Over a Year Later...
Sitting on the couch, Abella shimmies her feet into a pair of Christian Dior slide sandals that match the tote bag she's loaded with everything she needs. "I know you not trying to squeeze those feet in those shoes," Abella's mother laughs sitting in the spot next to her.
"Look here...They match and they're the most comfortable shoes I have," she groans. Abella takes a deep breath counting to herself, "One, two, three," before pushing herself up getting to her feet.
Toni watches her daughter struggle with amusement rather than help her. She laughs to herself glad that she could come to London to stay for awhile and help with whatever Abella needs in these times.
"Big Momma. Woo!" Janet teases entering the home with Angel and her boyfriend following close behind. Her prayers had finally been answered and catching the bouquet seemed to have helped. She's been with him going on a year now.
In her best fight night outfit, Janet saunters in as her heels click against the hardwood floors. After greeting everyone, Angel's face is deep in her phone much like any teenagers nowadays.
"Hey, sis," Abella greets Janet who places her hands on her shoulders before kissing her cheek.
"How are you feeling today?" She asks.
"Good," she breathes out heavily. Janet gives her a look of concern getting an added response of, "Better." She's satisfied with that answer moving to hug Toni.
"Coco bean!" Janet affectionately calls her 11-month-old nephew by one of his nicknames. If it's not that he's being called Baby AJ. She goes straight for him as he sits in the corner of the armchair quietly and calmly...
Last September Abella gave birth to their son at home. It was fast and easy adding a cherry on top to her smooth pregnancy.
The main reason she opted for a home birth was because she wanted to do it naturally with no drugs. She didn't even want to take a chance on relapsing in any form after being sober for a couple years.
She didn't want epidural, which usually contains a painkiller. For mothers in recovery from opioid addiction, narcotic pain relief during and after delivery can put sobriety at risk.
She's seen mothers in her addiction groups go through withdrawal after giving birth whether from the epidural or what they prescribe for pain after the birth. Some women are sent home or prescribed opioids such as Norco, Percocet, or something else.
Literally standing while hanging on to her husband in the middle of their living room with a midwife, she gave birth to their son. She was able to feel her power as a mother to manage her own pain without drugs or instruments.
That same power was translated into his name that came from the minds of his parents and grandmother's. He would be Asante Syre Adésànyà Jaiyé Joshua.
With the name spanning multiple African countries it would mean: Thank you, King. The crown has paid back its suffering. Enjoy life. A child's name can predict their destiny, so a lot of thought went into it.
After the miscarriage they're thankful to have him; one of the happiest and easiest babies a person can ask for. As they approach his first birthday she wonders where did the time go?
Abella smiles at Asante who's now in his aunt's lap. She checks the time on her watch seeing she should probably change his outfit. When Asante raises his arms to be picked up she grabs him from Janet.
"You ready to go see Papa?" She couldn't even help the annoying, higher-pitched voice that takes over when talking to the infant. Any baby for that matter.
"Now you know you're not supposed to be picking him up anymore," her mother says taking him from Abella's arms with ease.
"You know she's stubborn. Every time I look up she's picking him up," Anthony's mother, Yeta, chimes in barely entering the room.
"I'm pregnant, not disabled," she rolls her eyes at them acting like she has broken arms or something.
"You're not just pregnant. You're pregnant with multiples, twins, which are high risk in itself. Look how big you are already," Toni informs her daughter like she doesn't already know.
"Thanks for reminding me," she responds sarcastically.
By the time Asante was 4 months old, they were pregnant again. That makes her currently 7 months pregnant.
She remembers still freaking out after about the fifth pregnancy test came out positive. She even tried to shake it negative, while crying profusely. Anthony only watched in pure amusement waiting for her to come to terms with it. He got his back to back babies like he wanted.
He wasn't singing that tune when they found out they're having twins though. He kept telling their obstetrician she's joking and to reboot the machine. Run that thing back and start over, but there's indeed two babies inside her.
