Unedited....
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Laurent sat next to Aaliyah as she flipped though a wedding magazine quietly humming a song that he's sure he's never heard before. They were waiting in the doctors office for Aaliyah to be seen. It was one of those postpartum check ups that Laurent didn't need to be at but Aaliyah wanted him there anyways.
The door opened to the waiting room and a nurse called out the last name of a patient. Aaliyah still casually flipped through the wedding magazine, not actually reading or looking at anything but just skimming it.
The door swung open and a full and curvy nurse came through looking at her chart. "Aaliyah? Cartier.."
Aaliyah put the magazine down and stood up fixing her shirt and started to walk toward the door until she noticed Laurent wasn't following her. "Lau.." She whispered. He looked at her slightly perplexed.
"I have to go with you?"
"I want you to." She waved him over.
He got up and followed behind her as she took hold of his hand. After taking her weight, height & temperature the nurse lead them to the examination room and Lau sat in the chair while Aaliyah sat on the exam table. The nurse went over a few questions with Aaliyah while entering them into the computer then told her the doctor would be in shortly.
"Well at least I gained some weight back.." Aaliyah said looking at her feet.
"It will come back." Lau reassured her. "Don't worry about that."
The doctor knocked then walked in the room and greeted the couple. "Hello Aaliyah, nice seeing you again." She said then took a seat in the chair by the computer. "So how are you feeling?"
"I feel okay I guess."
"No fatigue, stress, depression or any pains?" The doctor said looking at Aaliyah with a raised eyebrow. She knew there had to be something because of the plummet in her patients weight. "How's the baby doing?"
Aaliyah looked at Lau almost afraid to answer the question. "Uhm.. Well the baby is still in the hospital for now, hopefully she'll be coming home soon."
"Well I hope she goes home soon too; congratulations by the way." The doctor said looking at Lau with a warm smile.
"Thank you very much." He said returning the smile.
"Now, Aaliyah.. Looking at how you went from 140; your pregnancy weight, down to 101.. Tells me something occurred after you gave birth."
"I guess it was just stress. But I'm okay now."
The doctor sighed. "Well I'll have to set up a diet plan for you. At such a young age, losing nearly 40 pounds in a month is very unhealthy. So you should take every step to get back to your original weight of 135."
Aaliyah had no choice but to agree and listen. She wanted to be healthy again so that wasn't going to be a problem. The doctor went over a plan with her and discussed a few other things.
"Hopefully you'll be back to your normal routines and weight, if not higher, by your 21st birthday. That way you can have loads of fun."
Aaliyah's eyes widened when she heard Laurent shift in the chair quickly upon hearing the doctor saying that. She didn't dare look at him but she could already tell his body language was different than before.
He cleared his throat and sat up straight.
"I'll be right back with your prescription for the migraine medicine and you'll be on your way." The doctor said with a smile then walked out of the room.
Aaliyah still refused to look at him. She knew what the conversation would hold and she didn't want to go through it.
"How old are you really, Aaliyah?" He asked.
She glanced at him. "Not now.. Please."
"Fine."
The doctor walked back in and felt the sudden tension in the room. "Here you go.. I'll see you in a few weeks."
The couple walked out of the doctors office and were quiet in the elevator. The whole conversation to come was going to be very awkward for Aaliyah. She knew she was going to have to tell him at some point but she just didn't know it would be now. They got to the lobby and walked to the car in silence. Laurent pondered everything he had went through with her for the last 2 years almost. The highs and the lows. All he wanted was answers.
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As soon as they got home Aaliyah walked past Shakel and Larry who greeted her, to go up upstairs without saying anything. They both gave Laurent a strange look being that they were confused on why she seemed so upset. Laurent shook his head for a second then he looked at Shakel skeptically. "Did you know?" He asked.
"Know what?" Shakel said confused. "What happened?"
He paused and thought about it. Why wouldn't her best friend know? "Never mind. I know you knew."
"What? Knew what?"
Laurent shook his head and went up the stairs leaving both his brother and Shakel confused about what was going on. As he walked he was mentally preparing himself for the conversation. He wasn't mad and wouldn't get mad. He was just confused on why she never told him.
When he walked into the room Aaliyah was walking out of the bathroom. She looked at him for a split second then sat on the bed. She knew there was no getting out of the conversation.
"Li.." Laurent said looking at her.
"Lau.." She said returning the look.
"How old are you for real?"
"I'm 20." She answered nonchalantly.
He stared blankly at her. "You just turned 20 in October?" She nodded. At that pint everything started going through his head back to when he first met her and the conversations they had that night in his hotel room. She told him she was 21 and he told her that he never really liked talking to women years younger than him but he was fine talking to her for some reason.
