by Ancelli
“That doesn’t mean anything.”
“It does to me, I’ve been happily married for the last twelve years.” Greg crossed his arms over his chest. “I’ve always been worried about Kanielle, she’s become like a sister to me. I believe her husband abused her.”
“What?” Brandon’s tone changed. He had a feeling he abused her verbally and emotionally, but he hoped that outside of the one time he had grabbed her, he hadn’t put his hands on her.
“Would you like to hold her?” The nurse said, gently picking Coral up from the small mattress.
“Yes,” he blurted out, becoming distracted away from what Greg had told him.
“I have to check up on another patient, I’ll check up on her later,” Greg turned and exited the room.
She walked over to where they were and handed her over to Brandon. “Hold her head.”
“Like this?” Brandon asked as he gazed at his daughter, holding her like she was the finest piece of crystal on earth. He held her close to his heart.
“Yes,” the nurse answered, taking the wires she was hooked up to out of the way. “You can have a seat if you want.”
“I’m fine,” he moved Coral’s position in his arms so that she was now facing him. His little girl was so tiny. Her eyes fluttered opened, and her light hazel irises stared back at him. His eyes watered, “Hey, princess,” he said softly. She cooed in return. “I’m your daddy,” he rocked her. “I know it’s confusing… I’m still in shock myself.”
“Sir,” the nurse touched his arm. “Her mother has been practicing the Kangaroo care.”
“Kangaroo care?” He arched his eyebrow.
The nurse giggled looking at his confused face. “It’s skin-to-skin with the baby, it helps the bonding process with the parents.”
“Can I try?” He remembered Kanielle mentioning something about it. She said it helped the baby in some way.
“Of course,” the nurse pulled a rocking chair over next to Coral’s little area in the NICU. “Here, sit.”
Brandon carefully sat with the baby. The nurse gently took her as he unbuttoned his shirt. Once he moved the material to the side, she gave Coral back to him, and he placed her on his bare chest next to his heart. The nurse covered her little body with a pink blanket.
“This helps her bond with you,” she smiled. “Talk, sing to her, let her hear your voice.”
He couldn’t explain the emotions he was feeling; completely in awe that this little angel was his. He helped create her. It didn’t matter how it happened. All that mattered was that she was here now. Coral balled up into a fetal position on his chest, with her right hand over her face. Brandon smiled, “Truly the happiest day of my life,” he kissed her head.
***
Right after Robert stormed out of her room, a nurse entered with her discharge papers. Four days was long enough for her to recuperate, even though she didn’t want to leave Coral. The doctor mentioned that she could visit the NICU anytime she wanted. Kanielle slowly pulled on a black maxi dress, trying to hide her still swollen belly and slipped on a pair of sandals. She looked at her reflection in the bathroom mirror as she pulled her hair back into a ponytail. This was supposed to be one of the happiest moments in her life. But all she could wonder was how did her life get so messed up? Kanielle was tired; bags were forming under her eyes from lack of sleep. She didn’t have time to wallow in self-pity though, and nothing she did or said would change the outcome.
Brandon Stokes was the biological father of her child. And for the last two and a half months he’d been there for her without even knowing it. She wondered what he was thinking, what was he doing? Kanielle had called Chris and told him not to come get her because she wanted to spend time with the baby. She hadn’t told her family about the paternity results, but she knew it wouldn’t matter one way or another to her mother. Her mom already like Brandon, he’d won her over.
Kanielle walked down the hall to the NICU. She stopped at the window looking in, and her heart skipped a beat. Brandon was holding Coral. Tears filled her eyes as she realized that he didn’t run out of the room because he didn’t want her. Brandon ran to her. She placed her hands on the window. Was he singing to her? She smiled, yes he was. Coral had her hands over her face as he stroked her tiny fingers. Kanielle’s heart swelled. Brandon was a different kind of man. Any other man would’ve needed time to think about the whole situation, but he didn’t. Even she thought about getting some fresh air in her lungs after the news.
