cw: language, mention of sex, slight panic
Oh-Baby—
The sun had just set by the time they made it back to Corpus Christi.
Leo drove the girls to his house while London dropped Kush, then Dee off.
When they got to Dee's house, there was an extra car in the driveway, but he was too tired to notice.
He walked into a lively household, immediately getting a headache. He lazily greeted his family, not even realizing that his older brother was home.
He walked straight to his bedroom, ready to flop onto his bed before noticing a small pink blanket and the sleeping infant beneath it. He smiled softly as he approached her.
"Hey, Muffin," he said softly, carefully lifting her into his arms.
She fussed calmly in her sleep but relaxed again when he laid down with her on his chest. She cooed softly, suckling at her pacifier as he rubbed her back.
Within minutes, he was asleep, too.
He woke up a hour later to the four month old inching her way up his chest to curiously slap at his face.
He kissed her hands when they landed on his lips. "Hey, pretty girl," he smiled.
She babbled senselessly, putting her hand over his mouth again. She waited for him to kiss it and giggled the moment he did, moving her hand to his cheek before repeating the process.
She kicked her legs, fussing softly before stretching out and stiffening dramatically.
"Muffin, is you shitting?" he asked in a baby voice.
"Her diaper bag in my room. Give her a bath and change her, then bring her in the kitchen," his brother instructed through the baby monitor.
"I ain't sign up for all that," he sighed.
"Yes, you did."
Maegan immediately started crying when she finished. He got up with her and her blanket and went to his brother's room. Laying the blanket down first, he gently placed her on her back and unbuttoned her onsie.
She cried dramatically as he undressed her.
"I know, Muffin. I know. I wouldn't wanna lay in my own shit either," he said, cleaning her up as much as possible with the diaper before grabbing the wipes.
Her screams only got louder when the wipes touched her.
He pouted, "I know, mamas. They make 'em so cold. Don't they know don't nobody want a cold booty?"
He put the dirty wipes in the diaper, sealed it, and threw it away, then took her to the bathroom where her miniature tub was already set up.
He ran her bath water then sat her in it, instantly calming her down. She cooed softly as he cleaned her up.
"Oh, my goodness! Look at them cheeks!" he said in a baby voice before leaning in to bounce rapid kisses off chubby cheeks.
She turned to look at him just as he pulled away.
"Wanna gimme kisses? Mwah!" he said, pecking her wet mouth.
She giggled, so he did it again. She babbled and reached for him. He leaned in again and puckered. This time she held his face and smashed her mouth against his lips, but—not actually understanding how to kiss—she only licked at his lips. He snorted and wiped his mouth on his sleeve.
"Aye, no french kissing til you're forty," he scolded as she giggled and bounced.
He finished her bath then washed her hair, dried her off, and gently brushed her gums.
Once she was clean, he took her back to the bedroom and laid her on her blanket again, giving her a teething ring to chew on while he powdered and moisturized her skin and put a new diaper on her.
He got her dressed in a pink and white onesie, with a pink, bowtie headband, and matching mittens, then kissed the bottoms of her tiny, bare feet before putting her socks on.
"Come on, pretty girl," he said, picking her up and taking her to the kitchen.
"Hey, Paris." He glanced around for a short moment. "Where Leah?" he asked, putting his niece in her bouncer then going to hug his sister-in-law.
"Her momma came and got her earlier," his father replied.
Paris wore a wide smile as she let go of him. "How's school going?"
He shrugged, "It's straight. Just ready to get out so I can spend some time with my Muffin!"
The baby screeched at her nickname, jumping around to the music playing in the kitchen and giggling wildly as he jumped in front of her.
"Stop," he said, freezing in place.
She stopped a bit after him, giggling and anticipating when he'd start jumping again. The moment he did, she screamed excitedly and immediately joined in.
He stopped again, making her pause, too.
And the moment he started jumping again, she screeched and laughed as she jumped with him.
He snickered, finally going to greet his parents and older brother.
"That li'l girl came by here looking for you," Renae, his mother, informed as he pressed a kiss to her cheek.
He furrowed his brows as he dapped up his father, "Who?"
"Hannah," she replied.
He rolled his eyes as he dapped up his older brother. "Ma, don't be being friendly to her. We broke up 'cause she cheated on me."
"She cheated on you?" Paris scoffed—disbelief at Hannah's audacity lacing her tone.
He nodded, "With several niggas. And all at the same time, if you catching my drift."
"Choo-choo," his brother replied as they both snickered—Maegan mimicked the sound, despite crying every time she heard an actual train horn.
