Chapter 23

Chapter 23

The next six months were boring, to say the least. Rio was adamant that I didn't participate in the work. I was pissed at first, but once I started getting bigger, I was okay with it. My back hurt, I felt huge, and my feet constantly felt like I had cement blocks attached to them. Once constant nausea wore off, I was craving the weirdest things. I hated pickles, and once I hit seven months, all I wanted was pickles with peanut butter. My mood swings were out of this world too.

I was sitting there watching Friends when Rio came in around midnight. It was the episode where Chandler and Monica get engaged. I was bawling my fucking eyes out, and my jar of pickles was gone. Rio laughed slightly and shook his head. He came over and sat next to me and kissed my forehead.

"Babe, I told you to stop watching the sad ones. You gotta skip over em'." He said as he rubbed his hand over my stomach.

"I know, but....this one is....so good." I said between sniffles.

Rio and I had found out the sex of the baby as soon as we could. Rhea had said that she wanted to be surprised with Marcus, but I couldn't wait.

"So have you guys picked out names for each?" Dr. Stinmyer asked.

"Yeah. If it's a girl, Isabella Marie. If it's a boy, then after his uncle Christopher. So Christopher Ryan." I said as Rio held my hand while the doctor drug the doppler over my second-trimester stomach. I waited patiently, and Rio ran his thumb over my hand lightly.

"Okay...here we go. Congratulations, it looks like you'll meet Isabella this summer." Dr. Stinmyer said. I looked at Rio with a giant smile. He shook his head and smiled as he kissed my forehead.

"I told you." I said confidently. Rio smiled and kissed me, not caring that Dr. Stinmyer was right there.

"Yeah, you called it Mama." He said, resting his head on mine.

I had to admit. I really did miss the job. Rio had been dealing with a new player then came into town recently. I had never seen Rio so stressed about the competition before. I had told him to smoke the guy, but he said that he couldn't get anywhere near him. He was some middle-aged dude that had a double life as a community outreach director but was washing money on the side. I dare say that Rio seemed more than stressed...more like scared. But I would never tell him that. Rhea and Annie were being super helpful during my pregnancy and kept me company.

"Goddamn dude, you are getting better at this shit." Eddie said as Annie giggled.

"I have nothing but time on my hands now, bro. Mortal Kombat has been a major player in my life as of late." I said as I continued kicking his ass.

"I say that's super productive." Annie said.

"Thank you." I joked.

"As this girl's godparents, I feel like we need to make sure she has adequate gaming skills for sure." Annie pointed out. I laughed and nodded my head.

We had asked Eddie and Annie to be Izzy's godparents after the baby shower we threw, and they accepted. Annie was so excited, and Eddie was too. I think Eddie wanted a kid, but Annie didn't. I told her that she was still young, but she said she didn't want to destroy her vagina again. The baby shower was interesting. It was funny to see all of the tatted-up gangbangers come in with baby-themed presents and giant pink and blue bows.

I was now nine months pregnant and only a couple of weeks before my due date. Rio and I had moved to a townhouse in the city that had four bedrooms. I wanted one for the baby and one for Marcus. I also really wanted a guest room, so Rio shelled out 500k to get what I wanted. I hated being spoiled, but I really wanted it. I was sitting in the living room when all of a sudden, I felt like I seriously had to pee. I waddled over to the first-floor bathroom and sat on the toilet. Out of nowhere, a gush of liquid came out, and I knew what was happening.

"Oh shit." I said to myself. "Um, okay. Izzy girl, I need you to hang on." I said as I doubled over in pain. Contractions. Oh shit, a baby girl was coming. Rio had stationed Mick at the house to watch over me for the past week, and I knew I had to get his attention and get my ass to the hospital. Rio said he did this just in case I went into labor while he was working. But I had a feeling it was more than that.

I calmly went into the laundry room and grabbed a pair of yoga pants, and changed. I went out to the patio and smiled nicely at Mick, who had looked up from his phone.

"Hey man, uh. We gotta get to the hospital. You good with that?" I asked. Mick gave me a slight expression or as much as he was physically capable of and nodded.

"How far apart are the contractions?" He asked as he grabbed the overnight bag I had sitting by the garage door.

