ICU {Crystal x Devale} || 𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐏𝐋𝐄𝐓𝐄𝐃

Chapter Forty-Four

Crystal

"Oh my goodness, grandmas gonna put this on the fridge." My mom said grabbing DJ's freshly drawn picture. "Crystal you have more magnets?" She asked me.

"Uh just replace it with something that's on the fridge." I tell her as clean my sons arts and crafts mess.

"Are you ready to go night night big boy?" I ask picking him up.

He coped in my arms as he held onto my shirt.

"I can't believe he's gonna be one in few days." My mom said bring me his cup.

"I know he's learning so much." I say shaking my head.

Devale is doing a great job raising DJ. Not that I ever doubted him, but I didn't know how things were gonna turn out. He's a great father. I even heard from Zena that he's put a lot of effort in changing his schedule to be at home more. He's not as selfish as I thought he was. If anybody's selfish, it's me.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

"Coming!" I said from my kitchen. "Here mom can you take him upstairs?" I ask her.

"Of course." She said grabbing him.

She left and I went to get the door. I opened the door and squinted.

"Devale what are you doing here? Did you forget something?" I ask curiously.

"Nah I came to talk." He said. "Can I come in?" He asked me.

"Uh yeah of course!" I said letting him the door.

Every time I see Devale I get this weird feeling inside of me. I won't lie and say that I don't miss him. But, I know he wants nothing to do with me. It's sad to think that we met a year ago not knowing where we would land as a couple and now we have a son together and barely even speak.

"Is everything okay? I wasn't expecting to see you." I say picking up the rest of DJ's blocks. 

"Is he sleeping?" Devale ask me. 

"My mom just went upstairs with him. He'll be out in a few minutes." I tell him. 

Devale nodded his head and sat down on the couch. Once I was done cleaning up, I sat down with him. We sat in silence and cleared our throats awkwardly. 

"How's work been?" I ask breaking the thick ice. 

"Uh good. We got a ton of interns so I've been stressed trying to get them up to speed." Devale told me. "But that's not why I'm here. I'm here to talk about DJ's birthday." He said. 

I nod my head and smile. "Yeah I'm okay with getting him on my regular days. My parents wanna take him to Disney World." I tell Devale. 

"Actually I was hoping that we could spend it together. My parents, your parents, everyone." He suggested. 

I was shocked, but happy. I didn't know how to respond. I didn't think that we would ever be here. But, as long as I get to have my son on his birthday then I'm happy. 

"Yeah that's fine! We can come to Chicago." I said shrugging. 

"No, Disney World is better. It'll just be me and my parents. I'll see if Zena wants to come too." Devale said. 

"Oh yeah of course." 

Devale made Zena, DJ's godmother. Apparently, she's a better god mom than a friend. She wouldn't have been my top choice, but she is always filling me in on his growth and how well he's learning. Plus, she watches him when Devale has to pull a  double. 

"Look Devale, I appreciate you doing all of this, but I do want you to know that I understand that you might not trust me fully. I just love spending time with my son. I know I didn't want this at first but I'm ready to step up to the plate." I tell Devale making him sigh deeply. "Just give me a chance." I beg. 

Devale sat up and stared at me. 

"I hear you ." He said nodding his head. "It's just gonna take time Crystal. You left me. You left him." He reminded me. 

"I know and I will be forever be sorry for that." I said wiping the tears on the brim of my eyes. "I was sad, I didn't know what to do, I was depressed, scared--" 

"You know what Crystal I could've helped you through all of that. I would've helped you through all of that. But you didn't give me a chance." Devale cut me off. 

His words became firmer and his voice was loud, but he wasn't yelling. I just knew that we weren't too many more words away from arguing with one another. 

"I left because I couldn't stand the idea of havign a family with you." I hesitantly admit. 

"And now what? You've changed your mind?" He asked me. "What is it?" 

"I just wanna spend time with my son, that's all I want." I tell him. "I want joint custody and if you're not willing to give it to me, then I will just take you to court and I don't--" 

"You're gonna take me to court?" Devale asked raising his voice. 

"I don't want to, but I will!" I announced loudly. 

Instead of responding, Devale stood up and did a slow turn, running his hands over his face. 

"I didn't come to fight Crys, I just came to talk about my son's birthday." He said as his phone began ranging. 

He looked at it once before putting it back into his pocket. "I gotta go." He said softly. "Look I didn't mean to make you upset." He said. 

"I'm not upset." I say shaking my head. 

"Okay, good night." He said as I stood up. 

I walked him to the door and let him out. Once he was gone I looked my hands noticed them shaking. I took a few deep breaths and went upstairs to my son's room. 

"Are you okay?" My mom asked seeing my face. 

"Yeah I'm fine." I said rubbing my son's stomach. "You can go to sleep mom, I got it." I say softly. 

"Are you sure?" She asked. 

I nodded my head and gave her a fake smile. She put DJ's bottle down and left the room. I picked my son up from his bed and held him close to my chest. I cried silently from the choices I made as I rocked him sleep. 

Author's Note 

Short and sweet chapter.. 

Story ending soon... 

Crystal vs Devale in court👀