"Mommy." I hear Ariella ask from beside the bed.
I quickly get up. "What's wrong?"
"I scared." She pouts, ready to cry.
I pick her up, laying on the pillows. She lays on my chest, holding me tightly.
At five in the morning, Santo wakes me up. He has to leave early for some meetings. I was helping him get ready.
"What's wrong?" He asks.
"My back hurts." I admit. Immediately, I feel his hands on my back. He rubs with the right amount of pressure and I sigh in content. "Thank you."
I help Santo get ready after my back rub.
"What time will you be home?" I ask him.
"I have to hit the studio, so around eight tonight." He answers. He has interviews, meetings and recording to do today. He also has rehearsals.
"Oh." I sigh.
"Mama, don't be sad." He kisses me.
"Call me whenever you have the chance." I ask.
"Yeah. Can you drop off the baby stuff at the house? I talked to the guys, the girls are supposed to be gone today." He tells me.
"Yeah, I'll take it over there after I drop the kids off at school." I nod.
"Alright. I have to go. I love you. Be careful." He kisses me again.
"I love you too. Be careful." I peck his lips a few times. I give him a kiss before he has to leave. Then I have to get the kids up and ready for school. He had told all of them he loves them and to have a good day and be good. They all fell back asleep.
---
I groan, pulling into the driveway. The girls' cars were there, meaning so were they. Yn, all you have to do is get the guys to come out and help you unload it. Then you can leave.
"Mama, we get out?" Mae asks.
"Yes." I nod, cutting the car off and getting them out. I have them all carry a small bag into the house.
I grab a big bag, following the kids to the porch. I ring the doorbell, and Lolo pulls the door open. "Craig!"
He jogs downstairs and greets me with a smile. "Same room its always been."
I lead the kids upstairs, dropping it off in the room. Nique was in the bed, her face softens when she sees me.
"Yn." She sighs. I pretend I didn't hear her and wait for the kids to put bags on the bed, then we go downstairs. Craig, Jacob and Ray were carrying some of the heavier things upstairs. I get more of the bags and the kids sit on the couch, talking to their cousins.
"Yn." Nique calls, standing up.
I go back downstairs to get the last bag, which Craig was carrying up stairs.
"Can you make lunch for us?" Craig asks. "We ain't had your cooking in so long."
I laugh and nod, heading to the kitchen. I decide to make grilled cheese. Nique stands in the kitchen, trying to talk to me.
I just continue cooking, giving her short answers only. "Can you stop being mad?" She asks.
"We moved so the kids wouldn't be in harm's way. We moved to protect you guys, your children. And it made you angry." I snap.
"It was Lolo that talked everyone into it. She said you thought you were better than us."
"No! If I could have stayed I would have." I roll my eyes. "And I can't help that I went into labor on the tour, I wasn't due until we got back."
"I know." She sighs.
"I don't even know what I did in y'alls heads." I laugh. "But it's whatever."
"I know. Lolo was talking about how y'all only help yourselves, not others. We were drunk and we shouldn't have listened to her."
"We don't help anyone?!" I yell. "We're the ones that bought this house. Every time Chres went on a tour, you guys came along. We bought y'all cars, stuff for your children!" I yell. "We helped y'all. We contributed to us getting out of the hood, everyone put money towards that!"
"I know." She frowns.
Lolo walks into the kitchen, holding her daughter. I continuing cooking. "How many sandwiches?" I ask Craig.
"As many as you can make." He shrugs. After that, he closes the door, and Jacob closes the other. "And you're not getting out until y'all talk it out, any of you."
I stop what I'm doing and go to the door. "Craig, open this door."
"Nope." He pops the 'p'.
I grab my phone. He must be out his mind. I call my husband, they locked us in the wrong part of the house. Knives and forks are in here, but I'm not trying to get locked up.
"What's up, baby?"
"You need to call Craig and tell him let me out of this kitchen." I huff.
"Have you talked to the girls?"
"You knew about this?" I ask, pulling my phone from my ear and looking at it.
"It's not the same without them at the family dinners." He answers.
"The guys are welcome whenever they want, so are the kids." I roll my eyes, my leg bouncing angrily.
"Babe, I talked it out with the guys. At least come to an understanding with the girls."
"I can't believe you." I kiss my teeth.
"Baby, talk to them. They want to apologize."
"I don't-"
"Don't make me come over there." He cuts me off.
"Ain't nobody scared of you." My eyebrows pull together.
"Cool, I'm in the area grabbing lunch. I'll be there in two minutes. I have forty until my next meeting and it takes ten minutes to get there."
"No, see, I was cooking and the kids are here." I try to come up with an excuse for him to not come. "They'd want to go with you and you'd end up being late."
"Then get to talking."
"Babe." I frown.
"Yn, I'm not playing." He tells me.
"You're sleeping on the couch." I hang up.
