Unveiled

by Shataya Simms

  “You’re nuts,” he comments before walking out the bathroom. I grab my razor and jump inside the shower stall. I start to cry, dropping the shaving cream out of my hands.

  “What’s wrong? You okay?” Nyce asks barging into the bathroom.

  “No. I can’t see,” I whine.

  “See what?”

  “I can’t see my coochie,” I cry.

  “What the fuck you cryin’ for?” He snaps.

  “Don’t yell at me,” I shout, crying harder.

  “I’m sorry. Come here,” he says wrapping a towel around me and taking the razor out of my hands. He fills a cup of water and walks me into the bedroom, lying me down on one of the chaise chairs. Opening my legs, Nyce gently starts to shave me as I watch his face, looking like he is actually enjoying himself.

  “Perv,” I giggle.

  “Shut-up. All done,” he says standing up. I stand up and rush back in the bathroom to shower.

  “Owwww,” I exhale with a smile, experiencing my first minor contraction. I hurry and wash and rush back into the bedroom.

  “Now what?” Nyce asks me as I’m drying off and changing into some tights and a t-shirt.

  “Nothing I guess. I have to wait for the contractions to really hit,” I tell him looking at the clock. It’s 2:36 am. We make a few phone calls letting our people know that the babies have decided to come a little earlier than expected.

  “Pree told me to walk around the block to help make me go into labor faster,” I tell Nyce when we hang up the phone after speaking to our families. I throw on my sneakers.

  “Another,” I make a face, thinking that this isn’t as bad as people make it sound. Nyce comes over to me and holds my hand.

  “You still want to walk?” He asks.

  “Yeah.”

  We walk out the house and down the driveway.

  “Again,” I tell him holding my stomach. “How far apart was that?” I ask. He looks at his watch.

  “About twelve minutes.”

  “Okay, come on,” I say, walking back towards the house.

  “Can you make it to the car?” He asks as we make our way to the garage.

  “Yes, I’m fine. Can you run inside and grab my bags, please?”

  “I already put them in the backseat while you were in the shower,” he says pulling off.

  “Slow down,” I scream at Nyce driving through the streets like a lunatic.

  “You slow the fuck down. Yo, tell they asses to stay up in you until we make it to the hospital.”

  “I don’t think that’s how it works,” I laugh.

  We finally make it to the hospital and are escorted up to the private maternity ward that’s costing us a pretty fuckin’ penny.

  “You want an epidural?” The nurse asks while I’m lying in the hospital bed. My contractions are now eight minutes apart.

  “No. I’m going natural,” I answer. She looks at me funny.

  “Are you sure? You don’t get a badge of honor for going natural,” she smiles.

  “These are contractions I’m having now, right? I can handle this.”

  “No honey. These are pre-labor pains. The real contractions haven’t even begun yet.”

  “Take the drugs, Diamond,” Nyce urges, holding my hand.

  “No, I’m fine. I can do this.”

  “Hey Aneesah,” Dr. Lori says stepping in. “I’m just going to see how far you’ve dilated if any, okay?” I nod my head as Dr. Lori puts on her surgical gloves. She sticks her fingers inside of me as I make a painful face.

  “Owww…owww…you’re hurting me,” I tell her, squeezing my eyes shut. “YOU ARE HURTING ME!” I yell, kicking her away. “I’m sorry,” I apologize. Nyce stifles his laugh.

  “Six centimeters. You’re almost there,” she smiles.

  “Are you going to sue me for kicking you?” I whine.

  “No dear,” she laughs.

  Pree, Diana, Rita, and Jada finally arrive.

  “Oh, yay. I’m so excited. How do you feel?” Jada smiles.

  “Okay. Did you go natural?” I ask Pree.

  “Hell no. Those fuckin’ contractions ain’t no joke.”

  “I think I’m doing okay so far. I can do…,” my words are cut short as my first big contraction hits. I hold my breath, not saying a word as Nyce comes over to hold my hand. Pree laughs.

  “Don’t laugh at me bitch,” I grit through my teeth.

  “You want some drugs now?” Pree laughs. I nod my head up and down. The nurse gets up and pages the anesthesiologist.

