Chapter 69: So Hard To Breathe

 

 

Mere

“You two should be ashamed of yourselves,” Mr. Bonilla looked between me and Jaznae. She’s lucky Antonio pulled me off when he did because I was gonna kill her.

“She crossed the line,” I told him.

“Jaznae, you should know better. You know that her father is a touchy subject for her,” he scolded her.

“Yeah and she said worse stuff to me before,” she looked unfazed.

“This bitch,” I felt myself getting angrier but Antonio grabbed my hand.

“Apologize.”

“Dad you have to be kidding me. I’m twenty four, I don’t have to apologize to that bitch,” she crossed her arms. I held my tongue because I didn’t want to be the kid in this situation. Jaznae has that covered all by herself.

“Exactly, you’re twenty four not eighteen anymore,” he gave her a knowing look.

“She’ll never grow up. I wasn’t like that when I was your age,” I muttered.

“And when was that Chimere; centuries ago?” She snapped her head over to me.

“I’m only two years older than you idiot,” I rolled my eyes.

“You look so much older and I don’t mean it as a compliment,” she grinned.

“And you act so much younger. I don’t mean it as a compliment either,” I could go back and forth all day if this is how it’s gonna be.

“Do you always have to be this bitchy?

“Do you always have to be this ignorant?”

“I was born with a smart mouth. I’m sorry if you can’t handle it.”

“And I was born with these hands. It’s obvious you couldn’t handle it.”

“YOU TWO STOP!” Mr. Bonilla yelled as we glared at each other. “You’re both acting like little kids and I’m getting sick of this. Jaznae just apologize for talking about her father,” he stood in front of her.

“I’m sorry,” she huffed.

“I don’t need bullshit apologies,” I shook my head.

“Chimere,” he narrowed his eyes on me.

“No, she crossed a major line tonight! I don’t give a fuck who you are when you talk about my dad, you’re gonna get your ass kicked,” I snapped.

“I never would’ve guessed that you two would’ve grown to hate each other,” he looked at us in disbelief.

“Well they did date the same person,” Antonio put that out there. I shot him a look and he stopped talking.

“Wait a minute, you dated Blakelynn?” He turned to me.

“Yeah.”

“Oh, this explains it. Y’all don’t have to best friends and y’all don’t even have to like each other but I’m not leaving here until this situation is solved. Jaznae, you shouldn’t have said what you said. Chimere, you shouldn’t have reacted the way you did. We’ve talked about this a couple of years ago,” he eyed me.

“You know that’s the only way I’ll snap like that,” I pointed out.

“I’m sorry Chimere; I know how much your dad meant to you. I might not like you but no one deserves for someone to say that to them,” Jaznae apologized.

“Sorry for attacking you the way I did,” I thought I should’ve gone a little easier but she did push me to it.

“Got me coming here at two in the morning to knock some sense into you two,” he muttered under his breath.



2 Months Later

Nicki

“So how’s my little niece or nephew?” Nae came and sat next to me.

“He or she is fine. The morning sickness is kicking in but it’s nice that I don’t have my period,” I chuckled. Cassie froze up and looked at us in shock. She was visiting for a few days with Alexis before going back to Paris.

“You good?” Jessi eyed her.

“Shit,” she mumbled. She finally noticed our stare and sighed. “I missed my period,” she said.

“I thought you couldn’t get pregnant?”

“I can but I can’t. My doctor said I have a 1% chance and Alexis was a miracle. I can’t possibly be pregnant,” she shook her head in denial.

“Shouldn’t Kyle be happy?” I raised a brow. She bit her lip and stayed silent.

“You slept with Shad!” Jessi spoke what we all were thinking.

“It was one night and I was drunk as hell. I instantly regretted it when I woke up the next morning,” she groaned and I figured to switch the topic when I saw her face.

“Aubrey’s been acting weird for the last month,” I told them. It’s been on my mind for a while but I’ve brushed it off.

“What kind of weird?”

“He’s just been taking his phone calls outside and it’s like he’s stressed about something,” I shrugged. Jessi’s eyes lit up and a smile appeared on her face. “What?”

“Oh nothing,” she chuckled before the doorbell rung. They all looked at me.

“It’s your house,” I turned to Nae.

“Please?” I rolled my eyes and got up to answer it.

“Blake?” I looked at her in shock. She was supposed to be stuck in Miami for another week. Nae shot up and looked at her as I let her in.

“What are you doing here?” Nae asked her.

“I got some extra time off and there won’t be any disruptions,” she smiled as Nae got up to hug her. Blake pulled back and kissed her while I shot Jessi a look.

“So you’re just gonna ignore your cousins?” Jessi threw her hands in the air dramatically.

“Yes I am,” Blake said before kissing Nae again. I chuckled while going to sit on the couch. They finally pulled away and Nae came back to sit with us. Blake took off her shoes before plopping down on Nae’s lap.

“So how’s Miami?” I questioned. Miami always seemed like a great place to escape to when you just needed a break from New York.

“It’s awesome but it’s doesn’t compare to New York,” she admitted.

