~Christmas Time~
Loriana POV
It's finally winter break and I've finished all of my finals which is a huge relief. My test were super easy for me and I know I already passed with flying colors. I'm just glad that I've successfully completed my first semester in college and I'm anticipating my second.
I've finally come to terms with the fact that I'm pregnant and that I should look at it as a blessing from God. It's weird to think that a human being is growing inside of me, but that's what's happening.
When my mom told my dad about me being pregnant, he called me non stop and I didn't pick up any of his phone calls. I ignored him for a good week until he sent me a scary ass email about coming up here and embarrassing me in front of people. So I finally picked up the phone and he cussed me out in English and Spanish. He expressed about how disappointed he is and he made sure he made it clear to me that Rodney is no longer welcome in his house and if he sees Rodney on the property, he will personally shoot him. My dad doesn't have to worry about that because me and Rodney are no longer together.
We broke up because all we would do is fight and argue and we honestly just didn't see eye to eye anymore. Shit just isn't the same as before and it sucks but it is what it is. Life must go on and for now, I can only focus on school and my baby.
The only time me and Rodney speak is when he's checking up on me and making sure that I'm good. I know he's not just gonna leave me knocked up with his child and that's a good thing.
"Here we go." Ricky said as he drove through the gates and drive up the driveway towards the house. I've only been gone for 4 weeks but it feels like forever.
"You gonna go home Ricky? I think you should since you been in D.C. For so long." I said as he parked the car in front of the house.
"I actually am. Your father gave me two weeks of paid time off." He said, getting out of the car.
I opened my door and got out of the car. I close the door and then grabbed my luggage. I walked up to the door and was surprised to see it unlocked. That's rare.
I walked into the house and it seemed pretty normal to me. The housekeeper is over and she was currently moping the foyer floors so I saw her first. I took my shoes off and left my luggage by the door. I made sure to walked through the dining area and big living room in order to avoid walking through the foyer.
"Mi amor! Welcome home sweetie!" Lucia exclaimed, enthusiastically once she saw me come into the kitchen.
"Hi Lucia. I missed you." I said, hugging her. Lucia is for real my second mom. Sweetest old lady ever.
"I missed you too. Oh my, you're glowing." She said, touching my cheeks.
"I know. Where are my parents?" I asked.
"They should be downstairs fixing some presents under the tree." She said. I nodded and started to walk towards the stairs leading to the den.
When I was walking down the steps, Ja was jogging up them. When he saw me his eyes lit up. He opened his long arms and rapped me in a hug.
"I'm so glad your home sis. I missed you a lot." He said. He let go of me and I looked at him strangely.
"I'm surprised you're not mad at me for being pregnant." I said.
"I was when I first found out. But I thought about it and realized that you could have done way worse things and that you being pregnant isn't the end of the world. As long as you're happy, I'm happy. Are you happy? Cause if you're not then I'm gonna need to go settle some things with Ruffus." He said, cracking his knuckles.
"You know Rodney's name boy, and I'm happy. I'm good. Calm down bodyguard." I said sarcastically.
"Aight, just making sure."
He continued up the stairs and I continued down stairs. Once I got down the stairs, I really couldn't miss the professionally decorated, 7 foot tree in the room and all the presents under the tree. My parents were on the floor wrapping gifts and placing them under the tree.
"Hey guys." I said. They stopped their convo and looked at me. My mom smiled wide and got up quickly.
"My baby! I'm so glad that you're home! I missed you!" My mom squealed and hugged me. She kissed both of my cheeks before letting go of me.
I looked at my dad get up and walk over to me with his arms behind his back. He didn't smile at me at all and he just looked at me. I don't even know what to expect. Am I about to get a speech? Am I gonna get kicked out?
"Hey daddy." I said nervously.
My dad opened his arms wide and I gladly walked into them. He wrapped his arms around me and gave me a tight hug.
"I love you baby girl. I may not like your stupid decisions but I have to deal with them because I love you and you're my daughter. I'm good as long as you properly take care of your responsibilities and that boy of yours better step up and help you take care of this baby. If he doesn't, I'll kill him." My dad said nonchalantly then shrugged.
"Alright daddy. Love you." I said. He nodded and kissed my forehead.
"Omg this is so cute! I'm gonna cry." My mom whined.
