Omniscient
Jamal arrives at his parent's house exhausted from the day and disappointed that he wasn't able to stop by and visit his fiancée before he left campus. She is a sociology professor so sometimes he likes to pop in just before her class is over and the next one starts so they can lock the door and make out like they'll never see each other again. It never goes any further than that because they both value their jobs, but it's something they do to help them get through their day a little better.
He smiles at the thought of her before walking into the house excited about his steak and shrimp dinner. He walks into the living room where his father is watching TV and visibly falling asleep. He chuckles and walks over to him tapping his chest firmly but gently. James opens his eyes and looks over to his oldest son who is sitting on the armrest of the chair next to him. "Long day Pop?" Jamal asks. "The longest," James replies with a yawn. "Alright then I'll go speak to Ma and let you get your nap in, we'll wake you when dinner is ready." James nods sleepily, closing his eyes.
Jamal gets up and goes into the kitchen. "Hey Ma." He says walking over and kissing her on her cheek. She smiles. "Hi son, did you just get here?" She asks as she peels some shrimp. "Just a few minutes ago, I was speaking to Pop." He says sitting down on one of the bar stools on the other side of the counter.
"Is he still falling asleep in that chair?"
He chuckles. "Yeah, I told him that we'd wake him when dinner is ready."
"I ought to let him sleep through it. He's been running around like crazy with all of this Mayor stuff, I'm not sure that he's getting enough sleep."
"I guess it comes with the job. I mean when have you ever known pop to miss out on sleep or a meal?"
"I know it does but that doesn't mean I have to like it."
"Where is ugly at?" He asks, looking around for Janelle.
"She's in New Orleans with a client and stop referring to my child as ugly." She says, glaring at him.
"Sorry." He apologizes, knowing that won't be the first or the last time he does that. I mean isn't that what siblings do? They tease each other.
"How was your day?" She asks.
"It was good, busy, but good. I have some things I need to go and work on after I leave here."
She nods in understanding. "I see, and how is Neimia?" She asks, referring to his fiancée. "I haven't seen her in a while." She adds.
"Me either, well at least that's what it seems like." He sighs. "But she's great, she just got back from Africa not too long ago so she's been adjusting to being back for the last two weeks. She's teaching tonight though."
"Well, whenever you both get some free time, bring her by. I would love to see her."
"Okay, I will talk to her about it and see what we can plan."
They talk about random things for a while and then the two of them have dinner since James decided to go up to bed after telling Janice to put his plate away for later.
"So how was dinner last night?" She asks, breaking the silence between them.
"It was good, we had a good time." He says with a smile.
She forces a smile of her own. "That's good, and how is he?"
"He's good Ma." He says, taking a bite of his steak.
"But is he happy though?"
He sighs. "They're both extremely happy Ma. They're young, happy, and in love. The sooner you realize that the better things will be, for all of us. I have to get going now I have work to do." He says standing.
"Okay, well don't forget your food." She says, referring to the leftovers she'd packed away for him. "I got it, bye Ma." He says kissing her cheek.
"Bye, son." She says before he walks out of the kitchen. She sighs, great now he's upset with her.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hours later, after Jamal's dinner Tia and Julian are making out in her kitchen. "Okay, okay, baby we should stop." She says pushing him back a little. He pouts and she giggles. "We need to eat Ju."
"Alright, fine." He says, helping her down off of the counter.
"I'll be right back. I'm gonna go change, put the food on the plates please?" She says pecking his lips before leaving the room.
He fixes their plates and sits them on the table as she walks into the kitchen. She smacks his butt as she passes by him. "Hey, chill." He warns, giving her a look and making her giggle. "Sorry baby, but it was just sitting there looking all good." She teases, biting her lip. He laughs. "Girl, go and get some forks so we can eat." He says, pointing in the direction of the drawer. "Yes sir." She says biting her lip again. "Keep playing with me like I won't fuck you on this table right now."
"I told you about threatening me with a good time baby." She says laughing as she hands him the fork.
He laughs and shakes his head. "Thank you." He says as he sits down.
She grabs her plate and moves it next to his before sitting in his lap. "What are you doing?" He asks with a smirk. "I want to sit here." She says with a shrug. They pray and begin eating. "Did the tea help you at all?" He asks, referring to the tea that he told her to drink earlier to help her with nausea.
"Yeah, it did." She says, eating her food. "What about you? Did your day get better?" She asks.
"Yeah it did, you actually inspired me."
"Me? Really? How?"
"Yes, you!" He says, kissing her cheek repeatedly and making her giggle. "It was what you said about me thinking outside the box. I was looking for the standard solution instead of something out of the ordinary, and when I started thinking differently I found an idea. It's a long shot and it's experimental but it's a chance, a chance that little boy didn't have before."
"Well, I'm glad I could help, baby." She says pecking his lips.
"Are we going to talk about last night?" He asks, taking a bite of his food.
"No, I'm not ready to talk about it yet."
He nods in understanding even though he is still a little concerned. "Okay, well I'm here whenever you're ready."
"I know." She says, smiling at him.
"So tell me how you ended up getting fired."
She sighs. "That bitch, Truth. She told Greg that I had gone home with a customer. Remember that night I brought Key here?"
"What is her problem with you? And how long ago was that? Like over a month at least!" He says in shock.
She shrugs. "I don't know what her issue was originally and quite frankly I don't give a shit 'cause I know that I haven't done anything to that bitch for her to have all of this hatred towards me. But now, she's mad because she wants Key, and I don't know if he doesn't want her or whatever cause I didn't ask him about it, but whatever the case is she keeps making it a point to tell me that he's 'hers' and I'm just like 'okay'. I guess she thinks that I'm the reason that he's not giving her the time of day. I don't know. Greg said that there were pictures or some shit, so the bitch is clearly a weirdo."
"Well, how are you feeling about this?" He asks, tracing circles on her thighs.
She shrugs. "I mean I'm annoyed with the fact that I was fired and why I was fired, but it's not a big deal because I was planning on quitting anyway. Plus, it's not like I need the money or anything, but I'm definitely coming for that hoe. I just haven't figured out how."
"Aye don't go getting caught up in no bullshit." He warns. "Especially not while you're carrying my daughter."
