Dez
"Wait, let me take a pic so I can let the world know what we're having." I said as Tara stood in the mirror rubbing some nasty looking shit on her stomach.
"Fuck is that you be using anyways?" I ask watching her.
"Shea butter. I'm trying to avoid stretch marks. I didn't get them with Zain and I'm hoping I don't get them with my boo baby here." She said turning side ways rubbing her stomach.
"Well you already got some on ya ass."
"Shut the fuck up dummy no I don't!" She shouted throwing the Shea butter container at me. "No, do I for real? No I don't lying ass."
I laughed, "I mean I be hitting it from the back damn near every night I would know. That ass been growing girl."
"Stop lying Dez." She shouted pulling one side of her panties down trying to look in the mirror.
"You're a dummy." I said laughing.
"No, you are idiot." She said plopping down on to my lap.
"Can I take a picture of ya stomach now?" I ask rubbing it.
"Sure. Wait, no. Let me get dressed first, you might get my bra and underwear in it."
"I know how to take a damn pic."
"Yeah sure."
"Wait, let me see." She said looking at the pic. "Okay that's fine."
Hailee💝. #lilmamaClark
"A lot of damn weirdos follow you and I hate it because they all tag me under talking shit. Like can you make ya damn page private and block these idiots?" Tara said looking at the pic from her phone watching the likes and comments go up.
"There are more positive people tho. A lot of people saying congratulations." I said looking. "I'm always blocking people, but that's when a fake page pop up."
"Extremely dumb hoes. One said oh yeah that's definitely not his baby, he don't make girls only boys. Like bitch what? Where?"
"Man, fuck them. Like we said, we know what's up." I said taking her phone just as she was refreshing the comments. "Stop stressing ya self. I don't need that on my baby girl."
She sighed, "You're right, I'm not."
"What you gonna do while I'm at work?" I ask standing up grabbing my towel to take a shower.
"Lex is coming over. I gotta finalize some things for the grand open tomorrow. I'm sooooo nervous."
"Don't be." I said bending down to kiss her. "You already know that place gonna be poppin. You got a bunch of supporters, you got this."
"Thank you." She said softly kissing me again
*
Tara
"Didn't you hide your first pregnancy from your mom?" Lex asks rubbing my stomach.
"Yeah, until I was like seven months."
"Girl, damn. Seven months? How the hell did you do that?" She asks.
"To be able to take care of us, my mom worked a lot. I mean a lot. It was rare for her to be off and when she was she would sleep and eat. She'd work like literally all day. So I'd always be in bed by time she got home so when she'd come in there to talk to me my stomach was hidden. There were many times when I almost got caught tho. I'd wear baggy clothes all the time so even if she would have had a good look of me she probably wouldn't have noticed. I remember one time I was standing at the fridge rubbing my stomach when she came in with groceries, but she was so in a rush she didn't notice."
"I was young and dumb. Mostly scared she'd be mad because for one I was only fifteen and we were already struggling to get by and with a baby added to that..." I stopped shaking my head.
"Yeah, we barely had a relationship back then it was sad. It was really just me until I met, Dez. Like I literally think everyday how if it wasn't for him and Shaun coming into our lives we wouldn't be as good and as close as we are now. I still randomly thank him even tho he hates it."
"Them Clarks got good ass hearts I can say that." Lex said.
"True." I agreed.
"You coming to my grand opening tomorrow, right?" I ask her.
"Wouldn't miss it."
"Okay, good."
"I'ma bring my man."
"This man I still haven't met. What's his name again?"
"Ashton, I told you this before girl." She said.
"Well shit I be forgetting."
"He knows your dude."
"That ain't telling me nothing. I don't fuck with Dez's people."
"Why not?" She asks laughing.
"They ain't no friends of mine, I don't even know their names and don't care to know them. Their loyalty was to him, his cheating, and encouraging it. Nah."
"I'm petty, but I only like him being with Rock and Shaun because they the only two in love and know how this relationship shit goes. Dez is doing good now tho and he grown so shit." I said ending with a shrug.
"Ashton said he knew you and Dez for years. Since you were pregnant with Zain."
I scrunched up my face, "What's his name again?"