The women were instantly upset, both ranting and raving about why Hannah wasn't a good match for Dee and listing off reasons they never liked her.
Maegan, having no clue as to what was going on, babbled loudly in attempts of joining the conversation.
"What you mad about?" Demetrius laughed.
She yelled at him, too.
Paris nodded, "Mmhm. Tell him again, mama."
She continued yelling at her father as if anyone had any idea what she was saying.
"You better watch your mouth," he scolded, earning more loud babbling. "You go'n get a whooping," he warned.
"Who? Cause I know you ain't talking to my Muffin. You go'n have to fight me 'bout that one," Dee replied.
"Boy, I'll beat yo' ass—"
"Language," Renae instantly scolded.
"My bad, momma," he apologized.
"Yeah, watch your mouth," Darnell echoed, quickly slapping his older brother then running away.
Demetrius chased him around the house.
"Pops!" Dee yelled, running back into the living room and quickly hiding behind him as he tried to walk.
Derrick put both boys in a chokehold, "What I told y'all 'bout dragging me into shit?"
"That was him!" Meechie protested—their father only tightening his grip.
"Ah! I tap! I tap!" Dee surrendered, quickly tapping his father's arm, but he didn't let go. "Aye, man, I said 'I tap'!"
"Ain't no tapping out in real fights," he replied.
"MA!!" the boys instantly yelled in unison.
"Derrick!" she replied.
He scoffed, "They aight."
"Derrick, if you don't let my boys go! All y'all, come and eat!" she called.
He let go and the three of them headed to the dining room table. Paris was already eating and breastfeeding Maegan.
Renae set each of their plates down in front of them before sitting down with her own.
"How long you finna be here, Meech?" Dee asked.
"We headed back to the house after dinner," he replied.
"Dee, don't talk with your mouth full," his mother lightly scolded.
He shoved more food in his mouth, "Like this?"
She bucked at him and he instantly flinched, laughing as she rolled her eyes. "I should've had girls," she sighed.
"But you didn't," Meechie teased with a mouthful.
She chuckled, "Ooh! I can't stand y'all!"
...—༄
Dee woke up the next morning to his alarm and went straight to the kitchen.
"Ma!" he called, purposely disturbing her peace.
"Get out my face," she instantly snapped.
"Nope," he replied, obnoxiously popping the 'P'. "I can stay here with you and Muffin today?"
"Nope," she replied, the exact same way he'd done. "You'll see her when you get home. And we got errands to run today anyway."
"What time she coming?"
"Paris don't go to work 'til nine, you'll be gone before she get here."
"Man, I don't never get to see my baby," he grumbled, stomping his way back to his room.
"Boy, you saw her last night. Hush," she laughed.
He got dressed for school before going to do his morning routine and returning to the kitchen. He hugged and kissed Renae's cheek before leaving.
"Have a good day! I love you!" she yelled after him.
"I love you, too," he replied, closing the front door.
He listened to music on the short walk to Kush's house and banged on the front door when he arrived.
To his surprise, Snoh answered it. "Boy, don't make me beat yo' ass," she griped. She looked absolutely exhausted.
"My fault, I ain't know you was here. You usually be gone already," he apologized.
"Well, I am. Don't beat on my door like that no more."
"Yes, ma'am," he replied, heading for Kush's room.
He banged on that door, too.
"DARNELL!!" she immediately yelled as he laughed.
"Okay, I'm done."
"It's open," Kush called, pulling on a hoodie. He switched his durag and put on shoes as Dee waited patiently on his bed.
They said 'bye' to Snoh as they left to head for London's house.
"How she home and still won't drop us off?" Dee sighed.
Kush shrugged, "She been throwing up all morning. She probably finna go back to sleep."
"She pregnant?"
He scoffed, "I wish the fuck she would get pregnant before somebody give her a ring. She got a stomach virus."
"How that happen?"
"You know she work at the hospital. So she said a lot of her patients got sick and they caught it too late, so now she sick and, like, three of her nurses, too."
"Damn."
They stopped at London's house and waited for a moment, but he didn't come out, so they went to the door and knocked.
A few moments later, Dee got a text from him. "He said he woke up late, but the door unlocked."
The two of them went inside and sat on the couch to wait for him.
When he came out, they headed to Leo's house and knocked. He was also running late.
When he opened the door, Kaliyah was crying somewhere else in the house.
"I'm coming, LiLi!" he yelled.
"Where Jahmelia? Ain't that how you say it?" Baby asked.
