Million Dollar Dreams

Chapter 17

I woke up to the smell of fried chicken and collard greens, and the sound of my mothers awkward laugh. I was laid out on my back, feeling my little girl stretch out her arms and legs. She was waking up too. Her and I were both ready to eat.

I walked down stares to see the many faces of our family. Delia, my mom, Jalen, Aaliyah, Queenie, Aunt Tay along with uncle George, and Brian, his wife Chanel and their beautiful daughter, Monique. I smiled hard at the sight of everyone. My mom walked up to me, giving me a tight hug.

"You did great yesterday." She said to me. "I'm proud of you Lexus."

"Thank you." I said, taking her hand. "What's all this for?"

"Go get dressed, then come out back with me."

"Um.. Alright." I shrugged my shoulders, walking back up stairs.

I brushed my hair into a neat pony tail, and put in earrings. I wasn't sure what to wear, so I just put on a baby blue dress that just passed my knees, with white flats. I hoped that was good enough, cause I didn't feel like dressing up. I went back down stairs and it seemed so much quieter, just my mom was waiting down there.

"So.. Why are we going outside?"

"You'll see.. Come with me." She started to pull me.

"It's hot out though.." I rolled my eyes, following her anyways.

"It's nice out, shut up!"

She slid open the sliding doors that led out to my back porch. My eyes widened at the sight. There was a huge bouncy house set up in the back yard, two grills going, a few tables. There had to be thirty-five people out there already, sitting around chatting. Kirk came up from behind, putting his arms around my waist.

"Do you like it?" He asked sweetly. The table clothes were pink and white, balloons saying "It's A Girl!" And pink and white streamers all around. It was baby shower heaven. Everything was pink and white, though there were different shades of pink to mix it up. Some of it was light pink, and some hot pink.

"I love it." I said, turning around to face him. "It's beautiful." I grabbed his face, giving him a kiss. "Thank you so much!" I wiped my eyes. "You got me all emotional!"

Kirk and my mom both laughed, leading me down the stairs into the yard. Everyone yelled congratulations and all flocked towards me. I was overwhelmed, but in a good way. I was trying to take all this in at once, but it was a lot to handle. I was truly in awe.

I made my way around the yard to greet everyone. They all asked the same things, how are you, how are you feeling, have you thought of any names, have you decorated the room? I answered them all the same, I'm good, I feel great, my life right now, despite all the drama, is great. I wouldn't trade this for the world.

I sat down next to Kirk and my mom. Around us was Delian, Jalen, Aaliyah, Brain, Chanel, their daughter and a few of my cousins who I haven't seen in years. Thankfully I changed into something nice before I came down stairs, I was looking a hot mess before!

I could tell that Jalen felt weird with Aunt Tay and Uncle George being here, and sitting close to all of us. I'm not sure if if was a look of guilt, or fear, maybe a mixture of both. He kept his head down, and avoided eye contact. It worried me some, but I'd talk about it later with him, I wanted to enjoy my moment.

I looked over at Kirk who was talking on the phone.

"You're here? Alright, hold up, I'll come get you in a sec." He got up quickly.

"Who's here?" I asked.

"Tyga, Chyna, Chris and Karrueche." He replied to me. "They're out front, I'ma go get them."

I was actually very excited, I have seen them in a long time, well, I've never meet Karrueche, but from what I've head she's a doll. Chyna and I were starting to get close before we moved, it was going to be nice to catch up with here. I was hoping they brought Cairo along with them.

Jalen took Kirk's seat, sitting down beside me. He let out a deep breath.

"I couldn't sit over there any longer." He mumbled.

"With Aunt Tay?" I asked, he nodded yes. "What did she say?"

"Nothing.. She won't even look at me. I thought she'd understand.. But I guess not."

"It's probably awkward for her too, we both know she loves you Jalen."

"Yeah I guess.."

I looked over and saw Kirk leading out our special guest. I heard a few gasp and "oh my god"'s as they walked up to me. Members of our families both whispered.

"Hey girl!" Chyna smiled, I stood up giving her a right hug. "How are you? Damn you got big! But you look so good!"

"Thank you!" I smiled back. "I'm feelin good, you look good too, but you always look good!" I chuckled. "How's Cairo?"

