by Coco Amoure
Tyson didn’t have much food in the house, so she settled for a bowl of Honeycombs. Ashanti shoved a mouthful of cereal in her mouth before picking up her cell phone and hitting call on Tyson’s telephone number.
“Damn really Ty?” she said out loud to herself once his voicemail began to play in her ear. “Ty, this is Shanti, call me please. I’m hungry and there isn’t shit in here to eat but this dry ass cereal. Oh and you could have at least woke me up to tell me you were leaving!” She pressed end on the phone and tossed it on the sofa beside her.
Once she finished devouring the cereal, she stood up and walked to the kitchen to place the bowl in the sink. That is when a pain struck her deep in the abdomen. Ashanti doubled over in pain as she reached out and grabbed a hold of the kitchen counter. The pain was excruciating.
“Ugggggggghhhhh!” she cried out. After a few minutes the pain started to subside, so she slowly crept over to the sofa to grab her cell phone. Ashanti hoped and prayed that this time Tyson would answer his phone, but again she got his voicemail. “Damn you Ty! I think I am going into labor and your ass won’t even answer the phone,” she yelled in a strained tone.
Frustrated, she called him back to back a total of ten times, but still got no answer. She could call her mother, but what good was that going to do when she was all the way in Florida. Not having any friends sucked at a time like this, she didn’t have any one she could call to come pick her up and take her to the hospital. Ashanti told Tyson over and over again not to leave her alone for too long, because she was due to go in to labor any day now.
Having no other recourse, Ashanti dialed 911 and requested that an ambulance come pick her up from Tyson’s house. If his ass was up at Wellstar Cobb visiting his comatose princess, she was sure going to meet him there. If she had to have his black ass paged over the PA system, he was going to be in that damn delivery room with her. Ashanti unlocked the front door as the 911 operator instructed her to and then she sat on the sofa and waited for them to arrive. Tears rolled down her face because the pain was unbearable. Suddenly, she felt a gushing sensation and initially she thought she lost the battle with her bladder and pissed on herself, until she realized her water had just broken. The paramedics arrived in no time and loaded Ashanti on the gurney and into the back of the ambulance. She prayed that she could get in touch with Tyson before the baby made his grand entrance into the world.
***
“Tyson Jones please report to Labor and Delivery. Tyson Jones please report to Labor and Delivery.” Tyson heard his name being called over the hospital’s PA system. He pulled his cell phone out of his back pocket and powered it on. Ashanti had called him several times and once he listened to her voicemail messages, he knew that she was having him paged. He felt torn. Should he go see Delaney first or should he go to Labor and Delivery and witness the birth of a baby that may or may not be his?
Natasha, Jason, and Drake all stopped in their tracks once Tyson was paged. They were all waiting to see what he was going to do.
“Ty, I don’t really know what is going on, but if you feel like you need to go, then I will tell Delaney that you’re coming just as soon as you can,” Natasha offered. She could see the turmoil in Tyson’s eyes. Everyone knew that he really wanted to see Delaney first, but he felt obligated to be there for Ashanti. What if the baby is mine? How will I ever forgive myself for not being in the delivery room? So many thoughts were running through his mind.
Drake stood in the background and smirked. Knowing Tyson, he would do the right thing and be by Ashanti’s side while she gave birth.
“Bruh, go ahead, I will stand in for you,” Drake said, patting Tyson on the back. The sincere expression on his face masked his true intentions. Drake intended to get as close to Delaney as he possibly could. She was just the type of woman he needed in his life.
Jason wasn’t feeling this Drake dude. He could spot a snake from a mile away, and this dude had snake written all over him. Natasha was still acting overly nervous which made Jason even more suspicious.
“Damn!” Tyson said through gritted teeth. Delaney meant everything to him and he wanted nothing more than to bust through the hospital room door and hold her in his arms. On the other hand, if the baby was indeed his, he needed to be in that delivery room.
“Natasha, please tell Delaney I will be there just as soon as I can,” Tyson said. Disappointment was an understatement of the way he felt on the inside. He could ring Ashanti’s trifling neck for the drama that she’d caused in his life.