“Because we’re here!” Jessi smiled.

“Naw, not you guys. It’s just because my baby’s here,” she smirked at us. Jessi threw a couch pillow at her before we all laughed.

“I gotta go but I’ll talk to y’all later,” I hugged them. I went home and saw Mylan rush down the stairs. She looked at me in shock before smiling.

“Hey mom,” she went to hug me.

“Hey My,” I eyed her. “Why were you running?”

“I promised Nyra that I would help prepare her for her 6^th grade year,” she shrugged.

“Okay,” I said and she ran off. I didn’t know where Aubrey was but I’m gonna confront him about this. Everyone was acting off.

Drake

I walked into Mere’s house and didn’t see her. I know she’s here but she wasn’t in the house. I needed to talk to her about the whole proposal thing. I walked to the balcony and sure enough, she was there with a glass of some kind of liquor. “Mere,” I grabbed it from her and sat down.

“Hey Aubrey,” she smiled weakly.

“What’s wrong?”

“Oh nothing, um what did you need?” She brushed off whatever she was thinking.

“I needed to talk to you about the whole proposal thing,” as soon as I said that she groaned.

“Please talk about anything other than proposals,” she shook her head.

“Okay what’s up with you?” I scrunched up my face.

“Antonio brought up the idea of marriage. Not now of course but he wanted to know what I thought about that,” she sighed.

“What’s wrong with getting married?” I didn’t get what the dilemma was.

“It’s complicated Aubrey. That’s a word that I tend to stay away from. I like how things are now.”

“Don’t knock marriage out of it. I know that you’re scared but if you love him then you shouldn’t be second guessing yourself,” I told her.

“Now you’re helping me huh?” She chuckled.

“You’ve helped me all of these years so it’s time I helped you,” I smiled small.

“When are you planning to pop the question?”

“I want us to be alone when I do it,” I was still nervous as I don’t know what.

“After she says yes, we can move forward,” she rubbed my hand to calm me down.

“What if she says no?”