"Look-" Lolo starts, but I cut her off.
"Yep, all is forgiven. Did you hear that guys? I said it's okay! You can let me out now!" I yell, trying to open the door.
"Talk!" Jacob yells.
"Yn, we really are sorry." Lolo apologizes.
"Sorry?" I scoff. "I guess that makes everything better."
"We didn't mean it." Lolo says.
"Haha, y'all are funny." I laugh dryly. "I've had enough of it. Everything I do to protect you is used as something to make y'all mad. And because I'm pregnant, and go into labor, I'm all of a sudden selfish?"
"It wasn't just that."
"Then what was it? The time Chres and I gave y'all two thousand dollars for food, or five thousand for Christmas gifts? Or was it that we gave y'all this house for free? That totally makes me and him selfish."
"You don't have to boast."
"I'm not even trying to boast." I laugh. "I'm saying, when y'all are without out, we give you money. We help y'all as much as we can, because you're family! Chres has a successful career, he does it for his family, which includes you guys. If positions were switched, we'd want y'all to stick to your promise like we did."
"We didn't mean to-"
"I'm tired of the apologizes. I'm tired of you," I point at Lolo, "texting me at night these rude things. I'm a hoe? All ten of my babies are with the same man. I'm selfish, but I'd give you all I could if you needed it for you and your kids. I'm mean, but I've never once said anything bad about you, never once started a rumor. You released to the media the 'truth'," I put quotations around 'truth' "that I've never once thanked you for anything. That you've always helped me with everything, and never been repaid. Lolo, let me ask you this, Chres and I went two weeks with barely any food, no lights and not water, what exactly did you do to help us? Because as far as I know, Jacob was letting us stay at his place because it was freezing. Craig lent us twenty dollars for food, Ray lent us twenty dollars for food. Key word, lent. We paid them back. You've not once attempted to ever pay us back, for anything. And we don't want it back. You were like my sister, I just want to see you good, with food and clothes and a roof over your head."
"Yn, I'm sorry, but-"
"I'm not even mad about it, but for you to put out a lie like that about my husband and I..." I trail off. "And even after all this, here I am. Cooking lunch for you and giving you stuff for you kid. And next time Lolo is pregnant, I'm gonna do the same for her, and if you get pregnant again, Nique. Because Ray and Craig are my brothers, therefore, those kids are my nieces and nephews, and I refuse to see them go without because you guys are being like this."
"We're sorry." Nique cries.
"And I forgive you, I just don't want to be best friends again. It's the same thing, over and over again."
"I can respect that." Nique nods.
I don't have a problem with Jacob's girlfriend, fiance now, she's cool. She's not easily influenced like Nique is.
"So, we're good?" Lolo asks.
I shrug, "Yeah, I guess."
"Hug it out." Craig yells.
I roll my eyes but hug both the girls. "We really are sorry." Nique frowns.
"It's okay. Let's just not get that close again."
"Oh." She nods sadly. "Can we work towards it?"
"Yeah. But I'm tired of the rumors and the backstabbing when someone doesn't get their way." I nod. I finish lunch, then we have to leave. I have tons of stuff to do.
Santo is out in the driveway of their house when I get out there. He smiles, walking to me. "Hey, baby."
"No." I roll my eyes.
"Stop, you're still alive and you made up with your friends. Gimme love so I know you aren't mad. I'm not going to do anything else til' I know you're not mad." He tells me. I kiss him quickly, then pull away. He grabs my waist. "I love you." He pecks my lips.
"I love you more." I sigh.
"I gotta go, but I'll see you when I get home." He promises.
"Okay, be careful."
"You too, baby."
We get in our separate cars and pull off. I go to Kylie's house to pick her up.
"Hey, girl." I say as she hops in the car.
"Hey, thanks for picking me up." She smiles.
"No problem." After she closes her door, I pull off.
"Alright, I have to stop by Chris and Rihanna's." I tell her.
"Is Michael there?"
"If he is, he's in the game room with Chris." I answer.
"Okay, I can deal with that." She nods to herself.
"Has he come to see Marcus?"
"Since when?"
"Last month." I answer.
"One time. For fifteen minutes." She rolls her eyes. "He was supposed to have him for a week, but an emergency popped up."
"I'm sorry, girl." I apologize.
"It's cool. I can be his mom and dad, we don't need Michael or his money." She tells me.
I laugh, "You don't."
"Ma!" Ariella-Mae yells.
"Calm down, what do you need?" I ask.
"I hungry." She tells me.
"Me too." Bella adds in.
"Me one." Jayden adds.
"Three, sweetie."
"Me free." He corrects. I just laugh.
"Anyway, how are you?" Kylie asks me, still laughing a little.
"I'm great." I smile. I really am.
Yay! Another update. Next one will be up soon. Thanks for reading! Vote/comment. Please leave feedback, it would mean a lot.
~Michele