by Blue Saffire
I read the first one and sat staring at it for like twenty minutes. I decided to take the second one to make sure I did it right. The results didn’t change. The lines were as bright blue as they could get. I was definitely pregnant. I cleaned up the bathroom and got rid of the tests, so Victor wouldn’t find them. I wanted to tell him my way.
When I came out of the room Alex was looking at me like he was worried and about to call Victor to see if I was okay. It’s funny, I am always right in the same apartment with him, but he would call Victor the minute he thought something was wrong. I started to joke around to get him to relax. He was back to normal in no time.
“What time is Victor coming home?” I asked as I got the chicken in the oven.
“He should be on the way. I told him you were asking for him,” he laughed. “So, he should be flying through the door any minute.”
“Shut up Alex, he does not fly home every time I ask for him.”
“Oh yes, Mama, he does,” he teased. He had a big grin on his face. I find it amazing that he can be so happy for his friend, when his friend has what he wants.
“Alex.”
“What’s up?”
“You know I really like being friends with you. I’m glad Victor and I have you.”
“I’m glad we have you. You changed things around here. It’s like we’re more family now than ever before.” His face looked like he was thinking about something far away.
“Yeah, you guys are my family now too.” The thought tore at my heart a little.
“Still no word from your moms?” he asked with sincere sadness in his voice.
“No, she won’t answer my calls. Victor said I can go see her once Richie squashes that beef.” Richie had started a big mess in the Towers and the whole crew was on edge.
“Yeah, that kid is stupid. Victor wanted to kill him his self for starting that.”
“Yeah, well, five more months, right?” I quizzed hoping he would reassure me that the man whose baby I was carrying was going to give up risking his life.
“Yup, and we’ll be sipping Mojitos in Miami.”
“When is he going to tell me?” Victor has been debating for weeks now on telling me he is walking and that they plan to move to Miami. He’s afraid I won’t want to go. Alex has been trying to talk him into telling me.
“Soon, I think. He was talking about it yesterday again.”
“I’m excited. I hope I still look good in a bikini when we get there,” I thought out loud.
“Mama, you always look good,” Alex laughed. I was glad he didn’t catch what I meant.
We were both laughing as I finished up the vegetables. I was so hungry. I had a big lunch, but I still wanted to tear into the chicken. Everything else was ready to eat and as if he knew it was dinner time, Victor walked in followed by Sisqo and Juan. I ran over and hopped on to his waist.
“Thank you so much,” I chimed and kissed him.
“What did I do?” He grabbed me to hold me in place, balancing my weight, so I didn’t fall.
“You paid for school and I got to finish with straight A’s.”
“Word Tali, I’m so proud of you, Ma-me.”
“Thank you. I made dinner so we can celebrate. Alex got his grades too. He thinks he can hang with the smart kids.”
“Yo B, how’d you do?” Victor called over to Alex as he carried me to the kitchen. I could hear the big brother tone Victor tends to take with him.
“You already know. Tali isn’t the only A student in here,” Alex laughed.
“Oh. I know we going out tonight,” Sisqo crooned.
“I’m with it,” Alex replied.
“No, no, no, we are staying home. Me and you,” I demanded and kissed Victor.
“Okay, we can stay home,” he smiled and bit his lip. “I don’t mind staying home with you.”
“Good. Now put me down so we can eat.”
“I think you eaten too much Mama. You getting thick,” he moaned in my ear. “I like that though.” He didn’t have a clue I was going to be getting a whole lot thicker.
“Shut up,” I pouted and pinched him.
“You know I love you?”
“Yup.”
Victor was clinging to me while I made a plate for each of us. I was thinking about how I was going to tell him, he is going to be a daddy. He was already in a really good mood. I wanted to tell him right then, but I thought it was something private that the two of us should share.
We ate dinner and hung out on the couch. Alex, Juan, and Sisqo went out for the night. I kept getting ready to tell Victor, but I would chicken out. I don’t know why I was so scared. This was what he wanted. I just didn’t know how to tell him.
