Coveted

by Mychea

  Mrs. Cynthia looked at me long and hard, “Ok I believe you. Go on in the powder room and wash your hands, I take it you’ll be staying for dinner?”

  I smiled down at her, “Yes ma’am I will be.”

  The mystery woman didn’t make an appearance at dinner; I just know I knew her from somewhere. Naima’s luminous hazel eyes had been shining all night that made it easy not to dwell on the girl she said was her half sister. I was excited because Naima was excited. I know her mannerisms well. She couldn’t seem to stop smiling and talking. This is a good sign with her. Every time she caught me eyeing her across the dinner table, she would twirl a piece of her hair in between her fingers. I was making her nervous. Seeing her like this had me reminiscing about our high school days. The times when I would see her in the hall or at cheerleading practice, she would be doing the same thing. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t love the effect I had on her.

  “Kaden,” Naima calling my name interrupted my thoughts, “Yes?”

  “Did you want to tuck the kids in with me? I’m sure they would like that.”

  She had no idea; I would do anything with her. Who cared what it was. “Of course I will help you put them to bed.” Walking up the stairs behind her, I began to wonder what I was thinking when I was stepping out on her so much. She was everything I always wanted and needed. Mrs. Cynthia had hit the nail right on the head. The only reason I stepped out on Naima is that I was selfish. I wanted to have my cake and eat it too. Only problem, I was stepping out with cupcakes, when I had cheesecake at home. Why do we men always take the hard road?

  Entering Namiyah’s room, she was already knocked out. It was as if I were seeing her for the first time. She looked like a smaller version of me with a whole lot of hair. I smiled as I leaned down and placed a kiss on her forehead. I couldn’t remember the last time I had helped tuck our kids in. Retreating out of Namiyah’s you and entering Kalani’s room, was like going into another world. Kalani was wide-awake and standing up in the crib waiting for someone to come in and get him.

  “Do you mind getting him? I’m going to go change into my pajamas and come back, ok?”

  “Sure,” I told Naima, “take all the time you need.”

  Walking over to the crib, I picked up Kalani and sat into the rocking chair. There was a miniature bookshelf next to the chair and I picked a book with fairytales. Laying Kalani across my chest, I began to read to him. I must have dozed off because I awoke to a flash going off in my face. Looking up I saw Naima standing at the doorway with a camera smiling.

  “He wore you out huh?” I heard her say as I rose to put a sleeping Kalani in his crib.

  I laughed. “I think I wore him out by reading stories of frogs turning into princes. He went to sleep to avoid the torture.”

  Laughing Naima cut off the lamp next to his crib and I followed her into the hallway.

  “It’s a little late. D.C. is pretty far from here. Did you want to stay in one of the guest rooms so you don’t have to drive so far tonight?”

  Did I want to stay? Was this woman serious? Of course, I wanted to stay. “Yeah, I’ll head out in the morning stay in the guest room tonight, unless I can stay with you?”

  “Kaden, don’t even go there aight. The guest room will be fine for you.”

  “Hey, you can’t blame a brother for trying.” I said as I turned to follow her to the other end of the hall where the guest room was located. As soon as she cut the light on for me in the room, she was already trying to get around me to leave. Catching her up into my arms, I caught her off guard.

  “Kaden put me down.” She was beginning to blush again, I watched as the redness crept up her face.

  “I’ll put you down if you give me a good night kiss.”

  “Kaden, I told you, I’m not going there with you tonight.”

  “Come on Mocha,” I said deepening my voice for added effect, “can’t you see this frog wants to be turned into a prince?”

  Tilting her head up and looking at me with those dreamy hazel eyes of hers were my undoing. Bending my head down, I captured her lips in a sultry kiss that I had been yearning to give her for the longest time. I could feel her resistance; she was going to fight me tooth and nail. Breaking the kiss slightly, “Don’t fight me Mocha. I know you still love me. Give me a chance to prove to you I can love you better than before.” I felt her hesitate and I seized the moment. I covered her lips with mine again and when she opened her mouth slightly and moaned softly, I unleashed all the passion I had been suppressing over the last few months. I kissed her for all the years she had stood by my side, for all the memories that we had created, for the two babies she had graciously given me and for all the bull, I had put her through. I rolled my whole heartfelt apology into that one kiss that I wanted seared into her soul.

  Pulling away slowly almost as if she didn’t want to. Naima turned her head towards the floor. “Kaden please put me down.”

  Knowing that I had probably pushed her too far, I lowered her feet to the floor. Without looking back my way, she turned and headed towards her room leaving a muffled “good night” in her wake. I was tempted to follow her but my cell phone vibrating in my pocket stopped me. Reaching in my pocket to retrieve the phone, I saw the name flashing across the screen, and went into the guest room instead and shut the door.

  Answering on the third ring, “Haven, it is late. Is something wrong with Kaven?”

  There was silence on the other end of the phone. Looking down at the phone to make sure the call was still connected I said “Hello?” into the receiver.

  Finally, I heard Haven’s voice on the line. “Sorry for calling so late Kaden,” I could barely hear her. Her tone was so soft. This was something that I wasn’t used to from Haven.