“Ok, I will let her know, Ty. Just get back as soon as you can,” Natasha smiled warmly. Tyson smiled weakly before turning around and jogging off en route to labor and delivery to be by Ashanti’s side, as the trio headed to Delaney’s hospital room. Natasha’s nerves were shot as she led the way with her husband and lover following directly behind her.
Chapter Eight
Cameron and Ava were all smiles. It appeared that Delaney was going to recover just fine from her injuries. Once she fully opened her eyes, the doctors asked everyone to leave the room. Dr. Beard was on vacation, so another doctor was called in his place. This made both Cam and Ava a bit nervous, because for the past three weeks they’d been dealing solely with Dr. Beard and had come to like and trust him. Dr. Clark was a young African American doctor who had a warm and friendly demeanor. He promised to take good care of Delaney. He’d explained that since she awoke from the coma in less than thirty days that her chances of a full recovery were slightly better than patients who remain comatose for longer periods of time.
Dr. Clark explained that he needed to have an MRI scan of her brain performed to predict and track her recovery. He did his best to reassure them that Delaney would be just fine in time.
Ava looked around for Cane, but soon discovered that he was nowhere to be found. In the excitement of it all, she forgot all about the fight that Cam and Cane were having prior to Natasha alerting everyone that Delaney was coming to.
“I wonder where Cane is.” Ava asked Cam. She truly felt bad that he had to find out that Delaney wasn’t his biological child in the way that he did. She would have preferred that she and Cam have had the talk with him at her house, and not in a public setting.
Cam looked around and he too wondered where Cane ran off too. Just like him to run out when shit hits the fan, he thought to himself. “Who knows, babe, but I’m sure we will continue this later. Right now my only concern is Delaney. I know you didn’t want things to happen the way they did, but I just couldn’t hold it in any longer.” Cam was over the whole situation. He felt like Cane needed to know the truth and he didn’t regret it one bit. His only regret was keeping Delaney’s paternity a secret for so long.
Ava nodded her head up and down and wrapped her arms around his waist. She was finally in a happy place. The drinking was a thing of the past and she was ready to move forward with her life. Delaney’s recovery, along with reestablishing their relationship, was her top priority. The next hurdle would be telling Delaney the truth, and the thought of that alone had her wanting to hit the bottle.
Cam and Ava looked up to see Natasha, headed in their direction with two men following closely behind. Ava inhaled deeply and rolled her eyes. Cam noticed the look on her face and decided to question Ava.
“What’s up with this attitude you seem to have with Natasha? I’ve been meaning to ask you about that. Every time the girl comes around, you’re always making some snide remark.”
Ava never told Cam about the secret she’d been keeping that only she and Dana knew about. It was too painful for her to discuss, let alone say out loud.
“I just don’t care for the child, never have and never will,” Ava spat.
“We will talk about this later,” Cam stated. He didn’t want to get Ava going and have her cause a scene. Natasha was a sweet, beautiful young lady who he’d grown to love like a daughter over the years. Ava was going to have to explain herself sooner than later, but he had a feeling it all had something to do w
ith Cane and he was almost willing to bet his last dollar on it too.
“So when can we go in to see Delaney?” Natasha questioned. She could hardly wait to wrap her arms around her best friend.
Ava shrugged and pursed out her lips. Cam gently nudged her and shook his head.
“Well, the doctor said that he needed to take her upstairs and perform an MRI and some other tests. I’m not sure how long it will be before we will get to see her,” Cam answered. “Well, who are these two gentlemen?” he asked, nodding his head in the direction of Jason and Drake.
“Oh you remember my husband, Jason.” Natasha smiled proudly while cutting her eyes at Drake. “And this is Tyson’s business partner, Drake Porter,” she quickly added. Drake licked his lips and winked at Natasha, luckily for him Jason didn’t catch it.
Cam smiled brightly and reached out to shake Jason’s hand. “I remember you, son! You two dated in high school right? It’s been a long time.”