I was stretched out on the couch with my head in his lap when the elevator opened and I heard laughter come into the apartment. Since I have lived here, I’ve never seen another female in the place. I was surprised to hear a girl laughing. I lifted my head to see Juan, Alex, and Yesenia come through the door.
My mouth got hot and I was suddenly really angry. I knew I had no right. Alex wasn’t mine, I was with his best friend, but I didn’t want to see Alex with anyone else. I totally understood how Alex felt to see me with Victor and to have to hear us together. I wanted to jump up and scratch her eyes out.
I did my best to disguise what I was feeling. Juan pulled out a joint to smoke and that gave me my out. I got up and went straight in the room. I was sure Juan had at least two more where that one came from, so I didn’t have to worry about Victor for at least two more hours.
I climbed under the covers and cried myself to sleep. I knew I was being selfish. I wanted Alex to be happy, but why her. She wasn’t any good for him. She had hurt him.
He broke up with her,but she had been seeing that guy from Taft long before that. Was it because he was drinking? I could tell he was. Part of me didn’t want her to hurt him. She and I had both done enough of that.
chapter fourteen
Announcements
I woke up the next morning to Victor chuckling at the TV, eating a bowl of cereal. I was feeling a little nauseous, so I went into the bathroom. I put some water on my face and that helped a little. I figured maybe a shower would make it a lot better. When I was done in the bathroom, I put on a t-shirt and some shorts. It was definitely going to be a lazy day.
Victor was still watching the TV, as I climbed back in bed next to him. I rested my head on his stomach to watch with him. A few minutes went by and I was ready to go back to sleep. I rolled over and curled up to fall out. I was just about to hit dreamland when I started to smell weed smoke. I jumped up to look at Victor; he had a blunt in his hand.
“Put that out!” I yelled at him.
“Oh, come on, Ma-me. I don’t feel like getting up. I’ll smoke it quick.” He went to take a drag.
“Put it out Victor,” I shrieked as I hit him with my pillow.
“Tali …”
“Victor, I’m pregnant,” I said to cut him off.
He turned to put it out right away and threw it down. In the same instant, he turned back to me and put his hands on my stomach. He pecked me on the lips and looked me in the eyes. I could see how happy he was already.
“Tali, are you serious? You having my baby?” he crooned.
“Yes, I wanted to tell you yesterday, but I was scared,” I replied coyly.
“Scared, Ma-me why? You know how much I want this,” he said as he rubbed his nose against mine.
“I wasn’t sure if you still do.” I was searching his eyes to see if there may have been a change of heart.
“I’m going to be a daddy? Yeah Tali, I still want this. Marry me. We can go to Vegas. Let’s make it official. You can be Mrs. Delgado. We can have a real family.”
“I want that,” I answered and kissed him.
“I love you so much, Taliyah. You have no clue, Mama. I promise, I’ll take care of you and our baby.” He was so sincere and innocent as he spoke.
I reached to touch his face and kis
sed him on the cheek. I was happy that Victor was getting what he wanted, his family. I knew he would take care of us.
That’s what Victor does, he takes care of the people he loves. And he wanted to marry me. I was still processing that one. I wanted to marry him too. Victor really is a good person, he just got lost in life somewhere. I think he felt like life gave up on him until now.
“I love you too, Victor.”
“I want to tell you something. I’m done, Tali. Alex and me are walking away, we have enough money to give it up for good. I can still keep you happy, but we leaving, Ma-me. We moving to Miami and starting over.”
“Okay. I want you to be safe. I’ll go with you. Being with you keeps me happy.”
“Mama, how you feel, you hungry, stay here I’ll go get you something to eat,” he said excitedly.
He jumped off the bed and started dancing out of the room. I was laughing at how silly he was being. I stretched and tried to get comfortable, but I had enough of laying in the bed.