At first this pregnancy was easy. She had no morning sickness and no early complications. Then once she got closer to the third trimester it got harder. She expected that since she's having multiples, but she's ready to give birth already.
She had been on bedrest in the hospital for 5 uneventful weeks. Finally, when she reached 28 weeks they let her go home. Luckily for her it was right on time so she can go to Anthony's fight tonight.
"Where's Joseph?" Janet asks because it's awfully quiet meaning he's probably getting up to some mischief. Right on cue he rushes into the room dressed and ready to go.
"My Jo baby," Abella smiles. He immediately goes to his stepmother wrapping his arms around her legs as she wraps an arm around him. From the moment she had a special bond with him. It hasn't changed yet.
Joseph had a short stint of acting out after Asante was born. He went from being really excited about having a sibling to wanting nothing to do with him. Almost like when a kid gets a new toy then the excitement wears off after playing with it for awhile.
They had to explain to him that the new baby's an addition and he doesn't take his place. It eventually wore off and with time JJ took his new role as big brother much better.
Anthony and Natalie are finally co-parenting peacefully as well. We'll see how long that lasts though...
Last time Abella heard, Natalie's supposedly engaged to the other Anthony. She has no idea how he's stuck around all these years, but that's none of her business. As long as he keeps her happy and distracted.
Dismissing herself Abella takes Asante to change his outfit. Once she's done she goes back to the living room where everyone waits to leave. She makes sure she has everything including her purse and her diaper bag backpack.
"Alright, we'll be back later," Abella announces to Yeta because she's the only one not going to the fight. Even though she came to the Ruiz rematch years ago, she still refuses to come to Anthony's fights. She'll never get used to seeing him in the ring.
With Asante in her arms she walks over towards her mother-in-law. "Say bye-bye," she says exemplifying the motion to her son. He repeats her movement and like every time since he learned to do the gesture it made people laugh in joy.
Seeing he made people laugh Asante gets excited clapping his little hands. Yeta kisses her grandson before they head for the door. While walking towards the foyer area they go down a hallway with the 'memorial' wall.
It's covered in framed pictures of family members that have passed away. It also has a picture of Tylon whose killer had finally been sentenced this year. Every time she passes by it she'll be a little sad. She can just imagine how far he could've been in his boxing career.
They get into two cars heading to the Wembley Stadium. Anthony could fight their a million times and it'll always be more memorable for the fact he proposed to her there.
Once in the building she leaves the rest of the family going straight to Anthony's dressing room. When she walks in he's already wearing his trunks, robe, gloves, and boots. The tongue of his boots still have Joseph and Angel's name on them, but now the edge of his trunks has Asante's name.
She can tell by his concentrated look that he's focused. She follows their routine for every fight where they pray together. When he asked if she would be at every fight it was a promise Abella has kept. Not wanting to be a distraction, she takes her leave because the fight starts soon.
She goes to another back arena room where everyone she came with is sitting around. Not too long later Toni, Janet, Angel, and Joseph go out to the arena filled with 90,000 boxing fans, while Abella stays in the back area with Asante.
Ever since the shooting after the Toran fight, Abella's been weary of coming to fights. Even if Anthony doesn't have beef with a fighter, she feels safer in the back. It might just be paranoia, but it helps her nerves.
"I can't wait until he starts walking," Sergio comments from behind Abella after watching Asante stand up with no assistance.
"Me too. Or when he says his first word," she lights up at the thought. "He's growing up so fast." She waves her hands not wanting to cry. Sergio only laughs because he's sure it's the pregnancy hormones.
"Trust me. It goes by fast, but it's worth it." She nods her head with a sheepish smile. She can admit she's been a bit nervous thinking about how she'll have a barely one-year-old and twin newborns soon.
To keep Asante busy and interested she lays a blanket on the floor then sprawls out some of his toys. Seeing the ring walk of the other fighter starting on the tv screen she sits up. "It's starting."
Asante stares at the screen the entire time, especially when it gets to Anthony's ring walk. He's intrigued by all the flames, fireworks, and lights. "Look at your Daddy," she points at the screen...