  “You okay?” Nyce whispers. I shake my head no, wanting to cry.

  “AHHHH,” I scream, trying to bite Nyce’s hand. He tries to pull his hand out of my grip and away from my mouth.

  “Get off me,” he says, nudging me in my forehead.

  “Sorry,” I apologize when the contraction passes. I lie back in the bed.

  “Fuck that. Give me my hand.”

  I let go his hand and start to cry.

  “You’re such a brat,” he laughs giving me his hand back. The anesthesiologist comes, and I hold Nyce and Rita’s hands as he shoots me in my back. I lie back to rest, letting the drugs take effect. When I feel another contraction come, this one isn’t as bad, and I am able to relax. I close my eyes to rest a little but my body jerks me up.

  “I need to push,” I tell them. It feels like my body is pushing out the babies for me.

  “Wait for the doctor,” the nurse says.

  “I can’t. My body is pushing them out,” I tell her as Dr. Lori walks back in. She checks to see if I have dilated enough.

  “It seems like the first one is ready to make his appearance,” she laughs. “Ready?” She smiles as the nurse adjusts the light and Dr. Lori sits on the stool, planting herself in between my legs. Eleven minutes of pushing when Jada squeals;

  “I can see his head.”

  “You’re almost there,” Rita says with tears in her eyes.

  “You got this baby,” Nyce whispers in my ear as I squeeze his hand, doing a final push.

  “OH MY GOD, ANEESAH,” Pree’s eyes balloon as I feel the first baby pop out.

  “Oh,” Doctor Lori exclaims.

  “WHAT?” The room echoes.

  “You’re not going to believe this,” Pree smiles.

  “WHAT?” Nyce snaps, letting go of my hand and marching down to the baby. “Fuck that. Put her back,” he says.

  “Arden’s a girl, Aneesah,” Pree smiles as the doctor places my daughter on my chest. I look over at Nyce who looks like he is about to have a panic attack.

  “Babe?” I whisper.

  “Yo. Naw! We gotta a receipt. I have a fuckin’ receipt. She’s supposed to be a boy.”

  “What, fool?” Pree and Jada snap together.

  “I gotta receipt,” he says digging in his pocket. “This…this thing…it says boys,” he panics, shoving the ultra sound picture in Pree’s hands.

  “An ultra sound, dummy.”

  “Whatever. It says boys. You said I was having boys,” Nyce snaps at the doctor.

  “Mr. Henn…”

  “Fuck,” he curses, walking out the room.

  “Did that niggah just really leave me?” I snap, as Diana rubs my back.

  “Mom,” I whine. I can’t believe that asshole just left me.

  The nurse removes the baby off my chest to clean her up. Nyce walks back into the room.

  “Would you like to meet your daughter?” The nurse asks him. He lets out a breath before taking the baby out of the nurse’s arms.

  “Fuck, baby girl. What am I going to do with you?” He exhales, smiling in her face. “Fuck, I’m going to jail,” he says looking at me. “You okay?”

  “You left me.”

  “Sorry babe but I needed a minute,” he says before smiling back into our daughter’s face.

  “Let me see her,” I smile, sitting up. Nyce walks over to me and places her in my arms. Her beautiful face and eyes look up at me.

  “Hi,” I cry. “You hav
e Auntie Jada’s amber eyes,” I smile as I smooth out her dark curls. Everyone in the room crowds around the hospital bed as I watch Nyce looking like he’s trying to cut a deal with God.

  “UGH,” I yell out, feeling the next wave of contractions hit.

  “Okay people, we still have one more baby to bring into this world,” Doctor Lori says as a nurse takes Arden out of my arms.

  “Please be a boy…please be a boy…please be a boy,” Nyce chants, this time squeezing my hand like he’s the one about to deliver.

  “It’s a boy,” Doctor Lori announces after 7 minutes of pushing.

  “YEAH,” Nyce yells with his arms raised above his head like he just scored a touchdown. “Shit, I thought I was gonna have to kill somebody,” he says walking over to meet his son. “My niggah. You’s pretty as fuck too,” he smiles.

  “Nyce…language,” I remind him.

