The smell of fresh bacon immediately made my eyes flutter open, but the heavy sound of my alarm blaring next to me was what really got my attention. Not having any energy to move, I was able to muster my arm around and end all of my repetitive alarms for the day.
Today was a special day, but for some reason I didn't feel prepared or energized to get my morning started. This would be my first time flying in over three months. I had taken a decent amount of time off and still had a few more months until I was back into action, but I had received a phone call from the Vice President asking that I be of service to his flight from here in Chicago, to Washington, D.C.
I, of course, was not turning down the opportunity to be the Vice President's pilot for the day. When I received the phone call from him personally, I immediately gave him an answer. I've been prepared for this small trip for weeks but I suddenly wasn't in the mood to fly now that the time was here. I've been so used to not working that finally getting back in the realm of things were actually bittersweet.
Getting rid of those thoughts, I finally stepped out of my bed wishing that Josh was still holding me. I softly smiled at the thought of us cuddling in bed but unfortunately, I couldn't play housewife for the time being. I ran my shower and made sure I didn't get my hair wet by using my scarf. After thirty minutes of getting ready, I was finally dressed in my usual Captain uniform. I kept my hair in a low, sleek bun due to the hat I had to wear but I still made it look decent.
"I forgot what you looked like in an uniform." I heard as I made my way downstairs and into the kitchen. The way Josh stared at me gave me an unexplainable feeling. It brought back memories to when we first officially hit things off and it amazed me that he stared at me the same way he did years ago.
"It feels awkward," I said with a chuckle, "But I look okay, right?"
Josh nodded and I puckered my lips for a kiss. He leaned in and pecked my lips before putting his attention on the breakfast he was preparing. That alone made me want to cancel my day and be under my man. Even though it was 5am on a Wednesday, he was up bright and early to make sure I was well fed before being in the air for hours. It's always the small things that really matters to me and I'm grateful that he takes initiative.
"Hopefully I have time to eat everything before I'm bombarded with security guards." I mumbled after we sat at the table and said prayer.
Josh sucked his teeth, "I forgot they do all the extra shit."
Flying political public figures, such as the President, was an amazing opportunity but an hassle also. Once their guards arrive to take me to the next destination, I have no communication with the outside world and only given small amounts of privacy. To be sure of the safety of the President, there were many other protocols I'll have to follow. None of that bothered me since I've been the Air Force One pilot for years now, but it still was a lot of work.
"Yeah, hopefully I don't get stuck in D.C, but I'll let you know if anything changes." I said between bites. Once breakfast was done, I made sure I had everything I needed — even a small duffle just in case I was needed for a few extra days.
After adjusting a few flaws to my uniform, I could hear the doorbell ringing. I knew it was the security team so I sped up the pace and gathered my belongings before heading downstairs.
"I'm gone baby." I said, seeing Josh cleaning the last few remaining dishes in the sink. He gave me a soft smile and signaled me over for a quick kiss. I enjoyed feeling his lips on mine and silently wished for another one. I smiled against his lips when I felt him lean in for a second quick peck.
"Be careful love," He advised, "Call me when you land."
We said our final farewells and I was then exiting my home to meet with the security team. "Good morning," I greeted nicely, "I'm ready."
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I had landed the Vice President and his team safely to D.C. ten minutes before the set arrival time. Because he didn't plan on staying long, I was held on standby until he was ready to leave. While I waited, they were able to book me a presidential suite at a five star hotel near The White House.
After checking into my room, I began to undress into something much more comfortable when my cell phone began to ring.
"Ugh, forgot to call him." I mumbled to myself. I figured Josh had looked at my current location and saw I had landed safely, but I was mistaken when I saw an unknown number.
I rolled my eyes and continued to let the phone ring. There were only a few short seconds of silence until the unknown number called again. I usually didn't answer unknown callers, but the sense of urgency they had to repeatedly keep calling had me interested.
"Yes?" I answered.
"Hi, is this Beyoncé?" I elected to not say anything and instead pulled the phone away from my ear to stare at the number. It was still unrecognizable and when I heard the woman on the other line speaking, I put the phone back to my ear, "I'm sorry to be randomly calling you at this time and I'm sorry to be evading your privacy right now. I'm Charlotte, and I got your number from your mother."
"Charlotte?" I asked with a confused expression. I have never heard of the name and unsure why my mother was giving out my personal information. This is the main reason I will continue to keep my distance.