Asante bounces up and down while standing making her laugh. He loves his Daddy. Abella couldn't have asked for a better man to have kids with. He was her rock her entire pregnancy, during delivery, and he's extremely helpful now.
He does all that while being in training camps for fights. Abella had pretty much become a stay-at-home Mom for the time being. As a first time mother she didn't want to miss anything by going on tour. She had traded in stages and spotlights for home and family.
With each round of the fight, Abella watches hesitantly with a nail biting feeling. Ever since she got married then had Asante it seems to be harder for her to watch Anthony fight.
Before boxing was her favorite sport. She would be right in the front row watching every movement standing up, yelling, and clapping. Now she realizes how brutal the sport is.
The fear that Anthony could walk out of that ring a completely different person from an injury or not walk out at all runs through her mind more now.
For what seems to be the fifth time, Abella feels some tightening in her abdomen. At first, she wasn't sure it was anything...
"You okay?" Sergio asks from standing by the door. With his hands clasped in front of him he stares at the back of Abella. He's watched her take deep breaths, profusely rub her belly, or even get up to pace out of discomfort.
He has two kids himself, so he knows when something should be of concern with a pregnant woman. Plus, he knows she just came off bedrest a week ago. As time goes on she thinks maybe she should've stayed home tonight.
"I'm fine," she waves it off assuring him. Her only thought is to get through the rest of the fight...
Seven rounds later Anthony had been dubbed the winner by knockout allowing him to hold onto his belts a little longer. With each fight the level of his opponent is upped and it becomes harder. But that's the point of trying to be the greatest.. You can't just cherrypick easy fights.
When his name is announced as the winner Anthony makes an X with his arms. It's his way to tell Abella he loves her from wherever she is. That could be the front row or backstage watching it on tv.
Like always the ring is soon crowded with his close friends and family to celebrate and congratulate him. When he sees Joseph get into the ring, Anthony picks him up. As he gets bigger and older he still picks his first born up like he's 3-years-old.
Anthony used to stay in the ring after a fight for three hours signing things for supporters and taking pictures. He would stay so long the venues would end up fining him. This time he doesn't because he's ready to go home with his family. Plus, he knows Abella's waiting for him.
He walks to the backstage area going straight to his dressing room. Before he can look around for his wife he's surrounded by all his friends who cheer and chant for his win. Anthony smiles to himself because he's really had the same people since the beginning riding for him.
Their friendship had evolved now that most of them are married or have children. They became the uncles and godfathers of each other's children. Their kids would grow up as 'cousins' and hopefully have long friendships like their parents.
When Anthony finally gets out of the excited circle he comes towards Abella who laughs with the shake of her head. "Congratulations, but I knew you'd win." She gives a shoulder shrug before leaning in to kiss him.
He smiles before Abella reaches to wipe his face. There was so much blood during the fight he has droplets from his opponent on his trunks and boots. "Where's Asante?" Abella points towards Anthony's friends who have him within their group.
"Big man," he smiles. "Let me change, so I can get this press conference over with and we can go." Abella nods as Anthony does exactly that. He wipes himself clean of sweat then changes. Coming out of the dressing room part of his team is waiting on him including his wife.
As they begin walking he looks down at her pregnant belly admiring his work. One thing he can't deny is how amazing women are when it comes to carrying life.
He rubs her round stomach before giving the compliment, "You look gorgeous, babe." You can hear the dragging of her sandals as she tries to pace her breathing while walking.
"How far is this damn walk? Thank you," she adds as an afterthought making him laugh. She stops walking putting her hands on her hips staring at the long hallway. "I'm serious. I'm big as fuck and can't breathe."
"Do you want me to ask them to send a golf cart over to drive you the rest of the way?"
"So I can look like a big, lazy whale? No! I got this!" Only taking a few steps she stops again. "Alright, call 'em," she grumbles.
"It's okay," he laughs before dialing the number. A few minutes later an arena employee comes so she can hitch a ride. They walk into the press conference room that's filled with media ready to ask questions.
