Checkmate 3: Playtime's Over

by Tiece

  “She weighs six pounds ten ounces.” The nurse said.

  Mona was exhausted, but managed to smile at the sound of her daughter’s loud cry for attention. She felt blessed to have made it through such a hard and painful period of her life. She didn’t realize that giving birth would take so much energy and hard work, but it did.

  Rico kissed her on the lips. “We did it baby.” He said.

  She looked over at him. “I believe I did that.” She commented looking over at their baby being handed to Rico by the nurse. He kissed their daughter on the forehead and allowed Mona a tearful embrace with their baby girl.

  Catherine cried from the feeling of joy running through her veins. It was the best feeling in the world to see her baby having a baby. She was excited about MJ being born, but nothing could replace what she’d just witnessed.

  Mona sighed when the nurse reached for the baby. They were going to clean her up and put Mona in a private room. The new mom hated to let go, but knew that she and her daughter would be reunited again soon.

  **********

  Monty sat in the waiting room with Joe. He was holding MJ while he slept in his arms. He kissed him on the forehead and looked down at his watch. An hour had passed since he left Candy’s house and she still hadn’t showed up to the hospital. For that matter he hadn’t heard from MiKayla, either.

  He reached in his pocket and pulled out his cell phone to call MiKayla. He didn’t want to seem that coldhearted about her having his baby, because deep down he didn’t want her to lose it because of him. It was his fault that Candy had left him, not MiKayla’s. He called her phone, but she didn’t answer. He decided to leave a voicemail message then he hung up.

  I wonder what’s up with that. He dialed her number again, and again she didn’t answer. Maybe she’ll get my message and call me back. He started hoping that things were alright with her. He knew that stress could be major for her in this condition, but if the Lord meant for her to have their baby then she would. He strongly believed in that.

  **********

  MiKayla had checked herself into the hospital emergency room at Trinity. She was laid back in the bed feeling hopeless. She ignored all the calls from Monty since she didn’t want to talk to him. Her eyes were red as fire from crying. She had started bleeding and just knew that she’d lost the baby.

  The nurse came in and put a heart monitor on her stomach to try to track the baby’s heartbeat, but they heard nothing. Maybe it’s too soon to hear something, the nurse thought, but the only heartbeat thumping was MiKayla’s and it was almost beating out of her chest because she was so weary.

  Had she put herself first again and failed another baby? She laid there crying as the doctor stepped into the room. He had ordered for the nurse to bring in a sonogram machine. His thoughts had already told him what was going on, but he wanted to make sure.

  He rubbed the cold gel on her stomach and pressed the device up against her skin. He looked at MiKayla speechless. He went from one side of her stomach to the other side and nothing. She cried thinking that she would surely kill Candy and Monty if her baby was gone.

  The doctor looked at the disappointed look on her face. “I’m sorry to tell you this, but you aren’t pregnant.” He said. She was confused as she looked at him.

  “Please don’t tell me that I’ve lost my baby.” She cried out.

  “No ma’am… I’m sorry but you didn’t lose a baby.” The doctor stated. His words sunk deeper in her mind.

  “What do you mean?” She asked wiping her tears as the confusion took over. “What do you mean? I took two pregnancy tests. I was feeling all the signs.”

  “I’m sorry but you were never pregnant.” He said. “Your hormones were reacting in a way that made you think and feel like you were pregnant, but clearly honey you’re not. We even tested your urine here, as well.” She still looked confused. “This happens to a lot of women. Stress and anxiety can cause this feeling, but you’re not pregnant. You are menstruating now, but you’re not bleeding due to losing a baby.”

  He tapped her on the leg. “Keep trying, it’s sure to happen.” He said trying to brighten her up. “The nurse will be in with your release papers shortly.” He walked out.

  In a way MiKayla was relieved that she hadn’t lost her baby, but it hit her that she was never pregnant. All the drama that had occurred at her home was really for no reason at all. The hope of making Candy miserable was all for nothing. She desperately wanted a baby by Monty, but didn’t know where things actually stood between them now. She was heartbroken, but had to think of a way to bounce back so she laid there trying to get her thoughts together before she signed her release papers to go home.

  **********

  Catherine walked into the waiting room with a big smile on her face. She was elated to tell Monty and Joe about the arrival of her granddaughter.

  “Y’all have got to see her. She is adorable and already fat.” She laughed. Monty grinned, because he was happy that things went well with the delivery.

  “How is Sis?” He asked.

  “Your sister is doing great.”

  “How much does the baby weigh?” Joe asked.

  “She weighs six pounds and ten ounces. I thought she would have been bigger than that.”

  “Yeah, how big Mona was,” Monty interjected. Catherine looked at him a smile.

