The Sunday Brunch Diaries

by Norma L. Jarrett

  “Oh,” Octavio said, almost disappointed.

  “But we’re glad you are here now, my son,” he said and patted Octavio on the back.

  Octavio sat back down and grabbed his father’s hand again. Soon an avalanche of tears flowed out of his Spirit and down his face. He cried without shame. His mother came into the room and grabbed her son. “Mi hijo,” she said quietly as she cried too.

  Angel tried quietly to leave, but Octavio got up and grabbed her hand. He walked her over to his mom and placed her hand in his mother’s. After a little hesitation, she grabbed and held Angel’s hand. All three of them stood and prayed. Angel finally decided to leave the room. She kept on praying because she knew his father wouldn’t make it much longer. She walked down the hall and back again. Finally she peeked in the room. She saw Octavio holding a Bible. Then she heard him say, speaking softly:

  “Papa, do you believe Jesus died and rose from the dead? Do you know and confess that you are a sinner and lost without him? Do you wish Him to forgive you of your sins and come into your heart? Do you give your life to Him and want to live for Him the rest of your life?”

  Octavio placed the Bible on the bed and watched his father nod his head ever so slightly at his words. His father finally opened his eyes and he could see gray and blue surrounding his dark brown pupils. A single tear trailed down his wrinkled face. Octavio placed his head on the bed as his father took his last breath. His father lightly touched Octavio’s arm and closed his eyes.

  “Okay, Angel, hold it together,” she whispered to herself as she stood right outside the doorway. She placed her hand over her mouth to keep from breaking down. The next thing she heard was Octavio’s mother crying. He came out of the room a few minutes later. Octavio grabbed Angel and held her.

  “You okay?” she said when he let her go.

  He looked into her eyes. “Yeah, I really am.” He smiled at her and she smiled back.

  CHAPTER FIFTY

  Rain on My Parade

  Dear Jesus:

  You KNOW how much I hate showers; baby showers, bridal showers, any kind at all—to me, going to a shower is like taking medicine. But I’m going to make the best of this. Lord, the baby is kicking a lot and I feel as though I’m ready to burst. For the most part I’ve been calm, but every time I look down at my stomach I’m still in disbelief. At first I was really scared. Then I felt overwhelmed with all the advice everyone’s been giving me. I decided to ignore everybody. I mean millions of women have given birth before me right? One thing’s for sure, this baby will be surrounded by love. Father, I’m believing for an easy delivery. All that extra pain really isn’t necessary. Nothing’s too hard for You. Lord, and one last thing, thank God someone had the sense to make some cute maternity clothes. I think I’d be even more depressed if I had to walk around wearing a tent and looking like a beached whale. If I do say so myself I’ve looked pretty cute during my pregnancy. Well, I better head over to the baby shower. Lord, You know Jewel gets an anxiety attack when her events don’t start on time.

  Love you,

  Lexi.

  “Girl, are you alright?” Capri said as she walked in front of me. I was sitting in a rocker waiting for this baby shower shindig to start.

  “Yeah, girl, just a little uncomfortable. I looked at myself in the mirror and it looked like my nose has spread all over Houston.”

  Capri tried not to laugh. Over the next several minutes the doorbell rang again and again, as women poured into the room. All the physical discomfort I felt left when I saw Jewel’s mom walk in.

  “My baby, my baby,” she said, almost pulling me out of my chair. She kissed me all over my face.

  “Mom, Mom, chill out,” Jewel said.

  “Excuse me?”

  “I mean, you are going to make Lexi fall out of the chair.”

  “So what names have you picked out?” Jewel’s mother asked.

  “It’s going to be a surprise. But of course if it’s a boy it will be Christopher Blake Reynolds II.” I didn’t even have to look to know his mother Mrs. Reynolds was over in the corner beaming.

  “Well, Rex said Chris has been on cloud nine about the baby,” Jermane said.

  “Yeah, but I’m glad his friends decided to come get him. I had to put him out, he was getting on my nerves,” I said.

  “What has he done to get on your nerves?” Angel asked.

  “I don’t know. Just his presence.”

