Chapter 68: A Daydream Away

Nicki

“So,” Nae and Jessi stared at me.

“Way to make me feel pressured,” I sighed.

“Nic, what’s up? First you ran off to Daven’s after everything went down with Drake. Now you’re saying that he wants to fix this and something is stopping you. What’s in the way?” Nae scrunched up her face.

“It’s more like someone is in the way,” I mumbled.

“What is that supposed to mean?” Jessi eyed me.

“I’m pregnant,” I tried to stay strong but I broke down crying.

“Why is that a bad thing?” Nae and Jessi pulled me in their arms.

“Because I’m gonna make a horrible mother,” I mumbled.

“You already an amazing mother to Mylan,” Jessi pointed out.

“I know but this is different. I just feel like something bad is gonna happen,” I wiped my tears.

“You know that you have to tell Drake right?” Nae raised a brow.

“I know and I’m going to his house after this. We need to lay something on the table,” I nodded. The doorbell rung and Nae hopped up and rushed downstairs. “What the hell?” I looked at Jessi confused but she just laughed.

“Blake’s here,” she shook her head.

“Well damn,” I chuckled and got up to go downstairs but Jessi stopped me.

“You might wanna wait a minute. I’ve done that and I’m scarred for life,” she shook her head.

“I think you’re over exaggerating,” I walked down the stairs with Jessi right behind me.

“I’m not afraid to take you right here right now,” I heard Blake whisper.

“You’re running shit now?” We got downstairs and saw Blake caging Nae into a corner. I looked over at Jessi as my eyes went wide.

“Told you,” she mouthed.

“I know it turns you on,” Blake didn’t even notice us.

“It definitely turns me off,” I spoke up.

“I’ll agree with that,” Jessi nodded. Blake quickly backed off of Nae and turned to look at us.

“Um hey guys,” she blushed.

“Hey guys? Dude, I felt like I was watching porn. Since when were you a freak?” Jessi eyed her.

“I am not a freak,” she denied.

“I’m not afraid to take you right here right now,” I mocked her.

“I know it turns you on,” Jessi mocked her with me. Nae groaned and pushed up off the wall.

“Don’t y’all have something else to do?” She cut her eyes at us.

“I could stay a minute,” I smirked.

“Onika,” Blake narrowed her eyes at me.

“Fine, I was about to leave anyway,” I playfully rolled my eyes.

“I’m about to go meet someone so I’ll be gone,” Jessi informed them.

“Bye,” I hugged her. I was about to hug Nae but backed up. “I don’t know what you’ve done,” I scrunched up my face and left with a small wave. I drove to Aubrey’s house and tried to calm my nerves down. I thought about using my key but decided to knock instead. He opened the door and smiled.

“Hey,” he let me in.

“Hi,” I went to the living room and we sat on the couch. “So are we moving past the abortion?” I questioned. I couldn’t stand having him be mad at me for this long.

“Yeah,” he nodded.

“There’s something else you should know,” I took a deep breath.

“What is it?” He grabbed my hand. I turned to look at him as tears swelled up in my eyes.

“I’m pregnant,” I choked up. His eyed lit up and he pulled me into his arms.

“We’re gonna have a baby,” I heard the excitement in his voice.

“Yeah,” I sighed.

“What’s wrong?” He pulled away and wiped my face.

“I’m gonna make a horrible mother,” I broke down again.

“Nic, that’s not true. I said that shit out of anger,” he tried to reason with me.

“I’ve been thinking that since I had the abortion. I don’t even deserve to have another child,” I shook my head.

“Listen to me,” he turned my head so I would lock my eyes with him. “You are a wonderful mother and I know that this baby will turn out just like Mylan. I don’t want you thinking negatively and I don’t want you crying,” he wiped my face.

“Okay,” I nodded.

“I love you baby and nothing is gonna change that,” he pecked my lips.

“Nothing?” I looked up at him.

“Nothing,” he promised.

 

Cassie

“Shad, I’m not getting back with you,” I told him for the millionth time.

“I’m not asking for you to get back with me,” he shrugged.

“That’s still included. I’m not getting back with you, I’m not having sex with you, I’m not doing anything with you,” I snapped.

“Not even for one night Cass? I know you miss me,” he eyed me up and down.

“Missing you is the last thing on my mind,” I shook my head.

“If you say so,” he chuckled.

 

Blake

“Ugh,” I groaned when I heard my phone ring again. “That thing won’t shut up.”

“Then maybe you should answer it,” Nae chuckled. I sighed and got up from the bed. I reached for my purse and pulled out my phone. I saw four missed calls from Sage. I called her back and waited.

