outta ha. I pray she der.”
We all tittered at her because we knew she was right.
Dr. Frog let me know that she wanted to check to see where I was.
My contractions were on one hundred. Tafari worried that I wouldn’t be able to take it.
I told him if I could take the level of pain that I felt from my menstrual cramps, then labor pains would be nothing. I told half the truth.
The nurse came in to help Dr. Frog. Just as she sat to get ready to check me, a contraction ripped through me. It was the worst one yet. “Oh my God! I want to push.”
“Let me check you, Pril. It might be time but let me check first.” Dr. Frog’s voice was soft. She did what she needed to do as I watched her intently. Less than what felt like a minute later, she glanced up at me with a smile. “It’s time to push, Pril.”
“Hell yeah!” Tafari kissed my lips after his outburst. “We’re about to meet our baby girl, Pril!”
A tear fell from my eye as everyone got in place in anticipation of our baby girl’s arrival.
Dr. Frog already told me that there was a limited amount of time that she would allow me to push before the decision was made to move to a C-section.
At this point, I was happy that I was getting the opportunity to try natural birth.
If in the middle of the process we had to change the plan, then that would be alright. God, protect me and my baby.
It all happened faster than I ever thought it would. Tafari held my hand as I pushed while our mothers each held a leg back. For my baby girl to still be underweight at four pounds, ten ounces she was a muthafucker to push out.
“Oh, she got a head fulla hair! Look at dat lil head.” Mama Shayla had tears falling down her cheeks.
Tafari continued to kiss all over my face as he held my hand. “Come on, baby. She’s almost here. Just a couple mo pushes.”
Dr. Frog told me she needed one more big push. Good because that’s about all I have left in me. I took a deep breath then pushed with everything I had.
“She’s out! She’s out, Pril!” Dr. Frog said with excitement. She stood then placed the baby on my chest.
None of us were any good. Tears were all around. “Oh my God. Look at my daughta. She’s so beautiful.” Tafari cooed over our daughter. “Pril, you did it, baby, you did it.”
I did, didn’t I? I did the thing that I never thought I would be able to do. Not only did I have a baby, I was able to have her naturally. My eyes fell on my baby girl who laid on my chest as she exercised her new vocal cords. They worked perfectly.
I rubbed her hair. “Shh, Mama’s here, baby. I’m right here.”
Her cries slowed. I glanced up at Tafari who looked at our daughter with amazement. “She’s so perfect.”
That was the only thing that could really be said. She’s so perfect. I thanked God for our little Gift.