American Woman: Book 3

Chapter 45

After Beverly and Mary left, Prince and I sat down on the couch and looked over the picture of Devon. "I can't get over how much she looks like you momma." Prince smiles while studying the picture. "I can't wait to see her in the flesh and hold her."
"Me too." I grin, snuggling up next to him. He lays back and pulls me down beside him.
"You know I really do love that she looks like you, but there better be something about her that proves she's mine." Prince teases.
"Oh shut up! You know she's yours!" I respond, poking his ribs. "I'm sure she will be dark complected ..."
"She better not be too dark bc I'm only butterscotch..." he chuckles.
"Would you stop it?! I think you're just disappointed that she doesn't appear to look like you..."
"No I'm not. I'm just joking around baby."
"I'm sure she will have some of your features too. You can't get a clear picture of everything from the ultrasound. I hope it's not your hairy chest though." I laugh, while unbuttoning his shirt and running my fingers through his course dark chest hair.
"I would be ok with that. It would probably keep a lot of the boys away." He chuckles. I lean down and begin kissing his chest. "Mmmm momma, are you wanting round two?"
"No!" I shriek, immediately stopping.
Prince looks at me highly offended. "Why did you say it like that?!!"
"I'm sorry baby, I didn't mean that I don't want you. Just not on the couch with people around. They already heard us earlier today, I don't want anyone seeing us!"
"Oh honey you're just being paranoid. Nobody heard us..."
"They actually did. Maria wouldn't even make eye contact with me and then when I went downstairs Diana and Amy told me Maria had run down there weirded out bc she could hear us, so freaking Amy came up to listen..."
"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! She did what?!" He said, raising up.
"She wanted to see if it was really as bad as Maria was letting on. Now she's eager to know what you were doing to me." I chuckled.
"What a little nasty creeper...."
"I just hope she doesn't try to put the moves on you now..."
"Don't make me vomit! Ug I'm feeling nauseous now and not the least bit turned on. Let's take a nap right here baby. Come here, lay down in my arms." Prince commands, pulling me down to lay on his chest.
The next thing I knew, Susan was standing over us and whispering "excuse me Mr. and Mrs. Nelson? I'm so sorry to disturb you."
"That's ok. What is it?" Prince asked, groggily.
"It's Mrs. Mattie. I'm afraid she will passing from this life soon. All the signs are indicating she is in her final hours..."
"No..." I sigh, raising up off Prince and sitting up. "She seemed pretty good just earlier..."
"I know ma'am. Sometimes we see this. It is called rallying and it's fairly common. Some people will become very coherent or even start talking a lot and then within hours or less they are gone. I know she's been holding on for this day. In all honesty, she shouldn't have made it this long. She was determined to see her grandbaby and now that she has, she is fulfilled."
I look over at Prince who looks devastated. "I need to call some people to come..."
"Honey I can do it for you." I offer.
"O-O-Ok." He stutters and then bolts to Mattie's door, followed by Susan. I didn't want to bother him by asking who exactly I should call, so I decided to call Tyka and go from there. I got Prince's phone and found her number, and thankfully she said she would help call and we split the duties. I found my list of people to call in Prince's phone. Fortunately he had all their numbers plugged into his phone, and I was able to reach all of them quickly. After I finished all my calls, I went downstairs to tell Diana and Amy to start expecting a lot of people to show up and get them up here quickly.
I made my way into Mattie's room and saw Prince sitting in a chair next to her bed and covering her hand with both of his. He looks up at me and I walk over and lay my hands on his shoulders. "Everyone is on their way."
"Thanks baby." He says, lifting his head up for a peck on the lips. He brings his mom's hand up to his lips and kisses the back of it. "Mom? Everyone is coming to see you. We all love you." Of course there was no response from her as she was completely unconscious and unresponsive at this point. Within an hour the room was packed with family members. Prince and I had moved out of the way to allow everyone to have their own time by her side. As Prince and I were standing near a back wall, he turns to me and rubs my belly. "Are you ok momma? You need food. Why don't you go eat something?"
"No baby I'm fine. Do you need something?"
"No thanks. Are you sure you want to stay in here..."
"Of course. Baby I'm not leaving." I respond, pulling him into a tight embrace. Just then a man walks over and addresses me. "I assume you are short man's little lady..."
"Hayward, I don't want to have to throw you out of my house. Let's be civil...for my mother." Prince interjects.