  “She’ll hurt you if she heard you say that.” They laughed. “Hand me MJ and go on back and see her. She is in room 377. I’ll sit out here with Joe until you come back out.” Monty handed her MJ and headed down the hallway. He was anxious to see Mona and the baby, but heartbroken at the same time from losing Candy.

  He stepped inside the room looking over at Mona with a smile. Rico was standing by her bed and Monty walked over to greet him with a hug.

  “What’s up, Bruh?” Rico asked.

  “Ain’t nothing, Bruh,” he responded. “I’m glad to see you still standing. I thought you would’ve fell out in there.”

  “Yeah, it’s a sight I’ll never forget.” They laughed.

  “How are you, Sis?”

  “I’m good. I feel a little a sleepy, but I’m waiting for them to bring my baby back in here.”

  “Where is she?” Monty asked. “In the nursery?”

  “Yeah she’s in the nursery. Your niece will be in here shortly. The nurses are making sure that she’s clean. They also wanted to run a few tests to make sure that she’s healthy as can be.” She smiled. “I can’t wait for you to see her.”

  “I can’t wait, either.” He said and grabbed his cell phone. He hesitated for a bit but then decided to text Candy and let her know that the baby was born and that Mona needed her. He knew that deep down inside he was the one who really needed her. Hoping that she would at least text him back, he sat down and waited patiently for the nurse to bring his niece in the room.

  **********

  Candy lay on her bed. She felt full from the pain as if it was a 32 ounce steak and she had eaten the whole thing. She literally felt sick and cringed with each thought of MiKayla and Monty having a baby together. The thought that Monty wasn’t ever going to fulfill her dreams of them being a happy lil family together was devastating. How could she be with a man who had deceived her in such a way? In her mind, she couldn’t. He had hurt her beyond repair and she wasn’t putting up with his bullshit anymore.

  She sighed and turned over looking for her cell phone. She picked it up and saw Monty’s text. Immediately, she deleted it not wanting to have anything to do with him. The only someone who kept them bonded was MJ and she knew that she didn’t have to be with him to raise their son properly.

  She sighed thinking hard about it truly being over between them. The thoughts were still unsettling and fresh in her mind. She knew the pain wouldn’t end over night but it would and she was going to hold on to faith that it would be soon.

  Thinking that at this point her friendship with Mona definitely overrode any feelings she had for Monty, she placed a call to
the hospital. “Will you please connect me to Mona Bank’s room?” She asked the operator.

  “Sure, just one moment,” the operator replied.

  The phone in Mona’s room began to ring.

  “Hello,” Rico answered.

  “Hey Rico,” Candy said. “Congrats on your baby girl.”

  “Thanks Candy,” Rico responded. Monty looked up. It felt good to know that Candy had at least called. That meant that she had to have read his text.

  “Is my bestie able to talk?” She asked.

  “Yeah, she’s laying here waiting for the nurse to bring our daughter back in. Here she is. Hold on,” he said passing Mona the phone.

  “Hey baby cakes,” Mona answered.

  “Hey my bestie,” Candy responded, trying to sound perky. “How is the new mom feeling?”

  “The new mom feels ecstatic. I am so excited to hold her in my arms again.” Mona responded.

  “Did you and Rico decide on her name?”

  “Yeah we did. We decided to go with Caylin Amani Mack and she is beautiful.”

  “Aww, I know she is and I can’t wait to come see her.”

  “Why aren’t you here yet?” Mona asked.

  Monty looked over at Rico. “Le’me holla at you in the hallway right quick,” He said. Rico kissed Mona on the lips and walked out in the hallway with Monty.

  “Honey I had a rough morning.” Candy responded. “I’m just getting myself together, but I’m coming. You know I’ma have to come see my niece, Miss Caylin Amani Mack.” She smiled at the sound of Caylin’s name. She loved it and was happy that MJ wasn’t the only baby in the family now. “Uh, where is your brother?”

  “Your baby daddy is in the hallway talking to my baby daddy.” Mona grinned. “He’s waiting to see his niece.”

  “I know he is happy that y’all are okay.” She didn’t want to spoil Mona’s good mood with bad news about her and Monty breaking up. She knew that Mona would be so disappointed that he let her down. “How is your mom? I know she is on cloud nine.”

  “You know she is smiling from ear to ear. She actually left outta here so she could go get bad ass because Monty was anxious to get in here.”

  “Well, I’m getting myself together now so that I can come get my baby and see my new niece.” She grinned while pinning her hair up in the mirror. Her eyes looked like she’d been crying for weeks. She quickly pulled out the drawer on her nightstand and grabbed her Visine eye drops. She put two drops in each eye and batted them quickly in hopes that it worked faster.

  “I know one thang. You need to hurry up because you shoulda been here when Caylin was born.”