  I sat on the edge of the bed and began to get concerned. Haven didn’t sound like herself, something must be wrong.

  “Haven, are you ok? You sound a little funny.”

  “What’s funny is that everything is out of sorts. But I feel really good right now.”

  “Ok, then what is the reason for this late night phone call? I told you I was not coming over for any more overnight visits. Naima is my main concern and I’m trying my best to make things up to her.”

  “Kaden, you have nothing to worry about. I didn’t call to invite you over. Matter of fact you never have to worry about that again.” I was in a state of shock. Haven said her last statement with so much conviction behind it.

  “Really, and what brought about this change of heart?”

  “It really doesn’t matter, what matters is the reason why I called you this late. I feel that it is time to clear the air.” I heard he take a deep breath before continuing,” “Kaven isn’t your son. I know this is a messed up way to tell you, over the phone and all but, I needed to get that out in the open. I didn’t want to spend another day living a lie. I’m trying to work on me.”

  I had all but tuned her out after she said Kaven wasn’t my son. Did this crazy bitch mean to tell me that I had been paying her out the ass all these years for a child that wasn’t even mine? Something in me snapped.

  “You scheming, conniving, malicious little bitch. How could you do this to me? I took care of you and Kaven gave you a much better life then you would ever have been able to afford on your own, and the whole time your plotting ass has known he wasn’t my child but still been taking my money.” I had to stop talking; I was ready to kill her ass. It was taking everything within me not to drive over her house and strangle the shit out of her ass. I had put my marriage in jeopardy. Everything because I thought I had a tie to this woman, only to realize that she had been living a lie and none of it was real.

  A soft knock came at the door as it was slowly pushed open; I moved the phone away from my ear as Naima poked her head in. “Is everything ok in here? I can hear you shouting all the way at the other end of the hall.”

  I didn’t know what to say to her. What I did know however, is that I was done keeping secrets from her. That
shit had never worked out in the past. I waved her into the room, to which she promptly entered and shut the door behind her.

  Putting the phone back up to my ear, having calmed down, somewhat I felt I was ready to address Haven again, “ I want you to know that I will be taking you to court and suing you for back pay of all the money I paid you over the last seven years. I want every cent of my money back.”

  “Kaden, I understand that you are angry and I figured you would want your money back, so I am more than prepared to see you in court.”

  “Good.” I told her and ended the call. In one aspect, I was happy about the news she had given. I was finally free from her.

  Seeing Naima waiting patiently by the door, I remembered that I had to tell her what was going on. Hating to bring up Haven’s name because I knew it would infuriate Naima, I had no choice, I wanted her to know the truth.

  “That was Haven calling to inform me that Kaven is not my son. The whole thing was a lie that she fabricated back in college.”

  Naima looked at me with an unreadable expression in her eyes, before turning and leaving the room as silently as she had come.

  Damir 26

  April is always such a rainy mouth. I swear it had rained everyday and there seemed to be no end in sight. I was heading down the beltway trying in vain to make it on time to Amber’s doctor appointment, which was proving more and more to be nearly impossible. I wanted to give up and turn around but at long last we were finding out the sex of the baby and I couldn’t help but be a little excited. Even though the circumstances were not the best, I always said I couldn’t wait to have children.

  After what seemed like an eternity, I was finally pulling into the parking lot of the doctor’s office. I was about fifteen minutes late, and if I knew Amber, which I did, she was going to be pissed off. I declare, if I could make money predicting the future, I would because sure enough as soon as I walked through the room door Amber was jumping down my throat.

  “You are late. Where have you been?” she hissed at me through barely parted lips.

  I sat down in a chair placed in the corner of the room not dignifying her question with a response. So what I was a couple minutes late. I was here wasn’t I? That was more than some guys would do considering the way she had gotten pregnant.

  “Do you hear me talking to you?”

  Damn, I felt sorry for my kid, if this was the way Amber acted toward me I can only imagine what she was going to do when she had a kid around full time doing things she didn’t approve of.

  I sighed before responding to her, “Amber what do you want from me? I am here as I said I would be. I’m trying my best to make the most of a jacked up situation, a situation that was decided for me and then dropped into my lap.”

  She proceeded to cross her arms and huff some more. I could care less. Women were starting to wear me out. Once upon a time, I would have gone out of my way to make sure that women were happy. But where did that shit get me? Nowhere but on edge. I had become paranoid. I always have a suspicion that Emeri is going to be lurking in shadows waiting for a fatal moment to strike. Sometimes I would swear on my sister’s grave that I was being followed but whenever I investigated, it turned out to be nothing. These women were making me lose my mind. And all the while, I was missing Naima. I hadn’t spoken to her in over three weeks. I couldn’t count the number of times I had picked up the phone to give her a call and hung up just as the first ring was going through.

  My life was in turmoil. I didn’t know what direction I was supposed to be going in at this point. Everything was a mess.

  The doctor entered just as I was about to go off the deep end in my mind. Thank goodness for divine intervention.

