"I get to find out what you are today munchkin! Mama is so excited," Nadira danced around her bedroom while rubbing cocoa butter on her stomach. She found to comforting to do, like her own personal bonding time with her unborn child. She also sang to the baby every night before she fell asleep, whether it be in the shower, while she washed dishes, while she twisted her hair, she always found time in the day to sing to the baby.
"Mommy!" Nayeli called, skipping into the bedroom, making the baby kick. "Ooh! Hey bubby!" she grinned, kissing her belly. The baby loved hearing Nayeli and Gionni's voices, it always kicked when they talked to it.
"Hey sweet pea, you excited?" Nadira smiled slowly sitting down in her bed. She just hit 22 weeks and she was starting to feel some fatigue and back pain. Her feet were swelling if she was on them too long as well.
She was ecstatic though, because this was the farthest she'd ever made in a pregnancy. She lost her first baby at 12 weeks and she lost Khalil at 21. So making it to 22 weeks was a milestone for her and she cried on the morning she realized she made it.
Today was the day of Nadira and Rayne's gender reveal, and she'd been smiling all morning.
"I'm so excited, mama. We get to know about bubby and Tete Rayne's baby too, right?" she tilted her head.
"Yep, me and TT Rayne are having babies really close together, so we wanted to do this together too. Their baby is gonna be your god brother or sister, you know that?" she ran her hands over Nayeli's hair. She loved wearing it down nowadays and since it was getting longer her curls were flourishing.
"Really?" she rubbed her protruding stomach in small circles. Nayeli was just like her dad in the fact that they were both obsessed with her bump.
"Yep, Rayne and Xavier are your godparents, so their baby is gonna be your god brother or your god sister," she said. Nadira stood back up to finally get dressed. She, Rayne, Xavier and Gionni were all wearing white outfits, as was Nayeli. Gionni was downstairs at the moment feeding the dogs so they'd be okay for when they left.
He was ecstatic, he didn't ever specify wanting a specific gender, he always just said he wanted a healthy child, but everyone who knew Gionni knew he'd always wanted a son. He loved his daughter of course, but he always used to say if he had a second child he'd want a son.
"Baby! Y'all ready?" Gionni called from the base of the stairs.
"Tell daddy give me five minutes, mamas," Nadira said to Nayeli. She nodded her head and ran off, disappearing into the hallway as Dira shimmied into her white dress. She made sure her hair was perfect before she slid into some flats and made her way downstairs. She had her heels in her hand so that she could slip them on right before she got to Rayne's house.
She made her way downstairs, petting Polo, who immediately ran to her feet. It seemed like he was the only dog of the three who realized Nadira was pregnant. He wanted to be near her all the time and laid his head on her belly frequently. She was so used to Polo following behind Gionni all the time, his sudden attention made her smile.
"Hi boy, you being good?" she cooed to him while his tail wagged.
"Hell no he isn't. He supposed to be in the room," Gionni shook his head. Upon hearing his voice, Polo went running to the room where the dogs stayed while they weren't home.
"Aww! He just wanted to say hi to baby," Dira laughed.
"Yeah whatever," Gionni chuckled, leaning down to give his wife a kiss. "You look beautiful, mama," he grinned, rubbing his hand on her stomach.
"Thank you, baby. I feel so big," she chuckled.
"Girl please," he shook his head. "You just started showing,"
"I know, but my bump got big overnight, I look fat now!" she pouted.
"That's good, that means my lil peanut growing. Nayeli, come on babe, we're leaving," he called, as they walked towards the door. "And even if you were fat you look good, fat mama," he laughed, opening the door to the G-Wagon for Nayeli, lifting her into the backseat. He popped Dira's door open too and she climbed in carefully.
"Fat mama? That's very new," she laughed, buckling herself in.
"It's cute, I know," he winked. "If peanut is a girl she snatching that nickname right out yo' hands,"
"Lord," she continued to laugh. "All we need is another daddy's girl in this house,"
"Don't worry, daddy loves all his girls equally," he smirked, laying his hand on her thigh, making Nadira shake her head.