  “I know and I can’t lie. Your mama tried to call me and your brother even told me, but at the time I couldn’t make it.” She said not trying to reveal too much.

  “Is everything okay?” Mona asked.

  “Yeah it is or shall I say it will be. But, nevertheless it is you and Caylin’s day and we’ll talk about what’s going on with me later.” Candy stated.

  Mona knew she wasn’t going to let it ride, but she was going to go along with it for the time being. “Okay I’ma leave it alone, but get over here now.”

  “I will, but I gotta go because Dee is beeping in on the other line.”

  “Okay,” Mona responded and ended their call. Candy clicked over while grabbing her keys and walking out of her house.

  **********

  “What’s up, cousin?” She answered.

  “Hey Cuz… I called to tell you that I’ll be back home tonight.” She said.

  “I like the way you said home. You must not be planning on going back to Texas like that.”

  “Only to visit Mama,” Dee responded. “It was so much crazy shit going on here until I’m just ready to come back. You know I’ll fill you in on it later.”

  “And you know I can’t wait,” Candy responded. “Have a safe trip.”

  “I will,” Dee said and they ended the call. Candy was happy to know that Dee would be back. She needed her company there to help with the pain of losing and getting over Monty. Dee sounded like she had some juicy news to talk about, but Candy knew that hers was probably juicier.

  **********

  Monty and Rico stood out in the hallway. Rico was in shock at the events that had taken place earlier between Monty, Candy, and MiKayla.

  “Damn man,” Rico commented.

  “Yeah bruh… she must’ve followed me from the office this morning or something. It makes perfect sense now, because I didn’t know that she had even come by the office.”

  “It’s my fault that shit went down like that, because I shoulda called you.” Rico shook his head with disappointment as he thought back. “I was just about to call you then Mama called and I forgot all about it after talking to her.”

  “Don’t beat yourself up about it. It is what it is. I just hated for Candy to find out about me and MiKayla like that. I mean, I didn’t want her to ever find out about us to be honest.”

  Rico felt bad for his boy. “Damn Bruh, and now she know about the baby.”

  “Yep and that was my fault. I blurted that shit out. I mean, the shit happened so fast and the only way I could stop them from tearing through each other’s throat was to remind MiKayla that she was pregnant.” Rico could feel Monty’s pain as he stood there in silence. “I could see the hurt in Candy’s eyes as soon as I looked in her face.”

  “Damn Bruh, I don’t know what to say. This shit got me fucked up.”

  “So apparently…” Rico thought back continuing to analyze it all. “She overheard you on the phone because she never made herself known that she was even there, and then she went back out to her car and waited to follow you.”

  “You’re right. It wasn’t nothing but she’d heard me tell MiKayla that I was coming over and she waited.”

  “Yep,” Rico commented. Monty’s heart ached for hurting Candy, but he smiled when he noticed the nurse walking up to them with Caylin.

  “What are you gonna do now?” Rico asked.

  “Well right now I’m going to introduce myself to my niece.” He said as the nurse smiled.

  “Here’s your baby,” she said to Rico. “She’s been napping, even while I washed her off. It seems that all this one wants to do is sleep.” They grinned.

  “I hope she’s like this at night.” Rico said. He was smiling from ear to ear.

  “A lot of parents wish for the same thing,” the nurse said with a grin and walked off.

  “Meet your uncle and your Daddy’s best friend,” He said in baby talk. He smiled like a proud father should and reached in the bassinet for her. He softly kissed her on the cheek and handed her to Monty. Monty smiled so hard. This was also a proud moment for him as well. He was excited to see that his niece was healthy and so beautiful. She was a new addition to their family and this was something that he could feel good about.

  “Man,” he said. “She is beautiful.” He stared at her as if he couldn’t look away. He was smitten. “Hey Caylin,” he whispered.

  “She got you hooked too now.”

  “Yeah, she does.” Monty responded.

  “Let’s go back inside the room before your sister comes out here looking for us.” Rico said.

  “You’re right about that and I don’t wanna hear her mouth.” Monty grinned and followed Rico back inside the room.

  “I see you’ve met your niece,” Mona said.

  “Yeah and she is the prettiest girl in the room.” Monty said not removing his focus off of Caylin’s small round face.

  “I don’t know if you were trying to be funny, but as long as it’s Caylin you’re talking about I’ll take that.” Mona replied as they laughed.

  **********

  Meanwhile, MiKayla stood in the restroom staring at herself in the mirror. She was so distraught that she hadn’t mustered up the nerve to leave the hospital yet. She looked down at her phone and saw only the missed calls from Monty.

  Damn, I should have called him back by now or at leas
t listened to his message already. He could be here looking for me. She thought, but she was so caught up with not being pregnant until she didn’t know how to face him. She put the phone to her ear after dialing her voicemail. Monty’s voice chimed in.