Chapter Forty Two.
February.
"Alrighty, Ms. Kirkland, do me a favor and lay back." The ultrasound technician spoke to Kitana. She got up on the examination table and did as told, Justice standing right on the side of her.
Today was her monthly check up appointment, which was just to see how the baby was progressing so far and to discuss any questions or concerns she may have had. Justice was overly elated to be in attendance, being that he'd missed the last one due to everything that was going on regarding Jace.
"Now, lift your shirt up. I'm going to apply this jelly to your stomach, which may be a little cold so bare with me."
Kitana lifted up her shirt, letting it rest right underneath the lining of her bra. The technician then squeezed the clear gel-like substance on her skin, before grabbing the wand-better known as a transducer, and placing it gently on her belly.
Jumping slightly at the sensation, Kitana watched as the woman moved the transducer around. Seconds later, the sonogram popped up on the screen and the heartbeat of the fetus could be heard throughout the room.
"You hear that? That's one strong and healthy heartbeat." The tech spoke, earning wide smiles from both Justice and Kitana.
Reaching over, Justice grabbed his girlfriend's hand and gave it a squeeze, before intertwining their fingers.
"Aw, look at my baby's little feetsie-weetsies." Tana cooed, pointing to the screen. She then traced her finger along the outline of what looked to be the baby's feet and toes.
They both stared at the image of the unborn child, whom was slightly curled into a ball in the womb.
"Lil' folks got my ears and shit." Justice spoke, earning a laugh from both the tech and Kitana.
"Would you like to know the gender?" The woman inquired excitedly, looking at the expecting parents with a smile.
They looked at each other, before looking back at her.
"No." The couple spoke in unison while shaking their heads. Since they planned on having a gender reveal party, they wanted to be just as surprised as everyone else.
"You sure?"
"Yes. Can we have the ultrasound report, though?" Tana asked as the woman wiped off her stomach with a paper towel and cleaned up the small mess on the metal tray that was nearby.
"Of course! I'll let Dr.Hernandez know. Sit tight and she'll be coming back in shortly. It was great meeting you, mom and dad." The woman waved.
"You too." They both waved back, watching as she exited the room.
Tana's OBGYN came in about ten minutes later to finish off the appointment and give her the report, along with writing her a prescription for something to help with the terrible heartburn she'd been experiencing.
Once that was over, both Justice and Kitana rode the elevator down to the first floor and exited the large building that held the doctor's office.
"Thank you for coming today, baby." Kitana spoke as they held hands and walked to Justice's vehicle.
"Aw yeah, you know I wasn't gone miss out on it." He replied as she grinned.
"Can we go get some food now? Me and little Pikachu are starving."
"You and who?" Justice frowned, earning a laugh from her.
"Pikachu, that's the nickname I picked out for the baby." She further elaborated.
"Mmcht," He smacked his lips, before putting a pause in his walking. "Tell mommy you don't like that name, lil' folks." Justice spoke to her stomach as he bent down.
Kitana sucked her teeth, lightly pushing him away. "Whatever, it's cute!" The woman protested as he opened the car door for her.
"Yeah, okay." Justice snickered, watching as she got in and sat down in the passenger seat. Once he made sure she was in securely, he jogged around to his side and got in.
Justice started up the car, placing his seatbelt on. "Where you wanna eat at, ma?"
"I've been craving Dave's Hot Chicken sooo bad." Kitana dragged out.
"You not supposed to be eating spicy food, you already been dealing with heartburn." He pointed out, backing out of the parking space.
"Ugh, life is so unfair." She replied dramatically. "Fine. I guess I'll get a flatbread sandwich from Tropical Smoothie Cafe."
"See, now that's better." He placed a quick kiss on her cheek as she rolled her eyes.
It took a mere ten minutes to get to the restaurant. They went through the drive thru line, which surprisingly wasn't as long as it usually was.
Not wasting any time, Kitana dove right into eating her food as soon as the bag was passed to her. She ended up getting the chicken bacon ranch flatbread sandwich with a side of roasted sweet potatoes and a green smoothie. Meanwhile, Justice got the Caribbean jerk chicken wrap with jalapeño corn.
After leaving the establishment, Justice took Kitana to Morgan's house so that she could give her the gender report.
She was the official gender keeper, and would be in charge of putting together the whole reveal party slash baby shower. They figured they'd have both together, instead of doing two separate events.
Kitana picked out the venue she wanted, gave Morgan the list of foods she wanted on the menu and selected a color scheme. Everything else as far as decorating, finding a catering company, setting up, booking a DJ, etc. would be in Morgan's hands.
"I feel so honored! I need a moment." She placed a hand over her mouth and held up a finger as she tried to stop the tears from falling from her eyes. Meanwhile, Tana and Justice found her reaction hilarious.
"Don't start crying, Mo. then this one over here is gone start too." Justice chuckled, gesturing to his girlfriend with his thumb. She sucked her teeth, before lightly swatting his arm.
"Not too much on me, Pikachu has my hormones scattered all over the place." She defended.
"Who?" Morgan's face frowned up slightly.
"The baby." Tana huffed, replying in a 'duh' tone.
"Now why are you calling my tinkabutt that?"