  “Girl, you’re being silly now,” Jewel said and brought me some tea.

  “I’m just ready for this baby to come out.”

  The doorbell rang again and in walked Jermane. My face burst into a smile. I was trying to get up, but she quickly walked over to me and reached down to hug me.

  “Hey girl, I’m so glad you made it,” I said as she held on to my neck. She didn’t want to let go.

  “I missed you girl, I know you’ve been praying for me,” she whispered. When Jermane finally let go she kissed me on the cheek. “We’ll talk later,” she mouthed as she walked over to put her gift on the table.

  We played only one shower game—thank you, Jesus—and shortly after we were finished Capri’s cellphone rang.

  She went to the kitchen. The next thing I heard was “Oh no, he didn’t! Oh no, they didn’t! Girl, thank you. I appreciate it.” She was so loud that by the time she came back everyone was trying to figure out what the heck was going on.

  “Oh, uh, just a little issue going on. You know, I know Lexi is tired, so it’s been nice of you all to share this moment. Lexi, you want to say a few words before we start cleaning up?” Jewel said.

  I was looking at her, completely baffled. “Jewel, what in the world is going on? That’s rude.”

  “Oh, yeah, um . . . it’s personal. I apologize, but I really need to take care of something and so do you.” She tried to grab my hand but I pulled it back.

  “What? Ladies, can you excuse us for a minute?” After the five minutes it took me to get up from the chair I went in the back with Jewel to hear what she had to say. Of course Angel, Jermane, and Capri followed me.

  “They’ll be back soon,” Jewel’s mother said, trying to be ever so gracious to the remaining guests. She slapped on a fake smile, knowing something wasn’t right.

  When we all came back in with our purses, everyone else started to grab their own. “I apologize, ladies, we have a little personal emergency that we have to attend to.” We waited for all our guests to leave accept for Chris’s and Jewel’s moms.

  “You want to tell us what’s going on?” Jewel’s mother insisted.

  “Not now, Mama,” Jewel said.

  Her mother walked over to the door and would not move until we told her where we were going.

  “Okay, okay. Mama, Kevin, Octavio, Rex, Anthony, and Chris, of all people, are at a strip club right now! We have to go.”

  “Lawd, chile,” my mother said. “Is that all? You all need to set right down and wait for the men to come home. Yeah, I’d be mad too. But that is not the way to handle it. You can do what you want, but that’s not gonna solve anything. You need to act like you don’t know and when they come home, let them have it!”

  “Oh my . . . not my Christopher,” my mother-in-law said. “What in heaven’s earth has gotten into him?” She started to fan herself and dropped down on the couch.

  “Mom, you are from the old school. This is the new school and we are going down to that strip club.”

  “By the way, who called to tell you they were there?” she asked Jewel’s mom, her hand on her wide hip.

  “Missy, a friend of Capri’s. She has a husband in the NBA and she goes with him everywhere.”

  Jewel’s mother rolled her eyes, moved out of the way, and opened the door for them. As she watched them march past, she grabbed a piece of cake, sat down on the couch, and put her feet up. Chris’s mother was almost hyperventilating. “Don’t worry darling, it’s gonna be fine. I can’t wait for this. Sometimes you just gotta let things flow. They’ll le
arn. They have a long way to go.”

  “Lexi, can’t you drive any faster?” Jermane said. “I knew we should have taken those keys from you.”

  I clutched the steering wheel and had my pedal to the metal. The music in the car was loud and we were getting pumped up.

  “Lexi, you need to pull over and let me drive,” Capri said.

  “Capri, touch me and you die.” My eyes were fixed on the road.

  “You give them an inch and they take a mile,” Jewel said.

  “Yeah, I don’t know who they think they’re messin’ with. I’m not trying to be made a fool out of,” Capri said. “They must have lost their minds.”

  When we whipped around the corner to that hole in the wall we all jumped out like the SWAT team. Well, everyone except me. I sort of slid out. We valet parked. So you know it had to be serious, because I rarely pay for valet parking.

  As soon as we walked in, I saw security pick up his radio.

  “What are you looking at?” I said as we walked by him.

