Chapter 2
Carter picked up her phone off the nightstand, checking the time. She closed her eyes to thank the Lord for allowing her to see another year. She glanced over at Nautica and sighed. She grabbed his hand and placed it on her stomach. She moved their hands around while the baby kicked like crazy.
“Happy birthday to me.” Carter smiled. It had been three weeks since London’s wedding. She had gotten even bigger and even further along. It was her first baby so she knew she still had a ways to go. She prayed for a miracle that he would be up before their daughter arrived. He had to.
She held his hand in hers. She kissed the back of it before getting out of bed.
She walked in the bathroom to handle her hygiene.
Then, she tended to Nautica. She walked in the closet in got dressed in a sleeveless blue jumpsuit that tied around her neck.
She stepped into a pair of Hermes slides before removing her bonnet.
Her hair was styled in a deep wave flip over that cascaded down her back to her butt.
She sat at her vanity where she began doing her makeup.
She looked down at her stomach, watching as her daughter moved around with a smile on her face.
She focused back on the mirror. She jumped up, rushing towards Nautica, who was scratching his leg.
“Babyyyyy! Can you hear me?!” Carter kissed all over his face. His hand stopped moving. He looked the same, but there was still nothing. She sighed deeply.
“Nautica, I need you to wake up. I need you. Your daughter needs you. Wake the fuck up, damn it!” Carter slapped his face and he frowned. She picked up his hand, squeezing it tight. She sat there for the longest until she decided she was going to have a good day.
She dialed Nautica’s doctor to inform him of his improvement. She felt much better after hearing all those things meant that he could awake at any moment. She sprayed setting spray over her makeup.
Ding, dong
Her doorbell sounded throughout the house. She pulled up the feed on her camera. She smiled at the sight of her sister-in-laws. She walked out of the room with her phone in hand.
Her phone rang with a call. She looked down and her stomach sank. It was Koen; he’d been calling for months. She pressed decline. A message popped up from him, angering her.
Koen: We need to talk, now.
Carter: I’m in Nashville.
Koen: So am I.
“Fuck.” She panicked as she headed down the stairs. She opened the door for them.
The sounds of Ace, Greer and Promise shouting snapped her out of her thoughts.
“Thank y’all!” Carter beamed as they hugged her and passed her gift bags.
“I’ll be back. Let me go see my brother.” Promise walked up the staircase until she was out of their sight.
Carter led them to the kitchen because her stomach was growling.
The only thing on her mind at the moment was eating.
She walked in the kitchen, and her eyes filled with tears.
Happy Birthday, Nala was spelled out in pink foil balloons.
Trays of food decorated the island along with edible glitter and rose petals.
“Happy birthday, baby!” Faith hugged her while kissing the top of her head.
“Thank you, Fay! What you cook? I’m hungry.” Carter lifted the lids.
“Wash your hands, I’ll fix you a plate. Y’all help y’all selves,” Faith said to everyone. Carter pulled out her phone, recording a video before uploading it to her instagram story. Her phone vibrated in her hand. She’d almost forgotten about Koen.
She quickly texted back, agreeing to meet with him. She hadn’t seen him in months. After her and Nautica slept together, things between them were strained because there was hope for her and Nautica.
Carter and the girls sat, eating and drinking all except for Carter and Promise.
“What time we going to the cake place?”
“I gotta go do something in a minute then we can go if that’s cool with y’all?”
“How long it’s going to take you? I want to take a nap. This was fye! I’m so full.” Promise rubbed her stomach.
“That’s cool we can go later. What y’all about to do?” Carter asked.
“We going shopping for the kids. I thought you and P would want to come but I understand,” Ace replied for her and Greer.
“I’d rather wait till he gets here before I start shopping,” Promise replied.
“Why?” Greer asked.
“Because I had a miscarriage right after we got married. I don’t want nothing to jinx it.”
The table grew quiet with awkward silence. Ace and Greer sat side by side across from Carter and Promise.
“I’m sorry, P. We understand,” Ace spoke.
“Me too. Why you didn’t tell us?” Greer asked.
Promise shrugged. “I didn’t want to talk about it. My momma and Shadow were the only ones who knew. I only told her because he was mad that I didn’t initially want to keep the baby. I changed my mind but I end up miscarrying.”
“Well, how do you feel now?” Carter turned to face her. They were both at the end of their pregnancies. Over the past seven months, the two did everything together. Promise had three besties now.
“I’m happy. My man is happy. I just get nervous at times. We’ve made it this far, I’m just scared.” Promise spoke her biggest fear out loud for the first time.