"Okay one, what are you going to do if this baby turns out to be a boy?" She asks amused. "And two, I would never put myself or our kid in harm's way."
"It's a girl. I told you, God and I already talked about it so I know." He says matter of factly "And okay, I trust you."
She laughs. "Good to know." She says getting up and grabbing their plates. "What's your schedule like tomorrow?"
He sighs. "Uh, I have to go to the hospital to start working on the plan for my patient. I don't want to trust anyone else with this because if anything goes wrong that little boy will die and I can't let that happen. The interns and residents are a pack of idiots if I ever saw one." He says with a sigh.
"Aren't you supposed to be teaching them?" She asks, confused.
"Yes, and I am. We are. It's just a part of dealing with baby surgeons. All they want to do is cut but don't realize that the learning process is how you can cut. You learn before you get into an OR with someone's life in your hands, and then you realize how much you learned to get to where you are and it all comes full circle. Them? They're overeager children who have the common sense of, well there is no common sense." He rants. "And what's crazy is that they all have the potential to be amazing doctors if they would just focus a bit more"
She finishes with the dishes then grabs a bottle of beer from the fridge and opens it up for him. She walks over and hands it to him. He smiles lightly. "Thank you, baby." He says as she stands behind him and starts to massage his shoulders. "You're welcome, Now drink it and relax." She instructs as she begins to work a knot out. "Mmm, baby that feels good." He groans, taking a sip of his beer.
"Does it?" She asks.
"Yes." He replies in a trance of how pleasurable her hands feel as she works her magic. "I should be the one taking care of you though."
"Why? Because I'm pregnant. Ju, I have only been pregnant for like two seconds and I'm pregnant, not helpless."
"I know that, but it's just..."
"Aht aht, no buts. It is as much my job to take care of you as it is your job to take care of me, so let me do that baby."
"Yes ma'am." He says, making her giggle and kiss his cheek.
~~~~~~~~
Tyree sits in his bed staring down at his phone as he hovers over Mia's contact contemplating whether or not he should call her. He sighs, deciding against it. He locks the phone and tosses it on the bed.
He is frustrated because it's been a few hours since she left and he doesn't know if he should reach out or give her space. He doesn't want to upset her if she needs that space but, giving her space would imply that he needs time to think and he doesn't. Her being a virgin doesn't bother him or make him uncomfortable in any way. Is it different from what he's used to? Yes, but he's not some horny teenage boy who doesn't know how to control himself.
He wants to tell her that he can wait for her if their relationship progresses to that level. He wanted to tell her that at that moment, but he was just trying to figure out what type of men she had to have been dating for them to just leave a woman as great as she is for something he admires.
He decides not to overthink it anymore and sends her a text.
Ty 😜: Hey I'm not entirely sure what earlier was about, but I don't need time or space away from you to think about anything. But I can respect that you do if that's what you need.
He watches those three dots appear on the screen to indicate that she is typing, but they go away as quickly as they appear. He sighs.
Ty 😜: Mia, talk to me.
He locks his phone and tosses it onto the other side of the bed. He is in new territory, considering the fact that he has never been one to beg a woman to do anything and he can't believe that he's doing it now.
"Fuck this." He says to himself before going to grab the metal lunch box that Tia left there. He pulls out the stuff while thinking, "Her pregnant ass ain't gonna be smoking for a long ass time." and chuckles at the thought.
He rolls up a nice fat blunt and lights it up when his phone starts to ring. He takes a pull before reaching over to grab it. It's Mia, FaceTiming him. He smiles but by the time he answers the call his face appears nonchalant as if he's just been chilling the entire time.
"Hey." She says sweetly
"Wassup?" He says in a very chill voice.
"Uh, were you busy?" She asks nervously.
"Nah, I'm just chilling." He says taking another pull, allowing the smoke to fill the camera for a few seconds. "What you doing over there?"
"Nothing, same as you, chilling."
He nods. "So you read my text?" She nods. "Alright, so I don't know what type of niggas you're used to dealing with so I don't blame you for being nervous but I'm not those niggas. You don't have to worry about being yourself with me, and any nigga who made you feel less than because you made a decision that is yours and yours alone to make is lame as fuck for that shit." He smokes some more while he lets her process what he just said.
"I hear you, but Ty..." she starts but trails off.
"But what?" He challenges.
"This isn't something that I'll just change my mind about in a couple of months."
"Okay?" He says, confused. "I'm not expecting you to. If you say that you're waiting until marriage then that's what's going to happen."
"And you're okay with that?" She asks cautiously.
"Of course, It's your choice and your body. Who am I to get upset about that?"
She sighs because he's saying all of the right things but she isn't sure that he understands what he'd be signing up for if he continues to talk to her. "You know that if we're going to be together, I would expect you to be faithful to me despite the fact that we aren't having sex?"
"I understand. That's not a problem."
"I think you're just saying all of this stuff because you're high right now and not because you understand what you're essentially committing to."
"Mia, I might be a little high but I know exactly what I'm saying to you right now. I'm not some horny ass little boy who can't keep his dick to himself. Is it possible that it will be hard?" He asks before laughing. "Wait, I meant that the waiting might be hard, not my dick. Well, shit that might be hard too, because I mean look at yo fine ass." He rambles making her blush and giggle. "The point is, that I understand everything you are saying to me and I still want to continue getting to know you."
She smiles, hearing that but they both know that she still has her reservations.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Keyshawn walks Janelle to the front door. "You sho you got enuff ta eat?" He asks, making her laugh. "Wha?" He asks. She shakes her head. "Nothing, it's just your accent is a lot stronger now than it was before." She explains.
"Oh yeah, dat always happens when I come home."
"Makes sense, but to answer your question, yes I did. Thank you."
"No problem, Ma-Muh Luhs ta cook fa peepole."
"I can tell, but I should get going to the airport. My flight is in a couple hours."
He nods. "Look, I kno you said dats it's just ya job but I really appreciate what you're doin ta help me get ma boys back, so thank you.
She smiles. "You're welcome, and I will text or call you when I hear something from the courts about the visit."
"Okay. Have a safe flight." He says, shaking her hand.
