Kayson thought about the last time he was ever in America. He was 5 at the time, so his memories were vague. The only thing he could remember was being at Aunt Shay's and playing with two little kids, whom were Madilyn and Lily. Unfortunately, he couldn't remember who they were even though they were the people he was closest to. The woman at the home was nobody else but Aunt Shay. The many things he thought about were the times where Aunt Shay would make her hot and heartwarming chicken curry with white rice, had his favorite cartoons DVR'd for him, and his favorite toys were always littered in Isaiah's old room for him to play with.
This was the woman he once called, 'Grandma'.
"Grandma?" Kayson whispered lowly.
"Yeah." Aunt Shay smiled. "That's me."
Shocked, Kayson sat down in the lobby of the apartment, listening to her.
"Hi?" Kayson said in a nervous tone. "I remember you a little."
"Even though you don't remember me that much Kayson, I'm your biological grandmother." Aunt Shay cheered in a low tone. "I'm the mother of your father, Isaiah."
Isaiah. The name from the internet. Kayson sat up, staring blankly at the benches.
"Um...." Kayson chuckled nervously. "That's uh.....great?"
"Listen Kays, I was wondering if you could give me the location to your address." Aunt Shay asked. "I would like to come and see you."
"I'm sorry but I can't do that." Kayson said, shaking his head. "I don't want anything to happen to my father. My adoptive father."
"Well, could you come see me someday?" Aunt Shay asked. "I know that it's a heavy burden to ask but, you and Iyana's biological family missed you very much. They haven't seen you since you were a young boy when you were kidnapped."
Kayson knew that Abel took him and Lily out of America, but he had no clue that they all were kidnapped. Kayson scrunched his eyebrows, scratching his head.
"I'll come see you guys when the time is right." Kayson nodded. "I can't do it right now because of school and stuff."
"Alright well uh, I'll talk to you later then." Aunt Shay said lowly. "I love you."
Kayson smiled, thinking about the grandmother who always kept him company when he was younger.
"I love you too, grandma."
And Aunt Shay was doing something smart that we all never thought of. She was making him comfortable. Not only that, but she was being herself and making Kayson feel that it was alright to see her, rather than threatening and harassing Kayson the whole time.
That's the step that we should've taken.
Meanwhile at the apartment, the "baby" talk that Madilyn had with Kayson was still fresh on her mind. Looking from my point of view, I honestly thought that they were too young and vulnerable. But looking from their religion point of view, I thought that this was a great idea. They're at the age where most people had children, so Madilyn took a step ahead of Kayson and started preparing. The first thing she did, was looked at the guidelines to see what and where to start. Of course, she needed a job. Living off of Stan wasn't in her plan, so she decided to look in the baby book that Stan purchased for her.
Some of the main steps that were listed said:
family medical history - an assessment of the maternal and paternal medical history - to determine if any family member has had any medical conditions such as high blood pressure, diabetes, and/or mental retardation.
genetic testing - an assessment of any possible genetic disorders - as several genetic disorders may be inherited, such as sickle cell anemia (a serious blood disorder which primarily occurs in African-Americans) or Tay-Sachs disease (a nerve breakdown disorder marked by progressive mental and physical retardation which primarily occurs in individuals of Eastern European Jewish origin). Some genetic disorders can be detected by blood tests before pregnancy.
personal medical history - an assessment of the woman's personal medical history to determine if there are any of the following:
medical conditions that may require special care during pregnancy - such as epilepsy, diabetes, high blood pressure, anemia, and/or allergies
previous surgeries
past pregnancies
vaccination status - an assessment of current vaccinations/inoculations to assess a woman's immunity to rubella (German measles), in particular, since contracting this disease during pregnancy can cause miscarriage or birth defects. If a woman is not immune, a vaccine may be given at least three months before conception to provide immunity.
infection screening - to determine if a woman has a sexually transmitted infection or urinary tract infection (or other infection) that could be harmful to the fetus and to the mother.
So the first steps for Madilyn was to get all of these checkups at her local doctor tomorrow. Next, was:
Set Aside Money for Mom
The aforementioned bump is coming. That means your appetite's getting bigger and your clothes are getting smaller. It's inevitable.
Around here we budget for everything. Go ahead and adjust for higher grocery bills and maternity clothing. You can still be smart by shopping at discount stores or buying consignment and borrowing from friends. The evidence of your bundle is a blessing, so embrace it!
Begin to Buy for Baby
Admit it: You're itching to buy something for your baby. You might even be tempted to buy everything. That's just love manifesting itself through tiny onesies and little bitty shoes and oh-my-goodness-just buy it all! You have our permission.
And finally:
Pay with cash. If you can't buy it without swiping a credit card, don't. This doesn't make you a lousy parent-to-be. It means you're mature-an important quality for bringing up a baby.
Cut out non-necessities. Do you really need the latest and greatest baby gadgetry? Or will timeless products and the basics suffice? Talk regularly about where things fall on the needs versus wants list before making a purchase.
Talk to an experienced mom. First babies present so many options. Do you buy new or used items? Brand name or generic? Do you nurse or formula feed? Use cloth or disposable diapers? With some things you'll know the answer almost instinctively or be able to discover it through research. For everything else, ask a mom who's been through this before. Perspective and experience go a long way.
"Woah." Madilyn thought. "I never thought that all of this went into becoming a mom."