Brandon glanced over at the glass, noticing her. His lips curled up into a smile as they both gazed at each other, and then he looked away from Kanielle. He continued talking to the baby. She strolled back to her hospital room with a smile on her face.
Chapter Seventeen
An hour later an older, heavyset lady with salt and pepper hair, in a blue and white muumuu dress was walking toward the Special Unit. “Good afternoon,” she said as she passed by Kanielle.
“Good afternoon.”
She suddenly stopped, watching someone through the window. “He’s wanted this for so long.” She had a heavy country ascent.
Kanielle stared at the lady, was she talking to her?
“My grandson,” the woman voiced.
“Which baby are you visiting?” Kanielle wasn’t going to ignore the older woman. She was raised to respect her elders. The woman pointed at Brandon and Coral, that couldn’t be right, maybe Kanielle was looking in the wrong direction. “Baby Richardson?”
The woman didn’t look at Kanielle, “No baby Stokes,” she pointed. “That man over there in the white shirt, that’s my grandson.” She proudly stated in a thick accent, “And the tiny baby is my great granddaughter.”
“That’s your grandson?” Kanielle’s head snapped towards Brandon, and at that moment he glanced up. He saw his grandmother, smiled, and waved at her.
“Yes, that’s my Bran.” She said and walked away from Kanielle to the nurses’ station.
His grandmother was as polite as him. Did he tell her the baby was half black? His grandmother being from a farm in Arkansas, Kanielle didn’t know what to expect from her. She didn’t want to judge, but she knew racism was still real in this world.
Brandon’s grandmother checked-in at the station, and followed the instructions given by a nurse, and entered the room. Kanielle was going to give them some alone time with the baby. She watched as Brandon introduced Coral to her extended family member, and then Brandon pointed at the window, making his grandmother look her way. His granny waved at her, Kanielle assumed he told her who she was. She heard voices coming around the corner, they were getting louder, and then she recognized one of them as Robert’s.
“Son, calm down. Let’s go somewhere else and talk,” his mother said.
“Kanielle’s room,” his father suggested, marching down the hall.
Kanielle followed them to the room she’d just vacated.
***
He lifted Coral’s tiny palm and waved it. “Say hi to your great-granny,” Brandon introduced his little girl to his grandmother. “Granny, meet Coral, aka Cece,” he smiled. “We just came up with the nickname,” he kissed her button nose. “My very own princess.”
His grandmother stared at his daughter with eyebrows knitted close together in thought. He didn’t tell his grandmother that the woman carrying his baby was black, and he didn’t fill her in on what occurred in making Kanielle and him parents together. She snapped out of her trance, and stroked Coral’s cheek with her index finger. “She’s adorable, and look at those big eyes,” his grandmother giggled. “God, she has your father’s eyes.”
He lovingly stared at his baby. “She does,” his voice rattled. Now all he had to do when he missed his father was look into his child’s eyes. Every time he needed a taste of heaven, he would call his granny, hearing his mother’s angelic voice, and now he had Coral. “I see you met her mother.”
“Maggie?” His granny glanced around the NICU.
“No,” Brandon p
ointed toward Kanielle. “The woman you were talking to before you came in.”
His grandmother stared at Kanielle, and then at Brandon with her eyes wide opened. “The black woman?”
His eyebrows cocked, Brandon didn’t like the way she reacted to knowing that the mother of his child was African-American. “Yes.”
“No wonder…” She touched the baby’s cheek. “You never mentioned she was African-American.” His grandmother waved at Kanielle. The shock was lessening and her face relaxed again. “She’s nice.”
“The color of her skin doesn’t matter to me, all that matters is that she’s my daughter.” Brandon kissed Coral’s nose. “We thought she was either carrying theirs, or Maggie’s and my baby.”
“What happened?” His granny caressed Coral’s fingers.
“The clinic mixed up in a bigger way. Kanielle and I are parents together now.” Brandon’s lips curled up into a smile.