"I think that's a very cute nickname. You and Justice suck." The woman squinted, pointing to them both which prompted the pair to laugh.
She was very adamant about making the ridiculous name a permanent thing, and nobody could tell her any different.
••
When they left Morgan's place, it was already nearing 3:00 pm which meant that Lani was getting out of school shortly. Justice drove to Abraham Elementary, and made it just before the student pick-up line traffic got too hefty.
The substitute that was in place of Kitana for the day released Ilani, allowing her to walk to Justice's car. As she did so, he noticed an unpleasant look on her face.
He unlocked the back door, and she pulled it open.
"Hi daddy, Hi Ms.Kirkland." The ten year old greeted in a short mumble, buckling herself in after closing the car door.
"Hey sweetie, you okay?" Kitana's voice was filled with concern. This was part of the reason she hated being away from her kids, because if something happened today then she needed to know.
"Yeah, what's wrong fat butt?" Justice frowned deeply. She was usually always in such a good mood, so this was out of the ordinary.
Ilani remained silent for a few seconds, picking at skin on her finger.
"I-I had an accident today and had to go to the nurse." She told them quietly.
"You gotta stop holding your pee, twin. I told you, it's not good for your bladder. That's exactly how accidents happen." Justice shook his head.
"I didn't pee.."
"Please don't tell me you shitted on yourself." He then said, causing Kitana to cut her eyes at him.
"Nooo, I didn't." She whined, starting to feel the embarrassment flooding back.
"Then what happened? You just said you had an accident.." Justice trailed off.
"I was bleeding from..down there." She pointed.
"Fuck." He mumbled, running a hand through his dreads. "You know what that means, don't you?" The male inquired, to which she shook her head no.
"You started your cycle for the first time."
"What's that?" She asked curiously.
Justice blew out a nervous breath, looking over at Kitana. He never thought he'd see the day that he had to explain to his daughter what puberty was. In fact, he didn't think he could. It was already hard enough accepting the fact that she was growing up before his eyes.
"Uh.." He trailed off, to which Tana put her hand up to stop him from going any further.
"I'll take it from here." She chimed in, taking the lead. A look of relief then washed over his face.
Tana explained to Ilani what a period was, and everything that came along with having one. She also went into detail about puberty and body changes, as well as what to expect.
The whole time, Justice listened uncomfortably. Though he didn't like the fact that he had to sit through the conversation, it was important that he knew these things as well, especially with him being the father to a young girl, whom would soon be a pre-teen.
"Baby, can you stop at Walmart right quick? I need to run in and get Lani some pads and a training bra." Kitana spoke once their 'coming into womanhood' talk was finished.
"Yeah, fasho'. I really appreciate you for doing this, ma." He said, bringing the car to a stop as the light turned red.
"It's not an issue at all." She smiled, giggling once he booped her nose.
Kitana never saw herself playing the step mother role, but she quite enjoyed it. Ilani deserved a maternal figure in her life that she could depend on, especially now that Tyler was nowhere to be found. Justice was doing the best he could, but nothing compared to having a mom, or at least a woman to guide you.
"Ms.Kirkland?"
"Yeah?" Tana replied, turning to look behind her.
"I love you." Ilani said, causing both Kitana and Justice to pause momentarily. Neither one of of them expected her to say that, but it warmed their hearts to the core.
"Oh my goodness, that's so sweet of you to say! I love you too, Lani Pooh." She replied, earning a wide smile from the child.
Justice couldn't help but to smile as well, absolutely touched by the sweet interaction.
Once the thirty minute trip to Walmart was complete, they headed back to Justice's place. Surprisingly, Ilani was excited about getting period products for the first time. She found the whole aisle of pads and tampons fascinating, never seeing anything like it before. Little did she know, bleeding for days on end was definitely not a walk in the park.
That excitement would soon be gone, especially when the cramps kicked in. Bless her little heart.
While she was in her room doing the assigned science homework, Tana and Justice made themselves comfortable on his king sized bed that occupied the master bedroom.
They simply talked about whatever came to mind, enjoying the company of one another.
"So, how's counseling been so far?" Kitana inquired, biting into a Twix bar. "You never told me about the first two sessions." She pointed out.
"Decent." The male shrugged, pulling at one of his dreads. "I'm still trying to get used to it, but it's straight. I hate having to open up though, just being honest."
"I get it." She told him, rubbing his arm in comfort. "Can you see yourself going long term?"
"Yeah." He nodded. "I know I'll never truly heal unless I get the help I need, which I'm willing to do. It's not something that can be done in the span of a week, so I have no choice but to go consistently."
Kitana then nodded, "I'm extremely proud of you, Justice. I know this whole thing hasn't been easy for you at all, and it takes a strong individual to push through like you've been doing. You know you have my full support, and I'll always be here when you need me."
"Thank you, baby. That means the world to me, forreal. If it wasn't for you, my momma, and Lani, I would've been lost my mind. I love you."
"I love you more."
He leaned over, kissing her lips gently as she placed her hands on his face.
Justice would forever be grateful for having such a great woman in his corner.
TBC...
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Too cute!
Thoughts?
Excuse any mistakes.