  “Hey baby, you look good,” a man to my left said.

  I was horrified. “Can’t you see I’m about to give birth?” I swear to God, if I have this baby here I will never let Chris live it down.

  As we walked by, the security officer was yelling, “Code W, Code W.” Finally he yelled, “Another wife ambush!”

  In two minutes we found them and dragged them outside. “Where’s Chris?” I said. After a few minutes he came out of the bathroom.

  “Honey, I was in the back. I was working with security,” he said.

  I grabbed him by the ear and started to drag him out. Once outside, I felt something wet pouring on my shoe. “Oh no!”

  “What’s going on?” Angel looked down. “Lexi’s water broke! Her water broke! This package is coming early.”

  Chris threw his arms around me. “Oh, honey, I’m so sorry.”

  “Get off me. Get off me.” I started to cry and finally stopped fighting him. Within seconds everybody was in their cars and we took off, racing for the hospital. I went from angry to scared. In the car, Capri held my hand and Angel prayed all the way.

  “Angel, pray louder and harder,” I said as I closed my eyes.

  Before I knew it, I was sitting in a hospital bed. I was in too much pain to be mad. Chris sat across from me. “What in the world possessed you to go to a strip club? Do you do this all the time? Do you know how embarrassed—ouch!” I could barely form a complete sentence in between huffing. “I’m not due for a few weeks, how could this happen? It’s all your fault.” I closed my eyes tight.

  “Honey, honey calm down. Save your strength. I didn’t want to go to the club but I wasn’t driving, Rex was. It was out of my hands. I was outnumbered.”

  Sweat was pouring from what seemed like every pore of my body. “Just shut up. I want drugs, just give me drugs.”

  Chris ran to the doorway, “Angel! Capri! I mean, nurse! Please help me!”

  “I don’t know anything about this. Angel, you go!” Capri said.

  Angel came in the room. Her presence alone calmed me down. Soon my dad arrived. Angel just prayed over me and sang little hymns. I felt like I was going into a deep sleep. The next thing I saw was a really bright light, and then I saw my mother’s face. She was smiling. The light was so bright and warm. She told me she was proud of me and she kissed and hugged me. At her touch I opened my eyes.

  “Honey, push,” I heard Chris say.

  “What?”

  “Push, one good push,” the doctor said. “Yes, that’s it. One more—and make it a good one.”

  “You said one more push, not two.” I pushed one last time and the baby eased out. I was breathing really hard. “Oh my, oh my God.” I fell back.

  “It’s a boy,” the doctor yelled.

  “Good, honey, you did so good. You were only in labor for a few minutes,” Chris said.

  “Chris, is he okay? Five fingers, five toes? Chris, five fingers, five toes, talk to me.” Then I heard the most beautiful cry, and I saw this little tiny body lying on my chest, all wrinkled, with a head full of hair. “A boy. Chris, we have a boy.”

  I started crying and so did he.

  “I did it.”

  “Yeah, you did it, babe. I love you. I’m sorry for . . .”

  I didn’t hear anything else. I held my baby, my baby.

  Over the next day the pain came and went, but I still managed to sleep a lot. Although I was still weak, excitement took over each time they brought me the baby. I had just gotten finished feeding him when the phone rang. I struggled to reach over and finally picked it up. “Hello.”

  “Lexi, how are you feeling?”

  “Girl, good. You coming over here?”

  “Yeah, I’m already here. I just wanted to see if you were up.”

  I adjusted my body a little. The nursed walked in, grabbed the baby, and put him in the crib next to me. “Thank you,” I whispered.

  “Yeah, I just fed Christopher. I’m wide awake,” I said to Jewel.

  A few minutes later both she and Angel came in. I expected them to be excited but they both looked so serious.

  They must have realized how they looked because Angel came right over to kiss me on the cheek. “How are you feeling?”

  “I’m good. What’s wrong?”

  Jewel took a deep breath. “Lexi, shortly after you came to the hospital, they rushed Stacy in.”

  “Yeah, is she okay? What did she have?”

  “She had a little boy.”

  “Oh, that’s wonderful!” I realized that I was the only one excited.

