Goal: 26 votes and 18 comments.
If I made a Instagram for this account (mostly for this book. I would post stuff like teasers, updates, we could do polls and whatnot. I could talk to you guys more! basically all that jazz on the account.) would you guys follow it? It'll be good to let everyone know when a update is coming or even milestones. I feel like y'all would say no but just lemme know :((
After we were done with breakfast, everybody who didn't help cook was helping clean up. But really it was just Alexander, Chloe, Chris, Jamal and I cleaning the kitchen. I had put all the extra food to the side, walking towards the large stainless steel refrigerators. I put both the Apple and orange juice away so they will stay cool. Alexander was washing dishes while Chloe cleaned the large table that sat through out the kitchen. Chris really wasn't doing anything but standing and observing while holding a conversation with Jamal. Every time I walked by, I got bits and pieces. It seemed like they were talking about Chloe and Austin. Speaking of Austin, where is he?
I glanced around looking for the boy before seeing him walking back up the stairs with three water bottles. "Chloe." He said, she looked up. He slid the bottle across the table.
"Chris." He said as he bucked it towards Chloe's twin. Chris, who definitely had reflex's like a cat, caught it before he even turned around.
Gee whiz Spider-Man.
The kitchen was practically clean and my feet were throbbing, which was a sign for me to sit my behind down. I sat where I sat earlier, pulling my phone out. Nothing interesting.
Except a groupchat between Chris, Jamal, and I. I looked up at them, seeing them laugh before coming over and sitting down.
"What's the deal with him?" Chris demanded. For being fifteen, he definitely was demanding and protective over me.
"He's my fiancée."
"Was that before or after he got you pregnant? And you're having twins? Don't end up like my bi-"
"I'm not!"
"Fits the pattern perfectly, already has one kid from another mother..."
"Christopher! Chill out. We are good. He's not like that. I forgot you missed the whole talk. We don't talk about Maya's mom because she died, okay?"
"So did Jamal's."
She didn't really, but she staged her death. Had everyone scared, just for Jamal to find her one day. I'll save this story for a second though. Also, Chris and Chloe share a mother with Jamal. Both just call her Jamal's mom because of all the emotionally trauma she has put them through.
"He's got a point..." Jamal agreed. I glanced at Alexander; who was still standing at the kitchen sink. I frowned.
"If he breaks your heart, I swear to god I will kill him. Do you know who my father is? That shit is in my genes." Chris said, making my frown deepen.
He wasn't lying. His parents were both equally fucked up, but Aunt Keke was way better than she was 10 years ago. 10 year ago, she was living on the streets and sniffing every drug she could find. She was drinking every drink and whenever she had a job, she spent it all on drugs and alcohol. We didn't think she'd live to see the twins 10th birthday. But one day, Jamal crossed paths with her and she recognized him. She hated for him to see her like that, apparently, so she worked to get sober. My parents offered to let her stay in the guess house and then eventually decided it was best if she just went to rehab. She just got out of rehab a year ago, I think? She has been, unless she knows something I don't, sober for two years. While in rehab, she did relapse but she fought through the addictions and now here we are. Now, the twins father? He's a whole other story. He wasn't a druggie, he did smoke though... marijuana and cigarettes. He loved alcohol, but didn't drink much. He was actually the one that got Aunt KeKe in to drugs. I'm exactly sure how the timeline goes but I do know that Aunt KeKe wanted to know if she had some 'special stuff' for her and she said his apartment smelled horrible. She went snooping around and found 7 dead body's. All little kids. There was one adult, but she was found in his freezer. So he's in jail for 56 years, which hopefully is the rest of his life.
So, yeah, Chris and Chloe's Dad is a murderer.
"Language." I said sternly, discarding what he said.
"Sophiaaa, I'm taller than you. Plus, I'm a guy. I think like a guy. If I knew I had a child and there was some hot chick I wanted to fuck, of course im going to tell her that my first baby momma is dead. I don't want you to worry." Chris laughed but I winced.