“Yes, sir, it has been a long time. I recently came in off the road from long distance truck driving, so I can be here for my baby,” he said, placing a protective arm around Natasha’s waist. He shot a quick look in Drake’s direction. He peeped the arrogant smirk Drake was sporting.
“That’s good to hear, son. Nice to see you again,” Cam said before directing his attention to Drake. “I believe I saw you the day of the accident, correct?” Cam asked Drake. He never forgot a face, a name maybe, but never a face. There was something about Drake’s persona that Cam didn’t care for. He just couldn’t put a finger on what it was at the moment.
“Yeah, I came to the hospital as soon as I heard that Delaney was involved in an accident,” he replied, and glanced at Natasha. She was the one who called him that night for Tyson’s phone number. I bet her husband didn’t know about that phone call, Drake thought to himself.
Natasha cut her eyes at Drake, and if looks could kill his ass would have been dead on arrival. They were going to have a serious talk later about his strange behavior. He made it clear that she was nothing more to him than an occasional fuck, so Natasha was confused as to why he was toying with her in front of her husband.
“I think I know him,” Natasha said, pointing in the direction of the young male doctor that was walking towards them.
“Yeah, he does look familiar to me too,” added Jason.
Cam glanced up. “Oh, that’s Dr. Clark, he’s treating Delaney while Dr. Beard is on vacation. I was worried at first, but so far he seems to have a handle on things,” Cam said.
The young doctor walked up and smiled warmly at everyone. “Well folks, Delaney is doing fairly well. I just have to wait on the radiologist to get back with me on the results of the MRI and I will have more information on her condition.”
“Chris? Chris Clark is that you?” asked a stunned Natasha. She couldn’t believe her eyes! Dr. Clark was Chris Clark, Delaney’s first love and first heart break. He still looked the same. A pretty boy, with white stunning white teeth, and that killer smile.
“Hello, Natasha, nice to see you again. I don’t believe I’ve seen you since high school.” Chris smiled, maintaining his professionalism. “Hello Jason.” He smiled and nodded.
“What’s up, Chris? I didn’t know you were a doctor! That’s a good look,” Jason said, just as stunned as Natasha.
“I just moved back to Atlanta about six months ago. I’m glad to be back home. It’s unfortunate what happened to Delaney, but I will do everything in my power to offer her the best treatment while she is under my care.” Chris was trying his best to maintain his demeanor. His heart broke when he was called in to work and discovered that his first love was in a coma. He never stopped loving Delaney. After she caught him having sex with Yvonne during their last year of high school, Delaney refused to talk to him. He never got the chance to explain himself, and he’d carried the guilt of that day around with him for years. Chris never meant to hurt Delaney. He’d truly loved her and still did ‘til this day.
Ava stood off to the side not saying a word. Her face appeared to be in a permanent scowl. If she had it her way, she would throw Natasha’s ass out of the hospital. While Dr. Clark was catching up with Natasha and Jason, Ava whispered to Cam to pull Natasha to the side and tell her not to mention anything to Delaney about Cam being her biological father. Ava wanted Delaney to hear the truth from herself and Cam only.
Cam gently tapped Natasha on the arm, “Can I speak to you privately for a minute?” he asked.
“Sure Unc,” Natasha replied and followed Cam as he walked a few feet away from everyone else. Her mind was still reeling from the revelation that Chris is a doctor and happened to be treating Delaney. She wondered what Delaney was thinking or if she’d even recognized the fact that Chris was her doctor.
“Baby girl, I know you witnessed the fight between my brother and me in Delaney’s hospital room. I also know that you overheard what was said about me being Delaney’s biological father. I need for you to keep that information between us until Ava and I are able to have a talk with Delaney about all of this. Do you think you can do that for me?” Cam knew that Natasha wouldn’t say anything, but to sooth Ava’s mind he asked her anyway.