"I was. I am trying to meet your wife."
"Ok. Whatever. I'm not going to argue with you. Yes this is my wife Jensen. Babe this is my stepdad, Hayward." Prince sighs.
"Nice to meet you." He says, extending his hand to me, which I take and give him a weak smile. "So did Mattie get to see the baby today?"
"Yes." I smile. "She was so happy. She loved it."
"That's good. That's all she has been able to talk about for awhile now. So Prince may I speak to you privately for a minute?" He asks, abruptly changing the subject.
"No. You can say what you need to say right here. What is it?" Prince replies.
"It's just some business stuff. I'm sure your wife doesn't care to hear..."
"I don't hide things from my wife. So you can tell me in private if you want, but I'll just tell her what it was about anyway so let's just save the extra step and you go ahead and talk."
Prince says matter of factly and wraps his arm around my waist, pulling me closer to him. I had to admit I was smiling inside from his words and actions.
"Alright well I was going to inquire about how expenses will be handled from here on out?" Hayward asked.
"Man, are you really trying to have a financial conversation with me while my mom is laying here with possibly minutes left? It's really that urgent to talk about right now? Here's the short answer...I'm not going to support you to the degree I was supporting you and mom together, but I won't leave you totally high and dry. Even though I probably should...."
"Probably should?! Boy, I had more to do with raising you than your old man did." Hayward fired back. I could tell this wasn't going to go anywhere but downhill, and fast. I didn't want that for anyone involved and it was not the place nor time. So I faked a contraction. "Oh!" I said, grabbing my stomach, causing Prince to snap out of his harsh gaze towards Hayward and immediately turn his attention to me. "Momma, what's wrong? Contraction?"
"Yeah" I lied.
"Fool, get away from us. You are upsetting my wife and baby. We can talk about this later, and that doesn't mean today or anytime in the next few days." Prince growls at him. Thankfully Hayward walked away without another word. Prince watched as I instantly snapped back to normal. He squinted his eyes at me and said "Jensen Nicole Nelson, did you just fake that?"
"It worked, didn't it?" I chuckled.
He wrapped his arms around me for a tight hug and whispered in my ear, "thanks momma. As long as you aren't faking orgasms..."
"No way." I giggled. "So what exactly is he talking about?"
"He wants to make sure the money flow won't stop is what it boils down to. I've paid their house off already so I don't know what more he thinks he needs. I was still paying a lot their bills and would give my mom extra money when she would ask, but I'm not doing that for him. I might still pay taxes or shit like that for the house, but that's it. He works. He can pay for his other stuff. If he wanted my help or money, he should have thought about the way he treated me all those years, how he still treats me." Prince said, growing frustrated. I didn't say anything, I just rubbed his back for a little bit. Finally he said, "you don't agree do you?"
"About what baby?"
"Hayward and the money. You think I should keep helping him, don't you?"
"Nope. What makes you think that?"
"Just the way you didn't have a response..."
"I didn't respond bc I didn't want to cause drama, especially right here, right now. But yes I think you are making the right decision to not keep supporting him. I mean you were doing it all these years for your mom, not him. Has he ever apologized for the way he treated you...for locking you away in a bedroom for weeks?"
"Hell no..."
"Ok then I think the choice is clear."
"Thanks for supporting me honey. You have no idea how good it feels to have someone in your corner all the time. Someone that will always take my side. I've never had that baby. I need that bc I will probably get hell from my siblings about it."
"Well they just need to understand it's your money, so it's your decision."
"I wish they saw it that way. You make it sound so easy. Let's not worry about it right now momma. But thank you for having my back in this. I love you."
"I love you too." I respond, kissing his lips softly.
Over the next couple of hours, people came in and out of the room to spend their last moments with Mattie. Prince and I mainly kept to ourselves and by 8:00, it was only us and Susan. Everyone else said they didn't want to be there when it happened. I was irritated that they left Prince there alone, but I was determined to stay by his side. Around 8:30, he turns to me and says "momma go eat. I'll be alright."
"How about I just bring some fruit or something in here?"
"Ok baby. But you need a break."