"Can you go sit your over emotional ass down?" My dad asked. My mom rolled her eyes and gave him the middle finger before walking away.
"Anyways, I'm surprised you're coming to terms with this. I was expecting for you to kick me out, cut me off, and all that." I chuckled.
"I could never. That'll just be cruel. Plus, I really don't want you to live with that Rodney nigga." He scoffed.
"Yeah, we won't ever be living together I think." I mumbled.
"I'm not complaining but, why?"
"We broke up."
"What did he do this time. I knew I chose a good day to clean and polish my guns." My dad said, getting excited.
"Dad, calm down. We didn't do anything. We kind of just fell off and it's pretty much my fault. I kept pushing him away and the way Rodney is set up, he tolerates only a certain amount of bullshit and I've been laying it on thick." I admitted.
I'm not stupid, I know that the break up is because I kept being a bitch. I do still think that the break up is what's best for us anyways. Everything just hit us real quick and out of the blue.
"Well we know I'm not gonna be complain. That means that homeboy won't be showing up at my doorstep. I'm on a shoot on sight policy with him anyways." He shrugged.
"Dad, can you please refrain from shooting him? He's the father of your first grandchild." I said and his face scrunched up.
"Ugh, please don't remind me."
•••
I woke up from my nap and automatically heard loud music and voices. I don't understand why people are here right now. It's the day before Christmas Eve. The house is usually empty.
I groaned as I rolled out of my bed. I slipped on my Puma slides and put my messy hair up into a ponytail. I walked out of my room and slowly walked down the stairs. The first person I saw was Dre because he was sitting on the stairs and a whole bunch of his friends were around him and they were chatting.
"Excuse me." I said, impatiently. He turned around with a smile from laughing then looked me up and down.
"What's good Lori? I'm glad to see you back from school." He said. He still hasn't moved which is confusing me.
"Good for you Dre. Can you get up please so that I can be on my way."
"Sorry baby." He chuckled and moved so that I could continue walking.
I walked down the stairs and the crowd of boys split so that I could walk through. I ignored the stairs as I walked into the living room to see a whole bunch of family here and some people from the Organization.
"Aye, sleeping beauty!" Uncle Ty yelled once he saw me. He was sitting on the couch with a white foam cup in his hand and his fiancee on his lap. She looked obviously pregnant.
"Hey uncle Ty." I waved.
"I just want to let everyone know that me, Andre, and Yandy will be winning the annual Christmas pajama contest this year." He announced. I laughed and shook my head.
"Boy, cut it. Y'all ain't about to win shit. Me and Ant about to destroy all of you." Tammy said.
"Well, what if Lori and Rodney win again? What y'all gonna say then?" Geanna asked.
Everyone looked at me to see if I'll answer and I just rolled my eyes. I didn't plan on telling them that we broke up because then they'll ask why and if I don't give enough detail, they'll ask even more questions.
"What y'all wearing this year?" Uncle Ty asked, narrowing his eyes at me.
"I'm competing solo." I mumbled.
"Why?" Tammy asked.
"Just cause." I said.
"It can't be 'just cause'. Y'all are obsessed with each other." Tammy said again.
"We broke up!" I said, getting frustrated.
"What did he do now? I swear, I'm tired of fuck niggas." My uncle Ant pulled out his gun and checked to make sure there was enough bullets inside.
"Uncle Ant! Put it away," I whined, "we just grew apart." I shrugged.
"That's weird cause y'all were just telling us what was up like a month ago. Something crazy must have happened."
"Oh my god! You're pregnant!" I turned to my left to see some pregnant woman sitting on the couch with a little baby in her lap. I don't know who this lady is at all.
"And who are you?" I scowled.
"My name is Franny. I was around when you were younger but I left for a while. But honestly, I know a pregnant person when I see one." She said.
Who the hell is this and why is she talking like as if she knows my life. I'm only 3 months along and my usual flat stomach is just pushed a little bit.
"Therefore, I don't know who you are so don't speak about my life like as if you know me. Thank you." I smiled at her then rolled my eyes.
"Lil girl, don't talk about my daughter like as if you know. Ain't nobody ask you to speak out." My mom defended me.
"Yeah, whatever Jasmine but I know she's pregnant. Plus, she didn't deny it and neither did you or Mario." Franny shrugged.
