Dre laid in the bed, reading up on some paperwork for Empire. "He's finally asleep. This has been the longest day," Giselle groaned as she climbed in next to him. "Yeah it has. I have to find a way to get this budget under control. It's too many artists thinking they are entitled to extreme luxury," he spoke out to clear his mind. "Well I'll try to keep wardrobe low. Heifers that just got signed thinking they should be dripping in Balmain and Giuseppe. I'm two seconds from having Treasure in some damn Citi trends," she voiced, seeing Dre zoning out for a second. "Babe what's wrong?" She asked. He snapped out of his thoughts, looking over at her and let out a sigh.
"I'm not the oldest Lyon," he said, leaving Giselle to try and add the missing pieces. "I'm confused. What do you mean? Who had an illegitimate child?" She questioned. "Neither... Renee stole their first... well one of their firstborn. She was a twin," he explained. Giselle gasped, not sure where to begin. "That's some fucked up shit. How are your parents taking it? Have you met her?" She pried. It was always something new being discovered in this family but this was by far the most exciting discovery for her. "Yeah I've met her. Mom and pop have been missing for the past few days. It's crazy. She looks just like my mom before she got locked up. But she has Lucious' eyes," he said.
"Like Haven?" Dre smiled and nodded, "Make her a little darker and all Cookie." "What is she like?" She asked. As she listened to Dre talk about his newest sister, she noticed that this wasn't the thing that was weighing on his shoulders. He beamed as he talked about Reign. It was like he was happy to no longer be the oldest. She hated that he hid some things from her but she couldn't blame him. She was just now able to lay next to him without fearing he'd strangle her in her sleep. "So now there's 5 Lyon Cubs. She doesn't believe what we say about Renee but she's accepting that she's family. It's all just so much to take in right now," he said, his phone ringing next to him.
He looked down seeing Destiny's name flash across the screen. "Who was that?" Giselle asked, curious as to why he didn't answer the phone. "Keem. He probably just found out about Reign," he lied, putting his work on the nightstand. "Oh okay," she said, not believing that at all. He pulled her into his, peppering her with kisses. Embracing his touch, she finally started to relax. Climbing on top of him and taking her silk robe off. Dre sat up, wrapping his arms around her waist as he gave her nipples attention. Her moans filled his ears until her phone started ringing. Seeing her reach for it, he decided to bite down just enough to get her attention.
A louder moan left her lips as she ran her fingers through his hair. Playing with her bundle of nerves, he was slowly making her forget about the ringing phone. Riding out her wave, a little thought popped up in her head. What's making him want me so bad right now? She pushed him back, scooting down to return the favor. Before she could put his soldier in her mouth, her phone rang again. "What the hell?" She murmured, grabbing the phone. Dre groaned out loud, pissed that their session was being put on hold. As she answered it, he sat back up, hoping that he could persuade her into hanging up. "Des what is up?" She asked. Dre's eyes grew big and laid back down.
The worst running through his head as he watched Giselle listen intently. Her face going from concern to pissed to frustrated. "What the fuck did I say? You don't want to listen now look at you. Fucking pregnant! Now what are you going to do? That nigga don't strike me as the type to be a stable father," she blurted. Relief filled Dre as he calmed down. It wasn't his. He stared at the ceiling, waiting for Giselle to get off the phone. "Yeah whatever...No I'm not about to fund this baby for you. GET A JOB! Having a drug dealing nigga is not a job. Figure it out and let me know what you decide. Bye Destiny!" She yelled into the phone. "So Destiny is having a baby?" Dre said as if he wasn't thinking a million things about the situation.
"Yes and now she thinks that baby is my responsibility. I think not. I've been busting my ass for years to take care of her and mama. I'm not doing it anymore. She should've thought about that before busting it open everytime a nigga tell her to," she vented. "She's your sister though. It's her first kid. I help my brothers out even thought they drive me crazy. I've been looking out for them since I was a damn toddler. It's hard being the child of drug dealers. Trust me," he told her. "Why are you acting like this is your baby? Why do you care about her?" She spat without thinking. "I just think you should help her. She's your only sister," he said. She huffed, getting under the covers. She suddenly no longer wanted to have sex like he did. With her back turned to him, he sent a text to Destiny.
We need to talk. Tomorrow at 9. You know where.
With that he deleted the text thread and rolled over to go to sleep. Meanwhile, Destiny was sitting in the studio, waiting on Hakeem to finish up. She looked at a mirror, wondering how bad she looked from crying. "Ugh what's the point?" She mumbled. Turning around she was about to walk away but Keem spotted her first. "Aye y'all give me the room," he voiced, rushing over to Destiny. "Man I thought we was meeting Tiana and her friends after this? What you doing? " Chicken questioned. "We are. Give me a minute damn," he barked. His crew walked out, giving him and Destiny space. "What's wrong? Why are you crying?" He asked, wiping her tears.
