Chapter 13
Lyric was lying back in the hospital bed, scrolling through Facebook, when a familiar name caught her attention. Frowning, she clicked the post and started reading.
Please keep Jessica in your prayers. She was attacked and is currently in critical condition. Her family is asking for privacy while she recovers. Please keep her lifted in prayer.
The post had already been shared hundreds of times, and the comment section was moving fast.
"Omg, what happened?"
"Praying for her recovery."
"The streets getting crazy."
"Anybody know who stabbed her?"
"Sending prayers."
A small laugh escaped her as she read through the comments. Truthfully, she already knew her sister was responsible. Melody had never been the type to let things go, especially when somebody hurt one of her sisters.
Setting her phone down on her stomach, Lyric stared at the television without really watching it.
Part of her knew she probably should have felt sorry for Jessica, but every time she tried, the memory of that day came rushing back.
She remembered the fear of being on the ground trying to protect her stomach.
She remembered the blood. She remembered the panic that followed and the hospital visits afterward.
Most of all, she remembered how nobody involved seemed to care what could have happened to her daughters.
"TT Mel, don’t play about y’all.” Lyric rubbed her stomach just as the twins kicked.
Another kick followed immediately, making her smile.
The feeling of her daughters moving always managed to put things into perspective.
No matter how much drama was happening outside those hospital walls, nothing felt more important than making sure Lyra and Ariya made it into the world healthy.
The problems with Domo, the situation with Jessica, the constant mess on social media, and her issues with Vonte all seemed smaller whenever she felt her babies moving around.
Just as she reached for her phone again, a knock sounded at the door.
"Come in," Lyric called out.
The door slowly opened, and the second she saw who walked inside, the smile disappeared from her face.
"What the fuck are you doing here?" she snapped.
"Look, Lyric, I just wanted to check on you and the twins," Vonte replied, shutting the door behind himself.
"Check on us? Nigga, now you want to check on us?"
"Lyric!"
"I swear to God, if you don't get the fuck out, I’m gon…"
The rest of her sentence was cut short when a sharp pain shot through her stomach. Instinctively, her hand flew to her belly, causing Vonte's expression to change immediately.
"You good?"
"No, but I'll be better when you get the fuck ooooooout!"
Another wave of pain rolled through her before she could finish. Those felt different from the contractions she had been having over the past few days. The discomfort was stronger, lower, and impossible to ignore.
"Man, what's wrong?" Vonte stepped closer and asked.
Before she could answer, she suddenly felt warmth spread between her legs. The feeling made her stomach drop, and for a second, she just stared down at the blanket.
“Fuckkkk!” Lyric cried out, the fear in her voice sent Vonte moving.
"Nurse! Nurse!" he yelled while running into the hallway.
Within seconds, he returned with two nurses rushing behind him.
"Something’s wrong with my girl," Vonte told.
"Nigga, I'm not your motherfucking girrrrrllll!"
Another contraction hit as one of the nurses rushed to her bedside while the other began checking the monitors.
"Okay, sweetheart, take a deep breath for me," she calmly encouraged.
"I'm trying."
The nurse pulled back the blanket and quickly assessed the situation.
"Sweetheart, your water broke."
"What?"
"Your water broke and you're in active labor," the nurse repeated.
For a moment, nobody said anything. Lyric's eyes widened, and Vonte looked like all the blood had drained from his face when another contraction hit her.
"Oh my God!"
"We need to notify the doctor immediately," the nurse said, reaching for the call button.
Panic filled the room as staff suddenly began moving quickly. Equipment was checked, monitors were adjusted, and voices filled the hallway outside the door. Meanwhile, Lyric sat frozen.
"My babies," she whispered.
"We’re going to do everything we can for them," the nurse assured her as she continued working.
Tears immediately filled Lyric's eyes as another contraction rolled through her body.
"Vonte!" she yelled.
"I'm right here."
"Call my mama and my sisters. Call them right now."
Vonte pulled out his phone and started making calls while nurses continued rushing around the room. Lyric watched him pace near the window, explaining the situation over and over until he finally hung up.
"They on the way. Everybody coming."
"Good. In the meantime, we're going to start prepping you." One of the nurses nodded before looking over at Vonte.
"Are you the father?"
"Yes."
"Then we're going to prep you too."
Everything after that seemed to happen so fast that Lyric could barely keep up.
Nurses moved around her, adjusting monitors and relaying information back and forth while doctors entered and exited the room.
The entire situation felt unreal, and no matter how many times she tried to calm herself down, all she could think about was the fact that her daughters weren't supposed to be there yet.
Before she knew it, the nurses were telling her it was time to push, but Lyric felt completely overwhelmed.
Between the pain shooting through her body, the fear of delivering her daughters early, and the exhaustion from everything she had experienced over the last few weeks, she struggled to find the strength they kept asking for.
Every contraction seemed stronger than the last, and with each push, she found herself wondering how much more her body could take.
"I can't do this," she cried.
"Yes, you can, and you're doing great," one of the nurses encouraged.
Another contraction hit, causing Lyric to grip the bedrails so tightly her hands hurt. She tried focusing on the voices around her, but everything felt like a blur until the hospital room door suddenly opened.
The second she saw her mother walk through the doorway, the tears she'd been fighting spilled over.
"Mommy."
"I'm here, baby," Cady said while rushing to her side with her sisters behind her.
"We here too." Harmony grabbed her hand.
"You got this, sister," Melody added.
Seeing them changed everything. The fear didn't disappear, and the pain certainly didn't either, but suddenly she didn't feel alone anymore. The encouragement from her family filled the room, and for the first time since her labor started, Lyric felt like she could actually do it.
When the next contraction came, she pushed with everything she had and pushed again. And then again. Minutes later, the room was suddenly filled with the sound of a baby crying.
"Okay, baby A is out and looking healthy…. Keep pushing, Mom!"
Relief washed over Lyric, but she knew she wasn't done yet. Another contraction came a few minutes later, and with her mother holding one hand and Harmony holding the other, she pushed through the pain one more time. When less than five minutes later, another cry filled the room.
"Baby B is here!"
"Are they okay? Are my babies okay?" Lyric asked.
"They look good. But because they're still considered premature, we're going to keep a close eye on them, but right now they're doing very well."
A sob escaped Lyric's lips as the weight she'd been carrying for months finally lifted. Across the room, Cady had both hands covering her mouth while Harmony and Melody stood staring at the twins.
"Oh my God, Lyric, they are beautiful," Harmony said.
"And they got a head full of hair," Melody added with a laugh.
The nurses continued cleaning and checking the babies while Lyric stared at them in disbelief.
The drama with Vonte, the problems with Domo, the hospital scares, the stress, and everything else that had consumed her life suddenly seemed so far away.
All she could see were her daughters, and for the first time in a very long time, she felt complete.