"Shut up Franny, damn. So what if she's pregnant? Is she your child? No, so don't worry about it." Uncle Ty snapped. I looked surprised and he shot me a knowing look followed by a mean mug.
"I should have just stayed my ass asleep." I took a seat on the floor next to Geanna who was focused on her phone and seemed to have ignored the whole conversation.
If Uncle Ty knows then that means everybody knows. That must explain why nobody jumped at my neck about it just now. I'm not surprised that they know because when my dad gets mad about something, he finds the need to call every member of the family and rant. My only fear is if Rodney tries to show up at my house and comes face to face with all these trigger finger happy ass niggas.
Rodney POV
"I'm nervous Rodney. What if she doesn't accept Hassan?" Ruby whined as she sat on my couch.
"My mom will be pissed the hell off but she will love Hassan no matter what." I shrugged.
After constant begging, Ruby flew out here for Christmas with Hassan and I've finally decided to tell her about Hassan. While I'm at it, I'm gonna tell her about Loriana being pregnant. Damn, I'm about to be 18 with two kids. This is definitely not how I pictured my life but who am I to question what challenges God decides to give me.
"I really can't believe you went out and got that girl if yours pregnant. That's so fucked up." She complained to me.
"How is that fucked up?"
"Because you already have a kid. You're barely around for him and now you're gonna go and father another child by homegirl." I groaned, not wanting to have this conversation.
"Don't worry about it Ruby. I'm there for Hassan as much as I can be and as much as you allow me."
"You need to just move back to New Orleans because this whole Chicago thing isn't going to work." She shrugged.
"I'm not leaving Chicago. You should move closer to here. Not like as if you're doing anything in New Orleans except for taking care of our son." I said.
"We'll see."
I heard the front door open and close and I really started to get nervous. Once I saw my mom, I felt like I was gonna be sick. It's to late to back out now though.
"Hey Rodney...Ruby, why are you here? I haven't seen you in so long." My mom said, confused. She walked further into the living then took a seat on the recliner.
"Hey Ms. Wright. It's nice to see you again." Ruby smiled at my mom.
"Why are you here? Is that your son?" My mom asked her, pointing to a sleeping Hassan laid out across my lap.
"Ma, she came so that we could talk to you. Hassan is our son. He's 2 years old," I said.
It got quiet for a bit and my mom had a look of disbelief on her face. She kept looking at me then at Hassan.
"Rodney are you serious?! You had a child 2 years ago and I'm just finding out?! What in the world made you think that, that was a good idea. How the hell have you been keeping this away from me. You usually tell me everything." She sounded hurt and upset at the same time.
"I've been scared. I didn't want to disappoint you because I know how much you only want the best for me. I fucked up but I don't resent my son at all. He's always been my number one priority." I said. She sighed and shook her head.
"So what now Rodney?"
"Life goes on as usual. But I have something else to tell you," I said. She noticed for me to continue. "Loriana is pregnant with my child." I said quickly.
"Oh my god! What are you doing Rodney? This isn't how I raised you. This is just flat out irresponsible. Common sense would tell you to always have safe sex or even not have sex at all. Now you're going to be 18 with 2 kids." I sighed and closed my eyes for a bit.
"Ma, I'm sorry and I'm owning up to my mistakes. I'm gonna take care of what I need to." I reassured her.
"How is Lori taking it? I hope she's ok. Poor girl." My mom mumbled.
"She's fine. She's 3 months along and I check up on her a lot throughout the day. We on the outs right now but we have an understanding." I told her.
"Oh really? So you must drop all the girls you have after you get them pregnant." I mugged Ruby. Why is she talking?
"I wish Hassan wasn't sleeping right now so that he could meet you. He loves new people." I smiled as I rubbed his tummy.
"How long is he gonna be here?" My mom asked.
"Well I'm about to go back to our hotel so that he can eat and lay down." Ruby said. She knows that she literally just got here and she doesn't need to leave. I barely got to be around my son.
"You don't have to stay in a hotel. You can stay here for the rest of your stay because I want to spend time with my grandson." My mom said.
Me, living in the same house as Ruby for the next 3 days. The devil is a liar. The only up to this is the fact I can go to sleep with Hassan and wake up to him. But Ruby, I don't trust her and I know she'll try to overstep her boundaries.
"That sounds great Ms. Wright. Thank you," Ruby said then flashed me a smirk. Messy ass female.