"You're going to be mad at me," she whispered. "Why would I be mad?" He asked. She took a deep breath and sat down, her head hanging low. He sat next to her, giving her time to explain what she needed to say. "I'm...pregnant," she whispered. He leaned back, trying to see if she was lying. "How?" He asked. "Don't you have 2 kids? I think you know how," she snapped. "How far along are you? Is it mine?" He threw out. "I find out next week. There's a chance that it could be yours. A big chance," she told him. "Who else's could it be?" He asked. "Why does it matter? We have been fucking for the past month and a half," she reminded him.
"Yeah but that don't mean it's definitely mine," he pointed out. "Yeah but it's between you and Dre," she confessed. His face went blank as Dre's name echoed in his head. "Dre...Dre. Andre as in my brother Andre?" He repeated. She nodded, not sure why he couldn't say anything different. "You been fucking my brother! Who is fucking your sister!?" He yelled. "He hasn't been fucking her," she chuckled to herself. "This is some bull man. Nah you need to get a dna or something done. And this is a secret. Don't breath a word to anybody about this. Especially Tiana," he demanded. "So I'm pregnant and you're worried about Tiana. Not about this baby," she spat.
"What do you mean!? Of course I'm worried about Tiana. That's my girl. One day she's gonna be my wife. What we had was just a fling. Nothing more. I don't have feelings for you. I don't care for you. We just fucked that's it," he reminded her. "Yeah fucked and produced a baby," she mumbled. "Stop playing with me Destiny!" He shouted, making her flinch. "You know what, fuck you. When our baby is born I'll be sure to send Tiana a step mama gift," she snapped, getting up. Keem grabbed her arm but she pulled away, storming out of the studio. "Aye man you ready or what?" Chicken asked. "Yeah...I need a drink," Hakeem said.
At Skye's
Jamal snuck from under Aden, making sure not to wake him up. He walked to the kitchen, seeing Skye sipping some tea. "He's knocked out in there," Mal simply stated. Skye nodded, ignoring him. "Still giving me the silent treatment I see," she pursed her lips, giving him a side eye. "Look I get it but come on. Shouldn't we talk about what's next? I've never been through this personally. Dealing with your mom while she's pregnant is different than having your...someone you care deeply about pregnant," he said, his tone becoming sad. Skye looked at him, trying to decide if she was going to fall for the okie doke. "Fine I'll just head back to Becky's. You have a nice night," he voiced.
Skye picked up a book and pushed it across the island towards Jamal. "Baby names?" He read. She nodded, walking to the living room so she could rest her feet. He walked over slowly, taking a seat across from her. He opened the book where she had bookmarks at. "Soo you're feeling the L's I see. Lucious will be happy," Skye's face scrunched up. Her intention was not to make Lucious happy. She had been thinking deeply about her own father Leon lately and decided to give her daughters names that start with the letter L. "Hmmm. How about Leanne and Lorraine?" He asked, she instantly shook her head. He chuckled, imagining what could be going through her head.
She pointed to a name that she had highlighted. "Lena...How about Luna?" He switched up instead. She sat back, imagining little one named Luna running around. She shrugged with a smile, letting Jamal know that it was a possibility. He looked at the rest of her highlighted names, landing on another that he absolutely adored. "Okay listen to this Liberty and Luna," he said, loving how they sounded together. "Hmmm Liberty Simone Lyon," she spoke out loud. "I like that. How about Luna Camryn Lyon?" He asked. "Alright. Even though I know it's your middle name," she said. "It's not spelled the same," he pointed out. She rolled her eyes, trying to get comfy but she felt the twins kicking.
Letting out a little groan, Jamal jumped up, rushing to her side. "Are you okay?" He questioned. "They're wide awake now for some reason," she complained. Mal kneeled in front of her, putting a hand on both side of her belly. "Y'all better stop giving your mama a hard time. It's taking a lot of energy out of her to carry you guys. She needs some rest too. Just because y'all are daddy's girls, doesn't mean you get to be wild. Chill out in there," he spoke to them. Just like that, the constant kicking died down. "I don't know why that worked," Skye sighed. "I don't know. I just remember my dad always talking to my mom's belly when she was pregnant with Keem and even Haven. The kicking always calmed down," he reflected.
