Keraun's POV
Earlier that day
"Daddy I need my toes done." Raegan ran towards me, holding the nail clippers and nail polish in her hands.
"You want daddy to take you to the nail shop?" Reagan playfully rolled her eyes as she gave me a look to say 'what do you think.' I laughed, watching her jump into my lap.
"I want you to do it daddy, clip my feets." She giggled, sitting in the chair beside me as she laid her feet in my lap.
I shook my head, closing my laptop and tending to my daughter's needs. "I hung up on icey today." I furrowed my eyebrows wondering what she was talking about. "I feel bad now, I should call her and say sorry right daddy?"
"Whatchu talking about." I looked at her as she hung her head down low, and rubbed her hands together.
"Icey called me when you were with Simone and I hung up on her." She finally looked up at me and she had tears brewing in her eyes. "I'm sorry but daddy icey wasn't icey this morning, she was mean and so I hung up but I miss her." She sighed, leaning her arm against the armrest.
The way icess acted this morning really rubbed me the wrong way. All I want to do is be there for her and she just won't let it happen. I ain't the type of nigga to go back and forth with nobody, I learned that shit the hard way with Raegan mother a long time ago. Ever since I left, she been calling me like crazy and I haven't been answering because I ain't beat for the bullshit and the back and forth. I'm not about to fight somebody just to be there for them
I grabbed the nail filer and began to file her little toes down as I sighed, "princess, what have I told you about grown folks business?"
"That I shouldn't interfar in it." I decided not to correct and let her keep talking. "Daddy, I didn't mean too." She pouted. "I'm sorry."
"I know you didn't mean it princess." I opened my arms, letting her hop into my lap. "Daddy's gonna handle it okay."
"Are you and icey over daddy?
"No baby, we just had a little disagreement. It's nothing for you to worry about, aight." She nodded
"Good, because I like icey, she like the mommy I never got and Heaven is like my little sister. We finally got our family daddy." She kissed my cheek as I thought about what Raegan feels.
" When you finish my toes, can we watch Coco !" She pleaded
"Anything for my princess" I responded as I started painting her toes.
While painting her toes, she kept complaining about me not being in the lines and it being ugly.
"Noooooo, daddy I said I wanted that toe to be pink and this one to be yellow." She shook her head, breathing hard. "Icey know how to do it better." She mumbled
"Then do it yourself." I passed her the nail polish and got back on my laptop just to play with her emotions. She grabbed all her nail polishes and put them on the table with her head down. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see that she was about to cry.
"Come here tink." I silently laughed, as she slowly walked towards me and climbed into my lap. "Daddy was just playing."
"That's not funny daddy, you hurt my feelings." She sniffled, snuggling into my chest.
"I'm sorry, daddy won't do it again." She stuck out her pinky and locked it with mine. "Pinky promise?" She looked me in my eyes as I kissed my fist and hers
"If you do that again, I'll get ray baby and amby to beat you up." I mugged her, lifting her into the air as she squealed.
"Whatchu say." I spun her around bringing her to my chest. "Who gon beat me up." I said, as I tickled her into a laughing fest.
"Nobody!!! Nobody!!'" She screamed, clinging to my shirt, I laid us both on the couch, with her on my chest. After a while she had stopped laughing and was slowly but surely falling asleep.
"Can we still watch Coco?" She yawned, rubbing her nose against my chest.
I grabbed the remote and turned Coco on as I rested my arms behind my head and let Raegan cuddle more into my chest as we both watched Coco until we fell into a deep slumber.
•
It had to be 4 in the morning when I woke up to my phone ringing, I groaned as I stretched out as best as I could with Raegan and our dog, papi on my chest. I reached over to my phone, without looking at the caller id and answered.
"Keraun, it's Amber... listen me and icess are at the hospital right now, Heaven stopped breathing in her sleep and she's literally yelling on the phone right now with her mother. I know what happened early but can you..." I cut her off.
"What hospital y'all at?" I had already got up, put my slides on and hiked Raegan onto my hip.
"Mercy, thank you so much. She really needs you." I nodded as if she could see me and hung up, I strapped Raegan in her booster seat and took off towards mercy.
I knew about heaven having sleep apnea and all the risks of things like this happening because of my mother.I had talked to my mother and she had told me that doing breathing exercises with Heaven before and after she sleeps would help her with her sleep apnea.
Icess doesn't know that and I didn't tell her because after knowing her for 3 months, I know that she would've thought I did this out of pity or because I thought of her as a charity case. Instead of actually seeing that everything I do is because of me genuinely caring about her and her daughter.
I pulled up into a parking space, taking Raegan out of her seat and hiked her on my back as I rushed towards the hospital entrance.
I immediately saw Amber and icess by the waiting room and I walked towards them, keeping my eyes on icess who looked like she was listening to something Amber was saying.
As if she knew I was looking at her, she turned her focus towards me and out of no where ran towards me, wrapping her arms around me. All she kept saying was 'I'm sorry' as she clung to my chest, filling my shirt with her tears. Amber came over and took Raegan once she saw me struggling to hold icess.
After she took Raegan I finally wrapped my arms around icess as she rocked us back and forth, "I'm... sssooo-ooo soooo-rrryyyy." She sniffled, holding me tighter like I would disappear if she didn't.
I kissed her forehead, letting her drain all her emotions onto me, "icess, look at me ma." She kept sniffling, as she lifted her head. "what I told you the last time we were here."
She took a breath before responding, "that you got me." She tried to raise her mouth to cover a sob that was bound to come out but I grabbed her hands before she could, and looked into her tear filled eyes. "ight, so remember that... I ain't going no where. Heaven, Raegan, Amber, Raven and I are here to stay... I don't care about what ya mama say, sister say... nobody . Know that I'm here because I care about you and Heaven and know that everything I do is because I want you happy. Not because I pity you." She nodded. "I need words ma."
"I know." She whispered, raising her arms and wrapping them around my neck as she clung to me. I rubbed her back until she finally let me go and wipes her eyes, she grabbed my hand and walked towards Amber.
"The doctor came out while y'all were hugged up... he said everything is fine, her fever was her body's response to her lack of oxygen. It went down but he said she really needs the CPAP machine so the hospital is ordering one, he said that she was transferred out of the NICU and that we can see her now."
Icess nodded, grabbing Raegan and resting her face in the crook of Raegan's neck, "I missed you guys so much." She sniffled, walking towards the room with amber ahead of us.
When we finally got to Heaven's room, she was wide awake, playing with some toys the nurses probably gave her. She had a little oxygen mask on and her feet were hooked up to a monitor but other than that she was fine.
Icess held both Raegan and Heaven the whole time, rocking them both in the rooms rocking chair as she hummed to them. I fell asleep watching her kiss both of our girls on the heads and right then and there I knew this was where I was supposed to be.