“What about Maggie, how is she taking this news?”
Brandon felt bad for Maggie. She was in tears when he left her in the hallway earlier. He only had one thing on his mind then, and that was getting to his miracle. “I’m not sure.”
“Do you want me to call, and make sure she’s okay?”
Brandon shrugged, sensing that his granny wanted to say more, but stopped herself. Brandon looked up, and saw Kanielle crept over to the side. When he stood with Coral in his arms, he could see Robert talking to an older couple, and then Kanielle followed them down the hall, he guessed to her room. “Granny, can you hold her?”
“Of course,” she gently took her from Brandon, repositioning the wires connected to the baby monitor.
“I’ll be right back,” Brandon strolled out of the room, throwing his hospital gown in the pile next to the door, and marched to her room.
He heard voices from down the corridor. He saw Kanielle standing outside the hospital room door.
***
“She’s not mine!” Robert yelled.
Kanielle tread lightly over to the wall where they couldn’t see her, but she could see them through the crack of the door.
“Calm down, son,” his mother said. “What happened?”
Robert paced from one side of the room to the other, shaking his head.
“What do you mean she’s not yours?” His dad asked.
“Coral isn’t my baby,” he huffed. “Kanielle has a kid with another man.”
“How do you know?” His dad asked.
“The doctor ran a paternity test, she’s not mine,” Robert’s voice cracked. “I’m not her father.”
His dad’s eyes widened in surprise. “That’s why she divorced you?”
“I divorced her,” Robert lied to his dad. Kanielle shook her head, three years down the drain. Why didn’t she see Robert for what he really was? He was a liar, a cheater, and a manipulator. It took a woman coming to her house for her to open her eyes.
“Kanielle cheated on you,” his father’s voice softened.
Robert didn’t say anything; he just stood there, letting his dad think she was the one that cheated on him. That meant he never told his dad about all the fertility treatments. All this time she assumed his father didn’t care about what they were going through. His mother knew the truth, why did they keep everything from him? Kanielle was going to say something and decided not to, what would it solve?
“If that baby wouldn’t have been born-” he didn’t get to finish, his mother stopped him by raising her hand.
“Are you crazy? Wishing death on an innocent baby,” she raised her voice. “I don’t care what you and that hussy wife of yours have done. That baby is innocent.”
“I didn’t…” Robert shrugged his shoulders in shame.
Kanielle held her heart with her hand, promising herself no more tears, as she felt herself getting angry. Coral was innocent in all of this, and for those words to leave his mouth shocked and disgusted her.
“You bastard!” Kanielle roared, forcefully pulling the door open, and stepping in. “How dare you?
“Kanielle, calm down,” Ramona said.
“Calm down?” Kanielle moved forward, forming fists at her side.
“Bobby didn’t mean it. He said it out of hurt and anger. Bobby loved that baby, and to find out after months of loving her that he isn’t her father… How could you betray him?” His mother said.
Kanielle’s eyes widened looking at Robert’s mother in shock. “You’re a liar just like your son, you knew the possibilities that…” Robert’s father cut her off.
“How could you cheat on my son, after everything he’s done for you?” Robert’s father asked. Kanielle glanced over at Robert, waiting for him to clear up that she never cheated on him. Her palms began sweating.
“What has your son ever done for me?” she raised her voice. “Nothing,” she spat. “I don’t need to explain myself to anyone.”
“You do!” his father hollered. “You were like a daughter to us.”
She stared at Robert’s father. “You’re right you deserve the truth.”
“Kanielle!” Robert smirked, stopping her from continuing to tell his father the truth. “You had a child with someone else. You know what that makes you, a whore.”
Kanielle ambled forward, and her hand connected with the side of his face. Robert’s face twisted to the side. The thump echoed in the enclosed room. Robert grabbed her hand, his grip was becoming painful, and his parents did nothing. Kanielle struggled, trying to pull away. “You’re hurting me.”