"Ashton, damn Tara. Pregnancy brain for real."
"Wait, I might remember that name. He had moved away tho."
"Yeah, he did. He come back tho."
"Oh okay. If this is the same person, yeah he's the only one of Dez's friends I liked. I actually met Dez through him because I was the quiet girl in school and he would always try to talk to me, on a friendly level of course. He'd be like this my new lil sis to his boys. I thought it was so weird and crazy at first. Then that's when Dez started speaking and yeah," I rolled my eyes. "You know how that went."
"We all gonna have to get together." She said.
"Yeah, we can."
*
Today is the grand opening of my, Tara's, pastry shop. I'm excited, yet nervous as hell and I might be lowkey stressing.
We spent a lot of time getting ready for this and it's finally here.
We went home so I could shower and change quickly since I've been on my feet all morning finishing things up.
I begin panicking as we were getting in the car to go back.
"What if nobody's there when we get back? What if nobody shows up? What if we put the wrong date out? What if-"
"Tara shut the hell up." Dez said cutting me off.
I stared at him with a open mouth. "You shut the hell up."
"Tara you stressing for nothing. How many times I gotta tell you this shit?"
"No I am not!"
"You know what, nah. I'ma just let you see for yourself."
*
"Oh where that panicking go now, huh? Now it's just a smile plastered on your face." Dez whispered in my ear as we walked through the shop door and it was packed.
I seen a bunch of my regulars while I was freelance, I bunch of new faces, family, and friends.
"Tara are you letting people put custom orders in today?" A girl I hired asked.
"Yeah, yeah. If anybody wants to custom order send them to me down to this side of the counter." I said pointing as I came behind the counter getting my notebook and tablet out.
"Do ya thing, I'ma go over there with the fam." Dez nodded his head. "Let me know if you need me."
"Okay, I'll be over there." I said.
After talking to a few people about custom orders, meeting some of my customers, and making sure everybody was good I finally got to sneak away to go be with my family.
"Congrats again babe." Nya said hugging me.
"Thank you."
"Nah, I'm pissed people already brought all the fuckin banana cupcakes up." Shawn said.
"Nigga you got two other cupcakes and a piece of cake in front of you right now." Dez said.
"So, nigga?" He said.
Nya shook her head making me laugh.
"Girl you and ya baking is so bad for all of our healths." Kelsie said coming over with her own tray of sweets with Rocky looking too hype holding her hand.
"Zain just loving it." Nya said pointing to him where he sat with my mom.
"That nigga be too in love." Dez said.
"And he gonna be mad when I cut him off because his lil ass always wanna over do it." I said. "He got his sweet addiction honest tho."
"That he does." Dez said.
"Awh, my might be grandbaby." Austin's my, Ms. Joy said coming up to me rubbing my stomach.
"Mom, the hell?" Austin said looking at her like she was crazy as were the rest of us.
"Lady you got shit fucked up." Dez said.
"Yo don't disrespect my moms." Austin said.
Shaun put his arm in front of Dez since he was about to step forward. "Nah, bruh I think you better check your moms on disrespecting my lil sis, niece, and brother."
"I got my mom just worry about ya fuckin brother."
Shaun chuckled moving his arm and him and Dez stepped up to Austin at the same time, "I ain't got no problems with you lil nigga, but I promise you don't wanna go there."
"Okay, okay," Nya said stepping between them pushing Shaun back the same time I pulled Dez back by his arm.
"Stop," I said grabbing Dez's face making him look at me.
"Old ass broad disrespectful."
"Dez don't be rude. I'm learning to ignore everybody's shit, you need to also."
"I'ma continue to be my rude mothafuckin self as long as mothafuckas try me with they shit."
"You're rude all the time tho." I said only receiving a blank stare from him.
"I don't even like my son talking to them mothafuckas. They need to go already." He said looking where Zain was talking to them with a big smile on his face.
I shrugged, "He loves them. I'm not gonna take that happiness away from him when he sees them somewhere."
"I fuckin guess."
I grabbed his face again turning it towards me. I kissed his lips, "Stop."
"I'm stopping." He said grabbing my hips kissing me again.