Winter Toes III: Defending the Heart

WT3| "Love All Over Me"

c h a p t e r t h i r t y o n e
-
lying to keep others safe

Roman looked down at Taylor, trying to stay calm. He told himself that he'd stay with her until she woke up, he told himself she'd be okay. But he couldn't bring himself to do it. Every time he looked at her he got more and more serious but Roman was man of smart actions. He couldn't just be going around searching for who shot her when he couldn't think of one person that would put them him in this predicament other than Wyn, and from everyone's knowledge he was locked up for a long, long time.

In that hospital bed, Taylor's eyes were closed and she looked at peace regardless of the fact that they had lost their child. Both their first child. It was heart wrecking.

The doctor said she was lucky to have made it after the shooting but she bawled out into tears still. That sight alone hooked Roman straight in the heart, bringing him into a few tears too.

Why is this happening now? He remembered asking himself once but now he was asking again. By now, he was trying to keep in contact with any ear in the street there was to see if there was any young niggas bragging about the situation but word hadn't gotten back yet.

"She is okay? I got a call-" Roman's eyes shot to the woman that spoke, sounding panicked. He tried to put a name to her face as she held the hand to young boy beside her.

"Yeah, she's just sleeping." He told her finally remembering her name.

She exhaled, looking at her sister. She frowned, wiping the tears that were already falling down her cheeks. The boy let go of her hand and hugged her. "I told you she'd be okay, mama." He told her. She looked at him and nodded.

"Who is this?" Roman asked, his eyes darting between the two. He had a familiar look to him but his mind was everywhere so he couldn't quite get it right now.

Glynn frowned before looking at the boy. "This is Junior... my son." She announced with a small smile. Roman nodded.

He knew she'd get pregnant eventually, who's it was wasn't his business at all so he didn't ask. Instead, he continued holding Taylor's hand, looking down at the ring on her left hand. He loved her so much, moving on from this was going to be hard.

Though he wanted revenge, he knew that he couldn't get it from killing someone and ruining his future. He was getting too old to be doing that shit. However, that didn't mean everybody thought that way.

He made sure he told Kayo and Slug about everything that went down. They were the only people he had told the truth too when they called asking what was going on. He didn't need Taylor's crazy family coming in here stressing her out especially after the news about the baby. But he couldn't help but feel if he should've told them the truth.

"How long has she been sleep?" Glynn asked after a while.

Roman kept his eyes on Taylor's hand. "An hour or two." He responded, his voice kinda raspy from being sleep deprived and not having spoken to anyone other than the nurses all day.

She sighed before sitting down. "You been here all day?" She asked, looking at her sister. Roman looked back at her briefly.

Junior was standing off to the side, his hands in his pocket as he looked around a little uninterested. He didn't feel moved by this because he didn't know the woman laying there. All he knew was that she was his aunt and he had never met her before now. Of course that was because before they lived out in Atlanta and now they were here.

"Yeah." Roman answered. Glynn nodded.

"Did you wanna go get something to eat while I stay and watch her?" She asked with concern in her voice.

Knowing her family, Roman quickly declined. "Nah, I'm good. I ate already." He said, shaking his head.

Glynn nodded again. "No problem." She said, looking over to him. "She looks so peaceful."

Roman chuckled. "For once." He said softly, barely audible but she heard him.

Her grip tightened around his hand, catching his attention. He smiled when he saw her blink behind her eyes. Her grip got tighter and tighter until she was almost hurting him.

"Damn girl." He grumbled, slightly squeezing back. Her chest jumped lightly as her mouth formed a smile, she turned to him as she laughed.

"I'm hurting you, big baby?" She asked softly, her raspy voice matching his.

He nodded. "Yeah you are, little baby." He said before kissing her hand.

She rolled her eyes before turning to look at Glynn, her smile fading slowly. "Glynn?" She called out.

Glynn waved softly. "Hey sis." She practically whispered.

Taylor looked confused you to the little boy not far from her. She pushed her lips together, trying to calm down as so she wouldn't stress out and cause pain to her stitched up stomach. "Who is this?"

"His name is Junior. He's your nephew." Glynn replied. Roman noted the look she gave when she said it as if she was hesitant or guilty- perhaps both.

Taylor smiled. "Hey, how old are you?" She asked, extending her free hand.

He grabbed her hand and smiled. "14." He told her confidently.

She squinted at him. "Wow, 14?" She was doing the math in her head and so was Roman. They seemed to get the answer at the same time. "You were pregnant?"

Glynn nodded slowly.

"Who's the father?" Taylor asked.

Glynn looked down at her hands. It was now or never. She tried telling herself that she wouldn't care since she was with Roman but deep down she knew she would when she gave the answer. "Wyn.." she said.