"Thank you." She says as he holds the door open for her. She walks outside and she watches until she gets into her rental and drives off before he closes the door and locks it. Then he goes into the kitchen to turn off the lights and double-check that everything is cleaned and put away even though they had both helped Ma-Muh clean when they had finished eating earlier.
Not finding anything out of place, he turns the lights off and then makes his way into Ma-Muh's room to check on her where he finds her asleep in bed surrounded by books and papers that she was using to study for her job as a physical therapist.
He starts closing up the books and stacking them when she startles herself awake at the noise. "Sorry Ma-Muh, it's just me." He says softly, sitting the books down on the trunk at the foot of her bed.
She sits up. "I was going to get to that." She says, watching him stack up her papers and notebooks.
"Yeah, afta you slept on it." He teases, making her laugh.
"Hush boy!" She says, gathering up some of the things and handing them to him to put with the rest. "So what are you still doing up? I can look at you and see that you're exhausted."
"Oh uh, Janelle just left. I was getting ready to head to bed but I wanted to check in on you first." He says sitting down on the bed next to her.
"I'm alright." She says. "How about you?" She asks, stroking his cheek.
"I'm afraid Ma. What if..?" He starts as his voice cracks. "What if we never get them back?" He asks as he breaks down crying.
Her heart is breaking for her son, and herself but mostly for her grandchildren. Even though they can understand the words that say that they can't go home with their family, they can't truly comprehend that at their age. She also knows that Keyshawn is beating himself up for not keeping the boys in his care and for not making sure that he had rights.
"Hey Bash, look at me." He slowly looks up at her. "This isn't your fault! You hear me? This isn't your fault! There was no way that any of us could have seen this coming. You have to stop blaming yourself. You didn't do anything wrong. You have done nothing but do right by those boys from the second that you found out about that girl being pregnant. This isn't your fault baby." She says pulling him into a hug.
"It feels like it is Ma-Muh!" He cries out.
"I know Bash, but it's not." She says softly
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jamal walks into the house and tosses his keys on the small table by the door.
"J-Bear is that you?" Neimia calls out from the kitchen
"Yeah, it's me, baby." he takes his suit jacket off and hangs it on the back of one of the dining room chairs. Then he sets his briefcase and computer bags down on the table as she walks out of the kitchen, carrying a glass of red wine. "Hey you!" she says with a smile. He smiles back. "Hey beautiful." he kisses her lips. "How was dinner with your parents?" she asks as he pulls out a chair and sits down. He sighs. "Well, Pops was too sleepy for dinner so it was just Ma and I. Everything was going fine until she brought up Tia and Julian. After that, I started to feel like she only invited me over to ask me about them and their relationship."
She scrunches her face up in confusion. "Why would she do that?" he shrugs. "I don't know, she is obsessed at this point." "But why?" she asks, pulling out a chair and sitting down next to him. "I don't know, but I'm not going to allow her to put me in the middle of whatever it is that she is trying to do. As soon as she started asking questions I got out of there," he says, pulling out his laptop and notepad. "Aww, I'm sorry that your dinner was cut short," she says, rubbing his shoulder.
"Thanks, baby, but it's okay. I was able to finish my meal and I needed to leave anyway because Randall decided to give me a lesson to teach," he says with his annoyance displayed all over his face as he powers on his computer. She giggles, making him look over at her. "Why is that funny? I do know how to teach you know?" "I know, that's not why I was laughing. I was laughing because you looked so annoyed at the thought of teaching. Plus, you always look kind of adorable when you get annoyed."
"It's not even the teaching part that I'm annoyed with. It's the extra workload. All because Katlyn will be on vacation next week." he grumbles. She giggles again, "Baby you sound bitter." she teases. "I am! That woman barely does her job when she IS at work, but is somehow always on vacation. She has eight hours of vacation time every damn day!" he rants and she bursts out into loud infectious laughter and he can't help but join in.
Once their laughter dies down, she grabs his hand. "I know that this is more work for you to do, but we both know that you can handle it all and so does Randall, that's why she came to you with it.'' She smiles softly. "I know, and I will but that doesn't mean I want to do it. But enough about me, did you have dinner?" She shakes her head. "No, I came straight in and grabbed this," she says, raising her glass and taking a sip. "Okay, well you need to eat food," he says as he eases the glass out of her hand. She pouts a little which makes him chuckle. "Ma sent some leftovers, I'll go heat some up for you," he says standing and kissing her forehead then grabbing the bag of food. When he walks into the kitchen she reaches for her wine when his voice startles her. "Don't touch that glass Neimia!" he warns, causing her to stop in her tracks and look around, wondering how he saw her. She laughs to herself when she realizes that he didn't actually see her, he just knows her that well.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kyan and Dani are lying in bed together naked after they just finished having sex. She's lying on his chest while he rubs her back. "Are you okay? Your mind seems elsewhere." She says.
"You mean while we were...? Because I'm pretty sure that I showed you my undivided attention." He jokes
She laughs and hits his chest lightly. "No not then, now." She explains.
"Oh, I'm just thinking about all of the stuff I need to do and I just feel like I'm forgetting something." He explains, reaching over to grab his phone off of the nightstand to check whatever messages he missed during their hour-long session.
Keyz: Aye, how long is Ma going to be in town again? I want to see her before she leaves.
8:04 PM
That's what he was forgetting, his mother is coming into town from Virginia to visit and bring him his daughter. "Shit!" He says. He hadn't forgotten about their visit completely but the days did manage to sneak up on him.
"What's the matter?" She asks.
"Keyz texted me a while ago and it just reminded me that my mom and Kasey will be here in a day and a half and I still have to finish getting her room ready." He says texting him back.
Kyan: She'll be here for two weeks I think so she'll be here when you get back. How'd the visit go?
10:22 PM
"You nervous about being a full-time dad?"
He shakes his head. "Nah, I'm happy to have my baby back and I'm grateful Christina let her come out here. I just need to get her room done by the time she gets here. Oh, and I need to go to the store and set up the guest room for my mom." he rambles to himself as he climbs out of bed and walks into the bathroom to turn on the shower. She giggles at his cute ranting as she follows him into the bathroom.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The next morning, Julian wakes up around 2:00 to get ready to go into the hospital and notices Tia is not in bed. He walks out into the Living Room to find her staring blankly at the infomercial playing on the television. He sits down next to her, "What are you doing up?" he asks and she shrugs. "Just thinking," she says softly. "About what?" he asks. "About the baby." "What about the baby?" he asks, curious to know what she can be thinking about that has her awake and out of bed this early in the morning. "I'm scared, Ju. I can't think of anything else that I want more than you and this baby right now..." she trails off.