"She taking a shower," he replied, going to get the child. She was sitting up in bed, crying because she'd woken up alone.
She instantly reached for Leo the moment he returned to the room. "Dadda," she pouted.
He picked her up and rubbed her back to calm her. "We still here, baby. We ain't leave you."
His mother came in the room to take her, "C'mere, grandma baby."
Cassandra's mood had been completely altered when she finally found out that the reason Leo had been going home so much for the passed two, almost three, years was Kaliyah—since Jahmelia's pregnancy was included in that time frame.
"You can go to school. We're gonna make pancakes," she said, taking the child to the kitchen.
"I want pancakes," he said following.
"You don't have time. Go to school," she replied.
He smacked his lips, "That shit ain't fair."
"Quit cussing in front of my grandbaby," she scoffed.
He rolled his eyes and left the house with his friends. "That shit so crazy. She always said if I ever brought a baby home she wasn't helping, now she kicking me out to spend time with her," he laughed.
"I really ain't think she was gone let them stay with y'all," Dee replied.
"I lowkey knew she would—she always liked Jahmelia. Hell, probably more than me. That's who she want me to marry," he shrugged.
"Mommas stay try'n'a force you to marry a mu'fucker," Dee snickered.
"On God," Leo agreed.
Baby was silent. He kept his hands in his pockets, staring at the ground in front of him as he walked.
"Where Strawberry?" Kush asked, quickly changing the subject from mothers, but it backfired.
"With her momma. She had some kind of competition, or whatever, and got excused from school," he replied.
"You was with Peaches the last night, right? You ain't never tell us about that," Dee suggested.
"I was with Butters," he corrected. "And y'all can stop try'n'a change the subject. Talking 'bout other shit don't make me forget how much I miss my momma. Just let me be sad."
Kush snickered, "Nigga, what? If you don't get yo' sad ass on. You trippin'."
He stopped, "I'm deadass. I'm not feeling school, I'm finna go home."
Dee grabbed him by his hoodie and dragged him along, "No, you not. You coming to school. You not finna make a habit of skipping again then fail right before the break. Yo' whole family go'n kill you, then come kill me for letting you. You already got me in trouble for try'n'a do that shit last year."
He pulled out his phone and called Abeer.
She flinched at the sudden loudness of her ringtone then checked the caller ID. She panicked seeing Dee's contact, knowing that if he was calling, there was most likely something wrong with her little brother.
"Hello? What happened?" she answered, getting out of bed and frantically putting on clothes.
"Baby try'n'a skip school."
"Snitch," London muttered.
She furrowed her brows, "Give him the phone, please."
London sighed as he took the call, "Hello?"
"What's wrong, Lonnie?"
"Abeer?" he asked.
"Yes, it's me."
Baby turned to glare at Dee. "Nigga, you called Abeer? You ain't shit."
He only shrugged as Baby returned to the phone call.
"I just miss y'all and I don't wanna be at school today."
"Are you sick?" she asked.
"No."
"Bleeding?"
"No."
"Is anything broken?"
"My heart."
She rolled her eyes, "Cute. Go to school, Lonnie. I'll be home in two weeks."
"What about finals? I though that was in three weeks."
"Well, I miss my little brother, so I'm taking them early. Don't do anything stupid before I get there, okay?"
"No promises."
"Lonnie," she scolded.
"I won't."
"Good. I love you."
"I love you, too."
She hung up and groaned, leaning against her bed. Though she wanted to go back to sleep, her decision to take her finals early meant that most of her time had to be spent studying.
She went to her desk and turned on her lamp, laying out her textbook and notes to add to them.
Her roommate whined, "Abeer, what the hell? Go back to sleep."
"Navya, you have a class across campus at seven and it's already almost six. You should be thanking me for waking you up," she laughed.
"It's six already?" she whined. She slumped out of bed and went into their bathroom to start getting ready. "Wanna get lunch later?" she yawned.
"Yeah, definitely."
Abeer went back to studying as her roommate got dressed and left for class.
Her phone rang again about an hour later, this time with a group FaceTime from both of her sisters.
"Yes?"
"Bahar had sex!" Dalia immediately blurted.
"Dalia, why would you do that?! I knew I should've waited to tell you!" Bahar whined.
Abeer completely focused on the phone call, "You had sex?"
She blushed and nodded.
"With who? Did he see your hair?"
She blushed profusely, "Well, yes, because I had sex with a girl."
"Wait, what? You didn't tell me that!" Dalia replied.
"Because you would've told Abeer before I could. You can never keep your mouth shut," she reasoned.