"I can't picture Lucious like that. Sounds like a big teddy bear," she smiled, sipping on her tea. "He honestly is. I feel like he thought he had to be all tough to show us what it's like to be this hard ass nigga but when it came to babies coming around all that macho shit went away," he laughed. Skye looked at the time, then stared at Jamal for a minute. "You should head home. It's pretty late," she said, standing up to take her cup to the kitchen. "Yeah. I should get over to Becky's before she locks me out," he chuckled, masking his sadness. "No I mean go home to Philip," she told him. Jamal stopped, not sure why she'd want him to go home to Philip.
"I can't go. Not yet. It's... I don't know how to talk to him about this. I made a promise and now things are in a worse position than they were," he explained. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "For what? It's not your fault. And don't ever apologize for having our children," he told her. She sniffled a little, wiping her eyes. She looked up, her eyes locking with Mal's. He leaned in, capturing her lips and drawing out a moan from her. She pulled away, fighting her emotions. Her head spinning with so many questions as Jamal dropped his head, grabbing his keys off the counter. He got to the door just as Skye decided to say something. "Stay for tonight... please?"
A Couple Days Later
Empire
A crucial meeting was held about the upcoming tours and how they were going to include the fans more this time around. It was the only thing that was helping Cookie and Lucious keep their minds off of Reign not calling them back. After Cookie text Thirsty about finding Reign's "grandfather", he came up short. Since Renee wasn't remarried, he was needing to find someone who often saw her or was around but it seemed Renee didn't let people into her personal life. The only one that could be of help was Reign and her family. "Kingsley I need you to work on our streaming services. I want that running to perfection. No flaws whatsoever. Our fans should get the best show of their lives even if they aren't physically there to watch it. I want them to feel like they are," Lucious mentioned as Cookie kept Haven occupied in her lap.
"Yes sir. I'll get on it," Jeff said, eyeing the little one. Dre looked over, seeing Jamal meet Reign at security. Then a figure he recognized popped up, rushing to the elevator. "Does that conclude the meeting?" Dre whispered to Lucious. "You got somewhere else to be?" Cookie snapped, her frustrations getting the best of her. Lucious glared at his son, knowing that he'd have to listen to his wife's mouth when they got back to their office. "Let's get to work," he huffed, seeing Dre dart out the conference room. Everyone else grabbed their things making their way to their offices. "You gonna go with Mal to the studio?" Cookie asked Haven. "Yessss," she answered, hopping down.
Haven made her way to the famous studio 6, knowing that Jamal was practically living there lately. So focused on her iPad, she ran into a body. "I'm sorry," her little voice said as she looked up. "It's okay. You just gotta look up when you're walking around such a big building. Can I get the piece of lint out of your hair?" Kingsley asked, kneeling down to Haven. She nodded, waiting for him to get whatever was stuck in her head. He quickly grabbed a few strands of hair and yanked them from the roots. "Owie" she winced. "I'm sorry I pulled too hard. It didn't want to come off your hair," he told her, blowing the imaginary lint from his hand.
He stood up, letting her go about her business while he placed the hair in a napkin for later. He was determined to get the answers to his questions without including Lucious Lyon. Haven got to studio 6, hearing her big brother talking to someone. "Okay so obviously you're a Lyon. But are you a Lyon that can sing or rap? Or are you like Dre?" Jamal questioned. "I can sing but what do you mean like Dre?" She asked, watching Haven climb into Jamal's lap without a care in the world. "Well hello child," Mal voiced. "Well hello boy," Haven mimicked. "Anyways Dre doesn't do anything musical. He used to when we were kids but I haven't heard a note come from Dre since... the night before mom got..." he trailed off, not wanting to say it around Haven.
"Well maybe it's a reason why. I'm sure he sings. But anyways why do you ask?" She sat admiring Haven. It was still hard for her to get over the fact that she was the big sister of 4 siblings and the youngest was a whopping 32 years younger than her. "I want to see if you'd like to record something with me. I got a song but I want a new voice something no one has heard before. I mean we all have our own sounds. I wanna hear yours. If you got Cookie's range then good God," he explained. "Well let me hear the song," Reign said. Hearing the intro, Haven instantly started bouncing to the beat. Reign chuckled to herself, thinking of Journee.
Hearing Jamal's vocals, Haven started singing along in her own tone. "Looks like you have your new voice right here," Reign pointed out. "She's always in my studio sessions. She knows every song on my upcoming album. But she's not old enough to sign her soul over to our parents," he said, tickling her sides. "I'm gonna run this place. I'm the boss," Haven corrected Jamal. "Yes you are miss Cookie Junior," Mal joked. He looked up, seeing Reign get a good feel of the song. "You don't need another powerful voice for this. Lemme see," she sat with her eyes closed for a moment before singing the melody, blending perfectly with Mal's vocals.
