C H A P T E R
T H I R T Y - N I N E

         It was Saturday, the weekend had officially started and Alisha couldn't be more happier since she could finally be at home with her babies. Her store was doing numbers and the collabs she was doing with other designers was taking up a lot of her time and taking away the time she usually spent with her family.

Shaun never complained but she knew he missed having her around more and with them trying to plan a wedding together it made things a little harder. So for the whole weekend Alisha was dedicated to spend all her time with Shaun and Nolan and finish planning this wedding.

Standing in the bathroom Alisha was applying her face mask for the night, while Shaun was in the shower singing his life away horribly.

Laughing to herself, she slightly jumped when her phone started ringing. Looking down at it she frowned when her moms name flashed across the screen. "My mom is calling." She stated outloud instantly shutting Shaun and his horrible singing up.

"Answer that bitch, see what she want."

Doing as he said she stepped out and answered the phone since the shower was loud and took a seat on the edge of the bed. "Hello?"

"Alisha?"

"Yes, what do you want?" She questioned harshly.

Hearing her sigh and some shuffling, Alisha mentally prepared herself for whatever her mama was about to say.

"I know I'm last person you want to hear from, but its something I've been hiding from you and I feel its time you know. I can't say much over the phone, so I was wondering if you and Shaun wanted to meet me at the house so we could talk tomorrow."

Sitting there quiet Alisha didn't know what to say, she hadn't talked to her parents in over a year and for her mom to randomly call and ask her to meet up had her feeling funny.

"So you don't call to ever check up on me or your own grandson, but call because you got some deep shit you need to tell me. Why do you expect me to jump for you whenever you need something to be done, but can't do the same for me?" She questioned.

Her mom sighed knowing Alisha was right, "I know I've made many mistakes towards you as a parent—"

"Those weren't mistakes, you guys constantly treated me as if I was less than. Treated me like an outsider and always treated me like y'all ain't love me. Those aren't mistakes, those are choices you two decided to make and now you two have to live with that! I dealt with so much on my own since I could never come to you about my issues. I was raped by Uncle Rickey at only fourteen mama, fourteen years old and my innocence was snatched away that fast and I wanted to tell you so bad, but I knew you probably wouldn't have even believed me or even cared." She sniffled getting emotional since this was her first time ever telling her mama this.

Uncle Rickey was her moms oldest brother, Alisha used to always come to his house and spend time with her Aunt Gayla. Her Aunt Gayla was more of her mom than her own mother and she found herself latching onto her.

They used to do everything together, shopping, concerts, road trips. They were like the best of friends, but all that changed when Aunt Gayla had to go to work one day and Uncle Rickey was off for the first time in some weeks.

Alisha never had any issues with him and he honestly liked him since he would sometimes gave her money and brought her gifts for her birthdays or Christmas. But that day something just felt off, the vibe in the air made her sick to her stomach so she stayed in her room majority of the time, but that didn't stop him.

She knew the moment he entered her room something was off about him, due to devious look on his face and the moment he stepped foot towards the bed Alisha couldn't do anything to save herself and her cries went unheard.

But what hurt her the most was when she expressed what happened to her Aunt Gayla and instead of being there for her, she slapped her, accused her of lying and kicked her out and she never saw or spoke to her Aunt Gayla again.

Her mom couldn't help but feel guilty, she felt like shit because this whole time her child was hurting and experiencing life changing situations and she never knew nor cared to even ask in the past.

"I'm sorry," was all she could say.

Alisha laughed, "I'm sure you are, but I don't know about meeting up. I'll think about it."

Looking up when she heard Shaun come out of the bathroom, she got up and walked back in the bathroom since he was making a lot of noise. "Okay baby, just please let me know if you're coming or not. It's so much I need to tell you and I know I haven't been the best parent to you and I apologize for all the pain I have caused you. I know I can't take back how we treated you, but we do apologize and hope one day we could make things right so we can be in our grandbabies lives."