“She won’t so stop thinking about it,” she tried to convince me. I nodded and took a deep breath.

~~~

“Okay, you need to calm down. Your hands are shaking Dad,” My chuckled at me.

“I’m just nervous,” I let out a nervous laugh.

“Dad, she’s gonna say yes. Then we can move on and finish this,” she told me.

“You’re right,” I nodded. She let out a small smile before hugging me.

“Good luck dad,” she mumbled.

“Thank you baby girl,” I kissed her head and she went next door to Nyra’s house. I went upstairs and saw Nicki on the bed.

“Hey baby,” she smiled and got up to kiss me.

“Hey,” I was still nervous and I guess she could sense that.

“Are you okay? You’ve been acting weird all week,” she eyed me.

“Yeah,” my voice cracked a bit and she looked even more concerned.

“Okay now I know you’re lying.”

“Get dressed, I wanna take you somewhere,” I ignored the comment.

“Okay,” she still looked at me weirdly but she got dressed.

Blake

“I can’t believe I slept with him!” Cassie has been talking about this for the past hour or two.

“So what are you gonna do with it?” Jessi asked.

“I don’t know, I gotta talk to Kyle first,” she sighed.

“You’re not gonna abort my niece or nephew are you?” I eyed her.

“I don’t think so,” she said slowly. I nodded and Nae looked at me.

“Can we talk?”

“Sure,” I got off of her and she stood. We went to her room and she closed the door. “What’s wrong?” I scrunched up my brows.

“Um,” she looked like she was trying to put her words together. I was confused because Nae rarely acts like this. “While you were in Miami, I got to thinking about some things,” she finally spoke.

“About what things?” I questioned cautiously.

“It’s a lot to deal with you know? The whole long distance thing is very overwhelming,” it seemed like she was talking around what she really wanted to say.

“Do you wanna break up?” I averted my eyes to somewhere else in the room. I could feel my heart pounding afraid of her answer.

“Baby,” she walked up to me and turned my face to make me lock my eyes with her. “Why would I want to break up with you?”

“I don’t know, I’m always in Miami and you’re always here. I just thought you got annoyed with the whole back and forth thing,” I shrugged.

“Yeah it can get pretty tiring but I love you. I’m not breaking up with you Blake. I was just thinking about how unfair it is to have you always come up here. Maybe we can alternate this. I can come down sometimes and you can come up,” she explained.

“Oh,” I let out a breath of relief.

“I mean it when I say I’m not letting you go again,” she pulled me close.

“And I’m not going anywhere,” I wrapped my arms around her neck. She smiled before kissing me.

Nicki

“Okay so you’ve been acting weird all week, Mylan has been acting weird, and now you took me to a fancy restaurant. What’s going on Aubrey?” I eyed him from across the table.

“I haven’t been acting weird,” he chuckled.

“Babe, your hand hasn’t stopped shaking since we’ve gotten here,” I reached out and grabbed his hand. It stopped shaking in my grasp.

“How are you feeling about us?” He questioned me.

“What do you mean?”

“Since we’ve been back together,” he added.

“I think we’re doing amazing. You’re not scared that I’m gonna break up with you or something right?” I looked at him.

“Naw, that’s not it. What do you see in the future?”

“What’s up with all these questions Aubrey?” I was getting confused.

“Just answer it,” he pleaded.

“I see us still living in New York with Mylan and a baby boy being a happy family,” I shrugged. He made a weird face and I looked at him a little harder.

“That’s all you see?” He looked a little hurt.

“Am I supposed to see something else?”

“You still don’t think we’ll ever get married?” My heart automatically started beating faster. It happens every time he mentions that word.

“Aubrey,” I started but he stopped me.

“Tell me the truth Onika. What’s up with you and marriage?”

“I don’t know Aubrey. Sometimes I feel like I’m not made to be a wife. I’m scared of not being good enough. I don’t wanna lose this feeling between us,” I admitted.

“We wouldn’t lose this feeling Onika. You and I still will be the same people we are now. Nothing will change except for your last name,” he let out a small grin.

“So you think I’m taking your last name?” I chuckled.

“You know you wanna take my last name,” he gave me a look and I laughed before nodding.

“I wouldn’t want anything else in the world.”

“So you can see marriage in our future?” He had this look in his eyes and I couldn’t figure out what it was.

“Yeah, I can definitely see that in our future,” I smiled. He let out a wide smile and that gave me comfort. I know that I’ll always be good enough for Aubrey.

“So what would you do if I asked you to marry me right now?” He probably just asked for the hell of it.

“Where’s my ring?” I smirked.

“It’s right here,” he stood up. I was confused and before I knew it, he was down on one knee.

“Oh my god,” I said softly.

“Yes, this time I’m proposing,” he chuckled. I let out a small smile at the memory of him giving me the promise ring. “Onika, you’re the love of my life. I haven’t loved anyone the way I love you. I never thought that it would be possible to feel this way. I’m glad that I took Shad up on the offer to coach the dance team. I never expected to fall in love along the way. We’ve had our ups and downs but we always find our way back to each other. I know I’ve fucked up time and time again and I don’t deserve someone like you but you still love me somehow.

We have our daughter and a kid on the way; I want to complete this family the right way. You deserve this and so much more. I know I’m supposed to give this long drawn out speech but I think that I’ve said enough so with that being said, Onika will you marry me?” He opened the box and I stared at the ring and then back at him. So many things were running through my mind. I had no idea that he was serious when he asked what I would do. Everything started adding up from why he was acting weird and Mylan. I looked in his eyes and he looked extremely nervous. I realized that I didn’t answer yet. I bit my lip and slowly nodded my head.

“Yes,” I gave him my answer.

“Yes!?” His eyes lit up and I smiled.

“Yes Aubrey I’ll marry you,” he slid the ring onto my finger before pulling me up into a kiss. I heard people clapping and blushed.

“We’re getting married,” he said in disbelief.

“We’re getting married,” I pecked his lips.

“Onika?” I heard from behind me. I turned and looked at him in shock.

“Channing?” I didn’t even notice the guy standing next to him. Aubrey turned as soon as I said that.

“Let’s go,” he told me.

“Why would you leave so soon?” Aubrey looked at the guy next to him and his eyes darkened. “You should stay and talk to your father for a while,” he smiled.

“Aubrey?” He looked behind them and Jhene ran into his arms.

“Hey,” he said and she looked at him confused. “I know I told you about him over the phone but I guess this is the official meeting,” She looked between him and Channing.

“I’ve already met him,” he said in a dark voice.

“Oh, well I really hope you guys can get along considering you’re my brothers and all. Maybe we can have like a family day!” she smiled.

“Why does everyone have to be connected somehow?” I mumbled to myself. Aubrey didn’t seem shocked at all so I’m assuming that he already knew. “So he’s not related to him right?” I cut in.

“Oh no. My mom had Channing before I was born. Then she got with Aubrey’s dad and had me,” she was oblivious to the tension.

“Let’s go,” Aubrey grabbed my hand and we left the restaurant. I stopped him before he could get into the car. I pushed him against it and locked my eyes with him.

“Don’t let this ruin tonight,” I told him.

“I already knew that they were related. I found out a couple of months ago. That's not why I'm mad. I don't know why she's with her dad. I disowned him years ago and I thought she did too. He raped and abused her. Why the fuck would she be anywhere near him?” He grew angry.

“We can worry about this in the morning,” I didn’t want to talk about this tonight.

“You’re right, we just got engaged. I was worried you were gonna say no,” he chuckled.

“That’s why you were so nervous the entire night,” I connected the dots.

“I just wanted to prove to you that I’m serious this time. There’s no playing around,” he grabbed my hand. “You have your promise ring, your engagement ring, and the next is gonna be your wedding ring,” he kissed my hand.

“I love you,” I pecked his lips.

“I love you too,” he kissed me again. “Let’s go home and celebrate tonight,” he smirked at me.

“I’m in control tonight,” I grabbed his keys and slid into the car. He got in and looked over at me.

“Are you in control of the car or me?”

“Both,” I grinned and drove off.