The last and most important rule, was to make sure that they were financially stable. One part said set aside 1/4 of your paycheck all the way up until the birth of the baby. Madilyn highlighted the pages, placed it in her bookbag, then prepared to share it with Kayson the next day.
"Let's do this." Madilyn thought in her head.
And Madilyn, was going to prepare.
A couple of days later, I was finally able to get back in touch with Isaiah. Taking care of my son and dealing with Kathy's bullshit, it was pretty difficult to get back in touch with anyone. Kathy had a boyfriend for almost 2 years that I didn't want around JJ, and since I had custody, I demanded that he was absent from the house if he wanted to see him. After dropping him off to my mothers for the weekend and finally being able to relax, I called Isaiah back to see what was up.
"Hello?" Isaiah answered.
"Hey 'Saiah. My fault I ain't get back in touch with you." I groaned as I rubbed my forehead. "I be busy with JJ and Kathy's crazy ass. What's up?"
Isaiah sighed, rubbing his face.
"They found Lily." Isaiah said. "My niece."
My eyes widened in shock and disbelief.
"You mean, Asha's daughter?"
"Yeah." Isaiah said. "She's alive."
"WHAT!?" I gasped in a loud tone. "How!?"
"We don't know. All she said is that she been in Saudi Arabia, JUST LIKE I suspected 10 years ago." Isaiah growled. "I'm fuckin' pissed."
"Did they found Kayson, Iyana, and Madilyn?"
"No but Lily knows where they are and she ain't sayin' shit." Isaiah growled. "Luckily Q is on it. He trackin' down Iyana's number."
"Well fuck that!" I scowled. "Why don't we fly down to Saudi Arabia and grab 'em up?"
"I wanna do that, but I don't wanna scare 'em off." Isaiah said in a sad tone. "They been raised by some other man over there and they don't wanna leave him. I don't want them runnin' off."
Isaiah clenched his jaw, tearing up out of rage.
"Somebody took my fuckin' spot as a father." Isaiah said in a shaky tone. "I'm pissed, Josh. I'm pissed!"
"Keep me updated on what's goin' on. I want in." I said in a serious tone. "If JJ was in the same position, I'd want all of the help I could get."
And as a father, I felt sorry for Isaiah. I couldn't IMAGINE what he was going through, and it made me angry thinking about it.
Meanwhile, Lily was out shopping with Twan. She bought herself a lot of shoes, hair accessories, and clothing. As she went into the Nike store to purchase some pink sports shoes, a girl walked up to her and gave her a blank look.
"Excuse me, are you Asha's daughter?" She asked.
"Heh." Lily chuckled. "Yeah?"
"Hannah! Hannah! That's really her!" The girl shouted. "It's her! It's her!"
All of a sudden, the whole entire store started rushing up to her. Twan bum-rushed her out of the store as people started chasing after them, trying their hardest to get in touch with her. Everyone snapped photos and ran as Twan rushed to the limo, placed her in, got inside, and ordered the man to pull off. That was one of the craziest experiences Lily has ever had.
It was also one of the scariest.
A couple days in, Lily soon discovered that being Asha's daughters wasn't as good as it seemed when she first arrived. Being young and naive, Lily figured that she would be able to come to America, build a bond with her mom, and share some of her stardom with her. Now, it was starting to take a toll on her. Asha was never home, her younger brothers weren't welcoming, her father was a drunk, and Lily's face was all over People's magazines. Since Q was Asha's manager, his phone was BLOWING UP with publishers, interviewers, and more.
One of them accused Asha of pulling a publicity stunt.
"Hell no she wouldn't pull this shit as no publicity stunt!" Q barked as he talked on the phone in his room. "That's her damn daughter for fucks sake!"
It'd gotten to a point where Lily was becoming a little terrified for her safety.
When Asha arrived home around 11pm, nobody was home. She kicked off her shoes, thinking that someone was there, especially Q.
"Jesus Christ!" Asha barked. "Did you see the media? They just won't quit!"
Asha sighed and slipped off her boots, looking upstairs.
"Q?"
Asha walked upstairs and cut on the lights. No one was in her room. She stretched and glanced out of the door, cutting on the light to Lily's room. She wasn't there either.
"Hmph." Asha wondered. "They must've went out."
But as Asha prepared to walk out of the room, she noticed that there was a note on the door. She paused, grabbing it off of it and reading it.
"Mom,
The last week and a half I've spent with you has been more than extraordinary. I was so happy to find out that my mother was a superstar, but more than happy to find out who my biological mother was. Unfortunately, I don't think that we spent enough time together. I don't think that we'll ever be able to because you're so famous and so busy that you can never be home.
What was also starting to scare me, was the media, press, etc. I'm used to being in an environment where it's quiet, preserved, and collected. The fact that I was in a ton of magazines, being hounded, and being chased down is too much for me to handle. It's scary and too much, which is why I had to leave back to Saudi Arabia. I used some of the money you gave me to fly back, but I left the rest of the money on your bed so that you didn't think I was using you for your money.
I greatly appreciated your time, mom. I promise, I'll be back to America soon with Kayson, Iyana, and Madilyn soon."
Asha covered up her mouth, dropping to her knees and bawling her eyes out. She felt that Lily leaving was her fault. She felt that she failed her as a mother. She really wanted to spend more time with her, but her job and occupation wouldn't let her.
This was the true definition of the old adage, 'Money can't buy you happiness'.
A message to my readers, ALL OF THE PREGNANCY STEPS WERE FROM WEBSITES. I DID NOT WRITE THEM MYSELF.