"You need to leave me alone, Gionni. You finna start something we literally can not finish," she mumbled, and it was his turn to laugh.
"Big mama!" Nadira squealed upon seeing her friend. They had greeted many of the guests including their family and friends, who were all excited to see what they were having.
"Hey pooh! You look gorgeous," she pouted. Rayne wore an off the shoulder bodycon dress that showed off her belly. Nadira's dress was long sleeved and fitted down to her calves, and they both wore white heels.
"Thank you, so do you babe. You ready? I'm so ready," they sat in some lawn chairs in Ray and X's backyard. They were all thankful for the fact that they lived in the south, they could have a cookout in December without a second thought.
The backyard was decorated in a cute manner, pink and blue balloons all over, and a table with some boy or girl cookies, courtesy of Saija and Vinny, who busted their behinds to make. They had a photo wall, courtesy of Nadira's father, a very excited grandfather.
They had two glass bowls, one full of baby pink bows, and the other with baby blue bowties. They were all attached to safety pins, and the guests were to take one and wear what their guess for either baby was. There were sharpies so everyone could specify which girl they were wearing each pin for. So far, Rayne was drowning in a sea of pink. Nadira's brothers and cousins all wore pink bows, as well as Rayne, who was convinced she was getting a little niece.
Dira's mom, grandparents and her cousin Milan, as well as all her kids, wore blue. It was an even amount of each, nobody knew what to expect.
"Girl, I'm too ready. I need to start this nursery, I'm itching, chile. I got three cribs and a bassinet in my amazon cart right now," she shook her head, taking a bit from a chocolate cookie.
"Me too," Nadira giggled, "I can't help it, I wanna decorate everything so bad, I'm gonna drive Gionni crazy by the time we actually get to start,"
The girls continued to laugh and talk as different people came and congratulated them on their pregnancies, asked to feel the babies and made their guesses.
Nadira was now snacking on some mango slices at the food table when she felt a tap to her shoulder. When she turned around, she came face to face with Gionni and his mom.
Sidra and Gionni were on a bumpy road to recovery. They began attending therapy sessions together around once a month to civilly talk though their issues. Gionni's dad even went to one, and he was willing to put the past behind him and start over with her.
Giovanni and Guiliana were a bit more apprehensive, which was completely understandable, nobody was going to force the relationship between them, but they were cordial with her when Gionni brought her to big events like this one.
Everyone realized the relationship would never go back to what it was, or what a mother's relationship with her children should be, but Gionni was willing to have some semblance of a relationship rather than none at all.
"Oh hi!" Nadira spoke cheerfully, reaching to give Sidra a hug. "How are you?" she grinned, once they pulled back. Nadira was very supportive of his decision to try and forge a relationship with her, she stood by him through it all, all the bad therapy sessions and awkward phone calls. They were still planning to have her over for dinner soon, preferably before the baby came and they were both way too busy.
"I'm doing well, sweetheart. Thank you so much for having me, I appreciate the invitation, you look stunning," she smiled back.
"Thank you! But please, don't worry about it, we're glad to have you," she said. Gionni nodded in agreement, looking a little bit past them, watching Nayeli play with her cousins.
After they talked for a little while longer, the time had come for Rayne and Nadira to reveal what they were having.
Butterflies swarmed in both Nadira and Gionni's stomachs as Vinny and Caine pushed huge boxes in front of either couple. They were decorated with question marks and different designs, making both couples laugh. They let their friends decide how they were going to tell them, and they clearly went the most extra route possible.
"Okay!" Saija got on the mic, catching everyone's attention. "So, first we have, at twenty-three weeks, with a baby the size of a very big grapefruit, mama and daddy Franklin! Can we have a round of applause?" she hyped, and everyone started cheering for them, as people started taking out their phones to record the moment.