“Oh of course, I won’t say anything to Delaney. Although I have to say I was totally shocked. This has been one helluva day. I have to admit I am more worried about Delaney now that she has come out of the coma. She has a lot to face once she is fully awake and aware of her surroundings. I don’t know all of the details, but there is something going on between her and Tyson and now the news of you being her biological father and not her uncle. Then to top it all off, her new doctor is also her first love, and the one who broke her heart. Damn!” Natasha had her own issues, but she also knew that she needed to be there for Delaney when all of the shit hit the fan.
Cam stood and listened to everything Natasha said and the weight of it suddenly hit him. He started to doubt his decision to tell Cane about it at all. Maybe he should have just carried the truth with him to his grave. Hurting Delaney was the last thing he wanted to do, but on the flip side he felt like she deserved to know the truth as much as he deserved to be known as her father. Playing uncle was getting old, and he thought about the day that she had a child of her own, which would be his grandchild. He wanted the honor of being called Pop-pop or Granddaddy. Cane didn’t deserve the title that he’d been carrying in Delaney’s life all of these years. All he ever did was take Delaney and Ava for granted. Cam was the one who was always there for them, even when he moved to Texas for the first few years of Delaney’s life, he still stayed in contact with Ava and religiously sent money to take care of his seed.
“It will be tough on her for a while, but she will pull through. My baby girl is a fighter. So you say Dr. Clark and Delaney dated in high school, huh? She never told me about it,” Cam said sullenly. He knew that after high school she started changing, but he figured she was going through growing pains.
“Yeah they did, after he broke her heart she was never the same. Besides, she already has daddy issues, so trust has always been a hard thing for Delaney to have in people. Once she finds out that you are her father, along with whatever Tyson has done, this is going to really set her back.”
Natasha wasn’t trying to intentionally hurt Cam’s feelings, but she felt like she should be straight forward with him. Knowing Delaney the way she did, this was going to throw her world off kilter.
Cam hung his head and let the reality of it all sink in. He knew the road ahead of them was going to be bumpy for a while, but he was optimistic that in time everything would smooth out.
“I hear what you’re saying and I intend to fully be there for her in every way possible. Even if she shuts me out, I will patiently wait,” he said.
Natasha embraced Cam in a hug before walking back over to the guys. Ava was now sitting down in one of the waiting chairs with the same hateful look on her face. Natasha ignored her like she wasn’t even there. She refused to let Delaney’s hateful mother bo
ther her or make her feel unwanted. Jason and Chris were laughing and talking about old times, and Drake was nowhere to be found. Natasha breathed a sigh of relief that he was gone. Good riddance!
Chapter Nine
Tyson stood in Ashanti’s hospital room holding his newborn baby boy. He felt a mixture of emotions like he’d never felt before in his life. His heart swelled with an unexplainable love when he looked down at the tiny new life he held in his hands. The baby didn’t have a name so the little wrist band on his arm read, baby Moore, which was Ashanti’s last name. Ashanti was sleeping peacefully in the hospital bed. Tyson called her family shortly after she gave birth and her mother and sister said they would be there just as soon as they could.
Giving the baby his name was not something Tyson was prepared to do until he knew the true paternity of the baby. He knew they would have to name him soon, but he would discuss a name with Ashanti before she was released from the hospital. Tyson sat down and cradled the newborn in the crook of his arm. He didn’t have much experience with babies, but the nurses showed him how to hold the baby, and he was doing pretty good so far. Tyson searched the baby’s face for any sign that he was his child, but he couldn’t really tell since he was a newborn and his face was swollen and puffy.
“Man, I can’t believe that I’m a father,” he said out loud. Ashanti was awake, but she played sleep as she watched Tyson holding the baby. She could see the joy and pride in his face and she was prepared to do whatever it took to keep it that way.
“Well believe it, daddy,” Ashanti said startling Tyson.
“Oh I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you,” he said glancing up at her. Although he was no longer in love with Ashanti, at this moment he had love for her. The glow on her face was radiant and she looked beautiful after giving birth to their son. For the first time since she arrived back in town, he smiled at her. Tyson figured he may as well find a way to get along with her if they were going to raise a child together.
