Rich POV
"You're sure it's twins?" I asked her again to make sure I was hearing right.
I looked from the monitor to Quanni, from Quanni to Dr. Asiago. The fact that Quanni was carrying my son was mind blowing, but my son and daughter? This is unbelievable.
"How have I been carrying twins this long and didn't know it?" Quanni asked with a face full of so many different emotions I couldn't tell how she was feeling or thinking.
"It's very possible and simple; baby girl was hiding behind her brother." Dr. Asiago smiled as she looked at the screen.
"Oh my goodness!" By this time Quanni was crying a river. I just didn't know if this was a good thing or a bad thing.
"I know. This was my exact reaction when I found out about my girls," she handed Quanni a Kleenex from the counter.
"A twin pregnancy is a double blessing, but it can also carry greater risks than single pregnancies. So it is imperative that you take care of yourself and continue to keep your activity and stress to a minimum." Dr. Asiago looked at the both of us seriously.
"She will." I assured her.
I know that the majority of her stress is because of me, so I'm gonna do everything in my power to make it right. It broke my heart to hear Quanni say she didn't know if I even really loved her. That girl is my everything.
We finished up with the doctor and I took Quanni to lunch. Because I really wanted to know what else was on her mind, I booked a private dining area at Ravenna. We sat there in complete silence as I watched her eat Bruschetta before I finally spoke up.
"I don't wanna lose you Steph."
She fiddled around with her fork before looking up at me. Her hair was up in a high bun and she didn't have on an ounce of makeup. Her nose has began to spread a little, and her cheeks were puffy. She stared with those honey brown eyes and I fell in love all over again; she was beautiful. Suddenly I felt sick at the pit of my stomach. I never meant to put her through all this.
"I just wanna know something.."
I watched as tears filled her eyes.
"Why? Why would you do this to me? Me?" She raised her voice a little.
Thank God we're in private dining.
"Sweets I never meant to-"
"What?" She looked up at me in no way she had ever done. I saw pain. Hurt. Disgust.
"You never meant to hurt me? Or you never meant to get caught?" She shook her head and laughed to herself.
"Richard I trusted you and I loved you with everything in me. I fought for you every step of the way and I never once came to the thought of hurting you in any way. But none it mattered because you made me look stupid. I was afraid to open up to you because of this very reason. Crazy thing is, as much as I wanted him to be wrong, my daddy was right. This was never about me; you just needed a quick fuck." She scoffed and grabbed her purse to leave."
"Wait?" I grabbed her waist.
She stopped and looked at me.
"You were never just a quick fuck, and you know that." I said softly.
"I don't know that. All I know is that the man I'm in love with fucked me over for a bitch that wouldn't give to shits about him if she saw him in the streets left for dead. And if that wasn't enough, I have to bring two babies into the world to this shit." She moved her hand in a circular motion.
"I know I can't do this." She jerked away from me and walked out of the room.
I followed after her because I was driving and she wouldn't have a way home, but when I made it outside she was nowhere to be found. I called her phone literally 50 times and she sent me straight to voicemail.
I blew it.
I wish I could take it back but I can't change what I did. I honestly don't even remember what happened that night; all I know is I woke up the next morning with LaTrice next to. I felt so fuckin guilty that I went to see Quanni in Texas. I haven't talked to or seen Trice since Skye's party, and I hadn't planned on it until last night when Quanni told me the BS she said. I tried calling Quanni again before I hopped in my truck and drove to Trice's.
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"You can't knock?" She jumped when she heard me turn the corner. Behind was a straight razor, mirror, and a few rows of white.
I did a quick scan of the room, and her. What was once our home and the place my daughter laid her head has turned into a place where she turns tricks and uses drugs. She had on a black tank top and underwear with a short silk robe on. I can remember a time where I would have bent her over and took her right there, but now this trifling bitch disgusts me. I used to feel sorry for her, but she's a grown ass woman and the fact that she tried to pull every one else around her into her misery blew me.
"So you gone fuck up another innocent person's life?" I asked pointing at the counter.
"Mind your business." She shrugged her shoulders and walked away.
"Yo C'mere?" I grabbed her elbow and led her into the bathroom. I pushed her in and closed the door behind us.
"Richard what the hell?" She pulled away looking at me all dumbfounded.
"Here." I handed her a pregnancy test that I picked up on the way here.
