Love's Bind

Ch. 19

Alexis's POV
"Alexis, wake up," I heard somebody say. I opened my eyes and saw Mrs. Raymond.
"Good morning," she said smiling.
"Good morning," I said.
"Get up and get ready. We're going to church," she said walking out.
I got up and went to my duffle bag and got out a coral colored maxi skirt, a white tank top, and a jean jacket. I looked in the closet and saw an iron. I plugged it up and while it warmed up I went into the bathroom and brushed my teeth and washed my face. I took a quick shower and walked out. I closed the door to my room and started getting ready. I ran the iron over my clothes and put on my tank top. I did my make up and curled my hair. I put on lotion and finished getting dressed. I put on my gold sandals and put on gold jewelry. I looked in the mirror and saw that I still look pregnant. I guess I should since I just had a miscarriage, I thought. I put on a little perfume and grabbed my little purse out of my bag. I got my phone and keys and walked out of the room. I walked into the kitchen and saw Mrs. Raymond putting food on plates.
"You look very nice," she said looking at me and smiling.
"Thanks so do you," I said.
"Thank you. You hungry?" she asked handing me a plate.
"Very," I said taking it and sitting down at the table. I blessed my food and started eating. I finished in like five minutes. I walked to the sink and washed my dishes. I walked into the living room and sat on the couch. Mr. and Mrs. Raymond walked downstairs and went into the kitchen.
"Alexis?" Mrs. Raymond called. I got up to go see what she wanted.
"Yes?" I asked walking into the kitchen.
"You're finished eating already?" she asked looking surprised.
"Yes," I said. She looked at my stomach and back up at me. I already knew what she was thinking. I shook my head.
"We'll talk later," she said lowly. I nodded my head and sat down at the island.
"Do you want any fruit?" she asked.
"Yes," I said standing back up and walking to the refrigerator. I got out grapes and strawberries. I put some in a bowl and sat back down.
"Mommy, mommy!" I heard a little voice. My eyes got big and I turned my head to wear the voice was coming from. I could hear the voice but I couldn't see the person.
"I'm in here Cailen," Mrs. Raymond said. Then I saw a little girl running in the kitchen with a doll.
"Can I bring my doll?" she asked.
"Yes. Now come on and eat," Mrs. Raymond said picking her up.
"Cailen, this is Alexis," she said.
"Hi," Cailen said smiling.
"Hi," I said smiling back at her.
Mrs. Raymond said next to her husband at the table and Cailen sat next to her. Looking at them eat together as a family made me get emotional. I got up and went back to my room and closed the door. I got myself together and fixed my makeup. I looked at myself in the mirror again. I kept looking at my stomach and started rubbing it. I walked out of the room and bumped into Christian.
"I'm sorry," I said looking up at him.
"You good," he said smirking and walking off.
I started blushing again and went back into the kitchen and sat down.
"So my truck is in the shop and I know if we all ride together in my car we'll be smushed. So, Alexis, do you mind riding with Christian?" Mrs. Raymond asked.
"No ma'am," I said.
"Alright, well let's head out," she said. Everybody started heading towards the door and I grabbed my purse and phone. I followed after Christian and walked outside. He walked to a black Range Rover and got in. I got in and put my seatbelt on.
"So this is your truck?" I asked looking at him.
"Yep," he said backing out of the driveway.
"And you were talking about my car being nice. This is nice," I said.
"Thank you," he said.
"So, Christian, tell me about yourself," I said.
"Well, my name is Christian," he said.
"Ha ha," I said sarcastically. He laughed.
"But foreal, my name is Christian Jeremiah. I'm 18. I'm a senior. I have an academic and basketball scholarship to Morehouse-" I cut him off.
"Wait..you're going to Morehouse?" I asked.
"Yeah," he said.
"That's amazing. I'm sorry for cutting you off. But continue."
"Basketball is really all I do. I put hard work into everything I do. My goal was to have my mama not pay for college and I achieved it. I put God first in everything I do. I try to keep it as real as I can without coming off as an ass. As shocking as this may be.." he paused and looked at me and sighed. "I don't have any hoes," he said. I started laughing and so did he.
"Really?" I asked.
"Yeah. I don't entertain too many females because most of em be after the wrong thing. Not to sound cocky but especially with a dude like me. I got a lot going for me and all it takes is one thing to fuck it up," he said.
"I can understand that," I said.
"So tell me about you," he said.
"Well, my name is Alexis Christine. I have a big brother who's my bestfriend. I'm 17, a senior, and top valedictorian of my class. I have a full scholarship to any college, but I'm looking at Howard and Spelman. I've always tried to live up to my grandma and mama's legacy by being smart and multitalented. So I may complete it by going to Spelman, but I don't know about that right now."
