One Month Later
***
Rashad's P.O.V
"Hey babe," Royalty politely interrupts my runway walk down the hallway.
"Whatchu need love?"
I stop in front of the mirror running my hand down my three piece suit.
"What's the budget?" She asks.
I snapped my head in her direction.
"What?" I raise my eyebrows. "What budget?"
"For the wedding."
She looks at me like I was the one talking crazy.
"Ain't no budget. Don't ever say the word budget no more." I lecture.
She throws her hands up in defense.
"Ok! Ok. I got it."
I shake my head in disbelief.
It's amazing how a person can have it all and not even notice.
I check the time on my watch before grabbing my keys of the coffee table.
"How I look?" I ask.
She shoots me a smile from ear to ear.
"Awe. You're cute!" She cooes like a child.
We laughed.
"Why you so fancy today?" She asks.
"I got a photo shoot, with Steve Harvey." I confess.
"You lyin'." She laughs.
"Girl please. He needs a new model for his new suits. And afterwards, I got a commercial with NIKE."
"Ok den! Go head wit' ya bad self!"
I laugh before kissing her.
"I'll see you later."
***
Candice's P.O.V
"Candice," The nurse calls out into the waiting room.
"That's me." I stand to my feet.
"You can follow me." She smiles, stepping aside to let me through.
***
I struggle to sit on the papery bed.
"So what brings you in today?"
My breathing waivers a little.
"I um." I struggle to find the right words "I think something's wrong." I say.
"Ok. Like what?"
"I can hardly breathe, and when I sit down it feels like I'm passing kidney stones as big as my titties."
"Oh dear!" She laughs, taking notes.
"From the front." I clarify.
"Oh, ok." She takes more notes. "No worries. Let's get your vitals going and we'll get a urine sample from you and find out what's going on ok?"
I nod.
Several Hours Later
***
I squirm in the unfamiliar place.
The sound of steady beeping sensors draws my attention causing my eyes to open.
"Let's check baby again, Mommy should be waking soon." A voice calls me to attention.
Before I can panic a lady rushes to my side.
"Hi, Candice." She puts her hand on my forearm. "I'm your nurse Sarah. Don't panic, you're probably a little sore, but you're gonna be just fine." She coaches.
"Hey Sarah, baby's hanging in there." Another woman enters the room.
"Perfect, we'll get mom up and maybe we can walk down." Sarah says.
I rested my wrist on my forehead trying to wrap my head around what I heard.
"I'm sorry, what?" I speak for the first time.
"Oh! You don't know?" She laughs.
"Know what?"
"Candice, you just had baby." She informs.
"What!?"
A baby? How the hell? I didn't even know I was pregnant.
I chuckle awkwardly.
"Oh." I nod a few times. "Ok."
Looking around the room I try to pull myself together.
***
"I'll give you a minute ok?" Sarah says at the back of my wheelchair.
"Ok." I say just above a whisper.
Tears glide down my face as I placed the palm of my hand on the incubator.
My eyes scanned the premature baby from head to toe.
He was a little red. Kinda small. He had tubes just about everywhere. Smooth black hair.
Born at 34 weeks, his lungs are underdeveloped.
I cried hysterically. Wishing that somehow I could turn back the hands of time. I wished that I could go back and fix it. Everything I did.
To mess him up.
I danced and never felt a budge. Never missed a period. Never gained anything over five pounds. I smoked, and never got a cramp.
But if I had known, I would've done it all differently.
I spent nearly hours in the N.I.C.U watching the nurses tend to his tubes, while teaching me how to feed him. After hearing him cry for the first time I got overwhelmed, so I asked Sarah to take me back to my room.
"Would you like us to contact his potential father?" Sarah asks after taking the incomplete birth certificate back.
I shake my head.
"No. I'll tell him."
A Few Weeks Later
***
After I was discharged from the hospital, I immediately went home and tried to put the pieces together. It hurt my heart to leave my baby behind, but I know he's in good hands.
I figured it was best if I used the time to track down his father.
Right. His father.
I met him in the grocery store last summer. I know it sounds silly, but I was in the cereal aisle. I couldn't reach the lucky charms. Just my luck, he came strolling by and helped me.
We shared a laugh before he introduced himself and asked if he could take me out sometime. Flattered by his aura and gentle approach, I agreed so we exchanged numbers.
After maintaining casual conversations for a few weeks, we went out. I had so much fun that it just became the new norm.
A few nights on the town, and a couple sexual encounters here and there. I had never been to his house. I mean, we always linked at the nearest Marriott. But I was fine with it, because he was a gentleman. A really great guy.
As far as I knew, he had it all going for himself. He never told me all the details, but I knew he worked as a brand ambassador for a few private companies. I never asked how much he made. Wasn't really my business at the time. But I did my research. And according to my calculations he probably makes around $58,000 a year.
I don't see how he couldn't. He had the looks, the style, the smile, and his heart was like pure gold.
Like I said, he was a great guy.
I was falling for him so fast that it scared me. So when things started getting heated between us I called it off.
And I haven't seen him since.
I contemplated keeping the news to myself. But my son has every right to know his father.
I just hope this doesn't come back to bite me in the ass.
***
"Look, I know you haven't seen me in almost six months. So what I'm about to say might sound delusional."
I tried to prep him for the tear jerking conversation.
He sat across from me at my kitchen table with his hands folded like a civilized person.
"What's goin' on?" He asks.
I swallow hard.
"I really don't know how to say this."
I picked at my cuticles trying to find the right words.
"Candice," He steadies my hand with his. "Just say it."
I take a deep breath.
"I, you, I mean," I paused. "We, have a baby."
I drop my shoulders. As if a weight had been lifted off of me.
"Huh?" He stared at me utterly confused.
"I told you it was gonna sound crazy. But I'm not lying. I didn't know I was pregnant." I admit. "I just went to the hospital thinking that maybe it was just a simple stomach problem. But the next thing I knew I was waking up to a nurse telling me I had a baby."
He dropped his head.
"It's a boy." I continue. " 5 pounds, 17 ounces. He's premature. About six weeks early. His lungs aren't fully developed. But he's a fighter." I informed him.
"Damn, I'm sorry luv." He says holding back tears.
I nod, forcing away tears of my own.
"I named him Power."
We both laughed a little.
"Power huh?" He cracks a smile. "I like that."
I shift in my seat.
"He's still in I.C.U, but I visit him every day. You can go with me whenever you're ready."
He nods.
He swipes the bridge of his nose with his thumb.
"Listen Candice, Ion mean no disrespect. But I gotta ask." He says.
I nod already knowing where he was going with this.
"How you know he's mine?" He asks.
I sigh.
"I haven't been with anybody else." I say honestly. "But if you wanna take a test I don't mind."
He nods.
"I trust you." He says. "I just had to ask."
It seemed as if the walls caved in on me.
I cried a little.
"He's doing good. I know he's gonna be ok." I convinced myself. "But I can't do this without you Rashad." I say. "I know this is all out of the ordinary. And I know I walked out on you, but I hope that one day we can try and make it work. For Power."
He clears his throat.
"I know this is scary for you. But it don't gotta be. Cause I'ma be there for my son no matter what. And being there for him means being there for you. So I gotchu. But I gotta be honest witchu Candi,"
I leaned back in my chair not really sure what to expect.
"What is it?" I ask.
He sighs.
"I'm engaged."
***
Rashad's P.O.V
I can't even lie, I'm puzzled.
How do I tell Royalty?
Without crushing her heart to pieces...
***
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