I got up to follow him and sit in the living room. When I got out there, Yesenia was on the little sofa sleep under a blanket. I looked around for Alex, but he wasn’t in sight. I felt that same jealousy creeping up on me from last night.
I sat on the couch across from her and turned on the TV. I was making as much noise as possible. Yesenia started to stir and then sat up to stretch.
When her eyes were focused, she looked over at me and gave me a weak smile. I returned it with the same. Alex suddenly appeared, looking like he had a fight with the bed and he lost.
“What’s wrong with you?” I giggled.
“Ugh, my head is killing me,” he replied and came to flop down next to me and placed his head on my shoulder. “Why’d you let me go out with them?”
“You’re a big boy, you knew better,” I teased.
“Yesenia, I’m sorry you had to bring us home. I’ll pay for a cab to take you home. I can’t drive anywhere.”
“Oh, that’s cool poppy,” she answered. I suddenly was very happy. She was not here for what I thought.
Victor came over and sat on my other side as he handed me a bowl of cereal. That was the extent of his culinary skills. I didn’t mind though, I was kind of hungry and the cereal would do. Victor reached over playfully slapping Alex on the face.
“Chill son,” Alex groaned. “I must be hung over; did I just see Victor bring you something to eat?” I started laughing and almost dropped my bowl.
“Whatever man, nothing you say can get at me today,” Victor crooned and kissed me on the cheek.
“Tali, what you do with Victor?” Alex teased. He turned his head on my shoulder to look up at me.
“Nothing,” I said shyly, not wanting to tell him why Victor was so happy.
“Yo, she’s having my baby,” Victor crooned and placed his hand on my stomach.
Alex lifted his head from my shoulder and looked down at my stomach. His mouth was open and I could tell he was fighting off that pained look he gets. He looked at Victor then back at me. I gave him an apologetic smile and reached for his hand. I felt so wrong, it was like I was sitting in the middle of a tug of war match.
“Congratulations, Mama,” Alex finally said and kissed me on the cheek. “Congratulations, B. You gonna be a daddy. I’m happy for you guys.”
“Thank you,” I said as cheerily as I could. I knew I just hurt someone I really love.
“We gotta do something big tonight,” Victor announced.
“Really?” I whined. “I’m not in the mood to go out.”
“Aw, don’t be like that. This my first seed, I want to celebrate.” He kissed my forehead and wrapped his arms around me.
“Okay, I’ll celebrate if Queeny can come.” I hadn’t seen her in a while and I figured Victor would give me anything I wanted.
“It’s probably none of my business, but you should watch that, sweetie. All them chicks in the hood real jealous of you right now, even the ones you call your friends,” Yesenia interrupted.
“Thank you. She don’t get it when I try to tell her,” Victor exclaimed.
I wanted to tell her she was right, it was none of her business. I was mad because Victor is always telling me to watch Layla and Queeny. He feels they are not as innocent as they try to play.
Only reason Queeny gets the small pass she does is because Sisqo likes her. However, that hasn’t been helping her as much lately. From what I know Victor has gotten a lot stricter with La Mafia.
“I’m just saying, they waiting to set you up. Nobody thought Vic was going to stay with you that long, but chicks is catching feelings and rumors are flying about you,” Yesenia explained.
“Yo B, I told Sisqo about that big mouth chick. I don’t trust her,” Victor fumed. “Let someone try to touch Tali.”
“Baby relax, no one is going to do anything to me.” I put my bowl down to climb onto his lap. I could see he was about to get heated for no reason. I barely go to the hood.
“You got that right,” he grumbled and kissed me.
“I say just the family tonight,” Alex smiled.
“I like that,” I smiled, “just my family.”
chapter fifteen
Change of Plans
Victor was spending more time home with me since we found out I was pregnant. The morning sickness seemed to hit like a ton of bricks the minute I found out. Victor wanted to be around to hold my hair and rub my back. He even gave Alex permission to sit in the room with me when he isn’t home, so Alex could take care of me when he’s not around.