“My nephew is going to be just fine. You can’t pray and worry at the same time,” Ace said, and Promise nodded.
“She’s right… that’s not how faith works. Plus, he’s a Nkosi and a Dlamini, he’s a fighter,” Greer added, causing Promise to laugh.
“Thanks. I love y’all. I’m out. Call me when it’s time to link.” Promise stood, clutching her swollen stomach. She was eight months pregnant.
Carter walked in the coffee shop she agreed to meet Koen at. He was seated with a cup of coffee and a piece of cake in front of him. He stood as she approached. He hugged her before taking his seat. She sat across from him.
“Would you like something?”
She shook her head in response. “Wassup, Koen? I thought the last time we talked, I told you that I was going to focus on my marriage.” Carter stared at him as he stared into her eyes, making her slightly uncomfortable.
If she’d met Koen first, she would have given him a chance. The two weeks they spent together, temporarily took her mind off of Nautica. However that was short-lived because he lived in her heart.
“I mean that was cool with me until I heard you were pregnant,” he said, prompting her to chuckle.
“And what? I know you don’t think my baby is yours?”
“Is it?”
“We used protection so why you even asking me that?” The night of her wedding, she wanted to feel anything other than the pain she was in. They had sex all night but she was careful, she had to be.
“I’m just being sure.” He stared into her eyes, making her hot all over. She hadn’t been under a man since the last time she was with Nautica. Thanks to her raging hormones, she was in need of a night of passion. However, nobody was touching her if it wasn’t him.
“She’s not yours. She’s Nautica’s,” she promised.
“I thought y’all wasn’t even sleeping together.”
“We can do a DNA test in a couple of weeks.” She shrugged.
“Aight. How are you?”
Carter was actually okay, especially after her morning with Nautica. She was the happiest she had been in the past few months.
“I’m good. I have to go, Koen. I’ll call you when I have her.” She stood to her feet.
“I want to be there.”
“That’s not happening! He has a family, and I have a family that won’t approve of that. She’s not yours unless you know something that I don’t know.” She put her hand on her hip. He tossed his hands up in surrender.
She walked away with a visible attitude.
She walked outside where her driver was standing on the sidewalk.
He opened the back door for her, and she climbed inside.
He got behind the wheel. Then he pulled away from the curb.
She stared out the window as he got on the interstate.
Koen had ruined the good day she was having.
If or when Nautica awoke, she wanted there to be peace.
London had caused enough damage. The last thing she needed was her short affair to mess things up.
She slowly walked inside of her home. Goosebumps appeared on her skin.
She shivered from a cold chill. She locked the door.
Then she headed upstairs where their bedrooms were.
She glanced in her daughter’s room and did a double take.
She froze in shock. There was a man in the nursery.
She entered the room, walking up behind him.
He faced her, causing tears to fill her eyes. Her bottom lip shook as she cried.
“Nautica,” she whispered as tears spilled from her eyes.
“Wassup, baby, you missed me?” She clung to him, causing him to smile. From what he remembered, Carter had him on pins and needles about their relationship.
“You know I did. How long have you been up?”
He hugged her tight while kissing the top of her head.
“Not that long. Fay helped me. I’ve only been in here.
” She watched as his eyes swept over the room for the millionth time.
The room was painted in light pink and lavender.
A rose gold crib sat in the middle of the floor under a custom chandelier that would also lullaby the baby to sleep.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t share the last eight months with y’all but I’m never leaving you or my daughter ever again.
I’m sorry for being so mad at you. I wanted to hurt you like you hurt me, that’s all I was focused on to the point I wasn’t thinking clearly.
I hope you’ll forgive me one day for all the pain I caused you. I feel like a damn fool.”
“What happened?” Carter had a clue but she wanted to hear the truth from him.
“London walked in the bar when I was waiting for you. She didn’t see me though.
The bartender asked her what room to charge her order to.
Then, she said under Sergio Walsh and London confirmed.
I should’ve called and told you or somebody what I was up to but it all happened so fast. I walked towards the room and knocked on the door.
She opened it and I forced her inside where she was with Serg.
I had my gun on her when one of his men came in.
They held a gun to my head. We pulled the trigger at the same time but my fucking gun jammed.
Just thinking about that shit makes me mad. ”
“I knew she was involved. I was able to get the footage and I put two and two together.”
“That night, I planned to tell you that I wanted to make things work with us if you’re open to it.”
“Yes, baby. I love you.”