|Crystal's place|
Crystal: (hesitant) my baby's father is uhm... D-Devale
Gladys throws her hands up in defeat
Gladys: oh Lawd this child wants to kill me!!!
Crystal: (sighs) mommy no I don't, Devale and I never planned for this to happen
Gladys: (scoffs) Renée you're a grown ass woman, surely you know what happens when you engage in unprotected sex! Heck, in your case it's even unprotected premarital sex with a MARRIED man!!! (Exhales) whew take the wheel Jesus!
Devale: uhm with all due respect ma'am, I'm no longer a married man- my divorce actually got finalized a couple of months back
Gladys: (chuckles) oh that's right, silly me! Now that you mention it I remember reading it on some blog
Crystal: exactly! So can you please just drop this "married man" narrative, it's old and very tired! Nor will it change the fact that Devale and I are in love and we're having a baby together
Jeff has been silent the whole time, he's simply processing everything he has however noticed how passionate Crystal is when it comes to defending Devale.
Gladys: (smirks at her) since you wanna fact check me little girl. Devale's divorce has been final for all of four months and I know for a FACT that you're more than 4 months pregnant! So again, you fornicated with a MARRIED man!
Crystal: -silent- (teary-eyed)
Devale looks at Crystal and sees the hurt in her eyes, he tries to step in to her rescue.
Devale: (sighs) Ms Gladys I know that what Crystal and I did was wrong but what has happened- happened and it's no use dwelling on the past which can't be changed! However, the Dr said Crystal needed to have a stress free pregnancy and I can already see that your presence is gonna be a hindrance to that. With that being said, I just wanna let you know that with all due respect- I will not stand here and watch you disrespect or cause Crystal any stress in her own house- It's her safe space!
Jeff is still silent he does however flash a quick smile at the passion that Devale has just exhibited in Crystal's defense.
Gladys: -looks at Crystal- (chuckles) so you're just gonna stand there and let him disrespect me? And this is who you're having a baby with? (scoffs) well let me tell you something little girl, you CANNOT build on top of another woman's tears! Whatever it is that you two are building here will crumble because the foundation is wrong! He's just gonna leave you with a bastard child and go back to his wife and kids!!!
Crystal: please don't insult my unborn baby (crying) and no he's not gonna leave me because he loves me!
Gladys: they all say that baby but fact of the matter is "how you got them is how you'll lose them"
Devale: Ms Gladys I'm not gonna do that, and I'm not gonna ask you again to stop stressing her out!
Gladys: (chuckles) whew the way you talk to me, I can tell you have no kind of home training! That explains why Victoria Ellis died of suicide- poor woman clearly couldn't handle the stress that came with being your mother!
Crystal: (gasps) mommy please just stop!!!
Crystal locks eyes with Devale and sees the hurt on his face, she mouths "I'm sorry"
Crystal: (looks at her parents) please excuse me *storms off upstairs*
Jeff: alright Gladys that's enough and you know that last statement was uncalled for! You don't know what kind of relationship this man had with his mother so why the hell would you even speak on it?