"Okay, everyone, out of 100 guests here today, 87 of them guessed baby Franklin is a girl," she chuckled, making everyone laugh, "and a whopping 13 guessed baby Franklin is a boy. So, let's let mama and daddy open up their box and we'll see who won," she gestured toward the smiling couple. Gionni and Nadira were part of the 87 who wore pink for the baby, so they watched eagerly as they tore at the tape on the box.
As soon as Xavier pulled one of the flaps open, pink smoke and confetti started flying from the box, as well as bright pink balloons that spelled out 'GIRL'
The crowd instantly went up in cheers again, everyone with a pink pin jumping around excitedly. X and Rayne were right along with them, celebrating and hugging everyone they came in contact with before sharing a kiss.
"Alright! Baby Franklin is a little girl! We're so excited to meet the little princess, you two, congratulations!" Saija announced as they hype died down. They yelled back a thank you and Saij handed Lourdes the mic.
"Okay everyone! Now, we have at twenty-two weeks, with a little baby the size of a coconut, mama and daddy Cartier! Everyone give it up for the parents," she waved her arms up and down, causing everyone to whoop and applaud again.
"Alrighty, so out of 100 guests, we have 62 guesses for baby Cartier to be a little girl, and 38 of you guessed that baby Cartier is a boy. Mama and daddy let's see what you're having," she sang, pointing at their box.
They shared a look of excitement before they went at the box as well, taking the tape off and each of them reaching for one side of the box.
"You ready, babe?" Dira asked eagerly.
"Hell yeah," he chuckled. She laughed and they simultaneously pulled the box open.
Blue smoke filled the air, as well as gold balloons that spelled out 'BOY'.
Nadira instantly let out a scream, running into Gionni's embrace. Everyone around them cheered and team boy was throwing a fit, and Gionni joined them as soon as the couple pulled apart.
Nadira was then embraced by her mom, and her girlfriends jumping around her, while she tried to fight off tears. Gionni returned to her side amidst the celebration, pressing kisses to her lips repeatedly and bringing her into a hug.
"Thank you baby," he mumbled, rubbing his hand down her back. "Thank you so much," he continued, and you could practically hear the smile in his voice.
"We love to see it! Team boy wins and baby Cartier is a boy, we can not wait to meet little man, congrats faves!" Lourdes danced a little bit making everyone laugh.
Once the party died down, and the guests were gone, the group of friends lazed around Rayne and Xavier's den in the basement, bouncing random names off of each other for either child.
"I vote Vincent for lil man," Vinny piped up, causing Gionni to straight face him.
"I vote absolutely not," Saija swatted her hand at her fiancé, speaking what Gionni was thinking.
"Ya'll some damn haters," he shook his head. Gionni and Nadira already had a few names picked out for both genders, just in case and now that they knew what they were actually having, it made life easier, but it was still funny hearing the names they picked out.
"I still say name baby girl Nala," Lourdes shrugged. She was obessed with the name, and always had been, ever since she saw The Lion King as a kid.
"Lourdes, they're not naming my niece after a damn fictional lion," Vinny argued. "Caine need to get yo ass pregnant so you can have your own Nala," he chuckled, making the both of them scrunch their faces up.
"We not having kids. We leaving that to ya'll freak nasty asses," Caine replied, shaking his head. The couple was so alike, it was almost scary. Two previously non-committal people who hated PDA and the idea of a relationship, but enjoyed being together, absolutely did not want any children. They barely wanted to get married, but everyone knew they probably would.
"Dessy ain't wanted kids since I met her," Dira laughed.
"And don't! Ya'll keep them lil stinky people. I'll gladly baby sit fat mama or big papa but we ain't carrying no kids in this here womb, no ma'am,"
"Big papa? That's how we're referring to my son?" Gionni chuckled, scratching Nadira's scalp for her.
"Awww that's precious, they got matching nicknames, baby," Nadira cooed, placing her hands on her belly, feeling her son kick at the sound of his father's voice. "You woke him up," she nudged him. He quickly placed his hands where hers were, feeling the baby kick his little feet into Nadira's stomach. He could do that for hours. Every time he kicked, Gionni wanted to know, he wanted to feel everything.