"I'm good. Let me get it and run to bathroom. I'll be back in a few." I dart out the door, determined not to be gone very long. I use the bathroom first since my bladder was about to burst. Then I went to the kitchen and cut up some strawberries and grapes, and grabbed some cheese and crackers. I grabbed some water bottles and carried a tray into the room. As soon as I walked in, Prince jumped up and took the tray from me and set it down. We ate and drank in silence for a few minutes. We offered some to Susan but she said she had snacks in her bag. About every half hour, Susan would get up and check Mattie's vitals. At 9:30, she said her breathing and heartbeat had slowed way down. "I think it will be very soon." She said solemnly.
Prince scooted his chair closer to the bed and grabbed his mom's hand. "It's ok mom. Let go. We love you. It's time to go home now." I placed my hand on Prince's back, just to let him know I was still there. He grabbed it and laid it on his leg, covering it with his free hand. "Jensen, will you pray with me please?" He asked, as I nodded my head. "Susan could you excuse us for just a few minutes?" She obliged and left the room. So while his left hand clung to his mom's and his right hand clung to mine, we bowed our heads. Prince begins...
Dear Heavenly Father,
Please help mom discover Your peace and comfort. Help her to be at rest knowing Your love. Calm her soul as she moves into the afterlife and may she spend eternity with You.
Prince begins to choke up a little and squeezes my hand. I took that as a sign to take over so I did.
We know our days our numbered in Your book of life. We are so thankful to know that we have the promise of eternal life through Jesus Christ and as soon as we passed from this world we will be in Your holy presence, and we will see all our loved ones who have gone before us. We have great peace in knowing there will be no more pain or sorrow. Mattie has placed her faith in You and we know You will never leave or forsake her. We thank you for your precious gift of salvation and the promise we will be with You and her again one day. We pray all this in Jesus's name. Amen.
Somehow I was able to hold myself together to the end of the prayer. As soon as we both looked up, Susan came back in and said she wanted to check vitals again. She walked over and begin checking for breathing and a pulse. "She's stopped breathing. There is barely a pulse." She relays to us. Prince stands up and lays his head beside Mattie's, kissing her forehead. I had never felt so helpless in my life as I watched him hold onto her as she slipped away. Less than five minutes later, Susan announced "she's gone. I'm calling time of death 10:08pm. I'm so very sorry." She backs away from the bed, grabbing her stuff. "I will be in the living room filling out necessary paperwork and making calls to the funeral home. Is there anyone else you would like me to call for you?"
"No. Thank you. I will call my family." Prince said.
"Let me know if there is anything I can do. I will stay as long as needed tonight. I will give you some privacy." She says, and then walks out of the room quietly.
I honestly had no idea what to do or say. My mind couldn't help but go back to Lenny and Roxie. Even though I hated him with a passion, I felt a sudden ping of guilt in my stomach thinking about how I wasn't there for him when this happened to Roxie. Sure I was there hours later, but not right in the moments afterwards. This awkward, heart wrenching time I was experiencing right now was not something I experienced with him. How he must have felt, and I was nowhere to be found. I begin feeling so distraught about it, I almost bolted from the room to go call him and apologize profusely. Not that I hadn't in the past, but now that I was going through it first hand it made sense. I finally could fully grasp and understand why he was so angry and hurt. I couldn't imagine Prince being in here alone. Even though I wasn't doing or saying anything, I was here and he knew that. I know that brought him great comfort, and I denied Lenny of that at the time. It made me start to wonder why I seemingly have been a much better wife to Prince than I was to Lenny. I loved Lenny very much before Roxie died, so why I even entertained the thought of leaving him alone at the hospital, much less actually doing it, was baffling me. Then I begin to wonder why I hadn't been more supportive when Roxie first got sick. I rarely went with him to her house and when she did move into the hospital and hospice, I still wasn't there daily. Yet as soon as Mattie entered the hospital, I told Prince to bring her here. Maybe I had learned from my mistakes with Roxie and Lenny and was trying to not make them again? Maybe I was older and wiser about relationships and life in general? I wasn't sure of the reason, but it was bothering me. Whatever the reason, I knew now that I was more at fault over our failed marriage than I had ever realized. If I had been there the way a wife should have been, maybe Lenny never would have spiraled as far as he did. I was becoming so consumed in my thoughts of guilt about Lenny, I didn't even realize Prince was saying my name.
"Jensen. Answer me please." He pleaded.
"I'm sorry babe. What did you say?"
"I asked if you could please call Tyka. She can call everyone else." He asked.
"Of course. I will be right back honey." I say, and walk quickly out of the room. I knew I was going to have a hard time not making a second phone call to someone I hadn't planned on ever talking to again.