  “Sorry. Neesah, he’s got your eyes,” he says holding him up. “You gotta look out for your sister because your dad is getting old. Don’t let nothing happen to her. She is your responsibility,” he whispers to our son as I shake my head. Nyce is all smiles and I let him have his moment with our son as he talks to him in the corner of the room, not allowing anyone else a chance to see the baby. The rest of my family busy themselves by ogling over Arden. When Nyce finally decides to bring me my damn child, I sit up in the bed exhausted with my arms stretched out for him.

  “Hey man,” I greet my son.

  “Here,” Diana says handing me Arden as I hold both sleeping babies in my arms. I am exhausted, but I can’t take my eyes off their pretty faces. I did it. I am finally a mother and I promise I will try my best to protect them and shelter them from any harm that may come their way.

  Arden Jordana Hennessey and Jasir Dani Hennessey born on July 22, 2018, thirteen minutes and forty-seven seconds apart. Each weighing in at just a little over six pounds. Both babies are the color of cinnamon with dark luscious curls on their heads. They have pretty ass lips like their father and inherited my trademark dimple in their right cheek. Arden with her amber colored eyes and Jasir with his grey ones. I already know that he is going to grow up to be a hoe just like his dad, using his eyes and dimple to his advantage.

  We are finally being discharged from the hospital with a clean bill of health. The hospital is nice enough to accommodate me by allowing us to leave out the ambulance entrance to avoid the paparazzi and fans. I climb into the truck as Nyce is strapping the twins in.

  “How do you feel Mommy?” He asks kissing my cheek when he slides into the driver seat.

  “Like I’m floating on air,” I smile, looking back at my sleeping babies. The press is lined up outside our gate when we pull up to our house.

  “Am I gonna have to shoot somebody?” Nyce asks annoyed trying to get through.

  “Probably,” I giggle as we finally make it to the house, parking in the courtyard. Nyce jumps out and grabs the babies as I unlock the front door. I walk up to the nursery that Nyce has beautifully set up while I was in the hospital. He had someone paint the room a pale blue with zoo animals on the walls and placed the rocking chair by the window. We lay the babies down in their cribs and watch them sleep.

  “I make some pretty ass babies, yo. No wonder females were always tryin’ to trap a niggah,” Nyce laughs.

  “You make pretty babies? And I guess you didn’t have any help with that, huh?” I ask.

  “No. They look just like me,” he says pulling me into his arms. “I love you, you know that?” He smiles, before giving me a kiss.

  “I love you,” I say kissing him back. He grabs my ass.

  “Uh-ah, boy. Six weeks, no sex.”

  “Six weeks?”

  “Yeah. Maybe twelve because I think I have to double it because I had twins.”

  “What?”

  I laugh.

  “I’m just playing but you do have to wait six weeks though.”

  “But we can do other stuff though, right?”

  “Other stuff like what?”

  “Like, show me what that mouth do,” he laughs.

  “You so nasty,” I giggle pulling him out of the babies’ room.

  Chapter Thirty

  It’s September already and everything is good, and everybody is healthy. Since Rita, Miss Annette, Jada, Destiny, Vi and Morgan are always at our house, Nyce and I don’t even have to bother with trying to hire a nanny. I am still in the process of trying to lose my baby weight— only losing twenty of the forty pounds I gained. I walk into the kitchen with my workout clothes on to grab a bottle of water. I just finished my cardio/kickboxing workout with Enzo. Nyce is sitting at the counter with Jasir in his arms, feeding him a bottle while Arden sleeps in her bassinet besides him.

  “You lookin’ sexy, Ma. Try not to lose the ass,” he winks.

  “Oh hush. I’m more concerned with losing this little pouch I got going.”

  “It looks sexy from here. Just be patient. You should let me work you out,” he smiles.

  “I’m serious, Nyce.”

  “Me too, so get your mind out the gutter. I can work you out. You see I got Vic lookin’ right.”

  “Hey. You know what I was thinking? What if I got you some celebrity clientele? You can be a personal trainer to the stars with me and Vic being your first clients,” I smile.

  “You would do that for me?” He asks with some sort of disbelief.

  “Of course. Why wouldn’t I?” I ask as I watch him place Ja over his shoulder to burp him.