Alisha looked at herself in the mirror and closed her eyes. All she ever wanted to hear was an apology from her parents and she finally got it. But she wasn't sure if she could ever forgive them for how they treated her for so long. It was too much, and it was gonna take a while for them to get back in her good graces.

"I'll get back to you mama." Hanging up the phone, she pressed her hands against the counter not sure how to feel.

Stepping out of the bathroom Alisha made sure to turn off the light before sliding into bed with Shaun who was now sitting up half naked while watching a basketball game. Glancing down at Alisha sensing something was wrong, he turned the tv completely off so he wouldn't be distracted and gave her his full attention.

"You alright?" He questioned and she slowly looked up at him and shrugged.

"I just received an unexpected call from my mama and she said she really need to share something important with me and wanted to meet up with the both of us tomorrow and I don't know how to feel. I haven't talked to my parents that much after Anaya went to jail and I really don't know what she could possibly have to tell me that's so important." She huffed growing frustrated.

Reaching his arm over Shaun pulled her closer, "Just chill, you already about to lose ya mind and don't even know what she's gonna say."

"I know baby, but when it comes to my parents .. nothing is ever good with them. I can just feel that I am about to be hit with some bullshit that I really don't want to hear or deal with. I lowkey wanna just say fuck it and not go. Hell they always want me to jump whenever they want something, but never could give me the same energy." She spat starting to get pissed the longer she thought about it.

"Then don't go."

Letting out a frustrated sigh, she pushed him away and got out of the bed then started pacing the room. Running her fingers through her hair, Shaun just watched as she freaked and worried herself out over this and couldn't help but laugh.

But he also started admiring how short she was and how good she looked carrying his girls. Her belly was huge and due to the tank top she was wearing being way too small her stomach was on full display.

"But, I lowkey want to find out what they have to say as well."

Shaun nodded, "Okay then go."

Rolling her eyes, she waddled over to the bed and grabbed a pillow to throw it at him. "You're no help at all."

"You know I'm down with whatever you wanna do, if you don't wanna go then so be it we ain't going. But if you do then okay, that's cool too." He explained as he stood up as well following her out the room.

Both stopping at Nolan's room door, she slowly opened it and they both peeked inside to see him sound asleep causing smiles to appear on their faces before they closed it back and continued walking down the hall and downstairs to the kitchen.

"I know you're down with whatever I want to do, but if you were me Shaun what exactly would you do?" She asked as she reached in the fridge to grab her jar of sliced pickles and her personal bag of hot cheetos.

Sitting at the bar he watched as she grabbed a sliced pickle and placing the cheeto in the center and folding it like a taco before tossing it in her mouth. Making a disgusted face, he shook his head. "I'm sorry, but bruh how can you eat that nasty shit? Hot cheetos and pickles do not go to together."

Waving him off she continued to eat her snack. "It's not nasty, anyways back to the conversation at hand."

"If I was you I would go simply because I'ma nosey ass nigga. But plus I would just be curious to know as to what they gotta say." He shrugged.

"What if its something that's gonna hurt me?" She asked barely above a whisper. "I honestly can't take anymore hurt from them."

"If they pull some fuck shit, I'ma beat ya pops ass simple." He stated not really up for games with her parents.

Shaun ain't never been the type to just flat out hate someone but he hated Alisha's family and if her mama or daddy was on some fuck shit he wasn't gonna hold back his feelings or words towards them.

Walking around the counter she turned his chair and stood in front of him between his legs. "I'm sure you would, but I just need to calm down and just hope for the best tomorrow right?"

Wrapping his arms around her waist, he nodded before leaning down to kiss her on the lips. "Yes, just relax and try not to think about it. Let's talk about something else."

Sighing, she eventually agreed. "It is something that has been on my mind for a while that I've been wanting to talk to you about but I was sorta scared of what your reaction might be."

"You know you can tell and talk to me about anything, what is it?" He questioned as he rubbed his hand on her butt.

"Don't get mad, but the situation with you and Anaya. We never really talked about it much after it happened, and with the whole thing about your mom and you being a rape child and a victim of rape .. I just always been worried with how you are mentally with all of this." She stated and instantly she felt his body tense up.

