Noah stepped back, giving Asha a confused look.
"But......I don't.."
"I'm sorry but I really want to make things work with Antoine. Plus, he was my first real boyfriend." Asha sighed. "I'm sorry."
Noah gave her a blank look, then placed a smile on his face.
"Understood." Noah nodded as he opened the door. "I'll see if I can bring Lily on the weekend, okay?"
"Yeah." Asha sighed.
As Noah stepped out the door, Asha felt proud of herself. Her message got to her.
But deep down, that wasn't how she felt.
When Aunt Shay got home, she decided to sit in her room and glance at the scrapbook of pictures that she kept of her, Noah, Isaiah, and Kayson over the years. She turned to a photo of Isaiah and Noah when they were five, holding up fake Halloween knives.
"Awh." Aunt Shay sighed, smiling to herself.
Aunt Shay turned the page, she looked at the picture of her holding Isaiah and Noah in the delivery room. Damon, my mother, and my grandmother was by her side. That's when they were first born. She went through 8 hours of hard labor to deliver the both of them.
22 years ago...
"Ice!" Aunt Shay whimpered as she chewed on her ice, lying in her bed. "More ice!"
My mother and Damon poured ice all over Aunt Shay's face, frizzing up her already frizzed hair. It was March 15th, 1991. It was 1:23am and Aunt Shay was at the peak of her labor. At this time, Aunt Shay had long shoulder length hair instead of short black hair like she has now. She didn't want an epidural and she wanted to go natural for her birth. Why? She wanted to earn her stripes and have bragging rights on how she delivered two twin without any type of medication or drugs. At this point, Aunt Shay was dilated 9cm. My mother was 6 months pregnant with me, so she was able to experience what would be going on during my birth. As Aunt Shay gripped onto my mother and Damon's hands, two doctors came in with rubber gloves.
"Are you ready to push, Sha-"
"Yes yes I'm ready!" Aunt Shay scowled as she sat upright. "I just want them out!"
"Alright." The female doctor said as she placed the leg holders up on the rails of the bed. "Place your feet up here."
After Aunt Shay placed her ankles onto the ramps, she took a deep breath and gripped onto my mothers hands.
"I'll be going through this in 3 months." My mother sighed. "Lord...."
"Alright, Shay." The doctors chanted, placing on their masks. "Push!"
Aunt Shay tucked in her lips and squinted her eyes shut, pushing as the doctors counted down from 10. After the 10 seconds, Aunt Shay panted hard and leaned back into the pillow.
"Jesus Christ this hurts!" Aunt Shay cried. "Lord!"
"It's alright, babe." Damon smiled. "You got it!"
"You're already dilated 9cm so you won't have to push long or hard, Shay." The doctor plead. "Go on!"
With that being said, Aunt Shay strained and gripped tightly onto my mom and Damon's hand as me, Isaiah, and Noah's grandmother sat aside. Aunt Shay pushed, screamed, and groaned for 5 minutes, when she felt a sharp pain erupt into her lower half.
"Shit this hurts this hurts this hurts!" Aunt Shay wailed.
"It's the baby's head, Shay!" My mom chanted in a motivating tone. "Keep on going!"
Aunt Shay gripped tighter and let out a loud wail, when she seen the doctors pull and wrap Noah up. As Noah cried and took his first breath, the doctors rushed him over to the table to clean him up. Aunt Shay smiled, leaning back into her pillow.
"Can I see my baby girl?" Aunt Shay smiled, talking in a raspy and exhausted tone.
"Girl?" The doctor laughed. "Sweetie, this is a boy?"
"A boy?!" Aunt Shay scowled.
"Shay, you have one more baby to push out. It should be a lot easier to push out now that you got your first baby on the way." The doctors smiled. "Push!"
Aunt Shay took a few deep breaths, then gripped onto my mom and Damon's hand again. This time, she squeezed Isaiah out within 5 minutes. Her full two watermelon stomach was now the size of a pudgy woman. As Isaiah cried as well, the doctors smiled and cleaned both of the babies up.
"Congratulations, Shay!" The doctors smiled. "You delivered your twin boys well."
"Twin boys?" My grandmother, mother, and Damon gasped.
"Yes!"
"Wait a minute, my doctor told me that I was having twin girls. I even got everything for girls at my baby shower!" Aunt Shay plead. "I-I was even going to name them Tamryn and Camryn!"
"Nope. Both babies have penises." The male doctor smiled as he wrapped both babies up in blue blankets and handed them to her. "Here ya' go!"
Isaiah and Noah both had their eyes closed shut as Aunt Shay gazed at them for the first time. They kept their clenched fingers by their faces as Damon took one of the babies.
"This ones gonna be tough like me!" Damon smiled, holding Isaiah.