Was this true? Was Leah still alive?
She couldn't be. Everybody avoids talking about her like she is dead. 'Maybe she's dead to them' my subconscious reminds me.
No. Why would Alex make up that story? That was too emotional for it to be made up. Leah was a model, there's no way she's a druggie.
"Hey, Alexander." Chris's deep voice snapped me out of my thoughts, looking over at Alexander. He was now standing next to me wiping his forehead with the bottom of his shirt. This action gave me the perfect view of his yummy tummy. I guess I was still staring even after Alexander finished because he waved his hand right in front of his stomach, instead of my eyes.
Jamal and Chris stayed where they were, listening to what Alex was saying. I wasn't though. Still, lost in my thoughts about Leah and his stomach.
"Sophia! Cmon mamas, we have to go get the car before 11:30."
"Car?"
"The rental, my love. Remember?"
Oh! The car that he insisted we have during our time here.
"Yes, baby." I said, freezing immediately. My gaze snapped towards Alexander who had his tongue out, probably to stop him from smiling. You could still see his smile though, the corner raised in such a way you could only think he was smiling.
"Well, lets go, baby." He mimicked me in a mocking tone, causing me to feel the blood rushing to my face as I found my way off the chair.
"Don't break it in too soon, okay?" Somebody says, I know it's not my Mother so I throw my middle finger up behind my back.
As Alex and I are walking, Maya runs across.
"Where are you guys going?"
"Do you want to come or stay here?"
"I'll stay here with Uncle Quincy and Chocolate." She declares, dashing away while I grab my brothers car keys. Alexander opens the front door and exits while I announce to everyone that we will be back shortly.
-
"I think I'm going to take a nap."
"You need to." I said, watching my pregnant 'fiancée' waddle up the stairs. She had a hand on the small of her back and one on the railing as she made her way up the stairs. I stood behind her.
My shirt, which she was wearing, stretched over her stomach and was riding up over the back. Her shorts were barely visible.
My ego was boosted by 8, seeing her with my shirt on and my children inside of her.
We finally made it to the third floor, which was where our room was. She stood by and waited for me to complete the stairs as well. I touched the floor, reaching for Sophia's hand. She grabbed mine, my hand engulfing hers, before pulling me to our room.
Shutting the door behind us, I watched as she climbed onto the bed, tiredly.
"Oh, hey guys!" Maya said, watching a show on her iPad. She played with her baby doll as well. She waved to us and shut of the iPad, deciding to join us.
"Hey princess."
"You guys were gone for a long time. There was light outside, and now it's dark. Where did you go?"
"We went to pick up the car."
"You bought Pineapple?" She asked, confused. She climbed onto the bed, gazing over at Sophia. I sat by Sophia's legs, looking back at Maya. This is what she calls my white Range Rover.
"No, we got another car. It's a rental. We are going to have to give it back when we leave. Why are you in here?"
"Is Sophia sick? Are the babies okay?"
"She's fine she's just tired because she's been walking all day. Now, what's wrong with you?"
"Nothing I just didn't want to be bothered. I don't like answering questions."
"You ask a lot of them for someone who doesn't want to answer them." I mumbled, peering down at Sophia. Sophia let out a laugh before tucking her hands under her head. She turned around and faced Maya.
"What'd you say, Daddy?"
"Nothing."
"I thought you said something." She said, throwing her baby doll in the air before gazing at Sophia once again.
"Why don't you go downstair? Go find Jamal and see if you can play with Cameron." Sophia suggested, her eyes dropping as she spoke. Maya looked at me and I nodded, giving her permission. She jumped off the bed, walking to the door slowly. She had her baby doll in hand as she turned around.
"I will be back." She announced before walking out the door, slamming it behind her.
Sophia let out a soft chuckle. I kicked off my slides before sliding into the bed next to her. Her warm scent engulfed my sense even more as I got closer to her. My eyes rested on her swollen tummy.