"Ion really wanna discuss this Lisha, let's talk about anything but this."

Pulling away from him she sighed, "Why not? I just wanna make sure you're good. I mean you never really ever opened up about how you really felt about that incident and I'm just worried Shaun."

"Ain't shit to feel about it Lisha, it happened, it's over with and she's dead. Why even discuss the shit? Let's dead this and talk about shit that actually matters." He snapped unintentionally and Alisha nodded.

"But Shau—"

"But nothing, I told you I don't want to talk about it. So dead it Lisha and I'm not playing."

"All I was trying to do was see where your head was at mentally, sorry for fucking caring about your well-being." Grabbing her pickles and chips she left him in the kitchen alone and headed back to their room.

Once she disappeared up the stairs, Shaun let out a frustrated sigh. He wasn't trying to upset Alisha or shut her out but he really just didn't want to discuss the shit. It still bothered him til this day and he hasn't learned how to actually cope with what happened so instead of voicing his emotions and thoughts, he just kept it to himself.

After a while he eventually stood up from his seat and walked back up stairs to make shit right with his baby. He knew he was wrong for snapping on her when all she was trying to do was help.

Walking into their bedroom he watched as Lisha aggressively cleaned up their room, throwing clothes in the hamper and mumbling words to herself.

Looking up when she felt his prescence in the room, he frowned when he had saw she had been crying making himself feel even more like shit. "Lisha—"

Holding her hand up, she stopped him from talking. "Don't say anything Shaun, I get it and I understand. But you didn't have to get rude with me when all I was trying to do was make sure you was good. That's all I was trying to do." She sniffled.

Walking towards her he grabbed her by the hands and pulled her as close as she could go into him and wrapped his arms around her. "I know and I'm sorry. I'm just not ready to talk about it, I still have yet to face what happened and just always buried the situation in the back of mind because it's something I'm embarrassed of."

"You don't have to be embarrassed baby, I don't judge you or look at you anyless .. I just want you to talk to me, just let me in so I can try my best to help you in the best way possible." She expressed speaking straight from the heart. "We're about to get married in a few months and as your fiancé and future wife, you have to be comfortable to come to me with issues you are facing or else this won't work."

Alisha didn't want Shaun to feel ashamed or embarrassed over something he had no control over. She understood exactly what he was feeling since she had dealt with being taken advantage of before in her life as well, but as his woman she wanted to be his outlet like Cali was hers when she finally confessed to her rape.

Shaun nodded knowing she was right, "I will one day trust me. I'm just not ready to talk about it now."

Stepping on her tippy toes, she kisses him on the lips then hugged him. "Well whenever you are ready, I'm here."

The following day Alisha and Shaun found themselves at Alisha's parents house and both their nerves where all over the place. After sitting in the car for almost fifteen minutes, they both got out just when her mom opened the front door to greet them.

"I'm so glad you two could make it." She smiled going in for hugs which they awkwardly gave back in return.

Allowing them to follow behind her inside the house, she lead them to a table where some cake and drinks where sitting. "I know I called unexpected but I'm just really in need of some help from you guys." She started off once they all got situated.

"My health is horrible Lisha and I'm not seeking sympathy from you or anything of that sort, but I am seeking for your help."

"Help with what?"

Glancing over at Shaun who was already staring, she sighed. "I should have told you guys this along time ago, but I didn't know how to. When your sister went to jail, we didn't know she was pregnant until she gave birth and they called us up to the hospital to take the baby in. She believes the baby is Shaun's but she didn't want him or you to ever find out about this baby, but I've been diagnosed with Colon Cancer and I can't look after her the way she needs to be looked after."

Soon as those words left her moms mouth, Alisha's heart broke. She knew her mom was gonna tell her some fucked up shit, but she didn't expect this.

She honestly didn't even want to believe that the child was Shaun's because then that would mean Anaya gave him his first child and she didn't deserve that title especially with how this child possibly came about.

Alisha looked over at Shaun who now was looking down. "So you want us to take this child in?"