"That is very true. Dalia, you're terrible at keeping secrets," Abeer agreed.
She scoffed, "Rude."
"Bahar, whatever you do, don't tell baba. Dalia, I will, personally, sew your lips shut if you even think to try to," Abeer threatened.
"I wouldn't say anything to baba. Can I tell momma?" Dalia questioned.
"No! Let her tell it when she's ready!" Abeer scolded.
"You didn't have to yell," she pouted.
Abeer rolled her eyes, "Bahar, when did this happen?"
"Last night. She just went to class, that's the only reason I can talk about it now."
Dalia was intrigued, "How was it?"
"Good... I-I guess. I don't know. Should I tell Lonnie?" she asked.
Abeer shrugged, "It's up to you, really. He has more experience with sex than any of us. I mean, I'm still a virgin at twenty-three."
"But he's a boy. Why would you tell him?" Dalia asked.
She shrugged, "Because I tell him everything. And he's our little brother. I don't wanna leave him out."
Abeer furrowed her brows, "Lonnie is our little brother, but he's your big brother. His birthday comes before yours."
"He's literally only older than me by a few months!" she stressed.
"Still older," Dalia laughed.
"And I wouldn't call a year and a half 'a few months' anyway," Abeer shrugged.
"Well, it doesn't matter he calls me his big sister."
"Yes, because you skipped sixth grade and did dual enrollment to graduate early and start college before him, even though the two of you should be in the same year. Technically you're still in high school, but we're proud of you for being in college at the same time," Abeer clarified.
"That doesn't matter!"
Dalia was still laughing, "You know he only calls you 'big sister' to make you happy, right? You always used to complain about being the youngest."
"That's not true!"
"No, it is," Abeer confirmed. "That's the exact reason he calls you his big sister, too. Even though he knows he's older than you," she purposely teased.
"He's my little brother, too! Let me have this!" she yelled.
"How does it feel knowing your little brother is actually more than a year older than you?" Dalia asked.
Bahar pouted, "I don't like either of you. Lonnie's my favorite sibling."
"He's all of our favorites. I'd hang out with him before either of you. Especially you, Dalia."
Dalia scoffed, "Well, I don't like y'all either. You're both annoying. But too bad for y'all, I'm Lonnie's favorite."
Abeer let out a dismissive scoff, "Please, it's definitely me."
"Wrong. It's me," Bahar challenged.
They argued senselessly about who was the favorite sister before finally deciding to ask him.
Baby's phone was buzzing uncontrollably in his pocket when he finally pulled it out to check it. He smiled softly seeing nearly thirty messages in the group chat he shared with his sisters—he didn't read most of them.
He sent a response, informing them that he didn't have a favorite sister and loved them all equally, but that message came with plenty of backlash—as expected.
He turned on the Do Not Disturb setting on his phone then placed it in his backpack and went back to taking notes.
...—༄
The next two weeks went by relatively quickly, and soon enough London returned home from school to see his oldest sister's car in the yard.
He practically sprinted inside to her room, surrounding her in a tight hug the moment he saw her.
She giggled softly as she held him in her arms.
"I missed you so much," he muttered quietly, burying his face in her shoulder.
"I missed you, too, little brother."
After a long, silent moment, she spoke again. "Has Bahar called you yet?"
He furrowed his brows and sat up, "She was s'posed to call me?"
His sister nodded, quickly coming up with a lie to protect her youngest sibling's privacy. "Yeah, when I talked to her before finals she said she had something to talk to you about, but I guess it wasn't important if she never called. That was two weeks ago, though, so it most likely wasn't."
He shrugged, "Guess not. It was probably something about a new candle scent or something she found and ordered but didn't need. That's what she usually calls for."
She laughed, "She seriously needs to learn how to save her money."
"Like you have any room to talk," he scoffed quietly, looking at over four-thousand dollars worth of Demonia shoes stacked against her wall.
"Don't judge me. You spend a lot of money, too!" she defended.
"Yeah, but when I spend, I don't splurge. I buy a few things at a time and save up in between," he reasoned.
She rolled her eyes, "Whatever."
He hugged her again without saying a word.
She pouted and reached to untie his turban. "I'm impressed. This is the best I've ever seen you tie your turban, or did baba do it?"
"I did."
She pulled his hair from the messy top knot he had it in and stroked through his curls. "What happened to the girl you moved in the house?"
"She went back home. She still come sleep over sometimes, though."
"Do you like her?"
He nodded, "Yeah. She cool."
"What's her name?"
