I took off towards the palace doors with Justin's help and tried my best to run but there was no use, my ankle was shattered and I wasn't getting much of nowhere without any support.
"Settle down, settle down." My father said and grabbed my other side to help me in the palace. I only had one thing on my mind though. "Release me." I said and they both looked at me like I was going crazy or something.
"I said release me!" I commanded them and they each let me go. I fell into the wall but got back up and hopped up the steps to my chamber. "Queen!" I screamed at the top of my lungs but no one came out.
"No, no.." I whispered to myself as I got closer to my chamber. My heart was beating 100 mph and I was already expecting the worst. Where was she?
When I got to the chamber, the door was locked and no one was around.
"My love, it's me.." I said and touched the door with my hand. I was about to kick it open when I saw Mashika out of the corner of my eye. She was in the middle of the hallway with her dolls in her hand. I limped over to her and stopped when she saw me.
"Dada!" She ran to me and wrapped her arms around my legs. Dad?
"Hey little one...where's the queen?" I attempted to pick her up but my ankle wouldn't let me. I placed her back on the ground and she grabbed my hand. "Mama is sleeping. She sad."
Shika walked me all the way to the sun room on the other end of the palace and there laid my wife. She was wrapped in her blankets while her head was on my mother's lap.
"Mom.." I said in a whisper and she looked over at me with a smile. "My son...you have returned from the war."
Mashika tugged on my hand and helped me walk over to my mother. "Dada hurt, see?" She told my mom and leaned down to look at my ankle.
"Oh my...it's broken, Tazamunda! You need medical attention. It's black and blue!"
I motioned for her to stay quiet because I didn't want to wake my queen. "It's been like that for hours. I didn't want to stop anywhere because I needed to see her. I wanted to make sure she was okay."
My mom looked down at Mashika, finally processing what the child just said. "Dada? She called you her father?"
I looked down at Shika with a smile. "Yeah, Dada is hurt very badly but I'm okay. Are you ok? You're not hurt too are you?"
She shook her head no and pointed to herself. "I not hurt, you hurt."
My mom shook her head at me. "No, my son. She isn't your child nor is she your responsibility."
"Her family is dead, mother. Justin, Queen, and I are her only family now. She has nowhere else to go. No one to take care of her."
Shika took the wash rag that was on my wife's head, took it in her little hands, and walked back to my ankle. "Mama did this to me at bath time. It make me feel better." She placed the warm rag on my ankle and I hissed. She pulled back a little but placed it back on it again. "No more hurt?"
It was actually soothing the fresh wound. I nodded and she continued to hold it to my ankle. "No it doesn't hurt when you hold the wash rag to it. It makes it feel better." Shika smiled and clapped her hands together. "Yay! Dada all better."
My queen stirred in her sleep and opened her eyes slowly. Tears fell and she stayed the way she was. "My queen.." I whispered and touched the side of her face. She sat up and touched my hand. "T-Taz...am I dreaming? I'm still pregnant right? No one is dead?"
I frowned and pulled her into my arms where she cried. "My baby, Taz!! My baby!" I nodded and rocked her back and forth. "I know, baby. I know." Tears fell from my eyes as well. She held on to me tightly and cried her heart out.
My mom watched us with her hand over her mouth and tears falling from her eyes as well. "I'll give you two a moment alone."
"They killed my baby! They killed him!...he's gone...my child is gone!"
Shika walked over to us and reached out her hand to Queen. "Mama, I right here. I not gone."
I smiled a little and Queen took Mashika's hand in hers. "My love, you still have us here. We will help you get through this."
She nodded her head and looked up at me. "You kept your promise."
"What promise?"
"You came back for us."
I smiled and kissed her passionately. "Of course I did, that was my motivation to keep going on."
She trailed her hand to my head and ran her fingers through my hair. It felt so good to have her do that. I moaned and she continued to rub through my hair. "Love...we can't do this right now."
"Why not?"
I laughed and pointed to Mashika, who was still investigating my broken ankle. "Dada it pretty."
"My ankle?"
She shook her head no and queen spoke up. "She means the color. Blue is her favorite."
We both laughed and she helped me stand on my own. "We have to call the doctors to fix your ankle. You can't walk on it like that for long before it gets infected, baby." I sighed but nodded anyways. I learned long ago to not argue with a woman when she's taking care of you.
"And then after that.." She said and wrapped her arms around my neck. "We can make up for lost time."