"Yes! I know it's been quite some years. I told myself I wouldn't reach out to you since that's what you and your family wanted, but I'm in dire need of your help. I—I need your help. It's about Angel."
Hearing that familiar name instantly brought tears to my eyes and I was able to connect the dots. Charlotte was the woman my parents had given my baby boy to. I, of course had no idea of this exchange since they kept the entire adoption process away from me. To know that they told Charlotte to never reach out to me made me even more upset than I were 19 years ago.
I had named my baby Angel, because that's exactly what he was to me. In my eyes, I was never going to see him again but Lord knows I never stopped thinking about him. Just imagine going through 16 hours of labor and indescribable pain and not being able to see the child you gave birth to. I've been in the military and have been through many occurrences that could've taken my life or scarred me forever, but having my baby taken from me by people I called my parents was the most traumatizing thing I've ever experienced.
"Wh—What's wrong with Angel?"
I could hear Charlotte take a deep sigh, "He was in a terrible car accident and had to be airlifted to the nearest hospital. He's in need of blood, and because I'm not his biological parent, I'm not a match. If you can come to New Orleans that'll be awesome. It'll save his life, and I really need my son to live."
"I'll be there in a few hours. Can you please send the hospital info to my—"
"Ochsner Medical Center," She interrupted, "You don't even have to stay. You could just help with the blood transfusion and get back to your life."
I sucked my teeth at Charlotte's apparent attitude but I wasn't going to let that stop me from helping Angel.
"Actually, I will love to stay. It's been 19 long years. I want to see him."
"Well, as his moth—"
"Please," I murmured, "See you in a few."
The thought of calling Josh completely left my mind as I began getting my bag organized and ready. I sent a quick message to the VP's secretary to let her know of my sudden departure. She had even booked the flight for me and alerted that it was leaving in the next 30 minutes.
I checked out of my suite and caught an uber to the airport. I quickly ran through the check-in points and thankfully, I successfully boarded the plane.
So many thoughts and awful load of anxiety was hitting me as I deeply thought on what would happen once I made it to the hospital. Would Angel even want me around? I'm sure he hates my guts for giving him away, but I wanted to let him know it was my biggest mistake and I had no control over it. I know it won't be easy and I don't expect it to be, which is why I'm so nervous.
Feeling a headache coming on, I let out a sigh and rubbed my temples to help calm down the growing migraine. Once the plane was in the air, I was able to get comfortable in my seat and take a well-needed nap with the lingering thoughts of Angel still roaming my mind.
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"Welcome to NOLA!" I heard as I exited the plane. Being in Louisiana brought back memories to when I would visit my mom's family. Aside from the drama dealing with my teenage pregnancy, I've always had a wonderful childhood. Things of course changed for forever when my pregnancy was no longer easy to hide.
From the airport, I caught an Uber to the hospital. I didn't say much throughout the ride since my mind was everywhere at this point so I let the driver make most of the conversation and I chimed in when needed.
"We're here ma'am," He said with a smile, "I hope everything is okay. God bless."
I nodded and tipped him a nice amount before heading through the entrance of the hospital. The chills I felt once I was inside was not only because it was cold, but because hospitals gave me that feeling.
"Hi, I'm looking for someone by the name of Angel." I said to the woman at the receptionist desk. She offered me a soft smile and instructed that I needed a visitor badge if I wanted to continue entrance into the hospital. While receiving my badge, I could hear my name being called and I immediately turned around to see who was calling for me.
"Wow, you're here."
I gave the woman a confused expression to let her know I had no clue who she was. "Charlotte?" I asked to be sure.
"Yeah, you can wait out here! I'll let the doctor know you've arrived."
"Um, I'd rather not. I didn't fly from D.C just to sit in the lobby. I want to see him."
Charlotte looked near my age, but I'm sure she's years older. She was a beautiful woman but her attitude gave me second thoughts. I could tell she was hurting but tried to cover it up with makeup. Her tired eyes gave everything away.
She chuckled and turned to look at me. I could see her staring me up and down but that wasn't stopping my efforts to see Angel. I could already tell that she would give me a hard time and I wasn't in the mood for it.
I figured she would say something mean and uncalled for, but instead she nodded her head and began to walk away. I followed closely behind her until we made it to Room 212 and before opening the door, she looked in my direction.