"Dei Lin. I showed her your shoes cause she wear the same kind. I think you'll like her."
"I don't know. You said the same thing about Jiya, but I don't like her at all."
He pouted, "Why don't you like Jiya?"
"She's not good for you, Lonnie. She's rude and irresponsible. Just think about how many times you've gotten in trouble for sneaking out to pick her up in the middle of the night because she's drunk and lost."
"But she reminds me of Dalia," he pouted.
"Dalia's forgetful and a little careless at times, but she's not irresponsible," she replied. She held his cheeks and kissed his forehead, "You can do so much better."
...—༄
Snoh was throwing up again when Kush walked into her bedroom. He went to pull her hair into a ponytail for her and gave her a water bottle when she was done.
"Thanks, baby," she huffed as he helped her up and back into bed.
"I'm finna go get some stuff to make for dinner and get you some more medicine. You want some soup or some'n til I get back?"
She shook her head, her eyes already closed.
"Wake up, ma. And drink your water, we gotta lower your fever," he called, washing his hands in her bathroom.
He pulled on a pair of gloves and grabbed the thermometer to check her temperature.
"Ma, wake up. I gotta check your temp'," he called, shaking her gently. She didn't move or show any signs of waking up. He tried a few more times, even lightly tapping her face and, soon, yelling for her as he panicked.
He checked her temperature, the thermometer reading a hundred-twelve degrees. "Shit. The fuck she said do?" he muttered to himself, his heart pounding in his chest.
His mind immediately turned against him, only making the situation worse.
I don't know what I'm doing. I'm not a fucking doctor, I can't help her. Has she been out too long? She's gonna have brain damage and die, and it'll be my fault just like the shit with pops. If A'merie ain't leave when she did, I pro'ly would've killed her, too.
He snatched the comforter off her and went back in the bathroom. He grabbed two small towels and wet them with cold water as he called for an ambulance.
"Nine-one-one. What's your emergency?"
Despite his internal panicking, he'd never be outwardly hysterical in front of other people. "I need a ambulance. My momma fever spiked again and she just fainted. She won't wake up," he said calmly. He placed the towels on her forehead and around the back of her neck.
"Is she breathing?"
"Yes."
"How long has she been unresponsive?"
"A couple minutes."
"Earlier you said it spiked 'again'. What was her temperature before now."
"One-oh-four before I went to school this morning."
"And what is it now?"
"One-twelve. Ma'am, I understand you asking all these questions 'cause you just doing your job, but I really need an ambulance."
"Sir, please, stay calm—"
"I am calm," he said with irritation in his tone.
"Have you been able to lower her temperature at all?"
"I don't know. Maybe? I took the comforter off and— Fuck it. I'll handle this myself."
He hung up and put his phone in his pocket. "Ain't doing shit but slowing me down," he muttered in aggravation.
He grabbed Snoh's keys to unlock the car and open the passenger side door. He went back to her and carefully scooped her up from the bed. "Goddamn, you heavy," he huffed, waddling to the car.
Once she was in and her seatbelt on, he reclined her seat so she could lay more comfortably. He got in the driver's seat and blasted the air conditioner as he sped to the hospital she worked at.
He went in through the ER entrance, putting Snoh in a wheelchair and immediately asking for help—and this time receiving it just as quickly.
"What happened, Kush?" Carey, one of his mother's nurses asked, already checking Snoh's heart pulse.
"She was throwing up, so I gave her some water and put her back in the bed so I could get ready to take her temperature, but she passed out and ain't woke up since," he explained.
"How long ago was that?"
"Almost thirty minutes now. I tried to call a ambulance, but the lady was just wasting my time."
"We'll take it from here," she assured, quickly wheeling Snoh away.
What felt like hours passed before Kush was allowed to see his mother again. He was sitting in the waiting room, his face buried in his palms as his leg bouncing anxiously, when his name was called.
He was standing to follow in seconds. Snoh was awake when he walked in the room, and he practically fell into her arms.
She cradled him against her, stroking his head calmly. "I'm okay, baby," she assured.
He only squeezed tighter, refusing to speak. She made room in bed for him to lay beside her, and without having to be told, he did.
To her surprise, he sniffled softly. She kissed the top of his head, "Kush, what's wrong, baby?"
"I was so fucking scared," he almost whispered.
"Will you look at me?"
He hesitated before finally lifting his head to meet her eyes. She wiped his tears with a soft smile. "I'm okay, baby. I was just exhausted."
He only sniffled and laid on her chest again, his eyes closed to focus on her beating heart until he was asleep.
Rolling...—༄