This woman, Sophia, was so bloody beautiful that it hurt to look at her.
"Stop staring Alex."
"I'm not."
"I can feel it. The twins can too, they are kicking like crazy. Tell them to be quiet because Mommy is tired."
Jokingly, I pulled up the shirt and put my face on her stomach. "Hey guys, mommy's trying to go night night so cool it dow- woah!" I had almost finished talking when one of the twins decided to kick right where my face is. I rubbed my cheek, although it didn't hurt.
"Your voice is driving them crazy, get out." She mumbled.
"You drive me crazy." I said, getting back into the bed correctly. She let out a weak laugh before shutting her eyes.
"Okay, Stop. I'm going to sleep now. Wake me when the sun rises." She said, her breathing already slowing. I nodded, although she couldn't see me, before beginning to shut my own eyes.
It wasn't long before I fell asleep.
-
When I opened my eyes, I was met with a sleeping Sophia. At some point, one of her legs were sprawled over mine and a hand on my neck. I slightly pushed her off before reaching for my phone. I clicked it on, looking at the time.
It was 7:45.
I decided to get up and check on Maya. I stood, resisting the urge to look back at Sophia. That was the thing, I couldn't get enough of her. Her looks, her voice, her. I wanted everything about her. I wanted her lips to capture. I wanted her stomach, although I kind of already did. I wanted her soul. I wanted her body. I wanted her heart, most of all.
She had the familiarity to her. Although it was vague, it was there. I loved it.
I love her. So damn much. It hurts sometimes to even look at her. This whole trip has been hell already and it's only been two days. Having to pretend I am her fiancé when I know I will never be able to actually get this chance, is insane.
I made my way to the door, forcing myself not to spare Sophia a second glance. I shut the door quietly, immediately hearing loud laughter and talking. Making my way to the stairs, I listened, attempting to find out who's downstairs.
Quincy, Stephanie, Jamal, Chris, Chloe, a few others I cannot currently remember the names of and.. Maya.
I listened as they talked.
"What else do they do?"
Who?
"Kiss. A lot. They sleep in the bed and Daddy lets me go with Uncle Chance when they want alone time. But uncle Chance always says that when they want alone time that really means thy want to be with each other closely, whatever that means. Daddy likes her but he says Sophia is withholding from him. He says that she's scared. I get scared sometimes too! Like when Uncle Tony told me that there was monsters that sleep on the stairs ate night so I can't go upstairs to Daddy's room. Or when he told me that when I stay at Nana's house, there are scary animals that scratch the wall at night and want to string me up by my toes so they can eat me for dinner. He also said daddy didn't love me and that he was going to put me in a oven at night and cook me like a turkey on thanksgiving. When he told me that, I cried. Daddy yelled at him and hit him. Besides that, not really scared of anything. Except of Daddy when he doesn't wake up when our alarms go off because our alarms are LOUD. It goes through our whole house! Have you ever seen that movie where the boy tried to wake up his mommy but he couldn't because she was dead but he didn't know she was dead so he just kept trying to wake her up? Yeah, that's what I'm always scared of. Or that Sophia will fall down the stairs and hurt our babies. I don't want our babies to hurt. I hope I have a sisters because boys are nasty and they cry and poop and then they grow up to be weird and mean; like Justin. I go to daycare with Justin and he messes with me everyday. I don't like it. But sometimes he's cool because he lets me play with his toys. He told the big kids not to play with me because he's not nice. Briaje plays with me. She's the only person allowed to play with me. Justin is 6 years old. Or maybes hes 7 because his birthday is February 3rd!" Maya rambled. I listened from the stairs while the adults egged Maya on for information about Sophia and I. She kept getting off track and each time they would slightly push her back on track. I laughed to myself at this because she would go on rants about absolutely nothing.