"So when I met you.. You were.."
"18, but I turned 19 that year."
"Jesus Christ." He said shaking his head. "I got you pregnant when you were 19?"
"Yeah.."
"Do you even know how old I am?"
"Obviously."
He didn't like how nonchalant she was being about it. In his head it was a big deal because he never liked talking to women years younger than him so he always made sure of their age. Plus there was stuff that was done that could get them both in legal trouble. "Why are you acting like it's whatever?"
"Because it is?" She said in almost a question. "The damage is already done Laurent."
"True but you knew I didn't like talking to younger women! I know I tell you that when I met you."
She rolled her eyes. "I liked you so much, you really think I was gonna tell you I was 18? Just so I could be kicked to the curb and forgotten? No."
Laurent started pacing the floor. He was just thinking about the past two years and how much they'd been through. From the day he met her to that very moment in time. "When were you going to tell me your real age?"
"I don't know. I was going to tell you last year on my birthday when you asked why I had no candles on my cake and why Shakel never told you my new age that day."
"So Shakel did know about this little game you were playing."
"That's my best friend. Of course."
He shook his head. He looked at her disappointed but couldn't find the words to say. He walked out of the room and went downstairs. That made her feel some type of way because he had been wanting to talk about the situation but decides to leave mid conversation? That wasn't okay with her.
"I know you are not walking away from me right now. In the middle of the conversation? Seriously?" She said getting up and following him. "Come finish this conversation."
"I don't want to right now. We can finish it later." He said as he walked down the stairs.
She scoffed. "Um. No, you're going to finish the conversation now because this is what you wanted to talk about."
"Aaliyah, please. I don't have anything to say to you right now."
They walked into the kitchen where Shakel and Larry were making a list of food needed for the house. Both confused on what exactly was going on so they kept to themselves and watched the argument happen. It was very apparent that Aaliyah was upset at the fact that Laurent walked away from her.
"Uhm.. What happened?" Shakel asked. Laurent looked at Shakel and rolled his eyes slightly. "Excuse me sir, what did I do to you?"
Laurent sighed. "For two years you knew that a Aaliyah was lying about her age to me and you didn't say anything. Why?"
"Wait what? How old are you Aaliyah?" Larry asked.
"20."
"What?" He asked. "Shakel are you really 23?"
"I never had to lie about my age, just her. That's how we got her into most clubs."
Larry shook his head and looked at Aaliyah. "Wow so how old were you when we met you?"
"18. I was still legal so it shouldn't be that big of a deal. I knew what I was doing." She rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Fuck it." She said turning on her toes and walking back upstairs.
Aaliyah walked into her room and fixed up her hair and changed her clothes into something more comfortable for her. She planned on leaving and not coming back for a few hours. She put on some harem sweatpants and a white cami, threw on some socks and her white Air Force 1s and she was ready to go. She grabbed her keys and her purse and made her way down stairs. As she walked toward the door Laurent questioned where she was going.
"I'm going to see my daughter." She said without looking back and walking out the door. Something about the way she said that offended him so followed behind her.
"Li.."
"What?" She said as she unlocked her car door.
"Why are you so upset?"
She furrowed her brows and shook her head. "You're really asking that? After making me feel like I committed the biggest crime ever by lying about my age for a couple years? Really?"
"I don't think you sh-"
"No. Shut up. You're making it seem like it was all a mistake. Everything that happened between us. Meeting me was a mistake, the things we did were mistakes, you proposing to me was a mistake and most importantly my daughter was a mistake."
"Well.. We didn't plan her.."
"Not my point." She rolled her eyes. "If it really took this one minor thing to turn something this good, bad... I don't know why I'm with you now. I should've known it would've happened when I told you anyways."
"Aaliyah."
"What? What are you gonna say? I want you to say something. Tell me I'm wrong."
He didn't have any words to say. He stood in silence just looking at her.
Aaliyah laughed. "I should have just left you when you cheated on me. Then I wouldn't be sitting here stressing over this and a newborn child." She got in the car and put her stuff in the passenger seat. She took the engagement ring off her finger and handed it to him. "I'm just a bunch of mistakes in one though."
"Please Aaliyah, no. You're not." He plead.
"It's hard to believe that." She said and pulled out of the driveway.
Before he knew it she was gone down the street and on her way. He stood there in shock. Part of him was still comprehending what just happened, trying to piece together how he could fix it. He didn't want to lose her. Even though the age thing was difficult for him to understand he still didn't want to lose her. She made a huge impact on his life including his first born. There was no way he would let age come between him and the woman of his dreams. Ever.
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-xo