  “How are you two doing today?” “We’re fine” Amber answered in a brash tone. He had come in with such an upbeat attitude, something that we definitely needed in this room because all Amber was doing was depressing me. I looked at the doctor. He seemed pleasant enough. He was Native American and stood about 5’7. His name was Dr. Gupta and I liked him immediately. Maybe he could help me get through this pregnancy a little better with Amber.

  “Well young people, let’s get started shall we. Can you lay back for me ma’am?” Amber laid back and shifted her hospital gown so the doctor could put the gel onto her belly. “I take it you are anxious to know the sex of the baby,” he said eye balling the two of us. “Yes Sir, we are.” I took the liberty of saying before Amber could open her mouth.

  He continued to move the funny little contraption over Amber’s belly and I was all into the screen. I had no idea what I was looking at however. I looked over at him for some direction. Seeing my confusion he began to point things out, “See right there we have the baby’s head, and a little further down we have the arms.” The more he pointed things out, the more I could actually see the baby taking form for myself. It was amazing. I had never been in a room looking at a monitor with a baby, my baby on it before. I was more than a little in awe of the entire situation.

  “This is a little strange” My heart immediately did a somersault in my chest. I felt like my ribs were caving in. I couldn’t imagine something being wrong with the baby.

  “It would seem as if congratulations are in order.” Dr. Gupta looked up from the monitor at us. “You are going to be the proud parents of twins. One baby was hiding behind the other one.” I felt rather than heard Amber gasp. I could understand her reaction completely.

  “Doctor, do you mean to tell me that there are two babies in there?”

  “That is what I am telling you,” he looked down at the chart, for my name, “Mr. Collins.”

  “Would you two like to know what they are now?” There was too much going on for me to comprehend.

  I was still reeling from the news that I would be welcoming two babies into the world instead of one. Amber spoke up that time.

  “Yes Doctor. We would like to know the sexes of the babies.”

  “Well”, the doctor said as he went back to moving the little mouse looking thing over Amber’s belly. “From the looks of what we have here, I can identify what seems to be a boy and a girl. Congratulations.”

  After that, he turned the machine off, gave Amber something to wipe off her belly and left the room.

  Wow. I had come in today to find out the sex of one baby and here I was having two. What were the odds of that happening? Leaning down to help Amber up as she tried to rise off the bed, I wondered how she was feeling about the whole situation.

  “That was some news huh?” I felt like I should say something. Amber had all but shut down from me.

  “Yeah, definitely news I didn’t want to hear.” I don’t know why I bothered with this woman. I knew she didn’t want children at all. That had been one of our issues. So I can imagine she was probably more than a little peeved.

  “Amber, don’t you think that you should try to be excited. Look at all the people in the world that are unable to have kids and we have been bestowed the blessing of having two. This is a great thing. Even if you can’t be happy for you, be happy on my account. I am thrilled.” I couldn’t hold my grin back any longer. I may not have planned for Amber to be the mother of my children, but for whatever reason the cards had dealt me this hand and I was going to play the hand that I was dealt to the best of my ability.

  “How can you stand over there grinning? What about me? What am I supposed to do with two babies? I was hard pressed trying to figure out what to do with one.” She shook her head in disbelief, “This is the nightmare that just will not end.” I wasn’t totally emotionless, part of me wanted to go to her. But part of me thought she was being selfish. Everything had always been about her. She was the one that had schemed to get pregnant. Now that things weren’t working out to her benefit, she was the one trying to pull a guilt trip. I was not going to allow it. She needed to own up to what she had done.

  “Amber, if I’m not mistaken, you are the one that felt the need to get pregnant. This was your doing.” I turned her so tha
t she would have to look at me, instead of rummaging through her purse as if she was in search for something, “I’m sorry that things didn’t work out the way you hoped they would between us. But please don’t take it out on our babies. They are something we both share. Not just you and I’m doing the best I can to be here for you despite the circumstance that brought us here. Because no matter which way you twist this situation, we still made them together, and I’m sure we had fun doing it, from what I recall of all our encounters.”

  There is was a little gleam in her eye. I had stoked her ego enough to make her cheer up a little bit. I wasn’t asking for much, just a little bit of some cheer. She sat back on the hospital bed as gracefully as she could at six months pregnant.

  “Damir, I know you’re happy and want me to rejoice with you. But I want you to try and understand where I am coming from.” I could see the moisture in her eyes; I had never taken Amber for the overly emotional type. The pregnancy hormones must have had her all out of whack.

  “I am pregnant by the man I am in love with. A man who is no longer interested in me, it was never part of my plan to be a single parent.” She started crying full out then. What was I supposed to do? I wasn’t the one that had forged this situation. But obviously, her being so upset could not be a good thing for the babies. I needed some time to think. “I’ll be right back,” I told her as I headed out into the hall.

  Maybe it was time for me to start acting like the man my parents raised me to be. I was the one that decided to lay down with Amber. Even though she schemed, no protection is one hundred percent accurate so she still might have gotten pregnant either way and truth be told it’s not like she hadn’t been a good woman to me. Because she had, and she was sexy beyond belief. Many men wanted Amber but she made her own decisions and she had chosen me.