"What you want me to do with that?" She turned her lip up.
"Trice, I'm trying real hard not to fuck you up right now despite the fact that you already fucked things up for me. Now pee on this damn stick." I said through gritted teeth.
She smack her lips and snatched the box from me but I knew her ass was nervous. While she did her business I called Quanni again. Probably not the smartest idea but I needed to know that she was okay.
"Sweets, I know I'm the last person you want to hear from right now, but I need to hear from you." I said to her voicemail.
I looked up to see Trice mugging me. I did not care.
"Wow." She shook her head.
I was about to go in until I heard the timer on her phone go off.
I snatched the stick up without giving her a chance to even attempt to look.
It was negative.
I just looked at her.
"I-I'm sorry." She said trying to cry.
"Imma only ask you this once and I better get the truth. What happened that night?" I balled up my fist.
She just stood there quiet looking at the floor.
"Talk." I yelled and punched the wall directly behind her causing her to jump.
"I-I called you to pick me up from the club. I was a little faded and high, and the trick I was dealing with that night tried to cheat me. We fought and he took all my money and left me; you were my only option. You picked me up and made sure I got home to Skye. You watched her while I showered and sobered up. Instead of letting you leave like you planned to, I invited you to have drinks with me. After protesting for so long, you finally gave in. Well, one drink turned into three empty bottles of Patron and a bottle of Vodka well on its way to being empty."
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"He kept bringing you up the entire time. Talking about how special you were, and how much he really did care about you; it started to piss me off. So I tried to seduce him, and failed at every attempt. He told me that he loved you too much, and he wasn't fuckin it up. I cussed him out and left him there on the couch. After a few minutes though I brought him into my room and took his clothes off, that way the next morning he would think he did the unthinkable.When he woke up he didn't remember a thing. I told him what we had done, which was a lie. He was livid. " I watched furiously as she told the story over again to Quanni.
She never looked up. She just scrolled through her phone as Trice went on.
"I saw how he was changing; how happy he was. He was giving you the attention that he once gave me, and I just couldn't take it. I was gonna mess it up by any means necessary, and if that meant lying about my pregnancy, then so be it." She explained.
"Look at you... You're pathetic." Quanni finally spoke getting up from the couch.
"You fucked up your own happy ending and you thought you would get away with trying to ruin mine?" She laughed to herself.
"As much as I wanna beat your trifling, lowdown, sorry ass right now, I won't. I'm just gonna pray for you. I pray you get the help you need, and look deep down within yourself and find out what the real problem is." Quanni spoke quietly.
"You've toyed with so many peoples' lives, and I don't even believe that you're truly apologetic. You have a three year old daughter in the next room who's gonna grow up to resent you. All because of the fact that you couldn't stop one moment to think about somebody else other than yourself." She pointed at her.
"Grow up LaTrice." She was walking out of the room when she stopped dead in her tracks and hit Trice in the mouth.
I pulled Quanni over behind me and touched her stomach. Almost immediately she snapped back and started crying. She's supposed to be taking it easy.
"I'm sorry." She looked up at me worried.
I kissed her lips three times.
"Go upstairs for me?" I asked softly.
She nodded her head and rushed off.
I looked back at Trice who was holding her jaw with one hand, and wiping blood away from her lip with the other.
"Get the fuck out." I said as I walked up the stair to find Quanni.
She was in the nursery just sitting there. When I sat down beside her she didn't even move. I was her as she stared at the wall with no emotion.
"Stephie." I reached for her hand and she looked at me.
"I'm sorry, I never meant to put you through any of this. The last thing I wanted to do was hurt you. I never wanted to put your life at risk, or my babies' lives. Please, if you don't wanna be with me I understand. Just say you forgive me?" I looked into her eyes.
"Time..... I just need time right now." She cried.
I watched as she wiped away her tears, she was visibly broken, all by the hands of me. I picked her up and carried her to our room. I ran a shower and took her clothes off, and mine. She just stood there as I cleaned every inch of her body and held. I rested my head in the crook of her neck as the water ran down our bodies. I felt the water but I also felt her tears run down my shoulder.
"I love you." I whispered softly in her ear as I held her and rocked her back and forth. Right after, I felt two faint kicks up against my torso.
She looked up at me, and her eyes were blood shot red.
"I love you too."