"But?" He asks.
"But, I'm scared. We weren't planning on having a baby, but we are, and I think it's amazing! But I'm scared as fuck about what this means. How our families are going to react? I mean a month ago I was ranting about a hypothetical baby and now it's not a hypothetical situation anymore! We're having a baby and I don't know what it means For us, our careers, I don't know, I'm just scared, Ju! The thought of a living breathing baby ripping through my tiny body scares me. I'm scared that your mother's hatred for me is only going to get worse the second she finds out about this baby. And my dad is going to kill us both! I don't know, I'm thinking about everything and I'm scared!" She rants.
He takes in everything that she just said and then he grabs her hand. "Hey, your fears and concerns are valid. This is new for both of us and no, we didn't plan for it to happen but it is happening. And like you said, it is amazing! I understand why you're scared this is scary territory but baby you can't stress about things that you can't control or things that haven't happened yet. One, you don't know how any of this is going to play out so stop trying to piece it together. And two, you stressing out isn't good for you or the baby so relax. Take some deep breaths and stop worrying. Stay in the moment, right now at this moment we know that we love each other, we know that we're having a baby who we already love, and we know that some of our closest friends and family are just as excited about this baby as we are. So every time you start to worry about stuff that you can't control, stay in the moment you're in and if that moment is as great as you want it to be, remember this moment where I told you how much I love you and this baby. And I held you in my arms." He says, wrapping his arms around her. "And I gave you some kisses." He pecks her cheek over and over until she starts to giggle. "And made you laugh, and then I carried you back to bed so you can go back to sleep!" He adds whilst scooping her up and carrying her to her room while she laughs.
"What if none of that works?"
"Then come talk to me. We're in this together and I will be here for whatever you need." He kisses her nose as he lays her down in bed.
She smiles at him. "I love you too Jujubee." She says, snuggling into his pillow and drifting off to sleep.
He watches her for a moment before getting ready to head to the hospital.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tia wakes up a few hours later to the sound of her phone ringing. She groans and reaches over to answer it. "Hey Ree, wassup?" She says, sleepily.
"Grandma is lucid today, you want to go visit?"
She sits up quickly and climbs out of bed. "Yes, I can be ready in fifteen minutes!" She says rushing into the bathroom. "Okay, I'm on my way. And Mia's coming with us bye!" He says abruptly before hanging up in her face. "His rude ass is gonna stop doing that shit, I know that." She grumbles before she starts washing her face.
When he comes to pick her up, she goes out to the car and climbs into the backseat. "Wassup Preggers?" He asks. "Eww, no don't call me that ever again in your life! And you gone quit hanging up in my face, too rude ass!" She says putting on her seatbelt. "Keep on with the attitude and I'm not going to feed you!" He threatens. "Starving a pregnant woman? That's not a good look, Tyree." She says sarcastically. "Neither is beating one up, but you keep it up and I will!" He jokes
"Shut up!" She says, leaning forward and plucking his ear. "Ouch girl! Cut that shit out! I was just playing!" "Mhmm, so explain to me why Mia is coming to meet your grandmother?" She asks as he backs out of the driveway.
"Because she might not have many lucid days left and if she is the one then I want them to meet while she can remember and tell me what she thinks of her."
"Okay."
"Okay? That's all you have to say?"
"Yeah? What else do you want me to say?"
"Do you think that it's a good idea?"
"Yes, but it doesn't matter what I think. It only matters what you think and what she thinks."
"T, don't give me some philosophical crap. Tell me what you think like for real!"
"I think you really like this girl and I think that your grandmother is important to you so if you want her approval then you should get it while you can and there's nothing wrong with that."
"I thought you were going to say that I am making a mistake!" He says, sighing in relief.
"Do you think you're making a mistake?"
"No, but I was worried that you would think that I'm moving too fast."
She laughs. "Ree, my entire relationship has been in the fast lane from day one. Who am I to judge?"
"Yeah, but things are different with you and J."
"And they are also different with Grammy, if the circumstances were different then I would tell you to pump the brakes but we both know that time is not on your side here."
He smiles slightly at her approval. "Do me a favor?"
"Wassup?"
"Be nice to her even if you don't like her."
"I'm always nice."
"I beg to differ."
"Well, you're my brother. I don't have to be nice to you." She jokes
"Keep it up." He warns as he pulls up to Mia's apartment. He calls her to tell her that he's outside. She comes out five minutes later. "Hey." She smiles at him as she gets in. "Hey." He says back wearing a smile as well before he leans over and pecks her lips.
"Mia, this is my best friend and sister Tia. Tia, this is Mia."
"Hi, nice to meet you," Tia says with a smile and a wave.
"Nice to meet you as well. I have heard so much about you." Mia says with a smile.
"Oh lord!" Tia groans, making them both laugh.
"It's all good things, I promise."
"Damn Ree, you have her lying for you already?" she jokes.
"Shut up!" he says laughing as he stops at a stoplight.
"I'm just saying," she says as her phone rings. "Hey baby," she says, answering Julian's call.
"Where are you going?" he asks. "Not you being a stalker!" she jokes. He laughs. "Girl! Where are you?" he asks again making her laugh. "I'm going to see Grammy with Ree, you creep!" "I ain't gonna be too many more stalkers and creeps Fathead," he warns. "Well then stop acting like one." "Whatever, so I take it she's lucid?" "Yes." "And y'all were just going to go without me?" He asks in disbelief. "You're working baby." "I'm between surgeries." "Oh is that why you were stalking me?" "I wasn't stalking anything, I got the notification on my phone and I realized that you weren't in bed where I left you." "I'm not on bed rest Ju." "I'm not saying you are, I'm saying that you were sleeping when I left and since you were up in the middle of the night. I didn't think you would be up now."
"Oh, I wasn't until Ree called. I'll take a nap later or something."