The first thing Anthony does is grab his son from KD, his godfather, who has a natural affinity for Asante. He wanted to have a short moment with him now that he's cleaned up. But as soon as Anthony tries to hand him back to KD and walk away, he starts getting fussy like he's going to cry.
He just decides to take his son with him sitting at the press conference table holding Asante in his lap. He turns him so his face isn't towards the crowd not only because of not wanting him in the media, but constant camera flashes from cameras going off.
People knew about them having a child, but they have yet to see his face so a few of the female reporters gasp. That's followed by aww's as camera shutters go off. For the most part they've kept their son off social media.
Anthony sits between Eddie and his trainer, Rob, before the questioning begins. When one of the reporters asks is he thinking about retirement anytime soon Anthony answers, "I live boxing. I live it. That's just all I got, it's all I do. When I had that second chance at life I dedicated myself... So no."
"Are you ready for becoming a legend when this is all over?"
"No. I don't wanna be a legend. No way. Stuff like that would probably drive me to stop boxing." He pauses, "I just wanna fight. I just like boxing. I don't want nothing else. I'm happy with my family, friends, team. No legendary status. When you're a legend sometimes you have to disconnect yourself from reality."
Eddie hurriedly closes the press conference since it's late. It's not until Anthony walks back over to Abella that only then she mentions the cramps and dull pains in her stomach she's been having all night.
At first she reassured him that everything's fine. She's seven months. She can't possibly be in labor, they both told themselves. She wasn't too worried initially.
On their way out Anthony's constantly being stopped by people to talk. In the middle of a conversation Abella interrupts saying, "Yeahh, I think I'm having contractions."
He looks at her in confusion because she's so calm. "What!?"
"Contractions," she breaks down the word slowly so he gets it.
"Nah, I'm not ready. Why? Why tonight?" He asks already beginning to panic. He acts like he doesn't have two kids already. But two is wayy different than four. They're about to double in the amount of kids they have.
"Did I hear you say contractions?" At that point Toni and Janet have stopped walking overhearing them. Abella nods taking a deep breath.
"How long have you been having them?"
She moves her head side to side. "An hour or so? I'm not even sure if they're contractions. They feel like them."
"Whatever it is we should get you to the hospital." She grabs Anthony's hand as they begin walking as fast as she can.
"Oh, shit. We didn't even have the maternity shoot or baby shower yet. We haven't finished the nursery and our babymoon is in two weeks. I knew I shouldn't have procrastinated," Abella rants.
They knew there was a possibility she could give birth early. Premature birth is more common among twins than one baby, just not this early.
Anthony dials the midwifes number putting it on speaker. He tells her everything that's going on before she replies, "I'm not in London."
"What do you mean?"
"I'm in Manchester delivering another baby."
"Another baby!?" Abella asks with attitude. "Who said you could be delivering a baby in a whole 'nother city?"
"You're not the only woman I midwife. You're going to have to go to the hospital. I can try my best to get back, but it's a 4 plus hour drive. If you are in premature labor you need to go to the hospital anyway. You have a team there, so call the doctor who helped you when you were on bed rest."
Anthony does as told right as they get outside. Thankfully they have the car waiting right outside the door for them. As they pile in Toni states, "I don't know why you thought you could have two babies naturally with no drugs anyway. Tuh! The stupidest shit I ever heard!"
"Mom, be quiet," Abella gripes from the front seat.
"I'm just sayin'. I had two c-sections for you and Odera's big asses. You were 10 pounds, remember?" She asks like she doesn't mention it at least once a week. Knowing what's coming next Abella mouths along with her, "I got all these stretch marks and a scar on my stomach for you two."
The longer Anthony drives towards the hospital the more Abella starts to panic. Before he knows she busts out crying repeating, "They're going to kill me in the hospital."
"They're not going to kill you. I need you to calm down. It's probably a false alarm and you're not actually going into labor," Anthony tries calming her down.
They wanted that to be true...
When they got to the hospital Toni took Abella in, while Anthony went to park the car. She was immediately taken to a room and hooked up to a monitor where she was told she's having contractions every few minutes.