"Hey to you too, lil man," he smiled, feeling another small kick against his palm. "That's really my son, bro. Wild as hell," he shook his head.
Nadira was so happy her baby was a boy. She would have been just as happy with a little girl, but after she lost her first son, she'd prayed for another one, and she felt like her prayer was answered, she was finally getting her baby boy.
"Thank ya'll for coming over," Dira smiled. They had Saija, Vincent and Lourdes over for dinner a few weeks later. She was still in the middle of planning Saija's wedding, so they were under the impression that they were there to discuss it, and since Lourdes was the maid of honor, so she tagged along for most things.
"No problem, boo. This food so damn good," she groaned, stuffing mac and cheese into her mouth.
"Thank you, greedy," She shook her head. "I know ya'll probably thought this was wedding stuff, but Gionni and I have a question to ask all of you," she smiled, as Gionni returned from the kitchen with small boxes for everyone.
"Ya'll know she love these damn boxes," he laughed, making her slap his arm.
"Anyway! Ya'll can open them," she grinned. "We were wondering if you, Vinny wouldn't mind being baby boy's Godfather, and you Saija and Lourdes, would be his God mothers," she cheesed. She didn't have the heart to choose between the two to be her son's Godmother, so she picked both, and Gionni was all for it.
"Nadira!" Saija whined, "Of course I will! Aw my little Godson, I'm gonna cryyy!" she stood up and engulfed her friend in a hug,
"Man thank you," Vinny smiled, "I'd be honored," he dapped Gionni up and gave Dira a hug while Saij hugged G.
"Bitch you already knew I was gon say yes," Lourdes stuck her tongue out and hugged them both. "No but thank ya'll, this is a blessing," she pouted.
"Of course. We love ya'll man, and we know ya'll love him too," G nodded as Nayeli emerged from the kitchen with her cousin Amora and Dior trotting behind them. They loved having the kids over now that they had so much more space.
She happily stood by, not paying attention to a word her parents were saying, and waved her cousin over to her mom's stomach.
"Mama, can Mora feel bubby kick?" she asked, as Amora stood next to her, cheesing.
"Sure, boo. He may be sleeping though," she took both their hands and started pressing them into random spots in her stomach. She was 24 weeks now. Her little boy was now roughly the size of a papaya and she was starting to notice how active he is.
He liked being awake while Nadira tried to sleep, and it resulted in many sleepless nights for her. He moved and kicked, more so when his sister or his daddy was around.
"Oh my gosh! I felt it!" Amora squealed, making her uncle laugh.
"He's saying hi cousin Amora," Dira smiled at her.
"Heyyy cousin bubby! I can't wait to see you, I hope you're cute like my big cousin Nai, cuz she's real cute. Our boy cousins are a lil funny looking though, so hopefully you don't look like them," she rambled, and everyone at the table burst into laughter.
"Don't do my boys like that, Mora," Gionni chuckled.
"It's true, uncle G. Dally has a really big head, and Izzy's eyes are too far apart. I guess Cairo is still cute," she spoke honestly.
"Oooh, girl. I'm tellin' uncle Gio you was talking about his kids," he retorted.
"Uncle Gio has a big head too, so he can't be mad," she spoke and Nadira threw her head back laughing.
"You ready, Nayeli?" Gionni called up the steps to his daughter. Nadira sat on the couch, hand on her stomach and scrolling aimlessly though her social media. Today was Rayne's babyshower for her daughter, whose name was finally picked.
Cianna Mahalia Franklin was what the couple chose.
Christmas had just passed, and the new year as well. It was January 7th, and Ray was now at 29 and a half weeks, Dira sitting right behind her at 28.
"Yes sir, I'm coming now," she piped up, appearing from her bedroom in a floral pink dress and pink shoes. She was very excited to get a brother and a godsister, she felt like she was getting the best of both worlds.
"You look beautiful, princess," he smiled at his almost eight-year-old, wondering how time went by so fast.
"Thank you, daddy, you look handsome," she took his hand and they met Dira back in the living room. "You look pretty, mama," Nai chirped.