"Why not?" he asked.
"Because I'm at the point in my life where I'm trying to live for myself and I feel like if I go to Spelman I won't be doing that. And also, I'm looking for a change."
"What kind of change?"
"Just everything."
"Why would you want everything to change?"
"Because with all of the stuff that has been going on in my life recently, I just feel like I need to get away and start over."
"Oh. Can I ask you something?" he asked.
"Sure."
"Why are you staying with us?"
"Because, my now ex-boyfriend hit me and caused me to have a miscarriage and your mama wanted me to stay with y'all for a few days just to be safe," I said.
"Oh," he said. He was quiet for a little while.
"Do you think you'll get back with him?"
"Well, that's a complicated question. And it has three answers to it. Let me start off with saying that I think I'm still pregnant," I said looking over at him. He looked at me and had a strange look on his face.
"I thought you had a miscarriage," he said looking back at the road.
"That's what the doctor told me that night at the hospital, but I've still been having pregnancy symptoms. But to answer your question, if I'm still pregnant, I'll only get back with him for the sake of my child. If not, then no," I said.
"Why would you get back with him if he hit you?" he asked.
"Because I don't want my child to grow up without a father like I did."
"That's understandable, but still. You deserve way better. Just listening to you talk, I can tell that you have so much going for you and you don't need a dude like him bringing you down. And think about your child, if you are still pregnant. Would you want he or she to grow up with their father beating their mother?"
I sat and thought.
"I really don't know what I'm doing right now," I said. "I'm talking to you like I've known you my whole life."
He put the truck in park and looked over at me. I looked at him.
"Well, you're at the right place," he said smiling. "Come on," he said getting out. I undid my seatbelt and he walked around the truck and opened the door for me.
"Thanks," I said. I followed him into the church. We walked in and found seats next to his family. The service was going really nice. The choir sang and the pastor preached a great sermon that applied to my life. It was to the point in the service where they were calling people up that needed prayer. Mrs. Raymond tapped my leg and told me to come on. As I walked to the altar, I could already feel myself getting emotional. Mrs. Raymond grabbed my hand and we waited for my turn to get prayed for. The pastor came up to me asked me to lift my hands up and I did what asked. He started praying for me and I broke down crying. Mrs. Raymond rubbed my back and the pastor finished praying. She hugged me and led me out of the doors to the back of the church. She took me to the bathroom and gave me a cold paper towel to wipe my face. I looked up at her and saw that she had been crying too. I hugged her and then wiped my face.
"Are you okay?" she asked me.
I nodded my head yes. She smiled at me and hugged me again. We walked out of the bathroom and went outside to walk back around to the front of the church. We walked back in and sat in the back. When church was over, Mrs. Raymond took me to meet the pastor.
"Pastor, this is Alexis," she said.
"Hello, Alexis. I'm Reginald Hayes," he said shaking my hand. "I just want you to know that God has great things in store for you," he said smiling. I smiled too.
"Well, we have to get going Mrs. Raymond said.
"Okay. Well it was nice meeting you Alexis. I hope to see you again," Pastor Hayes said.
"It was nice meeting you too," I said walking away with Mrs. Raymond. We walked over to where Mr. Raymond, Christian, and Cailen were. Christian was holding Cailen and she was sleeping. Seeing it made me smile.
"Hey," he said to me.
"Hey," I said smiling.
"You good?" he asked walking out.
"Yeah. I feel a lot better," I said.
"That's good," he said putting Cailen in her seat.
"Alright y'all. We're going to stop at the store to pick up some stuff and we'll be back at the house," Mrs. Raymond said.
"Alright," Christian said. "See y'all at the house."
We started walking back to Christian's truck and got in and rode back to his house.
**************************
*5 hours later*
"Alexis," Mrs. Raymond said shaking me. I rolled over and sat up. "I need you to take this," she said handing me a pregnancy test.
"Okay," I said getting up and walking to the bathroom. I took the test and waited for the results to come up. I looked at it and tears came to my eyes. I walked into my room with the test in my hand and showed Mrs. Raymond.
"It's positive," I said. She got up and hugged me.
"I know how much you wanted this," she said to me smiling. She walked out and I unlocked my phone and saw Bryson calling me. I answered it out of curiosity.
"Hello?" I answered.
"Alexis," he said crying.
"Bryce? Are you crying?"
"Yes."
"What's going on?" I asked getting worried.
"Danielle," he said and started crying harder.
"Bryce. Danielle what?" I asked.
"She went into labor and had the baby," he said still crying.
"Why are you crying if she had the baby?" I asked getting irritated.
"Because she's gone."
My heart dropped.
"What do you mean she's gone?" I asked with my heart starting to race.
"There were complications and she lost too much blood. She died."