57

Here, y'all deserve this one. K. Bye. ❤️

Langston

The party had ended, and the kids were all gone. Eissa and I were sitting in the living room playing Call of Duty. He was kicking my ass. The boy had skills.

TJ was asleep on the love seat. I mean, the boy was gone. He hadn't stirred since he came in here from the party. This boy was a hard ass sleeper, Janet had put a blanket on top of him and he'd been laying there snoring ever since.

"Ha." Eissa bragged suddenly as he killed me again. "You suck at this Unc."

I rolled my eyes as I chuckled. "Nah, you had more time to practice then I did. These don't count."

"They do too!" Eissa argued with me.

"If you had Madden or 2K, I'd be whooping you right now."

He eyed me. "I'll get them tomorrow. Watch I beat you again."

"Eissa! It's past 11! At least go shower if you're gonna be downstairs." Janet told him from the kitchen.

He dropped the controller and jumped over the couch. "Yes ma'am. See you in a few Unc."

"Alright little man." I replied as I turned the game off and walked into the kitchen. Janet and Tiffany looked at me as I asked. "Any word?"

"She's still in labor. She isn't dilated enough still. Kyrin's keeping me updated." Janet replied as she continued putting food away.

"Speaking of Kyrin, how are you two?" Tiff asked me.

I shook my head as I ran a hand through my hair. "We haven't spoken. She told me herself that she didn't want to see me anymore."

Tiffany sighed. "Four damn months, I would be upset as well."

"Hush up Tiff," Janet warned her before looking at me. "She doesn't hate you Langston, I think she just needs time to adjust. A lot has been going on but I'm leaving for my tour in a few days. She's going to need the support, she'll talk to you. We both know the woman, stubborn is her middle name."

"Maybe push the issue." Tiffany suggested.

Well, I can tell she doesn't spend that much time with Kyrin. Everybody knows pushing anything with Kyrin only causes bad reactions in return.

"Well, hows the baby planning coming along? You excited to be a father?" Janet asked me eagerly as she changed the subject.

I nodded. "Yeah I'm excited. I can't wait. The planning part is halfway done already saying that Sarah's parents went and brought up the whole baby store almost. I've never seen so many gender neutral colors in my life."

Tiff chuckled. "You hoping for a girl or boy?"

"I want a girl, but Sarah wants a boy."

Janet sent me a look. "Wow. Really? Usually it's the other way around but Sarah has two boys already, yes?"

"Yeah. She had her oldest but she adopted her youngest." I replied.

"She just would rather her be the only woman in the house. That's probably why she wants another boy." Tiffany spoke.

I nodded. "Probably so. How long is the tour Janet?"

"A couple of months. It's my residency in Vegas."

"Ah okay." It got silent again.

Tiffany's phone began ringing and she excused herself as she stepped outside onto the patio and shut the door behind her. Janet spoke to me. "Langston, you're still family. No matter how my wife may feel about it. I remember the day she was swearing up and down that you were on her side. She'll come around but until she does, I want you to know that you are and will always be family. People make mistakes, it's all apart of life. I would just like it if maybe you two could settle it before I left though."

"I appreciate that Janet, seriously. Maybe you should come by the church Sunday. Sarah's preaching at the Potters House out here for her father. Bring Kyrin and the rest of the folks. Sarah would love the surprise and I think it would be good for us to all be under the one roof that can't fall down."

"Yeah, that'll be good. I can only imagine how much is going down at that hospital." Janet chuckled and I nodded in agreement.

I brought up something that I had been thinking about. "Hey, do you think maybe you and Kyrin would want to be the God parents of our baby? I don't know, I've just been thinking about what I can do to make some of this better. I know I've done a lot of damage and these are my consequences but I can't handle Kyrin being upset with me like this. We were best friends for years, and if something was to happen to Sarah and I, I would feel comfortable knowing that my child was here in good hands. What do you think?"

She smiled. "I think it's worth a try. At this point, I'm going to agree with Tiffany. You've given her enough time, it's time to push the issue. Her and I have already talked through most of it, I just need you to get ready to bring it home. Til then, I guess we wait to meet the new addition to this crazy family tree of ours."

We heard a loud thud followed by a "Ow!" and it sent Janet and I practically leaping into the living room. TJ was getting up from the floor and rubbing his head.

"You okay?" I asked him as he sat back on the couch.

He nodded. "I fine. I just fall."

Janet frowned slightly as she moved his hand and we could both see a knot forming. "Lord Jesus, your father is going to kill me. You have to be careful TJ, you still sleepy?"

TJ rubbed his eyes and nodded. "Yes ma'am."

"You remember the way to Eissa's room?" He nodded again and Janet smiled. "Well go on up and get in one of his beds. He has new ones now. Go check them out."

He got excited and ran up the steps. Janet and I shook our heads as Tiffany walked back inside the house. "What I missed?"