"Okay, any morning sickness today?" he asks taking off his lab coat and hanging it on the coat rack in his office.
"No, but I haven't eaten anything yet." "Tia," he says sternly. "What? Ree's going to feed me!" "I never said that!" Tyree jokes. "I'm on my way and I'm bringing you food, and I ain't going to Mcdonald's either!" he says before hanging up on her. "Rude motherfucker." she says staring at the phone in disbelief that he really just hung up in her face like that. "Tyree when we get out of this car, I'm gonna beat your ass!" she threatens. He laughs. "Ha ha ha. Ain't shit funny, cause why would you put that battery in his back for him to be all on my case?" She huffs in the backseat.
"You'll be fine. We'll stop and get you something." "Don't bother." she says annoyed "So you're just not going to eat now just to spite him?" "No he's on his way, and he said that he's bringing me something." "On his way from where?" he asks. "The hospital." "J's a surgeon," he explains to Mia who nods in understanding.
When they pull up in the parking lot, Tyree parks next to Julian's car where he is standing there, leaning against the hood of his car. She sighs as Tyree opens her door before walking around to open Mia's and helping her out of the car. "Thank you," she says with a smile. "You're welcome," he says, smiling back and closing her door.
"J, this Mia. Mia, this is my best friend Julian." Tyree introduces. "Hey, Mia. I've heard a lot about you, nice to meet you." He says with a smile. "You've been talking about me?" She asks Tyree with a smirk. "Yep." He says before pecking her lips. She blushes before turning back to Julian. "It's nice to meet you too."
Tia steps out of the car and closes the door behind her. Julian's demeanor changes as he stands there with his arms folded while he glares at her. He tries to hand her the bag of food but she doesn't take it because he is glaring at her and the fact that he rudely hung up in her face. "Tia," he says sternly as he holds out the bag of food to her. "Julian" she challenges with an attitude. They stand there and continue to glare at each other while Tyree and Mia watch silently.
"Tia, take this fuckin' food and feed my child before we have a problem," he says annoyed.
she rolls her eyes and snatches the bag. "I know you don't have an attitude," he says. Tyree grabs Mia's hand. "Well we're going to head inside while y'all handle that," he says laughing at their foolishness as they walk off and go inside.
She opens the bag and rolls her eyes at the sandwich and chips that he got her from down the street. She pulls out the fresh-style potato chips and starts eating them. "I want some damn chicken nuggets." She mumbles to herself, glaring up at him as he watches her every move.
Her phone rings so she pulls it out of her pocket to see that it's Favi. She ignores the call and puts it back in her pocket. "Fix your attitude." He tells her, making her roll her eyes. "You fix yours!" She says walking away with her food. He shakes his head before following behind her. Once they enter the building, Tyree says "So nice of you guys to join us!" Tia flips him off and he laughs. "Anyway, they went up to see if she wants us to come up or if she wants to go in the garden." He explains
"Okay," Julian says as Tia stands there eating her chips. The three of them decide to sit and wait on a bench and since there's no room for her to sit she just decides to stand. Julian, fed up with her stubbornness, pulls her down to sit in his lap. She rolls her eyes but she sits there and finishes her chips, pouting at the fact that they are all gone. Then she pulls out the sandwich and takes a few bites before putting it up to Julian's lips so that he can take a bite. He's hesitant but he does then she goes back to eating herself.
"Hi, sorry about the wait. I was held up with another patient, but she would like for you guys to come up. I just need you two to sign in and show me some ID then you'll be good to go." The front desk attendant tells them as he points to Tia and Julian.
Julian pulls his ID out of his wallet and Tia passes her sandwich to Mia who is sitting next to her before pulling out her ID as well. Julian takes it from her and hands them both to the guy. He looks at the IDs and compares them to their faces. "Okay, I'm just going to scan these into the system." He turns and walks back behind the desk and Tia goes and writes her and Julian's names down on the sign-in sheet.
The guy comes back with their IDs and she walks back over and hands Julian his. He puts it back in his wallet and she throws hers back in her purse. She takes her sandwich from Mia before saying "Thank you" with a small smile. They all stand and start walking down the hall to the elevator when Julian reaches for her hand but she pulls it away.
He looks at her and tries to reach for her hand again but she uses both hands to hold the bag in front of her. They walk into the elevator and he stands next to her looking down at her getting annoyed with her behavior. She ignores him and says to Tyree, "I can't wait to see Grammy, it's been a while."
"Yeah, she was doing bad the last time I was here. Thought I was my dad, but she managed to notice that you weren't here. She's going to be so happy to see you and J!" He says with a smile. "She thinks that Tia is my dad's ex-girlfriend whenever she thinks that I'm my dad even though they don't look alike at all! I guess it just helps her to make some kind of connection to fill in the gaps." He explains to Mia with a shrug.
The elevator doors open and the three of them walk out when Julian pulls Tia back gently. She turns around to look at him with a glare on her face. "Let me go." She says softly. "Can you stop with the attitude Tia? cause you are really starting to piss me off!" He says, annoyed. "I'm not doing this with you right now." She says walking off the elevator, and down the hallway where Tyree and Mia are waiting at Grammy's door.
"Do your friends always act like this?" She asks him. He laughs. "No, usually they're all over each other and acting all goofy. They'll be back to normal and being annoying in no time." Tia walks over and he throws his arm around her shoulders. "Want me to beat him up?" He jokes. "I'm not sure, I'll get back to you on that." She says, making him laugh. "Okay, wanna talk about it?" He asks with seriousness. "Yeah, but later." She says as Julian walks up to them.
Tyree chuckles at their obvious annoyance with each other before knocking on the door. Grammy opens it with a huge smile on her face. "Ahh! They told me that my handsome grandson was here!" She says excitedly as she hugs Tyree. He chuckles and hugs her back. "Hi, Grammy." He says as they pull apart. She steps aside and lets them in the door. "Grammy this is Mia." "Hi, it's nice to meet you," Mia says with a smile. "It's nice to meet you too, beautiful."