“Hey rocker girl,” she said.

“Hey, what’s up?” I questioned.

“They have a big photo shoot tomorrow and they want you in it,” she explained.

“You’re serious?” I perked up.

“Yep, do you need me to book you a flight or something?” She offered.

“Um yeah, get me any time they have for tonight,” I agreed.

“Alright, see you later,” I said bye and we hung up. I turned to Nae and bit my lip nervously. “What?” She scrunched up her eyebrows.

“There’s a photo shoot tomorrow and they want me in it,” I told her.

“Okay,” I guess she still wasn’t getting it.

“I have to fly out to Miami tonight,” I elaborated.

“Do you know when you’ll be back?”

“If it’s a regular photo shoot then I can be back in three days,” I calculated the time.

“Alright,” she sighed.

“You’re not mad right?” I asked cautiously.

“Blake, it’s your job. It would make no sense for me to be mad. Just hurry up and get back here,” she let out a small smile.

“Promise,” I pecked her lips.

 “Can I ask you question that might be really awkward?” I looked at her weirdly but nodded. “What’s Chimere’s last name?” She questioned and my eyebrows scrunched together.

“Why would you want to know her last name? Why would you want to know anything about her?” I was very confused.

“It’s complicated and trust me I’d rather not know but I want to.”

“It’s Arias,” I answered.

“Chimere Lainé Arias,” she mumbled.

“How’d you know her middle name?” She was really confusing me now. She snapped out of whatever she was thinking about.

“Oh, I think Nicki mentioned it once. I took a lucky guess. I wanted to see if I knew someone related to her but I don’t,” she seemed like she was lying but I brushed it off. Why would she lie about something dealing with Mere? She hates her.

 

Drake

I sucked up my pride and knocked on Mere’s door. Antonio answered it and I wanted to just kill him but I remembered the bet. “Is Mere here?” I asked.

“Yeah, I was just heading out,” he let me in and then he left. I saw her sitting on the couch and I sat next to her.

“Well, well, look who we have here,” she smirked.

“Man shut up,” I chuckled.

“What’s wrong?” She looked over at me.

“Nicki’s pregnant,” I still couldn’t believe that I was saying that.

“Really? That’s great Aubrey!” She hugged me.

“I’m nervous,” I admitted.

“Why would you be nervous? You already have Mylan,” she pointed out.

“I know but I’ve never had to raise a baby. Mylan was seven when I met her,” I tried to get her to understand where I was coming from.

“I feel you, it’s gonna be new for you. I know you’ll be fine,” she smiled.

“Have you told your family about Antonio?”

“Yeah, my mom is rejoicing while Nessa refuses to talk to me,” she sighed.

“Just give her time, you know how she can be,” I knew Nessa would take it bad.

“I just wish everyone would give him another chance. He’s clean and he’s been nothing but good to me since we’ve reconnected,” she looked down.

“Well I lost the bet so I have no choice,” I tried to lighten up the situation.

“I don’t wanna force you to give him a chance,” she shook her head.

“I’ll give him a chance,” I shrugged.

“Thank you Aubrey,” she beamed.

“So, I also came over here to run an idea by you,” I didn’t want her to think I was crazy.

“What?” She scrunched up her eyebrows.

“What do you think about me proposing to Nicki?” I knew that she wouldn’t judge me.

“Whoa,” she looked taken aback. “I never thought that I’d hear those words come out of your mouth,” she was looking at me in a different way.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” I questioned.

“I’m looking at you like this because I’m seeing a completely different person. I’m not sure if you’re the same Aubrey,” she joked.

“I just wanna prove it to her that I’ll be different this year. I love her and it’s about time I prove it,” I just didn’t want her to say no. “I mean she just got out of an engagement so this is just stupid,” I groaned.

“Stop doing this to yourself. You’ll know if she’ll say yes or not. You know her and you just know when someone is ready or not,” she rubbed my hand.

“How am I supposed to know?”

“Did you ever bring up the subject of marriage?”

“Yeah, she looked completely shocked. She said that she never thought anyone would really propose to her besides the jackass. She thought that she might not be good enough to be a wife,” I sighed. I hated when she felt like that.

“Then I think you know her answer,” she smiled.

“I wanna propose to her in a special way but not right now. I wanna wait a month or two,” I told her.

“I have an idea,” she grinned.

Nicki

“I’m so bored,” Nae groaned as we laid on her bed.

“You’re so overdramatic,” Jessi chuckled. We’ve just been talking about random things.

“Blake will be back before we know it,” I told her.