I decided to make my presence known, even though I knew they would ask where Sophia was. She was in our room, for the time being, and she was sleeping. She was absolutely tired from today and she hadn't even eaten dinner yet. I was going to wake her up a couple of minutes before so that she could get herself ready to eat. For now, I was going to grab Maya and have her talk to my mother. My mom wanted me to have Maya call her every night; just to make sure she was safe. Even though she was with me, her father. As if I'd let anything bad happen to my princess.
I entered the room now, seeing all the adults crowded around the kitchen island where Maya sat in the middle with her baby doll. She was playing with the baby's feet while speaking. A few heads turned towards me while others stayed on Maya as she rambled about Brieaja's mom being pregnant with six kids. Her head suddenly turned as she greeted me.
"Hey daddy!"
"Hi princess. What're you guys doing?"I asked, amused. Maya stood, beginning to slide down from the counter. Jamal assisted her, grabbing her hips and slightly putting her into the ground. She ran towards my legs immediately.
"I'm cooking." Sophia's mom said.
"They are trying to get information out of your daughter about Sophia and you." Chris's twin sister alerted, causing her to be shunned by all surrounding heads. She shrugged before grabbing a bag of chips out of the bowl that sat on the middle of the table. She popped the bag of chips before walking down stairs. I decided to just have them ask me instead.
"You can ask me questions instead of Maya. They are about me." As soon as I released these words, I should have expected what happened next. It was like I opened the gate to my house to a bunch of paparazzi.
"When's the wedding?"
"How long have you've been together?"
"Have you guys bought a place together?"
I was asked multiple questions from everybody that was here. Since I was the one who told them to ask me, I was going to have to at least try to answer them all. But every time I opened my mouth, another question arises.
"Okay okay. Wedding date has been unplanned. We've been together for a year. No, we have not bought a place together yet but she lives with Maya and I for the time being. We have talked baby names and no, I have not talked to her about a prenup."
"What do you like about Sophia?" Chloe, Chris's twin, has returned and was staring at me.
Ah! A question I didn't have to lie for the answer.
"What do I like about Sophia? Well.." I began to trail off as I thought about all the reasons I love Sophia. My eyes fluttered upwards as I thought and spoke. "I like how she smiles. I don't know what about it it is but she has this really tough habit of licking her teeth and I love it. It's weird, I know. I love how she's so caring, even when I act like a grade-A asshole. She still cares about me. I like how when she sleeps, she always looks for me to pull towards her, so we can cuddle. Even though she's quite rough with it, it's almost ego boosting, knowing I'm the one she wants to pull towards her at night. I love how she is with Maya. After Leah died, Maya had no female figure in her life besides my mother but now she has Sophia and I fucking love the bond they have. She pushes me to be the best man I could be, she's bossy with it too. I love that about her as well. She listens to me, if needed. She always Ives great advice, even though I rarely follow it, it's good advice. I lov-" I stopped when I noticed I was ranting. When I looked around at everybody, they all looked at me with a smile and a in 'awe' look on their faces.
"He's so in love." Sophia's mom said, calling from the stove. Chloe smiled before speaking. "You guys are so cute. I hope I find my Alexander one day."
"I told you guys, Sophia was going to be a heartbreaker." Quincy laughed before shaking his head. My eyes snapped to him. How did any of that imply that my heart was broke?
Unless he knew something I didn't.
I pushed the thought aside before answering the next question. It was from Chris. "Do you do drugs? Are you addict?"
"Only if Sophia's love counts."
"Daddy, what's a drugs?"
"It's like medicine that the doctors don't give you. Sometimes it makes you pass away if you take it the wrong way or take too much." I quickly explained. I put her on the ground before telling her to find Sophia. She ran out of the room with her doll in hand.
"Our mom did drugs. She had us in the care of Aunt Stephanie and Uncle Quincy most of our lives. She gave birth to us and my father was on high one night and killed somebody. I just want to make sure the same thing doesn't happen to Sophia. Shes the sister I never had. Big sister, I never had." He corrected himself before staring at me with his sharp jawline prominent. He was clenching his jaw before grabbing his large gallon of water and walking away.