She looks over at Julian and Tia. "Aww look at Grammy's babies!" She says going over to hug them. "Hey, Grammy." They both say "Where have you been?!" She asks Julian, hitting his arm. "You people get grown up and don't even bother to make time for us old folks anymore! I haven't seen that grandson of mine in months and you had hair the last time I saw you!" Tia, Tyree, and Julian exchange looks because while she was right about the last time she saw Julian, Tyree has been there several times in the past few months but she doesn't remember because she wasn't lucid.
"Well we're here now Grammy, What do you want to do today?" Tyree asks, changing the subject and trying not to show the hurt on his face but everyone in the room saw it except for Grammy.
"Can we work on the puzzle?" She asks him with hope in her eyes. He'd gotten her a large puzzle of pictures with memories of things to help her remember things and people in her life. They work on it whenever he comes to visit and when it's all said and done he's going to have it framed for her.
He smiles at her. "Of course, let me go say hi to grand pop and we can get started." He tells her before walking off into their bedroom. He knocks on the door and opens it slowly. "Grandpop? It's me, Ty." He steps into the room and watches as his grandpa's eyes light up at the sight of him and the weak, frail, old man attempts to sit up. He rushes over to help him get comfortable. "Hey, you need anything?" He slowly raises a shaky hand and points to the tray of his food which consists of apple sauce and Ensure, orange juice, and a large variety of medication and vitamins. The nurse usually feeds him but she likes to leave for a few minutes while Tyree visits so that he can have some uninterrupted time with his grandparents, even if it's only fifteen minutes.
"Alright, you want this cold today?" He asks, picking up the room temperature Ensure. "Yes," Grandpop says weakly holding his oxygen mask. Tyree goes over to the mini fridge on the side of the bed and swaps it out for a cold one before gently sitting on the edge of the bed, opening it up, and letting him drink it through a straw, pulling it away ever so often for him to put the oxygen back on his face.
He goes into a coughing fit and starts coughing up blood and Tyree grabs the bucket off the tray to catch it all. "J!!" He calls in a panic. "J?!" He screams as Julian comes running into the room. "What happened?!" He asks, catching his breath.
"He's never coughed up this much blood before! This isn't normal right?!" He asks in a panic.
"T, breathe man," Julian says as he reads the chart at the foot of the bed. "He's alright," he says, putting the chart back.
"But the, the blood!" he says, pointing to the bucket.
"T, look at me." he grips his shoulder firmly until Tyree calms down. "He's okay for now, but at this point, it looks like they're just keeping him comfortable," he whispers to him.
"What? What are you talking about?" Tyree asks, confused.
"He's dying T," Julian says softly. Tyree shakes his head. "Well there has to be something that we can do," Tyree says with hope. Julian shakes his head, sadly. "What do you mean 'no'? You're saying there's nothing we can do?!" he asks starting to freak out again and Julian grabs his shoulder to calm him down. "I'm saying that he doesn't want to fight anymore!" he yells in a whisper. Tyree shakes his head. "No," he says turning away from him, causing Julian to grab him again. Yes, T that chart says that he started refusing chemo treatments months ago. He's no longer a candidate for a lung transplant. I'm saying that there's a DNR in that chart." Julian explains sadly but firmly.
Tyree pulls away from him and grabs the chart, skimming through it. All he sees is red as he reads the words on each page. How could have nobody told him about any of this?! He is responsible for the care of his grandparents so how dare the people in the home not inform him of this?! He storms out of the room, tossing the chart onto the foot of the bed. Julian sighs before walking over to Grandpop and moving the bucket from his lap before going into the bathroom and wetting a towel with cold water. He wipes the sweat off of his forehead before cleaning off the blood around his mouth. When he turns away, Grandpop grabs his arm, stopping him in his tracks. He looks over at him. Grandpop pulls the oxygen mask down, "I, I, I, I was going to tell him." he struggles to say in a raspy voice. "This is too much for him, me, and Ella, caring" he wheezes before holding the mask back up to his face for a few seconds. "Caring for us is too much for him and I'm so tired. I couldn't put this on him too." he starts to cough violently and Julian helps him get the mask back on. "It's okay, He'll be okay. It's just a lot for him right now." Grandpop points to the doorway, signaling Julian to go get his grandson. Julian nods in understanding. "Okay, I'll be right back," he says before leaving the room.
Meanwhile, in the other room, Tyree is pacing around angrily while the women try to figure out what is going on, but Tia tries to stop Grammy from getting worked up so she directs her attention back to the puzzle the women had started working on while waiting for Tyree. Mia walks over to him and grabs his hand to halt his pacing. "What's wrong?" she asks. He shakes his head and wipes a tear as Julian comes out of the room. "He's asking for you," Julian says. "I can't. I need a minute." "T," Julian starts to say before Tyree cuts him off. "I said I need a fuckin' minute J!" he snaps before storming out of the apartment. Tia, Julian, and Mia exchange looks before Tia stands up. "I'll go," she says, softly before following him out into the hallway.
She finds him in the hall, leaning up against the wall. "Ree? Talk to me. What's going on?"
"He's dying T!" He cries out. "And it's stupid because he has lung cancer on top of everything else, but I just thought we'd have more time."
"It's not stupid to hope Ree. Hope is what keeps us going and it's okay that this has thrown you off because no matter how prepared we think we are for this we never really are. All you can do is be there for him now."
"Today wasn't supposed to go like this." He says
"I know." She says, hugging him. "I know it wasn't, and I'm sorry."
"He's just giving up! If I had known, I would've been able to help him through this. Why wouldn't he tell me about this?!" He says, pulling out of the hug and standing next to her against the wall.
"Maybe this isn't 'giving up' for him. Maybe it's letting go. I don't know. I know that you are hurt and confused right now and you want to understand. I don't have the answers Ree, but you know who does? He can tell you everything that you need and want to know about all of this. Go talk to him."
"I don't know if I can go back in there, T!" He cries, breaking her heart. Tyree has always been the strong one no matter the situation he always seems to just sort of power through so to speak so to see him so broken and falling apart in front of her is heartbreaking. But this isn't about her right now it's about her best friend and being there for him.
"Yes, you can. It'll be hard but you can and we'll be here for you every step of the way. Just tell us what you need."
"I need to smoke some dope but ya pregnant ass won't be blowing trees for a long time!" He jokes, making her laugh and push him playfully.
