Another Lifetime

Chapter 57:

Monse's POV:
"Everyone except Jamal and Odessa has to hide." Cesar whispers. "Why?" I ask. "He can definitely tell I'm talking to someone right now." He explains the wrong part. "No, why do we have to hide?" I ask. "Ray hates Prophets more than Spooky ever did. If he finds out I had a kid with one Prophet he'll beat the shit outta me. Two kids with two Prophets? I'm dead." He says. "So you want us to hide your kids from your dad?" I raise my eyebrows. "Please." He begs. "I hope you know this is stupid." Lola picks their son up off the couch and we just go to Cesar's room. "Go to sleep baby." Lola tells her son. He puts his head on her lap and she takes a deep breath. "Is he always this great?" I ask even though I know the answer. "You should know. You're half the reason he turned out this great." She smiles. "Definitely less than half. It's crazy I helped you raise Cesar's baby." I get a pit in my stomach thinking about it. "You know what's crazier? Before I got pregnant, I tried telling Cesar y'all would be cute together." She laughs a little. "That's not funny." I point out. "I'm not joking." She tells me. "Damn. Shit would've been so... different." I look at Kyrie and I instantly regret even thinking about it. "Yeah. I'm still grateful he didn't go for it." Lola twists one of Ky's curls.

Cesar's POV:
"Why are you here?" I finally open the door. "Where was I supposed to go after I got released?" Ray asks. The universe must hate me if they really released him the day after me. "It's still my house." He says. "It's Spooky's house." I remind him. "Come on mijo, you don't think I know he's gone?" My dad pushes past me. "Jamal?" My dad laughs. "Hey." Jamal looks uncomfortable. "I haven't seen you since-" I cut off my dad. "Since you got arrested." I remind him. "Who the fuck said you could talk to me like that? Spooky been talking shit about me again?" Ray asks and I try not to laugh. "So you're gonna be a dad now? I'm twenty, it's a little late." I remind him. "You're still my kid. I wanna know you." There's no way this is the same man everyone always warned me about. "I wouldn't even recognize you if Spooky didn't show me a picture of you before he left." I point out. "Spooky's gone?" He asks. "Yeah." I nod. "Should we go?" Odessa asks me. "No." I look back at them and they look hella uncomfortable. "You guys are Dwayne's kids, right?" Ray walks towards them. "How do you know that?" Jamal steps in front of his sister. "I saw him after I got out." He laughs. "That shit isn't funny." I push Ray back. "You take money from him or shit?" I yell and Mona starts crying. "I'll get her." Odessa takes her chance to get away from us. Ray looks at me weird and I know what he's thinking. "You have a kid?" He asks. "What do you want? The house, money, the gangs-" I instantly regret it. "Gangs? Like more than one?" Ray asks. "You didn't hear?" I can't tell if he's lying. "Hear what?" He sounds confused. I don't know if I should tell him. Things get tense when I don't say anything. "Cesar took the prophets!" Jamal yells and then covers his mouth. "Jamal!" I hate him right now. "For real?" Ray almost smiles. "It's been a few months. Everything's good." I shrug. "Monty still around?" Why can't he stop asking me shit?! "No." I lie even though he's gonna find out.

Monse's POV:
They're yelling and Mona's crying. I leave her alone as long as I Can but when I hear a bang I run to her room. "What happened?" I ask Odessa. "She's ok, I just dropped my phone. She won't stop crying." Odessa passes me my daughter. Less than a second later Cesar and his dad come in with Jamal. "Is that my nieta?" He looks at Mona and I hold her even closer. "Yeah." Cesar sighs. "Umm what are you doing?" I step back when Ray comes towards us. "I heard about you a lot growing up. Come near my baby and I'll kill you." I warn him. "I see why you like her." Ray jokes and we all give him a dirty look. "I need to talk to Monse." Cesar tells them and everyone leaves. "Ray's gonna stay here for a while." He tells me. I'm almost mad that he didn't ask but then I remember, it's not my house. "Ok." I nod. "That's it?" He looks confused. "Every time we get the chance to be happy you do something dumb. So yeah, that's it. I'm not surprised. Go deal with your dad I need to put Mona back to sleep." I turn around. "He's not my dad." Cesar sounds annoyed. "Why not?" I ask. "Ray wasn't around." He says it like it's obvious. "Right, like how you weren't around for Kyrie." At this point I'm just trying to hurt him so I turn back to Mona's crib. "Fuck you." Cesar says. "Ok, let me see when I have thirty seconds free." I roll my eyes and he slams the door.
A few hours later, everyone's either gone or asleep. Cesar doesn't come his room until four in the morning and we both regret what we said. "Hey." I sit up. He puts his hand on my cheek and kisses me. "I should've asked." Cesar tells me and I shake my head. "Sometimes I forget I just kind of came over and never left. You don't have to apologize for letting your... Ray stay over." I move over so he can lay down. "It's your house too, baby." He traces circles on my lower back. "I'm sorry I was such a dick." I kiss him again. "It's ok, I deserve it sometimes." He laughs. "Yeah." I smile. He pulls me on top of him. "Ray's sleeping on the couch." I remind Cesar. "The man just got outta prison, he's knocked out and he's mot gonna hear anything." He tells me. "True, plus it's just thirty seconds." I joke. "Now I really gotta take my time." He rolls us over.