Her mom nodded, "Yes, I wouldn't have asked if I really didn't need the help. I know this a lot especially with the way the child got here, but please Alisha. I don't want this child to end up in the system and I feel it would only be right that the baby lives with her biological father."

Alisha shook her head, "Are you even sure that this is Shaun's baby, Anaya was sleeping with more than one person. Marcus or Melvin could possibly be the father as well."

"Anaya believes the baby is his and she favors him Alisha. I know you don't want the child to be his and if I were you I wouldn't want the baby to be his either so I understand. But I really need your help baby, I know this is a bittersweet feeling but the child didn't ask to be here." She expressed.

"And Shaun didn't ask to get raped either! Are you even thinking about how this might make him feel? This isn't just my niece who is in need or something, this is my fiancé's child who was created due to him getting raped by my sister."

"I know Alisha, I know this is all fucked up on so many levels but I don't know what else to do."

Alisha went to speak, but was cut off by Shaun. "Can we see the child?" Was the first thing Shaun asked and said since they arrived.

Nodding her head, she eventually stood up and went to go get the little girl. A few seconds later she returned with a child following behind her before she moved out the way and revealed a two year little girl.

Alisha eyes instantly filled up with tears when she saw how much she favored Shaun. He couldn't deny that child even he wanted to and Alisha didn't know how to feel at the moment. Getting up from the table she walked out not being able to handle all of this at once. It was too much being dropped on her and she couldn't wrap her mind around it.

Her heart was breaking for Shaun and she wasn't sure what they where gonna do at this point. It was all a big mess, but she knew she couldn't leave that child hanging.

Stepping inside their home Derek walked straight to the kitchen where he smelled the food coming from and slightly smiled when he saw Hazel doing what she does best. Things have still been a little rocky since everything happened between them, but Derek was willing to move on and forgive her long as she made a promise to him.

Catching her attention when he went towards the fridge, she nervously pushed her hair behind her ears and smiled weakly at him. "I didn't know you was coming home so early, dinner is almost ready and Tyler is already put to bed. He wasn't feeling well so I just made him some soup and gave him some medicine." She explained and he nodded.

"You need me to help you with anything?"

"If you could just set the table that would be fine." She shrugged before turning back to finish cooking her creamy, garlic scallop pasta dish.

Once he was done setting up the table, he went and grabbed them some wine glasses and pulled out her favorite wine to drink. Taking his seat he smiled her way when she came walking in with his plate. "I wanted to try something different, I saw this dish online and wanted to try it."

"It looks and smells good baby, thank you."

Smiling to herself she walked back in the kitchen to grab her plate then took her seat beside him. Grabbing each other's hand Derek did a small prayer and blessed the food before they started to dig in.

Things were quiet between the two for a while until Derek decided to break the awkward silence and spoke. "I know things between us been kinda off and I apologize for that. I understand why you got the abortion, your reasoning was valid but I am hurt that you never even told me and had to go through it alone. I told you when it comes to kids I will always taking your feelings into consideration so I'm not understanding why you didn't just tell me."

Playing with her fork, she sighed. "I was scared of what your reaction might have been. I know you want other kids and so do I but I didn't want to let you down Derek, I didn't want to see that look of pain in your eyes when I had to tell you about me having to kill the baby. I regret it so much but I just didn't want to hurt you." She sniffled.

Reaching over to grab her hand, he kissed the back of it. "I get it and I understand but as your man Hazel .. you gotta tell me stuff like that. So whenever its anything you have going on just tell me, if your reasoning behind a decision is valid then I'm not going to trip whatsoever."

Nodding her head, she stood up from her seat then disappeared down the hall before she returned with a picture and handing it to him before retaking her seat.

Holding the picture up he frowned when he saw it was an ultrasound, "Wait, you're pregnant?"

"Eight weeks." She cheesed as her eyes filled up with tears just as his did. "And the doctor told me everything was looking pretty good as of now so I'm just praying that I will be able to carry this baby full-term."

"Even if you can't I'm not gonna look at you any different or love you anyless."

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Thanks for the love & support!
- Denise 💋