"Yeah, his ass took me out the game!" She jokes back. "But I can still roll summin up for you and mix you a couple drinks."
He laughs. "I love your crazy ass man!"
"I love your annoying ass too!" She says nudging him with a smile. "You ready?" She asks as the nurse comes walking up the hallway. "I don't think so, but I also don't think that I will ever be so I might as well get it over with so I can spend some time with Grammy while she's still lucid."
"Okay, let's get it then!" She says, walking a little bit and putting out her hand when she realizes that he's not following her. He sighs, gets off of the wall, and takes her hand. "So are you gonna tell me why you're mad at him?" he asks. "Because he just started doing the most when I said that I hadn't eaten yet, then you didn't make it any better when you said that you never said that you were feeding me. Thanks for that by the way!" she rolls her eyes and he laughs. "Then he was all like 'feed my child!' as if I'm some type of bad mother who is starving her baby! Like I don't know that me and this baby need to eat! We weren't hungry then!" she rants "Oh come on, you know that he didn't mean it like that." "I don't know what the fuck he meant," she says sarcastically with a shrug. "Tia," he says sternly while giving her the side eye. "What?!" she exclaims, confused. "Is it possible that you're letting your insecurities about this pregnancy get the better of you?" she starts to protest, but he raises his eyebrow before she can even deny it. "Don't even answer the question, because we both already know the answer. Just go in there give him a hug, a kiss, and tell him you're sorry. Got my girl out here thinking that I just let y'all walk around in public acting like idiots with no home training! I raised y'all better than that!" he fuses making her laugh. "Yo, shut the fuck up!" she exclaims through her laughter. He opens the door for her and Mia, Grammy, and Julian are all relieved to hear them laughing when they walk through the door.
Grammy walks over to Tyree and places both of her hands on either side of his face, looking him in the eyes. "Are you alright baby?" He puts his hands on top of hers and smiles at her "I'm fine Grammy. Don't worry." She smiles back at him. "Good, because we are going to work on this puzzle until your grandfather wakes up from his nap!" "Lead the way then pretty lady!" he says, sticking out his arm for her to hold on to. And that's exactly how the five of them spent the next hour or so until Tyree and the nurse started to sense that she was losing her grip on reality and decided that it was best for her to go lie down in her room for a nap. Watching her just slip away like that is always hard for Tyree, but he is grateful that he managed to sneak away with her to have the conversation that he wanted to have before that happened. The visit didn't go exactly like he thought it would but he feels blessed, and after sitting down and talking to his grandpa for a while he understands his position better. He doesn't like it or necessarily agree with his decision but he decides to respect his wishes.
They go down to the desk and sign out then make their way to the parking lot. "Well thanks, I appreciate you guys for coming with me." "You're welcome," Mia says with a smile. "No problem." Tia says "Yeah, you know we got your back." Julian says. "Even though I technically had to invite myself," he adds with sarcasm. Tyree laughs, "Even still, I appreciate your ugly ass for showing up!" Tyree jokes, making him laugh. "It was nice to meet you, Mia." "You guys too!" she replies and Tia just smiles politely. "Alright bro, I'll see you later," Tyree says to Julian as they approach the cars. "Yeah, bye," Tia adds, dismissively. "Where are you going?" Julian asks, confused. "Home?" she replies equally confused. "Get in the car." he says, opening his passenger door for her. "I thought you were going back to work." "I have time to drop you off." She rolls her eyes and gets ready to respond by saying something smart when Tyree discreetly raises his eyebrow at her. She huffs before hugging him. "Does your offer from earlier still stand?" She asks, referring to when he asked her if she wanted him to beat Julian up. "Goodbye, take yo ass on!" he pushes her away from him as they both laugh.
"Bye guys!" she waves before climbing into Julian's car. He closes the door behind her then goes over to say his goodbyes to Tyree and Mia before getting into his car. They start driving in silence then five minutes later her phone rings and she immediately ignores the call without bothering to see who it is because she doesn't feel like talking on the phone right now. "You could have answered that." He jokes. "Gee thanks for giving me permission!" She says sarcastically while rolling her eyes. He sighs. "Okay, what's up with this attitude?" He asks, frustrated.
"This morning I told you how scared I am about this pregnancy and everything and then here you come talking to me and acting as if I'm being a bad mother or something!" She rants, angrily wiping away a tear.
"What are you talking about? I never said that." He says, scrunching his face up in confusion as he briefly looks over at her.
"You didn't have to! You just started throwing bullshit my way the second I said that I hadn't eaten yet."
"Well that's because you need to eat in general but even more so now that you're pregnant."
She huffs in anger. "Well did it ever occur to you that I wasn't fuckin' hungry?! Or the fact that I know that I am sharing my body with a baby so I also know that both of us need to eat and when we need to do it?!" She yells. "I mean damn, it was one meal and you were acting like I had been starving this baby for days!"
"You missing meals isn't good for the baby, especially breakfast." He explains.
"Yeah well, neither is it's daddy stressing me the fuck out!" She snaps.
"I'm stressing you out by caring about the wellbeing of you and our child?!" He asks in disbelief.
"That's not what I'm saying and you know it!" She says as he pulls into her driveway.
"Then what are you saying?! Because I'm not understanding why you're upset about me wanting you to eat. I never said or was trying to imply that you are a bad mother. All I was doing was making sure that you had food."
She scoffs, getting out of the car. He sighs and follows her into the house. "God, I need a drink! But don't worry I'm not going to actually have one!" She says with her voice dripping full of sarcasm.
"Cut the shit Tia, I just told you that I didn't mean it like that!"
"Yes you did!" She says, ignoring another call from her brother.
"Just answer the phone!" He yells, in frustration.
"I can't! It's my brother and I can't lie to him by omission because I don't tell him that I'm pregnant!"
"Don't get mad at me you're the one who decided to keep the pregnancy a secret! With the exception of my mother and anyone who would end up telling her, I don't give a damn who we do or don't tell!"
"You were all gung-ho for that plan when I brought it up"
"Cause that's what you wanted and like I said it wasn't that big of deal to me, but we're getting off topic. What did I say that gave you the impression that I think you're a bad mom?"
