two days later...
"Thank you, Lord" Fatima said out loud as she read her test results. Zac had a friend call in a favor at a hospital across town the day she told him about the situation with Jhalen. They rapid tested her for everything imaginable and every result returned negative. She told him she wanted to take a plan b pill, just to be safe.
"I can't explain what this means to me" she said, locking her phone and snuggling back to Zac's chest. "I know babe..I told you everything would be okay."
"You did" she smiled looking up at him.
The past two days hadn't been easy on Fatima. She stressed, worried, prayed and cried and Zac knew she would, which is why is he did what he had to so she could have a week away from the office and sometime to regroup.
"It's like a tremendous weight has been lifted from my shoulders" Zac smiled and rubbed down her hips. "I still feel a way because I don't exactly know what happened and I probably never will"
"And that's fine. Fuck that nigga" Zac said, looking at the tv. "Him and that bullshit is behind us. It's you and me now"
"Again" Fatima chuckled. sitting up to face him "Yeah but this time is different Fatima. I lived without you for a year. I'm never doing that shit again"
"I don't want to live without you either." she traced along his chest through his shirt. "Listen to me, all the shit I did and said in the past I'm not him anymore Fatima. I know you said you trust me, you love me..all that but I need to earn your forgiveness"
Fatima looked at him confused "Baby, I don't care about that little boppity girl" she mugged, sighing " shoo " with her hand.
"Im not talking about her baby..Im talking about the situation with Tierra"
"Oh" Fatima nodded, avoiding eye contact.
Zac held onto her as he sat up against the headboard. "Look, I know you don't want to hear it but for whatever reason God gave me another chance and I want to do it right this time..I mishandled you then Fatima, I'm not doing it again"
"Zac" she shook her head a little "Belinda lied about that shit"
"Yes, she did..after the fact" he took a breath, looking at the wall behind her "What is it Zac?" she asked sternly.
"Tierra was pregnant by me...but we had just gotten serious so I paid for her to you know.."
Fatima was taken back "but then she popped up pregnant a month later and went around telling the world it was mine"
Fatima started laughing, confusing Zac.
"She played you babe. She took your money, got pregnant by Twain and played you" she laughed harder.
"Fatima..what? What are you talking about?" His mouth was open as he looked around dumbfounded.
"She was never pregnant by you...I know this because I went to her house and beat her ass until she told the truth" Fatima shrugged, "She told me about you sending her the money a week later and I told her to keep it..ya know, pain and suffering"
"Fatima..what the fuck?"
"Mm hm. Yeah, that's what happened"
Zac looked at her, unable to fathom words "Okay..then I mean...why did you let me walk away if you already knew?" Fatima sighed, situating herself in his lap.
"Because I realized we loved each other but we had so much growing to do and shit, I'm not gonna beg a nigga to stay" she said looking straight at him. He nodded because he knew.
"The fact I pulled my brass knuckles out, told me I needed to get my shit together..with or without you. You told me that day you loved me enough to let me go and I had to do the same" she touched the side of his face "but I prayed for you everyday Zachary...that God keep you protected and provided for you, whatever His will was for you. I never stopped praying, never stopped loving you, I never will"
Zac was overwhelmed with her heart. For her to still find room to love him for breaking it some time ago.
"Thank you for loving me" He whispered, being his forehead to hers.
"Forever" she said, her tone matching his.
••••
"I can't believe his little high yella ass is ghosting you, like what the entire hell?" Danni said sipping her wine. "Yeah, I don't know what all that's about and I don't care anymore. I'm good, i'm in good health and my man told me not to worry about it so I ain't sweating it" Fatima said before she sipped hers.
"My man?" Danni said, peering at her friend over her glass rim.
Fatima flashed a girly smile, her eyes closed tight "Yeaaah, my man my man"
"Ooo, you must been jumping all over his ass" Danni laughed "Girl, no..I'm DD like hell..I wanted to get my results back first" Danni nodded "Understandably so"
"Yeah but soon as we leave, I'm trying to get cracked like an egg" Fatima seriously.
"Not an egg!!" Danni busted into laughter making them both cackling together.
"Eggs? Who said something about eggs?" Preston said, coming around the corner with two bowls of fruit. "Please don't get him started..he wants a farm in the back so bad" Danni said playfully rolling her eyes as he sat beside her, kissing her cheek. She softly smiled, shaking her head.
"I love y'all so much it's scary" Fatima laughed as Zac took the seat beside her. "Not as much as you love Zatima though" he poked, snaking his arm around her back to pinch her butt.
"Hm, yeaah you right" she laughed before he pecked her lips.
"Look. I don't know what has happened since the other day and I don't care because this right here?" Danni started, sitting her glass down and pointing at them "This is great".
"Yeah, I like this...y'all could have told somebody y'all were together a year ago though" Preston said, biting into a strawberry.
"We was loading then" Zac laughed "We fully developed now" he said, gripping Fatima's butt, pulling her closer to his side. "God gave me my lifeline back, I ain't never leaving again"
he said looking over at her. "You damn right" she whispered, inches away from
his lips.
"Y'all already got a year under your belt, we'll be ring shopping sooner than later" Preston joked,
"Aye babe, tell P to catch that." Fatima said. "Catch what babe?"
"His chip. It obviously has too much dip
on it". Zac laughed, kissing her jaw.
"No pressure Ti but I'm just saying"
"She know ain't no pressure, she know what it is" Zac said still looking at her. When she catch his glance, she couldn't pull away from it. It was something about a man that hit different after he's been honest with you. As their eye contact became more intense, Fatima felt herself starting to melt.
"Um..we have a guest room if you need it" Danni said making Preston laugh, "Yeah this my house and y'all got me wanting to look away..but I can't"
"Babe" Danni said laughing, he playfully shrugged.
"Nah. We're gonna head out" Fatima said lowly, still staring at Zac "Yeah, I got some eggs to crack" he said, a bit seductively making Fatima giggle like a teenager.
"Yuck" Danni said, standing up "Come on babe, since they wanna crack eggs and shit" she grabbed her glass "See yall way out, we going to fuck"
"Alright man!" Preston hopped up, to dap Zac as he and Fatima got up from their seats.
"Talk to you in a few days man, we both got long nights ahead of us" Zac laughed as Fatima pulled him towards the door by his arm.