"Nothing much." Janet replied shortly. "We're going church Sunday though. You and Phoebe need to be ready."

Tiffany shrugged. "Say less, I'm in."

Juliette

"Joey shut the hell up!" Juliette raised her voice as she drove to the hospital with the emergency lights on. Traffic was bad but she was smart enough and was in the emergency lane. To make matters worse, her ex husband wouldn't shut the hell up and it was aggravating every piece of nerve the woman had.

"You aren't driving fast enough!" He yelled back. Ember and him were in the backseat as the woman drove. It was the best of her ability. Traffic was horrible at this time.

"Well I can't fucking teleport there you dumbass." Juliette shot back as she continued on. "Matter fact, let me ask you this, did you tell Janet I had a fucking problem with her?"

"Well you do don't you?" Joey asked in irritation as he winced softly from Ember squeezing his hand.

"No!" Juliette yelled back. "I have a problem with you and you fucking only. She didn't hold a damn gun to your head, you chose to be away from your family. Fuck out of here."

Ember was crying and in a lot of pain and these people in this car were making everything worse. Her head was pounding and it felt like she was about to be ripped in half. She mumbled suddenly. "It hurts really bad."

"I'm trying to get there baby. Just hold on for me." Juliette looked back briefly as she sped up and found herself doing almost 100 on this freeway.

Lights flashed to her from behind and she looked in her rear view to see that it was Kyrin's car. Her phone started ringing as she drove and she answered it when she saw Kyrin's name flash across. "That is you behind me, yes?"

"Yeah. Which hospital we heading to?"

"The only one I know is General." Juliette replied. "Embers in a lot of pain though, I don't see us making it in time."

"Let me get in front of you. They have one closer. We gone be in the hood, but we gone make it to a hospital." Kyrin replied as Juliette let her pass and sped up again to keep up with her. "Tell my sister to hold on, we gone get her there."

Ember began almost screaming and Joey panicked. "Shit! Juliette there's blood. A lot of blood."

Juliette couldn't help the panic that ran through her body. She could her the pain in her girlfriends screams. They needed to get there and quickly. "Kyrin, there's blood. A lot of it. We need to get somewhere quick."

"Phoebe already called to the hospital. The nurses are outside."

Kyrin took an exit suddenly and Juliette followed as they sped down the streets. Kyrin and Juliette pulled in front of the hospital where people were standing there waiting. Nurses came over to Juliette's back doors when she yelled for them and they hoisted Ember out of the car with her still screaming bloody murder.

When they put her on the bed, Ember looked at Juliette as she shook her head with tears still falling. The woman was terrified and everyone could see it. "Baby, don't leave me. Please. Come with me. I'm scared. Come with me."

Juliette grabbed her hand. "I'm not gonna leave you baby, come on." The gurney began moving and Juliette looked back. "Joey, bring yo bald headed ass on. This is your child just as much as it is mines."

Joey was shocked that the words left his ex wife's lips but none the less he began moving. He spoke to the remaining three. "We will be back! Wait for us in the waiting room."

I paced the room as Joey sat in one of the chairs in the hospital room. It was empty, we were waiting on Ember and the baby. They told us we couldn't be in the room when she went in and brought us here to wait it out. That had been 3 hours ago. It was 1 in the morning now.

"Julie... sit down. You've been pacing since we got in here."

"Did you see all of that blood Joey?" I asked as I looked at him suddenly. "You could hear her pain. She was scared and they wouldn't even let us be with her. I don't know, this is— something about this doesn't feel right."

He sighed before getting up and walking towards me. I stopped walking when he stepped in front of me and my face furrowed when his arms wrapped around my body.

"Joey, what the hell are you doing?" I asked in confusion.

"Holding you." He replied but let me go as he asked, "No?"

I shook my head. "No. Thank you though but no."

He shrugged. "Well shit, I tried."

A chuckle left my lips. "Nice try but hard fail."

It went silent for a moment before he spoke again. "I'm sorry about what happened in the hotel room Julie. I was upset about TJ, but I can't blame you for cheating. I wasn't around, I'm sorry."

"You have a job Joey, we both never worried about the bills and TJ didn't want for anything. I'm sorry that I made you feel like that was your fault. You did what needed to be done and I'm sorry I never told you the truth. I just didn't know how if I'm being honest. You and that boys bond is good, even when you weren't around, he missed you terribly. I made some mistakes and I'm sorry for that as well."

Joey nodded. "Friends?"

"Friends." I agreed.

"What about TJ? You'll let me start seeing him again?"

I nodded towards him as I crossed my arms when the air conditioner came on causing cold air to blow my way. "Yeah. I don't see why not."

The doors to the room opened and they wheeled Ember in. She was sleeping and pale and my face must have given my worry away because the doctor motioned Joey and I outside.

When we got outside, I didn't see the baby and asked, "Where's the baby?"

"He's in the nursery. The nurses are cleaning him up. He'll be just fine." The doctor delivered the news but she was holding something back, I could tell.