"I've already told Angel about you," She mumbled, "I told him when he was 11 and he hated me for it. He told me he could've went his entire life not knowing. He never talked about you since then so I don't know how he will feel seeing you here once he awakes. I'm being very considerate of his feelings and letting you in here isn't the first thing on my to-do list. If you don't mind, just stay here for now."
I understood where she was coming from so I didn't put up a fight. Though I was eager to see Angel, now may not be the time and I needed to see things from his point of view as well.
"That's fine," I said with a sigh, "I'll be out here."
I waited for ten minutes until Charlotte met up with me again with the nurse next to her. The nurse offered me a soft smile and extended her hand, "Good evening! Glad to have you finally with us. We want to quickly get started on the blood transfusion so follow me."
I followed closely behind her and simply made small talk until she began asking me different medical questions pertaining to the blood transfusion about to take place. Charlotte couldn't come any farther into the room, which I was so thankful for because it's obvious me and her wouldn't get along.
The nurse, whose name was Mercedes, walked me step by step to getting the IV into my arm. It's been a while since I last had to go through this so getting stuck with the small needle made me flinch a tad bit. She was getting started on the transfusion until she came to a sudden halt while staring down at the copy paper.
"Oh wait! Let's end this," Mercedes instructed, "I didn't even think to look at the blood type because I figured you were a match, but you're not."
My eyebrows furrowed together while I stared up at her, "What do you mean? He's B positive, right? So am I."
"Oh no, he is AB positive which is a rare type. Is there a way we could possibly get in touch with anyone else? Like his father maybe?"
Hearing the mention of a father made me sarcastically chuckle. If only she knew. Angel's father didn't want him anyway, so I'm sure if I was to ever get in contact with him again, his mindset would still be the same.
"Uh, I have no clue where his father is, so."
No more words were shared as she removed the IV from my arm and began cleaning the area with disinfecting wipes. I made the quick exit out of the room and nearly ran into Charlotte due to how close she were to the door.
"Did you do it?" She asked all in one breath.
"Nope."
The look on her face immediately changed from excited to furious, "What do you mean? Were you not a match?" Her voice was starting to make my headache grow larger and the fact that she was already in my personal space made me even more irritated.
"No Charlotte, I was not. I will have to see if I can get in touch with his father or something."
"Ugh!" She growled, even kicking the chair a little, "This is going to take even longer! My son is in there nearly on his death bed and we have to find another match? Are you kidding me!"
Every time she said my son made my blood boil. Of course she was more of a mother to him than I was, but I did give birth to him. I felt she only used the my son expression to make me upset.
I decided to take a seat in one of the chairs to be able to think things through easily. I could hear Charlotte mumble something under her breath as she walked away, leaving me with the peace I've longed for since I answered her call.
Just as I was in deep thought, my cell phone began to ring in my pocket. Seeing Josh's name on the caller ID gave me chills down my spine. It made me feel like I was doing something wrong, but I wasn't. Granted, Josh didn't have a clue about what was going on so I could easily lie to get myself out of this situation, but I was tired of the lies. Maybe this will be my first step into telling him the truth.
"Hey..." I answered as softly as possible. His baritone voice through the phone would usually turn me on, but not this time. I could hear all too well by his voice that he was upset with me.
"Hey?" He responded, "Fuck that, why you in New Orleans Bey? And why I haven't heard from you, huh?"
It completely slipped my mind that Josh had access to my location. I straightened my posture in the chair and cleared my throat a little before giving him a response.
"It's a long story baby, I promise to tell you everything when I can."
The sound of Charlotte's voice could be heard not too far from me as she came back to the waiting area where I was seated. "I was able to get in touch with him! He's on the way." She said happily.
"I'll see you in a few Beyoncé." Josh said before he ended the call. Shit. Too much was going on right now and I wasn't able to comprehend everything at once. Josh was really coming to look for me, and wait... Charlotte got in touch with who?
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Honestly, this was A LOT. Definitely a lot to digest, but what are your thoughts on this chapter?
Should Charlotte had given Beyoncé the chance to see Angel for the first time? Was her reasoning for not letting her see him valid?
Josh is on his way to New Orleans! What do you guys believe will happen when he finds out the truth?
How will Beyoncé react seeing her baby's father for the first time in over 19 years?
This my first time feeling confident in my writing in a LONG time. Y'all really don't know how much of a struggle it has been, but hopefully this update makes y'all enjoy the story a little more. Don't forget to vote and comment!☺️