  “Lex, she’s not doing too well. She, um, she had a stroke during the delivery and they’re not sure she’s gonna make it.”

  My stomach dropped and I immediately looked at my little one. “How did this happen, I mean, was it the doctor’s fault?” I started to feel guilty already. How was I so blessed? What made Stacy’s situation turn out to be such a nightmare?

  “Lex, she evidently had high blood pressure and, well, there were some complications. She wasn’t supposed to get pregnant again. The doctors warned her she’d have a high-risk pregnancy.”

  I was still in shock. I couldn’t say anything. My heart started to literally hurt. “How’s Kevin?” I said.

  “Well, he’s not taking it too well. Chris, Anthony, and Octavio are with him now. Rex had to be in court, so he’s coming later.”

  “Wow, talk about a bittersweet moment. I feel awful,” I said.

  “Sweetie, we still have to celebrate and be thankful for your blessing,” Angel said as she stroked my hair. I rolled over on my side and felt this overwhelming feeling of sadness. I was quiet for the next five minutes. Angel and Jewel looked at each other.

  “Um, I’m going to be with Kevin,” Jewel said. “I need to go get Aja soon. She needs to see her mother.”

  “Yeah, you go ahead, I’ll stay here with Lexi.”

  Chris brought me home two days later. As soon as I walked in, I was so happy to see my dad sitting in the living room. Having him around gave me so much comfort. There was still no change in Stacy’s condition. We took turns doing a prayer chain over the phone. When I finally went to bed I was exhausted. Just before I drifted off I got this strange feeling in the pit of my stomach.

  I had strange dreams all night. The last dream I had, I remembered seeing my mother at the end of the bed. She was smiling. Then she looked next to her and held her arms out, like someone was walking toward her. I jumped, then woke up. Two minutes later the phone rang, and I knew.

  Jewel confirmed what I’d already sensed in my spirit—Stacy had passed away. Jewel and Kevin were caring for Stacy’s baby. When I hung up the phone it was time to feed Christopher. Before dozing back to sleep I felt led to write. I needed to get out what was on my heart.

  Dear God:

  Some things I will never understand. I guess I’m not supposed to. Staring at my baby, I see what a miracle he is. He’s perfect, from the shape of his head to his fingers
to his toes. Just perfect. Then again, I suppose that’s what every new mother thinks. Sometimes he just laughs for no reason and when that happens, I believe he’s being kissed by an angel—or that my mother is visiting her grandson. Lord, I’ve barely stopped smiling or crying since he was born. Now, I just can’t believe Stacy is gone. I’m not going to question anything. The Bible tells us in all things give him praise. I have to admit, this one’s tough.

  Lord, we prayed so hard for Stacy. I know prayer can make a difference, but I have to accept this as Your will. How can I celebrate my wonderful blessing under these circumstances? Am I being selfish? Well, I guess that’s what You mean when You say we should praise You at all times.

  I love You, God, and I praise You,

  Lexi

  CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE

  Double Blessings

  “Behold, sons are a heritage from the Lord, children a reward from him. Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are sons born in one’s youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them. They will not be put to shame when they contend with their enemies in the gate.” The pastor quoted Psalm 127, then looked at us and smiled. “We have double blessings today.” He stepped down from the podium.

  “For all of you who are here to witness this baby blessing today, you are also responsible for the future of these little ones. Christopher Blake Reynolds II and Kevin Elijah Eastland II, may they have the blessings and favor of the Lord. I anoint them to live long lives and declare the works of the Lord. May they be covered in the blood of Jesus Christ. May they be surrounded by love. Let love greet them wherever they go.”

  None of us were prepared for Stacy’s passing. I never want to question God, but for a mother to die two days after giving birth, that’s really a tough one. Chris put his arm around me because he knew I was about to lose it. Tears were creeping down my face. I looked at Jewel and she could barely stand up. Kevin held Aja’s hand. Aja, surprisingly, was the strongest of us all. After Pastor dedicated the babies we headed over to the reception. On the way we stopped at the cemetery for a special prayer at Stacy’s grave site.