Hakeem's Star

Are You Able?

The stare off between Hakeem and Camilla was intense as he stepped inside with a hand wrapped around his sister's. He had gotten so nervous and emotional that he had acted on impulse. It wasn't like he hadn't held Shawn's hand before but never just for a show.

'You brought yourself all the way across the world... You really do care.' Camilla's sarcastic demeanor made Hakeem cringe slightly. 'Yet you have yet to show me that same emotion.' Hakeem deadpanned as he remembered the moment when he got the news of her leaving.

Shawn gasped softly as she spotted the bassinet that she was sure filled with a newborn child.

'Can I hold her/him, please?' She stepped forward slowly as she knew her heels would clack loudly against the floor. Camilla seemed to remember her daughter in that moment. Her eyes left Hakeem and went back to watching her daughter sleep.

A silent nod had Shawn tiptoeing to the new mother's bedside. She peeked in to see a swaddle of pink and the cutest baby on Earth. It made her want to do the cheesy Aww! but she held it in as she leaned forward to carefully lift the blanketed child.

'Wait! You have to sanitize your hands first. Wash them, dry them, and put sanitizer on then...' Camilla stopped rambling as she realized that both Hakeem and Shawn were lookin at her like she was crazy. She shook her head softly but still gesutured for the task to be carried out.

'Did he know? Lucious, I mean. When he sent you away, did he?' Shawn asked even as her now sanitized fingers running a course across the smooth and soft skin.

Camilla made a noncommittal noise because she had no idea what the devious bastard knew. Her eyes watched as her child slowly opened her eyes and took in the foreign person. Shawn got all wide eyed and excited, making the child coo a her.

Hakeem walked forward with a look of awkward nervousness written across his handsome face. He seemed to levitate to the tiny baby being held carefully by his sister. She seemed happy to just cradle the child as if it were her own.

'You could have told me that you were having a baby. Is it mine? What is it? Did you already name him/her?' Hakeem's questions made the older woman cringe slightly.

Her worst fears had been shortly lived as she broke through the hurt and pain of having to leave with such a huge secret.

'Her name is Starlet Marie Lyon. I am her sole guardian and if you wanted, you could become the secondary guardian by signing her birth certificate. Yes, Hakeem. That little girl in your sister's arms is our daughter.' Camilla wasn't quite sure she felt anything but weigh lifted off her shoulders.

Her own mind was made, by now Hakeem was here in person. She had to let him get his chance or if he didn't want it, take the time to say his goodbyes. Her life was no longer his concern but he could be apart of their daughter's.

'Can I hold her, Camilla?' He never seemed so shy and quiet before so it came as a shock to her now.

She gave him a look that seemed to peer deep into his soul and true intentions before nodding. Shawn handed over the child and made sure the tiny girl was properly in her father's arms. They both watched Hakeem as he struggled to know what to do with the infant.

When Starr smiled, it was contagious. She gave her father a sleepy smile as her eyes blinked up a him all big and wide. He saw the similarities and knew, but... Those eyes, they were wise and soul searchers. They belonged to Camilla through and through.

'Your father wanted me to accept money to leave you, but I hadn't been in it for the cash. I walked away that night with nothing he cursed. That man is the devil.' She even pulled out the past ten checks she had received for her silence.

Shawn had gotten on a level with Lucious that kept him a distance away from her and her friends. Ever since, she had given him a taste of his own medicine, they had been talking normally. But this was too low, and it could have hurt Hakeem in the future.

'We can't fix what Lucious did, but you and Hakeem need to come up with a solution to this whole mess. It's your life and the life of your daughter that you need to worry about.' Shawn was right, they needed to work together again.

Camilla would give Hakeem the control over his life and she would demonstrate what she thinks would be best for herself and Starr.

'Are you able to stay a little while longer? I need time to think it over.' Hakeem nodded as he finished committing his daughter's form to memory.

This would probably shake their world up a bit, but what was life if not exciting.