One week prior to dress fitting.
*Rich's POV*
"Dang fat man, another bottle?" I leaned over Quanni's shoulder to kiss his forehead.
She was feeding and changing the twins before our flight. We're going home to Chicago this week for Thanksgiving.
"We're gonna be calling you 'Big Deuce' pretty soon." I cooed while playing with his little feet.
Quanni glared at me and rolled her eyes. She plays no games when it comes to him.
"We gone have to square up about my baby." She paced the floor rocking him while she mugged me.
"I been waitin' to give you this issue." Biting my bottom lip I corner her into the wall, staring at her. She blushed and turned away from me; her dimples were on full display.
I reached down and kissed her cheek, then her lips. The kiss was just about to get good but Deuce's hating ass started whining. She noticed I was mugging him and laughed at me.
"Is Skye ready to go ?" She smirked and escaped between my arms.
"Yea she just needs her hair combed."
"Rich, didn't I teach you how to do a bun?" She turned and scrunched her face up at me.
Her and Skye with these attitudes.
"She told me yours looks better and tried to throw a tantrum. I popped her little behind and sent her to her room. She's been real shady lately." I say reaching down in the crib to pick Rima up.
"She's probably still sleepy. It is 5 AM on the weekend." She reminded me.
I don't care what the time or day is, I'm not putting up with that. So I'll just nip this in the bud now.
"Yea, well I got somethin' for all these attitudes around here." I smirked at her and went to put Bunni in her car seat.
After Quanni finished feeding Deuce and put him to sleep I put him in his car seat and carried him, his sister, and their bags downstairs. While Quanni fixed Skye's hair and got herself ready, I packed a snack bag for everybody, and toys for Skye. Since the twins were only six weeks old Quanni didn't want to travel commercially, and it would take too long if we drove. So we would be flying on my plane.
Finally Quanni came downstairs with Skye in her arms. She was laying down on her chest. I took Quanni's suitcase and Skye's backpack from her.
"Skye has something she would like to say." Quanni looked up at me with a smirk on her face.
She waited for speak but she kept laying there like she was asleep.
"Skye." She warned.
Slowly my baby picked up her head and looked at me.
"Sorry daddy. I be a good girl." With a smile on her face she held out her arms to me.
I couldn't help but give in to those big hazel brown eyes of hers. Taking her in my arms, I kiss her cheek and grab Rima to go to the car.
"Come on princess, let's get you and your sister situated."
Not too far behind me was Quanni and Deuce. While Quanni secured their seats, I went back inside to get the rest of our bags and my phone. My phone started ringing as soon as I stepped foot in the house. Stephon was face-timing me.
"What's good bro?"
"Not much what's up man?" He looked like he was already at their parents' house.
"We're getting ready to leave now and head to the strip. We should be there at about 9:30." I say looking at my watch, it was now 6:30 and it would take us fifteen minutes to drive over to the plane and we'd probably take off right at 7.
"Okay cool." He nodded his head in response, but I could tell his mind was somewhere else.
"Everything good bro? How are the kids and Anise?"
"Yea I'm good bro, the kids are fine. Nise is spending the holiday with her baby daddy and his family." He rolled his eyes and I just left it there.
"Oh. Somethin else then?" I wasn't trying to be all in his business but my boy looked out of it.
"It's just been one hell of a morning." He grabbed his head and drug his hand down his face.
"I understand man, trying to travel with babies is no joke."
"No it's not even that Rich. I've been with mama all morning."
"Oh you had to do that holiday cleaning huh?" I laugh assuming that's what he was referring to.
I used to hate holiday functions growing up. Not because I didn't enjoy my family, but because I spent days helping Tawny clean the house inside out from top to bottom. I'm talkin' bout she had me and my daddy on the roof cleaning gutters and whatnot.
"Nah man." He shook his hand and I noticed he had tears in his eyes.
I haven't seen him out of sorts like this since... Well ever.
"Stephon you're scaring me bro. Come on... What's wrong with mama Lo' ?"
"Cancer.." He mumbled under his breath.
"Come again."
"My mama has cancer Rich... She's dying bro." With that he broke down completely.
My heart dropped instantly to the pit of my stomach. This is not something that I was expecting to hear this morning. Cancer? This can't be real.
"L- wha- when did this happen?"
He took deep breaths before he could respond to me.
"They found two tumors on her brain six months ago. One of them was benign and the other one was supposed to be removed a few weeks later. When she went in to get it removed, they discovered that it had spread tremendously; too much for them to remove during the procedure. Her and dad just told me this morning. It's not looking good man."
I couldn't find the words to respond to what I was hearing. I see people's lives affected everyday by this nasty, deadly disease. Mrs. Johnson was the closest person to me that it happened to, but never in a million years would I expect to experience it with my own family. Quanni's family loves me like their own, so I can't deal.
"Damn."
"Dad is taking it pretty hard."
"I'm trying to figure out why Quanni hasn't told me this yet." I say looking off to the car through the window at her.
"Rich she doesn't know. Like I said I only found out about it this morning. She wants to tell her in person, and made me promise not to say anything. I just wanted to give you the heads up though." He looked seriously at me.
"Yea man... Look I gotta go. We'll see y'all shortly."
"Aight man, thanks. Y'all be safe, love you man."
That's new.
"Love you too bro."
I hung up the phone and grabbed the rest of the bags to head out of the door. I could only shake my head at the news I received. How am I supposed to just go on through the morning and this week withholding this information from her. We promised not to keep secrets from each other from here on out, and this is no different. If Quanni found out I knew about her mother's condition before she did I'm sure she would hate me. I'm just going back a forth in my head trying to see if I'm crazy for willing to risk that.
I put the bags in the car and get in, pulling out of the driveway in the direction of the runway.
***
"Everything okay Rich? You've been out of it since before we left the house." Quanni reached for my hand on the plane.
We'd been on the plane for about thirty minutes now and I hadn't said two words yet; too much was on my mind.
"I'm fine sweets, just thinking."
"Right." She gave me that look she does when she knows I'm not being truthful, but she's just waiting on me to come clean.
Not this time.
"Steph?"
"Yea babe?" She calls from the other side of the plane. She was shifting the twins head to the opposite side while they slept.
"If someone was keeping a secret from you, but it was for your own good... Would you still be upset with that person after you found out the truth?"
She studied my face for a moment before sighing and walking back over to get seat.
"I don't like secrets... They tear people apart. But if that someone had my best interest at heart, then I'd have no choice but to take it for what it is and... I guess move on." She put her head down and played with her ring.
"Right." I say biting my tongue literally, to keep from blurting it out right here.
We sat in silence for what seemed like forever before she spoke again. I guess she was thinking.
"Rich?"
"Yea sweets?" I grabbed her hands and looked into her eyes.
"What are you keeping from me?" Biting her bottom lip with moist eyes, she softly asked the question.
"I'm not suppo-"
"Please? I can't take too many more secrets..." A single tear escaped her eye and I broke.
"It's about your mom..."
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