I guess me being pregnant takes away the threat of me and Alex, that or Victor is just that worried about the baby. You would think I was made of glass. It took two weeks and a visit to the doctor for me to convince him we could be intimate. I had to practically walk around the room naked every night to get him to give in.
Once I started showing, it didn’t get any better. I’m not allowed to carry anything. Everyone has to make their own plates and no one smokes in the apartment, at all. If we thought Victor was the warden before, we were kidding ourselves.
I still love him though. He is so happy about the baby and getting married. He would have taken me to Vegas weeks ago if I wasn’t always sick. I came to grips with the fact that I was having his baby. I figured I’d been pregnant since I moved in, so all the fuss was really for nothing. I was fighting something that had already happened from the beginning.
Alex is taking it all pretty well. He is excited for Victor. They have already dubbed him, Uncle Alex.
It is really cute the way the two of them are already making all these plans for the baby. I feel bad for the two of them if I have a girl. They never thought of that as being an option.
Victor said he makes boys, there is no girl coming out. I laughed at that, he is probably right. I wouldn’t want a mean little girl.
I shouldn’t be like that. Victor hasn’t been mean, to me at least, in months. As much as he wanted to fight me on going to school this fall, he didn’t.
He gave right in and paid my tuition in full. His only request was that Alex and I schedule our classes around each other. He doesn’t ever want me to wait too long for Alex and he never wants me to be home alone.
It took some effort, but we made it happen. Victor doesn’t trust Juan with me as much as he does Alex, for whatever reason. So the schedule thing was important to him.
Victor doesn’t worry about me running off anymore because I can hardly stay awake long enough to go anywhere. He takes me to the movies and the movie always ends up watching me. Victor thinks I’m so beautiful pregnant, so he likes to show me off when he can.
He took me to one of the La Mafia member’s baby shower. That was the first time we told anyone about me being pregnant, other than Juan, Alex, and Yesenia, who happened to be in the apartment the morning Victor found out.
I was four and a half months at the time and really big for four months. Everyone’s mouth hit the floor when we walked in. I was feeling really uncomfortabl
e and wanted to leave, but Victor looked so happy. I sucked it up. After the initial shock, everyone was really nice to me.
Then there was Queeny. She walked in with Sisqo and her face almost cracked when she saw me. She claimed she was upset that I didn’t tell her about the baby. I’ve known her for way too long to accept that crap. I saw in her face that there was more going on with her.
I just wasn’t sure if it was the baby or the fact that Victor was all over me. It may have even been the fact that I was dripping in diamonds. Or it could have been that despite being pregnant, I was still the best dressed female there.
Victor and Alex had best dressed in the male department. The fact that Alex was making sure I was happy the whole time probably didn’t help.
I noticed a couple of side glance throughout the party. It turns out that the rumors that Yesenia was talking about had something to do with Victor and Alex. According to the hood I am not sure who my baby’s father is. I had been sleeping with Victor and Alex.
We all sleep in the same bed and everything. I thought they could have been a little more creative. Why not throw Juan in the mix? Some hot parties, strippers, why not the whole La Mafia while they were at it?
It is sad, people have nothing better to do with their time. Victor was pretty upset when the rumors started getting back to him. He just knew they were coming from Queeny. That’s when getting my hair done at her shop was completely cut off.
I had already started going somewhere else temporarily, when the morning sickness was keeping me limited. I had planned to start going back to Queeny’s job, until Victor closed that option. Honestly, I was starting to think he was right.
I was becoming content with my friend Alex. He really took care of me the way Victor would. He would rub my feet and my back, when I sat around crying because they hurt so much. He would make me something to eat, when I couldn’t get off the couch or out of bed to do it myself. Alex has been really supportive.
Only time we get into it, is when he teases me and says I’m having twins. I don’t find that funny, because I’m really huge and I’m starting to get scared that he might be right. My doctor even ordered me to go for a sonogram this week because he is curious as to why I’m so large.