"Well, what should I name them?" Aunt Shay asked. "I haven't thought of any boy names."
My mom, grandmother, and Damon sat in the room wondering about some rhyming twin names.
"Jake and Blake?" My mother suggested.
"What the hell, Teresa?" Aunt Shay scoffed. "Do my kids look white to you?"
"Hey!" The white doctors smiled as they cleaned off her sheets.
"Sorry..." Aunt Shay gasped.
"What about......Tray and Kay?" My grandmother asked.
"Nah. Too girly."
"Damon and Kadon?" Damon offered.
"Well I'd love that, but I don't want one of the twins to take after your name when they were both born at once." Aunt Shay sighed.
So for the whole two hours, people came and went to visit Isaiah and Noah. Meanwhile, our family was stuck trying to find good names.
"Kenny and Benny?"
"DJ and EJ?"
"Chad and Brad?"
"Jason and Tyson?"
At this point, my grandmother didn't even bother to pitch in anymore. As she read the bible in her chair in the corner of the room, she came across two names that caught her eye.
"Hey, why don't you name them Isaiah and Noah?" My grandmother asked in her soft tone.
Everyone in the room lit up once they heard those names. My grandmother slowly nodded her head, placing her hands together.
"That way both boys can be blessed with two names fresh from the bible." My grandmother nodded. "They're Jesus's children like all of us."
My grandmother was a little too spiritual sometimes, but it was alright. As the doctors walked back into the room to do a daily checkup, Aunt Shay decided to speak up.
"I've figured out the names for my baby boys." Aunt Shay smiled, holding them as they slept in her arms. "Well, my mother at least."
"And what will they be, ma'am?" The male doctor smiled, clicking his pen and preparing to write on a clipboard.
Aunt Shay smiled and watched my grandmother wink at her and continue to read her bible.
"I want to name my oldest son Noah, and my youngest son Isaiah." Aunt Shay nodded.
And even though it was the worst pain she ever went through in her life, she wouldn't hesitate to do it again. Aunt Shay cared about the both of them so much. Noah understood to me, but Isaiah always came off as unappreciative. But just like her labor, there was somebody else that she missed.
Damon.
Since the boys weren't around and she felt vulnerable, she picked up her phone and dialed his number.
"Hello?" Damon answered.
"Hey Damon." Aunt Shay sighed, cracking a small smile. "Would you like to come over tonight?"
Meanwhile, Isaiah made his way over to Donna's. Each weekend, he dropped Kayson off over to Aunt Shay's, then over to Donna's so that they could equally see him. Every trip over to her house was like pulling teeth. It was rare that they met up without arguing about something petty. When Isaiah pulled up, he seen Donna waiting on her porch, smoking a cigarette. He sighed and took Kayson out of the car, bringing his Spiderman backpack with him.
"He already ate so don't be overfeedin' him like you always do." Isaiah growled to her. "He get three snacks and two of them are after he eat. Don't feed him as man-"
"I know what the hell I need to do with my grandson." Donna growled back to him. "You don't have to give me instructions every time you come by here...."
"Well Kayson seems to think he can eat as much junk as he want when he come from over here even though I keep on insistin' that you give him snacks after he eat...." Isaiah snarled. "So listen and I ain't gotta tell you the same shit."
Donna scoffed and laughed, keeping her arms folded and blowing out her smoke.
"You little bastard..." Donna scoffed, glancing at Isaiah. "You thought that you were slick?"
"The hell is you talkin' about?"
"You got MY grandson calling that bitch 'Mommy' on national TV?" Donna yelled as she stood up on the porch, pointing aggressively to Kayson. "Do you think that that is okay?"
"Kayson has been calling her his mother since he was an infant!"
"I don't give a shit how long he's been calling her that!" Donna barked. "She is NOT his real mother!"
"You better-"
"She did NOT deliver Kayson through an induced labor alone like my daughter did you poor excuse of a fucking father!" Donna barked as she grabbed Kayson and took him into the house. "When are you gonna go rot!?"
Enraged, Donna slammed the door in Isaiah's face. She glanced out of her blinds and watched as Isaiah balled up his fists and stormed to his car, driving off. Donna ran her fingers through her already cut hair, taking a sip of some wine as Kayson looked up at her.
"Gramma?" Kayson mumbled. "W-wat wer u guys talkin' about?"
Donna sighed and grabbed Kayson's hand, walking him into her living room.
"Come sit down, sweetie." Donna sighed. "Grandma will tell you all about it."
Kayson followed his grandmother into her living room, sitting across from her as Donna reached into the drawer that was placed next to the couch. As reached inside and took out a picture of Taylor alongside with her older brothers.