"Aw! Thank you, baby, you look gorgeous." she cooed, kissing Nayeli's forehead, before using Gionni's arm to stand up. She was extremely excited for her friend, who became more like her sister in this whole pregnancy.
She, of course, put Rayne's baby shower together, and wasin thr process of doing her own. The deal was, Nadira do the baby showers and Rayne does the nurseries, but they had both helped each other with each task.
Once they got there, Gionni and Nayeli were in awe. They wanted a sky themed shower for their daughter, and Nadira did not disappoint. The décor was adorable and the cake looked delicious. They had gift stations and a buffet table, the works. Rayne was completely over the moon.
"Hey boo! You look so pretty, big mama," Dira pouted, giving her a big hug. She wore a pastel pink v-cut dress that was fitted all the way down, like a gown. It had fluted sleeves and made her look more gorgeous than she already was.
"Thank you, babydoll. You really killed this décor, you are amazing at what you do, sis," she gushed.
"Oh stop it, you know I had to go all out for babygirl," she rubbed her stomach. "I can't believe we're almost at 30 weeks, this has been so fast, I want it to slow down," she pouted. She honestly loved and cherished being pregnant. Everything about it was so amazing to her and she was in love with her son so deeply.
"I know! Man but let me tell you I'm not gon miss these damn swollen feet and big titties, I want my b-cups back, please and thank you," she spoke. Nadira was also gaining more weight, but it was more apparent in her hips and her butt, since she was a pretty slender girl.
"Girl if this boy take my ass back, Gionni is gonna want to fight," she shook her head and Rayne could see Gionni staring at her from his table, ignoring everything Xavier was saying, making her laugh.
As the festivities went on, Rayne went up to the front while there were games played and prizes given and after that, she was going to open some gifts, but she had an announcement.
"Okay, before we open gifts, we wanna thank Nadira for planning this bomb ass baby shower! Please give it up for my bump bestie, ya'll," she said and every clapped for her, "Come up here, sis. You too, Gionni," she waved them over.
They shared a look of confusion before getting up and heading to the front. "These two taught us so much about being parents. Their beautiful daughter, our baby's God sister, is someone we hope our daughter will look up to. We wanna thank you both, and we would like to formally ask you if you would do us the honor of being Cianna's god parents," X spoke into the microphone, causing the crowd to coo, and Nadira's hormones were working in overdrive, making her nearly start crying.
"Of course we will, thank ya'll so much," Gionni grinned, answering for his wife who was a crying mess, along with Rayne at this point. "Lord, Xavier, you done made em cry, they not gon stop now," she shook his head with a laugh, reaching for Nadira to try and calm her down.
The time had finally arrived for Nadira and Gionni's baby shower. It was January 12th and they had Nayeli's birthday party coming up next weekend.
"You almost ready ma—oh wow..." he gaped, upon entering their bedroom. Saija was just finishing zipping Nadira into her dress for the shower. Her mother insisted upon getting it made for her as a gift, and she loved the outcome. It silhouetted her body perfectly and accentuated her perfectly round belly. She was officially 29 weeks pregnant as of today.
"You like it?" she asked, spinning in a circle for him to see.
"Absolutely. You look—I can't even...wow," he stuttered, making Dira blush. Gionni found Nadira gorgeous every single day, and something about her carrying his son and the glow of her pregnancy, made her something that transcended beauty to him. She was like a Goddess in his eyes.
"I'm glad you like it, baby," she smiled wide, wrapping her arms around his torso, laying her head on his chest, listening to his heart beating erratically in his chest. He rubbed his hands up and down her back like she liked, her back had been hurting even more since their son was growing every day.
"Alright lovebirds, lets get a move on, we ready?" Saija smirked. Nadira promptly pulled away from her husband and nodded eagerly, holding her stomach as she followed Saija out of the door, Gionni close behind her.