"Please, ignore Chris. He gets upset easily. He's overprotective of Sophia as well. Between him, Quincy, and Jamal, I was never sure she would have a boyfriend." Stephanie said, moving a pot from one side of the stove to the other. Jamal turned around in astonishment, staring back at his aunt.
"I was helping her choose between the good guys and the bad guys." Jamal defended himself before speaking again. "I'm not the one who used to bully kids into not talking to her!" He said, and immediately Quincy turned around.
"Look, first of all, I only bullied that boy with the blond hair. That was once and that was because he cheated on his ex-"
"What about shorty that had the nose ring in 11th grade?"
"Gabriella?"
"I thought it was Amena?" Jamal said, turning around with a questioning look. I watched as both of the men questioned who Quincy prevented from being with Sophia. As if somebody whispered it in his ear, Jamal let out a loud laugh before nearly hunching over.
"You messes with Amena AND Gabriella! Amena was the one that had the long brown hair and a nose ring. Gabriella had a black Katy Perry bob with purple highlights and the hoop nose ring. Remember? I bet if we ask Sophia she'd remember."
"Oh, I remember! The gay girls! Aren't they together now?" Stephanie said, turning towards us.
"No, Ma. They broke up like two years ago." Jamal said, turning towards her. Stephanie shrugged before gathering plates out.
"How did we go from asking green eyes questions to him you and Quincy used to harass my daughters potential partners?" Her eyes twinkled as she spoke, causing me to smile. She and Sophia looked alike in many ways. From the body shape down to the twinkle in the eyes, that was her daughter. I hoped that my daughter - or son - shared this trait.
"Green eyes," Quincy mocked his Mom, "you're glad you didn't go to school with us."
"Yeah, you'd never look at my baby sister." Jamal said, glancing towards Quincy who remained on the couch.
"I'm sure I'd still do fine." I mumbled, looking at my future brother-in-law.
Alexander, get these thoughts out your head. You guys are not getting married. This is just so she doesn't get in trouble now for you getting her pregnant out of wedlock. Once we go back to New York and the babies are born, we will go back to being Sophia and Alexander.
Alexander, watching my daughter (plus two, now) and going back to work daily. Sophia will (Maybe) move into our house, taking care of the twins, maybe working, and whatever her daily routine was before I stepped in.
"I have a question!: have you lived in New York your whole life?"
"Yes. That I know of." I answered, confused as to where this was going.
"Do you wear glasses? Actually, I'm sorry. Did you wear glasses?"
What? I hadn't worn glasses since I was in almost 5th grade. I had started wearing contacts since I broke my frames so often. For her to have just met me, that was a odd question.
"I wore glasses. A while ago."
"Do me a favor and look at the picture over there on the wall. Right next to the fridge," Stephanie instructed while Quincy, Jamal, and I watched her confused. She gestured for me to move, so I did, taking a few strides to the area she was talking about. I was met with a wall, side of a refrigerator, and six scattered picture frames across the small area. My eyes gazed over all of them. They all seemed to be Sophia and friends.
I could recognize her right dimple and smile from anywhere. In the first picture, she was small and maybe even only nine months old. She had a smile spread across and her front three teeth had been cutting in, one more obvious than the others. Her hair was combed back, like she just got out of the bath. Sophia's baby face was in black and white as she stared pass the camera with her grin.
The next photo was a picture of Sophia and two boys. The harder I looked, the more and more the boys looked like Quincy and Jamal. Jamal has his hair in braids while Quincy's curl hair sprung out. They looked to be about 8 years old. Jamal and Quincy stood on either side of Sophia, all of them sporting wide smiles - this time, Sophia was missing her front two teeth.
My eyes traveled down to the picture on the conjoining wall. It was a photo with a place I recognized. It was taken in Central Park, I could recognize that from anywhere. Sophia looked like a toddler. You could tell she was wobbling as she walked. Her body was leaned to this side but she had a look of concentration on her face as attempted to walk. I read the scribblings that were in white sharpe on the photo: Sophia's 1st walk.