It caused me to continue with my next question, "And what about Ember?"

She closed her charts and began speaking. "Ms Broussard has a disease. Were you all aware?"

Joey and I shook our heads as he asked. "I'm sorry, what disease?"

"Sickle cell anemia." She replied and my heart dropped. "I don't see why it never hit her hospital records, it seems as if the doctors have over looked it but she was in some pain because her body was attacking her while she was in labor."

"So what can we do? How can we cure her?" Joey asked frantically.

"Sickle cell isn't curable. Other than a bone marrow transplant. Right?" I asked to make sure I was correct.

The doctor nodded. "That is right."

"So can we do that? How dangerous is that procedure?" Joey asked her.

"Although some people experience minimal problems with a bone marrow transplant, others may develop complications that may require treatment or sometimes even hospitalization."

I took deep breaths before shaking my head. "I'm sorry. I can't do this. T-this is too much." My feet turned as I walked back into the hospital room. Eyes swept over Ember who seemed to be sleeping peacefully, there was a beep on her monitor tracking her heart beat and as I laid on side of her, it began to be the only thing giving me comfort.

This was my test. My test from God. Losing my mother to sickle cell six years ago only made this worse for me. We didn't have the funding to get a transplant, we simply ran on good prayer. I couldn't lose Ember, I simply couldn't take it. I wiped my eyes when the doors to the room opened.

Joey walked in and spoke. "I know this is hard for you, but we can save her. Let's just get the transplant and go from there Julie. We can save her."

I lifted my head and met eye contact with him. Joey was the only one that knew about my mother. Shaking my head, I changed subjects as I got up careful not to hit Ember. "I-I'm going to go tell Kyrin and Phoebe. They deserve to know."

"Juliet—." He came up short as I walked out of the room anyways.

Making my way to the waiting room, Kyrin stood up when she saw me. "How is she?"

"She's fine. It's a boy." I replied.

"But?" Kyrin asked noticing my stance.

"Ember has sickle cell." I mumbled. "The doctors just informed us about it. She's asleep right now and everything is fine, but the battle has just begun."

Phoebe took a breath as her and Sarah stood. Phoebe shook her head. "Sickle cell, that's genetic. Who had sickle cell? It wasn't momma."

"Maybe her biological father." Kyrin replied. "She's going to be alright."

"That shit isn't curable Ky," Phoebe muttered as tears sprang to her eyes.

"It is. She can have a bone marrow transplant." I tried to help the situation. "It's risky, but hell what surgery isn't risky? When she wakes up, we let her decide on her own. Ember's a fighter, she isn't going out easily."

"And she's covered. God won't let her walk alone." Sarah finally spoke. "We just gotta get to praying. Become the prayer warriors that we know we can be. God's got her."

We all looked at her and nodded as Phoebe wiped her tears. "I never thought I'd be this scared before. First daddy and now this. I just— I can't lose nobody else man."

Kyrin hugged her tightly. "It's gone be alright. You hear me? She gone be okay."

I had to bite down on my own lip to refrain from crying again, it made me dismiss myself from the situation. "I'm gonna go back and check on her again. When she wakes up, I'll come back and get you guys."

"Okay, let us know how little man is too." Sarah sent a warm smile my way and I returned it.

"Will do." I walked away and back to the room. When I entered, I heard Joey talking. I walked further in and saw that Ember was awake.

She looked at me when I walked into her line of sight. A frown graced her face slightly. "Your nose is red, you've been crying?"

This woman was always noticing the little things. Nobody else noticed it except for her. I mumbled. "A little."

Ember opened her arms. "Come on." I slowly crawled back into her bed and laid my head on her shoulder. "I'm gonna be okay, things happen. Life throws you punches and God gives you battles. I'm gonna fight it until I can't fight anymore. Joey told me about your mom."

I sent him a look and he quickly threw his hands up. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I just— I didn't want Ember to think you were feeling something for nothing."

"It's okay. Can you go tell the girls that Ember's awake?" I asked. He nodded and left the room.

"Don't be mad at him, he was just telling me. Look, I'm gonna get the transplant and we will go from there. No matter what happens, everything will be alright. Don't get to stressing on me." She mumbled as her hand rubbed my shoulder. "I love you."

"I love you too." I replied quickly.

She smiled as she got excited suddenly. "Now, wheres KJ?"

Ember had come up with and we had all agreed on the name Kaden Jamal Moldanado if it were a boy. So now we had a KJ and a TJ. Kaden and Treylin. I can already feel the damn trouble.

Before I could speak, the door opened and the nurses wheeled the baby in. He was silent and simply looking as they picked him up and handed him to Ember.

She cooed. "Oh my goodness, I did not think you could be this adorable." Her hand touched his cheek and he smiled.

"Aww." I melted instantly as I felt my heart swell. This little man was going to have us all fighting over him.