Taylor Ever After?

What'd You just say?

Fatima looks over at her husband from the passenger seat. They've just parked in the hospital's visitor lot. Its 9:30pm but the parking lot was just as full as normal business hours. "Hey, whatever the results are, you're going to be just fine. We will figure it out"

"I know Tima, I'm good I swear. Im tired of us being stuck here. I'm ready to move on with our lives whether that means I'm this child's father or not."

"I know babe and I got you. Always."

"That's all I need." He kisses her and they hop out the truck. Zac takes a deep breath and releases it. "Ok let's get this shit over with."

They spot Karen waiting for them in the lobby.

"Hey. Thanks for coming."

Fatima speaks first. "Before we do this let's get one thing straight. No matter the results, all the bullshit, and drama stops today Karen. Just as we tried to give you as peaceful a pregnancy as possible, I expect the same. You don't have to like me, but you owe me that."

Karen is too exhausted both mentally and physically to fight any longer. "Agreed. Let's go" Karen turns and walks to the elevators with Fatima and Zac walking behind her hand in hand.

Zion is sleeping peacefully when They all enter the nursery to swab his cheek for testing. Karen is crying.

Fatima and Zac stand on the other side of the glass watching. She squeezes his hand. She wanted to make sure he was alright.

"I'm ok" he knew what the squeeze meant.

The stood in silence for the next few moments until Karen and the nurse exited the room.

"She's gonna swab us now and then send everything over to the lab"

The nurse takes the samples and seal them in a bag and heads to the lab after telling them it would be a few hours before the results were ready, but they would be notified via email and did not have to wait at the hospital.

Karen's cell was ringing the entire time. She kept ignoring it but Zac noticed.

"Whoever that is must really need to speak to you." Zac says with an attitude

"What's it to you? Karen scoffed

"It don't mean shit to me, its just rude considering we are here tryna handle some important shit and you keep playing with your phone."

"Zac. The test is done. Let's just go home." Fatima chimes in.

"Yea. I think that's best" Karen responded.

Fatima shoots Karen a warning look.

Karen remains quiet.

"Yea let's. I'm not tryna catch a case over this broad."

Zac and Fatima head back to the parking lot. Karen dials the number back without looking.

"Gary stop calling my phone this isn't your baby! I will tell Andi what happened in my own time your threats don't fucking scare me!" Karen screams into the phone before hanging up. 

In the parking lot, Fatima's phone rings. She looks down and sees Karen's number. She stops and picks up the phone but before she can speak she hears Karen yelling into the phone. Ten seconds later the line goes dead. She can't believe what she just heard. Zac is looking at her confused.

"Who was that?"

Fatima knows she promised her husband to always be honest with one another. Still, she couldn't find the words to explain.

"Uhmm." Fatima hesitates. "ohh uhhh.. it was nothing. I'll tell you about it when we get home. I'm tired of being in this place."

Fatima knew that if she told him in that moment, he would probably beat Karen's ass in the parking lot. Now, he's not the kind of man that puts his hands on women, but in this case an exception would surely be made. She is unsure whether she'd stop him or help him.

Gary was fuming. He'd been calling Karen all day. He was seated at the hotel bar trying to kill time hoping that she would come. Gary was on his tenth call and sixth drink of the evening when he decided to call it a night. Women kept hitting on him and he just was not in the mood for company. He called Andi but she didn't answer. Gary got up and left the bar. He decided he would drive to Karen's house and confront her there. The bartender saw him struggling to stand and decided he needed to take Gary's keys just in case he wasn't staying at the hotel for the evening.

"Hey man. Looks like that last one got you good. How about I take your keys and you sleep it off upstairs." The bartender suggested trying to play it cool.

"Nah, I'm good. I just gotta get some air. I'll be fine." Gary was slurring his words

"I get that man but I'm still gonna need to hold on to your keys" The bartender hoped this didn't escalate. He's seen this scene play out many times over the years.

"Nah. You ain't getting my keys. I'm good." Gary responded starting to get loud.

"Look man. Just give me the keys and sleep it off. If you need a room upstairs you can use my discount and get it for cheap."

Gary felt insulted that this bartender thought he couldn't afford a room at the Carlyle. "Nigga, I got money! I don't need no punk ass discount. I have a room already" Gary is still stumbling and slurring as he makes his way to the exit.

The bartender signals for the security guard to step in.

"Hey man. Be cool. Let me help you to your room." The security guard says blocking his exit.

"Fuck you! Gary tries to swing on the security guard causing him to put him to fall square on his face.

The bouncer laughs and reaches into Gary's pocket to retrieve his ID and keys. He hands them to another bartender and asks him to take it to the front desk to find out if he has a room. The bouncer has picked Gary from the floor and put him in a side room used to hide the wasted clients from disturbing the ambiance of the Hotel. Five minutes later the bartender returns with his room number and helps the Security guard get him to his room. Gary isn't unconscious, just really, really wasted.

He tries Karen once more before calling Aaron.

"I Fucked up Aaron! I fucked up big time!" Gary cried into the phone

Aaron was immediately annoyed. He could hear how drunk Gary was and he knew it was going to be a long night. Although Aaron committed to being Gary's spiritual advisor and life coach, he himself was not in the mood to deal with Gary's drunken antics tonight.

"Gary. You're drunk Sleep it off and call me tomorrow." Aaron insisted.

"She's never going to forgive me for what I've done! It wasn't my fault tho! She came on to me!" Gary continued rambling not paying any attention to Aaron's advice.

"I understand. We will talk about this tomorrow" Aaron has his own problems to deal with tonight. Stacia couldn't hand out tonight and his mind wouldn't let him wander from his situation with Karen. All he wanted to do was rest.

"But I love her! I love her so much. I need her to understand that I only slept with her that one time and even if the baby is mine, I don't want to be with Karen! I only want Andi! Gary is sobbing.

Aaron's heart skipped a beat as he flies out of his seat on the sofa. "What did you say about Karen?" Aaron asked trying to even his breaths. He is trying to convince himself that he misheard Gary.

"She won't forgive me! I need her to know it was an accident!" Gary continues to ramble.

"Gary what did you say about Karen?" Aaron is trying desperately not to lose his cool.

"I don't want that baby! I don't want Karen! I only want Andi. She has no clue how much I love her."

The wind is knocked out of Aaron. He throws on his shoes and runs out the door to his car.