Moving on to the next photo, I saw Sophia in a diaper. Quincy was standing proud next to her in underwear. He had his fist on his waist while Sophia had her head thrown back, crying. I looked on in amusement as I could see he held her pacifier in one of his small fist.
It was crazy how much they still looked like them. I looked nothing like my baby pictures now, but Quincy was still.. Quincy. He just was broader and muscular. He probably hit the gym a lot.
Sophia still looked like herself, her brown doe eyes have always a prominent feature of hers. Her hair, which in most of the pictures looked as if she had just put it into a bun, was always unruly.
The next photo was a middle school, maybe high school era photo. She had on her cheer uniform and a large smile on her face as a guy held her waist. His blond hair pulled up into a man bun, almost how I wear my hair when I go to the gym. The boy wore a purple hoodie and grey sweatpants. He had a scold on his face while he stared down at Sophia.
Who was this?
Probably an ex boyfriend. My subconscious reminded me that Sophia has dated plenty of other guys and I am not the first.. nor the last.
I stared down at the last picture. Sophia was holding a small pumpkin, a hand securing it from the bottom and another hand holding the stem. She sat on a picnic bench, smiling at the camera. Her hair was out, the curls falling everywhere. There was a boy beside her, their arms locked as he held his small pumpkin with his other hand. He was looking down into Sophia's lap, or somewhere near that. Black framed glasses were on Sophia's lap. He was in the middle of a laugh as the photo was taken, his eyes peered at the person taking the photo. He sported a brown sweater and black pants, with a orange hat on his head. This had to be a field trip, actually, it was a field trip. I could tell by the students running around in the background. A teacher, I assume, stood by the shed in the background, leaning against the pole.
I let out a laugh as I engulfed the full picture. I looked back, seeing Stephanie smiling at me with a smile.
It was funny because I had the same exact photo in my office. My mother also had the same photo of the same little boy and girl, in her house.
The little boy was me. I was in first grade, Sophia was in kindergarten. I vaguely remember our teachers partnering us up for the buddy system. Each first grader got a kindergarten as a buddy. Our jobs were to stay with one another and make new friends. We were supposed to hold hands when we weren't playing and sit next to each other on the bus.
Sophia was my buddy.
For some reason, I think I already knew this.
"I knew you looked familiar. How's Sarah? I loved Sarah, sweetest person ever." Stephanie says, smiling widely at me as she takes a sip of her drink.
"She's great. She's dealing with my siblings and whatnot."
"How many siblings do you have?"
"Daddy has like 8 siblings! There's Aunt Stella and Uncle Sebastian, Aunt Arabella, Aunt Aurora, Uncle Drew, Uncle Tony, and Aunt Madds. I don't have any but I'm getting two. Hopefully they are two sisters because I don't like boys."
"You like me."
"No, she likes me." Chris jokes, walking back into the kitchen.
"Who do you like more? Uncle Quincy, who bought you Chick-fil-A and some crocs, or Christopher, who didn't absolutely nothing for you."
"Actually Chris let me-"
"Maya!" Chris cuts her off with wide eyes. "We have to move in silent."
"Yes sir. I'm sorry Uncle Quincy. Chris wins this round but maybe next time. Now can we get in the pool?"
"We can get in the pool tomorrow. It's too late now." Stephanie says.
I was glad the attention got diverted off of me. Although I knew some of Sophia and I's past, I had no idea that was her on the trip. I feel like I should have known but I completely forgot.
I had absolutely adored Sophia back in school and I was completely heartbroken when I learned she would not be returning.
But she did and I do not plan on letting her go this time.
-
GUYS IM PANICKING BC I CANT SEE ANY COMMENTS OR VOTES ON THE LAST CHAPTER I GET NOTIFICATIONS FOR IT BUT THEN WHEN I PRESS THE ACTUAL CHAPTER ITLL SAY LIKE 5 VOTE 4 VIEWS 3 COMMENTS