"He just woke up." Tyga joined in. He was holding Cairo, his eyes barely open as he rested his head on his daddy's shoulder. "Y'all are having a baby girl I heard. Congrats."

"We are. Thank you."

Chris was talking to Kirk, his girl stood there looking awkward, almost like a lost puppy in need of shelter. I walked over to introduce myself.

"Hey." I smiled, giving her a hug. "I'm Lexus."

"Karrueche." She said quietly, doing a half smile. She seemed a little shy, maybe she's just nervous.

"It's nice to meet you. You wanna come sit down with us? You look a little lost."

"Sure." She smiled again. "Congrats on the baby by the way. Chris told me its a little girl."

"Thank you and yeah it is. I'm pretty excited."

"I'd love to have a daughter one day, but Chris doesn't want kids. So I guess now isn't the right time." She shrugged. "I can wait, I'm still young."

"Yeah girl, don't rush into anything. If it's meant to be, it'll happen. Trust me." I said as we sat down. "You know.. As much as I like Chris, I don't think he's ready yet to be a dad. He's focused on what he does and that's his number one thing right now. I'm not saying he's be a horrible dad, but the timing ain't right."

"I agree. I just wish it was, that's all." She sighed. "Can you come up with me to get food? I don't wanna go alone."

"Yeah, I'm hungry anyways. C'mon."

Most of the good food, like the collard greens, mashed potatoes, corn, and all the desert was inside. The chicken, steak and burgers were being cooked on the grill. There was some other stuff too, like baked macaroni and cheese, dirty rice, gumbo, shrimp and fruits like watermelon, strawberries, and pineapples. Today was one of those days were all I was gonna do is eat. I knew my little girl was going to be in good heaven after tonight. She won't be no skinny baby when she's born.

I made my plate, baked macaroni, collard greens and corn, I was gonna go out to the grill and get the grilled chicken, but then I saw the fried chicken on the counter and it was calling my name. Karrueche had shrimp, dirty rice and a little bit of collard greens. It's was small helping. I don't know how she couldn't make a huge plate. I've never been the type to have only a little bit on my plate, if it ain't full, it ain't enough.

We sat back down at the table with Chris, Tyga, Chyna and Kirk. Cairo was knocked out cold on Tyga's lap. I thought it was so cute how much of a daddy's boy he was. It brought a smile to my face.



About a half hour later, my mom dragged Kirk and Chris into the house. I have no clue why, but she made it seem urgent. But, knowing my mom, who is a HUGE drama queen, it was probably nothing. A few of the mom's called all the kids out of the bouncy house to eat. I looked at the time on my phone and it was almost two o'clock. Today has flown by.

"Lexus, come with me for a second, I wanna talk to you." Chanel said with a smile. "Just for like, two minutes."

"Sure." I took one last bite of my food, my second plate of food that is, and followed her over to the table where she was sitting. "What's up?" I asked.

"I'm really happy for you. Having a daughter is an amazing experience, seriously. I honestly love being a mom." Monique, her daughter, came running up to her. Brian followed her with a plate of food. "It's hard at times, but I wouldn't trade it for the world."

"Look at her! She's so pretty! Last time I seem her she was, what, five months old?"

"Something like that, now she's one. It feels like yesterday I had her." Chanel put her on her lap so she could eat. Brain sat down next to her, finishing his plate.

"I'm nervous, but I'm more excited to be honest. You know, I've been waiting for this day to come and it's finally here. It's really not that far from now when I'm due. I have three more months left just about." I shrugged one shoulder. "February isn't as far away as it really seems."

"Oh yeah, the last three months really do fly by." She laughed. "But it's the best times. You start to realize that this is it, there's no turning back now. Any day you could have your baby and you'll finally be a mother."

"It's starting to sink in, it hasn't fully hit me yet.."

"LEXUS! Come over here! It's time to open presents!" My mom yelled from across the yard.

"I think you'll like what you got." Chanel smiled.

I walked over to the table they had set up near the porch, it was overflowing with gifts wrapped in girly colors. I sat down and everyone crowded around me. Their eyes were all set on me, I was the center of attention. I'll admit, I loved it. Everyone was here for me, and to support me. Lately, all the attentions been on Kirk, and, even though all of this is only for a few hours, It was nice to not have to worry about him. Today was a good day.