Anthony's anxiety is at an all time high to the point he's struggling to get Asante out of his car seat. He probably should've sent the kids with Janet, but wasn't thinking.
From outside of the car Joseph watches with furrowed eyebrows. "Need help?"
Anthony huffs throwing his arm up in frustration before stepping back. JJ steps onto the car step rail unbuckling his brother with ease before hopping back down allowing for Anthony to grab him.
He doesn't even have enough energy or patience to get the stroller. He makes his way into the hospital already calling Toni to see where they are.
Since Abella's contractions weren't letting up, they wanted to start her on magnesium sulfate to try to stop them with a round of steroids to help the babies' lung development. Anthony had no idea of this.
But when a nurse beamed a light on Abella below she moaned, "Oh God." Her expression said it all... This nurse had yet to master her "keep calm and fake it" face, which was not reassuring. She gave a quick glance of cringe then looked away. "Is your husband here?" The nurse asked. "Who's here with you?"
She looks at her mother right as Anthony appeared from around the corner. Asante's on his hip and JJ's holding his hand. They were hoping this wouldn't be a long visit and a false alarm. Nope. Abella's almost 7cm dilated and it's too far gone to stop the labor.
They had been mentally preparing to have a natural birth at home...
Knowing what they do now, Toni takes the kids to the lobby. She takes that time to call Janet who went to Anthony's house incase she does go into labor, so she can bring his mother to the hospital.
She simply says, "It's time," to Janet before they hang up.
Meanwhile, an anesthesiologist arrived to her room to administer an epidural. They already knew about Abella's past addiction, so they formulated an epidural solution without fentanyl. Her team understood and knew there's no medical reason why someone should be forced to be exposed to opioids if they don't want to.
The entire time Anthony held her hand, while she kept asking, "Why is this happening?"
It's after midnight already and she's going to deliver these babies...
As the contractions continued becoming stronger and more frequent, it was decided that it was time for her to be moved to Labor and Delivery for more monitoring.
After being number through spinal, prepped, hooked to monitors, and Anthony getting dressed in the proper gear it was time.
Strangely, as she laid there waiting to begin, she felt very calm. Looking at Anthony, she could see the nervousness on his face though.
The doctor broke Abella's water and it seemed like only moments later the first baby slipped out. It was an oddly easy birth.
When they pulled out the first baby they brought him over and announced he was a boy. You could hear him scream brilliantly and raise his fist in the air. Everyone was amazed at his strength for a premature baby.
From Abella's awkward horizontal position she began to cry. It's mostly from joy, but also from sheer relief. This isn't even the hard part...
The baby's whisked away while they continued working on the second twin. Six minutes later the doctor announces, "Your daughter," holding her up.
The twins were born at 29 weeks each weighing over 2 pounds...
Because they're premature the babies get cold in normal room temperatures. They were immediately placed in an incubator called an isolette after their birth.
The twins were then immediately taken to the resuscitation room where they each had a team of NICU doctors, nurse practitioners, and nurses attending to them. They're being assessed and stabilized, so that they can then move to the NICU for continued care.
Anthony and Abella were only able to see them very briefly as they wheeled their isolettes past them. The nurses lifted them slightly so that they could see them as well as possible, then got on their way. They were stabilized enough to be transferred to the NICU for intensive treatment and support.
In the aftermath of the delivery, the room fell quiet. The team and the babies were gone. Only Anthony, one doctor, and a nurse remained. Abella felt especially empty with no babies in her arms where they belong in their first moments.
Soon a nurse wheeled Abella out of the delivery room and into recovery. Rolling down the hallway she looked at a clock on the wall seeing it's six in the morning. Not even six hours from start to finish.
During that time JJ and Asante had been taken home leaving the two grandmother's in the lobby. They didn't have time to call anyone else or inform them of the delivery. They didn't want anyone else here anyway.
After awhile Anthony was allowed into the NICU only to quickly take pictures of the babies. He came back to Abella showing the pictures he took. Soon after they both tried to get some rest.