“Yeah and then she’ll have another photo shoot and another one,” she sighed.

“That’s true but y’all can last long distance,” I encouraged her.

“Ha they couldn’t even last living in the same state,” Jessi laughed. I gave her a look and she tried to compose herself. “My bad,” she slowly stopped laughing.

“See!” Nae shook her head.

“Y’all are grown ass women now. You love that girl too much to not make this work and vice versa,” I gave her a look.

“You’re right,” she nodded.

“So Nika, how’s everything going with Drake?” Jessi asked me.

“He took the baby news really well so I think we’re doing great. He’s excited and so am I. He’s the love of my life and I’m having a baby with him,” I smiled.

“How does it feel though? I know you always wanted to go the whole traditional way; marriage then kids,” Nae looked at me concerned.

“I know, I’ve been thinking about that a lot. It does feel weird and out of order but everything is out of order when it comes to us. We already have My and we’re doing good. Why complain when we have a good thing going?” I shrugged.

“You still doubt yourself huh?” Jessi grabbed my hand.

“The baby is stressful enough. I’m worried about being a good mother and then if you add a wife on top of that. I don’t even know how to take that all in,” I admitted.

“But you were engaged to Channing.”

“It was different with him. I never cared if things were perfect or not. It didn’t really affect me the way that Aubrey does. I don’t wanna screw up with him. He’s my first everything and no one has made me feel the way that he does. I just don’t wanna lose that feeling,” I was scared.

“Take Nae and Blake for an example. When they were back in Cali, they were into each other. Then when y’all were on the dance team, they still felt that way. Six years after that, they still feel the same way,” Jessi tried to help me understand.

“Yeah but Aubrey’s different. Sometimes I can’t figure out how he feels or what he’s thinking. I’m just scared but I’ll get over it,” I’ll get over this eventually.

“Do you think he’ll ever marry you?”

“Yeah, he said he would,” I nodded.

“Does that scare you?”

“Not really, it gives me a comforting feeling. It just shows me how much I mean to him and that he sees a future for us,” I said.

“Then you have nothing to be scared of,” Nae smiled at me.

“You have a man who loves you, a daughter who adores you, and a baby coming. Don’t be scared of that, you should be happy. This is something that you’ve always wanted and you’re getting it. A ring doesn’t make a family just like DNA,” Jessi told me.

“You’re right,” I was thankful to have these two in my life. They were the only two who knew how to talk some sense into me.

Mylan

“Aye, take a break for a minute,” Dad told me. I closed my laptop and put my book up. “What is this anyway? It’s the summer,” he looked at my work.

“It’s a book I'll read when I'm a sophomore. I just wanted to get ahead,” I shrugged.

“I need your help with something,” he started.

“Are you gonna propose to mom!?” I perked up.

“This is the one time I’ll let you in on grown folks business,” he mocked mom. I chuckled and waited for him to speak. “Yeah I’m planning to propose in a couple of months but that’s not all I’m doing,” he smirked.

 

 

Mere

 

I heard a knock at my door and scrunched up my face. I felt Antonio moving a bit so I got up. “I’ll get it babe,” I told him before going down the stairs. I opened it and wanted to groan at the sight of her.

“Arias,” she said.

“I knew you would go to Blake,” I crossed my arms.

“I do know who you are. You surely ain’t look like this years ago. I never forget a face but in your case I’ll gladly make an exception,” she grinned at me.

“If only I had a muzzle,” I mumbled. She never knows when to shut the hell up.

“You really grew into a bitch.”

“I’m a bitch? I’m sorry I didn’t know how to say fuck off politely,” I said innocently.

“I mean you act just like your mom did. She was a bitch and so are you.  I think my mom mentioned back then that your mom was somewhat of a whore. Did that run in the family too?” she sneered.

“I’m a whore? Wow, tell me this Jaznae; how many guys have you fucked over the last six years? I bet you’ve lost count by now. I don’t even wanna get started on girls. I’m not calling you a whore but I think that speaks for itself,” I crossed my arms.

“You’re nothing like your dad, must take completely after your mother,” she shook her head.

“You better stop talking before you regret it,” I gave her a warning look.

“Are you even sure that he’s your dad? You probably should’ve gotten a DNA test done when you had the chance,” she ignored the warning.

“For your sake, I’m gonna end this conversation. Tell your dad I said hi,” I was working on controlling my anger when it came to topics like this. This girl just knows exactly what buttons to push to make me go off.

“I would say the same to you but yours is dead,” she pushed that last button. All self-control left my body and I lunged at her. She crossed one of the few lines that I had. She’ll learn just what kind of bitch I am.