"Oh hold up. Get in the booth girl!" Mal shouted, stopping the track. Before she got up they instantly heard Dre...Keem...and Destiny. "Hold up. You been what!?" Dre's voice carried. "Can we not do this here?" Destiny asked. "You been dodging us so yeah we gotta do this right the fuck now," Keem spat. Haven jumped out of Jamal's lap, opening the door and seeing her older brothers standing there. "Go away! Don't you have work to do!? FUCK!" she yelled at them before shutting the door. Reign stood with her mouth open while mal shook his head. "You can't just be running around yelling curse words Nevaeh," he told her. "I don't care Cameron," she spat back.
"She's all Cookie," Reign mentioned as she got in the booth. "You sit over there and try not to cuss anybody else out," Jamal demanded of Haven. She huffed, doing as she was told while enjoying the music. The two watched Reign fill the room with the vocals that Jamal so desperately needed. "You think she'll sign with Empire?" Mal asked Haven, getting a shrug in return. "I hope so. She's family and Lyons stick together," he voiced, a smile glued to his face. "She a Lyon too?" Haven asked, confused by that statement. "She's our big sister. Our oldest sister," he simply said. "Bigger than Dre?" She asked. Mal chuckled and nodded. "Older than Dre. I don't think anybody is bigger than Dre," he told her.
When the song came to an end, Reign came out the booth, getting rushed by Haven. "Are you singing at my party cebause you're my sister?" She asked, looking up at Reign. Her little hazel greens looking into Reign's. "Uh...what...?" "Her birthday is in a couple months. She is demanding that every Lyon does something special for this giant concert she wants thrown in her honor. This is the Lucious coming out of her. Only he would ask for something so extravagant. Almost like on a Godly level... just say yes," he mouthed the last part. "Sure. I'll sing for your birthday. Will you sing for mine?" She asked Haven whose eyes beamed with excitement. "YES!" she answered. "Alright now that that's established. You got some songs you want to record?" Mal questioned. "Actually..."
Later that Night
Lucious and Cookie sat on the couch, relaxing after a long day. "Rub my feet," Cookie whined, poking Lu's side until he gave in. "You lucky I love you," he told her as she giggled. "Where's my baby at?" She asked. "With Keem and Tiana. Seemed like blackmail when she demanded that he let her go with them but I'm not getting in that. He can't tell a 2 year old no then he is going to go insane for the next however many years he's on this earth," Lu voiced. "Oh hush. You can't say no to your 2 year old. Besides she's more like 20. That girl is too much. But since she's not here how about you give me some milk to go with these cookies," she purred, moving her feet and straddling his lap.
"Oh I can definitely do that for you," he growled, nipping at her bottom lip. The two locked lips, their tongues wrestling for dominance as Cookie reached between them, undoing Lu's pants. Just as she was about to sit down on his manhood, the front door opened. "Son?" Joe called out. Cookie groaned extremely loud. She was sick and tired of cockblocking Joe. "I'm gonna kill him," she said as she tried to hop up and grab a gun. Lucious pulled her back into his lap, not wanting her to move positions. "I just got some intel. There's another relative or psycho fan and I'm not sure if it's a good one or not. It's like some rise of the dead type shit," Joe said, confusing the hell out of Lucious and Cookie.
"What the hell are you talking about?" Cookie asked, followed by the door opening and closing again. "Aye ma? Dad y'all gotta hear the song that Reign just did in the studio. This girl got a voice on her. She got mom's range with dad's growl. It's crazy!" Mal praised, making Reign feel shy. "Who is this?" Joe asked. "Who are you old head?" Reign threw back. Joe looked at her closely, then at Lucious and Cookie. "Son, where the hell she come from?" He questioned. "Why do you need to know everything?" Cookie and Reign asked simultaneously. Lu pinched the bridge of his nose. It finally was setting in his brain that he technically now had 3 Cookies.
"I am the eldest of this family. I'm looking out for everyone," Joe answered. "You are definitely old but you are not protecting anybody. I can hold my own and I'm pretty sure everyone else here can as well. Anyways I need some help. Maybe your janky lawyer can get some info but I seriously can't find my grandfather," Reign confessed. "Well who is your grandfather?" Lucious asked. "Reginald Holloway," Joe answered before Reign could. "Yeah what Old Man Rivers said," she confirmed. Lucious looked directly at Cookie, knowing this was not about to go over well. "Daddy? My daddy is still alive? He can't be. No he died. I broke his heart," Cookie said, her heart beating out of her chest. "The last time I seen him, he was very much alive. I just need to find him," Reign said. Cookie sat perfectly still, trying to create a story that would explain what happened but she couldn't. Could this be the same Reginald that kicked her out for being with Lucious?
TBC
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