Hiding Place || Tori Kelly

Settling Dust

19 Weeks and 2 Days
(Oct. 21)

10:30 PM

André stood in the doorway of he and Tori's bedroom as he watched his wife and daughter sleep. That was still weird for him to think about. He went from having a pregnant wife, awaiting the arrival of their daughter, to having a daughter and a pregnant wife in the blink of an eye. Something in him melted as Tori protectively pulled Irie closer to her. "That's wild, man," AJ whispered, scaring André a bit.

"Oh my gosh!" He whispered loudly, causing the women to stir a bit in their sleep. Not wanting to wake them, André backed out of the room and shut the door, before following AJ back upstairs.

"How you feeling?" AJ asked, grabbing he and André a beer from the fridge.

"I don't even know, man. It's—" André shrugged, popping the lid off of the cold brew. He didn't even know how to feel. "She's my daughter. I always wanted kids and now it feels like I'm biting off more than I can chew. I mean..." he trailed off. "She's seven. She's practically grown," André said. AJ popped an eyebrow and shook his head.

"She hasn't even finished 2nd grade," AJ said. André rubbed the back of his neck and started to think about all the things he missed out on. Her first words. Her first steps. But, he couldn't dwell on what he missed. He had to focus on making sure Irie and Abiah had everything that they needed.

"Bro, we don't even have any furniture. We just got a crib not that long ago. Irie is wearing one of my t-shirts, right now. What do you buy seven-year-olds?" André asked the childless singer. AJ shrugged and opened the laptop before him.

"Start with a bed," he suggested, heading to IKEA's website and pulling the screen to face André. The basketball player scrolled through dozens of children's beds, fascinated by the different styles other than race car and princess. AJ took a seat as he André jumped down the rabbit hole that was kids shopping.

19 Weeks & 5 Days
(Oct. 24)

7:30 AM

Tori sat on the couch reading her bible and studying when little footsteps crept up to her. Tori looked up to see Iriella rubbing her eyes. The new momma placed her bible in her lap and held her arms out for the child. "Good morning, babe," Tori smiled, as Iriella cuddled into her side. Tori draped an arm around Irie, before she picked up her bible and continued to read.

"What's that?" Irie asked, pointing to the worn book. Tori was shocked, but quickly remembered the story Iris told them three days before about the fighting that when on in her previous home.

"It's a bible. It's a book about God. And all the lesson he has to teach us," Tori explained. She heard Iris hum and run her fingers along the highlighter filled pages of Matthew.

"Why do you read it?" Irie asked as she slipped her legs under her body.

"Well, I read it because I'm a Christian and I want to make sure that I'm close to God, because even though I have an earthy father, he is like my Heavenly Father. He watches over us and wants us to have a relationship with him like you want to have with your daddy," Tori answered. Irie looked up at her with a smile.

"Can I be a Christian?" The seven year old asked. Tori's heart melted as her hormones kicked in, but she did her best not to shed any tears.