"About six minutes." I said, looking at my phone.

"Alright, I will get you there. Come on." He said as he opened the garage door and then helped me into the car. I dialed Rio as I tried to keep my breathing under control.

"Hey, baby." He said calmly as he answered.

"Hi, love. Um, I am gonna need you to meet me at the hospital. Izzy's coming." I said, smiling.

"Oh shit, for real?" He asked.

"Yep, and she is in a big hurry."

"Okay, mama, I will meet you there. Micks got you?" He asked.

"Yep, he's here. I will see you soon." I said as I hung up quickly and yelped in pain.

"Hang in there, girl. You're doin' good. Wendy had contractions for three days before Skylar was born, so I think this won't take long. Not that I know shit about shit." Mick said.

I smiled and focused on my breathing. "Can you call Eddie and have him tell Annie? I also want you to call Rhea so Marcus can see his baby sister." I said, wincing in pain. Mick nodded. Once we got to the hospital, I told Mick to park the car while I went in, and he reluctantly agreed. I was in a delivery room instantly, and from there, everything was a blur. I remember Rio coming in, and the nurses let him come up to my left. He smoothed my hair and kissed me. I remember begging for an epidural, but they told me it was too late. I remember regretting my all-natural birth plan. I screamed in pain and swore I split in half at one point. It felt like ages but also time flew. Within minutes, I heard the beautiful sound of my little girl crying her eyes out. When they handed her to me, I knew for a fact I had never seen anything so beautiful. I couldn't get over how much she looked like me. But she had her dad's eyes. Beautiful, dark, and mysterious eyes.

I was exhausted. They had taken Izzy to the nursery so I could get some sleep. When I had woken up, the nurse brought in Izzy for me to try and breastfeed for the first time. It turned out I was somehow a pro at it. Rio smiled as I gloated in succession and shook his head. There were flowers all over my room, even from Beth and Ruby. Annie came with Eddie earlier that day to meet Izzy, and I was actually surprised to see Eddie so infatuated with a baby. We were trying to keep visitors to a minimum for now just for safety reasons. Rhea and Marcus had come in, and my heart melted when Marcus held his baby sister while he sat on the couch in the room. But I loved watching Rio with her the most. The way he looked at her, I knew he would gladly kill for her. It sounds morbid, but it made me so happy.

It was about three in the afternoon when I got a knock at my room door. I said, come in, and a gentleman I recognized came in wearing a suit. My heart started to race. This was Agent Keesler. Agent Keesler was one of the agents at the FBI Detroit location. The last our agency rat told us, he was assigned to the Detroit Laundering case a few months ago. I pulled myself up and noticed he had a vase of flowers in his hands.

"Hey, Andy. The bureau just wanted to say congratulations on the baby." He said, smiling.

"Thank you." I said curtly.

"Yeah. Listen, I know you left us last year for other...endeavors. However, I came here today to warn you." He said.

"Warn me? About what Agent?"

"Your husband is in the middle of a raging war with another player in town. Or at least we think. This man is dangerous. More dangerous than your gang leader husband. Can you tell me anything about that?" He asked.

"I have no idea what you're talking about. My husband is an entrepreneur." I said, looking away.

"Ms. Lorenzo, we have reason to believe your husband pissed off this man greatly. A messy turf war is two seconds from breaking out, and you are going to be right in the thick of it if you don't get yourself and your daughter out now." He exclaimed. I pursed my lips into a thin line. He nodded at my silence and headed to the door. "He is going to get you killed. Or worse. Think about that. You know where to find me." He said as he walked out. A chill ran down my spine.

A couple of days later, I was ready to go home with Izzy. I was sitting in the passenger seat with Izzy asleep in the backseat. Rio reached over and put his hand on top of mine. "You okay, mama?" He asked.

"Yeah." I started to say. "No. I can't stop thinking about what Agent Keesler said, Rio. He said Izzy and I are in danger. How badly did you piss this man off?" I asked. Rio tensed his jaw.

"I told you I'm handlin' it. I want you to relax and take care of our girl, yeah?" He said, eyeing me sideways.

He was lying to me. I could tell.