Chapter 27
BALI
Iwas so exhausted. Whenever I got home, I would take a shower and go straight to sleep.
Daddy had been spending more time than usual at my place.
He was feeling as depressed as I was. Uncle Marcus still wasn’t back.
It was killing all of us. Those muthafuckas had the proper documentation and was still holding him.
Grandpa had dotted all the i’s and crossed all the t’s.
Those people were illegally holding him and refusing to listen to the judge’s rulings.
Aunt Syn and the kids, along with Ace and Malia, were like walking zombies.
Epic had been coming around, trying to hang with Malia, but she wasn’t giving him the time of day.
Mrs. Sidney and Shy were working night and day trying to get him out of that facility.
They were planning to deport him. They would be looking at a major lawsuit if they did that.
Uncle WJ had been in talks with the governor’s office, but we all knew Hot Wheels didn’t give a fuck about us. He was too busy licking Trump’s balls.
As I took care of Noni’s last patient, I felt like I was about to throw up everywhere.
It was her perfume. Smells were setting me off left and right.
I’d informed my parents of my pregnancy, along with Maui, but I hadn’t told anyone else.
I rarely saw Seven these days. I felt like he’d been low-key depressed.
Iesha wasn’t giving that nigga no play. She was sick of his ass.
That nigga was gon’ have to lay it on thick to get her back.
I quickly bid Kimberly farewell and booked it to the bathroom.
I was already almost seven weeks, but it felt like I had an eternity to go.
When Noni did an ultrasound on me, we both cried as we saw the little sac.
I was indeed pregnant. She knew there was no way I could tell Carter, not after he’d left.
I couldn’t have his mind in even more turmoil after that Tuesday night.
My mama had held me in her arms for nearly an hour that day.
That was something new for me. I was surprised I’d even allowed that sort of thing.
I was so depressed about this pregnancy.
Everyone seemed to think Carter would come around and that he would be back, even though they didn’t know all the details of what happened.
My mama probably would have been angry as fuck had she known.
When I finally stopped throwing up, I went to my office and prepared for my last patient of the day.
Kimberly was Noni’s last patient. We’d performed her hysterectomy a few weeks ago, and she’d cried the entire time she was in the hospital.
I truly felt sorry for her. That was a feeling I didn’t allow to show itself often.
She wasn’t my patient, though, so I knew I could afford to show my emotions when it came to her.
I walked through the door, and when I saw Aaliyah, Red’s sister, I got nervous. I frowned hard as she lowered her head. “Aaliyah. Umm . . . hi.”
“Hi.”
I stared at her chart. She was pregnant if she was seeing me. There was no question about that. “How are you?”
“I’m okay, somewhat disappointed in myself for letting this happen.”
“Well, I mean, you’re grown. Who’s the father?”
She lowered her head again. “Royal.”
My eyebrows shot up. Royal was Uncle Jasper’s son. He was only a couple of years younger than me. Surely, he would be here to support her if he knew. “Why isn’t he here?”
“He doesn’t know yet. We were just having fun. Royal likes to play. I do, too. This was not in the cards.”
“I promise, he’s a good guy, though. He will do what he has to do to take care of you and the baby. Do you believe that?”
“Yeah. Don’t tell nobody. He’s probably gonna want a DNA test. We’ve done all kinds of shit together . . . threesomes . . . just nasty shit. I’m so ashamed.”
“I won’t tell anyone, nor can I legally tell anyone. No need to be ashamed. Just woman up and do what you have to do. This baby is who matters now. Forget all that other stuff and how he or she got here.”
“You’re right. So what next?”
“Have you noticed any changes yet? We need to do bloodwork, for sure, to make sure all your levels are where they should be.”
I looked over her paperwork as she talked. Her blood pressure was normal, and she seemed to be about ten weeks if I judged by her last period. She said all was well, she would just get nauseated at times. I definitely knew what that felt like.
“Okay. We need to do an ultrasound. We need to be sure of how far along you are, and I’ll inform you of different tests you can take for preventative measures and to be informed of your baby’s condition on the inside.