"Well for starters, it was the way that your attitude changed when we were on the phone then your rude ass hung up in my face! And then when I got out of the car, instead of greeting me like you had some sense you decided to stare at me with angry eyes. Talking about "feed my child!"
"I was frustrated because I felt like you were brushing it off and your scatterbrained ass would forget to eat before you got pregnant so I was frustrated with the fact that you could do that now that you're pregnant. Not because you're a bad mom or on purpose but because it's possible. Then when I tried to give you the food you didn't want to take it."
"Because you were giving it to me with an attitude and your rude ass knew I wanted McDonald's but your petty ass didn't go on purpose!"
He sighs. "How many times do I have to tell you that McDonald's isn't healthy for you?"
"It's never been! And it's not supposed to be!" She explains, frustrated. "It's McDonald's! We all know that the food ain't healthy!" She says, throwing her hands in the air. Her phone dings with a text this time.
Favi: Okay, you have ten seconds to answer the phone before I fly to California and start the search party.
She reads as a FaceTime call comes through. She sighs before answering.
"Glad to see that you're alive!" He says sarcastically.
"no empieces." (Don't start.) she says with a sigh.
"¿Por qué te ves así?" (Why do you look like that?)
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?!" She asks, offended.
"No quise decir eso, solo quise decir que te ves molesta" (I didn't mean it like that, I just meant that you look upset.) he explains, cautiously.
"I am, but wassup?"
"¿Qué pasa?" (What's the matter?)
"No quiero hablar de eso ahora." (I don't want to talk about it right now.)
"Vale, bueno, te he estado llamando porque ya terminé de trabajar en Miami y como hablamos de que regresaría antes de regresar a casa, quería ver a qué hora debería reservar el vuelo." (okay, well I've been calling you because I'm done working in Miami and since we talked about me coming back out there before I head home I wanted to see what time I should book the flight for)
"Oh, lo siento, me olvidé de eso. Puedes reservarlo para el momento que quieras y luego avísame cuándo aterrizarás." (oh, I'm sorry I forgot about that. you can book it for any time you want and then just let me know when you're going to land.)
She sits down on the couch and Julian checks the time on his Apple Watch before walking over to her. "I have to head back to work. We'll finish this conversation later on tonight." He says, kissing her forehead.
"Okay." She says, dryly.
"Hey Julian." PJ says with a smile. "Hey PJ, how's it going?"
"Pretty good, I'm heading y'all's way in a little bit. How are you?"
"Oh okay that's wassup! I'm doing good, just about to go back to work now but I'll see you when you get here."
"Alright man, have a good one."
"Thanks, you too."
"Favi, let me call you back. Text me your flight details when you book it."
"Alright, see y'all later." He says, hanging up.
Tia sits there as Tyree's words soak in her head. She is wrong for projecting her insecurities about this pregnancy onto him and he's wrong for having an attitude. "I don't know what it is about all this that has me doubting and second guessing myself, and while I don't appreciate the fact that your rude ass got an attitude and hung up in my face..."
He snickers and she glares at him. You're right, did have an attitude and regardless of what my reasons were I shouldn't have acted that way. I'm sorry, but I only hung up because I didn't want you to try and convince me to go and get you some nuggets." She laughs a little because that's exactly what she was going to do. "I know that the baby likes them, but I need you to try and find other things that she likes because I can't have you eating that stuff all the time. Can you at least try to do that for me?" She nods. "And I'm sorry for making you feel like I was insinuating that you aren't or won't be a good mother."
"No, I was projecting my insecurities onto you and that wasn't fair. I should have talked to you about how you made me feel. I'm sorry baby." she apologizes, wiping a tear from her eye.
"Don't cry baby, I know that you're used to dealing with your thoughts and emotions by yourself, but that was before. I'm here now, and this isn't the first time I've told you to stop keeping things from me. I don't understand, you talk to me about everything else but when it comes to your feelings you shut down and bottle them up." he says, sitting down next to her.
"That's because no one other than my Pop cared about what I was thinking and feeling or at least that's how I felt for years. Then I moved here and met Ree, but because we both had our own set of issues we had to make each other open up in ways that we never had to before. Then I met Taylor and I'll admit that it's still hard with her sometimes but we've made some progress. It's just easier to go back to what I've always done without even thinking about it or realizing that it's happening until it's already happening. It's not you specifically, it's just something that I need to work on because I don't want to shut you out."
"I understand that, but I'm not going anywhere. We're building a life together so you're gonna have to trust me with more and I'm going have to learn how to practice patience with you when it comes to that. We'll work on it, but I really do need to go now." he says, looking at his watch again. She stops herself from pouting because now that she's not mad at him anymore, she doesn't want him to leave. He stands up and looks down at her. "Are you gonna kiss me goodbye this time or are you still mad at me?" he asks, then she stands up and kisses him.
"Thank you." he says with a smile. "Go get some rest because I have something for that ass when I get back." he says, with a wink and just like that he's out the door and she's dripping with anticipation. "Motherfucker did that on purpose." she mumbles to herself while walking off to her room to take a nap.
~~~~~~~~~
Tyree and Mia are chilling at his house watching tv after they just finished eating lunch. "Hey?" Mia calls, drawing his attention away from the television. "Yeah?" He asks. "How are you feeling about everything?" He explained what happened earlier that caused him to be so upset while they had lunch, but he didn't talk about his feelings about it all he just told her what happened. "I feel how you would expect, sad that he's dying and when he does I'm probably going to be the one who has to explain it to Grammy over. I feel ashamed for not knowing or noticing what was going on. I feel hurt, but he is going to die and then he will be another person that I have lost. I feel angry that the home didn't tell me about anything that has been going on because despite him telling them not to I needed to know. I understand why he didn't want to know because I most certainly would have put a stop to that shit, and I even understand why he's doing this. I mean having Lung Cancer is just one of his bigger health problems, he's tired of fighting everything and nothing all at once. Logically speaking, it makes sense but that's my grandpa!" He rants, crying. She scoots over and holds him while he cries. She's sad for him, she remembers what it was like losing her sister so she just decides to comfort him with reassurance. "I'm sorry that you're going through this and I'm here for you." He doesn't respond but he kisses her hand that is hanging over his chest as his 'Thank you'.