Elijah walked gingerly into the kitchen, paying absolutely no mind to Micheal, who sat at the kitchen counter holding a sleeping Amiyah in his lap.
He opened the refrigerator door and pulled out a bottle of water. He then closed the refrigerator door and turned around. When he did, a look of confusion immediately overtook his features.
"Where'd this baby come from?" Elijah asked.
"I just picked her up from my sister house." Micheal replied, shifting Amiyah in his arms so Elijah could see her better.
Elijah walked closer to the two and gently stroked the baby's cheek. Amiyah squirmed a little before she reached up and grabbed Elijah's finger in her tiny hands.
"She's your niece?" Elijah inquired.
"Something like that." Micheal muttered.
"Micheal, what do you mean? Who's baby is this?" Elijah questioned, pulling away from the baby.
"Yours." Micheal stated.
"What do you mean she's mine, Micheal!?" Elijah exclaimed, startling the young child in Micheal's arms.
The child bursted into tears and Micheal hurried to hush her. The child continued to cry hysterically, despite Micheal's efforts.
"Why you so fussy? Hmm, princess?" Michel cooed as he bounced Amiyah in his lap.
Amiyah opened her eyes and looked directly at Elijah with her little arms outstretched, reaching for him. Elijah rolled his eyes before he let the little gremlin take ahold of his finger.
"Micheal. I need you to explain this to me, now." Elijah demanded after the child calmed down.
He cautiously removed his finger from the little one's hold and glared at Michael, awaiting an answer.
"There's nothing to explain, like I said, she's yours. She's your baby, Elijah." Micheal repeated.
"How is that possible?" Elijah muttered.
"We had unprotected sex and, nine months later, I birthed our baby girl." Micheal explained.
"I-I don't understand." Elijah stuttered, clutching his head in dispair.
"Elijah, I know your old enough to know about the birds and bees." Micheal scoffed.
"Not that, Micheal. I don't understand how you were able to have her." Elijah sighed in exasperation.
"Honestly, I don't either. All I know is that I had a baby and she's yours." Micheal shrugged.
"How do you know I'm the father then? For all we know, Jacob could be the father. She does have his hair." Elijah questioned.
"C'mon now, Elijah. She looks exactly like you, plus I never had sex with Jacob, but if you don't believe she's yours, we could always get a DNA test." Micheal stated.
Elijah began to open his mouth, in an attempt to speak, but he decided against it. Instead, he took a seat next to Micheal at the kitchen counter. Silence immediately emersed the two as they sat and the child continued to slumber in Micheal's arms.
"So, how old is she?" Elijah spoke awkwardly.
"About one and a half." Micheal answered.
"One years old? Where the hell you been all this time!?" Elijah shouted.
Micheal sighed as his outburst caused Amiyah to squirm and whimper in his arms. Elijah rolled his eyes before pressing his fingers against the child's cheek, hushing her instantly.
"You remember when I took off work to go on vacation?" Micheal inquired.
"Vacation? More like disappeared for two years." Elijah scoffed.
"Well, I went to my mama house. By time I got there, I found out I was already three months pregnant. I told my mama and other family and they wanted me to have Amiyah there so I did." Micheal explained.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Elijah asked.
"We were already having problems in in our relationship and I didn't want a baby to make it worse, plus I knew you would probably freak out so I stayed in Mississippi for a bit after Amiyah was born before I came back to L.A. and told you." Micheal answered.
"So, if I'm understanding this right, apparently you concieved my 'daughter', kept her away from me for almost two years, and now you've brought her here to L.A. just so I could meet this baby and claim this child that you say is mine?" Elijah concluded.
"Yup." Micheal replied.
"I don't believe you." Elijah spoke firmly.
Micheal shrugged before he got up from his seat.
"Okay but, look, imma go upstairs to my room before you have another outburst and wake my baby up again. You can come up there so we can talk about this like adults, but make sure you wait until after I put her down for her nap before you spaze out or whatever, by the way, her name is Amiyah." Micheal rambled before heading upstairs.
Elijah stayed downstairs for a minute before he eventually followed Micheal upstairs. Micheal had just finished laying down Amiyah in her giraffe themed crib when Elijah walked into his room.
Micheal took a seat on his bed while Elijah took one beside him. Elijah sat fiddling with his fingers amongst the nearly silent room. Amiyah's soft snores, in addition with his own patchy breathing, was the only thing heard in the room.
"I want a DNA test." Elijah spoke.
"You don't believe me." Micheal laughed sarcastically.
"It's not that I don't believe you, I just want to make sure she's mine." Elijah defended.
"Your full of shit, Elijah, but we can get a paternity test. It'll be proof that your the father of my child. Now, get out." Micheal stated.
"What if I don't want to get out?" Elijah teased.
"Elijah, if you don't-" Micheal started.
"Okay, I'm leaving." Elijah surrendered.
Elijah then got up and exited the room. He went into his own room and plopped down onto his bed.
His mind went a thousand miles per second, trying to comprend what he heard this evening. Many questions roamed inside his brain, entering and exiting at rapid speed, but only two questions haunted his thoughts that night.
"What if she is mine and how am I going to tell my mother?" Elijah sighed aloud in the empty room.