It wasn't until after noon that Anthony woke up. He was advised by Toni to go home and take a shower and eat, so he at least did that before coming back. When he did come back they finally let him go to the NICU to actually see the twins for a longer period of time.
It wasn't until lunch time that Abella forced herself out of bed. Still wearing a hospital gown, she felt sore and barely got any sleep. She was too worried. Despite that, she put on slippers and got out of bed.
At that moment Anthony walks back in with coffee in hand seeing his wife standing up. "Where are you going?"
"To see them."
"Do you want me to come?"
"No, I'm fine." She walks passed him out of the doors to go see the twins.
As soon as she walked into the NICU and saw them she began to cry. She only stayed a few minutes before trudging into the hall. She roamed until she got lost then finally found her room.
On the way past the nurses station a nurse handed Abella forms to fill out for birth certificates. "Congratulations!" she said with excitement getting a mumble of a thank you from Abella.
When she walked into the room she dropped the forms into Anthony's lap prompting him to ask, "What's this?"
"Birth certificates. Can you fill them out?" He nods offering to help her back in the bed, but she says she has it.
While filling them out he calls his mother who guides him through all the proper accent marks for the Yoruba names.
The boy would be given the name Idris Aṣayé Adédèjì Joshua.
It roughly translates to: You are a leader, prophet, and one who runs the world. The crown has become two.
The girl was given the name Ashé Fọláṣadé Selah Joshua.
This would roughly mean: You have the power to make things happen and produce change. Lead with nobility and honor earns a crown. Take time to pause and reflect.
Anthony looks at Abella who has already dozed off with worry. He knows this wasn't easy. This is about to be a long road because the doctor already explained the twins will have to be in the NICU until around the date they were originally due to be born.
That's more than ten weeks or almost two months. It depends on how they respond to treatment.
When it was all said and done, Anthony and Abella had to wait four long, anxious days before they could finally hold the twins in their arms. They're tiny and smaller than Anthony's large hands.
For the most anticipated moment two nurses helped situate the tiny babies amongst all the wires and machines. The boy for Anthony and the girl for Abella.
Once the baby girl was finally pressed against Abella's chest, tears begin to well up in her eyes. He knows how she feels because the first time Anthony held her he cried too. She's his first girl..
"They're so tiny," Abella whispers. It felt like the first time he's seen her smile since she's been in the hospital.
"I told you you could do it, Twin."
"We've called each other Twin so much I ended up having twins. Talk about speaking things into existence. I don't wanna hear that word no mo," she chuckles. She looks down at her first daughter telling her, "It's me and you, mamas. I'm not alone anymore. Thank God! We're still outnumbered, but I'm not the only girl anymore. That's all that matters."
Once the twins are breathing on their own, able to maintain their body temperature, can be fed by breast or bottle, and gaining weight steadily, they can come home.
While it was tough watching their babies fight to survive, they know they're going to make it through thanks to the medical staff.
They spent weeks and weeks worrying and now they're out. They could finally breathe. They're the proud parents of twin babies who'd made it into the world despite all the concerns and fears.
Like Anthony told Abella on their first date...
I want you today.
I want you in the morning, the middle of the day, at night.
I want the outside of you including the imperfect parts.
I want the inside of you even if it's broken.
I want to be deep inside of you in more than one way.
I want every piece of you.
It was no longer good game or the smooth thing to say. It's an everyday feeling. He wants her, the kids, and this life they created...
________
I can't even say how much I love you guys. This has probably been my most positive audience on Wattpad in a long time. I had to root out some negativity in the beginning, but the people meant to be here stayed & kept reading. Y'all rode with me through the long chapters & the rollercoaster of emotions. We've tackled so many topics. Some of them include death, abuse, addiction, mental health, sexual assault, sexism, the music industry, & even more. We crossed multiple countries & cultures. There was American, British, Nigerian, & other African cultures. We've done so much. We made it y'all!❤️
Book 2 Description & Cast is now posted!