  “I’m not going to take it easy on you just because you’re cute,” he smiles.

  “I wouldn’t expect you to. So, when do we start?”

  “Tomorrow. How much you payin’?”

  “Niggah, this better be free,” I snap as he laughs. “We can go over the numbers together or you can sit with Larin to discuss how much you’re gonna charge the rest of your clients.”

  “Cool,” he replies as I check my phone.

  “Ugh,” I groan.

  “What?”

  “Pree. When I tell you that she is a pain in the ass bridezilla, please believe me. She has me running all over the damn place trying to perfect her day. I just had two babies,” I whine. Nyce laughs.

  “What does she want you to do today?”

  “Dress shopping. I don’t even know what for. Every dress I pick out she vetoes. Matter of fact, she vetoes all my suggestions and ideas. This is why I didn’t want to be Maid of Honor during round two AND she keeps messing up my damn Pinterest boards,” I roll my eyes. “What does Knuck have you doing?”

  “Nothing,” he chuckles. “We picked out suits and that’s about it.”

  “Whatever. I’m going to hop in the shower to meet up with her,” I huff before kissing the babies and then kissing Nyce. “I’ll take them with me. It’s a nice day, they could use the air,” I tell him walking out the kitchen and running up the stairs.

  After Pree drags me all over downtown tasting food, picking out china, and eyeing dresses, she pulls me into a random jewelry store as I try desperately to control my temper because I am losing my patience. As Charlie and Rock hold the door open for us, I stroll my babies in and look around.

  “I need to get my rings cleaned and I think I am going to buy Knuck a new watch,” Pree says as we look around the store. Me and the babies are off in the corner looking at some earrings when a Middle-Eastern man comes up to the counter to assist.

  “Hi,” he smiles. “Do you see anything you like?” He asks.

  “Yes. I like these studs right here,” I tell him pointing them out.

  “They’re rather small don’t you think?” He smiles.

  “They’re not for me. They’re for my baby girl,” I reply looking at Arden. “She’ll be three months soon and I want to get her ears pierced.”

  “Ahhh, in that case, I have the perfect earrings for her,” he advises, opening the case. He sits the little diamonds on the glass.

  “Do you like?” He asks.

  “Yes,”
I smile admiring their beauty.

  “And what about you? You have to treat yourself to something special too,” he says, working for his commission.

  “Hmmm…,” I sigh, looking at the rings. “Let me try that one,” I tell him pointing at an emerald and diamond ring.

  “That’s the display, Cubic Zirconia. Let me go to the back to get you the real thing,” he says, stepping away. I look over my shoulder at Pree who is talking to the other sales associate, admiring a diamond bracelet.

  “Here we are,” my guy says, coming back to the counter and sliding me a box. “One second,” he smiles politely before rushing off to answer the phone. I open the box and my jaw drops, looking down at his and her rings. They are absolutely beautiful. Platinum settings with colorless diamonds with a hint of pink to them; reminding me of the engagement ring that Nyce bought for me once upon a time ago. The man’s band is thicker than the woman’s of course but it’s just as breathtaking. I know that I shouldn’t touch them, but I can’t help myself. Holding the man’s ring in between my fingers, I watch it glisten in the light. Although the ring has a pink hue to it, it is still very masculine.

  “Do you like?” The man asks.

  “They are exquisite,” I smile, putting the ring back into the case.

  “We customize jewelry here as well. My apologies for grabbing the wrong box. Please, give me one more moment and I will get the right ring for you,” he says shutting the box and walking to the back. Arden starts to get fussy as she begins to wake up.

  “Hey baby girl,” I coo, taking her out of the stroller.

  “You ready?” Pree asks.

  “Yeah,” I tell her looking at the clock. It’s almost time for their feeding.

  “Here we are,” the man says returning with the correct ring.

  “Akbar,” I pronounce his name, finally looking at his name tag. “Do you have a card? My babies are waking up and I need to leave suddenly,” I explain.

  “No worries. I’ll just ring you up for the earrings and hope that you make it back to our store soon. I will put a card in the bag along with your purchase.”

  “Thank you.”

  “What did you get?” Pree asks, picking up Jasir.