Obsession

22

"I'm thankful for my wife and everything she's ever done for me, sticking by me, loving me even when I made it hard. My family, my business. Which is now our business. I'm giving Raven fifty percent and stock in the company. She'll have two shops opening up soon to start her brand expansion. One in her home town and another in New York. We'll also be expanding our family soon." He says smiling down at her.

But her father wasn't smiling. His daughter had just turned twenty and was on her third child already.

"What do you mean soon? Are y'all planning for one? Stephen I'd hate to have to kill you before Christmas son." Her father said unamused.

Raven rolled her eyes knowing that her father would take it too far. Richard could be out of hand when it came to his children Raven especially.

"I wanted to keep it a secret until the baby was born but ... surprise ... I'm pregnant."

Congratulations exploded through the room as they all finished eating and began to work on their second and third plates. 

"Ray can I talk to you?"

She made her way into the corridor with her father and kept her eyes trained on her black moccasins. As much as she wanted to be an adult her father still intimidated her.

"What the fuck are you thinking?"

"Daddy I know I'm making mistakes but it'll all work out I promise."

He shook his head. Disappointment spread across his face rapidly. The more she talked the more upset he became. Stephen was making her a baby machine.

"I want you back at home with me."

"Daddy I can't just leave."

"I also didn't give you permission to leave."

"I didn't really have a choice. I was pregnant and didn't want you guys to know."

Raven was getting close to getting snatched up and dragged from the house. She was pissing her father off and he hated Stephen more than ever at this point.

"Ok and now you're pregnant again Raven. Do you know how old you are? You have almost as many kids as me and i didn't have my first one until I was twenty four."

Raven rolled her eyes. Tired of the conversation before it had even begun. Richard didn't even know the half of it. And Raven wasn't exactly in a position to tell him everything.

"If you love me you'll leave this situation alone. I'm fine Father. Me and Stephen have discussed this already. If I was in danger I wou..."

Mid sentence Stephen joins the two in the corridor.

"Hey baby. Everything ok?"

"Nah everything not ok, you keep putting kids in my daughter."

Stephen snickers a little. Richard was going to piss him off. This conversation didn't need to be had especially not at this moment. Not while their whole family was around. The whole conversation would lead to the two of them yelling and Raven crying.

"I'm not doing anything that she doesn't like."

"I'll kill you son."

"Daddy, it's fine he's right. We planned for this and were planning for three more. This ones on me."

"Ray do you hear yourself? You not even the same girl I dropped off at college a year ago. What happened to no kids until you've traveled and did everything thing you wanted to do?"

"Ray he's not doing anything but trying to make you feel bad. We're good you got your business. You own half of mine. We can travel whenever we want to baby with or without the kids. Just walk away from this conversation." 

Stephen grabbed her hand hoping she would walk away following behind him. Because let's face it her father was right, Victoria was right, her therapist was. Every one was right about the situation but it had all happened so fast that Raven had settled.

Standing there tears began to fall and she pulled her hand away. Richard made his way to her rubbing the tears away with his thumbs. But as soon as he engulfed her in a hug the waterworks began. Raven wanted out at least for a while.

By the time she was finished Stephen had walked away and reunited with the family. Everyone was worried about Ray. Maybe it was her hormones, maybe it was her father, maybe it was her common sense finally kicking in. But she had finally made her decision. When Stephen went away for business she would go travel seeing as tho she wasn't that far along in her pregnancy.

"Daddy I'll fix it. I'm not getting rid of the kid and I'll probably still have three more but I'm going to do everything that I told you I would."

He nodded not wanting to talk anymore and walked back into the living room with everyone else.

Raven made her way upstairs excusing herself from family because the baby was "tiring her out". Getting into bed her room door opens back up.

"Hey beautiful can I talk to you?"

"Yeah V."

Victoria slipped out of her shoes and next to her best friend in bed.

"Find something good. I'm staying with you tonight."

They both laughed as Raven selected All American on Netflix and pulled a bowl full of snacks from her bedside table.

"Wussup, what happened with Rich?"

"Same thing that happened with you. He's upset with the fact that I'm on my third child already."

"Yeah what's all that about?"

"I don't wanna talk about it. But what I do wanna talk about is you staying and traveling with me with this summer. All on me."

"You serious?"

"Dead ass. You, me, the twins. Twelve weeks worth of traveling the world. You pick six places you wanna go and I'll pick six."

"I'm in. But what about Steph?"

"E has his own life. And he has a business trip for conferences and meetings in Cancun alllllll summer. We're good sis."