"Do you know who this is?" Donna smiled.
"My girfreend!" Kayson smiled, pointing at Taylor.
"What? No goofy little boy! That's your mother." Donna laughed in a cheerful tone, pointing to Taylor's brothers. "Do you know who they are?"
Kayson glanced down, shaking his head.
"Mmmm, no."
"That's your other uncles." Donna smiled. "Your better uncles, at least."
"I hab MORE uncles?" Kayson gasped.
"Yes sir."
"Where dey at?"
Donna glanced down, shaking her head.
"They left to come pick you up 4 years ago and they haven't been seen since." Donna sighed. "They disappeared."
"Wat about her?" Kayson asked, pointing at Taylor.
Donna started to tear up. All three of her children were gone, so she no longer had any alive kids. The only thing she has left is Kayson.
"This is your REAL mother." Donna smiled. "Not that woman who stays with your father."
Kayson scrunched his eyebrows at the picture, shaking his head.
"D-Das not my mommy." Kayson whined.
"Yes she is, Kays." Donna smiled. "Look!"
Donna pulled out a picture of Taylor, Donna, and her brothers while she held Kayson in the delivery room. Kayson's eyes widened as he placed his finger on the picture.
"Dats me?" Kayson asked.
"Yep! That's your mother after she gave birth to you." Donna smiled. "She went through some pain to get you here."
"W-Wer she go?" Kayson stuttered.
Donna sighed and snatched a piece of tissue, wiping the tears from her eyes.
"Your mom was killed by a few gunmen who were never caught, Kayson." Donna said in a shaky and hurt tone. "Even though you were only with her for 2 months, she loved you very much."
"Is she comin' bak?" Kayson asked.
Donna shook her head, wiping her tears again.
"No."
"Y?" Kayson asked. "Don't she wanna c me agen?"
Donna couldn't speak for a little while. She sniffed and placed her glasses back on, nodding her head.
"If she could, she'd fly right down from heaven to come see you." Donna smiled.
Kayson started tearing up, looking back up at Donna.
"W-Why dey lie to me, gramma?"
"Because they're shitty no good excuses for human beings." Donna growled. "Your father is bad! Don't be like him, Kayson. And don't call that girl mommy anymore, okay? She's bad too!"
Kayson looked away, nodding his head in agreement.
"Ok..."
At the end of the night, Noah gave Lily a bath. Afterwards, he fed her a good dinner and watched Princess movies with her in bed until she fell asleep. After spending 2 hours doing this, he shut her TV and light off and let her sleep in the guest room. Before he could make his way to bed, Noah heard the doorbell ring. He sighed and put on his robe, making his way downstairs and opening the door.
Suddenly, Asha crashed him into his wall and started kissing him. Noah glanced at her and fell into his, touching and feeling all over her while kissing her back. Asha ran her fingers through his curls as Noah picked her up and took her upstairs to his bedroom. He laid her down and let her grasp all over him, when Noah started kissing her neck.
"Jesus Christ those lips, Noah..." Asha whispered as her eyes rolled to the back of her head.
After kissing for another minute, Noah placed his forehead against hers and started giving her a lustful look.
"Fuck it....." Noah growled as he started unzipping his pants. "I wanna do it now..."
"Well come on...." Asha growled through her teeth, unbuttoning her pants.
Suddenly, they both froze and gave each other a stunned look.
"Do you have a condom?" Asha asked.
"No."
Noah lifted up in her bed and ran his fingers through his hair, shaking his head.
"Damn. It's alright, anyway." Noah sighed. "I'm not supposed to do this until I'm married."
"Well we've done it before." Asha smiled as she placed her arm on his shoulder.
"We don't even remember the shit." Noah smiled.
Noah and Asha started laughing as she played with Noah's hair. Asha looked down, then said something crucial.
"I'm gonna tell Antoine that I wanna be with you..." Asha said.
Noah's eyes widened as he smiled at her.
"Are you serious?" Noah gasped.
"Yes."
Noah cheesed and gave her a long kiss, then smiled at her.
"You won't regret it." Noah smiled. "I swear."
So after Asha left over from Noah's, she went right over to break the news.
When she arrived home, she seen a few suitcases by the door. She scrunched her eyebrows down at them and looked around the house, wondering why there weren't any lights on.
"Antoine?"
When she walked upstairs, she seen Antoine making his way downstairs. But this time, it was with a girl. This girl was his ex. Deja. As they held hands, Antoine sighed and looked at Asha.
"I'm sorry Asha, but........I'm moving with my ex." Antoine sighed. "I'm sorry for telling you in this way.."
Asha didn't know wether to be happy that she got a full ride to Noah, or to be upset that she was just dumped.
The better question was, who would pay the bills for her home?