The Black Panther (Discontinued)

Surprise (New chapter)

" It says your pain is at a 6 ", T'challa looked at me strangely.

" It's just Braxton Hicks. Thankyou so much for this Shuri. This will be such a big help for the both of us. We won't even have to guess what's bothering him or what he wants  ", I praised her.

" No problem. I figured it was the least I could do considering I wouldn't be up late at night cleaning puke, spit and poop. You are in my prayers ", she bows dramatically. I chuckled at her snarkyness. T'challa put it back inside of the box for me.

M'baku and his wife were next. He handed me a medium sized box with a beautiful bow on it. I shook it wondering what it was. After carefully tearing open the wrapping paper I pulled out small, cream colored fur coat. I held it up inspecting it's extravagant nature. Gold buttons, a zipper and even pockets. It looked like it could fit a one year old and it was beautifully made. I just couldn't figure out where the fur was from.

" I-is this ...-", M'baku cut me off.

" White gorilla fur ! Yes it is. Zoya helped make this for your little one. Don't worry the gorilla died from natural causes...I think ", M'baku's eyes shifted nervously.

" Baku! Don't say things like that. She'll think we slaughtered a damned ape for her newborn child. Rest assured this gorilla fur came from an ape that fell from the mountain. They're often at the top of the mountain and sometimes they slip and fall. The cold air preserves them and we use their bones and fur after we find them to honor them in battle ", Zoya explained.

" Well it's a beautiful coat ", I laughed.

" Yes perfect for Jabari weather if little Azari decides to pay us a visit ", M'baku explained.

" Absolutely ", I smiled gratefully. I looked at T'challa who still looked puzzled at the two of them before shaking his head. I nudged him.

Michelle gave me two boxes. A smaller box and a larger one from Ahmet.

" The smaller box is from Ahmet. The bigger one is from me ", she beamed. I started with the smaller box since she handed it to me first.

I opened the first box and to my surprise I found a small yellow octopus. I had forgotten all about this and assumed it burned in the fire I caused. This yellow octopus was my favorite stuffed animal when I was smaller. I clutched it feeling more tears pool into my eyes. Ahmet looked at me knowingly.

" I sent a clean up crew to what was left of the home. Mom had it inside the basement and we were able to wash it and refurbish it....but if you press the tentacle there's a surprise ", he instructed.

I pressed the red button on the stuffed tentacle and a voice rang into my ears. It was singing an old Caian lullaby that my grandmother used to sing to me when I was very young. I still remembered it till this day. My grandmother passed when I was about 5 so I had buried it in the back of my mind. I didn't even realize Ahmet remembered how much I loved my grandmother when she'd come around. Now it was in a stuffed animal for Azari to listen to.

" Where did you get this audio ?! ", I looked at him in shock.

" We found ALOT in the basement. That question will be answered in the next gift ", he motioned for the bigger box. I rushed to tear it open and to my surprise it was Video tapes. They were titled with special events. Harper 1 day old, Ahmet birthday party, Grandma and Harper. They trickled down from tapes to DVD's. All of these were home videos that my mom used to take of us. I can't believe I even forget about them. She stopped recording us after I turned 5. All this time I thought my mother didn't care for me as much as my father but I realized something in that moment. Maybe it wasn't that she stopped caring, maybe life's events just broke her spirit. Of course Ahmet was the favorite but I still felt more love from her than I ever did with my dad. I shook my head at all the tapes from my younger years. Maybe she did love me...somewhat.