Affinity

Chapter 48: She Lives to See Another Day

         " You was shedding whole ass tears in ya sleep my guy, how the fuck you do that?" Jay cracked a somber smile in Pap's direction, from his wheelchair mind you, as Pap finally woke up. I'd been conscious for about a half hour, and Pap was the only one who wasn't up when I'd been wheeled into my hospital room following surgery. Apparently, following the attempt on my life Pap had been so worked up they'd had to restrain and sedate him so that he didn't fuck up the wannabe EMT more than necessary, and get himself arrested. Fresh shades of maroon on Rah's knuckles let me know the effort was surely a tag team affair.

" Sis...." Pap ignored Jay altogether and rose from his slumped position in a chair near my bed, rising to his feet as tears continued to pour down his face in what I could decipher as a mix of shock, relief, and confusion.

The liquid sped down his cheeks and beaded as it curved around his chin and down his neck. Frustration took up residence on my being as I couldn't rise and meet his tears with a hug of assurance I knew he sorely needed.

" I'm here Pap, I made it. Stop crying please, for you get my ass started." It was even harder to move as Rah was huddled in the bed with me, his body never not touching mines for fear of evaporation or decimation on my part, I assumed.

" Ay yo, I'm tripped out right now I don't know what the fuck is going on...that shit felt so real. Ab, you were gone, and we were crying, and you'd lost....." I heard the end of his sentence catch in his throat, but I knew what he was gonna say nonetheless.

" You good mamas?" Rah stood in the bathroom doorway at three o'clock in the morning trying to gage my state of health as I lay on the bathroom floor, my cheek pressed upon the tile. The sudden wave of nausea that'd overcome me and jolted me from the bed wasn't entirely new, but it was surely intensified tonight.

" You take that jawn?" The question fell from his lips to the tiled floor, and hopscotched their way over to me as I fought to not roll my eyes in annoyance.

" You take it Rah." I sat up and braced my back against the base of the tub, bringing my knees to my chest in full-blown irritation as he'd inquired about me taking a pregnancy test once more. I surely wanted a child with him, and would absolutely be in love with said child, but I just needed another day so that I could still confront Hakim and get the shit we deserved. After securing our future and attending graduation, then we could take a pregnancy test and figure out if we were about to be parents or not. Because truth be told, test or not, I felt the baby in my womb with a sense of self only I could register; there was a little Rah and me cooking, if I was to say so myself.

" Well I guess we're spending the night in the bathroom then, cuz I'm not bout to come up off you til u take it." I sighed, bracing my elbow on my knee as I held my hand underneath my chin to support my head.

" You already bought it didn't you?" I stole a sidelong glance at him through extended lashes with knowing in my gaze.

" It's in the snack cabinet, I seen you been off of sweets for a grip. Can I go get it?" He was so excited that I couldn't help but match his lip movement.

" Go'n head Rah." I was getting high off the thought of our child as he damn near skipped down the hall. He returned no more than three minutes later with said test in hand, already removed from the wrapper, ready for me to pee on.

I dutifully peed on the stick and sat on the edge of the tub to await the results, Rah followed my lead and slid down the doorframe until his bottom hit the carpeted floor of the hallway, his legs extending so that his toes touched mine. We swapped smiles at the humorous connect, we were always touching one way or the other.

" If it's a boy let's make his middle name Travis." I spoke with confidence despite the fact that a result had yet to appear in the tiny window.

" And we getting married for he come, we gone share everything from the jump this time, nothing held back." His smile creased into his dimple and I couldn't help reflecting on his fineness as I had since I'd known him, on an eternal loop.

" Is this a marriage proposal on a bathroom floor I'm hearing Raheem?" Humor and excitement tickled my voice all the same; my giddy ass.

" It been that mamas....you late."

" We all good Pap, calm ya fears." Snapped back to reality I took Pap's hand in my own, his slight pull away from the movement wasn't lost on me, but I was determined to pull him from his déjà vu one way or another.

" So the baby-" He wanted me to spell it out, the crease in his eyebrows and sweat on his forehead spelled urgent anxiety waited on the waft of his bated breath.

" The baby's alive, we're all good." His eyes lit up and as he released a relieved breath he dropped to the bedside on his knees, his arms extended onto the bed, hands intertwined with mines.

" Bout dramatic as fuck Pap, gon make me pull ya ass up." Jaelyn maneuvered his wheelchair around the bed and made do extracting Pap from the floor.

" What's one more boy in this male heavy brood to begin with, my son gon fit right in." I rolled my eyes in humor and turned to him in the bed, ignoring the pulls of the wires attached to me.

" So when my daughter come out acting like me and Jaz I don't wanna hear no complaints, because I warned ya ass." He met me with a kiss just as I heard my sister enter the room.

" Did you just say you're having a baby! When the fuck were you gonna tell me lil girl?" I saw my niece shift in her stomach through the sudden movement of the fabric of her dress, on cue it drew an uptick of my lips.

" Real shit, ima be a uncle? Damn man, never knew I'd be so happy to hear that shit." The couple ventured closer, Trey leaning down and placing a kiss on my forehead before Jaz took his place, lowering the guardrail to my bed and perching in it's place.

" Thank you for not dying." I probably shouldn't have found humor in her statement but I did because she was trying to figure out how she could hug me without hurting me, and the sight was hilarious.

" My pleasure." I threw a hand on her stomach and felt my niece kick once more, imagining that feeling being duplicated within my own stomach in the months to come. I had a lot to look forward to. 

........And Affinity is finished!!

I'm toying with the idea of making this into a series, but it's still up in the air. 

Let me know your thoughts