We can check for down syndrome and all types of other illnesses, but that’s totally optional.
Go ahead and disrobe and put on the gown.
A tech will be in shortly to perform the ultrasound. It will be vaginal, okay?”
“Okay. Thanks, Bali.”
I nodded and left out. Royal? That nigga was a freak.
I always knew that shit. He was extremely discreet, though.
Seven and Ace had told me that much. He loved nasty ass sex.
I just couldn’t believe he’d fucked Aaliyah.
She was a beautiful woman. I thought she was a goody-two-shoes, being that she was an elementary school teacher and hung around her mama all the time.
It was just that she was so close to our family.
I rolled my eyes at the thought. As if I wasn’t fucking and fell in love with the family friend.
Hell, Noni was in love with her brother.
She was twenty-four or so, so she was grown as fuck.
I couldn’t wait to tell Noni this shit. I wanted to tell Royal, but the law kept me from doing that.
Hopefully, this would make Royal slow his freaky ass down.
“That ride looked intense as hell,” I said as I fiddled with my engagement ring.
“Sis, I was so scared for him,” Noni said.
I nodded. Carter said he was coming here when they got to town, and my nerves were on edge.
We had a family meeting tonight to talk about Uncle Marcus and the progress that they were making to get him home.
My daddy was running his business, and he left Aston to tend to his.
I was almost sure he was going to end up cutting Aston in as part owner.
He did a lot of the work and day-to-day at the shop these days.
Noni had gotten home last night. I was knocked the fuck out when she got back.
I had been handling her patients and my patients for over a week.
We had called one of our colleagues from Houston to help handle them while we were gone, but since I didn’t go, I told her there was no need in her taking off work to come to Nome.
I wished I would have let her still come.
“That last ride looked like God was on that bull with him. I don’t know how he was able to stay on. Watching his first ride broke my heart. I wanted to call him so bad, but I was still somewhat angry at him for that goodbye fuck. I still wanna fuck you up behind that.”
She rolled her eyes. “Y’all love each other. I know y’all will work this out.”
“There is nothing for me to work out. I can’t take back what I did. So either he can get over it or not.”
“Are you going to tell him you’re pregnant when he gets here?”
“Yeah. Depending on how that goes will determine whether I go to the family meeting or not. I love him, but I don’t want to go back into a relationship if things will still be strained or weird feeling.”
She nodded as I brought my gaze back to my ring.
I didn’t have it on. I’d found it on my dresser after he left.
This ring didn’t belong to me. I didn’t care what he said.
If we weren’t together, I didn’t want it.
I didn’t need the constant reminder of how in love we were and how we didn’t work. This shit was frustrating.
Noni’s phone chimed, and she stood. “He’s on his way.
I’m gonna go home, sis. I believe everything is gonna go well.
The way he pleaded with you before he left broke my heart, so I know he’s coming here to make things right.
Despite what you did to that pharmacist, Carter knows your heart.
He knows you wouldn’t hurt him. I just think his mind went into overdrive, panicking because he didn’t see you capable of being a fucking thug. ”
I rolled my eyes. “Get out, Noni. Ratchet ass.”
She laughed and left, walking to her house next door.
I was so fucking nervous. Seeing him again after two weeks was going to be hard on my heart, especially if he didn’t truly fix us.
I was willing to try again, but I needed to be convinced that he was okay with what happened and that he still trusted me with his heart.
I wasn’t sure if he was on his way from his house in Liberty or if he was coming from Red’s house.
If he was in Liberty, I had thirty minutes to sit here and anticipate his arrival.
If he was at Red’s, he would be here in five minutes or less.
The quietness was starting to get to me, so I grabbed my phone and put on a song I knew he liked.
“My Angel” by Bobby V described us perfectly.
We’d been in love for a long time, even before we realized it.
By the time the song ended, my doorbell rang.
I closed my eyes for a moment. He was at Red’s house, thank God.
I set the ring on the table and went to the door.
I saw him through the glass, so I opened it.
My insides shuddered as I stared at him.
His dark chocolate skin was my weakness. He was so gorgeous. Jesus Christ.