The door opened wide, and Brandon stepped in. “Let her go!” He closed the door behind him.
Robert’s reaction was to forcefully push Kanielle, making her stumble back. Brandon wrapped his arms around her waist, and caught her before she hit the floor.
“Are you crazy?” Brandon’s voice was vicious as he shot daggers at Robert. “Touch her again.”
“And what?” Robert shouted.
“This is a hospital,” Ramona stared at them.
“You didn’t care about the patients when you were attacking Kanielle, or when your son grabbed her,” Brandon spat. “Did you?”
“Don’t you talk to my mother like that,” Robert paced lightly.
Brandon smirked, shaking his head.
“Who are you?” Robert’s father asked.
“That’s the father of her child,” Robert glared at Kanielle and Brandon.
“You cheated on my son with a white man, and thought we wouldn’t find out? I thought you were a good woman, but I see you’re nothing but…”
Brandon pointed at Robert’s father. “Watch the next word coming out your mouth. Your son needs to tell you the truth.” The man glanced over at Robert. “Yes I am the baby’s father, but there were circumstances out of all of our control that led us here, and Kanielle is not one of those reasons.” Then Brandon addressed Robert. “You put your hands on the mother of my child one more time, and I swear you’ll live to regret it.”
“Are you threating my son?” Ramona asked.
“No, ma’am, it’s a guarantee,” Brandon took Kanielle’s hand in his, opened the door, and walked out behind her, leaving them with their mouths agape.
As soon as they stepped over the threshold and closed the door, Brandon wrapped his arms around Kanielle. She circled her hands around his waist, her face against his chest. “Are you okay?” he whispered.
She took a couple of breaths, “Yes-”
Brandon rubbed his hands up and down her back. “I’m here for as long as you need me.” He backed away, and they gazed at each other. “We have a lot to talk about.”
She looked at him with shiny eyes. “I know.”
“I am not giving up my rights to my daughter.” Brandon watched her carefully, “Coral is the most important person in my life, the moment I held her she stole my heart,” he smiled. “She has my father’s eyes.”
“That’s where she gets them from,” Kanielle twisted her lips. “Brandon, I know this isn’t what we wanted,” her tea
rs rolled down her cheeks. “But I love her no matter who her father is. She’s everything I’ve prayed for.”
“Faith threw us together,” he wiped her tears. “Who are we to question why?”
She could still hear the voices coming out of the room as the Richardson family continued to argue. “Can we talk somewhere else?”
Brandon nodded, and they both started walking. He took her hand in his. “Let’s go see our princess.”
When they came around the corner, his grandmother was at the nurses’ station talking on a flip cell phone. Kanielle smiled, she didn’t know those phones still existed.
“Kanielle, this is my granny Maureen.”
Brandon’s grandmother took a couple strides, “Maggie wants to speak to you,” she handed the cell to Brandon, and he took the gadget.
“Excuse me,” he walked down the hall, away from them.
His grandmother stepped forward, and surprised her with a hug. “You have made my grandson the happiest man alive.”
Kanielle hugged her tightly. After everything that happened earlier she needed a sincere embrace.
Maureen pulled back, and cupped Kanielle’s face in her soft hands. “Bran will make a great father.”
“I know,” she whispered.
“Sweetie, everything happens for a reason. My Bran is a good boy.”
Kanielle glanced at Brandon talking on the phone. “He is…”
She excused herself from Brandon’s granny and walked up to the nurses’ counter. “I don’t want Robert Richardson visiting my baby,” Kanielle ordered. “Take him off the list.”
The nurse looked up the list of authorized people, and deleted Robert’s name. “Done.”
“Thank you,” Kanielle walked over to the sink, and scrubbed her hands. Coral would always come first no matter what.
***
“Hello,” Brandon walked away. He didn’t want Kanielle to overhear the conversation between him and Maggie. He didn’t know where his ex-wife’s head was at the moment.