Nayeli was already dressed in white to celebrate her little brother, in a pretty white tutu like skirt and a long sleeve top that reminded her of one of her ballet leotard. She told her parents she wanted to dress up too and they delivered. Her flats tied up on her ankles and her hair was tied into a half top knot style with her curls falling down her back.
"Wowww! Look at daddy's pretty girl," he gushed upon seeing her fully dressed up. He was still in complete awe that his little baby was about to be eight and he had another one on the way. She was still a little short for her age but she had really long legs and he knew she'd grow to be beautiful and tall, even though he probably wasn't ready to see it.
"Thank you daddy," she grinned, grabbing his right hand. "I feel pretty," she fluffed up her skirt a little.
"You are pretty, baby. You're beautiful, don't let anybody tell you differently okay?" he picked her up and kissed her on the cheek, carrying her to the car. He made sure to always boost her up as much as possible, he wanted her to love herself as a black girl. He knew the world wasn't easy on black people but especially black women and he wanted to make sure his black child was confident in herself in every way so she knew she could do whatever she wanted and be whoever she chose without apology.
"Damn baby...this is bomb as hell," Gionni was in amazement when he finally got a good look at everything and joined Nadira back at the large chairs up front. She went straight for the food and was currently eating meatballs. Those meatballs black people make for every occasion, but especially baby showers.
"Thank you papa," she smiled wide with her mouth shut. They decided on a Safari themed baby shower and it turned out better than she thought. She nearly cried when she first started planning it because nothing was coming together like she wanted but she pulled it all together nicely and the room was beautiful.
The couple mingled and took pictures with their guests until it was time for games. They played a game where they had to guess how big Nadira's stomach was, which surprisingly, her dad won. They had a race to change a babydoll, that her cousin Milan won effortlessly and of course a game where somebody was getting fed disgusting baby food and had to finish a whole jar. Guiliana and Giovanni won that one together and they were very very pressed about it. They played a few more games and took way more pictures before Gionni got on the mic to say thank you before opening some gifts.
"Nadira and I wanna thank all y'all for coming to celebrate our baby boy, we really feel the love y'all have for us and for him and we couldn't ask for anything better than what we got. Everyone in this room is so appreciated and we can't thank y'all enough for the outpouring of encouragement and support we've been getting it's truly a blessing to have you all, so thank you again," he smiled, arm slung around Dira's shoulder. She took the mic from him and spoke next.
"Okay, so y'all know this little boy been messing with my hormones, so bare with ya girl, I'm gonna try to get through this with little to no tears," she prefaced, making everyone laugh and one aunt yell for her to take her time.
"So, this baby means everything to us. To Gionni, Nayeli and to me. If y'all know me you know that um...I-I lost my first two pregnancies," she stuttered a bit. "I wasn't able to carry them full term but I loved them nonetheless. So every milestone I reach with my son is big. Every week, every kick, every appointment and every ultrasound is special and dear to me. I cherish this little boy so much and I know that you all love him too and it just makes my heart so full that our son has such a loving family waiting for him. He'll never ever be without love and for that I thank all of you. Thank y'all for coming, thank you for your gifts and all your kind words and all the hugs and kisses to us, to Nayeli and when he gets here, to Omari," she grinned, dropping his name at the end of the speech.
They'd kept his name a surprise from all of their friends and family until just now, just so they could see everyone's reaction at once and it was priceless. There were some gasps and little cheers from their guests until it turned into full on applause.
Omari Nassim Cartier was the name of the baby boy everyone was looking forward to meeting.
Once the applause stopped they opened some gifts, just a few because they had a lot, and they danced the rest of the night in celebration of Omari and of the three people who were most excited to see his little face.
ISSA BOYYYYYYY! 💙💙💙💙💙💙
im so excited lol. this chapter was way too much fun to write i loved it.
we found out the genders of both babies and their names, Omari and Cianna soon come :) 👶🏾 👶🏾
i hope y'all enjoyed the chapter and as always leave me some thoughts.
(the song for this chapter is to zion X lauryn hill. i felt like that would give away his gender so im putting it down here 💀)
till next time 🥰